Random Thoughts and Observations – July 31, 2008 Edition

I’ve been reminded lately, as I am every year when the temperatures hover around a certain point, that I suffer from insomnia in the summer.  Even though we keep the air conditioner set to a relatively low setting and have the ceiling fan running, it’s just uncomfortable.  When I’m hot, my legs ache and become restless, my arms become very restless, and I often have a headache.  The mold spore count hasn’t been below 20,000 in ages, and that always causes dry, scratchy eyes, ticklish throat, and major sinus pressure.  Sadly, it’s not just me having these problems, Bart and Lucy both had their own insomnia issues.  We make each other miserable and keep the others awake.  We’re all just as much to blame as the others.  Of course the icing to the cake is that Lucy has started waking up growling and barking at random times of the night after the incident earlier in the week.

Oh, I’ve not posted about that yet, have I?  Well, it’s pretty funny, if you don’t mind that it’s keeping us from sleeping.  Bart had to go take pictures and lighting measurements at a parking garage that the local city government says is too bright.  This had to be done after dark, so he was gone from like 8 PM until midnight one night this week.  Well, Lucy and I didn’t wait up for him and went to bed around 10:30, like we try to do most nights.  Both of us were asleep in the bed when Bart started opening the front door.  Lucy jumped up, with fierce growls and barks from deep within, she went to go take care of the intruder.  Well, Bart was carrying his tripod, so he looked especially menacing, even though we both by that point were assuring her that all was well.  She ended up in the living room, on her spot on the couch, still growling and barking.  It was then that we noticed that her little, puppy eyes couldn’t stay open despite her perceived need to protect the house.  A while later, the three of us were in bed, just getting to sleep when suddenly Lucy started barking and growling.  She was obviously reliving the excitement in her dreams.  This happened again last night.  I’m hoping that it won’t be a recurring event every night.

On other thoughts, I love having a stat-counter for this blog.  It’s fun seeing who reads this blog, what parts they read, and such.  The use of tags and categories makes this a fun, invaluable, and interesting tool to have.  I couldn’t imagine having a blog where I can’t keep up with whom has been reading it and what posts attract the most viewers.  As always, please leave any and all comments.  I love feedback from everyone.

Now, just for fun, here’s a list of things I’ve been particularly enjoying of late:

• As always, my iPod Touch, thought with the 2.0 software, it’s even better.  I’m making great use of the new applications.
• Last.fm and Pandora.  I’ve lately become addicted to these.
• The book, “Fallen Founder,” a biography of Aaron Burr.
• WordPress.  I’m enjoying this much more than Vox or Blogger.
• The knowledge that football season is drawing near.  I can’t wait.
• Working with awesome people.  I know that I’m ready to be a mom and stay at home, but it’s not because I don’t like the people I work with.

Grey Dawn – The Curse of Elderly Drivers

I’ve always heard tales of what horrible drivers women are, and what wreckless drivers teenagers are. I will admit that women may statistically have more fender benders than men, but once anyone reaches a certain age, they should have to pass a test to be allowed on the streets, especially the men, who seem to drive like a bat out of hell.

In the past few weeks, i’ve had more than my normal share of altercations with elderly male drivers. The Monday after Independence Day an elderly couple in an enormous Mitsubishi Montero behemoth pulled into the turning lane on College (71B) and decided they wanted in my lane, even though I was right next to them, in rush hour traffic, and couldn’t really move out of the way. In that instant I honked my horn profusely and narrowly escaped a major accident by mere inches because the Mercedes SUV to my right and just behind me, gave me room to swerve.

Today I was backing out of the city parking lot behind the station in order to go home for lunch. It’s a pretty narrow parking lot, my car’s not very small, and I had to large SUV’s to both of my sides, so I had to back up, turn the wheel, pull forward, and back up a second time to clear the parking spots. Well in between the my turning forward and final back up, an older man in a Scion box pulled out of his spot behind me and to the right all too fast, backing into my back bumper. I was at a full stop at this point, and it happened so quickly that I didn’t think to honk my horn. Out jumps the man wearing shorts that were all too short for a man his age, yelling at me.

Calmly, I said, “You backed into me sir. I was at a full stop and saw you back into me.”

He yelled, “Why didn’t you think to honk your horn!?”

That somewhat ruffled my feathers, but I remained calm. I replied, “I assumed you would look where you were backing up and see my car, as it’s not very small.”

He made some other comments, and I mentioned checking for damage. THEN he asked if I was injured, and I wasn’t. Neither vehicle was damaged. Those Toyota Camry bumpers that bounce really work. There wasn’t even a scratch. I sort of wished there had been some damage because the man had acted the way he had, and I’m just tired of elderly men who shouldn’t be driving.

I seriously believe that once a person is old enough to collect Social Security, they should have to pass a mandatory, yearly driving test. I imagine a vast amount of people would agree. Please comment if you do. If you have any stories to share, please do. For a laugh to calm your nerves after your rant, watch South Park’s, “Grey Dawn.”

Random Observations and Such – July 24, 2008 Edition

• I don’t know why, but for some reason every time I go to any type of restaurant and order a Coke, I am given a Diet Coke. Now I would rather drink paint varnish than anything Diet. The taste of aspartame
  always makes me want to drag my tongue across a carpet. I can always tell the difference. Don’t even try to give me Pepsi. Anyway, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a thin woman that it’s assumed I would want to drink the nasty stuff, or what, but I’m slowly learning that I have to be very particular in asking for it. I just want Coke-a-Cola Classic – not Diet, Cherry, Vanilla, Lime, Zero, Caffeine Free, nor any combination thereof. If you can’t give me that, just give me a Dr. Pepper – regular, not diet, etc.
• I seriously believe that we have hired a real-life Sideshow Bob to run a camera at work. He certainly has the hair. I hope the murderous personality doesn’t match.
• I’m ready to get Lucy a baby sister golden retriever to play with, both for her and for us. She’s been in the habit of chewing things up again in boredom. I want to alleviate some of that boredom and maybe just a little of her excess energy.

The Fuel Of Life

Time is a precious commodity. Everyone needs it, everyone demands it, and the supply can never keep up with the demand. It waits for no one, and is the fire in which we burn. If time was on the market, it’s price would make the current price of gasoline look reasonable.

As children, it always seemed to be in high quantity. It couldn’t pass quickly enough. Weekends could seem like eternities, and Christmas was always a lifetime away.

At some point Christmas started coming sooner, weekends passed by in a flash, and the surplus of time has somehow dwindled down to a deficit. Like the passing of a childhood pet, we mourn the passage of time and curse the speed at which it travels,

Time, my friend, you burn far too quickly.

Be Like a Boy Scout

You never really know what curve balls life is going to throw you, no matter how old you are. You would think that someone who has worked as a professional on a field for over thirty years would/should have greater job security than a fresh college graduate, however that is often not the case.

The more experience you have means you should be paid more, and knowledge usually loses out to money. When you should be secure, you can’t be. We should always be prepared to have the rug pulled out from beneath us.

Random Observations and Such – July 22, 2008 Edition

I’ve come to realize that the older I get, the less I care for summer. Maybe when I have kids and stay at home with them I’ll enjoy it again, but for now, I can’t wait for Fall. The first obvious reason and cause of most, if not all, other reasons is because of the heat. I don’t particularly care for excessive heat. I don’t know how I managed to survive all those years of July church camps and band camps when I was in high school. Perhaps the teenage body is better equipped to withstand the heat than that of someone in her late twenties, or perhaps I have less incentive to whither and sweat these days.

I feel sorry for my dog, Lucy, when it’s hot I only make her spend the mornings outside. She, being the spoiled house-dog that she is, is always only too glad to spend the remaining three hours after my lunch sleeping on the couch, under the air conditioner and ceiling fan. Playing with her and exercising her is an ordeal for dog and owners. Our nightly run has become a short walk, only taken after dark.

Since I am an adult, no longer in school, there is no long, lazy summer vacation. I work every day and save vacation days for cooler weather, when people who have school-age children can’t take vacations. Dressing for work is a chore because though you can fry an egg on the pavement outside, as long as the air conditioner at the office is working, the workplace is often a freezer.

Cooking large meals is out of the question because you end up heating the whole house so much that the air conditioner can’t stop working. By the time you’ve managed to prepare and entire meal, you’re too tired and exhausted from the heat to actually what has been prepared. Then there is the dubious task of cleaning the kitchen after you’ve decided that you can’t possibly eat the meal you’ve worked so hard to prepare.

So, I long for the Autumn. I can’t wait until the start of the college football season. I miss a cool, gentle breeze brushing against my face while I walk the dog. I want to step on crunchy leaves. I want to be able to wear clothes that are comfortable both outside and at work. I really want to step on crunchy leaves.

I Love Stories Like This

Trying Something New

For quite a while now I’ve been torn as to which weblog host I should use. So, to relieve that problem, I’m going to cross post for at least a while at Vox, Blogger, and WordPress.

Counting To Four…

Lucid Moments

     Sometimes I think that a moment of lucidity is rare these days for any of us.  We keep so busy with work, home, activities, things we have to do, and finally things wethink we have to do that we’re all more crazed than any of us can begin to understand.  Our lives are all so fast-paced, so connected that we don’t just take a moment to appreciate and understand how precious each moment is. 

     The weather has been uncharacteristically cool and wet for an Arkansas July this year.  For some reason cooler weather always frees my mind to appreciate the simple wonders of what’s before us.  Friday night I stepped outside onto our driveway and just observed the early evening hours with reverence and awe.