so becca and i got pedicures yesterday, and i must say, ohhhhhh the luxury. i think getting one will become my monthly gift to myself. i mean, what’s better in life than sitting in a chair for an hour reading fluff fashion magazines and having your feet pampered? i now have bright red toenails and am quite enthralled by them. the shade is called “i’m not really a waitress.” i kid you not. how cool is that? 🙂
i had an excellent conversation last night, one that i would have rather been “having over coffee,” as christina would put it. the question has been raised that: “do we ever stop waiting for the ‘next thing’ – that next part of ours lives that we are just trying to get to? do we ever actually get there or do we just keep waiting for something better? someone shared something that he learned in thearpy – he says that he has realized that happiness is just contentment in a routine.”
so that’s the current topic of debate in my life. it’s funny how i agree so completely with some friends and disagree so completely with others on this one topic.
anyway. this weekend unfortunately was like most weekends–over before i knew it, leaving me already looking forward to the next one. ah well. that’s what work is for, right? to earn myself enough money to have fantastic weekends.
over the past two days, however, i did remember something that i learned five years ago and had forgotten–houston is really pleasant in the fall! we had our first real cold front come through, and i doubt the temperatures even topped 85, and the humidity was much lower than normal. this morning, it was downright cool outside. as i told carter last night, it’s almost as if someone decided to give us a few gorgeous days before slamming us with a hurricane next weekend.
yep, hurricane isadore is predicted to head this way. if it gains steam once it leaves the yucatan and heads toward houston, i’m leaving town. i’ve been through one hurricane (hugo, a massive category 4, in 1989) and don’t have much of a desire to experience another one. on a related note, leila, keep your spare bedroom prepped for me.
ok. as i was just looking at that predicted path map, i showed it to becca, who pronouced with certainty “oh, it looks like we won’t get hit directly even if it does follow this path–we’ll just get the side of it.” i gave her an odd look and said “um, if you trace that line out straight, the eye goes directly over houston,” to which she replied “oh, that’s houston?? i thought we were down here!” as she pointed farther down the texas coastline. dear god, the girl has been here for 9 months and she can’t even point out houston on a map that’s not explicity labeled. sad, sad. for those non-texans out there, you can find houston on the map above by starting at the texas/louisiana border and tracing down the coast until you come to the first big bay (galveston bay) that juts inland. see how the predicted path of the hurricane is heading smack for us? yeah.
(2:32 p.m.)
news update for the day: I HAVE TRIUMPHED OVER RELIANT ENERGY! give it up for me! yeah yeah yeah! i have recently finished jumping up and down at my desk and pumping my fists not unlike meg ryan in french kiss, much to the amusement of becca and gavin. ha ha, i win, i win!
of course it was maddeningly simple, once i finally got the right person on the line. i don’t remember if i explained the whole problem, but basically it was thus: reliant wanted me to either pay a $220 deposit, get someone to cosign my account, or provide them with a letter of credit from another electric company. well, i couldn’t get a letter of credit because i’ve never had my own electric bill until now, and getting a cosigner or paying a deposit were both unacceptable choices for me. basically, reliant was telling me i had to pay a deposit because i didn’t have credit, and yet they never even checked my credit. after much annoyance on my part with customer service, i finally managed to get in touch with the credit department itself and spoke to a nice man–by far the nicest person i’ve talked to at reliant. after explaining my problem for the umpteenth time and having him give me the standard “you need a letter/cosigner” spiel, i calmly asked him if he could please just check my credit. he complied, put me on hold, and three minutes later came back with a “ma’am, i apologize for all the inconvenience. your credit is fine, and i’ll remove the deposit right now.”
well HOORAY! i finally spoke to someone competant, and just in time–the threatening letters i’ve been getting have said my power was going to be disconnected tomorrow. i’m going to call the customer service office this afternoon just to make sure the deposit is gone. cross your fingers.
in the meantime, i am basking in the glow of my victory.
