editHer

Well that sucks

2005-09-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

OK, so I just looked at my blog, which I haven't looked at in, well, months. (Sorry, folks.) And what do I find? A frigging SPAM posted response! What the hell is that???

If that's what these blogs become is just another spot for spammers to attack then I'm so out of here, Google. You can kiss my shiny metal a$$, as Bender would say. (Of course, I could disallow comments to my posts, but I really don't want to do that.)

It's been a busy few months. We're looking for a roommate, had many visitors and punched a hole in our living room wall (and framed it, drywalled it, sanded it and painted it), among other things.

I've also become completely obsessed with knitting. Before it was just a mild obsession. But now I must always be working on something or I feel as if I'm wasting my time. Because it can be done while listening to a book on tape (why do we still call it that?), watching TV, commuting to work, grilling out with friends, etc., I feel guilty if I'm not multitasking like 18/7 (-6 hours for sleep, of course).

I only wish I felt the same way about running. I simply cannot get myself motivated enough to run as much as I should (I should be running like every day, but it's all I can do to work out two or three times a week). I hate that because I want to work out more because I know it's good for me and it will help me reach my fitness goals and it always makes me feel so much better physically and mentally. But sometimes I just don't have the time. And other times, sleep is just so. much. more. important. than getting out of bed early. You know the drill...

OK well, I'm off to get ready for work. *hates*

Home improvement

2005-06-13T20:52:00.000-04:00

So this weekend we made the kitchen sink non-leaky (woo-hoo!); partially installed the bathroom faucet (the sink is currently sitting on the bathroom floor... sigh); and picked up some perennial plants and temporary border for one side of walkway (plan to work on the rest next weekend), The Boy cleaned out the old dirt and installed the border and I put in the plants today.

So much to do... so little time and money.

In other news, when I got home today the little boy who lives next door -- he's maybe 3 or 4 -- says "Hi Kim. I like your lawn." hehehe... His dad and I had a chuckle. I told him I'd tell The Boy that he liked it since he's worked so hard on it. :) The kid's kind of obsessed with the lawn -- he follows his dad around when he mows with his little plastic mower. I guess that's what little boys do about that age. Of course 10 minutes later he was screaming about something. Gotta love kids.

Ziggy is not a dud!

2005-06-11T09:03:00.000-04:00

My first foray into iPodness (I know, Dark Side) didn’t go so well. The first one I got (a silver mini for running) was a dud. The battery, which was tested by iPodLounge as lasting 26 hours and Apple itself claimed lasted up to 18, was dying after 7 or 8 hours. Coming from my fabulous, long-lasting iRiver, I was extremely disappointed in this. That and I noticed some of the features didn’t work quite right, like the shortcut toggle to turn on the backlight. So I brought it back to Best Buy (I know, should have gone through Apple, but we don’t have one nearby) and after some complaining and bit of resistance on their part, they let me swap it out. (Good god, can an Apple product not be defective or something? Sheesh, Steve Jobs isn’t God, people!)

Second time around, things are going more smoothly. Also, this time (since I got to play with it first instead of The Boy) I got to the point on the install where it has me add a name for the iPod. It suggested Kim’s iPod, which is what the previous one was called. I pondered for a moment and came up with Ziggy.

And so it was that Ziggy and I (OK, and The Boy) lived happily ever after. Also, props to the first person who names that reference (no cheating!).

Boys never listen

2005-06-10T06:52:00.000-04:00

(This is cross-posted.)

So last night The Boy and I are talking about what to do about the Kitchen Debacle of 2005 and I say that I think if we're going to refinance in the near future (like within a year) we need to redo the kitchen and the floors first because when we get the house appraised, that will increase the value of our house significantly.

So we babble on about ideas and stuff and we sit back down and then he says: You know what we need to do? We need to do the kitchen before we refinance.

Me: "..."

He'd so make the perfect manager.

Let me spell it out: Metro S-U-C-K-S

2005-06-08T19:40:00.000-04:00

So, let me tell you how my commute has been in the past two days.

It started Monday afternoon on the bus ride home. The bus I was on went about 25 mph on Route 50 — the speed limit is 65. This wasn't a huge inconvenience, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

Tuesday morning, I get to the Park & Ride and the bus doesn't come. Turns out a 6:30 bus broke down and started a domino effect on the rest. Since I park at the Park & Ride, this isn't a huge problem because that's a central location that a few buses stop at. Others, who have bus stops right outside their front doors, were not so lucky. They had to wait until the next bus came around — a minimum wait of 30 minutes. Still, this caused me to arrive at work 45 minutes late because of packed buses after the breakdown.

Tuesday afternoon, I catch a bus heading to where I parked my car and as we're hitting the road, the bus driver says that his steering has broken. He manages to get us back to the Metro station and he shuffles us to a later bus — 25 minutes later.

Wednesday morning, the buses run smoothly. I get to the Metro anticipating a similarly smooth ride into the city. How naive of me. We get down the rails about four stops before the operator comes over the line and tells us there's a track problem ahead. And so there really wasn't anything we could do but wait. And wait. Again I arrive at work 45 minutes late.

But Wednesday afternoon's commute wins the award of Worst. Commute. Ever. I leave work at about 6:10 and get down to the metro line. The platform is absolutely packed and my train is attempting to board. I don't even consider trying to board it. But everyone waiting is pushing and shoving, trying to get on. Because, you know, you can't possibly wait for the next train coming in 3 minutes. The next train arrives and starts to board. This one is just as packed as the previous one. There's finally no more room and the operator closes the doors. The train moves down the track — about 25 feet and comes to a halt. MetroGuys are walking down the platform all important like, talking on their Walkie-Talkies. The first train I had avoided was stuck — the doors that they were struggling to close at my station refused to close at the next. They ended up offloading. These guys in front of me were not observant enough to listen to MetroGuy's radio as he walked by, so they ask some random MetroWoman, who promptly ignored them. I told them what was going on and then asked if they were going to a game. Yes, yes they were. And what time did that game start? 7:05 p.m. ... On a WEDNESDAY. A WEDNESDAY, PEOPLE! What complete moron decided to schedule a game during RUSH HOUR?! That person needs to die. Or at least be crammed (LITERALLY) onto a Metro train with pushy, rude baseball fans. Seriously, when the train I finally managed to cram on got to Stadium Armory, this guy said "Excuse me" and then proceeded to PUSH me out of the way. I nearly fell over. I yelled at him to have some common courtesy. Not that that would help. If he's going to push a woman out of the way and shove his way through the crowd instead of being patient and letting the train clear (since EVERYone was getting off at that stop), I seriously doubt anything anyone says to him will make a difference. The fact that the train was so packed and there was a technical problem wasn't enough. People had to be rude, too.

I'd just like to point everyone to the series in the Washington Post re: their lack of service, which — fittingly — ran through today.

And you wonder why people hate the Metro and refuse to use it. It really makes me wish that Metro didn't have a monopoly on so many commuters.

I am a pathetic geek

2005-06-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

Or so I've heard. But see, in actuality, I am the perfect geek in that I'm a slacker. Well, at least when it comes to posting. ;)

In other aspects I've been rather busy, which translates to: The house is coming along. Though I think we've hit a roadblock at this point. The roadblock being the kitchen cabinets. We've been painting them, but it's turning out horribly and we'd be spending like $500 (though likely more) on paint, a new counter, new sink and new faucet (oh there's a story there, too). And granted, when you're talking about replacing all the cabinets, that's chump change, but still it's $500. So yeah. Dilemma.

The story: The Kitchen Sink Explosion of 2005

So Boy was cleaning off a roller in the sink. I'm painting the other side, turned away from him.

I hear: "Ummm... why is my foot getting wet?"

Now I'm thinking he's just being a typical guy — i.e. messy. But no, he says his foot is REALLY getting wet. Soooo... we take a peek under the sink and sure enough — water gushing out from the faucet. Oh yes. A right waterfall. Soooo... I snatch everything that was left under the little half shelf we have under the sink and we turn off the shut-off valve (this sink actually HAS one, thankfully).

Personally, I have never "plumbed" anything before, except the occasional toilet plunge of course. Yeah. This is going to be fun.

Plumbing is actually covered under our home warranty, but, why can't the FRIDGE go. Or the 37-year-old oven. Cause I don't think it's worth it to call for a washer or whatever that exploded. But maybe that's just me.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

In other news, I finally posted some new photos for your viewing (dis?)pleasure. Have at it. The gallery is working again (the link is to the right).

Not at all related: I am in love with this site PostSecret. Katie told me about it first, and then I discovered it in the Washington City Paper. Have fun! It's easy to get sucked in...

Oh forget it

2005-05-03T22:44:00.000-04:00

Well I was going to attempt to give an update, but it's just been too long. Screw it.

... The Boy was just staring at my post, so I had to pause and stare him down. :) He said he'd just read it later. He's right, but still. Lemme write!

So my computer is in "the shop" right now. It's at work getting all the programs I need to work from home. Boy was a little offended that I let someone else install things on his (ahem, now MY) beloved machine. This is a very good thing, though, because once I get that I'll be able to work more normalized hours.

We are completely in the new house. Except for all the stuff left in Boy's room in D.C. to be moved over this weekend. Yeah, uhhh... I think I have to work then. Actually, while he's being the slacker that he loves to be, I will be painting the kitchen and the cabinets. That's going to take some time. (Mental note: Must count for handles, knobs and hinges ... oh so many hinges! Sigh.) We also will be looking into tiling the floors in the near future and hopefully replacing the kitchen sink, faucet and counter too. Because, um, ew.

The integration of the cats goes as follows: HISSSSSSSSSSSSGROWWWWWWWWRRAAAAAWWWWWWL...

To sum up: Not so much.

Once we actually get some of the boxes moved to the correct rooms (i.e. never) I'll post some new pictures in my gallery (i.e. also never). So don't bother looking!

Also! I have inhaled faaaaaaaaaar too many (much?) paint (and fumes) over the past month. Yum.

So Much To Say

2005-03-26T07:09:00.000-05:00

Woooow it's been a busy 3 months. Biggest news: Boy and I bought a house. That's exciting. :) We just got our keys on Wednesday. Now comes the fun part of fixing it up — and moving... again. (Photos are posted in the top of the gallery — link is at the right of the page.)

Vivi is coming to visit Monday through Wednesday. It will be nice to see her friendly face again — it's been more than a while. I think the last I saw her was... Fourth of July? Sounds about right.

I promise to write more soon. I keep e-mailing myself blogging ideas, but I just haven't had any time to write anything down. Right now I'll leave you with an interesting toon about the impending obsoleteness of newspapers. Comment at will.

For the child in all of us...

2005-01-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

I love my job. Seriously, I do. Today I was looking up the style for "Lite-Brite" (Don't ask...) and found these two fabulous time-wasters:

Hasbro's Online Lite-Brite

Animated Lite-Brite

I found the second one first, and I think it moves a little faster than the Hasbro site. Either way, fuuuuun. I think I especially like it because it reminds me of my new addiction (OH! See I knew there were more!): Jawbreaker for Pocket PC.

Currently I'm waiting for The Boy to:

a) Figure out the racing game he just bought,
b) Teach me how to play it;
c) Laugh at me at how badly I suck at it;
d) Point and laugh at me as I stalk away all frustrated.

I'm so anticipating the stalking. Of course, I jest. Well... actually he probably will laugh at me. But he'll make me feel better, too. Especially when I give him the pathetic face plus the whiny/sad mumbling. hehe... Cause when I do that he laughs for real and then that will make me laugh. We're weird. What can I say?

OK now I am laughing cause Gabriel just plopped down in his lap as he's trying to play. *sniffle* OK, he's so Boy's cat now. I'm so sad. He made the cat leave and I was like, Kitty,comehereIloveyou! and he just ran away...

On a more serious note, I'm getting kind of worried about my friend in St. Pete. I tried to call her and her phone was disconnected (or at least it wasn't working at the time). I tried to e-mail her earlier in the year and the mail bounced back. Then I tried sending her a Christmas card and it got sent back to me. Just like the address itself was no good. The computer-printed note on the card said: "RETURN TO SENDER: ATTEMPTED NOT KNOWN." Now, I've lived at quite a few places and the mail for former tenants either just hangs around for a while or gets forwarded properly, so if she moved, it should have gone to her new house. She also probably would have included me in an e-mail that sent her new address if she had moved. I really hope everything is OK... I did try e-mailing her again and while it didn't bounce back, I also haven't gotten a response. Another friend from Tally also e-mails her pretty regularly and she hasn't said that anything odd has happened...

Note to self...

2005-01-03T22:24:00.000-05:00

Random goals for the year:

Learn a language (or at least start)
~~Learn to Scuba dive~~
Pick up the guitar again; strum
Finally (finally) unpack and toss stuff I don't ever use
~~Pack again and move (or not)~~
~~Look earnestly into buying a house (or not)~~
Cut debt by quarter to one-half
Re-budget and stick to it
Become more technologically savvy (yes, more. sheesh)
Organize, organize, organize
~~Run 10K (1)~~
Run 10K (2)
Plan a trip out of the friggin country already

Oh, and happy new year already, folk! :)

Greg has a blog!

2004-12-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

Read it here: mistermedius.blogspot.com

I just had to share. :) Also? Yay for being almost the weekend...

Late post...

2004-12-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

I usually don't post this late anymore (haha... late at 11:51), but Boy is already passed out next to me. We watched "The Bourne Supremecy" and then the Adult Swim favorites (You know what you are...). I was off to sleep, but wasn't really tired, so I added more pictures to the gallery. I haven't edited like any of them. No cropping. No toning. No nothing. Just deleted the really blurry ones and posted the rest. I'm still figuring out how to use the manual mode on the Canon SD300, one of two cameras that we got for the Jamaica trip. I think I mostly have it figured out now. I have barely held the Nikon D70 once, only to discover it much heavier than I expected. The Boy has been hogging it. That's OK, though. I'll let him figure it all out and then I'll get him to teach me. :) He did get a couple more books the other day to teach himself about digital photography. And he apparently had a long conversation with a photographer friend of his at a birthday party the other evening.

Mmm... I'm so lucky. Seriously, I was thinking about all the things that had to happen to get me here to get me to my job and to knowing the people that I know... Life is amazing. Of course, I'm sure some people go nuts pondering the "what ifs," especially if their lives didn't turn out how they expected.

And now I have a large, floppy orange cat on my lap who is making it 1) difficult to type and see and 2) distracting me! ;)

So love you all and thanks for all the fish!

I wish I was an exercise junkie

2004-12-10T10:03:00.000-05:00

But alas, I am not. I have to trick my brain into allowing me to go to the gym. Try as I might to tell it that there are only like 77 days until the Jamaica trip, my brain still goes: "Nyeh." Hence the weekend running schedule and the race strategically placed the weekend before we leave for the wonderful, wonderful tropics.

In other news this is one of the busiest weekends yet. I suppose that's what the holiday season does to you. Here's the rundown:

Today:
Work extra hours
Gym
Shop for cookie supplies
Bake cookies
Boy's work holiday party
Friend's housewarming
Boy's friend's birthday party

Saturday:
Bake cookies
Run 40 minutes
Friend's tree decorating shindig and dinner

Sunday:
Work
Boss' holiday party

See? I knew I should have gone into work at 7:30. At least most of my Christmas shopping is done. Hooray for the Internet!

Now with more Geek!

2004-12-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

I now have a domain, thanks to Jason. :) And a fantabulous (OK, well soon-to-be fantabulous) photo gallery, also thanks to Jason. Currently, there are images from last night at The Edge aka ChiarOscuro. Ahem... also thanks to Jason. I heart my geek. ;)

Check out the gallery.

It's not about winning...

2004-12-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm sitting in the Honda dealership in Bethesda. It smells distinctly of oil, grease and sweaty people, despite the cold. It's a rotten smell. I'm here because a different dealership in Alexandria told me my wheel bearings needed to be replaced on both front wheels. Why is this important? Oh, just the nasty possibility of my wheels falling off while I'm barreling down the highway. Not exactly a good thing. After having a mild panic attack when Alexandria told me they wanted to charge me $700 for the repair (which would mean basically no money for holiday gifts), I refused their (awful) offer and went searching elsewhere for quotes. Of course, Boy decides that this should not be failing on my car at 58,000 miles. I have to agree; I was questioning that as soon as they told me about it. I asked ServiceGuy repeatedly if wheel bearings are covered under warranty and why my sealed parts were failing so early. His response? "It just happens sometimes and no it's not covered under warranty."

Did I mention I have an extended warranty that goes to 100,000 miles and until Oct. 2007? Boy calls the warranty company. Guess what? It's covered. I so want to go back to Alexandria and kick ServiceGuy in the head.

But I digress. Instead of beating anyone up (nothing can be simple, afterall), I'll get the work done at Bethesda and thank them and leave pleasantly. I think my mom is madder than me about this. She said I should call Alexandria and speak to the manager and then if he doesn't offer me anything to make up for trying to get me to unneccesarily spend $700 then I should ask to speak to the owner of the dealership and threaten to call the Better Business Bureau. Yes. That's mad.

...

I'm supposed to be working on a primer on knitting for work, but I got inspired to write an entry. Unfortunately, there's no network here, so I'll add it later. I could walk across the street to the Barnes and Noble, but nyeh. It's warm here. Though I'm sure it smells a bit better in the B&N cafe. And there's coffee and goodies. Hrm. We'll see.

No big plans for the weekend. May see Hope-Pope (tm) *waves* and likely going running on Saturday with Parthena as long as it isn't snowing. I should go get some gloves and/or glove liners (for running). Only 85ish days until Jamaica. Eee! And that 10K race I think is Feb. 19. That's just a little more than 2 months away. I should figure out our running plan. If we run 12 minute miles it should take us about 1:15 to run 6.2 miles. At 13 minutes per mile, it's about 1:20. (My motto: It's not about winning, it's about finishing.)

Weeks: run 2-3 times for 30-40 minutes.
~~Dec. 4: 30 minutes~~
Dec. 11: 40 minutes
Dec. 18: 50 hour
Dec. 25: holiday
Dec. 26: 1 hour (separately)
Jan. 1: holiday
Jan. 2: 1 hour 5 minutes
Jan. 8: 1 hour 10 minutes
Jan. 15: 1 hour 15 minutes
Jan. 22: 1 hour 15 minutes
Jan. 29: 1 hour 20 minutes
Feb. 5: 1 hour 25 minutes
Feb. 12: 1 hour 30 minutes
Week before race: run and/or x-train any two days M-R -- no exercise day before race
Feb. 19: Race day!

Update 11:58 p.m.: Now it smells like burning plastic. ... Ahhh, they're moving a gigantour SUV from inside to outside. No wonder. Ick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2004-12-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Yes I know today is Dec. 2. But this morning I finally made my mom's stuffing. Isn't it funny how if something is different -- it's not cold enough, you didn't have a certain food, your schedule is changed in some way -- it just doesn't feel like the holidays?

Well, I didn't make it on Thanksgiving because Jason's sister Nicole made some yummy veggie wrappy thing. That's the technical term. Anywho. So now it officially feels like the start of the holidays to me. :)

More accurate election maps

2004-11-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a really cool Web site that shows the "who won what" map proportionally, according to electoral votes, population, etc. Check it out:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/

My pen!

2004-11-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

Readers, this is a sad, sad day. Well, for me anyway. My favorite pen at work is about to run out of ink. I know — I know! There are more important things in the world. But if I have to write (as opposed to typing), then a good pen makes all the difference. And, as an editor, you must know that this is very important to me. This pen was just the perfect point size (I like a very thin line) and had a perfectly smooth stroke. It wrote effortlessly. *sigh* And now, my friends, it will soon be gone. Soon will be gone the days of happy handwriting for Keeem!

I will mourn the loss of my inky friend.

Sick post

2004-11-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, today I'm sick. But I am feeling the need to post since I haven't in a couple of days. I'm kinda loopy right now from the cold medicine, so please forgive any typos. The medicine makes it really hard to focus on the screen. But on the bright side, I can breathe. Which, personally, I think is somewhat important.

I spent the day in bed, resting. And it certainly made me feel better. I did venture out to get more medicine in the afternoon. But as I was standing there in line my heart was racing and I was sweating pretty badly -- like a cold sweat, though. Just from standing and exerting myself. Oh and shaking. That's always fun. I was having flashbacks from last year's blackout at the supermarket. (I soooooo don't recommend doing that. It's quite embarassing.)

But this year is so much better. I was completely alone last year during my sickness (Actually I think Schmauren came over once? It's kinda foggy...). This year I have roommates and the Boy. What a difference a year makes, no?

The Election and Music City

2004-11-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

Let's see... where to begin. In the midst of all the election mess (OK, technically right after) I went on a business trip to Nashville, Tenn., aka Music City, USA. Whee doggie. The business part of the trip was excellent. The other part -- the hours we weren't stuck in the convention hall -- was, um, interesting(?) for a nonlistener of country music.

Our location was great this year -- a block from Broadway, where all the bars and restaurants are. On Wednesday after setting up our booth, my co-worker and I went in search of food. Instead we found this strip of bars and every last one of them had a live band playing at 2 p.m. -- on a Wednesday. Everyone was big about promoting Nashville's "Music City" nickname. However, with the exception of this club called "Jazz" that seemed to have a hip-hop crowd (also in the middle of a weekday), we heard nothing but country. So much for musical diversity.

On Thursday night we went out to this (supposedly) famous place called Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (PLEASE NOTE: THIS SITE HAS SOUND). A band from Ocala, Fla., was playing there and a large contingency of Florida football fans were there as well, prepping for their game against Vanderbilt. And we were packed in there like sardines. Messy, indeed. Co-worker called me up later and expressed frustration that every single bar was the same. I'll second that.

On the other hand, the food was excellent. We ate at this restaurant called the Palm. It was, literally, the best meal I've ever eaten. It also is probably (except for Morimotos) the most expensive place I've ever eaten. And our waiter Ryan was amazing. He had the best suggestions for us and really took care of us. He even had a sip of Nocello liqueur with us at the end of our meal. Nocello is a walnut liqueur -- not too sweet, and a little nutty. (Hrm, that could describe me. heh)

As for the election, we informally polled the college media attending the convention. The results were surprisingly conservative. I don't know if this is a generational trend, a trend of more convervatives entering journalism to help counteract that supposed liberal lean or if the results were just consistent with this particular election. Curious, though.

I know some people who are horribly upset by Dubya's continued reign... While I'm not particularly happy about the results (I was in support of change -- any change), I am certainly happier with this election than the last one.

1) Dubya won the popular vote (assuming Dibold didn't do something to the electronic voting machines);
2) he won the electoral vote;
3) Kerry conceded after he was certain he wouldn't win via either route;
4) judges didn't decide who won.

This time around, it seems Dubya won legitimately. Is there an upswing of conservatives nationwide (at least who participated in Election Day)? Not certain. Did gay marriage have an effect on the turnout? Again, we'll probably never know. Regardless, I don't think liberals can really argue with the results this time around. They were simply outvoted. ... The better for Hillary to run in 2008.

If the electoral vote is tied...

2004-11-02T08:14:00.000-05:00

c/o NBC's Today show:

If the electoral vote is tied, it goes to the House and Senate (which, BTW, means DC gets NO friggin' vote). But not the House and Senate that's in office now. The vote would happen in January after the new House and Senate -- the people elected today -- are in office. Now, they said that the House, which picks the president, will likely be majority Republican, which means they would vote Dubya back into the White House. However, the Senate is very close -- and could possibly be majority Democrats. The Senate picks the Veep, which means they could possibly vote Edwards, which would lead to a split presidency.

What a mess. The Electoral College is an antiquated system and completely unecessary in today's world. We should rely on the popular vote alone and let citizens really have a say in the election.

Update, 10:24 a.m.: Voting in DC, like everything else, was an extremely frustrating experience. Precinct 18 was a mess. They were set up in a huge ballroom but had the booths set up as a border, thereby using only one-quarter of the room to squeeze people in like sardines. Here's what the layout looked like:

{{3/4 OF THE ROOM...[VOTE ELECTRONICALLY]..[TURN IN CARDS]

...........................................[PICK UP CARD]

....................[BOOTHS]...............[T-Z]
....................[BOOTHS]...............[N-S]
....................[BOOTHS]...............[I-M]
....................[BOOTHS]...............[D-H]
....................[BOOTHS]...............[A-C]
....................[BOOTHS]...............[DEMONSTRATION]

(movable wall)

{{EXIT the same way you came in.
{{ENTRY: LONG line of people from outside up to diagonal lines leading to last name lines.

ONE person was trying to keep all those lines somewhat organized. He was not doing a very good job. He didn't ask me or my roommate what our last names were. We just guessed where to go. He was too busy trying to find people to enter the "T-Z" line.

Whoever set everything up should be shot. Let's ponder:
1) This election is going to have HIGH HIGH turnout, likely the highest EVER. Let's cram everyone into one corner of the room.
2) Flow? What's that?
3) Volunteers? Nyeh.

The mess SO could have easily been fixed by spreading out the booths perpendicular to the way they were set up and moving the spot where you turn in your voting card toward the exit. Hello, much more logical. I don't think they put an ounce of thought into setting anything up.

This was my worst voting experience yet. And, yes, I even voted in Florida in 2000. DC, that is SO not a good thing.

VOTE TODAY! :)

2004-11-02T07:44:00.000-05:00

I don't mean to shout, but seriously: Do it.

Today is going to be messy. In addition to election mania (which equals long hours), I also have to leave at 6 a.m. tomorrow for a convention that's held the rest of the week in Nashville. (Why, oh, WHY did they plan it right after the election -- were they on crack?)

This was a weird story on the Dallas News site yesterday: Researchers say having babies alters brains of moms. Bizarre, but not entirely unsurprising.

In other news, my leg is slowly healing after slipping when I was walking home the other night. I so threw those shoes right in the trash as soon as I got home. This wasn't a snap judgment, though. I had fallen two other times in those shoes -- one time was last February when I scraped my knee and foot in the exact same places. Grrrr... the scars were finally starting to fade. The problem is the heel of the shoe is extremely slippery -- especially on those ghetto-fabulous patches that the city uses to fill all the horrible ruts in the roads around here. *shakes fist* Well played, DC. Well played!

Time to start packing...

Let there be light...

2004-10-31T10:29:00.000-05:00

You know, I have a love-hate relationship with daylight savings time. (You know the whole spring ahead, fall behind -- you GAIN an hour in the fall...)

I'm heading off to the gym soonish, but I had to check out the latest stats from Electoral-vote.com.

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004: Kerry 283 Bush 246

Take that as you may. It is still three days until the election and the way this race is going it's likely to change again... It's so wrong that it's basically going to come down to whoever's ahead when the buzzer goes off wins.

Just a messenger

2004-10-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

Check out this article by the Twin Cities City Pages, re: Pioneer Press employees who were suspended for attending a Vote for Change concert when not at work. The article prints letters to the editor that the Pioneer Press has yet to print (according to Poynter). Some of the points made are very good ones...

Yum

2004-10-27T07:19:00.000-04:00

Ah, morning. I keep waking up at like 5 or 5:30 and then lying awake for about two hours before being ready to pass out again. This is a new trend for me. As some of you may know, in a previous life I was an insomniac. That has mostly been cured. (Being curled up next to someone will do that.) That's why this new a.m. thing is throwing me for a loop. Of course, it doesn't help that the cats have been driving me nuts in the morning. They're like: WAKE UP AND PLAY. ... NOWISH. *jump on Kim's bladder* Yeah, like that won't wake a person up pretty quickly. :P

So Boy has a habit of stopping the TiVo from taping anything that is trying to tape if he's watching something else. Last night I threatened death if he happened to be here when Gilmore Girls came on and did that. That's the ONE. SHOW. I really, really want to see every week. He watched it with me last week and was laughing -- yes, laughing! -- during the show and yet when it was over said, "That is the dumbest show EVER!" To which I responded, "And yet, you TiVo 'The Mountain'?!?!" Boy's excuse? "I got sucked in!" SUCK being the operative word. hehehe

Hrm... pretty pink clouds have appeared in my window all of a sudden. And I thought it was going to be an ugly day... what a nice surprise. ;)

Today is something...

2004-10-26T22:21:00.000-04:00

I feel like I've forgotten something. For some reason this date stands out in my mind. I think today is someone's birthday. So happy birthday, if it's you, and sorry for my awful memory. :P

...

So, you know how when you're in a rush (or even when you're not) sometimes you approach a closed door a little too fast, and thus don't quite grasp the handle and end up running smack into said closed door?

Yeah. Did that. Now my toe hurts and so does my ego. :P

Hey, I'm just trying to spread the love.

...

I keep forgetting to post about my parents' visit. Overall, it was really good. I know they were tired and annoyed with traffic and the busy-ness of the metro area, but it was so good to see them.

FRIDAY
We tried to go see the fall leaves on Friday, but the weather -- and the leaves, for that matter -- weren't really cooperating. Instead we found a random place to eat lunch, then headed back to this custard stand we saw on the way in (mmmghghghghhhgmm, sooo good) and then followed the signs to a vineyard. Also, my PSA for the day: Apparently October is Virginia Wine Month (nobody told us this when we were out).

The first place we went was really nice -- Rappahannock Cellars. The people were very informative and chatty, and while they charged you for the tasting, you got to keep the souvenir glass (oooh, special). We snagged a couple of bottles (no sign of the Conundrum I had recently when out with Jason, though) and trekked off to a vineyard down the road by a mile.

I originally was attracted to Oasis Winery by its fun address: 14141. (Yes, I'm weird about numbers, despite my lack of math skillz -- that's right, with a Z.) Well, the numbers don't lie, I tell you -- it was like driving through a wormhole into Italy (not that I've been; I'm guesstimating). Oasis lives up to its name. Beautiful. Right on the sign they said they host weddings and I can see why. Seriously, if I don't get married (like... never) on a beach, I'm totally getting married at a vineyard (the wine is so handy afterall). :) Anywho. Too bad their Web site is suck. ... HAHAHA. OK out of morbid curiousity I just had to see how much it would cost for a wedding there. <-- Not a good sign that I'm laughing.>> Prices range from $2,500 for a tent to $25,000 to close the place.

Soooo we drove back to D.C. on a lovely Friday-afternoon-trafficked 66E. (Wheeee!) At least the 'rents got a good snooze in. After assembling (most of) the right personages we headed off to Du Claw for dinner. Tasty, tasty.

SATURDAY
Wandered over to Old Town Alexandria since the weather finally decided to clear up (for a day) and walked along the pretty waterfront. Dad snapped some shots of the restaurant that Hope-Pope and I were desperately trying to find when they were here apartment hunting. He mostly wanted shots of the interesting textures, rather than document that fact, I'm sure. ;)

Most importantly, I finally (FINALLY!) found Kingsbury Chocolates in Alexandria. I bought like 20 pounds of chocolate and left on a sugar high and smeared in dark chocolate. OK, not really. But in my head, yes. ;) Instead I soaked up the delectable smells and bought a little thing of truffles (Which Jason hilariously thought had actual truffles in them. :D Sorry... it was funny.) and some other dark chocolate and a double chocolate brownie for Jason. Yay for chocoholics. :D Sadly, then the folks had to get on the road. But I'll see them again at Christmas.

Later we (Jason and crew) went to Renn Fest for the second to last day for like an hour. It was cold, so we had warm meade and OH MY that is yummy. Did I mention I hadn't eaten anything but an apple and some cheese all day? Yeaaaaaah, that was fun. Then we went out to this restaurant called Copeland's of New Orleans, which was super tasty. THEN, we went to Bowie to hang out. The Boy left me in good hands (he went to to club for a bit) -- we watched American Wedding and drank ice wine. I'd never had ice wine before; it's sweet, but not overwhelmingly so like a reisling (which, ew).

Ah, good times.

Zook fired

2004-10-25T17:17:00.000-04:00

So Florida finally fired football coach Ron Zook.

Hey, isn't Steve Spurrier looking for a job?

Vote predictor

2004-10-24T17:54:00.000-04:00

I love the Poynter Institute -- they always have the best links. Here's one that was in one of Friday's newsletters; it offers the latest Electoral estimate for the election every time you go to the page:

Electoral-vote.com

As we all know, the electoral college is the real count that matters. So keep this site near and dear to your heart as Election Day approaches.

Why does my popcorn contain milk?

2004-10-24T14:05:00.000-04:00

Bizarre... I just looked at the ingredients label of my microwave popcorn and it says: "Contains: Milk, Sesame." Ummmm... OK. Freaks.

I just had a lovely long conversation with my dear, dear friend KT. We have repeatedly tried to catch up and kept missing each other. Today she was driving back from Jacksonville to Tampa and so she had some time. Ah, dirt. Gotta love it. ;) You know, it's funny. I was best friends with her in middle school and we were still friends through high school, but we went to different schools. Then we separated in college and I finally started hanging out with her again ... maybe even after graduation. I think so. I remember attending a homecoming party the first year after I graduated... maybe even the second year. I forget now. Anyways, point: we lost touch and then started talking again -- and I am so grateful for that. Because we've known each other for so long, we talk about everything. :) There is nothing better in the world that a friend who will always be there for you and loves you unconditionally...

And now we like to take crazy trips to fun places. We discussed driving around our hometown over the holidays and looking at Christmas lights (a totally cheesy, fun thing). The Boy is likely coming with; I can't wait for her to meet him. ;) And later going to the Keys sometime soon (very excited about that) and her coming up here in the winter to see some snow (she's dying to see some -- I hope it snows this year for her!).

Mmmm... happy thoughts.

A&F believes in something other than profits...

2004-10-24T13:17:00.000-04:00

I'm reading about a disgustingly horrible practice called mulesing. Don't follow the link unless you want to see a bloody example. Believe it or not, Abercrombie & Fitch actually has boycotted Austrialian wool -- the only source that actually follows the above practice. I'm shocked that A&F has some sort of social conscience about this... they haven't about anything else.

Forgetful in my old age

2004-10-22T09:15:00.000-04:00

... after all, I'm a whole quarter of a century! :P Vivi, dahhhling, please forgive me for not including you in my links (you're there now). I hope that more people are coming to Blogger will encourage you to post more frequently. I will try to do the same in maintaining both LJ and this...

My parents are visiting today and tomorrow from Florida. They brought me furniture from my grandparents' house. That furniture is well-traveled. It moved down to Florida a few years ago from New Jersey. Funny that it's much closer to its starting point again.

So, I have to figure out what to do with the folks. We were supposed to go to the mountains to see the leaves, but the weather is all icky, so I don't know about that. Maybe we'll just go out to the Potomac Overlook on the GW Parkway and then head to Old Town. That way if it rains we can just head back into the city and hit up some museums or a movie...

Color-tastic

2004-10-21T15:04:00.000-04:00

Places to see fall colors.

Time for change...

2004-10-21T08:13:00.000-04:00

So I decided that LJ just wasn't cutting it, in terms of customization -- at least without paying. So I decided to experiment with the blog I created to post on Erik's blog. I've since changed the name and (ghetto?) fabulously customized the bar to the right. (It makes me so happy!) And it's all freeeeee; FREE I tell you!

Sleepy thoughts:

As I was lying here this morning at 5:30 a.m., I randomly thought about this trip I took with Lisa and her friends on the Ichetucknee River... I hadn't thought about it in forever. We drove way out into the middle of nowhere (close to Gainesville, Fla.) and then stopped at a roadside stand to rent some inner tubes. Now we're not talking about the kinds you use for bikes. These are gigantour. We smushed them as best we could into trunks and tied them onto roofs of everyone's cars. Then we finished the drive to the park. (We got lost but some nice person pointed us in the right direction -- gee I wonder how she knew we were going tubing? :P)

We dropped everyone plus the tubes off at the start point. Then one person from each car drove what seemed like forever to the end of the river. We then hitched a ride back on a shuttle. Once everyone was finally gathered, we climbed down some slippery rocks/roots/dirt to a wooden dock -- and bravely jumped into the water. Did I mention that even in the blisteringly hot (and unbearably humid) summer, the water is 73 degrees? Because the river is spring-fed, this is one of the best places to go other than from A/C'd car to A/C'd building.

From that point on, we were at the will of the river. Not that we're moving particularly fast or anything -- no rapids here -- but whether we headed into the grass or stayed on course was up to our paddling skills (or lack thereof). Not only is the water cold there, it's nearly clear in many places. So as I drifted lazily down the river, I would occasionally peer down at the fish looking right back up at me.

At the end we reluctantly got out of the water, wrinkled toes and all, and made our way slowly to the parking lot. Starving and sun-weary we pulled out our picnic items (brilliant planning if you ask me) and settled in some shade to warm up in the heat and humidity while we replenished our bodies.

After we'd had enough of the bees and ants, we left sandy and a little sunburnt, but completely satisified with our day at the river. I honestly think that is the best memory I have of Florida... let's keep it that way.

Damn you Thank you, Erik!

2004-07-28T21:33:00.000-04:00

You made me create a stupid thing so I could respond to you. :P