7. This weekend is a three-day one! Woo-hoo!

And the fun just keeps on coming

Yesterday it took me almost 3 hours to go the 8.4 miles in between work and my friend Jill's house. I know it's 8.4 miles because I checked on Google Maps. We had some winter weather issues, and combined with the reality that people here drive like reckless idiots, there were about 25 major crashes all over the city, shutting down most of the major highways. People often refer to the famed Beltway as a measure of people's attitudes in DC vs. the rest of the U.S; however, it is in fact an actual loop that runs around the city - in other words, all the roads eventually feed into it. So when there are several major wrecks, all those roads that would normally lead to the Beltway are parking lots, and people like me, who really only need to get to that house...that little one right over there...are pretty much screwed.

I finally made it to Jill's around 8:20 or so and managed to make it in the front door without falling or anything (no small feat, I can promise!). We had a good visit about life in general and some books in particular, and then I headed home.

Flashforward to this morning...we have no hot water in our building. Gina and I had issues with our water last week - there was a continuous hot water drip in the shower that turned into a full-on leak. Our hot water is really, really HOT, so things were getting a little steamy. Our landlord was supposed to send a plumber, but he never showed, so after a long day of dripping, steamy water, our entire apartment was like an Amazon jungle. Everything was just a little damp, and Gina's wall calendar wilted. So today there wasn't any hot water until about an hour ago, and even then, it was really spotty - I had to be prepared to hop all over the tub to avoid the scalding hot or freezing cold blast of water.

The only saving grace is that we have a two hour delay. If I didn't have a mountain of work staring me down, I would totally just crawl into bed and call it a day.

I'm feeling a little whiny, despite having aired all of the above, so in an attempt to brighten my mood, I'm going to list the things for which I am grateful in the midst of this:

1. I had lots of gas in my car last night before I left work.
2. I had just bought a radio converter for my ipod, and had music the whole time.
3. I have lovely friends that are willing to entertain me through various phone calls and text messages while I'm stuck in my car.
4. I am now clean and don't have to go to work unshowered.
5. My winter boots from Sarah came in yesterday, so my feet will be warm despite the slush.
6. Tomorrow is Valentine's, and my friends are having a party, where there will be cupcakes and good people.

I'm so ready for some sunshine, literally or figuratively. I'll take what I can get :).

Thai Food for Dinner

I had really, really strange dreams last night. Including a leak in my room ceiling, but it wasn't my actual room so much as a combination of all of the bedrooms I have ever had, and it had this weird plastic ceiling that sort of resembled the one in the yoga studio in Waxahachie. And then I was going on a trip with some friends from college (reminiscent of the cruise?) but my mom had my luggage and everyone kept trying to leave without me.

I blame the penang curry.

The Trip for Ginger's Wedding in Review

Flying: D-
I seriously had the most hellish trip getting from Philadelphia to Houston. The only reason flying didn't flunk entirely was that my trip home was uneventful (albeit a little tight, as I was in a window seat with two rather large people next to me, and they encroached on my seat space a bit). Getting to Houston involved being bumped off a flight, melting down at the ticket counter (at which some nice lady took pity on me and gave me her seat and some kleenex), hanging out on the runway for an hour, running low on fuel and having to stop in Shreveport, having mechanical problems in Shreveport and waiting there for two hours, and finally landing in Houston approximately 4 hours late. And then my taxi got a flat tire on the way to the hotel, which technically doesn't count as flying, but was a fitting end to the journey, I think.

Clothing: B
Mercifully after that trip everything in my luggage arrived on schedule, with nothing spilled or damaged (including my dress for the wedding, which I was stupid enough to pack in my checked luggage, but it all worked out). Unfortunately, the red dress for which I spent a great deal of time hunting in the spring ended up being a wee bit snug in the um, bosom area, so I was not the most comfortable person on Saturday night. I got a few compliments though, so apparently I was the only one aware of the squeeze situation.

Food: A+
I ate so well - favorites included my fish (trout with almonds) at the rehearsal dinner, Dos Salsas in G-town, and of course some good old-fashioned BBQ at Rudy's. I think the wedding food was pretty good too, but I wasn't all that hungry due to adrenaline and such. And the dress, as mentioned above, did not really lend itself to comfortable eating.

Book, Devil in the White City: A
Now I really, really want to visit Chicago. And am very glad I wasn't born in like 1880 or anything. If you like history/architecture/murder psychology, this is a good book for you too!

Amtrak Station at BWI: F
Seriously, BOTH of the elevators are out of service? Both? What the heck am I supposed to do with this giant suitcase and a freakin' sewing machine in a box, huh? Better yet, what do people in wheelchairs do?

People to whom I would send thank you letters if I knew their names and/or addresses:
Nice lady at the PHL airport
Two guys at BWI that helped me lug suitcases up and down the train station stairs
Taxi driver who continued all the way to the hotel on a flat tire
The people who invented champagne

Happy Marriage, Ginger and James!

Brr...it's cold in here

So after all of these ridiculous people COMPLAINING that it was way too warm for wintertime, the winter arrived. To the tune of a negative 6 wind chill. I cannot cope with this people, I just can't. Heat, particularly heat that is dry and desert like and not humid, I can deal with. This cold thing is not fun at all.

I'm trying my very best to winterize my wardrobe, but currently own maybe 4 things with wool in them. Everything else is cotton! Who would buy a wool sweater when they live in Austin? Not me! And now I regret passing by those incredibly reduced sweaters on the sale racks (because no one else would buy them either)...just think how warm I could be had I only thought ahead.

Yesterday people were going to walk to a nearby neighborhood for lunch, and asked if I'd like to join. My response was something along the lines of: "Are you out of your mind? I brought my lunch and will be staying where it is warm, until I am forced to go into the cold to go home. I will not voluntarily leave for any reason. ANY reason." And then these well-intentioned but looney people attempted to explain to me that it was SO much warmer now than it had been the day before. Yes, because the day before was the -6 day, and yesterday the high was a balmy 25. So I'm supposed to do what now, break out my flip-flops and t-shirts?! It's still freezing. The snow is still not melting. The wind is still painfully cold. Call me when it's 75.

It's Okay, TJ's, I Still Love You

Did you know that the time between 5-6 pm is cranky old lady hour at Trader Joe's? I, myself, did not know this fact until today. But I now I certainly do.

Normally I go early on Saturday or late on a weekday, but got out of work a wee bit earlier than usual, and I'm out of coffee (aka sweetnectar of morning caffeine) so I thought I'd drop by. How could I tell it was said Cranky Hour? Well:

-Apparently the lines were WAY too long. Unacceptably long. And anyone wearing a badge, including the checkers that were working very quickly to get everyone moving, got to hear all about it.
-The clementine oranges (which I bought, by the way) were marked from California, when EVERYONE knows that the best ones are from Morocco [dramatically put out sigh].
-Anyone caught dallying in a place that might slightly inconvenience someone (read: everywhere) got to hear about it with fake politeness: "Um, exCUSE me, THANK you."

The bitching was truly endless. Maybe these people didn't get the laid back memo about Trader Joe's - I mean everyone in the place is freakin' wearing an Hawaiian shirt. The whole reason I go to places like that is to ESCAPE from you uptight, repressed DC dames. Curse you all for invading my clearly designated, laid back, granola-type space.

In other words, lesson learned, and am vowing to keep to my original schedule without variance. And to thoroughly enjoy my Californian clementines :).

My life is spinning wildly out of control

I just realized that I'm going to be out of town for the third weekend in a row, and the thought made me want to break down and cry at my desk from despair. I doesn't help that I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep, because there's this long story about my flight being delayed from Seattle and having to spend the night in St. Louis with no luggage, and then to have my luggage arrive at 4 am this morning (via a courier who called my cell phone in the freakin' middle of the night to let me know he was downstairs), and then I couldn't really go back to sleep, and I have really bad sinus headache. And a lot of my stuff is still in boxes and our bathroom smells really funky and there's just NO TIME to deal with it all.

But then I realized that I don't have to work on Monday, and that thought made me so happy I considered tap dancing on my desk.

I'm feeling the strain of the emotional roller coaster - as I haven't felt it since, oh, we'll guess the age of 14.

619,000

According to AAA, that's the number of people that will be going at least 50 miles away from DC this weekend.

What they did not share, at least not that I could find, was the number of people coming in. I have already counted at least 500 fanny packs. Why, why must you wear the fanny pack? It's not a requirement to be a dork when you travel. Maybe they didn't get the memo...

Attention, internet users

I would like to make the following announcement for the greater good, general use of the internet, and my personal sanity:

Just because you read something on the internet does not make it true. This includes any emails, whether or not you have received them from people you know or consider to be reliable sources. Especially if they involve some sort of new deadly poisonous insect or gang initiation rituals.

Thank you for your time.

Puh-lease

Does anyone else think it's ridiculous that G. Gordon Liddy is criticizing the man who came out as "Deep Throat" for being unethical? Um, YOU ENGINEERED THE WATERGATE BREAK-IN. YOU ARE THE DEFINITION OF UNETHICAL AND CORRUPT FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION.

Whew, I feel a little better.

Oh, and let's not forget that Pat Buchanan said the whole thing started because they were a bunch of Nixon-haters. The whole reason behind the break-in was (I thought) that Nixon was completely paranoid, and apparently it was catching. "Oh no, it's not that we did things that were completely illegal...no, no, no, they just didn't like us." Yeah, that's the ticket.

And isn't it ironic (dontcha think)?

Funny how "happy hour" really ought to be called "bitch and moan about our jobs hour."

What we need here is a good rant

It's been awhile. So really, I will just rant for a few. Okay? Right.
Of course the danger in this is that I will likely be caught doing something I have griped about. Eh, I never claimed to be perfect (but I can guarantee I will never be guilty of #1)

(Some of) Rachel's Pet Peeve's:

-Not spelling things out when you write emails or similar...i.e. "u" instead of you. That's just lazy and it looks ugly.

-People that I haven't talked to in just about forever asking me if I'm dating someone in the first five minutes of conversation. It's not like you actually care, you just want to know.

-Saran wrap. Okay, I know that pet peeves are probably more related to verbs than nouns, but seriously, I hate that stuff. It always ends up in a big wad, only partially covering the opening that I want it to cover.

-Certain people that I may or may not work with that call me up just to whine. Um, there's a reason I never answer the phone when you call...we have Caller ID.

-Slightly dirty old men who give profuse compliments. It's just icky and none of us are fooled.

-Do things, listen to things, read things, etc. because you think they are "cool." Now I know I use that word myself from time to time, but I don't really buy into the ideas of "cool" and "uncool". Junior high was rough enough to have to deal with it yet again in my twenties.