Name That Ass

Since I wrote about the weekend here and Noland wrote about it here...for this post we're simply going to play a little game:

Ready...

Set...

Name That Ass!

Favorite Day of the Year

My mom sent me one of those "get to know your friends" internet chain mail items that we were all sick of by about 2001, but it's mom - and she's not to handy on the internet (unlike dad who's probably reading this!) - so I filled it out and sent it back to her, my sister in law and my aunts who were all on her original list.

One of the questions on the survey was "what is your favorite day of the year?" I don't really have a favorite day - so I answered that January 4 - my birthday - was.

But I was totally wrong. The best day of the year is today - May 24th - the day that my, maybe not perfect - but perfect for me, husband was born. Without the events of this day 37 years ago my life would be incomplete.

Happy Birthday Babe - I Love You!

First Concert Follow-Up

So - I blogged on Portland Metblogs yesterday about a guy that I worked with who has never been to a concert.

It was still freaking me out today when I went to work, so we were talking about - and it turns out he's not mid-30s like I thought - but only 28. Married and has 3 kids - and I the oldest one is 8 or 9. One drink after work on a Friday is a crazy night out. Wow - see when I meet people like that - it's what helps me from ever feeling old.

A co-worker's husband was turning 29 last week and she mentioned that he said it was his last good birthday because after that he would be old. When I lived in Des Moines, my good friend Laurie turned 30 she was freaking out a bit - she is several years older than me, so when I told her I didn't get it - she told me to just wait. When I turned 30 - I definitely didn't feel old (and those of you who helped me celebrate that night can certainly attest to that!) And I still don't.

I feel very young for my age in fact. When my mother was my age - Steve was 12, I was 9 and James was 7. I was old enough to remember her - both my parents at this age - and I am much younger than they were. My sister-in-law is only a year older than me and she has a 15 and 13 year old. And not that the kids make you old - but for some people it does - I do have other friends with kids (yo Crafties!) who still go out, who still know how to have non-PTA fun - but not these folks. And all of that has worked for them - but it definitely does keep me feeling young.

Until today.

We were at work discussing a call to out office in London - the same co-worker who started the 'first concert' discussion started singing 'London Calling' - I laughed and said I always think of that too - the other two guys gave us blank stares. I looked and them and said 'you know - The Clash?' More blank stares. Followed up with - 'Was that a band or something?'

After threatening them with bodily harm - one guy then called another in our office and asked him - "have you ever heard of 'The Clash'?"
Nope.

Two of these 3 were the ones who earlier in the year had commented that they weren't yet born when Micheal Jackson's Thriller came out.

The kids with the kids keep me feeling young - but when they don't even know the music - that makes me feel old.

And Noland Wonders Why I Don't Think Doctors Can Really Help...

I don't go to the doctor often. In fact I don't understand the whole hypochondriac thing - 'cause I'm the total opposite. Noland has to practically force me to go even when I am sick. So it frustrates me that the few times I do go - nothing ever works the way it's supposed to.

I take two really basic and simple prescriptions - nothing unusual, nothing narcotic that I could get any money for on the streets, nothing that has any severe or dangerous side effects - and I've been taking both for years now without any changes.

So because of Noland being laid off and me recently changing jobs - we had to switch or insurance provider as well - we never lapsed in coverage - but it's a different plan and the doctor we used to go to isn't in the preferred list of the new plan. She was also located out in Beaverton since that was where we both worked - but since neither of us do anymore - that's not very convenient either.

Of course the timing worked out so that both of my prescriptions expired - as in the 12 months of referrals are up - this month. So you have to get approval from the doctor to get a refill. I know this - so I refill a week in advance so there is time for the processing - I submit my refill to Walgreens - then I call the doc's office immediately after so that I can explain to them that I will not be able to come in for an exam prior to getting a refill - that I have to switch doctors due to insurance - but can they authorize one more refill so that I have time to make an appointment with the new doc? I was pro-active. I gave them full information. I did it a week early - they have signs all over their office saying they need at least 5 days. So on Thursday of last week, they leave a message - on Noland's phone (which is another issue I have with them - I have told them to call ME every time I've gone in or done anything - they always call him) saying I need to make an appointment to come in. I look online and see that according to Walgreens my prescription has been filled - so I assume that the doc was following up about the appointment since they did refill it - that's what they always do when they refill without seeing you. But I didn't try to pick them up until the weekend - and of course - they're not there.

But to add to the confusion - Noland again gets a call from a different Walgreens saying that they have my prescription. Again we're not sure why they called Noland's phone - he's never even used Walgreens. So I call Walgreens - they say they have nothing - but have faxed the doctor a request twice. I call the doc again this morning - explaining the situation again - and ask them to call ME - giving them my phone number again.

Noland calls me shortly after that saying that the doc called him and they've sent my prescription over. I call Walgreens - nope. Nothing. I ask them to check the other location. They say there's nothing. I call the doc - they say they've sent it over. To the wrong one. But of course the one they've sent isn't the one that I've been out of since last Friday now - it's the one I'm still good on through this Sat.

So MAYBE they'll get it refilled in the next 70 minutes so that I can pick it up tonight. Otherwise MAYBE they can get it done tomorrow - by which point I'll be - oh let's see - Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues of not taking it - nice medical practice. They tell you not to just stop taking your medication - yet despite all my best efforts they have forced me to stop taking it for at least 4 days now - maybe longer.

I never had these kinds of issues with the person I went to before - so although I kinda liked the doc out there - but I think I'm glad I'm switching to another office.

Maybe they won't be as retarded.

I Still Love Portland, But They Could Never Pull Off SXSW

Portland is an impressive music town - we have some great live music venues - everybody knows somebody in a band, we get lots of good touring acts - both big and small - but after spending the weekend in Austin they absolutely have us beat.

Now I get that during SXSW of course it's going to look like a lot more - 1200+ bands in one city for a weekend wold do that anywhere, but a group of us had a long discussion on why SXSW works so well there - and why NXNW flopped so badly and turned into the very sad NW Musicfest. And some of those reasons are reasons that we love about Portland - so it's not necessarily a bad thing - just different.

First off - they shut down several major streets through downtown for several days - I guess it would be close to the equivalent of shutting down Hawthorne, Belmont and the side streets in between from about 30th to 39th. For 4 days straight. I just can't see that happening here.

Secondly - on those streets - nearly every business is a bar or restaurant - now there were a few retail shops scattered in between - but not many. Hawthorne/Belmont is the closest, but Portland just doesn't have an area that has that high of a concentration of that type of business. And that's ok - I love that we have all of neighborhoods that have their own scattered bars, eateries, shops, etc. - that we don't have the one strip where EVERYONE goes on a Friday night. But for something like SXSW - it makes it very convenient. More than 50 different venues in about 10 blocks of space made it easy to hop from one show to the next and see a huge variety and number of bands. Now compare that to having to get across town from the Tonic to Dantes or Ash Street and then down to the Crystal...

And finally - in those bars and restaurants - they were super flexible with their space.
- A cajun restaurant that I don't think normally has any kind of music - had tables pushed aside and a temporary stage set up - where we got to hear Jello Biafra lead the crowd in chants of "F*ck George Bush!" and talk in his funny little voice about why we need a real liberal - not just Hilary 'I support censorship' Clinton - before launching into some great rock at the Alternative Tentacles showcase.
- a tiny parking lot off an alley behind a bar was turned into a second outdoor stage for that bar where we saw....um....someone with a Hawaiian lead singer/guitar that Mike knew.... who were simply amazing.
- The patio of another restaurant/bar was converted into a second outdoor stage so that the Woggles could play inside while the Cynics played outside at the 'Get Hip' stage. Many places did this - any patio space, parking lots, alleyways, divided rooms - they all became second stages. No matter where you were, you heard music coming from somewhere - but it never overwhelmed the band that you were actually watching.

So thanks Austin - and especially all the bartenders, doormen, waitstaff, cabbies, foodcart vendors - who'd been working their asses off for a week - and still moved fast, lines for drinks or food were never very long - were friendly and seemed to be really having fun with it all. Portland is still very proud of it's music scene - but you guys are impressive!

Herman - Meet Gresham Troglodyte

Thank You. Mr-God-damn-mother-fucking-shit-ass-Gresham-hick-troglodyte-son-of-a-bitch who doesn't know how to back a piece of shit SUV out of practically empty parking lot with really wide aisles without running into my less than one month-old under 700 miles brand new car.

Asshat.

Goodbye Felix....Hello Herman!

Random Ramblings After a Long Absence

So between the new job and me being really lazy – I've been rather lack in posting here – although I will say that I have been active on Metblogs – so just read me there if you're sick of seeing nothing here!

I am really loving the new job – I'm doing what I did before – but I there is actually some rhyme and reason to what I'm doing now and I have a lot more personal responsibility to do what I think needs to be done. And of course I LOVE being downtown…
- my commute has been shortened from 45-60 minutes to about 15-20
- can walk from my office to get a soda, coffee, lunch, mail something, buy something, etc.
- have numerous options for food that don't include McDonalds, Taco Bell, Red Robin and the like
- can actually read The Mercury or Willamette Week hard copy if I want to
- don't ever have to go to Beaverton for any reason anymore (except occasionally to visit a friend and drink tequila!) That is the best reason ever – in the 3 months since Centric closed – I have been to Beaverton a total of 3 times. A birthday party for Toni, a Christmas gathering at Cole's, and one time when Noland and I were out meandering around on a Sat – ended up down in Tualatin and then remembered he had a prescription to pick up at the Target by his work – so we headed out to get it.

I am trying to decide if I'm going to do the OMTAAMB again this year – and the fact that I'd have to go out there weekly for practice is one small reason that I may not. Most of last year I was very cranky about being part of it – the routines that Tom creates are either incredibly dull because he recycles everything from year to year so that the slow people don't have to learn anything new – or he tries to be super complex as if we were on field for a DCI show – but those types of flowing off count moves don't translate well onto the street and we just end up looking bad. He is just not a good choreographer - and he is a very poor instructor – he never has anything written down by counts, doesn't demonstrate well, or understand the concept of teach a little move on, teach a little move on – then all together….it makes it very frustrating. And the field show – that is the worst thing ever – because again – he tries to do it as if we were a DCI group – we need to do things in counts of 4 and always hit yard markets or halfway between, no flowing lines, arches or off beats – we don't have the time (or in many people the ability) to do more than that. So again – it ends up looking terrible and everyone yelling at one another. Fun pastime eh?

So I don't know – I may just have to pass this year…..we'll see….

It's been quite a month!

First Noland had an accident on the highway - he slid on the highway going into work one morning when it was a little icy - he bounced off the cement barriers between the east and west bound lanes and slid all the way across 4 lanes of traffic to the shoulder where he was able to come to a stop. It happened at about 7:45 am on a pretty busy section of road - but somehow no one else managed to hit him or get hit by him and he was ok - luckily insurance covers most of the bill so while it still sucks to pay at all .

That happened about mid-November - 'cause we took the rental car back before Thanksgiving so that we didn't have to pay for a 4 day weekend where he didn't need it and we could just drive my car everywhere.

Of course then a week later - Monday Dec. 4 I'm driving home from work and my radio starts betting all staticy, then it seems like my lights are dimming - it reminds me exactly of what my old car Gus did on a highway late at night in Iowa in the middle of snow onc - when I ended up needing a new alternator - then my car died in the middle of an intersection - luckily some nice people (who were also stuck behind me until I moved:-) helped me push it into the parking lot of a church that was there on the corner - and luckily this happened after I had finished the highway portion of my commute, was back on my side of the river and not too terribly far from home. We tried replacing just the battery - and that worked for a few days - but then it died again - so we had to replace the alternator - Noland and Spencer did it - but it will took a few days for the right parts to gt ordered from the Auto Parts store - so I was carless for a few days. And we only "hope" this will fix the problem!

All this time though I'm freaking out about having to pay bills - 'cause we've speculated for a few months that my company might not be lasting much longer - but since Thanksgiving or so - it's really seemed that may be the case, and this week that my car is dying is also the week of our final show - it was almost for sure due to all the clues coming from our GM and President. So sure enough Friday morning the 8th they call us into a meeting about 10 am after the last person in the offices shows up (we are only 12 people at this point) and tells us that effective immediately we are no longer in business. They paid us or one additional week and we would be "on call" in case they needed anything from us to help close the office down and gave us 2 weeks severance pay plus any PTO we had left but we were to pack our stuff and leave right then and there.

So needless to say we all headed straight to our favorite after work bar - where the bartender asked "how did you guys all get off work so early today?" and drank there for a few hours before heading to Toni and Warren's place - who live near there - and continued drinking until we had done so for about 12 hours - 10:30am - 10:30pm!

Oh yeah - to top it all off the following week someone stole Noland's stereo (although I must say I was pissed at him at the time - how many times do I have to tell him that he doesn't love in the country anymore and our neighborhood, while not the total hood - it not the best either and he needs to lock the car?! My car was locked and my stereo wasn't stolen, so I don't think they would have broken the window - they would have just passed right on by had it not been unlocked.) But now I know I was just being cranky :-)

But - then after all that on the bright side....a girl that used to work at our company called me after she heard we were closed and that they might have a position....so I went in on my birthday for an interview and they called with an offer the next day! It sounds like a great job and a great company, it's an increase in salary - and the best part is that I don't have to drive to the suburbs anymore - it's actually downtown! I was going to start today- but they called yesterday and pushed it back a week because they need to get some stuff in order first - so basically I ended up with a 6 week Christmas vacation!

I do still need a new car - the new alternator helped, but I just failed DEQ so without sinking more money into repairs I can't renew my tags - so I get to go car shopping (YEAH! - a good thing now that I have a job again!)

Really - everyone that reads this knows all this - but I haven't blogged here in so long I felt I need to actually give some news.

Next time - back to the fantasy!

24 - starring ME!

As always - it's tough to distinguish who is REALLY on your side and who is double-crossing you, because you are in fact also double-crossing them and maybe double-crossing those that are double-crossing them with you....got it?
Whew!

Well Jack needed to go in and do the serious dirty work - so he had me leave the room - he didn't want me to have to see what he was going to do - and I also think that he secretly thought I might break and they'd know we weren't really who we said we were.

So I'm standing in the hallway guarding the door when the maid comes to clean the room. I let her know that we are still using the room and that she can come back later - but apparently the maid was also not who she seemed, as she suddenly yells something about vengeance for her people and that she's got a bomb.

She sets the explosive and takes off back down the hall. I run into the room and alert Jack that we've got trouble. He says that if it's just a flash bomb we're fine - I let him know that it's way more serious than that - and that the windows are the only way out. Unfortunaltey we're way up on the top floor. Jack takes a few runs at the window until the glass is shattered - then he tells me that we have to jump. And with that he's out the window. I stand on the sill and watch him fall to the ground - it seems so easy - he lands on his butt, lays still for a moment then jumps up and is fine. I can do that. Sure - I know I can. But my feet are not leaving the ground - and we only have a few second more until the explosion goes off. Jack looks up and sees my hesitance - he calls to crowd that has now gathered below - tells them that it's my first big jump and that they need to give me some encouragement. I hear the calls coming from below:

"JENN! JENN! JENN! JENN!"

I jump. I am flying. I am falling to the ground. But once I go it's not that far. The ground approaches and I put my body in the landing position. I hit the ground hard - and man does it hurt - but I'm fine. But as is always the case when Jack's around - we're not out of the woods yet. The building is about to explode and when it falls it's going to collapse right where we're at - we must roll down this hill into the lake below......

And cut.

Wow - that jump was really scary - but at least it was only off the hotel set - which was really about 3 stories high - they'd go back and do their TV magic to make it become a 30 story building.

Not bad for my first day.

Enough already!

I HATE being sick.

To admit you are sick is to admit you are weak.

And I am not weak.

Ok – I realize how ridiculous that is, but it’s the way I was raised. I can’t ever remember going to the doctor because I was sick. Head split open and needing stitches – yes. Coughing and fever – no. And the only time we ever got to stay home from school was if we were throwing up. I’m sure part of it was that we didn’t have very good insurance and couldn’t really afford to, but I also think my mom just felt that going to the doctor was unnecessary. I know I’ve heard her make more than one comment as an adult about somebody who takes their kids “all the time” and she thinks that’s ridiculous. So it’s in my blood. If you’re not dying – you just tough it out.

So I have been fighting some nastiness for – well – almost a month now. Never really sick – not enough to miss work, and it’s only kept me from a few social engagements – but just enough to keep me from sleeping well and being rested enough to heal completely. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago (at the insistence of my wonderful husband – and as the doctor noted as well – I’m lucky to have someone who cares about me enough to insist!!) and also said that I indeed have bronchitis. He gave me a plethora of drugs, including some Vicodin for the painful sinus headaches it was giving me – which was the worst part of the entire sickness. However the actual bronchitis is still lingering and it’s DRIVING ME CRAZY!

I’m taking major quantities of drugs now (which I hate to do) but by God I am going to get rid of this if it kills me.

Less than nothing

Really people - there is a light (let me repeat that....LIGHT) dusting of snow outside. Or there was at 7am - it's all gone now. But even when there was that LIGHT dusting that is no reason for you you to drive so slowly. Susan drove better in REAL snow the first time she ever did it and she grew up in the desert! (Hi SSSS!)

And no - I don't believe you when you say "it was worse at my house", "well - I live on a hill", "it's not the snow, it's the ice."

And I don't care of you're from California, Texas or the deepest ugliest southlands - it's still not enough of anything to get excited about. So STFU already! I'm tired of hearing you tell every person you talk to about the crazy weather we've got going on here. And unless they're from the south - they're probably laughing at you too.

If Fish Could Walk

So I had a crazy dream that I was visiting my friend Jennie in some strange land, and she had these crazy pets. There was this whole tank of fish - really big ones like dolphin sized - but then when I looked into the tank there wasn't any water in it - they could walk on land....she seemed very surprised that we thought that was odd....

I send Jennie a little note telling her about said dream – and what does she send back to me, but this story she’d seen the day before.

Weird.

Oh sweet sweet day

GOP Says Rumsfeld Stepping Down
By Associated Press

13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Republican officials say Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down. Word comes a day after the Democratic gains in the election, in which Rumsfeld was a focus of much of the criticism of the Iraq war.

Awesome!

Who woulda thunk?

That New Jersey would be more progressive than Oregon?

"the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to receive the same state benefits, protections and obligations as opposite-sex married couples. The court ruled that the Legislature must either amend its marriage law to include same-sex couples or provide these benefits, protections and obligations by some other means such as civil unions."

Of course they didn't have Karen Minnis...and hopefully after November 7th we won't either!

Point and Laugh or Cuddle and Cry?

I'm sure that Noland, no....I KNOW that Noland is inclined towards the first. But me - I was torn...I pointed (the camera) and laughed..but then she was so pathetic and sad I just had to cuddle and pet her.

She got a gash - almost a puncture - just above her back leg. We don't know if it was from one of Begbie's teeth when then were wrestling around at some point - or if on one of her mad dashes through the bushes to chase down the red ball she got caught on a low branch, but it was a pretty good wound. So we took her to the vet to have it checked out - and to make sure it didn't get infected, they gave us a topical antibiotic to put on it. And so she doesn't lick that off....the retarded dog collar.

It really is hysterical. She tries to run between the patio furniture and gets stuck. She wants to still play ball - but she can't pick it up. She turned over her water and food bowls trying to get at them.... she would just run up and run into things and stop - stand there and stare. Totally baffeled.

Luckily she didn't have to wear it long, and the wound is healing nicely, but man....that was one pathetic looking little pit bull.

Nightmares

It was mine. Or at least I would assume so – I was carrying it around with me in one of those portable-carrying thingys. I was trying to get some work down while waiting in the terminal – so I found a corner with a bench and small table and not many other people nearby and pulled out the laptop and started working. They announced my flight so I packed up my laptop, grabbed my book and a bottle of water and headed off. I was already sitting on the plane when I remembered I’d forgotten something. I jumped up and ran back to go get it – hoping no one had taken it – that would really suck. But it was still there. There was someone watching it – I knew her actually and she told me that she’d wondered when I was coming back – that I really shouldn’t leave it like that. It started to make noise so I picked it up but then it looked like it was going to explode – and I was wearing a cute top I didn't want to get messy – so I turned it upside down and hung it off the edge of the bench – where it did proceed to make a giant mess everywhere. Some employee came by and told me that wasn’t the way I was supposed to do it and now he was going to have to clean up the mess. Whatever – I just blew him off – that’s his job. So I wrapped it back up and put it back in it’s carrying case and headed off.

And I thought dreaming about spiders or being attacked was bad!

It's Not a Sign of Maturity - I SWEAR!

I am not a morning person.
People say you grown out of it - but at 35 I can still sleep until noon on a Saturday if I don't have anything else to do.

I actually laughed out loud at a propsecptive employer during an interview when they told me the hours were 6am - 3pm. (I still got the job, they consented that it wasn't really neccessary for me to come in THAT early.)

I am not an athletic person.
I first realized this when I threw up after running a mile in PE class in elementary school.
Or maybe it was when I say down in the outfield to draw in the dirt while playing T-ball.
Sure - I danced from age 9 to 18 - but that was always just 'fun.' And I've had stints of gym membership, aerobics classes, etc. off and on for the past 15 years in three different states. But only one time ever in all of that did it really feel good, work out well with my schedule, and I was really motivated to do it - and then they changed the time of the class and it didn't work for me anymore.


So the past two days - I have gotten up BEFORE work and gone to the gym. And I think I really like it. Other then a few technical difficulties because I wasn't used to having to get ready for work from the gym and I wasn't fully prepared the first day - it works GREAT in my schedule. I don't have to get up that much earlier then normal. I get home almost the same time as I did before. And because I do have to get ready for work - it doesn't leave me with that "now it's time to just go sit on the couch" feeling that I always had after coming home from the gym when going after work.

Weird. Very very weird.

Fun with Diversity

So this weekend marks the beginning of Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah and the Autumnal Equinox. What do you think would happen if you threw a big Muslim, Jewish, Wiccan party?