NO REPRESENTATION FOR YOU!

Washington DC's parking office SUCKS. In 2 months I received 2 parking tickets. One I paid because I realised after careful observation that I might have been in an illegal spot. I still have my doubts, but I am willing to take the hit because I am not 100% certain I am right.

The 2nd ticket I received was COMPLETELY unjustified. I parked at a broken meter for less then an hour. I needed to go to my office when I was on leave to get some paperwork together and the meter began to eat my quarters. Immediately I called the number on the meter and reported the broken meter. They said that I would be OK, and when I came back to my car I had a ticket. I was pissed.

I then called the parking office AGAIN and filed a complaint, but still needed to appeal with a formal letter. I did just that, complete with times, POC's and locations.

Today I received a letter that blew my mind. They claim that they did a "meter analysis" in which a status was printed from the meter and it was determined that the violation was valid. Since I am certain that the meter was broken and I am not confident that they went to the RIGHT meter, I decided that I wanted to see a copy of the analysis. Guess what! NOT AN OPTION. I need to first clear my record of liability ($25) and if I pay an additional $10 and file a secondary appeal, it will be reconsidered by another board. However, I am not allowed to offer evidence or permitted to attend my hearing. I can not get a copy of the meter report.

This city sucks.

Tomorrow Tom is going to pay the ticket because a) he loves me and does not want me to go to jail and b) he knows that I will NEVER pay it. What I do plan to do tomorrow is research my DC FOIA options and figure out how to get the meter reports from the area surrounding 1900 half street, SW.

Thank god I took tonight's Xanex early.

Ouch!

My face hurts. I have a sinus infection and have started an antibiotic. The kids were sick for the past week and as it always happens, I got everything they had, AT ONCE! Tom has been dealing with Sarah and Leah all morning while I stayed in bed, which is no easy feat since they are recovering from colds and it is too cold to be outside. He has proven once again that although I often forget, he is a wonderful parent and even better husband.

I really have nothing of any real significance to blog about today since my head is throbbing and not working very well. However, since I know you readers will stop visiting if I don't add something, I am providing the following links for entertainment. What can be better then a listing of my 3 favorite Hollywood gossip links so you can completely waste your afternoon. Sorry Susie, I know that this type of entry offends you.

Jossip is Hollywood Gossip, New York Style. A little less fluff then the Hollywood Blogs if your in a hurry.

Hollywood HeartBreaker specializes in announcing the demising marriages of Hollywood's most spoiled celebrities FIRST! A "must add" to your entertainment link folder.

And of course no one can forget the grand-daddy of celebrity bloggers. I LOVE PEREZ. If you are dying to see a celebrity vagina or learn who was denied access to a popular club first, Perez will have it!

Peace, Love, And Tylenol. Until next time! D

Found it!

Folks, I didn't think that it was possible, but I have actually found a blog that it more boring, unoriginal, and lacking in creativity then mine. Mom, how about giving Ted and call and giving him your opinions on article commentary and content? Clearly he needs a few lessons in cyber- communications.

Oh, and while you have him on the phone, let him know that there is a pretty cool player in Nashville that would greatly enhance the team.

XO D

Back to the Gruesome ................

Lately I have been in an odd place where work has been enjoyable and life has been going along smoothly (healthy kids, sweet nothings, the smell of fresh baked cookies at Christmas time ...). Times like that make me remarkably uninteresting and giggly. I need a few crappy weeks to bring me into a more normalized and agitated mood.

Happily for you dear readers (actually I think that I only have one reader) I am back to my crappy place and have done some serious diving into the abyss of the Internet. Imagine my delight when I found this WONDERFUL article written by my friends at On Frozen Blog. NOTHING excites a girl like The 10 Worst Hockey Injuries of All Time! I get happy again just thinking about it!

A picture is worth 1000 words

Bangor Maine

How cool is this? Today Bangor, Maine is instituting an ordinance which bans smoking in cars if there are children under the age of 18 present. The police have the right to stop the car and the smoker could be fined $50.

This should be done everywhere, and $50 is not enough for the damage that people do to kids with second hand smoke. It makes me crazy when my little girls have to pass a cigarette when walking down the street. How people can subject their kids to this poison in a small environment is beyond me!

I only wish that the nincompoops on the Alexandria City Council would introduce this legislation!

Book Quiz

You're The Sound and the Fury!

by William Faulkner

Strong-willed but deeply confused, you are trying to come to grips
with a major crisis in your life. You can see many different perspectives on the issue,
but you're mostly overwhelmed with despair at what you've lost. People often have a hard
time understanding you, but they have some vague sense that you must be brilliant
anyway. Ultimately, you signify nothing.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Draw a Pig

I just did a "draw a pig" personality test . Here is mine (Diane's Pig). According to this personality test I am a realist (true) who believes in tradition (define "tradition"). I am friendly (when medicated), and remember dates (birthdays, etc.) (never). I am also emotional and naive (nice!) , care little for details (true) and am a risk-taker (I have been doing government jobs for 17 years, that hardly makes me a risk taker) . Additionally, I am insecure or living through a period of major change (HELLO, I have children!) . I am also a good listener.

I dont actually believe that personality tests tell you anything real. I was just trying to distract myself from the TV while our clown President tried to justify sending another 22,000 troops to Iraq!

Happy Drawing!

Happy New Year!

This new year started early. Leah was singing Oh' Suzanna in her crib while playing with her stuffed animals and Tom got up with her. I never did fall back to sleep, thinking about my resolutions and what I would like to change. After listening to Leahs song and thinking about Sarah's smile, it would be easy to conclude that I wouldn't change a thing.

Of course, there is always a need for improvement:

THE BODY:

1) Back to weight watchers. I started paying again months ago, now I will follow program. Goal 130. Will keep you posted.

2) Complete THREE half marathons. Patty are you with me? Nashville is a definate. Then either Baltimore or Philadelphia for sure. I would like to do both, which is why I want to complete three. Is worse comes to worse, we can do a 13.1 mile course in DC and call it our third. I will design a metal ......................

WHATS IMPORTANT:

1) Spend 2 hours of quality time with each girl a week. Sounds easy, but between work, daycare, keeping up with the house and keeping up with life, both of them have been lacking on one on one mommy time. I am going to change that.

JUST BECAUSE:

1) Read three classic's this year. Might give me something to discuss in this blog?