I think Harry will die.

First, let me just exclaim, "Harry Potter comes out tonight!"

Now that's off my chest, you probably won't hear from me much over the weekend. I'll be holed up in my room trying frantically to finish the book before I go in for overtime at 3 a.m. Monday morning. Why the frantic rush? Even though I already think I know how the book will end (and I truly hope I'm wrong or else I won't be very happy) I am determined to read the ending for myself. But as soon as the book comes out, it will be like Harry Potter has taken over the world. I won't be able to avoid the story. Thus, I must finish the book before I reenter the rest of the world.

If you aren't a fan of Harry Potter and are looking for some reading material, I suggest browsing through our funny stories.

Continuing my observations ...

As I've said before, all I really do at work is think about things and/or make observations. Some of today's observations:

I work with a Rick, Roy, Richard, Ray, and Ryan. That's a lot of R-names working together in a small vicinity.

I like wearing nail polish to work because it's about the only dressing up I can do. I fell in love with a color Ariel has and bought a bottle of my own. I ate grapes today with my lunch. The nail polish was exactly the same color as the red grapes. I thought it was weird.

I've seen a lot of 3s this summer: Spider-man 3, Pirates 3, Shrek the Third, Ocean's 13, and though technically it was a 5th and not a 3rd, Harry Potter. What's with the 3s?

Today I also reinforced in my mind that I am a nerd. I replay bad/embarrassing/regretful memories a lot more often in my mind than I replay happy/fond ones. I realized this in the middle of a bad memory. I became determined to think about some happy ones instead. What came immediately to my mind, but of course, different moments from debate tournaments. Can't get much happier than debate.

Softball Game Update

Officially cancelled.

I don't mind the rain, unless it's Wednesday. My whole week has been ruined.

Nose Goes

After reading a couple books about personal enlightenment and human evolution I got to thinking...

As a human being you get at least one cold a year, right? And while you have this cold you are usually blowing you nose a countless number of times throughout the day. So, why is it that your nose always gets red and sensitive making it painful to wipe your nose? Especially me, who also has allergies that make my nose run all the time. Why haven't our bodies adapted?

Another part of the human body that hadn't evolved is the tongue. I burn my tongue all the time and yet it never seems to get any tougher. Why is that?

Rain,Rain Go Away

I must play softball today! (That almost works)

It makes me think of the Elvis song "I Feel So Bad"

"I feel so bad
Feels like a ball game on a rainy day
I feel so bad
Feels like a ball game on a rainy day
Yes I got my rain check
Shake my head and walk away"

I hope we don't get a rain check, because then my favorite day of the week will be ruined.

"The Alchemist" By Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist was recommended to me by an employee at Barnes & Noble after I asked the name of the man who wrote The Celestine Prophecy. He said if I liked insightful books I would love The Alchemist. So I bought it. I was, however, slightly disappointed. The book was okay. It definitely presented some interesting ideas, but they didn't get me anywhere near as excited as The Celestine Prophecy.

Here are some of the lines that I found interesting:

"'I've crossed these sands many times,' said one of the camel drivers one night. 'But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.'"

"'We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.'"

"'Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive...and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us.'"

The day before I finished this book sometime last week, Christina and I were lying on my trampoline reading. I had just read a passage in my book about a man whose camel had to carry his books and him, when I said "Can you imagine how many books you would have to take if you had to cross the Sahara? I'd have to take a whole 'nother camel!"

"At least," Christina replied without looking up from her book.

I continued to ponder which books I would take with me, then decided that I would have to spend at least two days in Barnes & Noble picking them out.

Song of the Day

In honor of our 200th post the Song of the Day is...

..."You're My Best Friend" by Queen

Only 19 days left

Recently, I have been pulled off the pluggers a few times to do other jobs around the plant. There are different layers which make the plywood. Besides the sheets of veneer that I usually plug, three other kinds of paper are used in the plywood. I spent the first two hours of today putting the kinds of paper in the correct pattern so they could be combined with the wood. Simply because it was something new, I enjoyed the work. I know, however, the enjoyment will fade as soon as the work becomes routine.

After work I had to go to the union office because union dues were being deducted out of all my checks twice. I am a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. I got everything straightened out.

Other than that, only one mysterious bruise, two small scratches, a smooshed thumb, and a paper cut from a piece of paper bigger than me. All in all, it was not a bad day at work.

No Smiles Here

We had a code of conduct meeting yesterday morning at work. (It had to occur in the morning, instead of giving us an excuse to avoid the 109 degrees it was in the plant by afternoon.) The meeting was primarily about harassment and mostly sexual harassment. I came away thinking that if anyone ever had any thoughts about asking me out, they surely won't now. I learned at this meeting that it is dangerous for men to speak to, look at, let alone touch a female co-worker. Same goes for women to men but at a lesser degree.

I think it is sad that we have to have meetings where supervisors warn, "even complimentary comments, like telling a woman she looks nice today, can be viewed as harassment." I understand why it has happened. I understand how important it is to discuss what sexual harassment is and to make it known that it is unacceptable. I understand that this meeting, as silly as I sometimes believed it to be (No kissing allowed between anyone on plant property even if married or family members. A brief arm around another's shoulders as a way of parting is, however, tolerated), was necessary. I understand, but I think it's sad.

The Little Mermaid

Last Saturday was the annual Tumwater Family Practice summer party. This year they decided to do a camp out at Millersylvania. I was excited because the parties are always pretty fun and I get to hang out and chat with people. The only downside to these parties is that a few of the mothers always expect Ali and/or me to babysit their kids while we are their. I'm not a fan of babysitting especially when you're not paying me and I'm trying to talk with my friends. The moms always run up to me, ask me to watch their kids for "a few minutes," shove them at me, then run away before I can say no. So then the people I'm chatting with move away because they don't want to be stuck watching a bunch of 5 and unders either. They want to have a good time. Even last year at my graduation party the kids got pawned off on us for a while. It irritates me because it makes me feel like they don't respect me as an adult. They don't realize that I might actually like to have a conversation with someone at least my own age and not have to explain why I don't have my fins on today. I also don't enjoy people being incredibly close to my face and if you've ever been around a child you know that they like to be half an inch from your face while they are talking to you. Not pleasant.

So, as my mom and I were driving up to the party I said "Jennifer and Bridget better not make me babysit." Then Mom said they probably wouldn't because there would be plenty of other kids there to play with them. We got there and said hi to a few people then got some food and sat down to eat and chat. I was starving because I hadn't eaten yet that day and it was like 3 o'clock. And wouldn't ya know it, I hadn't taken two bites when I hear "Ariel!" I looked around and saw the moms coming at be saying "can you watch the girls for a bit?" I turned to my mom and sighed. She mouthed "sorry baby." I looked back at the moms and nodded. Why couldn't I have said "no, I'd like to eat first." But I assumed that they would say in the bouncy house they were playing in (I know right, who brings a giant blow up bouncy house camping?). I went to take another bite when suddenly I heard one of the moms say "Go to Ariel" then three little voices yelling "MERMAID! ARIEL! ARIEL! MERMAID!" Then they were all over me.

I tried to continue eating my burger, but gave up after a few minutes because one of the three little girls was convinced I was the little mermaid and wouldn't stop asking me questions about mermaid life and the other two were basically sitting on top of my food. I stupidly answered her questions like I actually was mermaid Ariel instead of almost mermaid Ariel. Here are some of the questions:

"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Where are your fins?"
~"I only have them when I'm in the water."
"Ariel?
~"Yes Gracie."
"Where is Eric?"
~"He's at the castle."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Are you wearing a purple bra?"
~"I only wear that one when I'm in the water." The guy next to me loved that one.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"How come your hair isn't red?"
~"It turns red when I'm in the water."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you have a mean daddy?"
~"No. I have a nice daddy."
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you have a mean mommy?"
~I looked at mom, then looked back at Gracie and said "Only right now." Of course Gracie didn't get it, so I had to tell her that I had a nice mommy just like her.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Do you know any sea witches?"
~"Only Ursula, but she's gone now remember?"
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Can we go swimming?"
~"Not right now." The three girls started whining and begging for me to go swim with then, but I turned on my mommy voice and said no again. They quit.
"Ariel?"
~"Yes Gracie?"
"Why do you collect things?"
~I couldn't come up with anything. My brain was shutting down from exhaustion. I looked at Mom who said "because she likes to learn," and I nodded in agreement. Good one Mom.

Then Gracie ran off and I thought I was free. So naive. A couple minutes later she came back with her mom who said "Yes I know Ariel." Then Gracie ran off and got her dad who said "Yes Gracie. I've known Ariel for a long time." Then Gracie sat back down and continued to ask me more mermaid questions. One of the moms came back and took two of the girls to the bathroom. Mom and I were cold so we decided to go to the van and get our sweatshirts. Gracie didn't want me to go, but I had to leave. I was just getting more and more frustrated with each question. We walked to the van and mom was trying to convince me that they make me babysit their kids because they "trust me." We both knew that was bull, nice try Mom.

When we started to walk back to the camp site I started to get nauseous. I was already feeling a little car sick from the drive, but my anxiety about going back to face the mini-interrogator was making it worse. Mom said we would walk back and get some dessert because I still hadn't eaten much and just try to avoid the little girls. By the time we had gotten up to where the food was I had made myself so nervous and nauseous that I couldn't even look at the food. I told Mom that was going back to the car to read the Celestine Prophecy. As I turned to go one of my friends who I hadn't seen in a while started talking to me. I wanted to stay and talk because that was the whole point of my coming, but I was so nervous that I would suddenly feel one of the girls tugging at my pants that I told him I wasn't feeling well and had to leave.

I told Mom to stay as long as she wanted because my book was getting really good and I wanted to read it anyway. As I walked back to the van I felt like I was on the brink of tears. I couldn't believe how sick I felt and how frustrated I'd become. It was silly. As I sat in the back of the van I saw more people pull in that I wanted to talk to, but I stayed in my place and tried to grasp the various insights in my book.

About an hour or so later Mom came back to the van and said we could go. Then I felt worse because I wanted her to have a good time and I felt like I was ruining it for her. I told her I was fine and she could go back, but she said she was bored anyway and wanted to go home and read her book. She informed me that 10 minutes after I had left, Gracie and her parents went home and the other two girls went to sleep. I was upset, but I let it go because I really had enjoyed my book, so I guess it didn't really matter.

Now the whole clinic knows what happened. Yesterday and the day before I had to wait there for my mom after work because we had carpooled and several people came up to me and asked me where my fins were. It was funny, but then they wanted me to talk about it and had heard from other sources that it pissed me off. I didn't want to admit that it really had made me mad because all three of the moms were in the clinic somewhere and I learned earlier that week that I shouldn't talk about people if there is any chance in the world that they could hear me and I didn't want to hurt any one's feelings. So, I just laughed and said it was kinda cute.

"The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield

I read the Celestine Prophecy this weekend and I was hooked from chapter 3. If you've never read this book go out and buy it today. It's worth the $14.

My mom read it years ago and has been suggesting it to me since, but I never had the urge to read it until recently. I wanted an easy summer read that wouldn't bog me down and I was sure this book was going to do just that. Mom assured me that it wouldn't so I decided to give it a try. Now, it's in my top 10.

Along with becoming one of my favorite books, it's also changed the way I look at things. It's almost like putting on a pair of glasses or taking them off, if you will. I've started noticing how my energy/attitude affects that of those around me. It has also made me think more deeply about my dreams/daydreams and about "coincidence" that I notice. My mom says this way of thinking wears off after a few weeks, but I don't think I want it to. I like to feel insightful.

The novel is about a man who travels to Peru to learn about a newly discovered and translated manuscript. The manuscript was originally written in Aramaic, the same language used to write much of the Old Testament. It dates back to around 600 B.C. and predicts how humans will start to evolve in the end of the 20th century. The Peruvian government is working to destroy all copies of the manuscript and publicly denies it's existence for fear that it will affect the church. It is definitely an adventure.

I hesitate to say I had some sort of personal enlightenment while reading this book because that would make it sound deeper and more intense than it actually was. And I'd hate to overuse the sight analogies, but reading this book was like unfocusing my eyes to see the hidden picture in the 3D eye teaser. Once you get the hang of it it's pretty cool.

I can't decide if I want to read the next one in the series because I'm afraid it will go too deep and cause me to lose sight of the picture. Then again it's so fascinating...

Go. Read it. See the picture.

O Hemlock tree

Since I have been working at the plant, the only kind of wood I have plugged is Douglas Fir. There were some good loads and some bad loads, but overall the Fir and I got along. Today, I had to plug Hemlock which is an evil, evil tree. The sheets were covered in knots, the wood was rough, and the ends were split. Hemlock did not make a good first impression at all.

Should find yourself at the mercy of a forest some day, remember this lesson: Hemlock is evil.

One Poor Dog

A show was playing on the T.V. in the background while I was checking my email. After an in depth interview with Daniel Radcliffe about Harry Potter's first kiss, I tuned the show out while I did some facebooking. That was until a story came on that I simply could not ignore. It was a story about a dog that suffered an embolism and whose legs became paralyzed. It was one of those sad/heartwarming tales. They gave the dog a pair of wheels to make it mobile again. Since it was a happy ending, I feel slightly less cold-hearted by shining light on some of the dog owner's crazy comments.

When the dog didn't come home ...

"We weren't sure what had happened. We thought maybe he had been attacked by a cow."

(A cow?)

What did you do when you went to look for him?

"As I ran out the door I grabbed a handful of ice cream. It's his favorite food. I wasn't sure what I would find but I thought at least his final meal might be his favorite."

(Wouldn't her hand get cold? Isn't it bad to give a dog ice cream? At least admitting on T.V. that you give your dog ice cream has to be bad.)

"It's so sad. He could once run 17 mph. He was like the wind."

This merely makes me wonder how fast dogs actually do run. Is 17 mph fast or slow? Is it possible to check a dog's speed with a radar gun?

Update: Only minutes later as the show which came on next went to commercial, "Coming up next, the dog that hops around like a rabbit."

It was a sad day for dogs.

Don't watch Shooter with a shooter.

My cousins came over this morning because they had rented Shooter with Mark Wahlberg and thought my father might enjoy watching it. My sisters and I watched as well. My father couldn't turn off his commentary setting.

"They're doing it all wrong. Where's the sun guard for the gun."

"Why are they running? Do they want to die? They'd be better off staying absolutely as still as possible." (They were running from a helicopter)

"Hey, maybe they did go through sniper training after all. Bound to get something right eventually." (In reference to the placement of the finger on the trigger)

It only continued. This made me remember why I never watch movies about cops, swat teams, drug busts, or snipers with my father.

The movie was a typical action movie, except for a bit more outspoken with the political criticisms. I found it enjoyable but not anything extraordinary.

Tail Between My Legs

I learned a big lesson yesterday at Big 5 (I expect the next four to follow soon). I learned you should never talk about a customer on the sales floor...ever.

This lady had come in to the store with her 5ish kids and was yelling at them so I decided not to ask her if she needed help, because I could see that she was a little busy. She flagged me down though and told me to help her with the skim boards. She yelled at her kids some more then told me that she wanted two of the ones that were on sales but she wanted them to be different colors. She was upset because we didn't have two different colors and that's what she wanted. I apologized and told her that sale items usually sell quickly. I also told her that we had gotten a truck in that morning but all of our new skim boards had been put out on the floor already. She was upset at the news and started complaining about how she had driven all the way from Shelton and they had just left McDonald's and that was a nightmare (well duh) and that driving all the way from Shelton was a big deal for them and she couldn't believe we didn't have the product she wanted. The reality of it was that we, in fact, did have the product she wanted, but she needed two different colors. I apologized and told her that we could either do a rain check or call the Lacey store. She decided to do a rain check. Then barked at her kids to go sit in the car. I told her to have a nice day and walked off to help some more customers.

A few minutes later I walked up to my manager and another sales associate who were in the middle of talking about an irritating customer. I asked them who they were talking about and they described the same lady I had been talking to earlier. I told them that she had been ornery to me too. I told them how she was complaining about driving all the way from Shelton and that I drive from McCleary every day and it's the same distance, but I don't' take it out on other people. The three of us "discussed" it a bit then the other sales guy proceeded to mock her, when suddenly she stepped out from behind him and said "I've decided to call the Lacey store."

My stomach felt like it was going to explode, my heart stopped beating for 2 whole seconds, my jaw dropped to the floor and I stood there frozen like a deer in headlights. My manager said she would call the Lacey store and started leading her back to the front of the store. As the lady passed me she said "same distance as McCleary, whatever" or something to that extent because apparent my brain was in shut down mode too and decided to turn off my ears.

After she left my lungs started working again and I ran to the back room with my co-worker. My manager came to the back after a few minutes and told me that the lady was pissed and acting dramatic (I think, my ears were still shut off). I told her I was going to stay in the back until she left and my manager gave me permission. Then a different sales guy came to the back and told me that Jordan, who was the one complaining with us on the floor, had done it again! He was telling the cashier the story and the lady was right behind him!

Unlike my co-worker I have learned my lesson. I was right though. McCleary and Shelton are the same distance from Olympia.

The mind is a strange place.

I think about many things during my time on the plugger. My mind travels all over the place. Here are some of the places it visited today.

I think it's funny when a man who makes plywood struggles opening a yogurt cup.

"Necklace" and "Neck less" sound exactly the same. I found this odd since someone who is neck less would be unable to wear a necklace.

Something I like about working in a loud environment is that I can pop and snap my bubble gum as loud as I want to and no one notices. How come no one else chews bubble gum at the plywood plant?

One of the graders always throws me a piece of candy when I work across from him. I wonder if he gives candy to the boys too.

Some of my thoughts from past days I'm sure have been more interesting, but those days are gone and I can't remember what the thoughts were so I shared these instead.

"Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned" By Alan Alda

I had never read a book of celebrity memoirs until this one and I must say it was a great way to introduce myself into the genre. The book is separated into three "acts," each representing a different period of his life. The acts are the only thing chronological in the book. His stories jump around depending on the topic of each chapter, which actually makes the book more interesting, because you feel like he's actually talking to you.

I went into the book expecting him to be like his character on M*A*S*H, but he wasn't at all. In retrospect, I'm glad I came into it with this expectation because I think I was able to compare and contrast and see the real Alan Alda instead of reading the biography of Hawkeye Pierce. I was surprised to see that he really didn't use a lot of pages to describe his time on M*A*S*H. This bothered me at first because that's what I wanted to read about. After I passed that part of the book however, I found myself still curious about other issues he was dealing with.

Like his character in M*A*S*H, Alda is witty and loves improvisation. Both contributed to the draw of this book. To put it simply, I loved this book because some of his thoughts are so me. Here are some of the one's I liked:

"My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that." p.3

"Memory can be a kind of mental taxidermy, trying to hold on to the present after it's become the past. I didn't know this them. Change was coming, and I was going to have to com out of my cocoon soon. But I wasn't ready for the next stage in my ,life, and I hung on to the early times as long as I could." p.24

"This was putting my finger in the emotional light socket." p.27

"Other people's obsessions are boring." p.37

"I had to be careful about bumping up against reality. I could break my nose on it." p.41

"If you can make a nun laugh, can God frown?" p.46

"Don't chew on it. Don't' even let it touch your teeth. Above all, don't let it stick to the roof of your mouth. Oh, God, you did it. You let it happen. God is stuck to the roof of your mouth. How are you going to get Him off? You have to get this off and swallow it. What if it just gets hard and stays there? You can't walk around for the rest of the day with God in your mouth. Oh, God. Melt, melt." p.46

"'You have a plump hippocamus!' she said. I had never received that compliment before, and I couldn't tell if it was what she told all the boys, but I grinned with pride anyway." p.186

"You can tell a lot about people by the way they treat the help." p.220

"[about the last MASH unit being decommissioned]I could have thanked them- not just for keeping alive thousands of wounded, but also for keeping alive that amazing human impulse we have at times to put ourselves in the line of fire to save another person's life: someone we don't know, someone who may never know we were even there. They gave us a look at the finest part of ourselves. Their devotion was, in fact, the finest kind." p.234

I recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Alan Alda, M*A*S*H, theatre, or comedy, or who needs a good summer read.

July 4, 2007

My grandparents left today before I got home from work. I told them good bye last night after fireworks. Our fourth of July celebration went quite well I thought. We had many fireworks, even more family members, and had to find an extra table for all the food. It's the only way to celebrate Independence day.

This was the first year I didn't do any sparklers. Instead, Ariel and I handed them out to the little ones (although I think she did one). Mostly though, we occupied ourselves with fireworks that were a bit more exciting. I didn't get any burns, only a small amount of Roman candle debris in an eye (stupid wind), and a small hole in the sleeve of one of my jackets. My favorite part of the day was the birthday cake for my great uncle George. I made it. It looked like a flag with blueberry stars and raspberry/cool whip stripes.

I got the day off from work, but had to go in today. I am tired. Large family gatherings and a work day on four hours of sleep will do that.

A Western Wedding

My grandparents are visiting from Wenatchee. They arrived Friday and were already at my house when I came home from work. They are staying until after our yearly Fourth of July bash.

On Saturday Ariel and I went to my cousin's Western themed wedding. As most of the family was busy or dressed up, it fell to Ariel and myself to catch the bride's horse for her to ride in on. We caught it ... and wearing heels. (Me, not the horse)

Today the groom came over to build a ramp onto our porch for my grandmother. I also went to church with my grandparents to make them happy. I haven't been in over a year and going today made me remember why. Some people are just crazy. Others are nice though and it was good seeing them. But the crazy ones ...

Creepy Crawlies

The bugs around this house have no respect for personal space, especially mine. The day before yesterday (Tuesday) I was sitting on the front porch reading and getting a tan, when my mother called. I answered the phone and we chatted for a few minutes. When I went to hang up the phone I looked down at it to press the off button and saw a big orange spider crawling across the screen of the phone. I freaked out and shook the phone to get it off and away from me. Naturally, it disappeared which continued to make me nervous, because I was sure it was in my hair or somewhere else I didn't want it to be. I jumped up and danced around trying to find the spider, but he was taking too long to come out of hiding, so I sat back down, paranoid, and with my book. But then I started to think, where did it come from? The phone was up to my ear and when I picked it up there was no spider on it, but when I hung it up there it was...does that mean it was already on me?! That gave me chills and I frantically started running my hands through my hair making sure there was nothing else and hoping to God I didn't actually touch anything. I calmed down and started reading again and my faithful dog (God bless him) came out the front door, which I had left open, every five minutes to check on me. He'd walk out, look around the yard, look at me, sigh, then go back into the house. Good boy.

And today I was enjoying a bubble bath, listening to Josh Groban, when a daddy long leg crawled past my arm and sent shivers down my spine. I just let him keep on going because I figured he would just climb up into his corner like daddy long legs are supposed to do, but no. We got down to where my feet were and tried to get down into my bubbles. Foolish little thing. Of course he started to struggle and I watched him hoping he would get out, which he did, but then he started to go back towards my bubbles and got in trouble again. I figured he was just trying to flirt with me, which was pointless because he definitely wasn't my type. But like always, I felt bad for him after he tried to hit on me and failed miserably, so I grabbed my mom's dry face wash bottle and helped him away from the bubbles and to the safety of the wall. After that he took the hint that I wasn't interested and just chilled in the corner like he should have done from the start.

Fire and Spines

Today a jitney a.k.a. fork lift caught on fire. No one was hurt. There was more smoke than flame and a fire extinguisher was deployed almost immediately.

I came home from that excitement to find that our dogs had gotten into a fight with a porcupine. My father is pulling spines out of their snouts as I write this. I was kicked out of the room because I kept flinching. It looks quite painful and I am very sorry for them.

Anyone up for flashlight tag?

The power went out at the plywood plant today. About 25 minutes before it was time to go home, just 5 before it was time to start cleaning up, I heard a grinding sound. Then silence and everything went dark. A few emergency lights flickered on, which succeeded in simply creating more shadows.

I patiently stood on the little platform by my plugger listening to the supervisors yell out orders and watching dark figures scurry here and there. I was actually enjoying myself. I didn't have to work and the plant had never before been so quiet.

Then my supervisor yelled for me to go wait up in the break room, so I slowly walked off like a scolded child. It has been suggested that the cause of the outage is the construction currently going on in downtown Shelton where some sewer lines are being put in.

I wonder if I'll have to go to work tomorrow.

The Evil Eye

There is a man at work who enjoys teasing me. As it's not mean or an annoying kind of teasing, it doesn't really bother me. Every time he sees me, he simply says, "Smile." Then he stands there and stares at me until I smile. I am not much of a smiler. I'm not sure why, I've just never been one to smile a lot. But to get him out of my way, I'll smile.

Today it was time for a little pay back. I was sitting in the break room reading the paper when he walked in. I ignored him so he knocked on my table until I looked up. "You gotta smile," he said. I lifted my head and gave him a death glare. While I may not be much of a smiler, I have the death glare down. I don't even realize it's power. I stared him down until he walked away and went back to the paper.

Later in the day he came up and apologized for bothering me. "I didn't mean to," he said, "I was just playing with you to make you smile."

I told him I knew that. I was just playing with him back. He went on to explain that my look had worried him a great deal. "The stare you gave me ... I really thought I had upset you." No, not really. I was just giving him a taste of his own medicine. He was quite relieved. We'll see if he asks me to smile again tomorrow.

Beavers Win College World Series AGAIN!

Yes, it's true! The Beavers won the college series two years in a row! It makes me so proud even though I'm transferring. The best play of the game: the tag out home in the 7th. Beauty.

il café

Yesterday my mom took Christina and I to Starbucks, which is just what I needed after my camera issues. My mom decided to buy some ground espresso beans along with our drinks for our new coffee maker (while I applied for a job there). When we got home though, she left them in the van by mistake. Today, I had to run in to the post office. So, when I opened the van door I was hit with the delicious aroma of espresso beans. I felt instantly better about my camera and Big 5. It was amazing. Oh the magic of coffee!

RIP Nikon Coolpix L3

If you're thinking about buying a digital camera don't buy a Nikon. I've gone through two already and they are no good. They are nice for about 10 months, then they die. Mine recently passed away from a "lens error." This is apparently a common COD for the L3s. I wish I would have known this before. What a waste of money. It happened yesterday at Ali's grad party. Everything was going fine. I was getting some great shots, when suddenly it just stopped working. I was obviously frustrated, but I didn't mess with it because I was sure I would just break it more.

After the party Mom, Christina, and I went to Target to see if there was anything I could do to save it. I showed the guy and he said:
"Hmm. Did you drop it?"
"No," I replied flatly and honestly.
"Are we lyyying?"
"NO," Christina and I said together, disgusted at his accusation and belittling tone.
"Hmm. Well this is a common problem with the L3s. You can buy a new one or we can send it in, but that will cost money too."
"Great. Thank you."
We walked away.

Today I decided to troubleshoot online and see what other people did to fix the problem. There were many sites where people had posted their complaints that were identical to mine. The answers and suggestions consisted of: "slap it against your palm" "shake it" "squeeze it" "use a bobby pin to pop the lens back into place," etc. I tried them in order, including the bobby pin, which DOESN'T WORK! Don't try it. The bobby pin was the official COD for my camera. It only succeeded in shoving the lens in further.

Then I called Nikon. I could send it in if there was no physical "accidental damage" to the camera. That they didn't cover, only manufacturer error. If only I hadn't just done obvious physical damage to the lens! Craaaaaap. Looks like I'm SOL, seeing as how I don't have enough hours at Big 5 to make enough money to buy a new camera.

Can't Seem To Get It Right

So once again it seems I am pissed off at the moronic happenings of the world and I'm relying on AH to help me vent. Two weeks before I was to move back home, I came back for Memorial Day weekend. During that weekend I went into Big 5 to fill out all the necessary paper work so I would be ready to start when I returned in a couple weeks. The paper work process takes about a week, then they have to put me on the schedule. I was totally excited because they had given me a raise and promised me more hours and I would have Wednesday nights off for softball. We decided I would start on Wednesday the 13th. I thought I was set. Oh how naive I can be.

I came home two weeks later and called my manager, Troy, to find out when I would be working that Wednesday. Turns out my main manager, Paul, forgot to put me on the schedule. "Of course he did," I think. I was annoyed and expressed so to Troy. He sympathized and promised I would be on the schedule the next week. Sunday the 17th rolls around and I call Troy again to find out when I would be working that week and he says "Ariel, you're going to be so mad at me." *Silence* I couldn't speak. I knew what he was going to tell me and I was already pissed. All I could eek out was "No way Troy."
"I'm so sorry. Paul told me he didn't know what your availability was, so he couldn't put you on the schedule and now I'm looking for your information and I can't find your employee number or anything. You're not on any of our new hire or re-hire lists."
"Why not," I asked trying to stay calm.
"I have no idea."
"Okay...now what? I need to work Troy. I'm now two weeks without pay. What's going on?"
"I don't know. I'll figure it out though. I'll take care of you don't worry."

Well it was too late. I was beyond worried. My mom had taken that week off for my sister's graduation and decided to take me to Olympia to job hunt while she went shopping. I spend the week applying online and at location, and looking through the paper for something to do, but no one has responded. On Tuesday the 19 (the day of Ali's graduation) I called Troy again. He told me I had to come in and take care of some things I had previously been informed I didn't need to bother with. I went in and took care of business like always, and on Wednesday Troy finally called me, instead of the other way around. He asked me if I could come in on Saturday for a training day. I absolutely could. I didn't need a training day because I was already trained, but this way he wouldn't have to take hours of the schedule and I would still get paid. Plus they were going to teach me how to use the cash register, so I guess it really was a training day. While I was on the phone with him, again, I asked if I was on the schedule yet. He said no, but he had gotten a few people to give me some of their hours. Great. So naturally I asked him what days. He told me Tuesday and Wednesday. "That's it," I thought. Yup. That was it. 10 hours. That's it. I need MORE THAN THAT!!!! Fine. So, when I went in to work on Saturday I told Troy I was looking for a second job, because he had screwed me over. I hope they feel bad.

Hawk Ears and Hungry Horses

Ariel came over to my house again to play pool. I am not very good, but playing with her is a good way to practice. My father and younger sister soon joined us as well. Here are some of the quotations from this evening.

I was telling Ariel a secret of sorts while my father was sitting on the couch. She of course repeated what I told her above a whisper so my father might hear. I attempted to shush her.

"Shhhh he has the ears of a hawk." (I was a little confused I think.)

Later we were all discussing what our first words were. My father said all of his children said Da-da for their first word. My sister said the reason was because we didn't have a mother. I informed that actually, we did. She kept denying it so I asked ...

"What, do you think Dad has some kind of secret uterus none of us know about?" (My father became slightly disturbed.)

Ariel and my father were playing pool because I had become fed up with my poor skills and decided to watch and learn. Ariel shot and put the cue ball in a horrible position for my father.

"Were you just born evil?" he asked. "No, I've just been hanging around Christina too much," she said without a missing a beat.

Lastly, Ariel trying to convince my sister to go out and feed the animals before it got dark.

"Boy, if I was a horse right now I sure would be hungry. I would be standing around waiting for someone to come feed me. I wouldn't be a happy horsey."

A Busy Busy Bee

Tuesday night - Capital 2007 Graduation.
Wednesday night - I made enchiladas for dinner.
Thursday night - I went to Ariel's and sorted through her old clothes. Then we went to my house and played pool.
Friday night - I came home from work (so glad that it's Friday) and realized I haven't blogged in a while.

The above are my excuses as to why you have not heard from me recently. Also, this entire week I was on the plugger with the yellow paint. It was depressing.

Song of the Day

"Against The Wind" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

Best line from the song:
"Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then"

Song of the Day

"Un Giorno Per Noi (Romeo e Giulietta)" by Josh Groban

An Amusing Obsession

Not one of mine, but one of Christina's. She is obsessed with my legs. It's not as creepy as it sounds, I just can't stand next to her when she's sitting if I'm wearing shorts. She always feels the need to poke my thigh right above my knee and laugh. When I stand my thigh muscle flexes and she finds it strangely amusing to poke it and say "Poke! ooh wow...poke!" Then just to amuse her more I flex the rest of my leg and she goes "OOH don't! Hehe, poke! You're leg muscles are so big!" I always just laugh and tell her she's silly. Then she'll say "no really, look...poke! See? Why are they so big? Poke poke poke." Sometimes she'll poke just to see how long it takes me to say "ouch." As you can imagine it doesn't usually take very long. I really don't mind, it's actually quite flattering because I don't think my legs are anything special. My favorite thing is when I walk by her and she pokes me really quickly and does her little girl giggle like she's so innocent. NOT.

More Bubble Baths

Unlike Christina, I'm not a big fan of bubble baths. They're boring, but right now I have no choice. My family decided to start remodeling our bathroom while I was away and it hasn't come very far. So, we don't have a shower right now, only a tub. The tub is excellent though. It is super deep and has jets! I hadn't tried the jets yet because I just didn't want to take the time, but today was the perfect day because it's my sister's graduation tonight and I felt it was the perfect time. Plus my mom got some bubble bath at Bath & Body Works too, so extra bonus. Regularly bubble baths are a little pathetic because there generally aren't many bubbles, but with jets it's amazing! Tons and tons of bubbles everywhere! I now appreciate bubble baths a little more. The only down side is that now between the smell of the bubble bath stuff, my shampoo, my bath & shower gel, and my lotion I smell like a pissy flower. Oh well.

An Evil Sign and Bubble Bath

I celebrated Father's Day with my father today. I treated him to dinner at Red Lobster. The total came to such a number so that when I rounded the total to the nearest ten, the tip came to $6.66 - I hope the waitress (who apologized for everything and called me ma'am repeatedly) is not overly religious.


I also got him some bubble bath. Despite their usual associations with femininity, my father greatly enjoys bubble baths. I always have a tough time finding him manly scented bubble bath though. This year I went with Tranquil Mint from Bath & Body works.

I also ordered him the new Harry Potter book.

His name is not Jeff

I hope at some point I run out of embarrassing work stories. For the time being they just keep coming. It's as if getting a random phone number, accidentally staring at someone's lazy eye, and being asked it I like paint fumes isn't enough. Oh no, this also had to happen:

The plant is very loud so everyone wears ear plugs. It's quite difficult to hear and nearly impossible to talk to each other on the floor. My machine jammed up so I called the millwright so he could come fix it. I called him on the little red phone on the post and said, "#8 has a plug stuck."

The millwright came and he fixed. As he was leaving he said, "By the way, I'm Jeff."

"O," I replied, "I'm Christina."

"No, I'm Jeff."

"I heard you, I'm Christina. Nice to meet you. Thanks for your help."

"No, I'm deaf."

That's right. He wasn't telling me his name at all, but rather trying to let me know he was deaf and his hearing aid didn't work well on the floor. When I call, he said just to say the plugger number, and not the problem. His real name, I am still not sure of.

Have someone say "I'm deaf" to you while wearing ear plugs and you will understand how it can easily be mistaken for "I'm Jeff."

I Ain't No Hollaback Girl

Borders was a frustrating experience in itself. As we were walking in I was trying to talk to Ali about wanting to become a Physicians Assistant but she kept interrupting me and as we were crossing the street, a truck started honking and the guys in the truck started hollering "Hey honey...nice ass!...hey hottie..."etc. I just kept walking like I always do and Ali flipped 'um the bird and started cussing them out like she always does. She's a hollaback girl.

I hate it when guys do that. It's something I don't' understand. I mean do they actually get women by degrading them to a meaningless "piece of ass"? Once you yell out your window at a woman I have lost all respect for you because you obviously have no respect for women. Are there really women that play into that? I also don't' understand because it wasn't like Ali (or I for that matter) was dressed up. I mean she had her hair in a ponytail, she was wearing old jeans, and a sweatshirt. It would have made more sense if she hadn't just gotten done with physical therapy and had been wearing nicer clothes, but seriously.

So anyway, then we walked in the store and started looking at the books on sale and I was still trying to talk to her about how I might switch to pre-med, but that was apparently not interesting or important enough because she kept making it about her life so I just gave up and let her talk about herself.

After I finally found my book I went to check out and accidentally dropped my Clean & Clear oily face fixer power stuff when I pulled out my wallet. And naturally when it hit the floor the powder shattered into a gazillion teeny tiny little pieces. Crap.

Usually going to bookstores is so pleasant.

A Morning of Frustration

Today my sister dragged me to Olympia with her. I was not happy. She was in a car accident a month or two ago and needs physical therapy for her back. So, last night she walks up to me and asks "do you want to go to physical therapy with me tomorrow morning, then to Capital, then to the Verizon store?"
"No," I replied flatly and honestly.
"Yes you do," my mom informed me.
The truth was that I really didn't want to go. Why would I? Her therapy was at 8:40 in the morning and I was going to be tired and my allergies were going to be killing me as usual, and I was going to have to sit in a cold medical office, and then wait for her in the car while she ran while she ran in to the school where she would undoubtedly run in to one of her friends and chat up a storm while I waited in the car, and then sit and wait for her in the Verizon store. On top of all this she'd probably be chatting and texting on her phone the whole time anyway, so what did she need me for? Sounds like Boresville to me.

And what do ya know, I was right. The morning started badly. I had tossed and turned all night, my allergies were indeed bad, I got up late and therefore didn't have enough time to get ready so I had to put my makeup on in the car, and I didn't have enough time to pour a cup of coffee. I was pissed.

We left the house at 8:05. I sat silently in the car while Ali sang and told me stories that I had already heard at least once before. Luckily, the therapy office was located right next door to the clinic. When we got there I announced that I was going to walk over to the clinic. "But we're going there after," Ali said. "Well, I'm going now." I didn't need to go in there with her. I'd have to sit alone anyway.

I walked to the clinic and sat down at the empty station next to my mom's. "Why am I here," I whimpered.
"Ahh my poor baby. For moral support," she answered.
I rolled my eyes because we both knew that Ali would have never come with me if I was the one in physical therapy. After a few minutes mom's doctor poked her head around the corner and asked, "are you hanging around for today?"
"Just until Ali is done with physical therapy next door."
"So, why are you here then?"
"I don't know."
"I understand," she chuckled.
A while later Ali showed up and we went to get coffee, thank God. Then we went to the mall.

Going there actually turned out to be convenient because I had somethings to take care of at the mall. When we got to the Verizon store though it was packed. This made no sense because it was 10 in the morning on a week day. Why weren't these people at work? Anyway, we decided to go to Target (new stop) and then come back. On our way to Target to get Thank You cards I convinced her to let me stop by Borders too...
"Can I run in to Borders really quick, please?"
"Sure, why?"
"Um...to get a book..."
"Oh, okay."

We went to Target, Borders, Verizon and then decided finally to go home. We were about halfway home when Ali said we needed to run to her guy friend's house to pick of some stuff she left in his truck. "No," I protested. I knew if we went to his house we would have to stay and chat for a while and I don't really like the kid, so naturally I didn't want to go to his house. I wanted to go home. After some arguing she agreed to just come home. Thank God.

When we got home I put my things in my room, then started to do the dishes because I can't stand a dirty kitchen. By doing the dishes I don't starting the dishwasher...I am the dishwasher. Anyway, as soon as I finished the dishes I wiped down the stove top and the counters, then cleaned Diego's bowl. As I was leaving the kitchen to put him back in this spot Ali walks past me with a stack of dishes and sets them in my newly emptied sink. My jaw dropped in amazement and I looked at her with a "what the hell?" look on my face. Seriously, doing the dishes is not a quiet job. So, why would you wait until I was done to bring in more? "These aren't even mine," she declared in response to the look on my face. "SO," I screamed in my head. Then she took out a pot I had just washed and started making something to eat. I had to leave. I sat outside for about 5 hours, too scared to come back in and see the mess she had most likely made. It all seems silly now, but at the time I felt so trapped.

A Special Mind Set

There is one, and only one, part of the job I look forward to every day. It is the only task I derive real enjoyment from. After I finish plugging a stack of wood, I get to replace it with another stack. I then have to mark the new stack so that the grader (who sorts the wood after I plug it) knows which sheets came from my stack. I mark the wood by spray painting two corners.

After tapping my foot for two hours, the chance to step down and spray paint something is a welcome relief. My favorite paint to use is the silver. The worst color is the yellow because you can't even see it on the wood so you might not as well spray paint the wood at all.

It's a good day for me at work when I get to use the silver paint. It's a not so good day when I have to use the yellow paint. In the world of plywood making, there is little to derive enjoyment from.

I decided to briefly tell the grader how much I look forward to my brief spray painting moments. He looked at me with a straight face and said, "Why do you like it so much? Is it because of the fumes?"

I silently shook my head and went back to work. I recounted the tale to my father and he said I just have to get used to that kind of mind set in my particular work place. In the future I think I'll just plug and keep my comments to myself.

Gallbladder = Water Heater

I always have the hardest time remembering what the gallbladder does. It seems pointless to me because I think your liver should just send the bile to your intestines instead of having it sit in your gallbladder making gallstones. So, my mom and I were talking it out trying to find a way for me to remember. Here's what we came up with...imagine the sink = your intestines, the water heater = your gallbladder, and the well = your liver. There is a chain, a process, an order things have to go in. I laughed about it because I will never think about my sink the same way, but it actually helped. Sure enough during my test one of the questions was something like "what is the primary function of the gallbladder" and I knew it. Genius.

"Ode to Radar"

"Ode to Radar"

By:Alison VanZandt

I only had you for a day before i killed you.
Your water was to cold and your insides froze.
I didn't want to lose you.
I put you in warm water and watched you come back to life.
I didn't think that you were going to make it.
You were on your side.
Slowly your fin started to move.
You were back, alive.

I named you Radar after my favorite TV show.
You were a good fish.
You loved the sunlight.
You were a pretty and red, my favorite color.
You stood out to me.
I knew I had to have you.

You made it another 2 weeks.
You just couldn't hold on.
You were to brain dead to eat.
I gave you a proper funeral at the toilet.
We said our good byes and let you go.
It was hard, I can't believe i killed you.
I hope you made it to your happy place.
RIP RADAR

The Mathematical Properties of LOST

Josh will appreciate this. While I was taking my math final about 20 minutes ago I was shocked at the mathematical complexities of LOST. I believe it was problem #4...it went something like this:

Jack asks Kate and Hurley to go fishing. Kate catches 65% of the fish, but 15% of them are inedible. Hurley catches 35% percent of the fish, but 20% of them are inedible. If Jack reaches into the bucket and pulls out an inedible fish, what is the probability that it was caught by Hurley?

At first I didn't see the connection and just started to solve the problem (rather easy). Then I started to vividly picture Jack reaching into the bucket and then I pictured Kate and Hurley fishing. In my head I said "DUDE!" I almost started laughing then realized other people around my might not think it's so funny...so I wrote "I LOVE LOST" on the bottom of the page...maybe I'll get some extra credit!

Selling Back Books

I just got back from selling back some of my books. I decided to keep my Spanish and Biology books because I'm sure they will come in handy in the future. I tried to sell back my Writing and Math books but they didn't take back all of my writing books. What the heck? The four books and one CD come as a pack. Why wouldn't you take them all? That's ridiculous! Now I'm stuck with two essay sample books and a computer CD about "visualizing argument." What am I going to do with them? Nothing. If anybody wants them let me know.

Song of the Day

"Life is a Highway" - Rascal Flatts version

Originally by Tom Cochrane

11,13,12

My thoughts:

Ocean's 13 better than Ocean's 12 but not as good as Ocean's 11. Characters from 12 would have been well suited for larger roles in 13, but their potential was apparently overlooked. 13 also had much fewer surprises than the previous two, but had a closer feel to 11 than 12 did.

I'm satisfied with what I've seen. Let us hope there will be no Ocean's 14.
(It was accidental but after I realized it, I liked it, so I kept it.)

Oops ... my poor eyes.

For the first time that I can ever remember, I forgot to take out my contacts last night before bed. I don't know why or how it happened. I wasn't particularly tired and I hadn't stayed up particularly late. I've never forgotten before. Still, when I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror I knew something was wrong. My reflection was so clear. I looked down at my contacts case and sure enough, it was still open from when I had put them in the morning before. I gingerly put my hand up to my eye and there was my contact. I took them out and wore my glasses all day. I now understand a little bit better how Ariel must feel. My eyes have been red, itchy, and watering all day long. They won't stop. It's quite uncomfortable. I've been using lots of eye drops in hopes that perhaps they will be recovered by tomorrow. I'm going to need them for another week at work. I hope I go another five years without forgetting.

A Few Things I Will Miss

Everyday at 4:57 PM and 5:01 PM the clock at the MU plays the OSU fight song for the whole campus to hear. It's actually kind of handy because when I hear it I know it's officially time for dinner. On the other hand it's kind of annoying that they feel the need to play it twice. I think I might miss it a little.

Also, I think I might miss the train a little bit. A set of train tracks runs about 150 yards away from my dorm room. It. Is. Loud. (oh there goes the fight song again) Even though I find it very annoying when I'm on the phone with my mom or when it is 12 AM, I think I'm going to miss it a little.

I will also miss the pool, which I have become friends with. It's a good pool, and conviently close to my room (closer than the train tracks) and when I go home I won't one that close...it's rather sad.

I'm Packing Today

The day has finally come. I am getting ready to leave tomorrow. I spent all day yesterday studying, but today is completely dedicated to packing. It's funny because you'd think I'd be just a little sad, but I'm not at all. I might be once I'm home for a few weeks and realize I have no where to escape to.

I just got back (like 10 minutes ago) from putting my bike in the van. My poor bike has been sitting in the bike storage room for like 8 months now and I'm sorry I didn't take it out sooner. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make up for it this summer! Alright, enough of this. Let's get 'er done!

Physical Barrier

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wear sun glasses not only to protect my eyes from UV rays but also from pollen. And you know what, it works. My mom told me to try it and she was so right. I told Christina about how it really did work and she chuckled and said "It's funny that you need a physical barrier between your eyes and the pollen."

One time at the pool, while I was still on ESC, I put on my goggles and they hurt a little bit right under my eyes. They were itchy, but I figured as soon as I stated swimming they wouldn't be so bad. The problem was that my eyes were already so swollen I couldn't wear my goggles. It was sad.

I tried wearing my goggles around the house one time too to protect my poor eyes but I felt like a moron so I took them off. In retrospect, I probably looked like a bigger moron with my zombie swollen eyes than while wearing the goggles around the house...*sigh*

Man I'm Tired

I went to the pool this afternoon as usual, but the showers don't have hot water right now, so I was just going to shower when I got back to my room. Then I stepped on the scale and was a little shocked, so I decided I would run a little after swimming and then shower. As soon as I left the pool though...BAM! The pollen attacked me. I literally had just walked out off the locker room when my eyes when crazy and my nose filled up. I ran anyway. I put on glasses to protect my eyes, stretched a little, and headed out to the track. Man, it sucked. I am a terrible runner. I have a lot of endurance but not when it comes to running. I made it 5 laps running and two laps walking and then had to stop, because I thought I was going to die. Then I came back to my room, showered, started my laundry, got an iced latte (I think I deserved it), waited for my washers to finish, put my laundry in the drier, got dinner, ate too much, got my laundry, folded it, and now I'm blogging.

PS 3 more days (counting Monday).

"Save the chimps, save the world"

I hate the people who stand in the middle of the quad and attack you when you are on your way to or from class. They're meanies! They rule is, and everybody knows this, that when someone is walking through the quad and you are asking for money or for them to take a survey if they aren't making eye contact with you (i.e. pretending to send a text, browsing through their iPod, or watching their feet) don't bother them. A better example would be if I had my iPod in and pretending to text and looking down DON'T jump out in front of me and ask for "just 2 minutes" of my time. We both know you are going to need more than 2 minutes. Also, when I say that I don't have any money I'm not lying! I really have no cash and I won't until I sell back my text books! You should know that. You're a student too!

An Eye Full

I accidentally stared at someone today. For several minutes. How can you accidentally stare at someone?

Perhaps you were sitting in the break room with nothing to do so you started gazing around at the walls. You continued just gazing off into space, letting your eyes scan the room for anything of interest while at the same time remaining completely disinterested.

Perhaps during one of these scans a fellow worker's eye caught your interest. The eye wasn't looking at you, it caught your interest because there was something just slightly off about it. Imagine that you continue staring at the eye, debating whether it's slightly crossed or maybe a little lazy. By this time of course, the eye is looking at you, but you're lost in your thoughts and have failed to notice.

Until the fellow worker waves his hand at you to get your attention. Then all of the sudden you realize you've been staring directly into this person's eye, which may or may not have some imperfection. I'm still not sure. I mumbled something about staring off into space and did what I always do when embarrassed. I turned bright red and high-tailed it out of there.

Song of the Day

"(Vincent) Starry Night" ~ Josh Groban version

Originally by Don McLean

Me encantan los colores vivos.

GUESS WHAT!

FOUR MORE DAYS!!!!!!!

I'm listening...

I've become enough of a familiar face around the plywood plant now that people who once always remained silent in my presence, are beginning to talk in front of me. Today during lunch I sat at a table with two others and ate my lunch. I'm friendly and I'll smile and such, but I'm not very talkative. I still keep to myself.

The two other people who sat at the table apparently thought that because I wasn't talking, I wasn't listening to their conversation, despite the fact that they were right next to me. I wasn't eavesdropping, I was just within blatant hearing range. One of them mentioned that it was hot yesterday. He looked my way, so I nodded in agreement.

"See, she agrees with me," he said. The other occupant of the table responded, "She doesn't even know what she agreed to. She's not listening to us."

I don't know why they thought I wasn't listening. I don't know what else they thought I might be doing. It was weird. Maybe they thought my ear plugs were still in.

Blogging About Writing About Blogging

As some of you may already know, I am currently writing a paper about how blogging has become a part of my life. Actually it's taken over my life. I really wasn't going to write about this, but today in my writing class one of my group members asked me if I had blogged about this paper (and presentation) yet. I told him that I hadn't yet because I spent too much time whining about the last paper. But, I guess I changed my mind.

I am determined to get an A on this paper. I got a B on the last two and frankly they weren't deserved. I've also decided to make this paper a little funny. Maybe I'm just taking the class too seriously and that's why I can't get an A. I've used a couple of quotes from AH and my instructor laughed so I'm thinking I will keep it up. I don't really know what else to say about this paper...it doesn't suck as much as the last one...

If you want to possibly be quoted in my paper talk to me about what you think about blogging.

Here's Your Sign

Bill Engvall is my favorite comedian. I've seen all of his recorded shows multiple times, but I still watch them every time they're on Comedy Central and they never get old. Take tonight for example, I'm sitting here and it's past my bed time but I can't go to bed yet because Bill is on. Well I'm sitting here by myself laughing hysterically because he's so freaking funny! And I've see this one a million times but I'm still trying from laughter! Ooooooh my tummy hurts...

I love Blue Collar Comedy Tour(s) too...oh my God. Bill, Ron, Jeff, and Larry all together and I'm laughing for 3 strait hours! That's gotta burn some calories right? If you haven't seen or heard any of these guys go rent all the CDs and/or DVDs now! OOOH! I'm going to try to get one of their CDs for the trip home next week! Genius!

100 Laps

I swam 2500 yards today. That equals 100 laps or lengths if you prefer. A standard lap pool (not Olympia size) is 25 yards across. I count 25 yards as one lap. Many people however, consider a lap two be 50 yards (down and back). Anyways here is my workout for today:

• 4x100 - 3+1 (three laps freestyle + one lap not freestyle) 15 seconds rest between each
• 2x100 - kick one lap freestyle one lap other - 10 sec rest between each
• 300 easy - 45 sec rest
• 300 hard - 1:30 rest
• 200 easy - 40 sec rest
• 200 hard - 1:00 rest
• 100 easy - 30 sec rest
• 100 hard - 40 sec rest
• 6x50 - easy/med, med/hard, hard/easy repeat - 15 sec rest between (I think)
• 50 easy
• 6x25 - breakouts (halfway fast/halfway easy)
• 200 easy

Total: 2500 yards

Usually I only do 1000 but for some reason this past week I've felt like I need to kick it up a notch and a half.

NOTE: Men, if you decide you want to go to the pool DO NOT wear swim trunks that are any shade of pastel. Especially pink, yellow, or WHITE! It's gross. I don't care who you are...it's gross. Also, unless you are built like a Greek god, if you are over 35 DO NOT wear a Speedo. It's also gross. It's really bad when you decide that you have to stand at the edge of the pool while I am in it, because in case you didn't realize I am not eye to eye with you! Get it? If you feel like you have to wear pastel trunks or a Speedo wear both! Put the Speedo on first then the trunks. Double up. Yuck yuck yuck. What in the world would make you think that yellow swim trunks wouldn't be see through? Dark colors only!

A Bug Hunt

I'm often surprised at how easily I fit right into my roles at home even though I've been gone for many moons. One of these roles includes being the go-to person for homework help.

Thus, early this morning before the sun got too high, I could be found running around in our fields of Camus and cattle with my younger sister. We were chasing insects for her collection due on Tuesday.

We made quite a few good catches. We caught several butterflies and beetles. We collected various species of flies and bees. Her collection has come together rather nicely I think. Now she just has to look up the common name, genus, and species of each insect.

Some of my favorite finds were the spit bug (which we caught because it got stuck to my shoe), the Lorquin's Admiral butterfly which I caught by a mad dash through sticker bushes (bad activity to wear shorts for), and the capture of what looks to be a miniature grasshopper. My sister really wanted a swallowtail butterfly, but alas, they continued to allude us and remained out of reach of our net. The other 30 insects just aren't quite satisfying enough for her.

1,000 Places To See Before You Die

I got the book for Christmas. I figured I would because every time I went into World Market with my mom I would tell her that I wanted it. Now they have a TV show. I'm so jealous of the couple they chose to participate. I wouldn't even hesitate to take 3 months to take a trip around the world, expenses paid. I tried picking my top ten places out of the book...not even possible...and I didn't even leave the Europe section. That's another reason why I would do the trip. I'd get to go to Europe, but I'd also get to experience places I wouldn't have considered. Like México. It's so close that I don't really think about it, but there are some spectacular places there. Now, I'd also like to go to India, Peru, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Ireland...I'll stop there.

I wish I hadn't run out of tabby thingies...

But I'm Supposed To Be A Hard Ass Today...

My allergies have been pretty much behaving this week. Usually the intensity of my symptoms fluctuates from day to day, but this week there really weren't any symptoms at all. I just figured my medicine was finally in constant circulation in my bloodstream, keeping the inflammation at bay. Nope. Wrong.

Today I had plans. Today I was going to be a hard ass. I had a meeting with my Writing 121 instructor to discuss the paper I'm currently writing. I was going to bring up my last paper and convince him that I deserved an A instead of the B he gave me. I was totally ready to be a grade grubber, which I usually am not. I had planned a few things I was going to say and everything, I was ready. But when I woke up it all changed. Being a hard ass takes energy. Being a grade grubber takes energy. All of my energy is currently being focused on my allergies. Runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing...it's all there, wasting my energy.

So, as I'm sitting there in the café talking about blogging (that's what my current paper is on) he asks me if there anything else I wanted to discuss.
"Yes," I said. "I want to know why I got the grade I did on my other paper."
"Okay," he replied. Good start, Ariel.
So he pulled up my paper on the computer and started going through it, showing me things I could have done better. Because of my grogginess I actually wasn't paying much attention which was bad, because I needed to be prepared to argue. Then he pointed to a sentence on the screen and told me he had given me a link to The Onion. I was thinking "okay cool..." then I actually read the sentence and realized it wasn't my paper we were going through. So, I told him. Confused, he searched for the correct paper. I was excited because I was hoping he had actually given me the wrong grade. Nope, wrong again. He found my paper and there were less markings on it which made me happy, but he then explained how my transitions weren't great. Then he said that my thesis was confusing because he wasn't sure if I was saying that people should be more sustainable or businesses should be more sustainable. I just nodded and took another sip from my coffee. I said "great, thanks," and walked away.

Now I'm sitting in my room pissed that I was too groggy from my freaking allergies to be the hard ass I needed to be! He was wrong. There was one transition that was a little sketchy and my thesis talked about both people and businesses and I supported both! Why couldn't I have said anything? He also told me that one of my paragraphs was too long and I told him that the girl at the writing center (the visit was required) said I needed to connect the two paragraphs, so I did. His reply was "well maybe you misunderstood her." WHAT? I did not! How could I misunderstand that? I sat right there next to her and she drew a line on my paper with an arrow saying "connect" so I did! But did I defend myself? Nope.

Now I have to make a phone call and try to be a hard ass again, but I just don't think I have the energy. The one day I need to be tough and I can't...imagine how much more angry I would be if I had the energy.

PS This is my 100th post.