Awkward!

I went on a date Friday night. We went to dinner, saw a friend play soccer (and win 3-0), and sat at Freddy's for quite some time after our custard was done talking. When he finally took me home, I remembered there was a party at my house. Any parking near our house was taken, so he double parked in our driveway. I figured there wouldn't be anyone leaving in the next few minutes anyhow. We got out of the car, walked up to the door and were exchanging some dialogue when Tony and Steve walked out the front door of the house! They said something like "Oh, we're just leaving", then realized that said date had double parked behind their vehicle! We laughed, they went back inside the house and said "we'll wait". I said goodbye to me date, who was laughing along with me, and went inside. Not a long story, but one I found amusing.

When it rains, it pours

It seems that things come in groups, be they good, bad, or indifferent. Life goes along for some time without a whole lot to make you sit up and take notice, then all of a sudden you feel like you're dodging things right and left. I enjoy the contrast. Since I moved to Texas, I think I've been going on cruise control. While I don't mind those instances, I'm happy to say that I now have some interesting situations with which to busy myself. I won't bore you with the details.

Meanwhile, Texas has finally been getting some much needed rain. I have been relishing in the change (while eschewing the crazy drivers to the best of my ability). The temperature has dropped, and I haven't seen the sun in a couple of days. While I'm sure this is depressing my friends who are not used to passing a day without some rays, it reminds me of home. I happily donned a sweater this morning, and walked out my door with my umbrella.

I wish I had some more exciting (and less personal than the events glossed-over above) to write about. I'm sure I do, but it has slipped my mind at this point. And don't get me started on topics like this.

Labor Day Weekend

I’ve had the opportunity to travel a lot, and I love food...for the most part. A shining exception is sea food. While I love almost everything about the coast, I never get excited about going to a nice seafood restaurant. Because my parents love seafood, I've spent a lot of time in them-eating whatever chicken or steak dish they have as a non-salty option. Don't get me wrong, I've tried the fish, I just don't like it. Occasionally I allow myself to be talked into a bite by some well-intentioned friend who thinks they can prove how wrong I am in not liking the stuff. Sometimes I'm not in the mood, so I don't try what they offer. I confess, I passed up a chance at caviar because I didn't think I could keep it down. My roommate at the time ate it, and from her face, I was glad I'd passed.

That being said, I have nothing against others eating whatever of the sea's bounty they fancy. On our way out of Rockport last weekend, we stopped at the Boiling Pot-a Cajun style sea food joint. I ordered a PB&J, and watched in awe at what the others were served:

The waitress brought a huge stainless bowl out and dumped the contents on our table. I thought it made a rather nice still-life. I wish I had captured the faces of some of my companions. I am not squeamish about food that still looks like it's alive. Some in our group certainly were. Others went straight for the mallets and dug into the crab, or started peeling shrimp. As I downed the sandwich and chips in front of me, the picture above turned into the one below:

I think everyone left the meal satisfied, though some more than others. Personally, I was much more satisfied having spent most of the day playing soccer, volleyball, and as follows...

Oh how I love the beach! If only I weren't peeling...

Naming things

We had a visitor from Norway at work for about a year...when some of our equipment was mis-behaving, she mentioned that in Norway, they name things, and then they have something to call it while trying to get it to function. I subsequently named our 3730xl DNA analyzer Roxanne, because when she malfunctions, there's a red light that comes on. I don't think it has helped. Over the past two weeks, we have had problems every day.

Meanwhile, my truck finally has a name. All it took was a day with Tina.

That's all.

Yes, I am using my blog to vent.

So...I hate driving in Texas. I'll admit it, I thought Utah was bad. I got cut off a lot, and talk about running red lights-I went through lights that were yellow (for which I normally would have tried to stop) because I was afraid of being hit from behind. Usually I watched two or three cars come through behind me. But for the most part, the drivers were at least courteous. I drove in Australia where they have right hand drive cars and drive on the left hand side of the street. I was probably the one causing headaches there, but I did my best. I drove in Fiji, where I was more afraid of hitting livestock than another car, and was praying to just be able to see far enough ahead in the rainstorm to stop in time for whatever might jump out in front of me; but the drivers were so laid back that they didn't really care about much. Now I live in Texas. Not only have I had someone stop in front of me in the fast lane on the freeway so they could wait for the cars next to us to pass and take the exit they'd missed, but I am also regularly flipped off and cut off by people who don't seem to notice that there is no one behind me. There's plenty of space for them there! Are they in such a hurry they can't be one car behind while they wait for the traffic to clear?

What prompted this post today, though, goes back about a week-more if you want to know why I back into parking spots, but let's just say a week for now. My parents were in town, and we (I) drove us up to San Marcos to the GIANT factory outlet stores. They were, for some reason, packed. We drove around for probably 20 minutes trying to find a parking space. I finally happened upon a spot where there were two cars leaving and only one person waiting for the space. I put on my blinker, to add to the obvious fact that I was waiting for one of the parking spots. The two cars pulled out, and from the other direction a Lexus pulled into my spot. The man in the truck that was waiting for the other spot shrugged at me, and I returned the gesture. He was waiting longer, so obviously the spot left was his. Lexus guy was too afraid to get out of his car until we were well away from the area. I had a fleeting desire to take the valve stems out of a couple of his tires, but restrained myself. We drove around for a while longer, and finally found a spot.

Now, a week later, I was headed to Chad's place. I pulled into the parking lot and proceeded to start to back into the parking spot I'd chosen (yes, I back into parking spots). Someone pulled in behind me, and was so close to my tail that I couldn't go anywhere. I was across the flow of traffic, and couldn't really go forward as there was a parked car there. I couldn't back into the parking spot, because genius was on my tail. I looked at her and said "Back up." I'm sure she couldn't hear me...our windows were up, and as we are in Texas in the summer time, the AC was on. She started yelling at me (I'm guessing b from the way her lips kept moving and her large gesticulations). I pulled up the foot I could without hitting the parked car, and she angrily gunned her car around me. What kind of problems do these people have? Everyone kept telling me how nice Texans are, and how great it would be here. Now, the Texans I've met have been great-no complaints there. What happens when these people get in cars that makes them loose all their manners and turn into the kind of people that block you in and steal your parking spot?

Bugs! (okay, technically they're insects)

I was happily getting ready for my day this morning when my roommate announced that she'd found a cockroach in her shoe...she put it on and felt something moving, took the shoe off and found something none of us would like to come face-to-face with. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of insects, but roaches still kind of get to me. Aren't they and the ants in the kitchen why we bought pest control from the summer bug boys? Shouldn't the spray be at least keeping them out of the house? Needless to say, I looked in my shoes before I put them on this morning.

Utah!

I spent last weekend in Utah visiting friends and attending a wedding reception (yay for Penny!). It was fun to show Chad around some of the sights in Salt Lake City and Provo. We ate at restaurants I used to love, walked around BYU a little bit, and went to several temples. Sadly, the Salt Lake temple was closed for cleaning, so Chad only got to see the outside. We went through the Oquirrh Mountan open house, and did sessions at Provo and Manti. I've never been to Manti-it's a beautiful temple, and I loved it! It was fun to drive through the mountains and small towns.

I really enjoyed seeing my old roommates, and remembered again how much I miss them! While I don't think it is likely, I hope that life brings us closer in distance in the near future. Cynthia, Emily and Penny made my life so much better during the time I spent with them.

By far the most memorable experience was at the conference center. We took the tour with a couple from France and three people from Idaho. We were headed to the roof for the climax of the tour. We got in the elevator, the guide swiped the card, pushed the 4th floor button, and we started to descend. That's right, I said descend. We picked up another person on the parking level, making ten in total. The card was swiped again, button pushed, and we went nowhere. We pushed one of the buttons for a floor that didn't need a card, and still went nowhere. The guide picked up the emergency phone, and we listened to it ring..."elevator emergency-elevator emergency." Very comforting, I can assure you. Especially for the girl from Idaho who was afraid of elevators. He told the person on the other end that we were stuck on the first floor of the parking garage. They said they'd send someone right over.
About ten minutes later, it was getting pretty hot, so he called again, and let them know we were still there, and didn't hear anyone outside the elevator working on the problem. The person on the other end said someone should be there in a few seconds. Our guide waited another five minutes and called again. When he hung up for the third time, we felt the elevator start moving. There were people on top of it! We heard them do something, then heard a ratcheting noise, and the doors started opening. We piled out of the elevator as quickly as we could, and took the stairs to street level. Everyone but us left-I guess they didn't want to see the roof that badly. We took the stairs up, and ended the tour quite nicely.

Meanwhile, I'm back in Texas, where the sun is hot and the humidity is high!