One of the black belts was helping out in class last week. He’s a sort of gruff older guy. Several times, he made the comment, “you kick like a girl” to me and a the other woman in class. At one point, he tried to explain that he meant no offense by the comment. I don’t get offended, so I wasn’t offended this time. The other woman said she wasn’t offended either.

On my drive home, I decided I should have been offended. What the guy meant to say was “your kick is weak” or, “you aren’t kicking well enough” or even, “your kick sucks.” But what he said was “you kick like a girl.” So, in his mind GIRL=WRONG/BAD/WEAK/SUCKS. And that’s NOT OKAY.

I don’t blame him. Our society (heck, our whole world) has made this type of thing acceptable. Kicking like a girl, screaming like a girl, throwing like a girl… they are all regarded as negative things. In fact, I can’t think of anything that is done “like a girl” that isn’t regarded as negative.

I think girls rock. So, if I kick like a girl, then my kick must rock. Don’t you agree? I’m not going to give that guy a hard time about it. He’s an ignorant victim of society’s campaign to treat women like lesser beings. But the next time he tells me I kick like a girl, I’m going to thank him. Maybe when he has to explain that his comment was meant as criticism, he’ll realize his mistake.

I don’t mind automated systems. Really. What drives me crazy is automated systems that don’t work correctly. And doesn’t it seem like a lot of companies have disabled their “dial 0 to talk to a real person” option? Sorry, that selection is invalid.

And then, when I do finally get to talk to a real live person, I have a very difficult time understanding many of them. I’ve always had a difficult time understanding some accents. Put that person on the other end of a phone with a lousy connection, and I’m completely lost. Why are companies outsourcing their customer service call centers? I don’t really need an answer to that. It’s money.

I’ve also noticed more than one of my monthly billing statements being printed from a really crappy printer. My car payment looks like it was printed off an inkjet with a lower quality than a typical home inkjet. My credit card statement looks like a really bad fax.

I understand the need to save money. But I would prefer companies to spend a little less on the salaries of their top executives instead of cutting corners and making their customers feel less important. I think this kind of thinking will eventually come back and bite them all in the butts.

I need to have some lab work done today. I’m not allowed caffeine for 24 hours before the test. That’s easy enough. I also can’t eat for four hours prior to the test. That’s not so easy. I think I’ve mentioned at least once before that the most difficult part about any medical procedure is when they restrict my food intake. I don’t necessarily eat a lot, but I like to eat when I WANT TO EAT.

Today is especially difficult. I went to the gym for an hour and a half at 10:00 a.m. I had a good breakfast before 9:00 and a snack at 10:00. Class ends at 11:30, but I’m allowed no food or drink after 11:00. It’s just after 1:00 now, and my stomach is complaining. Loudly.

I wonder if my test will be skewed after I pass out from low blood sugar.

You know that image that pops into your head when you hear about an ignorant married woman who has no credit of her own and no understanding of the household finances? Even as a young girl, I knew that would never be me. I didn’t want to be dependent on my husband. I had my own credit card and checking account before I met Rob. When we were married, we got our joint checking account, though I still kept my own account because that is what smart women do. We don’t split up money or anything like some couples do. All the money is our money.

But I now realize that I am very dependent on Rob. Perhaps less so now than a few years ago, but more than I ever imagined I would be. A few years ago, when we were still in our first home, if someone would have asked me about my mortgage I wouldn’t have been able to answer. How much is the house worth? Dunno. How much is your monthly payment? Dunno. How much are your property taxes? Dunno. How much is your homeowners insurance? Dunno. Rob took care of all the money, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to know those things. Nor did I care to learn those things. I didn’t want to take responsibility for those things.

Then we had the boys and I had to start being more responsible. Doctors appointments, daycare enrollment, and financial aid for my school tuition all became things that were my responsibility. When we moved into this house three years ago, I took over the household finances. I can now answer any questions about our finances, including the basics of our mortgage. I’m regaining independence. But every once in a while, I’m reminded just how little I know about some things.

A case in point is my recent visit to the urgent care. While checking in, the receptionist asked me to verify my insurance information, and my lack of an intelligent answer probably led her to believe I was there for head trauma.

Her: “Your husband still works for ‘SomeCompany’ in ‘SomeCity’?”
Me: “Yes. Well, no. Kind of. They changed their name, so they’re ‘SomeOtherCompany’ now.”
Her: “So he works for ‘SomeOtherCompany’?”
Me: “I think so. I mean, he does, but I’m not sure which part he works for. There’s ‘SomeOtherCompany’, ‘AnotherCompany’, and ‘COMPANY’, but they’re all the same company. I guess you can just put ‘SomeOtherCompany’, right?”
Her: “Okay. So ‘SomeOtherCompany’. What’s his phone number there in ‘SomeCity’?”
Me: “No. Not ‘SomeCity’. He’s in ‘NewCity’ now.”
Her: “Not ‘SomeCity’?”
Me: “No, he used to be in ‘SomeCity’, but he’s in ‘NewCity’ now.”
Her: “Okay. What’s his ‘NewCity’ number then?”
Me: “Uh… I don’t know. He’s out of the office a lot.”
Her: “Does he have a cell phone?”
Me: “Oh, sure.” (I give her the number)
Her: “What’s the address there?”
Me: “Uh.”
Her: “You don’t know the address?”
Me: “I think… Oh! I know the street. It’s on ‘AnotherCompany’ Drive.”
Her: “‘AnotherCompany’?”
Me: “Yes. Hmm. I wonder if that means ‘AnotherCompany’ is the employer then. Do you think we should change that?”
Her: “To ‘AnotherCompany’?”
Me: “Yes. I mean… no, maybe not. Just leave it.”
Her: “Okay. What does he do there?”
Me: “Uh… I don’t know.”
Her: “What’s his job title?”
Me: “I don’t really know.”
Her: “You don’t know?”
Me: “No. He’s um… He… It’s a bank. Can you put that? He works for the bank”
Her: “Like a teller?”
Me: “No, more like a… I don’t know. A… He just works for the bank.”

Did I just give you a new image to pop into your head when you hear about ignorant married women?

On Saturday, just when Rob has lost all hope of ever receiving it, the fully charged battery for our Roomba arrived. It took a whole 30 seconds to update the software, then the little guy was up and running. I kept moving furniture around to let it get all those hard to reach places, and I think that might have confused it a little. But the little thing did a very thorough job of getting all the dog hair. It got every corner, it got around every table leg, and it got under every piece of furniture that had enough clearance for it.

Before I took the boys to tae kwon do today, I spent a few minutes getting the lower level ready for the Roomba to vacuum again. I moved the dining room chairs away from the table, picked up a pair of shoes, and made sure there were no electrical cords touching the floor. Then I turned it on, left, and came home to clean floors. With the daily vacuuming taken care of, I bet I’ll be up to tackling mopping and wiping the baseboards more often. Or maybe I’ve just bought myself more sitting-on-my-ass time. Either way, my Roomba is great for everyday vacuuming on our non-carpeted surfaces.

I haven’t tried the Roomba on carpeting or near stairs, though I’ve read reviews that say it handles them both well. The floors of our bedrooms have lots of clutter, so I’d have to de-clutter daily to let the Roomba vacuum daily. And I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.

My DreamyBubbles pendants got two GREAT reviews this week. The first review is by Wickedly Chic in the Fresh and Chic column. Wickedly Chic is becoming one of the hottest shopping magazines on the web, so being featured there means good things for my pendants.

The second review is by one of my most favorite shopping blogs, Rare Bird Finds. Rare Bird Finds is a source for unique items made by designers all around the world. All their finds are so cool, so I’m very excited that they have featured my pendants.

Since getting serious about my jewelry business this year, I’ve been doing my best to support other indie businesses whenever possible. I grew up in a very small rural town, and we make our home in a small town now. Our local indie businesses struggle to compete with the big guys. I’d like to encourage everyone to make a special effort, for at least this one week, to support their own local indie businesses.

You can take the Indie Challenge — use Independents Week to explore your community’s independently-owned businesses [and] see how much of your purchasing for that week you can do with them. You’ll keep your money circulating in your community three times as long or more than spending it at chains where it leaves immediately for somewhere else. Every dollar you spend at a locally-owned business helps your community in many ways.

~The American Independent Business Alliance