Got keys to new place at the end of the day. Made it to office of old place with 15 minutes to spare, to drop off the final rent check and 30 day notice. Whew. Went back to new place, and gate clicker doesn't work. Went to Home Depot around the corner and got new batteries. Still doesn't work. Little light illuminates, but no gate action. Then I notice there is dip switch settings marked on the case, and the dip switches inside battery door do not match up. Fix that, and BAM! Gate opens! Woot.

While at Home Depot, picked up some samples of paint. M&C swung by and helped me put some sploches on the wall. The silver looks a bit on the white side with CFL light. We shall see in daylight. The Scotland Road looks nice under direct light, but strange under reflective. We shall see with daylight. The bedroom accent color looks great. The ceiling is textured, but not quite popcorn. It's a little drab on the white, so we are thinking a repaint of that is in order. Although none of us is looking forward to the task. Right now, I am pooped. But in a good way. Squee! And so begins home ownership!

Tom Scola, how did the interview go?

Congratulations, o_a! Have fun making the place yours.

O_a- Scola's interview got rescheduled to Thursday.

Can I tell you guys a secret I can't say anywhere else? I'm not that proud to be an American. Happy Fourth!

The silver looks a bit on the white side with CFL light.

FWIW, the lavender we painted in one room looked just like white when it was on only one wall, but once it went up on a second wall, the color suddenly popped and wasn't white like at all.

SJ, good to know.

Nora, thanks for heads up on interview time change. Why so glum about being American? Don't misunderstand me, there's plenty of things our country is doing right now that I am not proud of but I am still proud to be an American.

Why so glum about being American? Don't misunderstand me, there's plenty of things our country is doing right now that I am not proud of but I am still proud to be an American.

I'm just not very patriotic, in general. OK, I happened to be born in this country. I'm not, like, proud of that accomplishment. I'm proud of getting my Masters degree. I'm proud to live in New Orleans. I'm proud to be Tom's wife. I'm proud to be a Buffista. I'm proud to be smonster's friend.

I am not proud, however, to be living in a county that appears to be working to the detriment of everything else that needs attention to deny equal rights to people because they don't approve of who they choose to spend their life with, a country that is moving heaven and earth to strip away my rights as a women to privacy and bodily autonomy, and a country that seems to believe that being poor and sick is a moral failing and unworthy of care, concern, or compassion.

My pride in being a human also wavers from day to day as well, FWIW.

Cereal to add: I do not mean to imply that those who do feel pride in their citizenship in any way support the things I outlined as alienating me. Everyone frames patriotism differently, of course, and that's just how things work for me in my head.

But, you know, I am frightened of admitting to my Facebook/Twitter network that I am not proud to be American and that I am not a Christian. I'm sad that we're in a such a stranglehold in this country that it's so scary to admit to feeling different about God and America than the "party line."

(disclaiming again: this is not such a place- I feel safe here, even though obviously, it's a public forum.)

Whoa, I killed the thread.

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!

Nora, you've pretty much summed up exactly how I feel. I joined the military because I believe in our country and I'm proud of the time I spent in the service, I really am. But I did it to protect everyone's rights. Not just the rights of the wealthy, the Christian, the Moral Majority and their ilk. One of the parts of the enlistment/officer commissioning oath is to protect and defend the Constitution and all I see is people trying to dismantle it, while claiming they're upholding it.

At least Wisconsin has finally got a Democratic majority in our state legislature for the next four months. That's a positive I cling to; I just hope they can get something done in that time and not dither around as they so often do.

I just defriended and blocked an old military buddy for going on and on about the ACA "tax" and how it's going to hurt him. I'm tired of people misinterpreting what the ACA is going to do and how it's going to do it. It doesn't matter what benefits the majority of Americans will derive from it, he's concerned about his taxes going up. He lives in Nevada, which has no state income tax. I'm so tired of seeing this kind of hypocrisy, it makes me want to scream.

Sorry about the rant; I has feels.

Also, HOLY CRAP, Vortex. Very glad to hear you are okay. That was a scary accident.

{{Strix}} Faster healing and less pain~ma on the wrist.

{{Teppy}} Reduced hip pain~ma.

{{smonster}} General life-coping~ma. I am one with you on struggling with my budget. I took a vacation for the first time in three years and I know it's going to fuck my budget for the rest of the year, but I wanted it so bad. I'll deal with the fallout the best I can.

Also, hugs and hairpats to others; I've skimmed so many posts to catch up, I'm a bit lost with who else needs them.