So today I was doing my civic duty, helping many people get registered to vote. I actually had a lot of fun doing it, too.
Although I was completely bummed that I would miss the entire Gopher-Purdue football game today by helping out, it was some consolation that my dad gave me a game update over the phone. Also thanks must go out to every person who walked by wearing Gophers paraphernalia; they were all more than happy to give us the updated score. And the Goofy Gophers won! In double overtime. Woohooo!
9.24.2005
visitin' vagaries
Julie and I had a great time last week. The highlights include so many interesting episodes.
1) JP and I going to a movie and her thinking that the first, oh, ten or fifteen minutes of Batman Begins was really just "the longest trailer [she'd] ever seen!" Granted, I was a bit confused by the beginning of BB as well, but not quite to that extent. I know it was a prequel, sure it was pointing to the next installments and giving a glimpse of what is to come, but still! (Just Kidding, Julie! Sheesh!)
2) Making up a plethora of new words, including "surb" (an alternate measurement for suburb), and generally butchering the English language by trying to cram too much talk into our time together (at least, that was one of my issues; any of my other language barriers can only be blamed on my inability to speak any language fluently - but I can think fluently! too bad not many others understand my thought processes)
3) Road tripping to Alexandria, MN, that cultural mecca
4) Encouraging Julie to become as devoted a Simpsons addict as me
5) Eating (very high on my priority list)
6) Visiting the Mall of America. Everyone who visits Minneapolis seems to want to go there; I seem to only go when I take tourists there (and it's in the same city in which I live! I guess that shows how I prioritize shopping).
All in all, it was great, and I hope she comes back soon.
1) JP and I going to a movie and her thinking that the first, oh, ten or fifteen minutes of Batman Begins was really just "the longest trailer [she'd] ever seen!" Granted, I was a bit confused by the beginning of BB as well, but not quite to that extent. I know it was a prequel, sure it was pointing to the next installments and giving a glimpse of what is to come, but still! (Just Kidding, Julie! Sheesh!)
2) Making up a plethora of new words, including "surb" (an alternate measurement for suburb), and generally butchering the English language by trying to cram too much talk into our time together (at least, that was one of my issues; any of my other language barriers can only be blamed on my inability to speak any language fluently - but I can think fluently! too bad not many others understand my thought processes)
3) Road tripping to Alexandria, MN, that cultural mecca
4) Encouraging Julie to become as devoted a Simpsons addict as me
5) Eating (very high on my priority list)
6) Visiting the Mall of America. Everyone who visits Minneapolis seems to want to go there; I seem to only go when I take tourists there (and it's in the same city in which I live! I guess that shows how I prioritize shopping).
All in all, it was great, and I hope she comes back soon.
9.23.2005
I must be 80
I think it's official. Only when you enjoy thinking and talking about your ailments are you old. I am there.
So now I'm having a "topical" reaction to the vaccinations I received on Monday. It looks like someone hit my arm really, really hard. It's all red. The cool thing is that since it seems to be slightly swollen, my arm muscles seem huge! Oh, but what a price to pay to be svelte. It's like some dumb twit saying "I want the flu to lose weight." No, I don't want the flu, but I'm also trying to see the bright side! Another problem is that since I got two of the vaccinations in nearly the same place on my left arm, I don't know which one is causing the problem. Of course that didn't help me today when I tried to explain to the nice nurse on the phone what my problem is and that it doesn't match the list of symptoms on that sheet of paper they sent home with me. However, good news: the doctor thinks it's just my skin reacting to the shots, so I should apply heat and take an advil. Good to know. It was also good to know that if I am still having problems on Monday I should go in to see my doctor. And it goes without saying that it was good to know that if things get serious I am to go to Urgent Care. I'm glad they told me; I might not have thought of that on my own. (Which is where I went several years ago after my last set of immunizations.)
Tomorrow I'm off to do my civic duty and help people get registered to vote. Provided I'm not in Urgent Care, that is, and can squeeze it in between speaking about my ailments to other, non-interested persons. See what I mean? It can be addictive talking about one's doctor's visits, and I can see why old people do it so much. You get going, and can't stop. And then it gets competitive, too. I am in no way, shape or form ready to compete with old people yet, so maybe I'm not as old as I'm sounding.
So now I'm having a "topical" reaction to the vaccinations I received on Monday. It looks like someone hit my arm really, really hard. It's all red. The cool thing is that since it seems to be slightly swollen, my arm muscles seem huge! Oh, but what a price to pay to be svelte. It's like some dumb twit saying "I want the flu to lose weight." No, I don't want the flu, but I'm also trying to see the bright side! Another problem is that since I got two of the vaccinations in nearly the same place on my left arm, I don't know which one is causing the problem. Of course that didn't help me today when I tried to explain to the nice nurse on the phone what my problem is and that it doesn't match the list of symptoms on that sheet of paper they sent home with me. However, good news: the doctor thinks it's just my skin reacting to the shots, so I should apply heat and take an advil. Good to know. It was also good to know that if I am still having problems on Monday I should go in to see my doctor. And it goes without saying that it was good to know that if things get serious I am to go to Urgent Care. I'm glad they told me; I might not have thought of that on my own. (Which is where I went several years ago after my last set of immunizations.)
Tomorrow I'm off to do my civic duty and help people get registered to vote. Provided I'm not in Urgent Care, that is, and can squeeze it in between speaking about my ailments to other, non-interested persons. See what I mean? It can be addictive talking about one's doctor's visits, and I can see why old people do it so much. You get going, and can't stop. And then it gets competitive, too. I am in no way, shape or form ready to compete with old people yet, so maybe I'm not as old as I'm sounding.
9.21.2005
New Poll!
OK, so I miss having the poll. I don't care if people vote that often, but it's amusing to me. So, this poll is a reflection of my (sometimes sarcastic) state of mind (I refer mainly to the Vikings, what, with their abysmal NFL losses the last two weeks; however, I will continue to watch them as a faithful fan).
Who is most likely to succeed this year? Vote for your favorite, all that.
Who is most likely to succeed this year? Vote for your favorite, all that.
what was up with blogger last night?
I promise I only posted once on Philip's birthday, but lo and behold! Today when I looked, there were about six of the same thing...hmmmm. I do recall some sort of big, red "error" message when I was publishing, but then blogger kicked me out and I gave up. And today there was only one post on the birthday in my dashboard. Hmmmm. Strange.
9.20.2005
Lime green dinosaurs on pink skateboards
I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon for a routine physical (if visiting every five years counts as "routine"). I had the pleasure of having some more immunizations. Don't get me wrong - I'm very glad to get the vaccines so that I won't get mono or hepatitis or whatever is prevented by a tetanus booster (tetanitis?) or any of those other unseemly diseases for which one needs a shot. I don't mind the needles. I love the purple bandaids with lime green, skateboarding dinosaurs (so much so that I left them on the rest of the day). So, what I truly dislike is my reaction to the shots. I always seem to get sick and achy the day after (which is understandable; I mean, they did just pump small amounts of the diseases into me). So today I ended up wishing my arms didn't feel like someone chopped them off and then beat the rest of me with the other end of the axe. (I also seem to bruise like a peach when any needles come near me, so the arms kind of look like someone beat me in three places with the other end of the axe.) Then there were the chills. It was 80 degrees out today and I was fully clothed under a down comforter and other blankets. And after that, the heat, oh, the heat! I'm not sure if that was the 80 degrees and all those covers or if I just had a fever. But then the chills came back, so it might have been fever.
So that pretty much sums up my day. I'm feeling a bit better now and don't need any more immunizations for a while.
So that pretty much sums up my day. I'm feeling a bit better now and don't need any more immunizations for a while.
9.19.2005
9.17.2005
busy week
Lots of stuff going on; here are a couple highlights.
Julie, law school chum of great charm and repute, is in town this week. More like in town, out of town, coming back in town tomorrow, and leaving on Monday. It's been great. I have nearly convinced her that it would be in her best interests to move here. Really. I'm showing her all the lovely sights that make this place so wonderful (and why I've not moved anywhere else). I'm sure that after another day of my most excellent docent skills, she'll at least be coming back to visit again.
Today I played for another wedding. This is the first time I'd played in a string quartet for a wedding. It was nice and lovely, an outdoor affair. No rain, cool day. The only problem was this bee that kept wanting to hang around me. And not just around me - it really liked my face and just camped out practically on my nose. And I wasn't even wearing perfume! But other than that it was fun.
Julie, law school chum of great charm and repute, is in town this week. More like in town, out of town, coming back in town tomorrow, and leaving on Monday. It's been great. I have nearly convinced her that it would be in her best interests to move here. Really. I'm showing her all the lovely sights that make this place so wonderful (and why I've not moved anywhere else). I'm sure that after another day of my most excellent docent skills, she'll at least be coming back to visit again.
Today I played for another wedding. This is the first time I'd played in a string quartet for a wedding. It was nice and lovely, an outdoor affair. No rain, cool day. The only problem was this bee that kept wanting to hang around me. And not just around me - it really liked my face and just camped out practically on my nose. And I wasn't even wearing perfume! But other than that it was fun.
9.14.2005
chores and minutiae
So, one of my greatest accomplishments this summer was learning how to fold a fitted sheet. I had never seen it done properly before, nor had I really cared to learn the proper way (which is to fold it by the corners, of course - something that never occurred to me previously, because, who cares? It just smooths itself out on my bed, so why do I care if it gets all wrinkly?). Thus, my lack. Well, I finally saw someone do it properly, and now can fold fitted sheets. Isn't that great?
Speaking of wrinkles...Last week I had to turn on the iron. I hate to iron. I try to buy easy care shirts so I don't have to iron. Just wash it and pull it out of the dryer, that's my motto. If I can get away with it, I only iron the collar and cuffs (like when I wear a dress shirt with a jacket or sweater). So, pretty much the only time I am forced to iron is when I need a nice tablecloth for a holiday dinner (and those occasions only come about three, maybe four times a year) and when I wash my curtains. Well, I washed my curtains in the name of fall cleaning. So I had to iron, and to re-cement my distaste for the chore, I burned myself on the iron for the very first time.
Speaking of wrinkles...Last week I had to turn on the iron. I hate to iron. I try to buy easy care shirts so I don't have to iron. Just wash it and pull it out of the dryer, that's my motto. If I can get away with it, I only iron the collar and cuffs (like when I wear a dress shirt with a jacket or sweater). So, pretty much the only time I am forced to iron is when I need a nice tablecloth for a holiday dinner (and those occasions only come about three, maybe four times a year) and when I wash my curtains. Well, I washed my curtains in the name of fall cleaning. So I had to iron, and to re-cement my distaste for the chore, I burned myself on the iron for the very first time.
9.13.2005
quote of the moment
"The New Yorker's Malcolm Gladwell explains how good teeth go bad: 'People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury.' The British, of course, have socialized medicine, which we guess explains why they have such great teeth." ---James Taranto
And thus the polling ends
I figured with today being prelims and everyone out there voting anyway, it would be appropriate to end this week's poll. I mean, we're all about results now, right?
The question was which is your favorite fair food.
We end the week with a four-way tie:
25% for mini doughnuts
25% for cotton candy
25% for anything on a stick
25% for anything not on a stick
No one likes sno cones. Now, now! You secret sno cone lovers had your chance.
Even with a steady voter increase (there were 4 whole votes this week!) - a whopping 33% improvement (which would have been 50% the previous week; it's amazing how the more votes you get, the smaller the increase of percentages is when the numbers are this low) - it is time to bid adieu to the poll for now. I think that since my counter below indicates more than 4 people are reading this (it doesn't count me and I just installed it a couple weeks ago), the vast majority do not want to participate; the vast majority probably do not want to read about percentages and increases, either. I might attempt a poll again at some later date. Possibly with a more important issue. Or (knowing me) not.
The question was which is your favorite fair food.
We end the week with a four-way tie:
25% for mini doughnuts
25% for cotton candy
25% for anything on a stick
25% for anything not on a stick
No one likes sno cones. Now, now! You secret sno cone lovers had your chance.
Even with a steady voter increase (there were 4 whole votes this week!) - a whopping 33% improvement (which would have been 50% the previous week; it's amazing how the more votes you get, the smaller the increase of percentages is when the numbers are this low) - it is time to bid adieu to the poll for now. I think that since my counter below indicates more than 4 people are reading this (it doesn't count me and I just installed it a couple weeks ago), the vast majority do not want to participate; the vast majority probably do not want to read about percentages and increases, either. I might attempt a poll again at some later date. Possibly with a more important issue. Or (knowing me) not.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
