Southwest Convert & Old People

This is sad to say to my poor baby sister but unless I'm flying free, I'm not flying her airlines. I'm not flying anyone's airlines except Southwest. (OK that's a sweeping generalization. There may be times when I have to fly a different airlines simply because Southwest doesn't fly there, but mostly I'm only flying Southwest). And I'm only flying Southwest because they currently don't charge bag fees. I may change my mind. They may start doing it (and then what?? I have to travel by train??) but seriously bag fees can add up to 100 dollars to a ticket. That's outrageous!

I've been obsessed lately with my index finger on my right hand. The nail is starting to go flat. It is so weird. It was never like that before. A quick google search says I may be lacking in vitamins. I'll have to start up with the multi-vitamin again. Sigh.

I went to this refresher training for my volunteering at the Paramount last night. I was mostly dreading it because I figured it would be one of those "This is what we're seeing everyone doing wrong" type of refreshers. (Clearly certain aspects of my personality will not succumb to my hopeful philosophy of believing in the best). Refreshingly it wasn't. Mostly they were telling us about changes at the Paramount and rah rah we're necessary. That's fine. I was one of the three youngest people in the group of over 25. And we were youngest by at a minimum of 20 years. Here's where I realize I don't really like old people though. In college (and I'm sure Michelle could back me up) old people (heh, when I was 22 old people were like 35 - 40) going back to school never seemed to go back for a physics degree or a mechanical engineering degree. They go into the social sciences fields and that's where I learned to hate adult learners. They always had stories to share that maybe related to something but usually they were just annoying and took away from class time where we needed to learn something and not just anecdotal evidence about how the special education system in the district sucks. I share this because old people are like adult learners. They share stories that don't matter and seem to ask questions that have nothing to do with what's being discussed. Or if they do, it is just the same stuff over and over. Yes sometimes the paid staff are short with the volunteers. Whatever. Get over it. The guy just said he's working with them on that so we don't need to keep rehashing that point. Amusingly enough, there was an old lady in front of me who clearly does not suffer fools. She kept making comments to herself wishing everyone would just stop asking stupid questions so we could just get done with this. I kind of dug her.

Not responsible

I've been working for weeks on these proposals to our executive team about our open enrollment. We have several recommendations that should be good for the employees. So help me god if they decide to make no changes at all I will not be responsible for my actions.

Isn't that always the way

I was totally late for volunteering at Phantom of the Opera last night. I thought, for some reason, the call time was 5:30 not 5:00. Tonight we have a refresher training for ushers. In 5 years I've never been late, but the day before the meeting bam! Tardy.

Also my bank officially failed on the same day I activated my new debit card. Coincidence? Yeah probably. :)

Fail.

So I should've vetted my Thanksgiving plan more thoroughly before I got excited. The Pearrygin Lake State Park isn't open in the winter. That means we'll be headed somewhere else. There is another one Cama Beach State Park that has cabins and they are open in the winter. They do not, however, have stove burners inside so we would have to cook outdoors. Not an insurmountable problem. But the sad part is that they are not close to Winthrop so no Christmas Extravaganza! :(

My bank failed yesterday. Yesterday I felt bad for me because this means my checking account will probably change. Luckily I don't have credit cards or a mortgage through them because that will definitely change. Today I feel bad for the employees. I wonder if it is easier or harder to go to work today... the uncertainty is gone but has probably been replaced with a different uncertainty. That was the hardest thing about working at homestore for me... when we started to hit the skids I hated how uncertain everything was. I also hated, since I worked in HR, knowing before others who was getting laid off and who wasn't. Especially since I knew these people, you know.

Final fail... this morning I was walking to work wearing a greenish sweater. I was reading my book while walking and realized I had worn this sweater already this week. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but there was a spot of taco sauce on my sweater. I turned around and walked home. Sigh. I did think it was amusing, though that while I was walking and reading another woman was walking up my street while reading. A kindred spirit so to speak. :)

Potential plan

I did some research and discovered some pretty nice cabins available through the state parks. It seems like it could be fun to go to Pearrygin Lake and then to Winthrop for their holiday extravaganza thing. I'll keep you posted but I think we've found a winner. (It even snows there!!!)

What to do... What to do...

Since Michelle is going to Florida this Thanksgiving, I'm not going to CA for my traditional Thanksgiving at Michelles and mad shopping spree on Friday morning. This leaves me with a 4 day weekend to fill with something that may or may not entertain me. I could probably con Lyday into doing the shopping thing with me... although now that I think about it maybe not. I don't remember that I know her stance on that kind of thing. I do know her stance on being up at 5:00 AM and that is not in this lifetime. I could rent a car for the day or check out the flexcar for the AM and go by myself. That's not so fun though. I mean a whole part of the adventure of black friday is getting up and having one person get in the lines ahead while the other goes and picks stuff up. Plus who would I go to lunch with when I was totally and completely done shopping and then spend the afternoon doing arts and crafts with?

Another option would be go visit the fam. Last Thanksgiving wasn't too terrible. We survived it without incident which is an improvement over the last time I visited them. I didn't want to kill anyone. But Black Friday was not the same kind of fun (even though they tried... they did pick up paint by number kits) but somehow Pep Boys isn't the same as Mervyns. I wonder if I could convince my family to stay in a hotel Thursday night so we could shop in Tucson on Friday morning... Probably not. :)

I have also considered going away for the weekend. I think it might be neat to go to a state or national park and rent a yurt or cabin (both are heated) for the long weekend. I would want to go to one that is near someplace I haven't been before so I could go do little day trips to see things nearby.

I don't know and since my default on that is to do nothing, I'll probably do nothing and spend 4 days sitting on my couch until I grow moss. :)

Do the Puyallup

On Sunday Lyday and I went to the fair. I do love the fair although I must admit that I love the Ventura County Fair even more. Although I don't remember a lot of animals at the VC fair and I do love those too. One thing they do that I think is fun is they have a table setting contest. It is so weird as a concept yet so cool.

I always like to go see the animals. Lyday is not as fond of them as I am. My older sister had clydsdales. They are really cool horses and HUGE. They're gentle giants, though, and rather mellow as far as horses go.

Lyday as we head upside down on a ride. I think it was a green and purple kind of ride that flips you upside down. It kind of seems like the pirate ship ride but then it continues. It was fun. Lyday LOVES the rides so we went on way more than I usually do. I have a weird thing about the rides. If I'm flipping head over feet I won't get sick usually. If I'm spinning around and around I'm going to get sick. So we went on a lot of rides. I tried to take my camera on the rides as much as I could (although I didn't even try on the zipper because you're in a cage.).

Here is as we go upside down. Pretty fun, eh?

We went on this ride. At each end, there is a space for 4 people. The ride is fast and according to the sign it prevents you from getting sick. The weirdest part for me was not so much the centrifugal force but how close it felt like we were getting to the ground. I would've loved to bring my camera on this one but the operator said we couldn't even bring our cell phones (like in our pockets not that we would talk on them) because they would break due to the force. I don't know if that's right.

Oh this is from the other ride (apparently I didn't load these pictures in the proper order). The camera is technically right side up, I am not. :)

You can see the long ride from the ferris wheel. We talked about the boing boing ride that is between the two long poles but two things stopped us... 1 - cost. It is 50 bucks to ride! 2 - Joanne isn't down with the cables. If something is made with steel I feel better but the cable freaked me out a bit. 3 - the bounce up was fine but there seemed to be no control over how you swing around. I was not down with that thought.

This is from the big shot. You know it is one of those tall rides that shoot you up into the sky. It is fun.

And that's all the photos. I ate a lot of junk food which is always nice. :) We spent about 4 to 5 hours at the fair and I was so exhausted by the time I got home. Clearly a sign I'm old that I can't handle a few hours at the fair.

Something I do like

I do love Panic at the Disco's I Write Sins not Tragedies. The song cracks me up but my very favorite line is at the beginning. He's singing about what a beautiful wedding it is and it sounds all nice and then he says "What a shame the poor groom's bride is a whore." Cracks me up every time.

Never Listen to Morons

That is a rule I should live by but sometimes I forget.

I'll get to that. First I poured beer on Friday night for the Fremont Oktoberfest. The money raised benefits the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. Mostly I like pouring beer at these events. I get to flirt and just have a good time. And Friday was mostly like that. The only downer was that I was assigned to a truck that had taps and so we would pour the beer into pitchers and then pour the beer to the people from the pitchers. That seemed to take a lot more time and slow down the process. It was probably easier for the brewery liasons though since they didn't have to frequently mess with the kegs to make them pour correctly. (Which can happen if the CO2 gets off or if there's not enough ice in either the box or in the tub with the keg or if the keg is empty). At the end of the night, I was getting ready to pour out a pitcher and there was one guy trying to get me to give him what was left in the bottom. I couldn't since it was past the time and his cry of despair was heartwrenching. Poor guy. (Luckily it didn't rain on Friday night.)

Saturday I attended a 1st time homebuyer class. WA has programs but they require a certificate and you have to have attended a seminar in the past 2 years. My last one lapsed. I found my previous seminar a lot more helpful than this one, but this one was okay. The guys presenting it were much more personable and funny so it balanced out in a weird way.

In the evening I volunteered for the Light The Night walk with the Leukemia & Lymphoma society. I was to work with another person as a sweeper. Basically we followed behind the whole group walking around Greenlake (or is it Green Lake?) (I think it is Greenlake) and pick up litter and directional signs and the like. Here's where I should know never to listen to morons. The guy I was paired up with and I start out around the lake. At the very beginning of the walk is a huge line of signs memorializing various people. E, the guy, looks at the signs and says we should pick those up. I say, no, B the event organizer said there were no signs to get. We go back and forth on this for a few minutes before I finally give in because he's done this before and I haven't. Also, I'm lazy and didn't want to walk all the way back to where B was to ask her so my own lazyness also bites me in the ass. I totally ignore the logic that says come back for these signs after the walk. So we pick up signs. There are like 50 of them and they are stuck into the ground and have pictures taped on them. They look like the rough picture below.... roughly.

So frequently the poster wouldn't cover the bottom rung thing so I could grab that and so most of the signs I carried I carried by the bottom piece but some had that taped over so I couldn't so I carried those signs under my arm. This works pretty well... for a while. And we set off. Part way down our walk I realize this idea isn't working that well because when I see litter I can't stop to pick it up on account of the ridiculous number of signs I'm carrying plus a lantern because it is dark. So we leave it. Also someone has attached a balloon to one of the signs and so as I carry the signs the balloon keeps banging me in the head, but it is all tangled so there's not much I can do about it. And so then we walk. And we walk. And we walk. And every once in a while we stop because E's signs get messed up and he drops a bunch but so far my method is working very nicely. So we get maybe 2/3rds of the way around the 2.8 mile trail and my hands are killing me. They are completely numb because of the angle I've been holding them etc. So we take a pit stop at the boat place. (This map shows Green Lake Park. We started at the upper right of the map where there is a swimmer and a sign for a swimming pool. The boat place is the lower left hand corner. We are walking the inner trail.) E goes to the restroom and I just rest my hands and arms. We eventually begin walking again and now my hands have had it. Even though they felt better about 15 steps in, my hands go numb again. I keep switching hands. I eventually accidentally pop the balloon attached to the sign. I am miserable. And I keep switching how I'm holding the signs so that at one point I end up with one tangled in my hair and another set tangled in my ipod cord. I think we get to about the next little pink picture on the map and I just drop all the signs. I've had it. E keeps swearing we are almost there and I could leave the signs and he could come back for them but I can't do that... so I'm getting ready to pick them up when an attractive Mexican man stops and offers to help. I'm so grateful I could almost cry. He took probably 3/4ths of my signs and we start walking again. He was out walking because he has troubles... he lost his job, his girlfriend broke up with him and his family was pressuring him to go back to Mexico to take care of his mom. We chatted the rest of the way with him holding the bulk of my signs until we reached the end. We take the signs where they need to go and he leaves back into the night. I see B, the event organizer, over by the finish line and I ask her... we didn't have to pick those up did we. No, no we did not. This, my friends, is why you should never listen to a moron!

Male Artist Trifecta

There are three male singers I really don't like. For some reason, though, 99% of the time I can only remember two of them. I was thrilled when I finally remembered the third. They are: Jack Johnson, John Mayer and James Blunt. There's not a lot of logic why I don't like them, but I really think their music is kind of whiny.

True Seattelite

It's official, I've become a real Seattleite. How did I do this, you might wonder? It was nothing like becoming a TRUE Alaskan which involved peeing in the Yukon River (how did we even hear that? I wish I could remember) which I have also done, that's for sure. No, today I exhibited the classic "Seattle Freeze." Someone said to me "We should do lunch sometime" and I responded with the vague yet terribly Seattle, "Yes, we should." No further plans were made. No dates confirmed or discussed. I am now a Seattleite. Sigh.

That's a lot of Jesus stuff

You know, for an atheist, I don't tend to get too hung up on the details about being one. I don't care that our money says "In God We Trust" or that in the Pledge of Allegiance it says "One nation, under God," blah blah blah. I don't care if kids want to say a little prayer to themselves in school or if the school wants to have a moment of silence where kids can do that. It doesn't hurt me in any way shape or form to have these things out there. I was a little surprised, though, to go through one of my scout's school fundraiser forms and see quite a bit of religious materials. I'm ordering some heart shaped silicone cupcake thingies. I will not be ordering the prayer hands paperweight or the angel charm stretch bracelet. If I had a garden I would totally order some Queen of the Night tulips because those are my favorite. (They're almost black and totally cool!)

The Phantom of The Opera something or other...

The Phantom of the Opera is playing at The Paramount. I've never seen it before today. I was a volunteer usher at the matinee today. While the costumes are beautiful and the sets are gorgeous, I found the play to be kind of boring. I'm sure a large part of that is because I really couldn't understand the songs that well. I have three more shifts to do with the show. It could be worse I'm sure. It could be Oklahoma!. :) I thought the chandelier falling scene was supposed to be some big dramatic thing. It took so long for the chandelier to do its fall it wasn't dramatic at all. Could've been a stage glitch I suppose, but it definitely didn't strike me as exciting or anything.

Kind of Child-like

Unrelated to this post but I kind of wonder if I would get car sick if I tried to watch a video on a long car trip. Unlikely I'll ever find out since usually I'm either driving the car for the long car trip or I'm with people who actually expect me to interact with them during the long car trip. What's that about??!!

So today I went for my bi-annual (does bi-annual mean twice a year or every two years? And if I have to ponder this wouldn't it have been shorter just for me to say my every other year eye exam? Is there a better way to say this??) Anyway... today I went for my bi-annual eye exam. I only go every two years because I can only get new frames every two years so why bother going in the off year? I ordered new glasses. I am not a fun, funky glasses wearer. I am more a thin metal frames similar shape/color every time. I tried on a few fun, funky glasses and I just felt like it made it REALLY obvious I was wearing glasses. I didn't like that. I also tried on a pair of frameless glasses. I don't like that look. I read an article that Sara(h?) Palin is bringing that look back. I still do not like it. I also tried on a couple pairs without the bottom frame. I also do not like that look. Anyway... I'm now having buyer's remorse. I almost called them and said Oh No Never Mind Take It Back!! I think it was because my eyes were totally dilated. How can I know what I'm picking out then??!! (I'm sure it will be fine but I really really love my current glasses and I'm hesitant to change things like that. But the paint is chipping on them and they are two years old) I also find that I ask a lot of questions of the optometrist. I like to know what he is doing and what the various tests tell him. I also like to know how I compare with other people.

I spent the whole afternoon hanging out with Lyday at the hospital. She had outpatient surgery and needed someone to be her 'escort'. I think this is how hospitals have cut back on the over night visits... they just hand you off to friends and family! So while there I asked a lot of questions. I like to know what things are happening and why things are the way they are. We got there at like 1:30. I've never been back into that part of a hospital. It was interesting, however I'm such a hmm... what's the word.. not prude exactly (well that too) but I like my privacy and so this would've driven me nuts! We got to hear all about the guy in the next space's reason for surgery... warts in his rectum. And the guy two cubes away too. Then in the pre-op place the young woman who was having breathing difficulties and they were discussing with her the possibility of an over night stay with this logic "Well it will be the same price if you leave tonight or stay until tomorrow." How crazy. And even while I was in the waiting area... the doctor came out and I heard about this Russian family's female family member who had ovarian cancer. Good news, they got all the cancer and it hadn't spread anywhere else. It all just seemed so not private to me. Also also also... Naked old man ass. I made the mistake of looking up and there it was hobbling to the bathroom. Seriously I can't be admitted to the hospital ever. However Lyday's surgery went well and she was even feeling well enough afterward to go for dinner so that's good.

Such a dad thing to do (although I probably would too)

I peeved over at the Peevery about dropping my breakfast and it totally reminded me of something funny. I was with Stephen and Ben at this fancy ice cream place in the U district. (I think it is the U District, I'm not really sure where the lines are drawn... maybe it is actually Greenwood or Greenlake... how have I lived here 6 years and I still don't get that??) (According to their own website it is Wallingford.) There was a dad and two daughters sitting at a little table near us. The little girl did the thing that if I was her age would've totally made me cry... she took a big lick of her cone and proceeded to knock the scoop onto the floor. The dad bent over and picked it up. He took some napkins out of the dispenser and wiped it off and then plopped it back on her cone. He kind of mashed it in to make sure it didn't happen again and she resumed consumption. I don't blame the dad. I totally would've done the same thing. :)

Eating

I'm sick of thinking about food. I'm sick of thinking about what I want to eat. I'm sick of eating. This is why I'm broke at the end of each month... I eat out because I don't want to cook. I wish I lived in like the Jetson's time and I could have the food I want just appear magically. OR if I were a witch like Ron Weasley's mum (what was her name... Mrs. Weasley... I can't remember) and I could use magic to cook and clear up. So the question is... what are you having for dinner?

Jam Packed!

At the ass crack of dawn (or 8:30) on Saturday I went to get my hair cut. Three hours later I left with shorter hair and touched up roots. :) Yay! I like the cut. I originally was going to go and just get a trim but Saturday morning I randomly decided to have them take a lot more off. The stylist took off 6 inches. Yay.

Randomly, I'm watching an old episode of Law & Order SVU and two embryos of a woman were implanted into two different women. One girl died in a car accident and the mom (crazy with grief and positive her kid was still alive) had her daughter's picture aged by an artist. She saw a kid in the park who looked like the aged picture and attempted to kidnap her. So my confusion is why would the two kids look exactly alike? They wouldn't be twins because they were separate eggs. (Of course this is a TV show I'm trying to puzzle through. Sad that is.) (Also, Queens is on the beach?) (Although this episode does have Abigail Breslin and I like her) (Also, Lea Thompson plays crazy very well, but I'm sad that she is relegated to playing roles in Law & Order SVU)

Anyway... sometime this past week Lyday and I were driving around and we went past the zoo. We decided to go today. It was a perfect day for the zoo. The weather was just right and the sun was shining. I took pictures. Eventually I'll post them (maybe). I saw the flamingos which apparently are a big deal (although their enclosure seems a bit small to me but I don't really know too much about flamingos. Maybe they only travel in small areas). We went into the butterfly and blooms exhibit. That's one of my favorites because I just love all the butterflies! We did not go into the bug exhibit. Although in this one exhibit we were looking at snakes and lizards and other cool things when I came across an exhibit of hissing roaches. Those freak me the fuck out. I think it is because when I was little I was visiting my grandfather and he lived in a trailer on the farm. This married couple and their like 5 I think kids had a trailer next to my pappy's. I think the adults worked on the farm and I remember staying the night over there. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and there were roaches everywhere. It scared me so badly I didn't go pee and instead lay back down in the bedroom and stayed awake for much of the night. And on that note, I'm going to bed. Night y'all!

TV

Also, I have decided I'm excited about Sons of Anarchy on FX that is premiering tonight. I may have a beef with Comcast (really what is the 'price adjustment' I'll be receiving next month??), but I'll never be able to rid myself completely of cable. I just love it too much.

Random

I know it is just me, but I'm vaguely fascinated by the fact that the arrow on the compass that is next to my phone changes direction when I pick up my phone. Phone in the cradle the red arrow is pointed at 20 degrees. Phone out of the cradle and the arrow points at 315 degrees. Probably some magnet in the phone. I coulda been a physicist. :)

I am a petty petty person

I admit this. My employer told me earlier this year that I could no longer hold my scout meetings in my building the way I had for the past 3 years. Note how they waited until my boss, who had conferred with the lead counsel at the time and gotten permission, was gone. I've since decided that if they can't support my endeavors I can't support the ones I used to. I know it is petty. I really do. But I was really mad and felt it really (notice the number of uses of really here... because I'm REALLY fired up) said something to me. So they've been requesting volunteers for this one thing that I've volunteered for the past 5 years a number of times. I'm not doing it. (Also I'm not doing it because all the activities are like invasive plant removal and trail maintenance and I hate those so that's another good reason.) (Plus I'm still wearing the boot anytime I have to be walking up hill or doing a lot of it so I would be booted doing it.) (Look at all the justification and the parentheticals!) :)

Videos!

It is entirely possible that I broke the law in recording this and I fully admit that these are done on my teeny tiny pink camera while I was being jostled by a large crowd of people so I apologize that they aren't that great. I do like the one that has the crowd surfer going by me. Hee.


Stone Temple Pilots Plush from Joanne on Vimeo.


Stone Temple Pilots Interstate Love Song from Joanne on Vimeo.

Photos from Bumbershoot!

Here are the photos I took at Bumbershoot. Aren't y'all envious? :)

This is the lead singer of The Blakes. I don't know anything else about this band except that I liked them.

Here's a shot of the singer and guitarist (bassist?? I don't know the difference). I converted the photo to black and white. I like that effect.

I think this is the lead singer again.

This is all I saw of The Whigs. I was sitting on the grass during the show because my feet hurt and I knew that I would be standing for Stone Temple Pilots and Jakob Dylan. I originally had a staunch group of sitters around me, but eventually I was the sole sitter surrounded by legs.

Look it is me! Yay.

Jakob Dylan. We were far from the stage. Stephen's friends were sitting there waiting for the show to start for 3 hours. That's kind of crazy to both of us but if you really like the artist then that's good I suppose.

Another shot of Jakob Dylan. I ended up shooting through the sound board guy's tent thing.

Stone Temple Pilots. Yay! This is during their opening number.

The guitarist.

Scott Weiland. I still believe guys shouldn't wear skinny jeans.

Again.

And again. Note the foot of the crowd surfer. I totally laughed when I saw that appear.

The band came out at the end and bowed.

Too old for this

Yesterday I went with Stephen to Bumbershoot. It was the first time I actually attended to see shows - including the mainstage. We got there around 1 and went in and got our tickets for the mainstage that night. Stone Temple Pilots was playing. I rather like them. We stood in line to try to go to see Janeane Garofalo but missed out on that. I let Stephen dictate which shows we were going to watch since I didn't really have any preference. We saw The Blakes, who I liked, the Whigs, who were okay, Jakob Dylan and Stone Temple Pilots. It was really exhausting. I was on my feet for a long time.

Stephen likes to be towards the front for the shows so during STP we were near the front. For future reference, I'm totally going to sit in the seats. :) It was getting painful to be on my feet so much and that was much of my focus. STP started late - about 20 min or so. And we were jammed. Gray sweatshirt guy in front of me kept inching me back. Hearing impaired woman behind me kept inching me forward. It was quite an adventure. When the music finally started it became a little more chaotic. There was a lot of moving around and I ended up getting shoved a variety of ways. That part was unpleasant. Eventually the crowd got equilibrium and although I was smashed I didn't get tossed around again. There was a fat chick behind me who was jumping up and down. Since she was pressed up against my back that was uncomfortable for me. There was a point where I was so squished I thought I could probably pick up my feet and just hang there.

A mosh pit opened up about 3 - 4 people away from us and that was something I hadn't seen before. I am glad the people on the edge really seemed to like where they were because I would not have liked it if the pit had gotten closer. After awhile I was just enjoying the music and that was awesome. There were a bunch of crowd surfers who, if they got to the front of the crowd, got pulled out by security. I kind of liked watching the beefy security guys hauling these kids over the barrier. There was a group of boys who decided to crowd surf backwards. The back crowd was not so adept at holding them up and they kept falling through. One actually fell on me sort of kind of sliding down my body taking my glasses with him as he went. Luckily I grabbed them before they fell totally off or else it would be a long two weeks until I get new ones.