meara, good luck getting everything sorted out. What a pain for you.

Good luck~ma, meara.

It's a rough day. Don't know why I even thought to pretend it's normal and go and have a French study group. But I know that now, more than all years, I see the connection between the specific process of memorization and the more dead soldiers in the future. It made me want to find another way to remember the ones who died, without contributing to it.

That sounds really interesting, Shir. Did you see the series in the NY Times on "Valley of the Shadow of Death" photo from the Crimean War?

Yes, I have. Anyway, as for photography - I don't remember who wrote about the "finding something that moves one that much", but with this topic... I'm not interested by it, as much as intrigued. I don't have any other words to put it in. If there is an interest, is to find how and why a certain type of objectification leads to violence, or is an act of violence in itself (opinions and research vary on this point).

And btw - Crimean War is fascinating, historically and sociology-wise. There aren't a lot of points in history from which we can say that "it started there", but we can say a lot of things about that war. First time reports came, pretty much in real time, from the front. It made huge changes in public opinion. The technology. The medicine. The place of a woman, of a reporter in the war. So much changed there.

Timelies, Shir. I wish you insight and strength today.

I am awake against my will. On the bright side, better get used to it because of the dog, I reckon. I am so Frankie like carrots right now, I've been lying here tryig to figure out where the eff I'm going to put his crate, and how to do the cat introductions, etc., etc. Which, bonny, insent.

Stephanie, thanks again! I know it makes R feel better that you read it and gave feedback.

Today's going to be a long day, and as usual I'm behind as hell at work. ::sigh::

quester, that sounds like a really difficult one. The Girl is in a similar situation, and has currently given up on finding full-time work in the near future, so I can empathise. What might you study at school? I hope whatever decision you make works out for you!

Bank~ and IRS~ma, meara. That's a sucky situation.

Sigh. I do not want to be awake right now. But I am!

Woke up so I could call BofA first thing, before driving to the escrow people (supposed to be there at 7AM). First tried calling from my home phone, but even though my account is a Maryland account, it told me the phones don't get answered til 8AM. So then I called from my (Virginia-area-code) cellphone, and got an answer. Fuckers. And indeed, they're all "Oh, yeah, they must've put a hold on the money at the bank while you were there, and then forgotten to take it off, and then they cashed the check...". So they say they've fixed it. But STILL! Am still worried and pissed.

AND I just called the IRS, and first they're like "Well, you need an adjusted unemployment 1099" and I'm like "Uh, right here on the unemployment thing, it reads "blah blah we won't give you one on your taxes you have to use receipts" WHICH I DID". And they're like "Oh. Well, then, send us the receipts". And I'm all "Um, I already did the FIRST TIME, but SURE, WHATEVER YOU WANT, CRAZY TAXPEOPLE!" (Only not yelly, because it wasn't even 6AM here, and I don't have the energy for that, and my neighbors don't need that)

What a tremendous bother, meara. Ergh. While I have had nothing but good experiences with the IRS recently, years ago I had one of those incredibly confusing, crazy-making exchanges with them that took about 18 months and many, many grey hairs to resolve.

In the end...and I hope it does not come to this for you, but I highly recommend the action if it does...I went to my State Representative's office with the documentation of my attempts to resolve the situation.

Every Rep's office has an IRS liaison.

After 18 months of maddening travail, the entire matter was resolved in a day. Within three days, I had a personal apology from the Regional Director of the IRS.

Done and dusted.

You are totally in the right and your elected officials are there to support you...though it may seldom seem so. The liaison has the benefit of circumventing powerless functionaries and can save loads of time.

Ugh, meara. What a pain. Best of luck getting it all sorted out.

So. We're slightly loopy people. We've spent the morning arranging to take our cars over to France on the ferry on Friday, so that we can pick up stranded Londoners (the ash cloud from Iceland is grounding all flights ANYWHERE) and bring them home. As The Girl said while on hold to the ferry company, "I really wasn't designed ever to have a proper job." Rescue mission!

waiting on a call back from the vet, re: Taz. Poor guy- he occasionally seems to have balance issues and his back legs give out beneath him and lately he's been obsessively grooming his lower half and biting at his rear paws, like he's trying to pull off the outer layer of the nail.

Poor Taz- I am thinking it might be all this upcoming move stuff that is stressing him out.

Also, vet- don't freak me out and say that he NEEDS to come in and then take more than an hour to get back to me to schedule! Ugh. I'm gonna call back.