Conversations with Myself

I was pretty sick the other night. I’ll spare you the gory details, but I’ll say this much, the thing about being sick is that it sure makes you appreciate being healthy.  It’s almost a wake-up call of sorts.  Just in case I was taking for granted my good health, here’s a reminder of how lucky I really am.

I am also thankful that it was food that made me sick and not chemo.  Okay, it is a bit discouraging that something healthy (unclean brussel sprouts, we think) made me so sick, but at least it’s not life threatening.  At least I wasn’t battling cancer or whatnot.  I was thinking about that the other day as I was standing in the checkout line at the store.  I’m not a very patient person. I don’t like waiting.  But then I thought about all the people in the world who were right at that same moment waiting to hear back on some horrible test results…at least I wasn’t waiting for that.  Better to be waiting to buy some discounted clothes than waiting to hear how long I have left to live.

And just for the record, I was also quite thankful for having my own private bathroom versus living in a dorm or government housing and having to share one, but we won’t go into detail there.

So, see, there is something good in everything.  Every cloud does indeed have a silver lining.  Just sometimes you have to search pretty darn hard to find it!

November 12- the stormy season has begun. or should i say the windy season? either way, i know it’s the beginning because we lost power today for about 7 hours. what a pain. so we went shopping instead, though i wasn’t really in the mood for shopping. i’m not a big shopper. rob likes to wander up and down the aisles of Costco whereas i just like to get in and get out. not a good match. the only thing that saved me from utter impatience was discovering that Costco carries the magazine Digital Photographer. Oh My Gosh, i couldn’t believe it. The only other place i have ever seen this magazine is in the Juneau library, and even they stopped carrying it. probably got too expensive. $12.99. Yep. even after Costco’s 30% discount it’s $9.09. problem is, the magazine comes from England. and no, sadly, i could not bring myself to buy it. but i certainly did enjoy flipping through it!

What else? My external hard drive crashed yesterday. What a pain in the you know what! That was worse than the power going out! dang thing. Western Digital My Book Premium 500 GB. You won’t find me buying one of those again. I’ve had it for maybe 2 months, used it maybe 5 times, next thing i know it’s telling me it’s not formatted. Excuse my language, but bullsh*t. It most certainly was formatted. It most certainly did have files on it. Grrrrrr.

and people wonder why i’m so irritable. i have been a bit irritable since i returned from back east. which is contrary to what you’d expect, considering how happy i was to be back. but whatever.

China. That’s not a good subject, is it? We’ve got bad dog food, lead in toys, drugs in toys. Maybe this is a wake up call, to think twice about outsourcing, to encourage us to buy American.

that’s all for now. i’m on an anti-internet kick. plus, of course, the aforementioned irritable. (=

Please vote for Brutis in the World’s Coolest!

see the Windy City HERE

FedEx is desperate and so I am, so we decided to join forces and work together.  Okay, that’s not necessarily true.  FedEx is probably desperate but I’m not.  In fact, I’m most likely the fool for wanting to work there, since it would involve a commute on my part.  And who the heck wants to commute with these gas prices?  Me, apparently.  Nah, I’m not big on the commute, but I do think it will be an interesting experience AND a step up from being a driver-helper. 

So I went to Skagit Valley Occupational Medicine today to get a DOT physical and drug test.  To heck with kindness and compassion, those were 2 of the most humorless nurses I’ve ever met.  Joking with the drug test nurse evidently ranks right up there with joking with airport security.  In other words, not a good idea.  Mind you, I wasn’t joking about drugs or anything of the sort.  Rather, I was just trying to insert some levity into her day.  Not a good idea and I quickly learned just to shut up.  Thankfully I’m pretty good at that.  I’ve got a lot of practice. 

I thought the nurse in purple scrubs would be a bit less irritable.  After all, she didn’t have to contend with strict drug testing regulations and more importantly, she was wearing purple!  My favorite color!  No one can be cantankerous in purple, right?  Wrong!  She had the overworked and unpaid, revolving door mentality.  Get those patients in and out as fast as possible.  What was I but another eye to read the chart, an ear to whisper at, a hear to beat.    Another cog on the wheel, another leaf on the tree.  A bit disheartening and at the same time, reassuring.  Why reassuring?  You go to the doctors office and you can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed in those little paper gowns.  She has shown me that you know what?  They really don’t care about what is under those gowns.  There really is no need to be modest because they have seen it all, and you are just another warm body wanting to be dissected.  Pleasant.

I was actually spared the indignity of the paper gown.  I fear my eyes are failing me though.  I was struggling to read the eye chart.  Of course, I kept trying to read the smallest letters.  She kept telling me to read the next size larger.  Discouraging.  In the end, my left eye was 20/13, my right was 20/20 (clearly I tested my right eye second, after it was all foggy from being shut), both eyes together were 20/15.  For the hearing test we stood on opposite sides of the room, me facing the wall.  She whispered for me to raise my right hand.  I raised my left.  Whoops.  I was never very good with directionals.  Then she took my blood pressure (102/70) and thankfully left.  Yay!

Enter thy doctor like a breath of fresh air. Yay again!  What a nice guy!   The difference probably being that he is not overworked or underpaid…in fact, he only works twice a week.  As you might have guess, he was a chatty fellow, he’s gotta mow the lawn this weekend.  Big lawn, as he bought the lot next to him, ensuring that he would always have an ocean view.  Anyway, big compliment time—he asked me if I ran! Or otherwise worked out!  He said he doesn’t see many people who have the appropriate body weight for their height.  That was nice!  So, I passed.  Thank goodness for that. 

1. If you could stuff a turkey with anything, what would it be?
2. If you designed a giant balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, what would it look like?
3. You can pick anyone to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for you, who would you choose?
4. What invention are you most thankful for?
5. What’s the best part about sitting at the kids’ table?
6. If you had to eat only one kind of Thanksgiving food for an entire week, what would it be?
7. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory or tradition?
8. What’s the one thing that could make you brave day-after-Thanksgiving shopping?
9. This fall, instead of a pile of raked-up leaves, I’d like to jump into a pile of _______________.
10. A Thanksgiving food I wouldn’t want thrown at me in a food fight is _______________.
11. Next Thanksgiving, everyone should wear _______________ to the dinner table!
12. How many times can you say the word “cornucopia” in ten seconds?

Cranium is an awesome board game that makes you think (imagine that). They also have a blog from which I stole these questions. If you want to answer these questions for all the world to see and for a chance of winning a prize, visit their page in its entirety here.

what an incredibly boring flight American has to offer. Mom prefers this airline because they offer more leg room but that’s about all they seem to offer. Okay, you get a couple of beverages too. Big deal. You have to pay additional money to eat anything substantial and there is absolutely no option of in-flight entertainment. Unless you consider their free American Way magazine entertainment. I don’t. Even perusing the SkyMall catalog didn’t hold my interest. I need something more to distract me from this lousy mood. Freebie magazines and 2 glasses of orange juice just don’t cut it. This 4 hour 30 minute flight seems impossibly long. Get me back on the ground in Washington State already! I want to be home! I want to be back with Rob and the dogs. Thank goodness for the unconditional love of puppies!

Oct 27 Taking the train to Chicago, upper deck, yellow tinted windows, cloudy day, hint of blue, hint of rain. Metra trains have a weekend special- $5 pass to ride anywhere all weekend- a steal of a deal! So here I am. I’m not really sure where I’m going from here though.  Not sure what I’m in the mood for, it was hard enough getting myself this far!  Feeling lazy.  Yesterday we unloaded the Uhaul at mom’s new place.  It actually went quickly- we were done in just over 2 hours. That night they accepted an offer on their old (Walpole) house.  By Dec 14 it should be a done deal and they should both be happily settled into their new house.  Exciting!

I don’t want to generalize, but I will anyway.  Real estate agents, I trust them about as far as I can throw them. I actually had no opinion of them either way until last night.  Basically, mom’s real estate agent was encouraging mom to accept an offer that was much too low.  Its bad enough the agent readily agreed when mom suggested lowering the initial price after only 21 days (trust me when I say that compared to more of the similar houses on the market, theirs is definitely one of the nicer), but to want to accept an even lower price ($40,000 lower than the initial price) was just outrageous.  I suppose in a slow market, any money is better than no money, but I still think that’s pretty crummy.  The agent should be having the customers best interest in mind, not her own!

Okay, rant over.  Alls well that ends well.  Anyway, soon the stress of buying and selling will be completely over and they can focus on the stress of renovating their new place.

(a little later that day) Iced coffee goes down way too easy. Before you know it, your drink is gone and in 20-30 minutes, its diuretic effect is kicking in.  I treated myself to a large hazelnut iced coffee from McDonalds and before I knew it, 1/3 of it was gone. It’s pretty darn good.  Thank you McD’s of the Future (their claim, not mine) at the Navy Pier.  I’m waiting for the Buccaneer show to begin on the Family Pavilion Stage.  This is preventative medicine. I’m been walking since I got off the train, however far away that was.  I’m not too tired yet but give me a chance, I soon will be.  I have no plan for the day, which is why I probably ended up here. Since I didn’t know where I was going, when I hit the streets I unconsciously headed toward what was familiar and obvious.  First I ran into Millennium Park, which had some fabulous sculptures. Not knowing where to go from there, I headed toward the lake, which conveniently had apath bordering it.  Decision time- Field Museum or Navy Pier? Cheapness won out. Freebie Pier it is, saving the Museum for another day?  I have no plans after all and a week ahead of me!

New England Photos!!

Saturday Jen and I went to Salem to investigate our roots. What not a better place to do so than the Salem Witch Museum! Unfortunately 100’s of other witchy ancestors had the same idea and the line to get in reached several blocks. Considering how I have no patience for lines (thankfully Jen didn’t either), we decided to forgo the history lesson and just explore the rest of Salem’s Haunted Happenings instead. Lotsa people! Some in full costume, many in witches hats, everyone having a good time, including us.

Jen is a good friend. We’ve known each other since high school. Ever hear that quote ‘a true friend walks in when the rest of the world walks out’? That would be Jen, though the quote would be best adapted to say ‘a true friend stands by you when when the rest of the world is giving you crap.’ That would be the high school version and that would be Jen. Unfortunately after high school we lost touch for many many years, but the high school reunion brought us back together. Seeing her again felt like picking up right where we left off. She is still the awesome individual that I remember and it really touched my heart when she drove out to see me Tuesday night before I left. I don’t think we’ll be losing touch again- not if I can help it anyway! Who knows, maybe she feels completely different.

I do regret not visiting my friend Paula who lives in Worcester. What was I thinking?? I let the traffic stress me out. Traffic, even in the greater Boston suburbs, was too much like city driving. People waiting until the last minute to brake, getting right on my tail, and basically there being just too many cars on the road! Mom was really nice in letting me borrow her car, but it also caused a bit of increased anxiety because the last thing I wanted to do was mar her car! Initially I was supposed to rent a car and actually had 4 separate reservations that I eventually canceled one by one. As mom would say, ‘oh well!’

We left Wed morning. Dave in the Uhaul, mom and I following in her CRV. Overall I would say the drive went quite well. The first 4 hours were a bit tedious as I was stuck in the passenger seat. After our second gas stop though I kicked mom out, took control of the vehicle, plugged in the ipod and turned up my music loud! At that point it was a much enjoyable smooth drive! Driving, driving, driving…I do enjoy driving. We did encounter a hellish traffic jam outside of Chicago but I’m not going to let that little hiccup destroy my experience (though it did help that mom was driving then- I let her drive home the last hour- which worked well for me!).

I have been slacking about writing.  I’ve been so busy doing stuff- there is so much to see and do before I leave!- that I’ve been spending my time doing it rather than writing about it. I will take a mere moment now though to update you on my activities.

First of all, I was definitely right when I thought I was overextending myself on that day I had Concord, Lowell, Seabrook, Leominster, and Worcester planned.  Nevermind splitting the day up into 2 days…..It’s been 2 days and I’m still working on it all!  There is so much to see that everything takes longer than I imagined.  One day I started at Walden Pond (beautiful in autumn), then I shot up to Seabrook, figuring I should get to the Science Center before it closed.  The colors along the coast of New Hampshire were amazing, so I ended up spending much longer there than I imagined.  There goes day 1.

Day 2 I decided to concentrate on the rest.  Headed up to Concord and again, got lost in the history and the beauty of the place.  The White Hen Pantry (when you run out, run out to White Hen….) and even the Five and Ten remain the same, but my old elementary school, Thoreau Elementary, has been tore down and rebuilt as a brick structure!!!   Shocking!!  (just a side note, Tom Tom One GPS is very wrong when it comes to indicating the center of West Concord).  After this surprise, I headed up to the town of Concord proper to play tourist.  In my wanderings, I ran across the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  It’s less than a mile from downtown Concord yet I don’t think I’ve ever been there before….which is even more surprising when you realize that my favorite author- Henry David Thoreau- is buried there!  After roaming around the cemetery, admiring the old gravestones and the colorful trees, I hopped back in my car to visit the Old North Bridge…

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”

Thank you Ralph Waldo Emerson (who is also buried at Sleepy Hollow) for those words.

After my dose of Revoltionary War history, I headed up to Lowell for a different kind of history- a hint of the Industrial Revolution. I absolutely love the old mills.   Okay, I doubt would have loved working there in that era, but to see them today, I think they are gorgeous.  Proud sturdy old buildings.  I visited the Lowell National Historical Park including the Boott Mill.  I don’t think I’ve ever been in the Boott Mill portion of the park before, and I’m so glad I made it this time.  The Boott Mill is one of the oldest restored mills, and the bottom floor of the museum includes working looms.  Working!  Running, noisy and dusty, weaving textiles just as they did many years before.  It was just incredible.  To stand there amidst the heat and the dust and the noise, I could imagine being there 100 years before, working ricidulously long hours for little pay, losing my hearing, being tired and cranky.  Hmmmmm, what was 100 years ago for us is still occuring in 3rd world countries.  Now there is something to think about.

Okay, I didn’t really think about that until just now.  I was being too impressed and in awe of the machines.  Again, so much to see and before I knew it, it was 4:30 and time to head back to Walpole.  What happened to Leominster and Worcester??  When will I get a chance to go there??

I also wanted to mention that last weekend at this time I went to Battleship Cove in Fall River MA.  Battleship Cove is home to the battleship USS Massachusetts, the destroyer USS Joseph P Kennedy Jr, and the submarine USS Lionfish, among other helicopters and boats.  Each of these boats is open to the public to walk through, climbing up stairs and through hatches. Heck, groups can even sleep on board (as Rob did when he was a young boy scout)!  It is also a fascinating place and I easily explored each vessel for several hours.  Well worth the $12 entry fee!!!

Today I am heading to Salem with my old high school friend Jen.  The Salem Witch Museum to be exact.  Doesn’t that sound like the perfect place to go in October?!