supposed to fizz?
It took me ALL day to get the lights hung outside and to get the correct ends of the extension cords to match up so I could actually plug them in.
WHY do I bother? I don't KNOW!!! I must like Christmas lights. Sigh.
Then, I FINALLY get everything lined up and plugged in. I come in the house. *Sniff sniff* What is that smell?!?!?
Splendid. I have stepped in dog crap.
AND someone (not me) has been eating fresh cat turds out of the litterbox while I was outside.
So, I am getting whiffs of both.
If you find me hanging out in my tree by a strand of Christmas lights, don't come cryin' to me.
It's our first significant rain fall. That means a year of baked in oil is now on the surface, on the water, making hydroplaning even more probable.
I just checked Sigalert and there are currently 5 solo spinouts, in various stages of clearing, on my drive to work.
And it's COLD.
I wanna go back to my nice, warm, plushy bed. Good luck getting me to pull a 12 hr shift today... HA!!
The power is out in my building and it looks like it's out in the entire area. Cops are directing traffic at the intersection.
The elevators aren't working but at least the common areas have emergency lighting. Even in my Big Window Office, it's too dark to get any reading done.
If I wanted to go home, I would need to go outside and then down the ramp into the garage. I'd rather sit in here where it's dry, goof around on my bberry and watch the happs going on below.
It's just like being safe and dry in a blizzard, or as close as I'll get to it in Phoenix. *warm fuzzies*
*UPDATE* - The power is back on. I didn't even finish my hot cocoa. Harumph. Guess I'll have to get back to work.
There’s a rather steep, winding road I take on the way to work that understandably narrows to a single lane on the downhill side. The speed limit correspondingly drops a little, as well. This all occurs shortly after a traffic light and for the next mile-and-a-half drivers are relegated to whatever position they were able to aggressively acquire during the furious Competition Merging that invariably occurs at this type of juncture.
It is the right lane that merges into the left, so you’ll usually see the BMW and CRX drivers choose it, particularly when they end up (oh-so-egregiously) stopped at the light. Their logic is simple: only the right lane provides the opportunity not to get stuck behind one of the left-lane lame-asses who lacked the foresight to buy a car that stuck to the road like an AFX* slot car. They crane their necks to watch for the cross-traffic light to turn yellow; it’s their cue to take the RPMs up to 1200 and shift their clutch-foot to the very edge of the pedal for instantaneous release.
Me, I’m one of the lame-asses, I guess. I seldom worry about my spot in the bizarre, unwritten hierarchy of competitive commuting. I’m of the opinion that making it to my destination alive, undamaged and sans citations is far more desirable than getting there seven seconds before everyone else. But you already knew I was a bit strange.
Anyway, this morning I did play the game because tooling down the hill was a dirty, fume-belching truck with a giant tank on the back proudly emblazoned with The Shit Bilge: We’ll Pump Out Your Poop! (or something like that; I didn’t have anything to write with at the time). The huge coil of corrugated PVC tubing verified what was inside that tank. I’m not sure if moving so slowly was also directly related to his occupation, but the fact wouldn’t surprise me.
For the record, I wasn’t the only one to pass him. I was behind at least a half dozen drivers making the same sensible move.
Here’s the thing, though. As I changed lanes and sped up to squeeze in front of him just before the guardrail could cave in my passenger door, I felt a little like an impatient teenager for whom driving like an asshole has become a requisite personality trait. But the guy in the sewer truck didn’t speed up to force me back behind him the way so many people do, nor did he tailgate me the rest of the way down the hill. He just took his time transporting his contaminated cargo, seemingly unmoved by the growing distance between himself and the crowd of cars in front of him.
I guess if you make your living sucking putrid body waste out of other peoples’ septic tanks, you’ve pretty much already broken and tamed your ego.
*Yeah, that’s right, I was an AFX kid. Big time. Had to save up just a little more chore money, but it was worth it not to settle for Tyco’s second-rate, schlocky slot cars.
It's a dark, dreary and damp day in the desert.
I love it. I'm always more productive under gray skies. <-- I double checked the spelling of gray/grey just now. "Grey" is the color but "gray" is the Americanized spelling. Maybe I should get an American dictionary instead of this British Oxford English one sitting here on my desk.
My ruling: Whatever floats your boat should be the version you use. There.
Anyway, we're supposed to have blizzard conditions in what we refer to as the 'high country'. Cool. I love a good blizzard, especially when I'm safe and warm. Good luck to the peeps up there in the higher elevations in riding out the storms!
Because I have nothing else of import to report and I need to knuckle down here at work, I'll leave you with some bad Christmas music. This is a repeat for some of you so you may choose to skip it. For the rest, enjoy and make sure you have sharp instruments handy to gouge out your eardrums!
amazon has the entire Arrested Development series for $28.99
today only, while quantities last, yaddayaddayadda. US only, afaik
/ I'm not getting any compensation for this blurb. just thought some of y'all may want to pick it up.
// I got my copy a couple of years ago. <3 it.
/// it made my nephew disappointed in me
//// his actual words: how...how...white of you.
Started at 3p at the home of Curt & Mark, which is the consummate party home. I've raved about it before - outdoor full bar, pool & patio, gazillion beautiful rooms. I love their place. The food was catered and I ate about a gabillion proscuitto wrapped dates (cheese & almond centers). There were also chicken meatballs with cranberry, orange & jalapeno; cucumber slices with crab; baked parm cheese (so it becomes a cracker) with ceasar salad; little toast slices with ??? and roast beef; romaine lettuce with cream cheese & cranberry; and a full bar. Niiiiice!
The next stop was Nino's Restaurant, a mere 1/2 mile away. Some people drove but, feeling that half the point of a progressive is walking to each stop, I trotted over. What a mistake. About 1/2 way in to the walk, my knees started snapping & popping and I considered giving up. I made it to the restaurant but that was it for my knees. We got 2 drink tickets each. I asked for prosecco (italian champagne) and the staff said, "we don't have that brand", so I went with amaretto sours. YUM!!
I scored a ride back to the 3rd house, Brad & Brad's, where desserts were featured. I sampled every chocolate petit four (turned out the designs had nothing to do with the flavors... and that I don't like "honey" flavored white chocolate) and ice cream; thought of Laurie when I saw large red velvet cake; and decided I really need to buy Brad & Brad some premium coffee because whatever they're using is icky bitter (beggers can be choosers!).
The party was going till 9 but I was burned out by 8. Some old drag queen (who kept insisting he was "38"... maybe in DOG years... he was at least 60 in human years) had been abandoned by her group (they decided to leave, she decided to stay) and was clearly planning to hit me up for a ride. So, I ditched her. Just as well because the 2 block walk back to my car nearly had me in tears from pain... in both my knees and lower back. Damn, my body sucks!! (Earl had a good time making fun of me... and after I helped him try to hook up with someone... the nerve!!)
So I'm home early and sober. And, other than the Brian Setzer concert (and maybe a theater viewing of A Christmas Story), my holiday "celebrating" is done.
"They" say we're getting a rain storm tomorrow, a day off, then 2 or 3 more days. I hope so - we need it.
Ah, crap, I just caught Skritches eating the wishbone from the chicken I ate last weekend. Gotta go.
After the dustup Pig thought Squirrelio needed some Just Desserts.
Suddenly apple nabbing had gotten much harder.
Squirrelio was not amused.
So Squirrelio decided to leave Just Desserts 'til later.
But while Squirrelio was eating good foods, Interloper pulled and pulled until he made Just Desserts his own. Cow was concerned. She knew this would not end well.
Squirrelio could not believe Just Desserts was gone. Surely this was Pig's doing.
Squirrelio said, "You Pig !!!" But Pig only snickered....
here it is, a bit bigger (click a few times for maximum embiggenment)
the magnificent, cholesterol-laden blog that originated these beauties, has them for sale. as posters, though. I'm sure they are *almost* too beautiful to fold 16x as to fit in the glovebox. *almost*