wildcelticrose.net

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Some days just don’t turn out the way you plan.

I woke up this morning to a butt cold apartment (OK, 59 degrees isn’t “that” bad, but it’s not comfortable either)

Sometimes the little oil filled space heater I use trips the surge protector that it’s plugged in to when it turns on in the morning.

That’s what happened today. I woke up with no heat.

We had our first hard freeze last night (and snow and hail and other forms of frozen and semi-frozen snot everywhere but right here on the water)

At least I wasn’t involved in a crash on the icy freeway like these two state patrol cars or even a deicing truck that got in an accident.

It was chaos out there this morning… (and of course some idiot in an SUV that thinks’ he’s immune to the forces of inertia and a low friction coefficient because he had 4-wheel drive was the cause of the worst wreck)

I was supposed to do the Pineapple Classic with Kathy, Annie & Jill, but Kathy & I both had to cancel, (luckily, they found people to fill our spots) she was sick with the nasty viral crud going around work and I was nearly taken out by the mother of all sinus headaches yesterday (the violent weather change got a lot of us) and haven’t been training since getting sick myself. I know it’s for the best, but it’s a bummer.

Here’s a cell phone photo of said weather change moving in

I was going to go to the gem & mineral show with Molly & Erin today, but I don’t need to be putting myself in places where I will be tempted to spend money on shiny things right now.

I heard back from my loan guy and as I suspected, I don’t qualify for a home loan right now. He’s putting me in touch with his “credit clean up guy” and I’m going to follow his directions to the letter.

It will be several months or more before I can qualify for an FHA loan. (which is pretty much all anyone will do right now)

I should just be happy that I am now debt free and rebuilding my credit for the first time after the nasty divorce, car accident and midlife career change and that I have a bit of money invested to put towards a down payment when the time is right and that I should be getting a bit more next summer.

This is exactly what I expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s not disappointing.

Luckily, I don’t think that interest rates or housing prices in Tacoma are going to skyrocket in the next year and the tax credit for home owners was extended.

It will involve a lot of hard work and discipline (and time), but it will all work out.

In happier news, I got to spend some quality time with my best friend last night after I got the sinus headache under control. (and I’m making up the time for leaving work early yesterday by working a couple hours from home today)

Charlie played a very funny Lyle Lovett song out of his music collection.

Click here and then click on the gray “preview” button in the middle of the page

I may or may not feel up to going to the Scorpio party tonight; I’ll have to see how I feel when the time comes.

But in the mean time, I’m really enjoying the blooms on my Christmas Cactus (look at it shamelessly showing off it’s naught bits)

Mood: Contemplative

~L

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No, I’m not going all emo on anyone, it’s just that the turning of the wheel of the year to the dark side has hit the Pacific Northwest with a vengeance.

Even without the stupid “fall back” time change (don’t get me started again) November has blown in with dark angry skies, gale force winds, lighting, horizontal wet, frozen and semi-frozen snot and even a funnel cloud.

Today it hit me, overwhelming exhaustion. It didn’t make much senses because I actually got eight hours of good quality sleep last night.

I’ve had a crazy week and I haven’t spent a quiet evening at home until some time last week.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had fun: dinners, parties, mixers, meetings, happy hours and even got to do a good deed or two.

Today I spent most of the morning on the phone with real estate folks, a loan guy and a credit bureau)(TransUnion is a pain in the ass to get your free credit report from) and am getting debts paid off. I also pulled a shift at Speakeasy and helped Christie program the cash register. The “fun” will be trying to train non-retail experienced artists to use it.

Oh, and we’ve split our financial management duties, I’m the “retail manager” and she’s the “membership manager”. It’s less daunting for both of us to split the job than take on all of it (we both have day jobs and that fund our creative jobs). The only thing left to do is get the bank account open.

As I was leaving. I ran into Bart from the Puyallup River Watershed Council (I used to be the chair, but had to step down when I changed jobs/schedules/locations) and we chatted a bit. I had promised Allen that I’d consider a position on the foundation (the actual 501 C (3) non-profit)( board, but we put that on hold when my Mom died. I really should step back up. He was coming out of the Puget Creek Restoration Society office which is a few doors down from Speakeasy (I’m on one of their technical advisory committees) so I stopped in there to say “Hi”.

I really have been working on not volunteering for too much…

Why does this song keep running through my head?

I’m having a slug night; no socializing, no work (day job, photography/web stuff, speakeasy or volunteer stuff) no cooking no cleaning.

I did a quick grocery run on the way home. I’ve been wanting a Christmas Cactus for several years now and they were on sale at Fred Meyer. Not only do I just think they are cool, but they are a houseplant I don’t kill (I can grow anything outside, but I’m a notorious killer of houseplants) I got two, one for my office and one for home.

Tomorrow, I’ll be up bright and early paying of debt, working on inventory sheets, updating my web page and cleaning house. I also need to go for a run. I need to get out and move now that I’m not sick anymore and I’m field testing some waterproof breatheable fabric.

I think I may start decorating for the Winter Solstice. Normally, I roll my eyes when holiday decorations go up too early, but there is a natural inclination to bring lights and shiny things into the home when the winter gets dark and cold. Normally, I do it at Thanksgiving, just in time for my big open house/dinner (I do it the day after Thanksgiving so more people can show up), but I think I’ll do it early this year. I got some cute little LED lights; some look like snowflakes, some look like stars.

I’m up for creating some holiday cheer! (oh, I’ve got to get invitations ready to go)

But now, I think I’m going to have another cup of tea

~L

Mood: Exhausted

~L

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Marian and I went on an awesome bike ride yesterday.

I finally got brave enough to ride out to the Foothills Trail from home (no more putting Flash in the truck for me)

We went out to the trail, stopped off at the Van Lierop Bulb Farm (across the road from the trailhead) for an early lunch and hit the trail out to South Prairie.

*note, if you’re viewing this on LiveJournal (WhyTF they don’t allow iframe html code is beyond me) or via RSS feed where iframe imbed codes don’t show up, just click here

Here we are next to the Carbon River

and since there was SUN, I actually saw my shadow… (oh, and check out all the cottonwood fluff on the side of the trail)

I was asked this question a couple days ago…

“What does it mean when a Wild Celtic Rose sees it’s shadow?”

Six more weeks of SPRING baby…

We stopped at Route 66 Pizza long the trail to sit on the patio and enjoy microbrew in a frozen glass. The pizza was “OK” but the frozen glasses, patio and service were awesome!

When we stopped at the trailheaad on the way home, I came out of the bathroom and Marian said,

“Hey, there’s a picture of you on this bulletin board”

Sure enough, there was a picture from the 2007 Rainier to Ruston Relay when the “Mountain Mamas” won our division (I display my golden spike award proudly)

*our team picture is in the top left corner of the poster; I’m the tall one… (Duh)

Here we are cruising down the trail between Orting and Puyallup

We rode back the way we came on the Puyallup River Trail/River road, until the 66th St Bridge, where we crossed over and continued on Levy Road (less traffic, but no bike lane or shoulder) It was OK on a Saturday afternoon, but I wouldn’t have done it in the dark or during rush hour.)

We then wound through Fife and the tide flats and found ourselves on the 11th St bridge which is now closed to vehicle traffic, but pedestrians and bikes can still go across (too bad some many asshats have broken beer bottles on it and it’s difficult to ride across)

Here we are on the bridge over the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma with Tahoma (Mt rainier’s real name) in the background.

I think we look pretty good for having just ridden 60 miles.

The problem with living on top of a hill in a city next to the sea is that you have to ride from sea level up the hill (and the streets of Tacoma and Seattle are brutal) we worked our way up one hill at at time and got back up to where we started.

After we got back, I needed some more miles and to get my speed/heart rate up, so I rode out towards the narrows and picked up the Scott Pierson Trail for a quick loop.

I get some serious giggles from getting down on my areobars, and going 25+ mph on the flats (hey, that’s all I had left after a full day of riding)

I got home right at 6:00 PM.

The Icky Boy called me as I was carrying my bike up the stairs and I headed over to his place for dinner and a movie after a beer and a bath (needed to soak the tushie and the girlie bits)

And now, I need to clean my apartment, practice my fiddle and write a magazine article.

Later today, a bunch of us are meeing at the HUB (hey, I gotta carbo load before my triathlon tomorrow) for pizza & beer.

I think the Icky Boy is going to make me waffles tomorrow morning.

~L

Mood: Busy

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It’s a beautiful sunny day here in the Pacific Northwest (amazingly enough on a weekend, on my four-day weekend even…)

The party last night was so much fun. It was for a guy from the Mountaineers (not the “social” mountaineers, mountaineers who really go out and do mountaineer stuff) who was turning 50.

There was mention on the invite about a trail he made in his back yard and a treasure hunt.

OK, I thought, no fancy clothes, but I’m not showing up in hiking boots and looking like a dork.

“How steep could it be?” I asked myself.

OMG, I wish I had taken a camera.

He lives on acreage, on top of a hill above the Auburn Valley and the trail was pretty darn steep.

I wore some Merrell slip on shoes that did not have appropriate tread, were a bit loose and had not ankle support.

It was probably not the smartest thing I could have done the day before trialthon even if had worn my hiking boots, but in those shoes… teh dumb… I took one near fall when I slipped, (typicaly wet, slimy PNW trail under tree cover) grabbed a big tree branch to avoid going over the side and it broke off in my hands.

When I heard it crack, and felt myself starting to go over, I lurched for the trunk of a small tree, grabbed at and swung around on it on one arm like a demented monkey. Hey, it worked, and it provided entertainment for others on the hike.

Further down the trail I twisted my ankle just a bit, but I think it will be fine for Today’s triathlon.

Speaking of Ankles… The Icky Boy’s is not getting better, it’s getting worse. I (and a lot of his friends) have convinced him that he likely has a torn ligament (or worse) and that he needs to go to the doctor today.

We’re guessing they’ll put him in a boot to immobilize it, and he’s not going to like that one bit.

We understand that he had no choice but to hike out of the Grand Canyon (wearing a heavy pack) on it, but he continued to not stay off of it/take care of it when he got back, so he needs to suck it up and do what the doctor tells him.

Oh, the best part about the trail?

It was a treasure hunt. We all got bags and the point of the little hike was to see the trail, and find the buckets of goodies…

Yes, a bunch of professional adults and family members ranging from their teens to 60′s had a blast finding goodies for their bags.

Here’s what I came back with.

I went back for more shiny things when it got later in the evening (like around 9:00 PM) and there wasn’t going to be a shortage. I had serious shiny thing envy when one of the older guys was more decked out in “bling” than I was.

I’ve added them to my collection…

I’m hoping that the good weather yesterday and today has warmed the water up a bit for today’s triathlon (which thankfully isn’t until 2:00 PM, giving me plenty of time to get ready, eat, and hydrate)

That swim was so incredibly painful and miserable last month (but at least it’s toughening me up right?)

I don’t remember if I posted this before but a friend posted this funny “training” video (actually a Cliff commercial)

How to train for a triathlon swim start….

And with that, I’ve got a ton of things to do…

~L

Mood: Busy

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Ha!

I typed this up (all but the last two lines so most of the “this morning” stuff is from yesterday, I’m only taking a quick break to eat so I’m not going back to fix it) last night and got so tired, so quickly that I just went to bed without posting it…

I often joke that Pacific North westerners are “seasonally bipolar” but it’s really not a joke.

By the end of one of our crappy springs, we’re ready to off ourselves. We do OK through the winter busying ourselves with holidays, parties, etc…

We in the Seattle area have one of the highest depression and suicide rates in the world. It’s not so much the rain (New York City and Atlanta get more annual rain fall than we do) but the shortness of the winter days due to our Northern latitude combined with the relentless GRAY skies due to the clouds being trapped between the Olympic and Cascade mountains.

Seriously, people in Alaska have an easier time of winter than we do.

But these horrible springs we’ve had lately with the violent weather and never ending frozen and semi-frozen snot falling from the sky… OMG.

We were all sluggish, depressed and wondering why in the hell we live here…

and then it came…

The bright orange ball in the sky.

The SUN!!! The glorious, beautiful, warm, life giving SUN!!!

We all go batshit-insane-manic-crazy at the first sign of sun.

Everyone was out today.

The waterfront was packed.

A sure sign of spring… “Rolller Disco Dude” was out on the Ruston Way Waterfront.

Pt Defiance was INSANE. When I left for the 2nd time today, the line to get in the Pearl St entrance was two miles long.

I don’t feel so bad about still packing around some winter poundage. Looking at even the elite/mutants that stay in awesome shape year round (men running with shirts off and women running in sports bras) everyone had just a tiny bit of extra “stuff” around the middle.

It was a rough winter and an even worse spring.

Those of us who like to ski and snowshoe had problems this year due to record snowfall that created extreme avalanche danger. It wasn’t even safe to drive in the interstates half the time.

Saturday I got to spend time with my girlfriends up in LaConnor for the Tulip Pedal 46 miles of nearly constant headwind and no tulips (don’t you just LOVE our bright yellow shirts?)

I managed to drag my tired legs out this morning when the light was good to go on a little photo safairi out to Pt Defiance.

I already posted the link
to the slide show of the pics, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites.

Pretty daffodils

The pagoda

The garden

Hyacinths

Rhodies

After my little photo safari, I came home, at a big healthy breakfast (OK, it was a chili dog) and then headed back out for my “recovery” run.

I figured that since a 5-mile run on hills (and I go UP the STEEP and down the mild) is really not a “recovery” run that I’d be painfully slow.

I came in 24 seconds faster than the last time I did this same run (March 30th) with the same average heart rate, 145 with a maximum of 161. I actually spent a bit more time in zone 3 than 4, so I actually expended less effort to go just a bit faster.

HOLY CRAP! Does this mean that I’m actually getting faster with less effort?

OK, it sounds good, but it’s still too bloody slow. To not be able to break an hour around that loop, even going the steep & deep direction is making me crazy. I don’t have that much to cut off the time and it should be “easy” but I want to go kick it’s butt!

This run includes around 900 feet of elevation gain (and loss) which more than a bit of climbing and hard work.

This is an AMAZING run through old growth forest surrounded on three sides by the salty Puget Sound. (and only ten minutes from my house)

If you are viewing this on LiveJournal, via RSS feed or for some reason don’t see the map/tracks properly, you can just click on the link that says, “view larger map”

View Larger Map

It’s days like this that make me NEVER want to move away. They make us forget the dark cold winter and the cruel spring.

Basically we’re easy… give us a couple days of sun and a few good runs of Sockeye, Coho or Chinook salmon or Dungeness Crab and we’ll claim where in heaven (weather
we believe in heaven or not)

Today (this part typed today, Monday) was supposed to be a rest and recovery day, but I feel good and a bunch of friends from the Wheelmen are going for a ride after work. I can always cut the ride short if I feel too fatigued.

I can’t turn down a sunny ride. I may even wear shorts (PSA for the Tacoma area, please remember to wear your sunglasses, the glare will be blinding)

Now, I need to eat and get back to work so that I can go play after work.

~L

Mood: sunny
src=http://www.wildcelticrose.net/lisasplace/arielmood/th_refreshed.gif>

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It’s spring; and Easter (for those who celebrate it) is rapidly approaching.

I am remind of this, by all the hits wildcelticrose.net is getting on a certain page.

Yes, I have a web page dedicate to “peep jousting” and microwaving peeps.

click here for PEEPS!!!

Why yes, I am easily amused, why do you ask?

Mother nature seems to have forgotten that it’s allegedly spring, at lest here in the Pacific Northwest. On Friday we were treated to a wicked hail storm (which actually is typical of our spring) nand yesterday morning, unforecast freezing fog.

It was butt cold yesteday morning, 29 degrees F to be exact (for my friends who measure in Celsius, that’s 3 degrees below freezing). It was also very damp out and we actually ended up with ICE on our eyelashes. That was weird.

*STUPID BICYCLE TRICK #87.

I did not wear my neoprene bike shoe covers on yesterday morning’s ride (I wear mesh mountain bike shoes because they are the most comfortable most of the year, and need to cover them in freezing weather). I also didn’t wear my insulated winter gloves (left them in the truck because I figured they’d be hot miserable in the return trip. I had to keep checking myself for cappilary refill to make sure I wasn’t going to get frostbite (in addition to sub-freezing temperatures, there’s the issue of wind chill when buzzing down the road on a bike. Oh, and it was even colder when we got to Spanaway.

It was still a fun bike ride with the Tacoma Wheelmen Bicycle Club. Every month or so there is a ride to the senior center in Spanaway adjacent to the LeMay car museum.

The proceeds go to charity, they enjoy having us there, and we get a great breakfast of coffee, juice pancakes, eggs and ham (2nds if we want them) and it’s a lot of fun (oh, and great exercise)

After the ride, I went for a swim and felt really good. I think that adding extra protein to my diet (hard boiled eggs in the morning and branch chain amino acids is helping. My legs don’t hurt or feel fatigued and I’m going for a run today.

Here’s the route we took (roughly 37 miles).

If you are viewing this on LiveJournal, via RSS feed or another method that does not display the map/track properly, you can click on the link that says “view larger map” and it will pop up for you.

View Larger Map

Oh I did a meme… (and am not surprised at my Canadian Slang score seeing as Canada is just up the road eh?)

You Speak Canadian Slang

Canadian Slang: 100% British Slang: 75% Aussie Slang: 50% Southern Slang: 25% Victorian Slang: 25% New England Slang: 0%

Now that I’ve eaten and the sinus headache is going away, I’m going to get out for a run (well, more like a waddle, but whatever)

Oh, and like a dork, I’m going to go run in the trees… (yeah, the ones that are spewing pollen) Of course, it’s not like we have a choice here. The silly trees are everywhere…

~L

Mood: cold

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Mother nature is apparently premenstrual, menopausal, sleep deprived, bipolar, ADHD and smoking crack.

Holy crap what a day we’ve had.

It started out with an unforecast snowstorm (older forecasts said there “might” be some mixed rain and snow then changed to too warm for now) that really dumped on us this morning. It stuck for a good long time, but did finally start to melt off this afternoon.

Then we had a wind advisory issued.

Then along with our high winds, we got horizontal hail and some thunder and lightning.

I had a bunch of errands I wanted to run and I was hoping to swim. I ended up not doing either.

My legs are still very sore, tired and cranky after the 32 mile bike ride followed by the race, so I decided to change my rest day from next Wednesday to today. My body was pretty much demanding rest. I can get a quick run in on Wednesday and still make it to my fiddle lesson on time.

Here are a couple pictures of the St Patty’s Day Run…

Here are some of us at the cold, rainy start

And ya gotta love overpasses/instant hills

Here’s a cold, wet, worn out Lisa approaching the finish line…

I spent a good potion of my day being a geek. I set up my self hosted wordpress blog and blogspot blog so that I can update them with my phone. I can’t get LJ Text to work, apparently they don’t play nice with Verizon Wireless. But I did set up my voice posting there, and can point to my voice posts from the other two blogs (and Twitter which updates my Facebook). The test post worked perfectly.

Now, I do need to get up off my butt.

The icky boy and I are going on a real “date”. I got a gift certificate for one of my favorite local restaurants and I thought Sunday night would be less crowded than Saturday or Friday.

So I guess I should go do something with my hair and pretty up a bit.

~L

Mood: gotta get busy

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I worked from home today because we had ice last night, a blizzard this morning and all sorts of strange meteorological oddities this afternoon.

Mother Nature is definitely pissed off (sort of like a bi-polar hormonal screaming banshee on crack)

Would whoever pissed her off please apologize already?

Here is what it looked like around here today (photo linked from KOMO news)

Uh yeah… driving (even with a four-wheel drive with chains and sandbags in the back for extra traction), is not so much fun with less cautious people on the road.

When the 2nd batch of snow came in this afternoon it arrived with horizontal hail and thunder. Weird stuff!

Ah, spring in the Pacific Northwest.

In the spirit of not whining too much, here’s something fun…

and you can make yourself a super hero here

Moving on to last week and my “blast from the past” post talking about finding 1950′s-60′s-70′s Disney educational cartoons from my childhood, I have a few other things to share.

How about Disney’s “Story of Menstruation.

From 1946.

There is no mention of “unfertilized” eggs, but it’s medically accurate for the most part. The bit at the end that dispels myths and teaches young women how to care for themselves is pretty amusing.

I posted the “I’m no Fool on a Bicycle” video to the Cascade and Tacoma Wheelmen Bicycle Club’s discussion board.

It got everyone thiking about old films from our childhood; so we all took a trip down memory lane (singing the tune) and one guy posted this little missive about safe cycling. (the opening credits for some reason remind me of the old Dennis the Menace show)

All of this nostalgia eventually led to “Burt the Turtle” teaching us how to “duck and cover”

This film, released in 1950 was played in public schools for years…

I don’t remember if I saw the film or not, but I do remember doing “duck and cover” drills in the 60′s. We may have done then longer/later than other areas because of Vandenberg Air force Base (and Edwards, China Lake and the Northrup test facility) and the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

I do remember being raised with the constant fear of nuclear war, and either the United States or Russia “pushing the button” (there was something about a red phone as well) thus ending life on earth as we knew it. Later, the “duck and cover” drills were converted to earthquake drills.

Such are the “joys” of being raised during the cold war. (I was born during the “Cuban Missile Crisis”)

What a horrible way to raise a generation of children… In constant fear of fiery death raining from the sky.

I DO remember this ad. I was two when it ran in 1964, and it has been run as a part of varying documentaries ever since.

I believe that it is truly one of the most profound visual images ever played on television.

I’ve never been prone to nightmares as a child or an adult. Heck, as the one in the family who inherited our Banshee and woke up in the middle of the night to her standing at the foot of my bed, knowing that someone had just died (she wasn’t a “wailer”) I was pretty “tough” in that respect.

But I used to have a nightmare that I believe was in part, spawned by the image in that ad.

The train and daisy dream… the nights, week s and years, it was always the train and daisy dream.

The huge black locomotive barreling down the tracks.

I am a little girl, bending over to pick a flower, a daisy.

The train keeps bearing down, powerful, unstoppable, black acrid smoke belching from its smoke stack.

I would look up, the train would be there and the dream would end.

I’d wake up screaming.

I’m not even certain that I was ON the tracks.

I made the obvious connection to the LBJ commercial, but I have no clue where the train came from.

Maybe I watched one too many Dudley Do Right or Underdog cartoons where Sweet Nell or Polly Purebred were tied to the railroad tracks.

Speaking of Dudley Do Right, he’s a pretty positive way to end this post, so here you go…

Enjoy!

~L

Mood: Contemplative

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Yes folks, it’s time for my now infamous weekly blog feature (gotta “clean the pipes out “for Drama Free Thursday and Things that Make Me Go Squee”) WTF Wednesday.

WTF Wednesday is when I (and anyone else who cares to; a few already had an early start) get to moan, whine, bitch, complain and vent with impunity)

It’s when I sit down, make a good strong margarita (with GOOD tequila) sit around in my underwear and vent.

*OK, I typed this up last night and am posting it while on a break at work so I’m not drinking or sitting around in my unmentionables (but trust me; that will change when I get home tonight)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about supporting and promoting Popfiend’s Drama Free Thursday with my own “Things That Make Me Go Squee” and this is, in part, preparation for DFT.

I’m all about putting good energy out there (because what we put out there it what we get back)

But I’ve realized that in order to appreciate the “good” things, we need the “bad” as well, realizing of course that “good” and “bad” are shades of gray and that nothing is black and white. (and no one likes a “Pollyanna”)

It’s Wednesday, and I’m gonna bitch and vent about people that I like to refer to as “Cheetoheads”.

I wrote about this several years ago in my now somewhat famous infamous essay,

It’s only one Cheeto-A sad commentary on our society

Each week I give an individual or group the “Here’s your Cheeto award” in honor of the rude, obnoxious, selfish, “It’s all about ME” asshats that we are force to live, work and walk amongst every day.

Today, the “object of my objection” is

Idiot Drivers in the Rain

Seriously, WTF is wrong with people?

In a place (Seattle area) that gets over 36 inches of annual rainfall one could reasonably expect that people would know how to drive in it.

WRONG!

People here are absolute morons when it rains.

It leaves me wondering how these idiots actually passed a drivers license test. (actually, I wonder how some of them manage to tie their shoelaces in the morning)

Uh, hello people, when it rains, you have (for my many geek friends) reduced stopping distance due to decreased effective coefficient of friction.

Here’s how much distance (in feet) it takes (on average) to stop a car on wet and dry roads.

*note, add extra time for having your head up your butt, talking on your cell phone or smoking a cigarette…

For the rest of you speeding maniacs with little pea brains, that means it takes longer and further to stop your car on wet slimy roads because your tires slip; so if you’re driving too fast and following too closely, you’re gonna smash into the car in front of you if you have to stop quickly.

So quit frikkin’ tailgating!!!

Oh, and in rainy conditions your vehicle can hydroplane…

For the morons with IQs in the double digits, that means a layer of water between your speeding car tires keeps them [your tires] from actually touching the road surface and you skid out of control and smash into some poor innocent person (in the other lane, in oncoming traffic or minding their own business on the sidewalk)

Slow the hell down!!!

Heaven forbid I try to drive safely and leave a safe stopping distance between myself and the car in front of me in bad conditions…

Some moron always jams their car in that space no matter how unsafe it is endangering those who are actually trying to drive safely.

Guess what you selfish, inconsiderate Cheetoheads… You aren’t the only ones that have places to go. The rest of us would like to arrive at work/school/church/home to our loved ones alive.

Here’s an idea… Why don’t you think about someone other than yourself (or hey, here’s an idea, just think) and leave a bit earlier so that you can drive at a reasonable speed for conditions, leave a safe amount of space between you and the car you are following and not risk your life and the lives of everyone around you?

If you’re a moron that can’t drive who is thinking about moving here.

Then…
Don’t come to Seattle!!! (a fun song)

The rest of you who already live here…

Learn to drive!

And I have a suggestion as to where you can put it!

I think that’s plenty of venting (was it good for you? It was good for me) and I actually have more to “squee” about tomorrow than to “WTF” about today, so I’ll leave it there.

None of this is earth shattering or even life changing it’s all minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things.

But I had FUN venting, and damn it feels good.

There, doesn’t that feel better?

Have a happy drama free Thursday tomorrow. I know I will.

Break’s over, back to work with me…

~L

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Today’s blog post is brought to you by the letter “S”

“S” stands for Snow, Stress, Siren Song, Swimming, (my) Sharona, Slipping, Sliding, (too) Sexy and SuperBowl.

This morning started out with lots of slipping and sliding on our local roads due to another round of light yet slimy snow and the obligatory black ice.

Luckily, it was 33 degrees, (barely) above freezing when I woke up at 4:20 AM this morning, and the snow didn’t start until I was getting on the train. Generally, the coldest part of the morning is 6-7 AM and I’m already at work.

This was a shot from the traffic cam on Highway 512 this morning; good fun I tell you…

Luckily there were no kids on this bus…

Work is insane and stressful right now (tis the season). I didn’t get away at lunch for a swim because Steph (oooh, she’s a “S” word too) and I go to Taco Del Mar on our break every other Tuesday and today was the day.

So I came home from work and resisted the Siren Song of my evil couch that wanted me to lay on it with a glass of wine (S is also for Syrah) and BadKitty.

I grabbed my swim gear and headed out to the gym.

5:30 is not as bad a time as one would imagine to go to the gym and I was able to get a swim lane pretty easily.

I managed to get a nice 30 minute swim in without stopping. Having music really helps.

Some of my favorite swim tunes are:

Tusk by Fleetwood Mac (great beat for inspiring a strong stroke, rotating, reaching and gliding)

I Love Rock & Roll by Joan Jett

Fins by Jimmy Buffet

The theme from Top Gun

and believe it or not My Sharona by the Knack. (see notes above for Tusk)

The problem is, I can’t listen to My Sharona without giggling. A person could drown laughing their butt off in the water. (oh, and I don’t recommend trying to do the “WOO!” part of the song underwater.)

And the finale of today’s post.
The PETA ad that was deemed “Too sexy for the SuperBowl” that won’t be shown because it was BANNED.

I present to you without comment. (which isn’t easy, trust me)

“Veggie Love”

‘Veggie Love’: PETA’s Banned Super Bowl Ad

I managed to squeeze in some violin/fiddle practice in between typing this out and posting it) and need to get ready for another busy day.

Tomorrow is work, hopefully a bike ride after work if it’s not snowing or raining (I can do cold and wet and I can do dark, but not both at the same time) some more practice and then dinner with the icky boy.

~L

Mood: busy