I saw this movie in 1976, when I was in my twenties, and I've seen it many times since. I watched it on one of the movie channels the other day, and for the first time, I realized how complex it was. Sure, John Travolta danced and looked really hot. The dumb seventies outfits were really stupid looking, but Travolta managed to look great in that white suit.

There's Tony's brother, who gives up the priesthood, disgracing (in their eyes, at least) his family.

There was all that casual sex in the car, the deeper conversations between Stephanie and Tony when she confessed that she knew nothing when she went to work at a PR firm and turned to an older man for help (and lived with him and went to bed with him sex, too).

There was the chunky, virginal gal who loved Tony and was willing to risk pregnancy to have sex with him--but who gave it up to his pals after downing drugs watching him dance with Stephanie. Tony calls her a cunt to make her feel really good about herself.

There was the dance contest that Tony and Stephanie won, but not because they were the best, according to Tony, but because they were neighborhood kids; he presents their first place trophy and $500 to the "spicks" he considered the true first place winners.

There's the kid who knocks up his girlfriend and is being forced by his family, her family and his priest to marry her; he winds up drowned at the end of the movie, perhaps a suicide off the Brooklyn Bridge. Tony pushes Stephanie into the car and attempts to force her to have sex with him; she runs off after kneeing him in the balls. At the end of the flick, he asks her to be friends, she agrees, and our last view is of them hugging.

Great movie!

I guess I never realized before, after all the times I've viewed SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, how many layers this movie has. Tony remarks, "All the humpin' is dumpin' half the time." So he's saying that the sex isn't tender or kind or loving, just another way of beating up on your partner, the way they beat up on a gang they THINK has beaten up on a friend of theirs, but learn from him he wasn't SURE it was that gang. . .

Aw shit.

Good stuff.

Don't use 1-800-NYCARPET to do anything carpet related in your home. They came to my house last night, did a terrible job, knocked my new talking clock off the wall into a million pieces on the floor, sent my hallway light fixture askew, pissed off Dan so much, he wanted to punch him out, and generally sucked.

The basement is finished but it was a royal pain in the ass, and I'm so pissed at our oil company for their inept repair of the humidifier!

I'm going to my gym after work to get rid of this anger.

Two more days until my birthday!



Love, Robin

When I was a youngster, my family always used to go to the Milleridge Inn, a Jericho restaurant that seemed specially created for Christmas, to celebrate my December 14th birthday. I've never been there any other time of year, and wonder if they just keep it decorated with all the wreaths, Christmas trees and Chanukah displays all year round.

I have a distinct memory of going to the Millleridge for my 16th birthday with just my father and brother. Dad let me have a sweet, boozy beverage as a treat, but I preferred my Coke. I ordered all the expensive stuff--shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, brownie a la mode--and ate every single bite. I was thin back then, not pudgy like I am now, and could get away with eating whatever I wanted. I remember feeling like such a big girl, sitting there in that warm, Christmasy room with my big brother and my father, the two of them exchanging dirty jokes that I really understood.

Yesterday, I went to the Milleridge with my husband and son. The magic was still there, but the prices had multiplied themselves by five from age 16 to 53! I had lightly breaded baby scallops, salad, chopped liver and a brownie, all so delicious. They started us out with warm cinnamon bread, one of my favorites, and the choral group regaled us with Christmas songs (after which they offered to sell us their new CD). The only thing missing that would have made it all absolutely perfect was Bugsy and Snaps, but the restaurant wouldn't have welcomed them, sorry to say. I was reluctant to leave, but our waitress was swift and it wasn't long before we paid our $100+ bill, took a few photos in front of the hallway Christmas tree, raced through the darling (expensive) shops, returned to our car (parked far, far away) and returned home. I had hoped to go to the gym, but was far too full to do much more than read the Sunday paper.

I DID hit the gym Saturday, but napped that afternoon away, damn me, missing what was supposed to be an excellent temple bazaar. I was angry at Dan for not waking me, but he was under the impression the bazaar was ending at 9 PM, not 5 PM, which was the hour at which I awakened. Dan, Brad and I did go to dinner at Fra Amichi, an Italian restaurant in Bethpage recommended by Stan. It was OK, but it was another of those places that gives you salad OR pasta, not both. That's a growing trend I do NOT like!

Today Anthony is supposed to finish working on the basement. It sure will be nice to have it all done!

Love, Robin

I really had to WORK today! Connie and I made phone calls to ALL the associate offices to tell them about their holiday schedules--and they all received this information via e-mail! So why were we calling? To "go over it with them" and confuse the shit out of them! Busywork for assholes. I had plenty of other stuff to do, believe me, and managed to get it all done, but it was such a WORK-FILLED day, and I must confess, I'm not used to those.

I spent last night alone until Dan and Brad arrived home after 10 PM, the latter from parent-teacher conferences, the former from his company Christmas party. Dan had a nice time, but didn't win anything at the raffle. Brad said the parents he wanted to speak to didn't show, but he received a lot of compliments and no one verbally or in any other way attacked him thank God).

I just made some spaghetti with meat sauce for myself and shared a little with the dogs. While it was warmish yesterday, the temps plummeted at night fell, and it was bitterly cold today, with a nasty wind that drove the iciness right through you. When I walked Bugs and Snaps this morning, I rushed them along, but as usual, they were content to sniff and see what was pee-worthy and what wasn't. Nancy and I tried to walk this morning, but it was far too frigid and windy to stay out long; my lips and face quickly went numb, so we returned to the building and talked in a warm room for the remainder of my lunch break.

Since Allstate told me to find someone to finish off the basement, I went in the net and found a "finisher." I e-mailed them and got a call back less than five minutes later--which means either they're really good or really desperate for business! The guy was supposed to come to the house between 4-6 PM, but this eager fellow called me at work to tell me he was already in front of my house--before 3 PM! I was a tad miffed, because I'd wanted to stop for half an hour at the gym, but that canned my plans!

I raced home, most of the lights and traffic with me, got the dogs into the backyard and joined Anthony down in my basement. He shook his head at the unfinished mess Unique Restoration left behind, and said he would have done it from start to finish--correctly! He was a nice guy, claiming 10 years of experience in the carpet business, and really seemed to know his shit. He's charging us $200 (including the padding, cleaning the carpet, putting it back down, restoring all the molding), which is actually what I figured it would cost, so right after his departure, I called Allstate and told them the price. They're sending us a check, plus some more, and no deductible. That's nice.

My next call was to the oil company to tell them the clean-up of their error cost us $652. Don't ask me where I came up with that, but I'm guesstimating. I'm sure Unique Restoration is sending Allstate a big bill for their limited services at my house, and warned my insurer to inspect their bill carefully in case they claimed work they didn't do or came up with an exorbitant amount. Hey, I'm getting what I can from EVERYONE involved in this insanity! Why? Because I was inconvenienced. Because I had to put up with Dan and Brad complaining. Because I'm the one waiting for these people to come to the house and have to get the dogs outside, then listen to them bark-complaining! So if our oil company wants to give us free heating oil or send us a check to defray the costs, I'm going to let them, damn it!

OK, that's off my chest.

I was lonely last night. Usually, I watch TV by myself, anyway, but I know Dan's in the computer room and Brad is somewhere in the house. It was too quiet last night, and even though I was watching SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL, two of my favorite shows, I was close to falling asleep with both dogs sharing the lounge chair with me. I so love those two!

When I get home today, Sharon is coming over for a little while, just for coffee. I'm praying Bugsy behaves himself! She wanted a full get-together tonight, but I'm meeting Dan later at the gym, then we're eating dinner out. I missed the gym yesterday and plan to go tonight, tomorrow and possibly Sunday, if possible.

Later, Merry Blogsters! Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, Robin

A Newsday story today tells of a horrible woman who apparently left her injured dog, who'd been struck by a car, to die in her backyard. Instead of seeking medical help for the poor animal, she let it die, probably in agony. The dog will find loved ones on Rainbow Bridge, but you, lady, you fucking bitch, may you find hell right here on earth!

I had to get that off my chest.

I spoke with our Allstate agent, David, yesterday. I told him about Unique Restoration, which failed to restore our basement back to its original state. David asked me if *I* could find someone to replace the padding and put the carpeting back where it belongs. He's in the Westchester area, so what does he know about Long Island? He set us up with Unique, and look how much they suck!

So I went hunting on Angie's List and the internet, and found a company that seems to take care of everything carpet. They're coming to my house between 4-6 today, which gives me enough time to spend a quick half hour in the gym.

Last night, Dan and I went to Wal-Mart to buy him a nice pair of pants and shirt for his company Christmas party tonight. We had dinner in the food court, at Wendy's. I had a hamburger, something I rarely eat, but it tasted soooo good! Their fries aren't that great, but, starving, I ate them all.

Brad, who was tutoring and scoring a game at school, asked us to buy him a Ranch 1 chicken teriyaki bowl, but it turned out that place had closed down--so we called him back and he asked for a foot long hero from Subway.

We found Dan a nice pair of blue pants and a blue shirt as his party outfit, for a grand total of $26. Only the BEST for my husband, tee hee! Seriously, he's got a skinny ass and legs, but getting anything to fit around his giant belly is difficult. His stomach bulges out so much, he looks 9.5 months preggers!

Now I have to go home and get the dogs outside. I asked the gal at the carpet company to have the guy call me from his vehicle before coming to the door; that will give me time to get the pooches out before he gets them all riled up. David at Allstate said they're waiving our deductible because of all the trouble, and assured me they'll pay whatever it costs to right the basement. The oil company wants to kick in something, too. I'm waiting to see what this entire thing costs before giving them a "bill."

What I'd REALLY like to do this afternoon is go straight home (no gym), gather the dogs and go upstairs for a looooong nap. Even though my thyroid med has been increased, I still feel so very tired.
I do want to spend about half an hour at the gym today, then go home to meet the carpet guy in case he shows at 4. Yeah, right!

Love, Robin

Here we are! I didn't hear anything from Allstate, but Dan apparently called our agent yesterday and reamed him out for his lack of attention to our claim. The poor guy is probably terrified to return my call, in case I'm as nasty as Dan. See, I realize now that getting angry and yelling at people is ineffectual--at first. When you are calm and even-toned, people listen. If they prove themselves assholes AFTER I've been kind and quietly explained my problem, then I light into them and make them wish their father had used a condom with their mom the night they were conceived!

So our basement is still in an uproar, and what a pain in the ass that is. Tonight I'm joining Dan at Wal-Mart to buy some cheap nice pants and shirt to wear tomorrow night at his Christmas party. They used to have a gorgeous sit-down dinner for all employees AND spouses, but they discontinued that years ago. Now Dan goes mostly for appearance's sake, even though the bastards haven't given him a raise in 5 years. Last year he won a nice watch foe me in the annual holiday raffle,and I'm hoping for something equally nice this year. Ah, I used to get all dressed up, made up, jeweled, coiffed up for that party, and I miss doing it just that once a year. Sigh.

Stan came over last night; Dan brought home two pizzas for the four of us. I gather Stan, who's in his 60's, has had a tough life--lived in a bad area, got beaten up many times, his wife was wife raped, lost all his money somehow, but he's got bigger problems than he realize--Bugsy doesn't like him!!

I was worried about Bugsy when I knew Stan was coming over, but he usually checks people out, sniffs, nibbles a bit, then settles down. Not this time. He stalked Stan, barked endlessly at him, nibbled, then went to BITE. Stan nearly kicked Bugsy, but I was able to separate them using the baby gate. Bugsy, however, wanted AT this man, and barked so loudly and insistently, he gave Dan a headache.

It was impossible listening to Stan drone on about his proposed article with Bugsy protesting his imprisonment so loudly behind the gate, but I managed to get the gist. This man is WORDY, both in speech and on paper. He needs to cut what he has to say down to 800 words, and whether or not he's going to manage that is questionable. The man is BURSTING with words, thousands and thousands of them! I don't know if I'm the right person to edit his work, and to hear him talk, he barely has two pennies to rub together, so how much can I charge him, in all good conscience? I was cursing my husband for telling Stan I'm a writer-editor. I missed the first 20 minutes of GILMORE GIRLS!

I think I've droned on enough for today. Have a wonderful evening, dear Merry Blogsters!

Love, Robin