Category Archives: From my email

From my email

Cat Lady’s 10 obscure facts

Ahem.

So Ed Padgett tagged me in this Drama Mama meme, and seeing as how I was also tagged by another old friend back in March about four things you don’t know about me (an email thing, not a meme), here goes.

  1. Since Ed called me the Cat Lady, I’ll start with my cats. My first was a Siamese kitten, but s/he tangled him/herself in the wires behind my mom’s full-size freezer and died. The cats I had major responsibility for were named Casper, Pepsi, Nike, Simba, now Kip. Other cats in my life include Harout (Harry), Pogi and Mary Jane.
  2. With the exception of 10 weeks in Phoenix, I have lived my entire life in the Southern California area — Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles (Temple Street, Glendale Avenue), La Puente, Santa Monica, Los Angeles (Monterey Hills) and now Agoura Hills.
  3. I have perfectly straight teeth, thanks to my dad, who was a dentist. He also used me as an advertisement in a church memorial book, for which I was mercilessly teased when I got into my teens.
  4. I taught myself how to drape and decorate tables, weddings and parties. I believe the first time I ever saw draping was on the same day of the huge blackout in August of 1996, which I remember because we had to drive from Beverly Hills to the freeway with no stoplights. Can you imagine? So that means I’ve been decorating weddings for more than 10 years. Wow.
  5. I have a second bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies, which was a total accident. See, what had happened was…I loved sociology classes but was told to either major, or stop taking the classes. On the cusp of graduating, I was told I needed 20 more credits, and with all the sociology and Asian American studies classes I’d taken, those 20 credits could bring me to a second degree. So there you go.
  6. I dislike wearing shoes. I go barefoot or wear flip flops whenever I can get away with it (Saturday night shifts rock). My feet also tend to determine whether I’m at a comfortable temperature, and I’ll often declare out of the blue, “I’m going to go wash my feet,” not because they’re dirty, but because I’m feeling hot. TMI, I know.
  7. As much as I have my life online, and have dated quite a few men I met online, I happened to meet my husband in the physical realm, at the Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan, when I was news editor and he was a freelance reporter. Hee.
  8. I understand Tagalog, but I can’t speak it very well, unless I’m trying to make folks laugh. However, I do the Filipino accent very well.
  9. I don’t do texting. I am already online more than 8 hours a day (except Sundays and Mondays) and on IM every minute of that time. How connected do I need to be????
  10. I love to watch movies over and over and over again. It drives Trinity crazy.

The stars finally align

A viewer pointed this out last week:

Just in case you’re not aware. I just realized that …….At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be 02:03:04 05/06/07. This will never happen again.

Oh no! Break out the Oujia Boards! Get your emergency kits ready! Prepare your shelters!

Dude. I’m not sure whether to make fun or forward it to everyone.

Calling all newspaper women…

If you used to work at a newspaper (even if you work at a new one), here’s your opportunity to mouth off about the experience. My former editor Amber Willard (one of the only editors who ever game a damn about me when I was a reporter) is now a Ph. D student and wants to know why you left. The only ones who would be excluded would be those still working at their first newspaper. Here’s her note:

As I explained before, the project focuses on why women leave newspaper jobs.
Any woman who has worked at a newspaper qualifies for the study – she can still
work at a newspaper (as long as she hasn’t worked at only one newspaper and
still works there, since the questions focus on why women leave newspaper jobs)
or she can work outside the industry. She needs to have worked in the editorial
department of a U.S. newspaper within the past five years.

The survey is online and takes 10 or 15 minutes to complete. The women will be
asked to enter their name and e-mail address on the first page of the survey,
but it is just to verify that they have agreed to participate in the survey.
Their name and e-mail will not be linked to their responses. Instead, each
survey receives a coded number. I do not have access to the names and e-mail
addresses of survey participants.

I really appreciate your cooperation and would be grateful if you would forward
the survey to women who qualify for the survey. In turn, they should feel free
to forward the survey link to any other women they know who qualify.

If anyone has any questions, I can be reached at awillard -at- mail.utexas.edu. In
addition, if any of the women want to receive a summary of my findings, I’d be
happy to pass them along; they can e-mail me a request and I’ll add them to my
list!

The survey link:
https://query.communication.utexas.edu/index.php?sid=39&newtest=Y

Like she said, the survey is anonymous and really fast. And it gives you an opportunity to mouth off about the whole experience, if you should feel the need to do so. And I know quite a few of you do. So if you’d like to participate, or know someone who would, click/forward away.

You can be part of a class action, too!

I getting sick of all these stupid notices of class-action lawsuit settlements. If they actually equaled some money, it might be all right. But since these offers tend to require you continue using Sprint or use another Carfax car report, what’s the point?

I got the Sprint class-action settlement notice last year. At first I was definitely going to do it, because I was so irritated with how they’d treated us. But the options of the settlement were so complicated — all these bloody subclasses — and basically the best you could get is “a series of eight equal (as nearly as practicable) quarterly invoice credits on future Sprint wireless bills to their existing account in the total amount of $19.00.” Blech.

Yesterday, I got a class-action settlement notice about Carfax. Remember how I bought a car? Of course you have to get a Carfax report. West vs. Carfax’s details are:

WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
Plaintiff claims that Carfax violated the consumer protection laws of all fifty states by not properly disclosing terms and conditions for, and limitations of, Carfax Vehicle History Reports.Carfax denies all of Plaintiff’s claims of wrongdoing.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M A MEMBER OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS?
If you purchased a Carfax Vehicle History Report directly from Carfax at any time before October 27, 2006, you’re a Class Member for purposes of this settlement.

WHAT DO I GET IF I REMAIN IN THE SETTLEMENT?
Class Members who remain in the settlement can claim a Voucher good for $20.00 off a vehicle inspection by a designated third party within six months of final approval of the settlement, a Voucher good for two free Carfax Vehicle History Reports from Carfax within one year of final approval of the settlement, a Voucher for one free Carfax Vehicle History Report from Carfax within two years of final approval of the settlement, or a Voucher for 50% off an unlimited number of Carfax Vehicle History Reports (for personal, not commercial use) over 30 consecutive days within three years of final approval of the settlement. The Court will also order Carfax to make certain changes in its disclosures and contracting process with customers.

Now, since neither Trinity nor I plan on buying a third car anytime soon, nor exchanging any of our current cars for a new one, what the heck am I going to do with another vehicle inspection or a voucher for 50% off an unlimited number of Carfax Vehicle History Reports?

The one class-action settlement that actually seemed to do me any good was one against Coffee Bean that had to do with employee breaks. I actually got $20 out of that one.