Winter Wonderland

Dear Winter Weather gods,

Hey there Snow! Or Mr. Jack Frost, I’ve heard. Remember when I said I wanted snow last year before the holidays to put me in a better holiday mood? And remember how last year you didn’t drop any snow for Christmas? I appreciate the effort to make it all up to me this year, but you don’t have to overwork yourself here. It’s early in the season; I don’t want to see you pull anything right off the bat.

I have a feeling the 14 inches you let fall on Saturday will make it the rest December. Or the 16 more inches you dropped off on Tuesday. Even if we somehow got 50 degree weather for the rest of December, I think those 2 and half feet of snow can hold off for the holidays. And I can tell you, we aren’t getting 50 degree days. More like -10.

My point in all this, Mr. Jack Frost, is you can stop the snow for a little while. We don’t need another 4-6 inches that you were planning to dump on us today. We’re running out of places to put it all. I’m also running out of food. I just need a few days off to let the plows do their thing and run off to the store. Otherwise the next time you hear of me, I’ll be wrapped in blankets clutching my last can of chicken broth as my roommates morph into raging animals eyeing down the only substantial thing left in the house. I will fight them off with my skates, but if we can avoid that little situation, I would appreciate it.

I’m glad you’re so thrilled about the holiday season, but I’d like to get home to celebrate with you at some point. If you could just keep everything off the roads, and my car, and away from my windows and doors so I could get out of the house, that’d be great.

All the best,
M

Survivor Man

“You can’t get lost in Gooseberry,” She casually tosses out as we walk through the door. If there’s a will, there’s a way, my friend. Oh boy is there a way.

I am slightly ashamed to say that this was going to be the first time I would visit Gooseberry Falls, or just “the Falls” as us locals like to call it. I’ve lived here for three years. Three years of great leaf changes and had never taken a day trip to enjoy the colors. With a strong push from some of my friends (“Hey, I’m coming up this weekend to take pictures of the leaves - cool?” […] “Wait, what now?”), we made plans to take the short drive along the North Shore. Unfortunately, the very next day called for rain which knocked down the pretty red leaves. But, no matter – this is why Adobe created Photoshop.

Saturday morning we woke to what everyone loves to wake up to: the smell of coffee and the sound of rain. Wait. Waterfalls tend to be outside, right? We, being the strong women that we are, weren’t going to let a little rain stop our fun. After throwing on a few more layers and grabbing some old shoes, we were ready to take on the world.
“How many of these Trail Mix bars should we take?”
“Just a few, we should be fine; unless we get lost.”
“I’ll grab the box.”
And off we went.

We drove along the North Shore (the scenic route, even!) singing along to Mika loudly and out of tune. After a quick pit stop at a pie restaurant, we made it to Gooseberry State Park. By then the rain knew it would be best to stay away for awhile, so we grabbed our cameras and went out on the trail. The place was PACKED. What was supposed to be a relaxing, reflecting time, ended up being more of a… “Hey! You… ugh. You just stepped in my shot. Thanks, pal.” To clarify, I slipped. I saw him there, but the rocks were wet. And besides, he’ll thank me when he gets those developed; I’m sure my “Woahaaah!” face will provide lots of laughter for him.

I, on the other hand, worked with the masses of people. Like with this boy. Can't you just see the wisdom of youth, or something? (I'm pretty sure he was just waiting for his mother to get her camera out at the bottom of the cliff... but 'deep in thought' works better)


After getting the shots of the falls, we headed further down the trail. It was only a short hike until we made it to the end of the river where it meets the lake. The trail stopped there, but we decided to go check out the beach and the rocks. Since there weren't any parents around, we rock climbed up some small cliffs along the shore just to see what was on the other side. We sat and walked along the beach taking in the light from... the clouds. No rain, and that's all that really mattered.
"I'm ready. You guys?"
"Yep. Which way should we go? We have the trail that we came on, and there's this one over here."
"The other makes a full circle back, right? Let's take that."

Right there. Right there is where we went wrong.

We began walking on the new trail, not really in the mood to take anymore pictures, just ready to get back. We didn't pass anybody going this way. We didn't see anyone. Not a soul. This also should have been a clue, but since we obviously weren't thinking, we kept going.
"Are we almost there? This is taking forever."
"It looks like the trails about the same distance on this map. And hey, we just curved a little while ago."
"We've curved, like, six times already."
"Well, there's only two big curves on this map. Wait - is there a sign up ahead?"
"It says, 'big site'. That on the map?"
"Um... There isn't any text on this thing."
"Of course not."

This is when things start to get hazy, and memories of "If you get lost, just stand next a tree and wait for us to find you." start filling the brain. Plenty of trees to stand by, but we were lacking the 'us to find you' bit. We rationed out the trail mix bars and kept walking all the while looking for signs of life.

"Deer."
"What?"
"Oh my... deer!!"

Not 15 feet from us there was a deer just of the path to our left. Staring straight at us. We froze. And by froze I mean whipped out our cameras.




"They don't attack people do they?" We all exchanged glances and backed away slowly. Well, except for one of us. Who decided to whistle as loud as she could. Immediately, the deer lifted his head (as well as the deer that was behind him) with that 'Attack mode, check' look as he stared us down.
"Don't do that!" "What? They aren't going to do anything." "They're stupid! They'll run at us!"

Bam! We bolted with such speed it was like a scene out of Lost and some other show where they run a lot. I mean, you see his yellow eyes, huge antlers and fangs, right? You would've bolted too. We ran all the way back to 'big site' out of breath, but alive and unscathed.

After cutting through the woods and some campsites, we managed to make it back to the original path. Four hours after we had set out on the trails, we finally made it back to the car. Yeah, you read that right. Four hours.

My bed never felt so good.

According to the map and our best guess, if we would have kept going when we saw the deer, we would have popped out right at the parking lot. Smooth.

Kicks (in the face) on Route 66

Remember when I had that period of time where my computer hated me? Well, it apparently transferred that hatred to my car. My car and I used to be friends. That is until it decided to have me stranded in the middle of nowhere. Confused? Let me explain.

Start scene: I’m driving along the highway while listening to my usual driving music. Things are good. It’s sunny, my windows are down, my music is loud, and I’m driving, uh, around the speed limit. When I went to look down at the said speed limit, I noticed my battery light was on. That can’t be good. I’ve never seen that while actually driving before. But no worries, all it did was blink in that “Well, hi there!” way, then disappeared back into my dashboard. Hmm, maybe this is just a little reminder to tell my roommate I’m sorry about all of her battery problems. Yep. That must be it.

Still driving, and now my ABS light flashes on. Since I’m not sure what that means, it’s time to call some people. “Are your breaks working ok?” “Yeah, I think so, but I’m on the freeway so I haven’t exactly used them in about 40 min.” “You may need to pull off and check, just to make sure.” He says as my airbag light shows up. Apparently this doesn’t mean that the airbags could blow at any second, but to be safe I leaned back into my chair as best as possible while driving with my knees. I can’t afford broken noses and arms right now. Or ever, really.

Next exit approaches where I pulled off and turned into a parking lot, turning off my car as quickly as I could so my airbags wouldn’t attack me randomly, but again, they apparently don’t do that. Who knew? Anyway, I open up my hood to make sure everything look like it should. Which, yeah, I don’t have a clue what a working car looks like. There were a lot of wires and a big thing which I’m pretty sure is the engine. So, check. Car looks fine. Time to get on with my trip. I’m sure you all can guess where this is going next. Car won’t start. Instead it’s flashing and clicking like crazy. Swell.

And so far, this is the extent of my story. I’m still stranded. That’s right, I am writing this from my car because the Cold Stone Creamery (score!) doesn’t have wireless, but apparently this liquor store that I’m parked in front of does. It’s too bad it is Sunday. And I’m not 21.

I really wish I could turn the air on. ::sigh::

Goals, Goals, Goals

Summer is coming to a close, and I’ve just completed a few months of working at my first big-girl job. It made the summer busy and very lazy-free, but I learned a lot and I ended up getting used to the schedule at the end (only at the end, but there you go). Now that I’m moving back to the sweatpants-wearing - ramin-eating - movie-watching - flat-out-lazy-days phase of my year, I thought I’d put some things into perspective and actually make some goals for myself. If all goes well, I will be able to scratch off everything that is specific to this phase, except the movie-watching. Sorry, not giving that up. Here we go:

1. Complete my wardrobe:

I don’t have any clothes. I know people always say this, but most of those people just don’t like what they have. I, however, honestly can’t make through a week and a half without re-wearing some shirts, and it’s getting a little embarrassing. I also decided to move on from the typically college/high school look of sweatpants and sweatshirts during the week. By the end of this school year I want a complete classy wardrobe that makes me look trendy and young. I don’t need closets upon closets of stuff, but I would like to make it over a week without having to do laundry.

2. Pimp out my computer:

Now that I’ve spent a summer in front of a computer, I’ve learned some things in taking care of my stuff, especially when odd things happen. I am attached to my computer and will continue to use it lots and lots, so I’d like it to work with my needs. That’s only fair in a loving relationship. This includes getting my own printer. It will be nice not having to sucker my roommates into printing out my labs for me, and I’m sure they will appreciate it too. I also need to get myself an external hard drive. I’m losing space on my computer because itunes likes to take my money. And based on the space left on my ipod, I’m going to need some more room.

3. Learn to cook actual meals:

I like to cook, and I do think that compared to most college-age kids, I do pretty well for myself. Here’s the thing: I never know what to make at the end of the day. I really just need to call up someone every night with, “Hi. What do I want to eat tonight?” I don’t. And because of this, I usually throw some water in a pot and rotate through my spaghetti-mac&cheese-ramin dinners. Now that I’ll be living in a house with a decent kitchen, I’d like to hone in my “meal” making skills.

4. Cut back on the procrastination:

This one will be tough. I have been a horrible procrastinator my whole life (hence the lack of blog entries since…), and now that we have the jumbo cable package (way to go roommates!), I will be faced with even more distractions. If I work at this, though, it will help with a lot of flaws in my day-to-day living, and my grades should go up. It will be nice to get homework done well before the seconds leading to class. I may need some nagging for this one.

There we go. I think this is a pretty solid and achievable list.

Possessed

I'm starting to think my computer is possessed. It’s either that, or I was given a trick computer as part of a little intern initiation thing. Little late, guys, but thanks.

There’s nothing really disturbing about the things that happen with my computer while I’m at work. Just little things where you can’t think of anything to do but lift your hands off the keyboard and tilt you head to the side a little. Like dogs do. It’s almost like my computer is making fun of me.

I’m going to go with the whole possessed thing, because weird thing started happening right on Friday the 13th. I was writing a response to a friend when I accidentally grazed the little mouse thing that’s placed in the center of the keyboard. All of a sudden the screen flashes and the browser reloads the page to the Microsoft Community Forums. I’ve visited that site a few times at work, but not that day. And the page isn’t bookmarked anywhere.

Right. Lifts hands off keyboard…

Same day, I’m reading another webpage. This time, without hitting anything, the browser closes. Odd. I opened Firefox up again and went about my business. About a half hour later, the program I’m using doesn’t respond. This isn’t all that unusual, so I start up the task manager and end that program. The program closes – and then that old browser window pops up.

Lifts hands…

Since then I’ve had window freezes, error messages, mouse moving around when I’m not touching it, and other oddities of that nature. Today I was trying to show a coworker part of this program I’m working on. Three times I tried opening the thing, and three times the whole program froze up and need to be closed. Until he left. Now it works great.

Very funny, stupid computer, very funny.

Lucky Day

This is, like, the best commercial ever.

Blackout

I work at a company that mainly employs men. This isn’t really out of the ordinary, there just aren’t a whole lot of women in engineering, and since this is sort of an engineering firm, well there you go. We have one female engineer, two if you include me (but I’m temporary, so I guess I doesn’t really count), and then a few women in marketing, sales and HR. The point is - you really don’t see a whole lot of women throughout the day. Even in the women’s bathroom.

There’s a sensor in each of the bathrooms that controls the lights, and I think they go off after 15 minutes or so. The main bathroom has two doors; each door leads to two different halves of the company. The sensor just happens to point to my door, so whenever I have to go to the bathroom, the light turns on as soon as I open the door. If you come in on the other side, it doesn’t pick you up right away.

Today, I walk in and the lights are off, so I move a little further in to set off the sensor. The light turns on and all of a sudden this poor women looks up at me, hands gripping the counter.

“Oh! Wow! You scared me!”

“It got SO dark in here…”

(pause)

“Are you ok?”

Suddenly laughing, “Oh yeah, the lights were on when I came in and they just turned off! I couldn’t remember what side the sensor was on…”

“Good thing I came in then!”

I have no idea how long she was standing there. I didn’t want to ask, because, well, you know. This was, by the way, the second time I saved someone from the darkness. That sort of makes me a “bringer of light,” if you will. They should really move that sensor.

Cause for Celebration

Dear Amateur Firework Enthusiasts,

I enjoy fireworks as much as the next person. I even enjoy watching the illegal fireworks that are displayed throughout the neighborhood in the weeks leading up to the 4th. I understand completely the joy in sitting out in your lawn chairs watching the lovely colors explode against the night sky, as you and your friends sigh “Oohh”’s and “Aaahhh”’s while trying to figure out just how they get fireworks to display smiley faces in those professional shows.

Here’s the thing about that night sky: It ends at 11. I work in the morning, as do a lot of other people in this neighborhood. Just because you are on summer vacation doesn’t mean the rest of us are. Last night I was tucked in, asleep, peaceful, and finally at a perfect temperature. When I rolled over, a giant “KKAAABOOOOOM, SHhhhhhhzzzzzzz…” made me jump about 10 feet high, and temporarily disturb my ceiling fan.

Not only did this frighten me, it also frightened every single dog in the neighborhood, which includes my dog who sleeps in the room right next to mine. You may have noticed that there are a lot of dogs in this neighborhood, and every single one of them barks like crazy when they get attacked by loud noises in the middle of the night. After forcing my heart back into my chest, I had to listen to about 15 dogs bark followed by their owners’ attempts at getting them quiet by yelling even louder.

The next time you have the urge to play with colorful fire late at night, stop by and I will be more than willing to buy you some sparklers.

All the Best,
M

The Italian Job

Just an fyi, don't expect posts to keep coming everyday...

There's a thief in my office. She stole my mug. And yes, I know exactly who she is.

I brought my own coffee mug to work one day. It’s a little bigger than the company mugs, and let's face it, much prettier. It was amazing. I'd fill up my coffee or tea with this stupid grin on my face, admiring my fantastically yellow mug, taking small sips and setting it on my desk so I can always see it out of the corner of my eye. And of course, my pretty little mug needs its daily washing. Every night after I was done for the day, I'd put my mug into the company dishwasher and pick it up from its little "I'm Clean!" cubby the next morning. I had this match-made-in-heaven morning drinking experience for a whole week.

Three weeks ago, however, my morning routine was shattered.

I headed to the cabinet Monday morning, smiling, just anxious to see my cup, who is also just as anxious to be filled with some sort of hot liquid... It was gone. No where to be found. My heart sunk a little as a panicked inner monologue was running through my head. Who could be so cruel? Is the thief treating it ok? Earl Grey is not one of its favorite morning drinks. Would the thief even know that? Would they even care? It is just common courtesy to leave the mugs that are so obviously not yours to the people who actually own them.

It has been three weeks since my mug was mug-napped.

Mornings really haven't been the same. I get this little glimmer of hope as I walk into the office. Maybe they put it back. Maybe they just confused my beautiful mug with their crappy one. Because they're blind. But every morning I find the cubby empty. And every evening when I check the dishwasher before I leave (I seriously do), nothing. This cruel person doesn't even wash it regularly. When I get it back, there will be some major cleaning done.

I had a little development today. My dad has also been looking for the perp, and apparently he's seen quick blurry images of my mug, and the person sprinting away, but he hasn't seen enough to know who has shattered my dreams these past few weeks. Today, however, I saw her. I was making tea in a paper cup (not actually paper - it’s kind that starts with an 's' that I have no idea how to spell) when I saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. I strategically dumped some of my tea out so I could keep filling it for an insane amount of time. I just watched. And waited.

She must store the mug on her desk, because she came in with it. After rinsing, she started get her lunch out of the refrigerator. My mug was sitting on the counter, sadly looking back at me. I was going to go all Heroes on her ass and stop time, ripping the mug off the counter and charging to my desk before restarting the clock. But since I don't have crazy cool powers, all I could do was watch. She looks relatively nice. That’s probably her angle - no one would ever suspect her. But I know.

I was thinking about striking up the incredibly awkward conversation. Ya know,
"Oh, that's a nice mug. It looks a lot like one I had." *evil glare that she probably won't even catch, because she's just as evil*
"Yeah, I really like it."
"I did too."
"What happened" with a tone so fake innocent you just want to scream.
"Oh, don't give me that! You stole it! You thieving thief!" And then a catfight would break out where she'll slap at me pathetically as I cock my fist back, preparing for the final and fatal blow.

But I didn't. I am a coward. And I decided stealing it back would make me feel better. You know - kind of an eye for an eye deal, but more dramatic and modern. I'm thinking about doing a full-blown heist complete with headsets and getaway cars. If I could find some cables that could hang me from the ceiling, that'd be pretty awesome as well. She'll be working, and just as she's turning to pick up a penny that I flash-glued to the floor - I'll zing down from the cable, wearing expensive eyewear and bracelets with lazars that don't actually do anything, snatch the mug and zip back up into the ceiling. My computer guy, because every heist has a computer guy, will then transfer enough money from her account to mine for a year's supply of green tea. She won't even know what hit her.

Ha, yeah, take that!

Instant Human: Just add Coffee

Do you ever wonder how some places attract the oddest collection of people? Yeah, yeah, everyone's unique, has their own fingerprint and personality, blah blah. But for the most part, similar people kind of find each other at the places they go to shop, eat, hang out, or whatever.

Those rules do not apply at coffee shops.

It must be something about the caffeine or whatever's in the bakery, because you could not find a group of people who are so different from one another. I work at a coffee shop on weekends. It really is a great job - laid back, great stories, good coffee - but we get the oddest groups of customers. We get the guys who could be CEO's of some company, cops and detectives, not super well off people who save up for their coffee, soccer moms, environmental groups, students, doctors and nurses, writes, readers, and artists. You name it, they come in.

Its fun. People always have a story to tell. But sometimes we also get the one's with really odd requests. Happens everywhere. You ask anyone who's had a job where they deal with customers, and they'll tell you. Weird things happen.

Like the other day.

This lady walks in on here cell phone (note to shoppers: we hate this. I mean really hate this. I've been shushed when I ask people what they want - why'd you walk up to the counter then? Moron). I'm in a good mood though, so this doesn't bother me much today. And its slow.

"My husband would like to talk with you." She says as the holds the phone out for me. Hmm. Well, this hasn't happened before. Please please, don't have him be a yeller.

"Oh, uh, ok. Hello?"

"Hi. Yeah, I want to order a drink." is your wife mute?

"alrighty, what can I get you?" maybe this is one of those really confusing drinks that end up costing people $20.

"Yeah, I want a medium coffee with a little vanilla. And could you leave some room for cream?" That's it? Seriously?

"Sure thing. Anything else today?"

"Nope, that's all. My wife will pay for it." Well I'd sure hope so, or you just made her waste a trip. Which, why aren't you here? Your wife's not even getting anything. And why could you just tell your wife that you wanted a coffee?

Oh well, maybe she was already out running errands or something. The guy I was working with and I had a pretty good laugh after she left. And that's all that really matters. This was much better than the time I had bagels thrown at me.

"M'am, could you please stop throwing the ones with cream cheese?"

Start Your Engines

I should be asleep.

My intentions are always good. I get ready for bed around 10, brush my teeth, set the alarm, and then guess what happens - I get sidetracked. I get distracted easily, apparently. Now I'm up creating a blog! Ha!

I am not a writer by any means. A blogger? We'll see I suppose. I get into these kicks where I start something but never finish it out. You'd think that would be pretty frustrating, and it is, but I've done that all my life. I have a beautiful guitar that I barely know how to play. The extent of my Spanish is, "Hola. Donde el Bano?" Which I don't actually know if that’s quite right. It gets the job done though. And besides, that is the most important question anyway! I've had blogs before. I'm really good about it at first, then I drop off the planet for awhile. When I get into the kick again, I create a new one!

Not this time though! This time if I leave the blog, I'm going to keep this bookmarked. When I get in the mood for another blog - I'll already have one! Not only will the fancy template already be in place, but I won't have to do another one of these, "Welcome to me!" posts. I don't know why these frustrate me - what gives me the right to think that anyone will actually read this? I have no idea why someone should want to hear what I have to say. But I guess this isn't really about anyone. This "thing" is kind of for me anyway, right? All the words and typos are mine! Muahaha! Well, enough introduction - on with the blog!

My dad wanted me to drive home from work the other day (I'm an intern at the same company) so he could stay later and finish up some things. He drove the stick-shift and I've driven that, maybe... 4 times? Anyway - I am so not comfortable driving 45 minutes in stop and go traffic with a car that I really don't know how to drive. During lunch he was going to teach me (ha!).

"Ah sh**!" -Me as the car stalls
"I mean shoot..."

"That's fine, turn it back on" -Dad. Wow, he is surprisingly calm for how many cars were starting to line up behind me.
"Put it back in first, anndd... ease up on the clutch..."

"Ah! Sh**! I'm rolling back!" -Me

"Gas. More gas. Gas! GAS!! MORE GAS!!" -Dad

*honking cars* SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! as the car skids from side to side as I'm seriously peeling off the line.

"aw, whew. Made it. How was that for enough gas!" -Me

(pause)

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." -Dad

"agreed" -Me