Happy New Year
So it's the end of the year. Did I learn anything this year? Is my life better than it was at this point last year? No.
I did get a few things accomplished. I managed to travel to Poland this year which was nice. Maybe I'll go back in a year or two. I also finally got to Glacier National Park which was one more thing to check off my list of things to do. Travel is about the only interesting thing in my life that changes apparently.
Oh, I also repainted my deck. That was fun.
I've got nothing.
Happy New Year!
'Tis the Season to be Merry
I got stuff for Christmas. This included cash, check and giftcard from relatives who apparently have no creativity at all. Although my grandma gets a pass because she can't go out and get anything for me. She also doesn't own a computer and wouldn't know how to work it anyway (the Parkinson's would make it hard to type too). I don't want to complain about getting cash though.
I also got a present from my grandfather who has been dead for over 25 years. He at least put some thought into the gift and gave me a really nifty ashtray celebrating the '65 Twins AL Championship. It's always nice when dead relatives remember you at Christmas.
George got me a baseball signed by the '87 Twins - Fake signatures all.
My parents got me some clothes and a unique painting that you'd have to see to understand. My dad was right in saying that no one in the world got what I received. And no one ever will.
I also got a very dirty kitchen that I have spent several hours cleaning and still haven't finished. Once I got past the initial urge to clean, I didn't really have any motivation to finish. In all reality, it's just the roaster left, but I took the little filter things off the faucet to soak them in vinegar so I can't use the faucet until I put them back.
Oh and my dad fixed my water softener and rearranged the furniture in my basement after removing the stupid arcade. I have space down there again.
Merry Christmas!
Your presents are better than mine
Last night, my brother and I were Christmas shopping via mobile phone. He was at the Mall of America and I was at home and then at Home Depot. He found what I told him my dad wanted at Sears, then I went to Home Depot to see if it was in stock. It was not. So my brother went back to Sears to get the one he had hidden there. I then bought my brother's Christmas gift to my dad at Home Depot.
Twenty minutes later, A called back and asked if we could jointly give the gifts.
"Okay, but you already have a gift," I told him.
He replied, "Yeah, but yours is better."
In other news, I've decided I want to participate in an escapade. I'll have to ponder on what I think it should entail. And if it would indeed qualify as an escapade.
Is it time to go home yet? Too bad, I'm leaving anyway.
I never get headaches which is generally a good thing. So last night when I woke up at three AM with a blinding, screaming headache, it was not good. And the extreme nausea that went with it was also not good. I spent 20 minutes curled in a ball trying not to move (so as not to throw up) or whimper waiting for the damn pain killer to take effect. Also, the five minutes I spent looking for the aspirin were also not fun.
In non-health news, I would like to take on a stand on the serial comma. I overuse commas in general - Mainly because I like run on sentences with lots of conjunctions. However, I have been fighting the use of serial commas since I was in first grade and had a teacher try to force it on me. I refuse to use a comma before "and" in a list. I despise their use. A comma in a list is signifying "and" so to put a comma before the and makes the sentence read "and and". That's just wrong. Thankfully, a few years ago someone decided it was optional again. I was happy. And I remain that way.
Christmas Music
You know what I hate? I HATE Mannheim Steamroller. It ruined Christmas music, but somehow it still managed to sell over 20 million albums. It's like bad 80's electric/digital pop. Why, why, why would someone decide to ruin perfectly good tunes by digitizing them on a synthesizer?
Speaking of ruining Christmas music, I'd like to take the opportunity to once again blast Normandale Lutheran Church for singing O Little Town of Bethlehem with a cheerful little upbeat melody. The song should be mysterious and reverent, not freaking perky. I will continue my campaign to not attend your Christmas services until you cease and desist playing it perkily. And don't think I don't know about the other people who have complained either.
The Wonders You Can See on TV
Last night I was flipping channels (I'm a huge fan of the ones between 275 and 290) and I came across a show called Fat Fiancees. It was a great show about a couple in Uganda, the storyline of which I will now share with you.
A 20 year old named Moses decides he wants Sheila. His mother goes and offers Sheila's family 10 fine cows for Sheila. The parents discuss and ultimately the father says, "Give him the girl. It's the cattle that matter."
As soon as Sheila's dad picks his cows and gets them to his home, Sheila is sent to the "fattening hut". There she must drink many gallons of fresh whole milk daily for the next four months. Her grandmother is there to encourage her. "Drink or I will beat you." Sheila eats, drinks and sleeps all day every day until the wedding.
Four months later and Sheila has gained 40 pounds. Moses comes to get her so they can go to the priest and learn about the birds and the bees. Neither of them knows anything about what goes where on the wedding night. I'm sure the priest enjoys this task immensely.
Post-wedding, Sheila undergoes another 3 fun-filled months of fattening.
The next show was called Runaway Grooms and tracked men in India who had married and run away with the brides' dowries to America. I went to bed rather than watch it, but I'm sure it would have been just as much fun as the fattening hut.
Stalking is fun
E being quite the stalker, while desperately trying to distract myself from work, I started to look up an old friend. And by old, I mean I haven't had any communication with her in over eight years. I found her work e-mail address.
I'm pretty sure it's her because how many people do you know with the middle name of MacGregor who also spell their first name in an unusual way and work in a profession very similar to the one they were planning on eight years ago? Also, those pay-us-$30-and-we'll-find-someone-for-you people have a listing for someone her age living in her hometown in Illinois and in Tennessee which is near her suspected place of employment.
Anyway, my question is should I contact her? And how should I go about it? I can use my recent visit to Poland as a reason for thinking of her, but what the hell should I say? Really, I was bored and never expected to find her but now that I have, I feel like I should do something with the information.
Food for Thought
K asked me last night how the sun fits into the ocean. Anyone? Anyone?
After sitting in the church cafe last night trying to read a book. I have decided that just like smoking sections, restaurants and cafes and things of that nature should have mobile phone free sections. Thus it shall be in the World of "E".
Two Things
Christmas trees smell good. It was totally worth it to listen to my dad's little speech about how he's going to die, so I need to get a boyfriend to help me set up the tree. Actually, just analyzing the various trains of logic in his comment amused the hell out of me. Anyway, there is nothing better than walking into my house to the delightful smell of pine.
Viva Las Vegas! Hot cowboys in Sin City. Yum yum. It's almost worth the aggravation of coming back to work.
Oops
I'd like to thank my insurance company for sending me a not-bill on Friday. This was a nice reminder that I forgot to mail my mortgage payment this month. Oops. Of course, I have until the 15th to get it to them, but I'm not one to screw around with my credit. I usually mail it around the 22nd of the month. So Friday night, I drove over to the post office to mail my mortgage payment.
I also made a brief stop at City Hall to pay my utilities. Why waste $.37 on a stamp when you can drop it off for free? And really, what else would you expect from the cheapest person on the planet?
Beyond that trip to the post office, I didn't leave my house this weekend. I needed to rest up for the upcoming week. Also, not spend money.
Enjoy your week. God knows I will.
Bright lights city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire...
Today, dear readers, I am going to update you on all of the fun that is the Nimrod Bar. I know you've been anxious to know what's been happening since the ownership was transferred to the Clearwater folks. We'll just skip over the whole controversy regarding the sale and the threats to the mayor and town council.
Anyway, the new owner took over at midnight a few weeks ago. Ten minutes later, the entire Meech family was involved in an all out brawl with each other. I'm sure it was interesting. The next night, a ten person brawl ensued (this time the combatants weren't related). I heard that it was one of those fights that would be a blast to watch including one woman (who had been in the previous night's scrap) jumping on a guy's back, beating him about the head, trying to gouge his eyes, and scratching.
A week later, the new owners fired one of the bartenders. They claimed he was pocketing some money. Most everyone agrees with that assessment. However, the next day, the bartender's father came into the bar for coffee waving a video tape around and claiming that it was proof of the
real reason his son was fired. Apparently, the son caught the owner's wife in flagrante delicto with some guy on the pool table. The bartender claimed he was going to post said video on the internet for the whole world to see. No word yet on the link to this fun film.
