Seeds for the Future
So this weekend because it was long and I didn't have decent water, I decided to head to Wal*Mart to pick up some flowers and seeds for my garden. On the way home I was caught in a speed trap at the top of one of the Sisters.
First of all, I was pissed because the guy pulled me over for going 82 in a 75. But mostly I was mad because he was right at the top of the mountain. A mountain that requires pedal to the floor to have the power to get over it. When you reach the top, you naturally have a lot of built up energy and can't just slow immediately. I did not get a ticket. The cop also tried to accuse me of having a second ID. Obviously, they were simply pulling people over for any little infraction so that they could find something bigger.
This also appeared to be the same officer who had an article written about him in the local paper. He claimed that driving faster isn't going to make much difference. That's an argument you could make living in the city for people driving 50 miles. When you drive across this state (as many people frequently do) it saves a noticeable amount of time. In fact, I calculated time saved on my trip to Denver. One and a half hours saved by driving just a few small miles over the speed limit. This is a crap argument and everyone in this state knows it.
Crash Course in Decontamining Water
So it turns out the water tests have to come out clean for three consecutive days - which means Monday is the earliest that the mandatory boil order will be canceled. No one seemed to know how the tests came out yesterday.
As for how you boil for decontamination, you must boil for 3-5 minutes and then let it cool completely before it is okay for use. Sadly, that means that technically one cannot simply boil the water for a while and then add the ingredients to boil.
I also have a bad feeling about the Joint Powers Board being able to keep the plant from flooding again. Which means I expect not to have water once the weather heats up again and the runoff begins again in earnest.
Water, Water Everywhere
So it snowed some more last night and then it rained/snowed all day. I turned the heat back on while I was home at lunch. It's May 22 - Enough with the measurable snow already.
Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to boil the water you want to use for cooking, cleaning, brushing your teeth? I'm supposed to make a salad for a potluck tomorrow and had to boil the damn water before I could boil it again to make pasta. How ridiculous is that? Then I boiled a giant pot so that I could wash the lettuce and the pear.
I drove to Taco Bell for dinner tonight because I can't wash the stupid dishes and I've pretty much used up all my pots and pans this week. Please, please, please let the water tests come out clean tomorrow.
Cool, Clear Water
Yeah, so the runoff? She has begun. And as such there is water everywhere except in the homes of the entire Bridger Valley. Now most offices would close in the event of no water. My office calls down the street and orders up a bunch of Biffys. Nice.
The water is relatively infrequent in that sometimes I'll have just enough to take a drip shower, but it's dirty and it smells. And sometimes there is no water at all.
I have filled every possible water container in my house so that I will be able to flush the toilet for the next few days. And there are trucks with potable water for any and all who want it. Gracie is drinking bottled water.
Water for drinking or cooking must be boiled until further notice and I'm not supposed to wash my dishes with it either. And since the runoff is going to get ever larger due to the vast amounts of snow, I expect I'll be without decent water for the next week or two.
Oh and it's been snowing all day and this is supposed to continue all through the weekend until Tuesday. Life has gone to hell in a handbasket.
10 Things I Learned This Weekend
After 40 hours and 879.6 miles, I learned a few things...
10. Brad Hawpe sucks. His walk up music is Rockstar. My scorecard says "Rockstar? Really?"
9. Never trust beer men. This time the liquor store barely had enough Strongbow to make me a case. I didn't have time to hit another liquor store and blue laws make it impossible to buy anything on Sunday.
8. Air conditioning in cars is underappreciated.It did not occur to me that the car I was driving may not have air conditioning. Where I live that's not such a problem. In Denver, it's not very comfortable.
7. I hate the train in Denver too.Although I did get to ride on the "E" Line, the park and ride was not so much park and all figure out how to walk to the station because I'm going to tow your ass if you try to park here. On a positive note, I felt free to drink.
6. In order to avoid staring into a bright sunset and/or to sit in the shade, one should sit on the third baseline at Coors Field.I'm all for sun, but for someone who's barely seen 60 in the last few weeks. Direct sunshine and 80 degree temperatures are hard to take.
5. It's cheaper for even 1 person to drive to the game and park rather than take the light rail.The distance from the light rail station to the park was equivalent to the distance from where I parked. Also, it was way faster getting there and I just got in my car and drove right onto the freeway after the game. No traffic problems at all.
4. Denver has leaves. 3. Target does not have cheap coolers. 2. Malibu and cranberry is quite tasty. Especially when it's overly hot in the bar and you've had many, many of them already.1. Dancing on the bar is not as difficult as they like to make it out on TV.
Playing Basketball at 1 AM Does Not Please Neighbors
Today for the first time in well over 7 months we hit 70. Not only did we break the 70 barrier, but apparently we also broke 80. Pretty hard to believe that I woke up to 4 inches of snow earlier this week.
In a delightful turn of events, the weather for the Twins games this weekend in Denver is going to be absolutely perfect. I'm super excited. Even if they lose, I get to go to Target. As I haven't been to Target in at least 4 months, I'm happy. Yes, I was there last month, but Minneapolis doesn't count because I couldn't actually shop for me.
Also today, a very evil coworker brought in chocolate dipped strawberries. And there went my eat less, walk more diet for the day.
Happy Mother's Day
In honor of Mother's Day, I am cleaning my house. I've vacuumed, mopped, dusted (dusted!), scrubbed, laundered and reorganized. I've also taken a big leap and moved my heavy winter stuff out of the way.
This weekend the county kindly added to the cleaning cause and collected hazardous waste materials. This led to a massive clean out of my garage. No more bad paint from old homeowners and no more used motor oil. There's actual space in there now.
I wanted to take Gracie out for our usual six mile weekend walk, but it's way too windy. We tried yesterday and only made it to the corner. Today, I won't even attempt it.
I've also arranged to borrow a car rather than rent one for next week's trip to Denver. Now all I have to do is find a place to stay and decide if I want to buy tickets at the Field or buy them in advance.
Digging Up Bones
Gracie has discovered the power of digging. And that landed her right back on the leash for the foreseeable future. I think she's just begging to be tied up for the rest of her life. On the positive side, at least if she's going to dig under the fence, she digs her way right into someone else's completely fenced yard.
I Was Being So Good Too
So last night I went out for happy hour. Remembering last week, I did not order a drink but rather had a coke - plain Coke no alcohol. Two hours and many, many rounds later, I was harassed into actually drinking something a bit stronger. Somehow I walked out having had at least four bottles of Smirnoff. I think my coworkers are evil.
