Skipping oh-my-goodness-how-can-it-be-that-much-again, because, according to Jon B. "If the Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me" Oct 18, 2011 8:09:00 pm PDT , today is FAQBaby's first birthday.

Happy birthday, you lovely almost-FAQToddler! With lots of wishes for your father and your mother, too, of course!

What would Edna Mode say? Oh, wait, we know.

I fell asleep last night without sending the daily status report, and I'm waking up today feeling severely under the weather. Thankfully it's a planned day to work from home, but I'm looking nervously at the computer and all the tasks for this project that's getting closer and closer to due.

I sent the users a list of things they need to validate for user acceptance testing and they're pushing back two weeks later. I guess they didn't think I meant it before? I kept asking them to tell me not just the things they were having trouble with, but what things they'd tested and not had trouble with, so I'd have an idea of how close we were to done, and they kept not answering. Until they sent their manager down to say I was mean.

Dudes--I've been saying the same thing since the year dot--the system can't go live unless you sign off on it. If you can' do that this week, tell me NOW, so we can delay going live until next week. Which they won't do. Then--the only compromise is me not asking them for results. They still have to give them to me, though.

They totally fail to understand how big a deal the project is, and how resoundingly it could fail. ON SUNDAY.

I threw some facts at him, Scrappy, but he'll probably discount them because facts have a liberal bias.

Nicely done. Jesse too. Better than I would have done. Arguing politics is so time-consuming for me, I can't pull stuff off the top of my head like others can and have to look up things.

Liese - insent to profile addy.

Thanks, guys! I just couldn't stand not to have some sort of rational response to his idiocy. A waste of time, I know.

I was more surprised than I should have been that people just repeat these talking points that are demonstrably false.

Can I ask a rookie voting question? So I have a shiny official voter information guide for the California general election. Do people normally (I guess I should say--practically, or ideally) vote on all the propositions? I mean, are you expected to be informed and care and take action on all of them? It's not that there are a lot of propositions up for vote, but there's always a lot of contentious background information.

Do people normally (I guess I should say--practically, or ideally) vote on all the propositions?

I do because unfortunately in California that's where the big changes tend to come, going back to Prop 9.

Anyway, the consequences of Prop 30 this year are pretty huge.

ita,

yes, I think you should vote on all the propositions.

Here is the League of Women Voters guide (specific to CA). LoWV has served me well in several elections in many states.

[link]

So home selling follies. The last update is here and you may remember my realtor told buyer's realtor to turn the water on to washer for best results.

Well, after a thermostat was replaced, the furnace was operational and their inspector came out to inspect it. The A/C didn't work (the compressor did not come on). So I called my HVAC person to come out this morning to fix the A/C. There is a trip charge for $78 and then whatever cost for repair. I told the HVAC company that I wanted to be called before they did a major repair.

I got a call about 1 hour after the appointment window from the owner of the HVAC company. He said my realtor met the HVAC person at the house, and the repair person turned on the A/C and it came on. Apparently, the A/C has a 3-4 minute built in delay and the inspector did not wait for that.

In other words, I had a repair company come out for NO FUCKING REASON.

HVAC company owner said repair person wrote this up on the receipt and handed it to my realtor.

My email to realtor (in part):

...I was charged $78 for a visit for the HVAC repair - a visit that was not necessary due to the incompetence of the inspector (first the washer now this).

Am I just out the $78?

His reply:

No. We are going to get buyer or agent to pay.

His assistant:

As soon as the [my realtor] gets back to the office I will contact [buyer's realtor] and request he or inspector reimburse you for this expense. This is ridiculous. I want to make sure I know who the inspector is so that we never allow him to inspect our properties.