- grandma has resorted to eating almond bark yet she complains her stomach hurts. i can't wait for the flood to be unflooded.
- just woke up and no breaches in dikes and only six inches of snow. so far so good... going back to bed.
- time-lapsed video of rising flood h20 on huffpo http://tinyurl.com/d9roar #fargoflood
- pretty sure i got my grandma drunk off of one mudslide. woops.
- until we have 2 sandbag, sign petition to reunite sbtb cast http://tinyurl.com/cajs27
- more on shamwow guy... http://tinyurl.com/dlzdpk
- just rcvd code red phone call that they need vols at el zagel in north fargo to shore up dike #fargoflood #flood09
- if you're in north fargo near mickelson, WALK to help shore up south side of dike nearish oak grove #fargoflood #flood09
- just got code red call-need vols to WALK (do NOT drive) to south side of mickelson to shore up dike. dad & i going #fargoflood #flood09
- good article on surviving flood http://tinyurl.com/dzzny5 #fargoflood #flood09
- mandatory evacuation of lindenwood area in fargo. breach in dike, inforum is reporting #fargoflood #flood09 be safe
- preparing to evacuate? impt docs to save http://tinyurl.com/cyjju5 #fargoflood #flood09
- north broadway now closed from 35th ave north to oakport twshp. #flood09 #fargoflood
- finally beginning to blog about the flood... http://wanderlust-ndstyle.b... #fargoflood #flood09. more coming soon...
- Do you think if sandbaging ruined my phone t mobile will give me a new one? On my way home after tired and a half hours.
- anyone still sandbagging? just woke up and need to get going...
- heading to bed now to get up in a few hours to help the overnighters sandbag. round three. i'm still sore.
- get out and sandbag, people! http://www.inforum.com/even... who wants to go monday night with me?
- Quitting a half hour early. My back hurts. My fingers hurt. My hands are dirty. And i'm tired. But sandbaging is fun! Everyone should do it.
- There are some real fucking idiots trying to sandbag. Two more hours with them. Bleh
- ok, i'm gonna head out to the fargodome to go bag sand. i'm a community supporter! wait. does that sound weird?
- fargo news just announced that crest will be higher than expected - was supposed to be 37-40' now 39-41' and its starting to rain
- gonna eat and rest up then go sandbagging at like 11 or 12 tonight. who's with me??
- wish i could help sandbag. instead i have grandma duty. heading to the old folks home, grocery shopping then to another old folks home...
- welcome to twitter, bobbann23!
- "live" blogged the ndsu/kansas game - check it out http://tinyurl.com/clga9m
- check this awesome page out http://tinyurl.com/dn2vvm
- my attempts at nursing documented... new blog post http://wanderlust-ndstyle.b...
- at biolife in moorhead getting plasma ripped out of me. finally making money!! easiest job i've ever had
- Let's go. When you free? I'm avail anytime but may.
- @charpie - you like caribou coffee? i just had their chai today and was less than impressed. i think i like northstar. fully clothed.
- who wants to go to new orleans with me for 1-2 weeks to build houses? all expenses are tax deductible....
- Great. Just decreased speed by over ten mph because there is a trooper on the road.
- headin' to bismarck to take care of @erdynorth. gone for the night
- @rcs78 so true - but a week is for wimps. i bet i can finish it in 3 days! want copies?
- drinking with the 'rents and their friends. they're all wasted! errr... "tight" excuse me. they're all tight.
- just got all six seasons of Oz from amazon. one of the best shows ever. frickin awesome.
- back to the blog! 2nd day in a row - i'm a roll! check it out... http://wanderlust-ndstyle.b...
- Bison are playing sloppy. not cool. and i dont like it when they say "bisson" i prefer "bizen"
- watching chuck on dvr. one of my favorite shows ever! tonight's episode does not disappoint. "nerd herd - thats me!"
- (and @erdysouth, of course)
- ha ha. just kidding. @erdysouth is at work. going with @erdynorth who is really cool for hanging out with me. i heart @erdynorth
- going to grandma's with @erdysouth to play cards and drink milkshakes. is that one word or two? milk shake. milkshake.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
mar twitter archive
Sunday, March 22, 2009
how's it going to be
my city is under seige.
i told this to a friend the other day and she thought i meant by terrorists. no, there are no fanatical groups out to get fargo, just one major enemy: mother nature. the red river of the north, one of the few rivers in the world that flows north, is expected to massively and unforgivinly flood its banks and attempt to ravage our city. combined with other rivers and the topography (or lack of one - its incredibly flat around here), the whole state of north dakota is in danger. ironically, i chronicled my experience here with the last "100 years flood" in 1997 a few months ago. at the time, experts were saying there was no way we would flood again this year because the snow didn't have enough moisture in it. circumstances change. now we are receiving national coverage, calling for thousands of volunteers, getting the attention of president obama, moving things to the upper levels of houses, registering for code red alerts, breaking backs heaving sandbags, canceling schools and closing businesses, catching few hours of sleep and many other things that we would not have imagined a week ago. in the next few days, i will detail my experience with the flood of 2009. wish the city of fargo and the surrounding areas luck. it's going to be a long week.
i told this to a friend the other day and she thought i meant by terrorists. no, there are no fanatical groups out to get fargo, just one major enemy: mother nature. the red river of the north, one of the few rivers in the world that flows north, is expected to massively and unforgivinly flood its banks and attempt to ravage our city. combined with other rivers and the topography (or lack of one - its incredibly flat around here), the whole state of north dakota is in danger. ironically, i chronicled my experience here with the last "100 years flood" in 1997 a few months ago. at the time, experts were saying there was no way we would flood again this year because the snow didn't have enough moisture in it. circumstances change. now we are receiving national coverage, calling for thousands of volunteers, getting the attention of president obama, moving things to the upper levels of houses, registering for code red alerts, breaking backs heaving sandbags, canceling schools and closing businesses, catching few hours of sleep and many other things that we would not have imagined a week ago. in the next few days, i will detail my experience with the flood of 2009. wish the city of fargo and the surrounding areas luck. it's going to be a long week.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
99 luftballons
Zaz! This is a historic ramble. My 202nd blog post on wanderlust! Double zaz!!
Most people probably would celebrate 200 or even 100, but i missed the boat on both of those, so instead - 202! So, thank you all for reading and commenting and don't stop! and spread the word! wanderlust nd style, baby!
Friday, March 20, 2009
"live" blogging the NDSU/Stupid Kansas Game
so i just decided - 1 minute into the game - to "live blog" the NDSU first ever NCAA March Madness game. i guess it's not REALLY "live" since i'm not posting this until after, but my keystrokes are live. for full disclosure, i come from a basketball family, but have never played the sport myself (aside from 3 practices in 6th grade which i quit because i didn't know the difference between defense and offense) or any other sport (except for volleyball which i quit because i didn't want to take a physical in 7th grade). so i will just write my comments on the game, from a "fan" point of view. my father is an NDSU Bison alum as is my brother and we live in Fargo, which is where NDSU is located. i'm an NDSU fan all the way, except when i live in Boston and UND (big rival to NDSU) comes to the area to play hockey. then i root for the UND Sioux because it's hard for me to cheer for boston and i cheer for north dakota anyway.
so anyway, back to the game.
the Bison are the major underdogs in this game. local papers are saying that ndsu has a 22% chance of winning (read: probably not going to win). i'm looking up what espn says the odds are.
so the announcer says "lots of NDSU fans in the stadium because they're practically a home game - fargo is only 6 hours away." we all laugh. fargo is three hours from minneapolis. MAYBE 3.5 if you drive slowly. but yeah, there are a LOT of green and gold in the stands. woo hoo!
NDSU is first on the board - nice! i wonder what the percentage of teams to score first and teams that win the game is.
announcer just said that there are 12,000 NDSU alums in the minneapolis area. i think this is a low estimate. NDSU has nearly 14,000 students a year. i bet 10% move to the cities after graduating.
ok, score is 17-14, bison are up. dad just made a joke, "we're ahead? let's quit watching." we're afraid we won't win. i just filled out my march madness bracket this morning. i know there were games last night and i didnt print a bracket, so i didnt fill one out then my brother says to me this morning, "well, you can still fill one out." and i was like, "yeah! it's not like i know who has won anyway!" even if i had read some of the articles, i would not remember. i guess i kind of cheated because i didn't pick U of M (minnesota) to win because i figure people would've been excited if they had won, and i didn't hear any excitement last night. so that was a slight unfair advantage. point: me.
the game is being played at the metrodome in minneapolis, which is kind of stupid. it's a baseball and football stadium. but maybe there was a minnesota timberwolves game at the target center. that's right, the minneapolis basketball stadium is the target center - target is from minnesota, which is why i always shop there instead of wal-mart (slave labor) or kmart (dirty and marth stewart).
ndsu has fallen behind and they just put tweet back in (tveidt really, but its pronounced like tweety bird) who has 2 fouls. my dad just said, "danielle, i think you should be wondering why tweet is back in when he has 2 fouls." "becuase they need him," i reply. brother: "yeah, that's a good answer." heck yeah, bitznatches! i know what's going on with basketball!
so now there is a commercial. its funny to look at what commercials are playing during basketball - the lipitor commercial is big. lots of older men watching the game.
two of my brother homie's friends are at the game in minneapolis: charpie and adam. i bet they are a few beers in and painted with gold and green. i wouldn't be surprised if we see them on the tron thing.
score: ndsu 19 kansas 23 not good
so the other day i read an article about - holy crap! HUGE three from woodside. kansas just missed the return. the crowd is definitely full of bison fans - a guy who made his basketball picks based on who would win the fight between the mascots in real life (based on an episode of cheers in which diane chambers made her picks like this) and the guy picked the jay hawks over the bison. hhheeelllloooooo. what is a jay hawk? a bird? are they real? do you have ANY idea how big a bison is? they can trample you! if you got pooped on, you would surely die or be mamed. his logic was that birds could peck you to death. i think a bison could swat a stupid bird away with his tail. he was clearly looking for a reason to pick kansas. oh. it's a woman who wrote the article. now it makes more sense. stupid girls.
back to the game. NDSU 25 kansas 27.
they do a lot of talking about the players. so and so playes better when this happens. how do they keep all the players straight?
ndsu just shot a brick. i know what that is. a really crap shot. i never shoot bricks. and kansas returned with a long-range shot.
some guy on the team is named morningstar. that's a cool last name. wait. isn't that a company name? they do ratings. i wonder if they want to give me a job.
i really feel like a beer right now. oh crap. i can't drink. i have to work (read: give up plasma) tomorrow morning. double crap.
oh right, to clarify i'm watching the game with player, my youngest brother, and my dad. player is a basketball player (hence the nickname) at u mary in bismarck and my dad is an ndsu alum - who also played for them back in the day. player is friends with at least two of the starters who play for the bison.
....
ok, had a bit of a distraction. homie called - he's in crookston for work and therefor missing the game. he wanted an update, directions out of town (crookston is about 70 miles north of fargo) and wants me to pick up his cell phone, which he forgot at work.
ndsu 34 kansas 40
we just had a discussion of what's going to win the game. we guess fouls and free throws, dad says defense. i maintain that points are going to win the game. "whoever has the most points at the end will win." this is so true. gotta give it up for special teams.
oh, another fun name. appleton. i think i like that better than morningstar. unless you're gwenth paltrow. apple appleton. that's like john johnson. silly.
kansas isn't fouling us much. i wish they would. those are like free points. and we all know points are gonna win this game.
so we're at half time. ndsu 34 kansas 43. they just made a fake shot right before the buzzer to get 2 extra points. annoying.
just tried to get the mail. it's not here yet. maybe the mailman is watching the game. i wish he would've delivered mail before watching the game.
they just had a commercial with tom selleck's voice. he's so dreamy. and i always thought that, not only after he became monica's boyfriend.
since we're still in halftime, cbs put on the syracuse aus game. i dont know who aus is. i guess i could look at my bracket, but its in the other room. syracuse is ahead 44 to 24. i know i picked them in my game bracket because my relatives live in syracuse. we get lots of syracuse orangemen stuff for christmas. that's kind of a weird nickname. i wonder where they got that from. oh, and they're playing the lumberjacks. two people mascots.
there was just a mcdonald's commercial on. i wonder if mcdonalds really needs to advertise. aren't they like the most well known company in the world? i wonder if they went a week without paying for advertising if people would notice and if their sales would go down. they should experiment and see.
ok, back to the game. score is still ndsu 34 kansas 43. kansas's strength is 'size' and ours is '3 point shots.'
so i just thought that kansas scored first, which bummed me out, but then i saw the scoreboard change to 36-43 and i realized that they flipped sides. i forgot they do that at halftime. so now i want them to score on the right side of the tv. right side. check. confirmed in memory.
i like the sound the basketball makes bouncing off the rim. this probably isn't a good sign for players, but i like it. .... upon reflection, i also like the sound the ball makes going through the net. swish. i wonder what the sound would be like if a person went through the net. probably not as nice.
we're only down by 6 - the crowd is WILD. must be awesome to be there.
score update: ndsu 46 kansas 49. they’ve started to pick up their fouls. i like that. oh some guy was just totally open and he took a shot from really far so they gave him 3 points. but he’s on the other team, so that sucks.
you know, someone in my situation might be thinking, “oh, look at those cute, fit, TALL men playing basketball. maybe i should go hang out with them.” and then i realize that they’re younger than me. and i think, ew gross. when did college basketball players get to be younger than me? it’s like when i watch tv these days. 90210ers aren’t supposed to be YOUNGER than me. wtf??
woodside just scored an awesome shot and they compared him to steve nash. who i know is a bball player because of that nelly furtado song.
so guess what!! i sent that article to my family about the woman who picked the teams based on which mascot would win in real life. my dad JUST told me that in the paper today there was a story about a man in australia who
GOT
TRAMPLED
by a
BISON!!
i mean, too bad for the guy, that sucks, but SEEEEE. bisons should be feared.
ndsu 57 kansas 62. woodside, who is kind of cute and would be cuter if i was 10 years older, just made two free throws so now its 59-62. crap. kansas just made a three. stooopid.
apparently they’re switching something up. i’m guessing defense. is it defense or de fence?
i think basketball would be REALLY cool if they added the catcher signs from baseball. like, you could hold the ball and then do your funny hand signs and then start playing again. wait. that won’t work. everyone would see your signs. hmph.
we just got a shot clock violation. those suck.
one of the good guys just fouled out. not fun. his name is moorman. i wonder if he is a morman.
kansas is on a 7-0 run. also not fun.
zaz! we just scored. woodside. fun names in this game. erdmann is a fun name except most people dont know what it means. it means “man of earth.” which is fitting for me, i think.
kansas just hit the rim and ndsu got the rebound and i thought he was gonna go up and shoot to make it - i guess these guys are good enough to know not to shoot in the opposite team’s bucket.
ndsu 62 kansas 69. four minutes 20 something seconds left.
so i learned something new today. for the shot clock to be reset, they have to hit the rim, not just the basket. that’s an interesting rule. i will probably forget it in about 2 minutes.
now kansas is up 9 points. 3:17 left.
woodside just hit a long three. mom just said “he won’t go away.” and RIGHT after the announcer said, “he’s not going away!” crap. kansas just had a “tip jam” bleh to them.
less than 2 minutes left. to me, the game is over. ndsu 67-kansas 76. my heart is a-beatin’. but we just scored a three. behind by 6. time out us. i just couldn’t be an athlete. the scoring back and forth - its all too much!
i dont know what to say. 44.4 second left. 10 point lead by kansas.
we have to keep fouling. i even understand why. but its still nerve-wracking.
every time we have a time out they switch to another game. now we’re on tennessee and oklahoma state. holy crap! 6.7 seconds left - one point difference. THATS an exciting game.
wtf!! they never switched back to the ndsu game - we had to find out the game by the score at the top. i can’t believe it.
well, bison, you played well. good game. i was actually interested the whole time, which is certainly a feat not to be underestimated.
final score. ndsu 74 kansas 84. stupid kansas. and stupid cbs! not showing us the crowd and the metrodome.
sad day. it started with such high hopes! and more importantly, now my bracket is all screwed up. i want a redo!
and with that, my lovelies, this ends my first-ever live blogging session. enjoy.
so anyway, back to the game.
the Bison are the major underdogs in this game. local papers are saying that ndsu has a 22% chance of winning (read: probably not going to win). i'm looking up what espn says the odds are.
so the announcer says "lots of NDSU fans in the stadium because they're practically a home game - fargo is only 6 hours away." we all laugh. fargo is three hours from minneapolis. MAYBE 3.5 if you drive slowly. but yeah, there are a LOT of green and gold in the stands. woo hoo!
NDSU is first on the board - nice! i wonder what the percentage of teams to score first and teams that win the game is.
announcer just said that there are 12,000 NDSU alums in the minneapolis area. i think this is a low estimate. NDSU has nearly 14,000 students a year. i bet 10% move to the cities after graduating.
ok, score is 17-14, bison are up. dad just made a joke, "we're ahead? let's quit watching." we're afraid we won't win. i just filled out my march madness bracket this morning. i know there were games last night and i didnt print a bracket, so i didnt fill one out then my brother says to me this morning, "well, you can still fill one out." and i was like, "yeah! it's not like i know who has won anyway!" even if i had read some of the articles, i would not remember. i guess i kind of cheated because i didn't pick U of M (minnesota) to win because i figure people would've been excited if they had won, and i didn't hear any excitement last night. so that was a slight unfair advantage. point: me.
the game is being played at the metrodome in minneapolis, which is kind of stupid. it's a baseball and football stadium. but maybe there was a minnesota timberwolves game at the target center. that's right, the minneapolis basketball stadium is the target center - target is from minnesota, which is why i always shop there instead of wal-mart (slave labor) or kmart (dirty and marth stewart).
ndsu has fallen behind and they just put tweet back in (tveidt really, but its pronounced like tweety bird) who has 2 fouls. my dad just said, "danielle, i think you should be wondering why tweet is back in when he has 2 fouls." "becuase they need him," i reply. brother: "yeah, that's a good answer." heck yeah, bitznatches! i know what's going on with basketball!
so now there is a commercial. its funny to look at what commercials are playing during basketball - the lipitor commercial is big. lots of older men watching the game.
two of my brother homie's friends are at the game in minneapolis: charpie and adam. i bet they are a few beers in and painted with gold and green. i wouldn't be surprised if we see them on the tron thing.
score: ndsu 19 kansas 23 not good
so the other day i read an article about - holy crap! HUGE three from woodside. kansas just missed the return. the crowd is definitely full of bison fans - a guy who made his basketball picks based on who would win the fight between the mascots in real life (based on an episode of cheers in which diane chambers made her picks like this) and the guy picked the jay hawks over the bison. hhheeelllloooooo. what is a jay hawk? a bird? are they real? do you have ANY idea how big a bison is? they can trample you! if you got pooped on, you would surely die or be mamed. his logic was that birds could peck you to death. i think a bison could swat a stupid bird away with his tail. he was clearly looking for a reason to pick kansas. oh. it's a woman who wrote the article. now it makes more sense. stupid girls.
back to the game. NDSU 25 kansas 27.
they do a lot of talking about the players. so and so playes better when this happens. how do they keep all the players straight?
ndsu just shot a brick. i know what that is. a really crap shot. i never shoot bricks. and kansas returned with a long-range shot.
some guy on the team is named morningstar. that's a cool last name. wait. isn't that a company name? they do ratings. i wonder if they want to give me a job.
i really feel like a beer right now. oh crap. i can't drink. i have to work (read: give up plasma) tomorrow morning. double crap.
oh right, to clarify i'm watching the game with player, my youngest brother, and my dad. player is a basketball player (hence the nickname) at u mary in bismarck and my dad is an ndsu alum - who also played for them back in the day. player is friends with at least two of the starters who play for the bison.
....
ok, had a bit of a distraction. homie called - he's in crookston for work and therefor missing the game. he wanted an update, directions out of town (crookston is about 70 miles north of fargo) and wants me to pick up his cell phone, which he forgot at work.
ndsu 34 kansas 40
we just had a discussion of what's going to win the game. we guess fouls and free throws, dad says defense. i maintain that points are going to win the game. "whoever has the most points at the end will win." this is so true. gotta give it up for special teams.
oh, another fun name. appleton. i think i like that better than morningstar. unless you're gwenth paltrow. apple appleton. that's like john johnson. silly.
kansas isn't fouling us much. i wish they would. those are like free points. and we all know points are gonna win this game.
so we're at half time. ndsu 34 kansas 43. they just made a fake shot right before the buzzer to get 2 extra points. annoying.
just tried to get the mail. it's not here yet. maybe the mailman is watching the game. i wish he would've delivered mail before watching the game.
they just had a commercial with tom selleck's voice. he's so dreamy. and i always thought that, not only after he became monica's boyfriend.
since we're still in halftime, cbs put on the syracuse aus game. i dont know who aus is. i guess i could look at my bracket, but its in the other room. syracuse is ahead 44 to 24. i know i picked them in my game bracket because my relatives live in syracuse. we get lots of syracuse orangemen stuff for christmas. that's kind of a weird nickname. i wonder where they got that from. oh, and they're playing the lumberjacks. two people mascots.
there was just a mcdonald's commercial on. i wonder if mcdonalds really needs to advertise. aren't they like the most well known company in the world? i wonder if they went a week without paying for advertising if people would notice and if their sales would go down. they should experiment and see.
ok, back to the game. score is still ndsu 34 kansas 43. kansas's strength is 'size' and ours is '3 point shots.'
so i just thought that kansas scored first, which bummed me out, but then i saw the scoreboard change to 36-43 and i realized that they flipped sides. i forgot they do that at halftime. so now i want them to score on the right side of the tv. right side. check. confirmed in memory.
i like the sound the basketball makes bouncing off the rim. this probably isn't a good sign for players, but i like it. .... upon reflection, i also like the sound the ball makes going through the net. swish. i wonder what the sound would be like if a person went through the net. probably not as nice.
we're only down by 6 - the crowd is WILD. must be awesome to be there.
score update: ndsu 46 kansas 49. they’ve started to pick up their fouls. i like that. oh some guy was just totally open and he took a shot from really far so they gave him 3 points. but he’s on the other team, so that sucks.
you know, someone in my situation might be thinking, “oh, look at those cute, fit, TALL men playing basketball. maybe i should go hang out with them.” and then i realize that they’re younger than me. and i think, ew gross. when did college basketball players get to be younger than me? it’s like when i watch tv these days. 90210ers aren’t supposed to be YOUNGER than me. wtf??
woodside just scored an awesome shot and they compared him to steve nash. who i know is a bball player because of that nelly furtado song.
so guess what!! i sent that article to my family about the woman who picked the teams based on which mascot would win in real life. my dad JUST told me that in the paper today there was a story about a man in australia who
GOT
TRAMPLED
by a
BISON!!
i mean, too bad for the guy, that sucks, but SEEEEE. bisons should be feared.
ndsu 57 kansas 62. woodside, who is kind of cute and would be cuter if i was 10 years older, just made two free throws so now its 59-62. crap. kansas just made a three. stooopid.
apparently they’re switching something up. i’m guessing defense. is it defense or de fence?
i think basketball would be REALLY cool if they added the catcher signs from baseball. like, you could hold the ball and then do your funny hand signs and then start playing again. wait. that won’t work. everyone would see your signs. hmph.
we just got a shot clock violation. those suck.
one of the good guys just fouled out. not fun. his name is moorman. i wonder if he is a morman.
kansas is on a 7-0 run. also not fun.
zaz! we just scored. woodside. fun names in this game. erdmann is a fun name except most people dont know what it means. it means “man of earth.” which is fitting for me, i think.
kansas just hit the rim and ndsu got the rebound and i thought he was gonna go up and shoot to make it - i guess these guys are good enough to know not to shoot in the opposite team’s bucket.
ndsu 62 kansas 69. four minutes 20 something seconds left.
so i learned something new today. for the shot clock to be reset, they have to hit the rim, not just the basket. that’s an interesting rule. i will probably forget it in about 2 minutes.
now kansas is up 9 points. 3:17 left.
woodside just hit a long three. mom just said “he won’t go away.” and RIGHT after the announcer said, “he’s not going away!” crap. kansas just had a “tip jam” bleh to them.
less than 2 minutes left. to me, the game is over. ndsu 67-kansas 76. my heart is a-beatin’. but we just scored a three. behind by 6. time out us. i just couldn’t be an athlete. the scoring back and forth - its all too much!
i dont know what to say. 44.4 second left. 10 point lead by kansas.
we have to keep fouling. i even understand why. but its still nerve-wracking.
every time we have a time out they switch to another game. now we’re on tennessee and oklahoma state. holy crap! 6.7 seconds left - one point difference. THATS an exciting game.
wtf!! they never switched back to the ndsu game - we had to find out the game by the score at the top. i can’t believe it.
well, bison, you played well. good game. i was actually interested the whole time, which is certainly a feat not to be underestimated.
final score. ndsu 74 kansas 84. stupid kansas. and stupid cbs! not showing us the crowd and the metrodome.
sad day. it started with such high hopes! and more importantly, now my bracket is all screwed up. i want a redo!
and with that, my lovelies, this ends my first-ever live blogging session. enjoy.
come on baby, can you bleed like me?
so guess what my lovelies - i'm employed! i have a job! i'm making money! of course, i'm selling a bit of myself, literally, but who cares? zaz! or kind of...
in this fabulous little community here, the hottest craze is to make money the easy way - shake your money maker, baby! midwesterners are hard workers and it is all too true in fargo, where people can make money dancing, submitting to science experiments or selling their blood. that's right. i am now selling my plasma. or rather, selling my blood which they take the plasma out of and then give me my blood back. yippee! i tried to do the higher money maker in the area, a pracs study (basically giving your body to science for 36 hours on the weekends while they inject, prod and poke you with things and then let you leave a thousand bucks richer). they didn't want me. i'm just to crazy for them, so i didn't qualify. but biolife nary turns a healthy twenty-something like me away! so now, the first time i go each week, i will receive $20. not bad for less than 1.5 hours of sitting there with an uncomfortable needle stuck in your arm. the best part, though?? the SECOND time you go in a week, you get FIFTY dollars! woo hoo! so that's like 70 bucks for 3 hours of work. not a bad use of my platelets which i hardly use anyway.
so today was my first time - i was a platlet-giving virgin. i've donated blood tons of times before (until new england wouldn't take my blood because i lived in europe for too long - i didn't eat red meat anyway! there's NO WAY i could have mad cow disease! but thats ok because then i moved to california and they aren't quite as picky with their blood - they took mine all night long) but this process is slightly longer and since it's illegal to sell your blood, much more lucrative. i go to my appointment and get asked all sorts of fun questions that make me think 1) my life is REALLY boring and 2) i might need some new life experiences:
aside from answering silly questions and getting poked all the time (not in that way), the other fun of my new job is that i get to talk to phlebotomists. mostly, i just like saying that word. phlebotomist. phlebotomy. phleb. he he. phleb.
the center has really great hours, so i should definitely be able to fit it into my jam-packed schedule. there are a few things that aren't so great, though. 1) they're constantly checking me for track marks. i'm gonna have to start injecting myself between the toes and i have an anti-feet thing. 2) when you're done, they give you an ounce (or something like that - i'm not good with measurements) of "liquid" back to hydrate you and since it's stored at room temperature, it's really cold and kind of painful and 3) i just read in this fancy packet they gave me "some tips for before and after every plasma donation" - down those fluids. got it. i'm a fast drinker anyway. eat a healthy meal. ummm... ok. avoid fatty foods. hmm.... ok... skip the caffeine and alcohol. woah. hold on, nelly. "avoid drinking alcoholic beverages the night before and the day of your donation, and at least four hours after your donation." this might be a deal breaker. i thought selling yourself and alcohol went hand in hand. (upon reflection and logging in to bank account...) i guess i'll try it for a few weeks and see how it goes.
in any case, $280 a month is clearly not going to fully fund my 401k for the year. i still need to find another job. and i feel slightly guilty, as well. see, i am in possession of a nice blood type: O negative, baby. that's right, all y'all can get my blood (universal donor) and i get to be the rarest of the rare. why? because i also have something in my blood that is not common and is given to newborn babies and burn victims. i forget what it's called but when i was donating blood once, the woman took my hand and said, "you are doing an EXCEPTIONALLY good service" and then showed me on my sheet that i had this fancy thing cursing through my body. so yeah, i could be giving it up for free, but instead i choose to be paid. maybe in time i will become re-benevolent.
in this fabulous little community here, the hottest craze is to make money the easy way - shake your money maker, baby! midwesterners are hard workers and it is all too true in fargo, where people can make money dancing, submitting to science experiments or selling their blood. that's right. i am now selling my plasma. or rather, selling my blood which they take the plasma out of and then give me my blood back. yippee! i tried to do the higher money maker in the area, a pracs study (basically giving your body to science for 36 hours on the weekends while they inject, prod and poke you with things and then let you leave a thousand bucks richer). they didn't want me. i'm just to crazy for them, so i didn't qualify. but biolife nary turns a healthy twenty-something like me away! so now, the first time i go each week, i will receive $20. not bad for less than 1.5 hours of sitting there with an uncomfortable needle stuck in your arm. the best part, though?? the SECOND time you go in a week, you get FIFTY dollars! woo hoo! so that's like 70 bucks for 3 hours of work. not a bad use of my platelets which i hardly use anyway.
so today was my first time - i was a platlet-giving virgin. i've donated blood tons of times before (until new england wouldn't take my blood because i lived in europe for too long - i didn't eat red meat anyway! there's NO WAY i could have mad cow disease! but thats ok because then i moved to california and they aren't quite as picky with their blood - they took mine all night long) but this process is slightly longer and since it's illegal to sell your blood, much more lucrative. i go to my appointment and get asked all sorts of fun questions that make me think 1) my life is REALLY boring and 2) i might need some new life experiences:
- have you had a neurosurgical procedure involving the head, brain or spinal cord between 1972 and 1989? no, although i don't remember much of 1999, but i guess that's not in your range.
- have you had sex with a man who had sex with a man at any time since 1977 in the past 12 months? no, but sounds fun.
- have you shared needles with anyone in the past 12 months? i've tried to but no one will give me any.
- in the last 12 months, have you had an illness with swollen glands and a rash, with or without a fever? 12 months you ask? nope. 13 months ago, but not 12.
- have you ever been in prison for 72 hours in a row? ??? i actually had to ask why this was a risk factor - in case you get raped? yes, AND because inmates might have a cut or there might be blood in the toilet that you share. prison is a super scary place now!
aside from answering silly questions and getting poked all the time (not in that way), the other fun of my new job is that i get to talk to phlebotomists. mostly, i just like saying that word. phlebotomist. phlebotomy. phleb. he he. phleb.
the center has really great hours, so i should definitely be able to fit it into my jam-packed schedule. there are a few things that aren't so great, though. 1) they're constantly checking me for track marks. i'm gonna have to start injecting myself between the toes and i have an anti-feet thing. 2) when you're done, they give you an ounce (or something like that - i'm not good with measurements) of "liquid" back to hydrate you and since it's stored at room temperature, it's really cold and kind of painful and 3) i just read in this fancy packet they gave me "some tips for before and after every plasma donation" - down those fluids. got it. i'm a fast drinker anyway. eat a healthy meal. ummm... ok. avoid fatty foods. hmm.... ok... skip the caffeine and alcohol. woah. hold on, nelly. "avoid drinking alcoholic beverages the night before and the day of your donation, and at least four hours after your donation." this might be a deal breaker. i thought selling yourself and alcohol went hand in hand. (upon reflection and logging in to bank account...) i guess i'll try it for a few weeks and see how it goes.
in any case, $280 a month is clearly not going to fully fund my 401k for the year. i still need to find another job. and i feel slightly guilty, as well. see, i am in possession of a nice blood type: O negative, baby. that's right, all y'all can get my blood (universal donor) and i get to be the rarest of the rare. why? because i also have something in my blood that is not common and is given to newborn babies and burn victims. i forget what it's called but when i was donating blood once, the woman took my hand and said, "you are doing an EXCEPTIONALLY good service" and then showed me on my sheet that i had this fancy thing cursing through my body. so yeah, i could be giving it up for free, but instead i choose to be paid. maybe in time i will become re-benevolent.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
when doves cry
today i poked holes in the snow. that's how bored i was. i was standing on the deck trying to help my dad figure out some water-mover-thingie while he was trying to get it to work. i took the broom we keep on the deck and turned it upside down and poked holes into the small amount of snow left on the deck. BOR-ING.
i spent part of the day looking for jobs online. i've done this every day for over a week. i can't find anything that interests me and seems to fit my qualifications. i'm either over-qualified (analyst) or not qualified enough (senior management). i need something right in between and in a city i want to live. but there are a few catches:
1) i'm traveling for pretty much all of may. not that i would even find a job that fast, but i hate to apply for a job and then not be able to interview it, or even worse, not be able to accept (OF COURSE they would want me right away - not) because i was traveling for a month.
2) i don't want to waste human resources' time looking at my resume if i'm not qualified
3) i don't want to take a job for which i am overqualified - i can't imagine the salary would be enough to facilitate my lavish lifestyle (sarcasm intended)
4) there is no four. except to say i'm almost too bored to look for jobs.
i've spent the past week planning a birthday party for my grandma, then half-entertaining my parents friends in town for the eagles concert, then nursing my sick brother. let's just say i was not born to be a nurse.
apparently my brother called last saturday night and told my mom he wasn't feeling well. she's a nurse, so she tries to help him from 300 miles away. the next day, he calls back - wait. no, death called in the voice of my brother. he could hardly talk, we couldn't understand him and he was in a lot of pain. he called someone to take him to the walk-in clinic where they force him to wear a mask and tell him he has influenza A. he can't go to school for a week and they gave him hydrocodone for the pain (it's a virus, so obviously nothing can cure it). my mom starts freaking out - she has a soft spot for sick kids - and is really worried about him. she starts thinking she needs to go to bismarck and take care of him. he lives in the dorms, so it's clearly an uncomfortable situation. my parents friends are still in town because the concert was that night. eagles tickets are not cheap and my mom had to work the next day, so she was conflicted. of course, i volunteer to go take care of him - get a hotel room so he would be more comfortable (at 6'5" he hardly fits into the dorm beds) and nurse him back to health. we realize that since he can't go to school, i could just go to bismarck and drive him back the next day. within an hour i have packed, reserved a room, filled the car with gas and am off. i text my little brother to tell him i'm coming and he doesn't respond. he's passed out.
about three hours later, i arrive in bismarck and make my way to the college. i call player, that's my new nickname for him - now my brothers are player and homie - and ask for directions. pretty much i'm a genius in understanding sick-speak and i figure out where he is. he can hardly stand up. he came to the door to let me in and then was so worn out by standing there for three minutes, that he had to go back to bed to rest. a half hour later, i've grabbed his books and two loads of dirty laundry and we head for the hotel.
we stop for mcdonald's which he doesnt' eat right away. within minutes of getting into the hotel room, he's passed out again. i amuse myself for the night, randomly checking up on him, giving him seven up and drugs and taking his temperature. he started to feel better and ate his dinner. then he passed out for the night. the next day he felt a little better, but not much. we waited until it was check-out time and then got on the road back to fargo. as soon as we walk in the door at home, everyone forgets about me - "ohh, eric! how are you??" i knew i shouldn't have brought him back! i get NO ATTENTION when he's here. un-zaz.
so that's the story. sick brother has pretty much melded into the couch watching tv, sleeping, coughing, throwing up, sweating, and every now and then asking for seven up. i think i'd be a really good nurse if it just meant helping others pop pills. or just popping them myself. i could go for some hydrocodone right now. so usually when player is in town we hang out and do things, but 1) i don't really want to go near him and 2) he can hardly think straight he's been so sick, that i have been doubly bored this week. i even offered him $20 AN HOUR to play stratego with me. but he refused! that's like the easiest and most fun 30 bucks anyone could make ever. ALL i want is someone to play stratego with me. that's all i ask for.
i spent part of the day looking for jobs online. i've done this every day for over a week. i can't find anything that interests me and seems to fit my qualifications. i'm either over-qualified (analyst) or not qualified enough (senior management). i need something right in between and in a city i want to live. but there are a few catches:
1) i'm traveling for pretty much all of may. not that i would even find a job that fast, but i hate to apply for a job and then not be able to interview it, or even worse, not be able to accept (OF COURSE they would want me right away - not) because i was traveling for a month.
2) i don't want to waste human resources' time looking at my resume if i'm not qualified
3) i don't want to take a job for which i am overqualified - i can't imagine the salary would be enough to facilitate my lavish lifestyle (sarcasm intended)
4) there is no four. except to say i'm almost too bored to look for jobs.
i've spent the past week planning a birthday party for my grandma, then half-entertaining my parents friends in town for the eagles concert, then nursing my sick brother. let's just say i was not born to be a nurse.
apparently my brother called last saturday night and told my mom he wasn't feeling well. she's a nurse, so she tries to help him from 300 miles away. the next day, he calls back - wait. no, death called in the voice of my brother. he could hardly talk, we couldn't understand him and he was in a lot of pain. he called someone to take him to the walk-in clinic where they force him to wear a mask and tell him he has influenza A. he can't go to school for a week and they gave him hydrocodone for the pain (it's a virus, so obviously nothing can cure it). my mom starts freaking out - she has a soft spot for sick kids - and is really worried about him. she starts thinking she needs to go to bismarck and take care of him. he lives in the dorms, so it's clearly an uncomfortable situation. my parents friends are still in town because the concert was that night. eagles tickets are not cheap and my mom had to work the next day, so she was conflicted. of course, i volunteer to go take care of him - get a hotel room so he would be more comfortable (at 6'5" he hardly fits into the dorm beds) and nurse him back to health. we realize that since he can't go to school, i could just go to bismarck and drive him back the next day. within an hour i have packed, reserved a room, filled the car with gas and am off. i text my little brother to tell him i'm coming and he doesn't respond. he's passed out.
about three hours later, i arrive in bismarck and make my way to the college. i call player, that's my new nickname for him - now my brothers are player and homie - and ask for directions. pretty much i'm a genius in understanding sick-speak and i figure out where he is. he can hardly stand up. he came to the door to let me in and then was so worn out by standing there for three minutes, that he had to go back to bed to rest. a half hour later, i've grabbed his books and two loads of dirty laundry and we head for the hotel.
we stop for mcdonald's which he doesnt' eat right away. within minutes of getting into the hotel room, he's passed out again. i amuse myself for the night, randomly checking up on him, giving him seven up and drugs and taking his temperature. he started to feel better and ate his dinner. then he passed out for the night. the next day he felt a little better, but not much. we waited until it was check-out time and then got on the road back to fargo. as soon as we walk in the door at home, everyone forgets about me - "ohh, eric! how are you??" i knew i shouldn't have brought him back! i get NO ATTENTION when he's here. un-zaz.
so that's the story. sick brother has pretty much melded into the couch watching tv, sleeping, coughing, throwing up, sweating, and every now and then asking for seven up. i think i'd be a really good nurse if it just meant helping others pop pills. or just popping them myself. i could go for some hydrocodone right now. so usually when player is in town we hang out and do things, but 1) i don't really want to go near him and 2) he can hardly think straight he's been so sick, that i have been doubly bored this week. i even offered him $20 AN HOUR to play stratego with me. but he refused! that's like the easiest and most fun 30 bucks anyone could make ever. ALL i want is someone to play stratego with me. that's all i ask for.
Friday, March 13, 2009
a pirate looks at forty
i've spent all week preparing for tonight: my grandmother's 77th birthday party. technically, her birthday is tomorrow, march 14, but people aren't really available for a party, so we're having it tonight. i figured since i a) was home in fargo b) am not really doing anything anyway and c) love birthdays (and my grandma) i would throw her a party. it would've been great for it to be a surprise, but i wanted her to be able to mentally prepare for everyone to be there. so i invited the extended family (my mother's three sisters and their families) and my grandmother's sister over for a whist tournament. i cleaned and organized and spent two days getting things together. i even went to bed bath and beyond and bought a blender and took grandma to the hair salon to get her hair done. on the way there, all she did was talk about death and how her mother died and her two husbands and her sister. it was really sad that rather than being excited for her birthday she was thinking of those her weren't there. i dropped her off so she could take a nap and gave her another pain pill. it's a good thing she doesn't know what each of her pills are - if i were here, i would just keep taking the pain pills.
anyway, i slaved for two days in the kitchen baking all of my grandma's favorite things: angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries, mashed potatoes (ok, technically my mom made the potatoes) and mudslides (which technically my brother's girlfriend lindsay came over and made) and had other party food for everyone else. people showed up a little early, which was fine. more of function of people coming over right after work than really wanting to get down. we sat around chatting and played the "if i was actually the opposite age" game. which really just means that since i'm 27, what would it be like if i were actually 72. my grandma was sol being 77 either way. my great aunt was really excited because she was only 18, the youngest at the house.
we started off with a first round of whist - we don't play bid whist here, just regular high / low. i much prefer regular to bid games - i've played bid with friends in boston and i don't get why it's so special. i gave everyone a random number, with 12 people we could perfectly play 3 games. people were paired with others and then my great aunt lucy was keeping score. each table played four hands, no matter what the score was at the end (even if someone did not get to 13). then everyone's score was recorded. after the first round, we took a break for some food and then played the next two hands.
my brother was ahead going into the third round with 20 points. then he got paired with my father, who is normally a very adequate whist player. but then they got 1 point and homie was put down to fourth or fifth place. i'm not sure how good the rest of my family is, but my brother probably should've won. especially since when we played together, we got 10 points.
despite my dry recounting, the evening was actually really fun. my grandma has a great sense of humor and was making jokes all night - i think the extra pain pill really helped. my cousins got her a princess crown and toy necklaces and she wore them with pride all night. she loved her gifts (from me? a framed picture of myself - one can never have too many) and the dessert. i made a really cute sign for her which i will post later. who doesn't love being the center of attention? oh and happy friday the 13th. again.
anyway, i slaved for two days in the kitchen baking all of my grandma's favorite things: angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries, mashed potatoes (ok, technically my mom made the potatoes) and mudslides (which technically my brother's girlfriend lindsay came over and made) and had other party food for everyone else. people showed up a little early, which was fine. more of function of people coming over right after work than really wanting to get down. we sat around chatting and played the "if i was actually the opposite age" game. which really just means that since i'm 27, what would it be like if i were actually 72. my grandma was sol being 77 either way. my great aunt was really excited because she was only 18, the youngest at the house.
we started off with a first round of whist - we don't play bid whist here, just regular high / low. i much prefer regular to bid games - i've played bid with friends in boston and i don't get why it's so special. i gave everyone a random number, with 12 people we could perfectly play 3 games. people were paired with others and then my great aunt lucy was keeping score. each table played four hands, no matter what the score was at the end (even if someone did not get to 13). then everyone's score was recorded. after the first round, we took a break for some food and then played the next two hands.
my brother was ahead going into the third round with 20 points. then he got paired with my father, who is normally a very adequate whist player. but then they got 1 point and homie was put down to fourth or fifth place. i'm not sure how good the rest of my family is, but my brother probably should've won. especially since when we played together, we got 10 points.
despite my dry recounting, the evening was actually really fun. my grandma has a great sense of humor and was making jokes all night - i think the extra pain pill really helped. my cousins got her a princess crown and toy necklaces and she wore them with pride all night. she loved her gifts (from me? a framed picture of myself - one can never have too many) and the dessert. i made a really cute sign for her which i will post later. who doesn't love being the center of attention? oh and happy friday the 13th. again.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
miss you much
it's rather unfortunate that i am no longer in boston. on one hand, i'm happy i'm not there, but on the other, i'm sad that i am missing out on one of the most exciting moments in one of my dearest friends' life... one of my best friends, ryan, is running for state representative. holy zaz!!
i imagine that if i were in boston i would be helping with his campaign, especially since i lived down the street from him. my old apartment in boston was awesome and i had nary a few parties there that were fabulous. and the best part? so close to everything! including ryan's place. when i got back to boston 2 years ago, i didn't have an apartment or any of my things. ryan and his former roommate, penguin-loving cathy, let me stay with them for nearly a month. they had (and ryan still has since he still lives there) one of my favorite apartments EVER. it was two-floors with exposed brick, two bedrooms, new kitchen, TONS of storage and opened up to a wonderful park (which i ruined a pair of heels in because apparently heels don't stand on grass - they fall in).
ryan works at this fantastic restaurant almost exactly between his apartment and mine and i used to stop in when he was working, get his keys and show his place to my friends who were in town. that's how fabulous his apartment is. when my parents were visiting, we went to ryan's for a beer and to show them the apartment, then we stopped at the restaurant (tremont 647) for some drinks and then walked further down the street to my place (ironically, 764 tremont) and had fajitas and ritas and one of the most fun nights EVER. it was crazy good.
oddly, i just realized this has been more of a raving about ryan's apartment than i intended - forgive me, good apartments in boston are hard to come by and i do miss having my own place. but really, i wanted to show my undying support for one of my oldest friends. ryan and i met as freshmen at northeastern. we gave a kick-ass presentation in our business calculus class about buying t-shirts. our friend gwynne was with us, too. we lived in the same dorm and had lots of fun going to target (which was a big deal then - always a plus to have a friend with a car in boston) and hanging out. the next year, we didnt live together and then ryan left NU to pursue greener pastures. we lost touch and bizarrely enough, about 2 weeks after i got back from a year and a half in france, ryan emails me. he was like, "hey, remember me? wanna hang out?" and i was so shocked because he had NO IDEA i had even been gone for so long. so we got back in touch and he offered me a job at the theater he worked at. i was the best, if slightly unpredictable, box office worker. i should share some of those stories some time. or maybe not. i might embarrass myself. we've traveled together - napa, san fran, aruba, throw fabulous parties, and always had a good time. in any case, ryan is one of my most fabulous friends and will make a spectacular state rep because he is dedicate to everything he does. anything that he tackles he does so with passion, so be sure to check out his site at http://ryanhigginson.com/ and follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/rwhigginson. if you live in the area in which he is running, be sure to vote for him on my birthday, may 19!
love ya, babe. good luck and wish i could be there!
i imagine that if i were in boston i would be helping with his campaign, especially since i lived down the street from him. my old apartment in boston was awesome and i had nary a few parties there that were fabulous. and the best part? so close to everything! including ryan's place. when i got back to boston 2 years ago, i didn't have an apartment or any of my things. ryan and his former roommate, penguin-loving cathy, let me stay with them for nearly a month. they had (and ryan still has since he still lives there) one of my favorite apartments EVER. it was two-floors with exposed brick, two bedrooms, new kitchen, TONS of storage and opened up to a wonderful park (which i ruined a pair of heels in because apparently heels don't stand on grass - they fall in).ryan works at this fantastic restaurant almost exactly between his apartment and mine and i used to stop in when he was working, get his keys and show his place to my friends who were in town. that's how fabulous his apartment is. when my parents were visiting, we went to ryan's for a beer and to show them the apartment, then we stopped at the restaurant (tremont 647) for some drinks and then walked further down the street to my place (ironically, 764 tremont) and had fajitas and ritas and one of the most fun nights EVER. it was crazy good.
oddly, i just realized this has been more of a raving about ryan's apartment than i intended - forgive me, good apartments in boston are hard to come by and i do miss having my own place. but really, i wanted to show my undying support for one of my oldest friends. ryan and i met as freshmen at northeastern. we gave a kick-ass presentation in our business calculus class about buying t-shirts. our friend gwynne was with us, too. we lived in the same dorm and had lots of fun going to target (which was a big deal then - always a plus to have a friend with a car in boston) and hanging out. the next year, we didnt live together and then ryan left NU to pursue greener pastures. we lost touch and bizarrely enough, about 2 weeks after i got back from a year and a half in france, ryan emails me. he was like, "hey, remember me? wanna hang out?" and i was so shocked because he had NO IDEA i had even been gone for so long. so we got back in touch and he offered me a job at the theater he worked at. i was the best, if slightly unpredictable, box office worker. i should share some of those stories some time. or maybe not. i might embarrass myself. we've traveled together - napa, san fran, aruba, throw fabulous parties, and always had a good time. in any case, ryan is one of my most fabulous friends and will make a spectacular state rep because he is dedicate to everything he does. anything that he tackles he does so with passion, so be sure to check out his site at http://ryanhigginson.com/ and follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/rwhigginson. if you live in the area in which he is running, be sure to vote for him on my birthday, may 19!
love ya, babe. good luck and wish i could be there!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
do you remember
i just woke up and already have a headache. not a good sign for the day. and i've also just realized something: i'm an idiot. i think that's idjit in some scandinavian language. for the past few days, i have been reading this new blog called peneleope trunk's brazen careerist. except i thought it was penelope's trunk. like, as in pandora's box or something. she has a trunk full of ideas. but no, now i think trunk is her last name. and i thought brazen careerist was an adjective to describe her, which i guess it is, but it's also the name of her company. way to pay attention, danielle.
and i've started to notice it in other ways, too. for example, the other day, i was about to make hard boiled eggs when my mom got home from work. she was gonna go upstairs to take a nap (since she works 5am-1:30 every day) and so i said, "ok, i'll go up with you and show you something in eric's room before you lay/lie down" (i can never keep those two straight). i told her to wait for me as i put the big pot of water on the burner turned up to high so it could heat up while i was upstairs for 3.5 minutes. so i show her whatever it was - i think how i cleaned my little brother's room - and then before i go back downstairs to the kitchen i see my laptop in my room and think, "oh, i'll check my email." so i while i'm waiting for my email to load, i start picking up my room. and it's gotten pretty clean and so i decide to take my dirty mug downstairs. as i'm going downstairs, i heard this hissing noise. "is there a gas leak? would i even hear a gas leak? what if it's not a gas leak but we still do have a gas leak??" i walk into the kitchen, towards the direction of the noise, and realize that i spent a HALF HOUR upstairs and almost all the water in my pot has boiled off! i put an egg in and the water does not cover it, so i have to fill it up with more water and wait for it to boil again. so i start picking up the kitchen and go to throw something away. our garbage is technically in the dining room (sounds weird, but its not really), so i go into the other room to throw it away. then i notice something on the buffet, so i go over to that and mess with that, then i realize i never actually checked my email. i walk through the living room to the computer room to check my email on my parents computer. while i wait for that to start up, i realize i never finished putting eggs in the boiling water. AGAIN. so i run back to the kitchen and put eggs in the water. then i finish picking up the kitchen and realize that i forgot to put the timer on the eggs. so i put it on 10 minutes, even though i know they have been in for at least 3-4 minutes, not counting the one that was probably done from when i first put it in the water. and while i'm waiting i get bored. so i figure i'll go check the mail. so i go to the front door and see that i have a new netflix. which makes me think to go get my dvd player so i can watch netflix while i'm waiting for the eggs to be done. back in my room, i realize i still havent checked my email. so i look at that on my laptop and put the netflix on my player. 10-15 min later during a break in the conversation, i hear the buzzer from downstairs in the kitchen. eggs! so i run down and turn the buzzer off and think, "that was stupid, i should've brought my dvd player down so i could keep watching." so back upstairs i go. i get distracted by a pile of books on my nightstand that's not exactly properly situated so i go through those and realize i have a LOT of books i need to read. then i see the dvd player which reminds me that i came up for it, so i casually take it back downstairs. i remembered what i needed, but not why. the eggs were still boiling. ! so i finally turn the heat off, but the pot is too hot to handle and i'm too lazy to take out the pot holders. so i sit in the nook in the kitchen watching my netflix for another 30-40 min, 2 feet from the stove, without draining the water out of the pot. i'm sure the eggs were slowly cooking the whole time. once i realize this, i pour the water out and add cold water and ice cubes to the pot. i'm sure instead of hard boiled eggs, like i wanted, we probably have hardened eggs. as i sit, disappointed with myself, i realize that i never checked for the gas leak! i stand up thinking, "where do i check for a gas leak??" and then i realize there never was a gas leak, it was the hot water boiling. i give up.
and i've started to notice it in other ways, too. for example, the other day, i was about to make hard boiled eggs when my mom got home from work. she was gonna go upstairs to take a nap (since she works 5am-1:30 every day) and so i said, "ok, i'll go up with you and show you something in eric's room before you lay/lie down" (i can never keep those two straight). i told her to wait for me as i put the big pot of water on the burner turned up to high so it could heat up while i was upstairs for 3.5 minutes. so i show her whatever it was - i think how i cleaned my little brother's room - and then before i go back downstairs to the kitchen i see my laptop in my room and think, "oh, i'll check my email." so i while i'm waiting for my email to load, i start picking up my room. and it's gotten pretty clean and so i decide to take my dirty mug downstairs. as i'm going downstairs, i heard this hissing noise. "is there a gas leak? would i even hear a gas leak? what if it's not a gas leak but we still do have a gas leak??" i walk into the kitchen, towards the direction of the noise, and realize that i spent a HALF HOUR upstairs and almost all the water in my pot has boiled off! i put an egg in and the water does not cover it, so i have to fill it up with more water and wait for it to boil again. so i start picking up the kitchen and go to throw something away. our garbage is technically in the dining room (sounds weird, but its not really), so i go into the other room to throw it away. then i notice something on the buffet, so i go over to that and mess with that, then i realize i never actually checked my email. i walk through the living room to the computer room to check my email on my parents computer. while i wait for that to start up, i realize i never finished putting eggs in the boiling water. AGAIN. so i run back to the kitchen and put eggs in the water. then i finish picking up the kitchen and realize that i forgot to put the timer on the eggs. so i put it on 10 minutes, even though i know they have been in for at least 3-4 minutes, not counting the one that was probably done from when i first put it in the water. and while i'm waiting i get bored. so i figure i'll go check the mail. so i go to the front door and see that i have a new netflix. which makes me think to go get my dvd player so i can watch netflix while i'm waiting for the eggs to be done. back in my room, i realize i still havent checked my email. so i look at that on my laptop and put the netflix on my player. 10-15 min later during a break in the conversation, i hear the buzzer from downstairs in the kitchen. eggs! so i run down and turn the buzzer off and think, "that was stupid, i should've brought my dvd player down so i could keep watching." so back upstairs i go. i get distracted by a pile of books on my nightstand that's not exactly properly situated so i go through those and realize i have a LOT of books i need to read. then i see the dvd player which reminds me that i came up for it, so i casually take it back downstairs. i remembered what i needed, but not why. the eggs were still boiling. ! so i finally turn the heat off, but the pot is too hot to handle and i'm too lazy to take out the pot holders. so i sit in the nook in the kitchen watching my netflix for another 30-40 min, 2 feet from the stove, without draining the water out of the pot. i'm sure the eggs were slowly cooking the whole time. once i realize this, i pour the water out and add cold water and ice cubes to the pot. i'm sure instead of hard boiled eggs, like i wanted, we probably have hardened eggs. as i sit, disappointed with myself, i realize that i never checked for the gas leak! i stand up thinking, "where do i check for a gas leak??" and then i realize there never was a gas leak, it was the hot water boiling. i give up.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
fly home
time: 5:10 AM
just got home from dropping mom off at work (she's a nurse and works the early shift). i've been absent from blogging for a while, but today is meant to be a major storm pummeling the city, so i plan on catching up. due to the impending storm, my mom did not want to drive to work. if she had, it would mean leaving her car out in the middle of the blizzard, having to walk up a slippery slope to said car, and spending 20 min brushing off the snow when her shift is done in 8 hours. so i offered to take her to work in my dad's car (an SUV). i got up at 4:30 and went out to start the car and shovel. apparently the storm hasn't started yet and there was little for me to shovel. this just means i'll have to do it later. you never get out of shoveling.
anyway, our garage is behind our house (not connected) and it opens on to an alley. while leaving the garage this morning, another SUV was coming down the path. it's always weird when you see cars out so early in the morning. yeah, i guess someone else could be taking his or her mother to work at a hospital, but it just seems unlikely - obviously a sane person would not offer to do this. what were you doing in my alley, suburban man? clearly not joy riding because the alley (which is usually slightly bumpy and very gravely - new word gravely) was smooth and shiny - perfect foundation for 6-10 inches of snow to fall on. not.
so yes, taking mom to work. we only live 5 blocks from the hospital, but in weather like this, no one would think of walking. i wish i had ice skates - i could've skated the whole way to the hospital (although technically i have only ice skated twice in my life - story for another day) - it was pure ice. pretty ice, though. it was as shiny as an ice skating rink with a few grooves that the zamboni missed. after dropping her off, while making the turn to come back on my way home, i slid into a snow bank while going 5 miles an hour. thats always fun to get your mind started in the morning ("turn into the slide. no, don't just stomp on the pedal, TURN!"). no damage done. though i did kind of wish to see another car so i could tell them to watch the turn, but again - who's out driving at this hour??
just got home from dropping mom off at work (she's a nurse and works the early shift). i've been absent from blogging for a while, but today is meant to be a major storm pummeling the city, so i plan on catching up. due to the impending storm, my mom did not want to drive to work. if she had, it would mean leaving her car out in the middle of the blizzard, having to walk up a slippery slope to said car, and spending 20 min brushing off the snow when her shift is done in 8 hours. so i offered to take her to work in my dad's car (an SUV). i got up at 4:30 and went out to start the car and shovel. apparently the storm hasn't started yet and there was little for me to shovel. this just means i'll have to do it later. you never get out of shoveling.
anyway, our garage is behind our house (not connected) and it opens on to an alley. while leaving the garage this morning, another SUV was coming down the path. it's always weird when you see cars out so early in the morning. yeah, i guess someone else could be taking his or her mother to work at a hospital, but it just seems unlikely - obviously a sane person would not offer to do this. what were you doing in my alley, suburban man? clearly not joy riding because the alley (which is usually slightly bumpy and very gravely - new word gravely) was smooth and shiny - perfect foundation for 6-10 inches of snow to fall on. not.
so yes, taking mom to work. we only live 5 blocks from the hospital, but in weather like this, no one would think of walking. i wish i had ice skates - i could've skated the whole way to the hospital (although technically i have only ice skated twice in my life - story for another day) - it was pure ice. pretty ice, though. it was as shiny as an ice skating rink with a few grooves that the zamboni missed. after dropping her off, while making the turn to come back on my way home, i slid into a snow bank while going 5 miles an hour. thats always fun to get your mind started in the morning ("turn into the slide. no, don't just stomp on the pedal, TURN!"). no damage done. though i did kind of wish to see another car so i could tell them to watch the turn, but again - who's out driving at this hour??
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