Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Direct Your Attention to the Sidebar

Warning: overly enthusiastic self-promotion ahead.

I am becoming an HTML Master! Victory is mine! The possibilities are endless! (Read: I have successfully added a tiny new section to my sidebar with links to pages "worth checking out.")

Seriously though, I'm really proud of myself. Yes, I realize this makes me a dork. I don't care. I did it all by myself, dammit.

Monday, September 27, 2004

Purge Purge Purge. Everything Must Go.

We have a whole lotta stuff. Spent most of the weekend packing and managed to get the majority of the upstairs done. Boxes are everywhere. We have the materials to build the world's most kick-ass clubhouse. We also have enough books to start our own library. Getting rid of books just seems sacrilegious, so we keep them, even though we won't read most of them again. Overall, the sorting and packing is going well. There's quite a large donate pile and we unearthed some cool stuff:

- teeny tiny deck of cards (1" x .75")
- Elvis 5K Run sign
- picture of Dad in his red, white and blue checkered pants
- bug stickers
- National Geographic topo maps for the computer/GPS handheld
- money
- Senior Wills from high school
- a pen that's shaped like the bones of a finger

This weekend we were also graced by the presence of the World's Coolest Greyhound. She and the World's Best Dog (i.e. - our dog) supervised the packing between fun romps at the P-A-R-K. (Pictures to be added later.)

This coming weekend, we will boldly tackle the downstairs, which thankfully, will be much easier than the upstairs. (The garage is a whole other story that I can't bear to think about right now.)

We pick up the keys for the new place TOMORROW!

Friday, September 24, 2004

Oh Noooooooooooooooo

It just dawned on me that I missed the season premiere of CSI last night. I am traumatized. I may shed a tear. (Not really, but I feel like being dramatic. I'm crying on the inside, though.) So now I will patiently await the synopsis from Television Without Pity and hope to catch a rerun.

Roomie from Florida and her husband were in town this week and stayed at our place last night. Went to dinner, drove by the house that will be ours in less than a week, and then sat around talking and drinking PBR. (And not the yuppie PBR in a bottle that people are drinking in DC bars just because it's trendy now. We buy it in cans, baby! And.....we drank it way before the recent trend. So there. Pffftttthhhhtt.) Anyhoo, it was nice to hang out with them and we wish the visit could've been longer.

In one week, we will be getting the keys to our new place. Kick ass! I'm so excited I might pee a little. We're gonna have to bust our asses though 'cause the housewarming party is set for October 23rd. Yeah we're insane, but we want to have the big blow out before the weather gets too cold and before people start getting sucked full-force into the frenzy of the holidays.

Spell check does not have any suggestions for "Pffftttthhhhtt."

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

You Know You Are A Zookeeper When You Get Really Excited About Good, Solid Poo

Sometimes I really miss zookeeping. Especially on days like today when the weather is perfect. Very rarely do I ever think, “Man, I’m glad I’m not a zookeeper anymore.” I can probably count on one hand the number times I’ve thought that in the past three years.

There are a lot of things I miss:
being outside
galapagos tortoises with banana all over their faces
watching baby animals grow up
building exhibits
practical jokes and water fights
assisting with vet procedures
hose tug-of-war with a bear
making enrichment items
totally gross lunch time conversations
being followed around by an emu

Of course, there are also things I don't miss:
primate diarrhea
being wet when it’s freezing outside
frozen rats, chicks, raptor loaf and other assorted carnivore diet items
various job related injuries
(But the perks of zookeeping more than make up for the not-so-great parts.)

This isn't to say that I don't enjoy the work I do now. I like most of my current job duties. I'm also learning an insane amount of information that will benefit me in any future zoo job. But in the end, a bad day at the zoo is still better than a good day at the office.

Monday, September 20, 2004

TV Worth Watching

CMT has premiered a new reality series called “Barely Famous” that features The Warren Brothers. Hysterical.

I watched the episode where they go to Las Vegas for the Academy of Country Music Awards show, for which they have been nominated for vocal duo of the year. (They lose to Brooks & Dunn of course, because everyone loses to Brooks & Dunn.) The brothers' bass player/tour manager is talking to them and says something to the effect of "You know the awards they give out that never make it to the air? You guys could win one of those. Like Best Song in a Foreign Documentary." The show is worth watching for the one-liners alone.

Friday, September 10, 2004

Adventures in Public Transit

I'm on the train on my way home from work. The guy in front of me is talking on his cell phone. I see this as a good thing. The more people there are on cell phones, the less people there are with the potential to talk to me. There's always someone on a cell phone. They're almost as plentiful as white box trucks. I don't really care about people talking on cell phones when they're going about it in a normal fashion. It's really no different than if they were talking to someone sitting near them. What I can't stand are the "turbo executives" who are totally out of control.

Anyhoo...the guy finishes his normally fashioned conversation and then turns around and says, "Hey, I'm sorry for talking in your ear." I was stunned at first. A considerate person? On the train? During post-work rush hour? Wha??? Had I fallen asleep and drifted into a dream where commuters actually ponder the effects of their actions? I quickly recovered from the shock and managed to get out a "Oh, no problem. Thanks, though" and a smile (secretly hoping the jackass majority won't pull him over to the dark side).

Thursday, September 09, 2004

It's a Miracle

My cell phone healed itself. Really. It was broken. Now it is working perfectly. On it's own. I don't know whether to be amazed, bewildered or creeped out. I dropped the phone about three weeks ago in the parking lot. I drop things frequently. I'm used to it. It's what I do. After the most recent fall, the phone stopped working properly. I'd have to push the power button several times to get it to turn on and off, or I'd have to flip the phone open and closed repeatedly. It would tun itself off randomly. And then a couple of days after the drop, everytime I turned it on, it would vibrate until I took the battery out. Sometimes the screen would light up, sometimes not. Sometimes the menu would work, sometimes not. Sometimes the person on the other line could her me, sometimes not. You get the picture. The phone was about twelve different kinds of jacked-up. Then suddenly last week, it started working flawlessly and I haven't had a problem with it since. *knock on wood*

Have you ever seen that episode of one of the Star Treks, where they have the little robotic thingies that learn how to repair themselves and then proceed to take over the ship? My cell phone is their spawn.

P.S. - If anyone knows the name of that episode and which series it came from, please let me know. I still haven't found it online.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

The Good, The Bad and What We've Learned (Labor Day Weekend)

The Good
- We were not at work.
- Hanging out with cool folks.
- The Boss got to break in her new truck.
- I encountered a lot of wildlife.
- The Dog got to play in the river.
- 4-wheeling.
- Drinking under the stars.
- Fresh tomatoes from the garden.

The Bad
- Holiday traffic.
- Fireworks that terrified The Dog.
- Hyper, screaming children at 8:00 am.
- Coming close to rolling my ATV (and nearly peeing myself).
- Fog.
- Grandma broke her wrist.
- A garage full of wet, dirty gear.

What We've Learned
- A Jeep Wrangler cannot effectively tow heavy loads up mountain roads.
- Grandma is not allowed to walk The Dog anymore.
- 3 flasks of Jack Daniels is enough for a 3 day weekend.
- Winchester, VA is a scary place to be lost in.
- When someone is lighting a camping lantern, encourage him to be several feet away from everything.
- Do not trust The Boss’s uncle when he says a certain ATV trail is “no big deal.”
- The IGA does not sell beer before 1:00 pm on Sundays.

The Quote of the Trip goes to The Boss’s 10 year-old cousin. The Boss and I had just gotten back to the campsite:

The Boss: Hey, we saw a snake while we were down by the river.
Someone: What kind?
Me: I think it was a corn snake.
Everyone: puzzled looks
Me: They’re also called red rat snakes.
Everyone: more puzzled looks
The Cousin: Well.....we can’t all work at the zoo like you.

Priceless.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

In Yo' Free Time

RateMyTeachers.com is worth checking out. I'm in tears (laughing, not crying) over some of the comments people have made about teachers at my old high school.

-He's a pretty cool guy...but Henry Ford IS NOT EVIL!!

-He is VERY LOUD and will definately wake you up first thing in the morning!

-She made me suffer for the first two weeks, and after that, she was enlightening, engaging, and absolutely timeless.

-I've never understood the policies of a dictatorship until [our Principal] came into office.

-lacks an effective approach to teaching and demonstrates illogical and utterly capricious behavior from day to day.

-i think he is just too smart to be a teacher...he needs to go be a doctor or a microbiologist or something

-a dog could pass her class.

-She is so mean and attacks anyone who is dating.

-ew! mean lady! bad teacher! ew

-His mind is certainly one of a lofty caliber in both a realm of technology and a realm of teaching.
-Great teacher and a legendary party animal. Just don't f-around in his class.

You Might Be a Redneck

If you use a hill in your apartment complex to load your 4-wheeler into the back of your pickup truck, you might be a redneck. (Oh yeah, our neighbors love us.)

We actually have a ramp, however, we can't use it because it's about 250 miles away. We let someone borrow it, thinking that we could get both of our 4-wheelers on our trailer. We thought wrong. (The older ATV is named Ozzy. We have yet to name the new one.) Technically, we probably could get both ATV's on the trailer, but trying it would most likely result in a trip to the emergency room and a submission to America's Funniest Videos.

We went with Redneck Plan B. (Which, as it turns out, also could've resulted in a hospital trip.)


© Screaming Pea Productions

The tailgate didn’t quite meet the ground, but we had a couple of boards that we’d used in December to unload the ATV off a trailer. So we backed the truck up, drove the 4-wheeler up the hill, lined up the boards with the tires and The Boss proceeded to slowly drive it up into the truck bed. She got almost completely in the truck when one of the boards said “Nope, that’s it. I’m done,” and snapped in half under the weight of the back, right wheel. Joy. Fortunately the other board was a trooper and stayed intact. The Boss and I both let out expletives as she stood up to reposition and I grabbed the back of the ATV so the falling tire could catch on the tailgate. We managed to get it the rest of the way in without further problems. Next time we’re going to forgo the ramps altogether and just build up speed and launch the 4-wheeler into the back of the truck – Dukes of Hazzard style. (Not really, but I can dream, can't I?)



© Screaming Pea Productions

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Oh The Places You'll Go

I can't believe I forgot to write about the KICKASS little joint we found on Friday night. We took some friends out to look at the house we're moving into in October. (We signed the lease last week and we're just freaking giddy about it.) On the way back we kept an eye out for somewhere to eat as it was 8:30 and we were starving. We spotted a little place on the left with a shabby wooden sign and some string lights and decided it was definitely worth checking out. After several U-turns, we finally made it to the parking lot. The Boss (aka - my other half) was excited because there were motorcycles parked out front. I was wondering if they'd have anything I could eat, but then decided I didn't care. My motto: If the only thing meat-free on the menu is the booze, fine with me. :-)

The Sunset Grille rocks. As soon as we sat down, The Boss and I looked at each other with the "we're sooooo going to become regulars" expression. It's comforting when she and I think alike. The food was good. They had stuff I could eat, though I still managed to throw back a few beers. Totally laid back atmosphere. Our bartender, Winnie, took great care of us. We stayed and listened to a few songs by The Lost Highway Band (who's web site is currently not loading so here's their profile at their production company's site). It reminded me a lot of Georgia. *sigh*

Tonight we will be delving into our redneckedness. Details will be posted tomorrow. I don't want to completely ruin the surprise, but our adventures will involve a 4-wheeler and a brand spankin' new F-150.