Not another one

I just heard the news that NBC political analyst Tim Russert passed away at the age of 58. I literally gasped when I heard this. He was one of the rare political journalists who I respected -- he didn't show any bias to a particular party, he asked the hard questions folks wanted to hear the answers to, and he had a clear passion for politics.

Most importantly, he seemed like a nice guy. I remember seeing an interview with him and his father when he released his Big Russ & Me book, and the way he, at the age of 54, still spoke to his father with utmost respect grabbed my attention. My sympathies to his family. A great loss for journalism.

What a week of ginourmous WorldSuck.

Size Matters

I went on a business trip today to Long Island. My boss and I flew JetBlue, and he was flipping through the channels on the return flight. I happened to look up when he passed the TMZ show (which I really dislike depite all of my obsessions with celebrities). This is the image I saw. I laughed until I cried. I love a good midget joke. And I was really tired from being up since 4:15am.

(image courtesy of Getty/TMZ)

Heaven has a new angel

I was all prepared to write a post today about how boring my life is. But I checked my email and just got a message from my friend Kol from college. His little girl had Tay-Sachs disease and while they knew she wouldn't live very long, they didn't know just how short her time with them was. She passed away yesterday afternoon after a short battle with pneumonia. I just remember what a jerk he could be sometimes during school and how this precious little girl turned him into a big ol' softie.

I've gotten news in the past several weeks of other friends' family members passing away -- one young man after a fall and another's father-in-law in a motorcycle accident. While each of these is sad, neither hit me like little Emily's passing. I'm glad that she'll be watching over her parents now.

Chaps my ass...

I read a post on Jenn Lancaster's blog today about debt collectors calling about a $13 credit card bill that was four days late. She give a hilarious rundown of the calls she had to clear up the situation.

This sounds almost exactly like a call I have with my mortgage company around the 8th of every month. I've been unfailingly mailing in my check on the first of the month WHEN I GET PAID for the past three years. Apparently, my mortgage company is under enough pressure from the dire housing market that they feel the need to call anyone whose payments are more than two days past due.

So despite never missing a payment to them or even incurring a late fee, I get a series of calls from them starting on the 8th of the month to bug me for payment. I've asked that they put a note in my file not to call until the 15th or so (if a check is lost in the mail, I want to know).

Last month? Our conversation went like this (I returned their call):

Them: Do you realize this is an attempt to collect a debt?

Me: Yes, the check is in the mail, as it has been on the first of EVERY MONTH FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS! Why am I recently receiving these calls?!

Them: *typing and loud conversations in the background* Oh ma'am, our records show your payment was received today.

Me: Well, wouldn't it have been nice if your payment center linked up with your automatic caller so we could have avoided this unpleasantness? *click*

Chaps my ass.

The Heat is On

So, my AC has about three days of 90-degree weather left in it before it gives up the good fight. Funny, that's about how many days of 90-degree weather we have on tap here. I'm going to bite the bullet and get a new unit (heehee, I said "unit") installed on Friday. I do NOT like to sweat, you know.

There is something about this that makes me laff: