The past few weeks (just finished) I have been getting to know the most deplorable but magnetic, Ignatius J. Reilly and have been transported into his world! I got a few strange looks laughing out loud while reading it (too stinking bad - it is humor). If you haven’t read this book and you live in Louisiana, shame on you - get it (hint - buy below). If you enjoy reading brilliant pieces of literature that will make you laugh and give you a chance to get into the New Orleans culture of the early 60s - get it (hint buy below). One of these days, it will be on the big screen and you will be happy that I recommended you read the book!

Another fabulous book for you (hint - buy below) is The Secret Scroll. If you loved the DaVinci Code, you won’t want to miss this page turner!

BTW - if you still haven’t created your own Shelfari, get your butt over there and get one going - it’s free!!!

Back to vacation folks! Ciao!

***Listen this Saturday from 3:00-4:00 on AM 690 WIST, while I interview designer Harold Clarke and UCM curator John Preble.

Now y’all know that The Princess of Positive always enjoys herself and hardly complains…but who dumped the freaking algae from Lake Pontchartrain in my beach water??? It is a conspiracy of some sort I tell ya! Maybe it is that evil Plankton (for all you SB fans - insert evil laugh here). It really doesn’t bother me that much if I just imagine it is real live seaweed instead of nasty algae! Oh ya and then there is the jellyfish - ewwwww. One cousin got today and thank goodness I had my Boudreaux’s Butt Paste!

Summer of Greta (Seinfeld reference) starts this week and I plan to slowly decompose! I have 2 books to finish and I may even answer my e-mails. I’ll write to ya’ll again tomorrow - if I darn well feel like it. And if anyone wants some algae in a jar for a souvenir, I’ll get ya some!

How did I come up with these classifications of people? I thought you’d never ask.

Well, I recently read an Andy Rooney piece where he talked about types of house guests. He had something to say about guests who strip the bed and puts the sheets in the laundry and those who just ask what they can do. Then I spent the last weekend with my husband’s family at their family reunion (need I say more - lol). There were about 50 people there and there tends to be a pattern regarding those who will help in the kitchen and clean up and those who don’t. I don’t think I need to tell you what I did this weekend. Yes, I busted my arse the entire weekend because ya’ll know how much I enjoy domestic duties - NOT! But, because I AM THE SAME DAMN PERSON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL!!! In other words - I’m not waiting for someone else to do it.

So tell me dear readers…do you change the toilet paper roll when it is finished or leave it for the next person?

We will be heading to Cotton & Thomasville, GA to be exact (wot woot). The reward after this weekend is a week in Destin. No bartender on the beach, so I’ll have to settle for a 6 pack in the cooler instead. I have big plans for myself this week - 3 books to read! Setting my goals high for sure!

Oh ya - and for gifts for relatives we haven’t seen sine we moved to Louisiana - fleur de lis crud & BEADS!!!

Be good and I’ll write again as soon as I darn well feel like it or at least have internet!

I feel like an old lady saying this (not that I have anything against old ladies), but remember the times before automated phone services? You know, when we called a business and did not hear, “Please listen carefully as our options have changed?” Does everyone have to have to say that anyways - just tell me the dang options! And remember the good ole days when you could press “O” on all phone systems and get a real person. Now we are tricked into having to sit like drones until the recorded voice gives us the secret code to get to a real live person (hopefully in the US and not reading a teleprompter).

I’m actually an easy customer. I don’t demand too much, but I do expect common sense, courtesy and ya know - good customer service.

My husband’s new joke is to ask if the person I am talking to could please transfer me to someone useful haha. We could take this further to include: could I please talk to someone who cares, takes pride in their job or who has a clue. Basically - connect me to someone who gives a s&*# LOL!

So laugh with me dear readers and share your funniest, worst, or most ridiculous customer service story. Come on - you know you have one!!!

Now to register our 18′ Nitro boat. Technically, you are supposed to register your boat in LA shortly after you move here or get your license or something like that. But, when you paid for a multi-year registration in another state, who wants to waste money! Our registration officially expired June 30, so we had plenty of time if we started in May - NOT!!!! Here goes…

***Honey, here is ALL the paperwork. ALL the forms are filled out and EVERY piece of documentation (and then some) is in order!

***Husband leaves the tax office with a big grrrrr! They held a meeting while he was in there (DMV flashbacks) about whether OK excise tax could be the same thing as sales tax. They told him he would have to pay taxes again as excise tax COULD NOT BE COUNTED as sales tax. He decided to pay it and wait for a refund as we needed to get the boat registered as it was already the end of May. We paid $700 in taxes AGAIN!!!

***The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries only has a Baton Rouge office, and DOES NOT, I REPEAT, DOES NOT ANSWER THEIR PHONE OR THEIR E-MAIL. So we took the plunge and Fed-Ex’d all our ORIGINAL documents to them (I hate doing that).

***A week later we got a letter that said we did not do something properly. It was hard to figure out where we screwed up from the letter. I CALLED AND I CALLED for a whole week to try and speak to someone at Wildlife & Fisheries and finally called the webmaster (sneaky devil me) who connected me to a real live person (possibly the only one that works there). The person told me I needed a Parish signature and that if I brought them the copy of the tax form, they should be able to sign it for me. I was told it was boat season and they were very busy. HALF HOUR CHUNKS AT A TIME - what a joke - nobody was picking up their phones. And why have an e-mail if NOBODY will answer it?

***Drove out to the Covington Court House to pay my St Tammany Parish tax for the boat. I called the day before to make sure they would sign a “copy” of my tax form. “Not a problem,” said the person on the phone (and no I didn’t get a name). I got there and, “We can’t sign a copy of this. Let me call my supervisor because I am pretty sure the state of Louisiana screwed up your tax processing. Yes, as a matter of fact they did screw it up and we won’t sign the paperwork until you file for an amendment and bring us the original that you need to get back from Wildlife & Fisheries (like I could ever get hold of them). Have a nice day.” Really nice lady btw.

***Called the Baton Rouge office and explained the dilemma to 3 different people I explained there was no point in going back to the New Orleans office if they were not educated in the fact that excise tax = sales tax in OK!!! The last person went to speak to her supervisor and put me on hold for 15 minutes - I finally hung up.

***Called the New Orleans tax office where we started this whole thing. Finally got the supervisor who told me I had to either come in person or fax every document. I stayed sweet and persistent and then she realized she had every document scanned into the system. She wanted to review everything and get back to me (damn right I got her extension and full name).

***She called me back and we reviewed the documents over the phone. She still couldn’t understand that it was JUST VERBAGE!!! Excise tax in OK is the term they use in lieu of sales tax (it says that on their website). She claimed that they were not in the business of looking up other state laws (wth??). HELLO - I’ve moved all over the US and had to register everything in new states - no big whoop! It is their business to understand what they are collecting (or did I miss something here).

Here I am staring at the document and she finally agreed to let me e-mail her the link. Of course I highlighted the info for her too. She will now discuss this with her superior in Baton Rouge and get back to me by the end of the day. No, she did not get back to me.

*** Hopefully Wednesday AM she will have accomplished her mission, we will go into the office and sign the amendment, she will give us a NEW original tax copy that I can bring to Covington to send to Wildlife and Fisheries and THEN I CAN GET A FREAKING BOAT STICKER!!!!! Because you all know by now that we get pulled over one to two times a boat excursion on the Tchefuncte (because of the OK sticker).

*** Glad we aren’t moving again and glad I won’t have to jump through any more registration hoops. Even though I am sharing this with you, I am not complaining as I can’t, I am the freaking Princess of Positive.

Bobby Jindal, your office will be hearing from me about this when I have my registration in my hand.

***Oh ya, our boat is called the, “KISS MY GUMBO.” We really need to get name decals for it. Any good places for that?

*This post can be read on NOLA.com and my personal blog.

Let’s talk resumes. There are a gazillion ways to do one and things have certainly changed from 14 years ago when the only concern was shopping for good paper and making sure it didn’t look strange or have any typos!

A month ago my friend e-mailed me a job description that had my name written all over it. I contacted the company and they asked for my resume - immediately! I explained to them that I had been a SAHM for 12 years and I didn’t have a current resume. So yes, I threw together the most pitiful 10 minute resume you have never seen! I got a phone interview, so maybe they were able to see past the train wreck resume a little bit.

Next I had an unrelated job interview, then something else came up and guess what…they all wanted a resume! I love organizing houses, blogging, being on the radio (I want more than an hour a week soooo bad), and volunteering my time for Soldiers’ Angels…but. I’ve given myself until the kids go back to school (August 8th - yikes) to see if there is anything else out there for me. Otherwise, will steamroll ahead with the organizing business.

Anyhoo, it felt weird to get everything I have done that has mostly NOT earned money over the past 12 years on to one page. It pretty much took my entire Sunday (with tons of kids swimming and playing here) to finish it. The internet is awesome because I had several “eyes” give me great suggestions too.

Ya- I remember hearing many times, “always keep your resume updated.” Guess 8 moves in 16 years and 3 kids - tends to be distracting - LOL!!!

Today’s adventure, started by meeting some out of town friends at the Napoleon House for lunch, we then poked around Royal Street, stopped by Pat O’s to listen to the piano playing divas for a bit, then we parted ways and I headed to the studio. I did a ton of walking today as the car was parked nowhere near any of my destinations (kind of on purpose).

Having walked in cities throughout Europe and throughout the United States, this little section of the world is the place that makes me feel like no other - the way I want to feel. It is like a magnet and I am a piece of metal drawn to it. I am glad to have a date with the FQ each week!