Clare T. Rampling
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Clare T. Rampling's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Friday, September 30th, 2011 | | 10:41 pm |
Least sucky bank for checking??
OK, banks have decided they need to suck more for customers who just do simple stuff like have checking and saving accounts and a debit card. I know it's getting worse everywhere -- they reform one area of banks, so apparently they have to screw us in other areas.  I've been with Wells Fargo since pre-1980 or so, when I was with Crocker and WF ate them. One way or another I've mostly wrangled free basic account stuff. Come November, my WF account will start charging $10/month, and apparently I can drop my saving account and convert my checking to some thingy that will allow me to pay "just" $5/month. Can't say I'm sentimental 'bout WF, but changing banks is annoying too. So, anyway, I'm asking: does anyone have tips as to the cheapest financial institution that will give free (or lowest cost) checking (and possibly saving) accounts, with free use of debit cards for payments? Without any minimum balance or direct-deposit requirements. With decent convenience (ATMs) in the Los Angeles Area. Current Mood:  determined | | Monday, September 26th, 2011 | | 6:32 pm |
| | 4:25 pm |
| | Friday, July 29th, 2011 | | 2:51 pm |
Sign Al Franken's Petition to Repeal DOMA
OK, y'all know I'm a big fan of Al Franken. So, I love it that the email request I got from him today is about his DOMA repeal petition (yes, he's also working on the debt ceiling crap, of course). Meanwhile: MPR News reports: "DOMA is an injustice," Franken said. "It is an immoral and discriminatory law. Our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal and that all persons should receive equal treatment under the law."
Franken also sparred with a witness from the conservative group Focus on the Family. He said the witness misrepresented government studies about the impact of growing up in a household with same-sex parents. Click on the image below to sign Al's REPEAL DOMA petition. You can also donate some bux if you want, of course.  Though Al's a Minnesota senator, I still feel like he's working for me too. Current Mood: determined | | Monday, June 13th, 2011 | | 8:21 pm |
Getting back into eBaying
 I ran into two recent occasions where I could get some stuff for way below regular price, and decided to take advantage and then restart my eBaying. - Large-scale magnetic construction toys -- I have two types (with two box sizes for one of the types): Magzoid (see pic at right) and Jumbo Magz.
- "DayGlo" inkjet cartridges for some (I believe) older printers which use Epson S020089/S020089 or Canon BCI-21 or HP 51649A. I always thought it'd be fun to try fluorescent ink; too bad these won't fit my printer.
So now I have six listings up on eBay in my kitty_needs_food eBay account. And in the process, I've reactivated my kitty_needs_food Auctiva account (provides multiple pictures with super-sizing, templates, cross-sell gallery), which is no longer free -- so I have to keep selling at a decent pace to justify the Auctiva fee. Wheeee! I'm off and selling (hopefully). I welcome any comments or corrections or advice or feedback or whatever. Current Mood:  hopeful | | 5:20 pm |
| | 3:56 pm |
OMG, could Rachel Maddow get any awesomer?
 I randomly found out that there's an interview of Rachel Maddow (by Katie Couric) in a recent (May?) issue of Glamour Magazine. So I went to the website to check it out if they had it online, and found it:
Katie Couric interviews Rachel Maddow in Glamour Magazine
My favorite part, the part that made me even crazier for Rachel, is:
KATIE COURIC: So what’s on your iPod? Who’s your new favorite? Mine’s Adele.
RACHEL MADDOW: Oh, this is really embarrassing. But because of the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, I started listening to the Feynman lectures, these talks by a physics professor at Caltech from the sixties.
KATIE COURIC: Like Bill Nye the Science Guy?
RACHEL MADDOW: He’s, like, the original Science Guy, except that he won the Nobel Prize in physics. It’s really helpful in terms of explaining stuff that you don’t really understand. Yeah, Richard Feynman—ay-oh!
Wow, Rachel's listening to Feynman! And not just any Feynman recording, it's the Lectures!! Is she an awesome, awesome nerd, or what?!!! Current Mood: mellow | | Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 | | 6:34 am |
Easter Dinner with my sister: Farfalle with Pears, Mascarpone, and Pecarino (+Recipe)
 Saturday evening (4/23) my sister and I celebrated our (little-p pagan) Easter. We exchanged bunnies and chocolate and the like. I'd previously found a lovely recipe on Melinda Lee's website, and suggested to my sister that this might be the perfect thing to try for our Easter Dinner. She agreed to prepare the meal, so I sprung for the genuine ingredients (I had no idea Pecorino Romano was so expensive!). I bought some very beautiful organic Bartlett Pears (I don't usually go for organic, but these were stunningly beautiful).
In fact, as my sister was beginning her mise en place, I was inspired by the gorgeous perfectly-shaded pear and lovely peccarino wedge to take some Still Life pix of the pretty ingredients. At the right is a pic of most of the ingredients (minus the mascarpone, butter, salt, pepper). My sister did a FABULOUS JOB on the cooking, and the pasta was perfectly done and amazingly delicious!!!
( Click for the recipe )
Results:
Completed, in pan |
Served, in blue Pyrex bowl |
And then for dessert, we each had half a slice of Carrot Cake (from Fresh and Easy), served on my favorite little Corelle Plates with Purple Paisley Ornamentation (from India).
OK, yeah, I got a bit carried away with photos. ;)
UPDATE: Made a new icon!
Current Mood:  awake | | Monday, April 18th, 2011 | | 9:52 am |
A micro-job for LA City again
A few days ago I got a call from a LA City rep to work as a Poll Inspector for the upcoming election on Tuesday May 17th. This time they called me; I didn't have to call them. I'm happy to have yet another nice μjob -- yay! I just deposited the $175 paycheck yesterday from the last election (they take 4-6 weeks to arrive). Another of those nice checks will be heartily welcome!
This will be my 6th time working the polls, including my 3rd time as an Inspector (pollworker in charge). I'll be at the same CHURCH as last time, which means I know who to contact and where the chairs and tables are (well-) hidden. OK, that's cool.
( ballot race details )
The upshot of all that is that I believe we'll be holding this whole election in my area for just one runoff race. Sounds like this one will be really REALLY mellow!
Current Mood: awake | | Saturday, March 19th, 2011 | | 8:00 am |
| | 3:26 am |
Mar 8 2011 LA City (LACCD) Election -- 2nd time Inspector -- REVIEW
On Tuesday March 8th we had a local LA City election, and though I don't live in LA City proper, the LACCD (Los Angeles Community College District) does overlap into my city. Therefore my little city was a participant in the LA City election. And I'd signed up to be a Poll Inspector -- the person in charge of the Polling Place. Here's how it went (recorded here so I'll have it for next time, and for anyone who might be curious):
( Long Notes )
Overall it was a lot of work (inspector work usually is) and went relatively smoothly. With two notes (emboldened above) for next time.
Current Mood:  accomplished | | Friday, March 18th, 2011 | | 11:58 pm |
10 Years! =^..^=
 So, today (3/18) is the 10-year anniversary of my bringing ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) mira_kitty home from Starland to live with me. I'm happy to say "The honeymoon is not over!" -- I still repeatedly look at her fondly and give a happy *sigh*. I continue to feel so very lucky that she's here in my life.  A bit o' Googling revealed that the 10th anniversary is supposed to be Tin or Aluminum [*], which was unfortunately a bit boring. So I decided that for cats it must be The Seafood Anniversary. So she got a special serving of Fancy Feast Appetizers For Cats: Seabass & Shrimp Appetizer. Boy, she snarfed it up in purry bliss! Ahhhh, Mira![*] Thanks to not_for_orphans for reminding me to look up what was the appropriate gift for this 10th anniversary occasion! Current Mood: thankful | | Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 | | 2:28 am |
LA Community College District -- Voting
After a relatively quick-and-dirty online investigation, here's a quick li'l post that probably only not_for_orphans (and perhaps her cohabitors) will find interesting or relevant:
LA Weekly writes:
As a reform slate of candidates emerges in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board of Trustees race, incumbents are pulling their hair out amid an L.A. Times expose uncovering fraud and misuse of horrifyingly large chunks of $5.7 billion in voter approved bonds for construction within the district [...]
Ron Kaye Clean Sweep endorsed.[...]
So... my 'endorsements' for the four available seats in the Los Angeles Community College District:
| The "Team 4 Reform" |
| LACCD Board of Trustees, Seat #1 | Jozef "Joe" Essavi |
| LACCD Board of Trustees, Seat #3 | Joyce Burrell Garcia |
| LACCD Board of Trustees, Seat #5 | Lydia Gutiérrez |
| LACCD Board of Trustees, Seat #7 | Erick Aguirre |
( REFERENCE LINKS )
Comments welcome if you wanna question any of this, or for any other reason (of course!).
Now off to sleep for me, 'cause I've gotta be a Poll Inspector tomorrow EARLY MORNING!!! In a church. *sigh*
UPDATE: This says none of my people won. Oh well.
Current Mood: accomplished | | Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 | | 3:55 am |
| | 3:39 am |
My next micro-job!
A few weeks ago (1/31) I got an Official Sample Ballot in mail for our upcoming Tuesday March 8 election. This is an "LA City" election, which always weirds me out since I don't technically live in LA City (though I am in LA County). But apparently LA City's "Los Angeles Community College District" overlaps into my city, and we will be voting on four "Member of the Board of Trustees" seats. OK. This is one of those elections that gets Extrememly Small Turnout, so for a pollworker it's Really, Really Easy.
So of course the first thing I did the morning after I got the Sample Ballot (2/1) is I called to see if I could get a μjob to work the election, preferably as an Inspector, or as a regular Clerk (random pollworker) if no Inspector positions were available. They said they'd let me know.
Two days later (2/3) I got a call from "Maxine" that I could work as a Clerk. That was great news! I agreed, and signed up to work at a local church, but also said to still let me know if an inspector position opened up. Pay of $80 would be mine.
Finally, a few days ago (2/10) Maxine called me back to say I could work as an Inspector (at a different local church). Yaaaay! Inspector work always includes *some* hard work and extra work, especially including much physical lifting, plus full responsibility for everything. But that's cool; I'll do it. I prefer being in charge to have the authority to see that things are done correctly. And the pay of $175 is a noticeable boon to this unemployed person! :D
This will be my 5th time working the polls, including my 2nd time as an Inspector (pollworker in charge). Working in churches still feels kinda wrong, though....
They told me that May 8th is the next LA City election -- I'm on the list to possibly work that one too. I dunno if it's required that actual voting take place in my non-LA-City city; we'll see. Actually, I got a li'l flyer in the mail that explained our upcoming elections in general (reproduced here for future reference):
| |
LA CITY |
LA COUNTY |
| Registered Voters |
1,596,165 |
4,4476,321 |
| Precincts |
1,360 |
4,770 |
| Election Dates |
March & May
odd-numbered years |
Feb. & June & Nov.
even-numbered years |
Current Mood: awake | | Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 | | 5:58 am |
| | Monday, December 6th, 2010 | | 7:05 am |
| | Saturday, November 6th, 2010 | | 2:13 am |
Amusing Skills To Pass Some Time While Pollworking
Last time I worked the polls, the Amusing Skill To Pass Some Time was Magic Squares. This time my Amusing Skill To Pass Some Time was my ability to write upside-down. I'd learned to read upside-down in high school during a free reading period when I'd repeatedly forgotten to bring a new novel (I had a convenient thin paperback that lived in a pocket in my notebook). I'd learned to write upside-down in grad school when I'd write notes on my papers from across my advisor's desk while he was reading them. When I was bored in grad school classes I'd write upside-down alphabets to help improve this exciting skill. I can still actually do it! I caught our Student Clerk (Miles) flipping his pen in his hand -- you know, that classic little pen flip/twirl that looks so slick when mastered. That was his Amusing Skill To Pass Some Time. I'd never learned how to do it, much to my personal grave disappointment. Miles gave me a few lessons, and I did manage two or three successful flips!!! Out of about a hundred. Oh well -- I'm not a student any more, so I probably won't practice this sufficiently to master the feat. Miles was actually rather cool -- he's a Junior in high school, and he's working hard so he can to go to UCSD to study Biology. He was also working on his trig homework, so we had some discussions about the math, of course. It was a treat to have such a fun co-worker to chat and interact with, which made the day much more pleasant. I wonder what little Amusing Skills will show up next time I'm a Pollworker.... Current Mood: amused | | 2:11 am |
Nov 2 2010 Gubernatorial Election -- 1st time Inspector (in charge)! [LONG!]
As I previously mentioned, on Tuesday Nov. 2, I worked as a Pollworker for my 4th time, and for my first time I was an Inspector. This meant I was in charge of my Precinct: go to training, pick up supplies, set up voting, make voting work, teardown & accounting, drop off materials. Yeah, my notes below are LONG, but I want to remember all the fussy details for my own sake. And I just made a new li'l icon of my badge to represent my Pollworking experiences. :)
There are five jobs at our polls -- and we had six people! That was nice! ( CLERK JOBS )
( GENERAL NOTES )
( HOW THE DAY WENT )
( NOTES FOR NEXT TIME )
SUMMARY: I think I would work as a Poll Inspector again, if I have the time available. It should be easier the 2nd time, using my "NOTES FOR NEXT TIME" above to make it better.
Current Mood: accomplished | | Friday, November 5th, 2010 | | 6:53 pm |
CA Prop results (+ selected races)
Partially for my own sake, I'm summarizing the prop results and some of the races below.
Results taken from the "Semi-Official Results" page. (Plus LA County Election Results)
| CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS
| | 19 | Me | CA
(%YES) | My notes about the prop & my choice. |
| 19 | Yes | 46.1% | Marijuana -- legalize, regulate, tax it. Reduce "drug war" enforcement waste, criminal profits. |
| 20 | ~No | 61.2% | Redistricting of Congressional Districts: "The commission is hardly a fair body — it has the same number of Republicans as Democrats in a state where there are far more Democrats than Republicans." (SFBG) |
| 21 | Yes | 41.9% | New $18 vehicle license fee, dedicated to state parks and wildlife conservation. |
| 22 | No | 61.0% | Limitation on State Taking Local Redevelopment Funds: "it's not so simple: Sometimes it actually makes sense to use redevelopment money to fund, say, education — and only the state can do that." (SFBG) |
| 23 | No | 38.8% | Suspend air pollution laws? Hell NO! |
| 24 | Yes | 41.5% | Close special corporate tax loopholes. |
| 25 | Yes | 54.8% | Change from 2/3 to majority vote for state budget. 2/3 requirement is like filibuster, only worse! |
| 26 | No | 52.8% | Require a 2/3 vote for fees? No, too simplistic & restricting. Can protect polluters from fees, for example. |
| 27 | ~No | 40.5% | Eliminate New Redistricting Commission: "The panel isn't at all representative of the state (it has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats) and could be insensitive to the political demographics of California cities." (SFBG) |
So, 3/9 went the way I'd hoped. Whee. I'm disappointed about 19, relieved about 23, and very pleased about 25.
I heard our pro-marijuana dudes are gonna re-file for 2012. Maybe they'll fix up the sub-optimal regulations that so many people didn't like, and the youth vote will turn out, and it could pass next time....
( OTHER RESULTS )
This is freaky -- if Kamala Harris does pull it off (and I really hope she does), all my non-Judge votes will have been for winners! At least California shines a nice shade of BLUE while the rest of the country is reddening!
Current Mood:  pensive |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
enraged
