*This Day Light Savings Time thing has really messed me up. I know it was only one hour, but all week I've been out of sorts as if I had just flown in from Japan. By 8 o'clock, I'm thinking, "is it time for bed yet?" and then I wake up an hour or two earlier than I have to (which is very uncharacteristic).
*It's Halloween (or Reformation Day if you prefer). It's Friday. It's the last day of the month. I met my goal at work today (which is good, since it's the last day). It's payday. My vacation to Florida is getting closer. I need a haircut.
*One of my co-workers is purchasing a hairless guinea pig for her son. I'm anti hairless animals. (Except for fish. They're okay.)
Am I alone in thinking that white Crown Victoria's should be unavailable to the general public?
Have you seen the new $20 bill yet? Let me tell you, it's nothing to write home about and it's certainly not worth $32 million in advertising. It's still only worth 20 bucks. It still looks like 20 bucks. The American public will be very receptive to them: we like money, no matter what it looks like.* Instead of spending $32 million in advertising, maybe they should have just mailed out $32 million in new $20's. (That way they can advertise for the post office and the new bills at the same time.) If I had received a new $20 from the government, I would most likely spend it. That's the goal of the advertising, right...that we spend the money? Well guess what: if I receive a new $20, no matter if the government gives it to me or I receive it as change for a transaction or I find it on the sidewalk, I, along with most other Americans will spend it as if it were an old "greenback" $20. No amount of advertising would make me want to spend it any more or any less.
*Unless, of course, you're talking about a Sacajewea Dollar. Now that's a product that needed help catching on.
It's funny how much cirumstances dictate many friendships, but strong friendships continue despite the circumstances. When I think back 10 years (1993/1994), I was in 10th grade and very socially active. Thinking about the 10 people I hung out with the most that year, there is only one of them I still talk to regularly. (That would be my brother.) In fact, of those other 9 people, I've seen/talked to only 1 of them more than 5 times since highschool.
Thinking back 5 years (1998/1999), I was in my 3rd year of college. I lived with Elizabeth that year. I saw her almost everyday and hung out with her several times a week. I've e-mailed her once since she left Moscow. Of all the other people I would have considered to be among my closet friends (even if I include the top 20), I see/talk to 3 of them regularly.
Of all the people I've been close to over the past 4 years, the list has been fairly constant, especially if I made a top 10 list. My circumstances have changed greatly in those four years: graduating college, moving from Moscow to Nacogdoches, going to grad school for a bit, then moving from Nacogdoches to Monroe a year later. Throughout that time though, I've had the same friends. Maybe I've gotten better at figuring out who I'm friendship-compatible with. Maybe I've just gotten lucky.
I had the pleasure of spending another weekend with old friends. (By old, I mean people who I met my freshman year of college.) When we all met, who knew we would be getting together 7 years later and 2,500 miles away in Texas (last weekend) and Louisiana (this weekend)? I hope that we'll still be getting together 5, 10, and 20 years from now.
I know this is kind of a sappy post. I've just been thinking about how there are people who I think will have a big influence on my future, but they turn out to be little more than acquaitances and then there are those people who I expect to be mere accessories to my life who turn out to be so important to me...once again proving that I need to work on my psychic skills.
I know this is not exactly a Muppet News Flash, but watching TV really is desensitizing. All day long, I sit next to a very nice plasma TV, watching Fox News. I like Fox News. I love Shepard Smith. But seeing footage of bus crashes, fatal fires, war casualties, and all manner of atrocities over and over is distressing: not because I share in the tragedy, but because I find it disturbingly undisturbing. Go ahead: show me some tragic footage. I can tune it out. It won't bother me. It will only be in my mind for seconds before I'm brought back to "reality" with the latest "news" about Arnold or Bennifer.
I saw a commercial earlier this morning where this "guy" went off a cliff on a motor cycle, crashed to the ground and stood up, unscathed. At the bottom of the screen, it said (in fine print): "Lifeless dummy on closed course. Do not attempt." That's sort of how I feel: no matter what you show me, I stand up unscathed because it's not "real." It has little or no impact on my life.
So what's the answer? I can't turn it off. I'm at work. It's not an option. I can ignore it (somewhat), I can pay more attention to it and let it have more effect over me, or I can watch it insensitively like I do now. Any suggestions?
*Insert dummy joke here*
BEST THINGS SINCE SLICED BREAD
*Having a car that always works (so far!)
*Having sick days available when I need them
*Technology that allows me to keep in touch with friends near and far
*Sugar-free kool-aid
*Being friends with my siblings
*Having to use sick days
*Having a broken washer/dryer for weeks at a time
*The Yankees
*West Monroe water
*Having your proverbial parade rained on
*Monday morning, I mentioned that I was in need of a roommate. By Monday afternoon, I found out that my sister will be moving in with me in January. This may involve moving (which I really don't want to do, due to the couch situation) but at least I won't have to live alone.
*Monday, I was looking forward to Friday. Now look: it's Friday! I'm heading out to Nacogdoches after work. Did everyone get the directions they need to get there?
*Monday, I was unusually interested in post-season baseball. After the Red Sox loss last night, I've gone back to being only somewhat interested in post-season ball. Go Marlins? I guess.
*Monday, I mentioned that one's perspective can change a lot in a few years....look how much it can change in a week and multiply that by 156, and you'll know just how much one's perspective can change.
*tickets to championship game: one thousand dollars (+)
*watching championship game at home with friends: zero dollars
*beer and cracker jack at the game: nine dollars
*popcorn and kool-aid at home: one dollar
*listening to Billy Corrigan sing during the 7th inning stretch at the stadium or at home: worthless
Not that I wouldn't go to the game in a heartbeat
If you owned your own town, what would you name it?
I might want to call mine "Christonia" but I think I'd have to go with "Tim"
I don't usually endorse reality TV (with the exception of Survivor, of course), but this just looks too funny. "What is Wal-mart?" What a life. At least they have a sense of humor about their lifestyles...I don't think I would be able to do such a thing: the thought of plucking a chicken or sharing a bathroom with 10 people doesn't appeal to me either, and I'm no heiress (contrary to what you might hear).
I doubt all heiresses are (1) airheads and (2) willing to interrupt their lives to see how other people live (though I'm sure the country bumkins on the show are exaggerrated). The producers of the show really got lucky with these two girls. Of all the rich kids out there, they happened to find two who are either really dumb or really good at pretending to be dumb. This is my favorite quote from the girls: “It was like we were Michael Jackson,” says Richie. “They wrote that our skirts were too short. They said we came to church in fur coats. It hurt my feelings. I never went to church!”
How insulting!
*I had a nice week off of blogging. Actually, I took a break from several of my normal activities to focus my attention on other things. It was refreshing.
*Much to everyone's delight (especially theirs), Thomas and Emily are getting married in January. I'm very happy for them. I'm on the search for a new roommate.
*I'm looking forward to the weekend. Several of my friends are going to Nacogdoches with me for the annual fall festival at my parents' church. Should be good times.
*I can't believe how interested I am in post-season baseball right now. I can't get enough of it. Go Red Sox!
*It's amazing how much one's perspective can change in just a few years.
This was a conversation overheard in my office last Thursday on Leif Ericson Day:
"I'm bored."
"How can you be bored? It's Leif Ericson Day (orga borga inga dorga)"
"Who's Leif Ericson?"
"He discovered America."
"Then who was Christopher Columbus?"
"Oh, he discovered Florida."
"Oh."
As you may know, the U.S. Patriot Act went into effect yesterday. As a bank employee, this affects me more than it will affect most people and I must say, I have mixed feelings about the Act. First, banks were used in the "war" against drugs and now, we're being used in the war against terrorism. I'll admit, using banks is a pretty effective way of curbing money laundering, but the Patriot Act is a little more invasive than most people are comfortable with. The main point of the Patriot Act is to make sure the bank knows who their customer is, using several means to make sure the person is who they say they are. I don't have a problem with that. The fact is, there are enough people out there who are willing to commit fraud, that banks have to be cautious. My problem with the Act is this: I'm always hesitant to embrace new laws that allows the government even more control over us than they already have. (I know I sound paranoid.) My other problem is that I keep being told that I am part of "Homeland Security." That may be true, but if it is, I think I should get a raise.