Janet’s Neighborhood

In honor of Independence Day, show us something patriotic.

Well that's what red white and blue means to me

Was called today at work by an agency doing some research for the housing association through which I bought my flat. Which is all fine, they are pretty crap at doing the stuff you want them to do, like repairing the lock on the front door to the block, so it was good to get the opportunity to give some feedback.
The woman starts asking the boggo questions about whether I'm satisfied with this, that and the other and then it gets to the bits about me, which surveys always seem to ask.
And bam, this totally baffling question comes:

"We have you down as female, would you say this is accurate?"

Now I have got a bit of a cold at the moment but I don't exactly sound like Marge Simpson and I have a quite a girly (real) name which the woman knew, and used, when I picked up the phone. The interviewer didn't even falter when I guffawed loudly and pointed out the bizarreness of the question.
Perhaps she's been doing market research too long and has become totally immune to what she is actually asking because I can't think of any other reason for being able to ask that question of me without having had her brain removed and replaced with a micro-chip

...there is usually a load of money grabbing family members. Saw this story on the BBC today about a multi-billionairess Leona Helmsley who expressed a desire to leave her money to dog charities.

She left a $12m (£6m) inheritance to her pet dog, Trouble, explicitly leaving out two of her grandchildren.

Shock horror!

The piece paints Ms Helmsley as a mean person but so what? It's her money and she's entitled to do what the hell she likes with it.

I find it really distasteful when families manouevre and circle like vultures over potential legacies. Even more so when people assume they are entitled to something and count on getting that money.

Good for her I say and I hope the whole lot goes to the doggies.

OK so I don't own a car, so I'm probably not the best person to comment on the fuel price protests but hey this is my blog an I'll comment on it if I want to.
The BBC ran a story today about the hauliers who decided to protest about the rising cost in diesel pointing out that a weeks fuel is now running at around £1,000. The lorry drivers all met at pre-arranged spots and drove in convoy towards central London, no doubt causing 'travel chaos'.
Now none of that particularly bothers me. We live in a free(ish) country where it is our right to voice an opinion, so fair enough, it's a good way of bringing the issue to everyone's attention.
What did amuse me, though, was the fact that hauliers "had driven from as far as Cornwall" to join the protest. So how much did that cost in fuel? Surely it would have been more economical to have all come up to London on the bus and then taken to the streets. I know, I know I'm being flippant but hey I'm not protesting about how much fuel costs.

Did I mention how much I luuurve Mac's? Within 30 minutes of walking through the door of my flat with new MacBook I was checking emails having transfered everything over from my iBook.

Say hello, wave goodbye

Seems innocuous enough, right?

Pros:

• Hey, it's fat free!
• It tastes okay.
• There's no rBST involved, which I'm sure means something to someone.

Cons:

• The bottle has this hilarious feature where the label is not securely attached, so that when you give it a good ol' shake, the bottle goes careening across the room, slamming into the floor, and shooting sticky fake-milk everywhere. It's great for people who want to spend the next twenty minutes of their lives on their hand and knees, wiping off every chair, table and baby toy that was unlucky enough to be in the spray's path.

The bottle, post-explosion. Not pictured: My rage.

The Lovely Virginia called me at work yesterday to tell me that Bea had all of a sudden started saying, "la, la, la." Which is a major step from her usual straight, open mouthed yell.

I know this is not a big deal, and most babies do it, but it was the big news in the Sommer home yesterday.

Here's video. You may catch a few "ba"s and "da"s, too.

Because Bea, all of a sudden, is crazy for consonants.

Babies are awesome.

Today's the day, friends!

Mad Men: Season One is available for purchase!

Catch up, quick! Season Two is only 27 days away!

That's a lot of exclamation points!

It's fat, because it's loaded with extras.

We took Beatrice down to the pool today.

We're so Hollywood

She had her very first swim.

Welcome to your fair skinned life, poor little Beatle

I did what I swore I would never do as a mother...I had her swim with a t-shirt on. When I was little Mom always made me put a t-shirt over my swimsuit so I wouldn't get a sunburn, I HATED IT. But today as I was getting Bea ready for the pool and sunscreening her up, I looked at her perfect skin and I caved. I couldn't bring her into the pool without some extra cover! Ah, the circle of life. (I've got to get her one of those baby swimsuits with the hottest new design: SLEEVES!)