maven&meddler

What a busy week this has been, despite the fact that I haven’t exactly been at the office for most of it. I did, however, get my personal ‘to do’ list pared down by leaps and bounds. I’m rather proud of the clean carpets, emptied out office, cleared off desk, appointments filled, hair cut etc etc etc.

One of the things that’s taken up a considerable amount of time this week has been ferrying some elderly friends around town to doctor appointments, and trying to make sense of their finances. This is a cautionary tale for any woman my age, who just might be married to a man more than 10 or 20 years older than herself. Like age really matters. Stuff happens, if you know what I mean.

‘He’ is simply not able to ‘get it’ anymore, dithering and worrying over minutae and the way it was back in the day. ‘She’ hasn’t paid a bill in three decades and doesn’t know how to use a computer. The kids are well, I don’t know the right turn of phrase …’ busy’.

Blindness, loss of hearing and other physical infirmaties don’t make this any easier.

They’ve been such dear friends for so many years, that it’s obvious that we will step up here. But, we’re both looking at this situation - from different gender and age perspectives - and having some serious talks with ourselves.

The immediate takeaway is this: you must force yourself to stay technologically conversant, and keep finances as simple and co-located in a credit union as possible. Stay far away from money managers. Stay far away from commercial banks that pay virtually zip interest and charge a fee for everything. Keep your significant other engaged in the affairs of finance.

Just some things to think about.

Just went to see ‘Pirate Radio’. Hot Damn! Whatta great movie!!!!

Phillip Seymour Hoffman does his usual standout job, but he simply couldn’t lose with such a strong ensemble cast of misfits. It’s like ‘Titanic’ meets ‘Animal House’. Absolutely loved Bill Nighy, in his perfect rendering of the dissolute, Peter O’Toole type owner of the station. This was over the top in a grand way. And that’s the was all the characters were. Perfectly drawn in miniature, with the whole being gloriously greater than the mere sum of the parts.

Oh, the music was very cool, too.

Yeah.

The story was inspired by the stories of several pirate radio stations moored off the coasts of Denmark and England, most notably, during the sixties and seventies. For more background on this, read about Radio Caroline and Radio Atlanta. Certainly, there were plenty of similar operations, such as border blasters like XERB (featuring DJ, Bob Smith … aka ‘Wolfman Jack’), which was made famous by film maker George Lucas in ‘American Grafitti’.

All too cool for school. I’ve gotta download the soundtrack for ‘Pirate Radio’.

Grumpy and unapologetically not ever Mommy Material,  Maven is the least likely to want to go see a documentary about babies, but this one might just be too irresistable:

Babies is a documentary film by Thomas Balmes, depicting the early lives of four infants growing up in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo, respectively. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States by Focus Features on April 16, 2010.

Oh, gee. Reno Magazine showed up in the mailbox and I was so excited. I’d been waiting breathlessly to get the latest dirt and drama on Nevada’s answer to every other maritally dysfunctional governor.

I know, I know. What was I thinking? Was I going to be turned around by some totally unforeseen revelation? Was Dawn going to say that he was fine, right up until the night the aliens had their way with him. “Shit, there we were - the picture perfect couple, and (sniff) and those little bug eyed bastards ruined him. Ruined it for both of us.”

Like the Las Vegas Gleaner says: “It turns out that the nation’s creepiest and most mentally unbalanced governor is, well, creepy and mentally unbalanced. Good to know.”

It makes me wonder why, every time I run into Jimbo at the airport, he thinks I’m his best friend.

I’m scared. Yawn.

Finally, under Nevada politics, the guy who managed to oust South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle sez that Harry Reid is horrible and must be unseated:

“Tom Daschle was a mere obstructionist of the Republican agenda. Harry Reid is the chief architect of the worst parts of the Obama-Democratic agenda: The job-killing “cap and trade” legislation; the debt-deepening “stimulus” bill; the budget busting bailout and appropriations bills.

And finally, Harry Reid is driving the most dangerous threat to our nation, the $2.5 trillion “health care reform” bill that will destroy private health care insurance and increase taxes on families and small businesses.

Tom Daschle was a rank amateur compared to Harry Reid.”

Sounds like Reid is the worst threat to apple pie and Mom since the Soviets. And, just who does he think has the best chops to do the deed? Sue Lowdon of course. I tried not to laugh. Really, I did. But, what planet are these people living on when they truly believe that her becoming the Nevada Senate Majority Whip and standing firm against any and all threat of taxation in bum fuck Nevada means anything in the larger world of national politics?

I can’t understand the otherwise sensible people who are so adamantly “get rid of Reid!”

And let’s replace the most politically powerful Nevadan in history with a pagent queen of such embarassingly minor proportions. That’s sure to help one of the most economically stressed states in the country a bunch. Have they got her confused with Reese Witherspoon? (Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde) That was a freaking movie!

You don’t have to agree with Reid and you don’t have to like everything he does to realize he’s our best hope for the state’s economic recovery right now. 

Gawd, get a clue.

Finally, if you’re wandering around lost, looking for good ideas for gifts that aren’t going to break the bank, you’re crazy not to wander through Marshall’s and TJ Max. I needed a simple coffee/tea press pot, and after looking at insane prices online, went to Marshall’s and immediately found a dandy one that’s also aesthetically pleasing for a mere $14.99. With a pound of wonderful Peet’s coffee, this would make a great gift idea.

And even better, Peet’s still has their very special Winter Solstice loose tea available. Supplies are usually very limited, so order soon before it’s gone.

Today, a well known national competitor tea sent Maven a sample tea to taste and blog about. The idea was sort of like Winter Solstice. Unfortunately, the freebie was pretty bitter and bad. I poured out the offending brew, heated more water and got out the Peets. Life is too short to drink inferior tea. 

Here’s what Peets says about Winter Solstice:

Premium-quality black teas with spices, vanilla and citrus, ideally suited for enjoyment during the coldest months of the year.

The inspiration for this tea came from our customers, many of whom over the years have requested something particularly evocative of the flavors of the holiday season. Winter Solstice conveys this initially with a trio of classic spices: mellow cinnamon, earthy allspice, and pungent whole cloves – but that’s just the beginning. For natural sweetness and complexity of aroma we’ve included chopped Madagascar vanilla beans to the blend. And for zest, there’s bergamot and Spanish orange peel. These aromatic ingredients are familiar yet unique in combination, becoming an attractive and multi-facetted bouquet.

We’ve kept to our tradition of blending with premium quality teas that are each excellent in their own right. Winter Solstice includes whole leaf black teas from gardens in Darjeeling, Yunnan, and from two Sri Lanka tea districts: select high-grown Uva and the rare Ratnapura FBOPF Extra Special. It all adds up to a hearty cup with lots of flavor: bold and rich, yet rounded and naturally sweet, led by layers of spicy and citrusy scent. This, our most complex blend ever, endeavors to raise the bar for the tea drinker who likes a special seasonal character in their cup. 
 

Well, have a lovely weekend. We’re looking for more snow early in the week with truly low winter temperatures… and great skiing is looking ever more likely.

Yippee!

maven