Russian Roulette

I almost got rear-ended twice yesterday. My car has been in the shop to fix the leaking oil and hopefully the rattling that has been occurring as of late, so I have been driving my dad’s car to work. In all the times of driving my car, nothing like this has ever happened, so I don’t know if it was by coincidence or if my dad’s car has something wrong with it. Both times, on the way to work and coming back home from work, I had to practically stop on the freeway because the car in front of me had to make a turn. And in both instances, a white truck didn’t notice me braking and had to swerve to avoid collision. All I could do for both was to sit and watch in horror as these trucks rapidly approached me. Fortunately, there were no collisions and I made it home safe.

A similar instance happened over a week ago as I was going to the mall with my mom. Someone from the other direction stupidly started to make a left-turn across our lanes of traffic with numerous cars around. We couldn’t see them and they didn’t see us until it was almost too late. Fortunately, the brakes are still relatively new on my mom’s van and we missed the car bay about a foot, but I dreaded looking behind us for fear of being rear-ended. However, we were fortunate enough that no one was close behind and we avoided all collisions. I don’t know what it is recently, if it’s just people or maybe a sign from above, but I keep remembering the safety discussion we had two weeks ago about how working in unsafe conditions is a lot like Russian Roulette.

I feel like I’ve just heard three clicks….

T-G-I-Th

I've spent my entire week literally in meetings, which means I got very little actual work done. Hopefully this won't set me too far back, especially since my weekend officially starts now.

Since I won't be back on this site until Monday at the earliest, I have a weekend question that I'd like to get some comment feedback about. With the Oscars approaching I am sorting through my top films of 2005 to create my annual top ten list. I would like to just ask what some of your favorite movies of last year were. It can be one or two or ten if you'd like, but I'm always interested in what movies other people really enjoyed. Also if you feel like it, tell me your least favorite movie you saw last year.

See you back on Monday and enjoy the rest of the week!

It's So Much Better On Holiday, That's Why We Only Work When We Need The Money!

Yesterday was President’s Day, which meant a 3-day weekend for all schools and most businesses. I say ‘most’ because regrettably I worked yesterday. But I don’t see it as a negative thing since to me it was just another Monday and with the weeks going by so quickly now, I can work through a holiday now and then. Besides, I get 3-day weekends every other week, so it’s not that big of a deal.

What is sad about this past weekend was the fact that it was the first time in 4 years that I hadn’t gone anywhere to visit anyone. Usually at this time of the year, I make a trip up to Berkeley to visit Rob and often Amanda. Since I had to work yesterday and since Rob is no longer in Berkeley (Glendale is such an easier drive) and since my car shouldn’t go on long distance trips it was out of the question to go anywhere. I’m currently working on the car situation and am trying to set aside some 3-day weekends to make some trips, but it’s almost sad that those days are behind me now.

Now that I’m working, I need to establish some new traditions, visiting people both north and south of here. I keep joking that the next time in LA will be so overwhelming with all the people I need to see before I leave. That’s the problem when you don’t visit; the people you need to see increases exponentially with the time you’ve been absent. Much like this graph:
I have to sort out a few details here in town before I can travel around California (details like new apartment, new car, surviving the continuous flood of work, etc.), but I am constantly hoping for soon rather than later.

Speaking of establishing new traditions, I have currently established a new tradition that I will be continuing this year. I will be traveling abroad to Europe at the end of May with my brother’s choir and my mother. I had so much fun in England that I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to participate in this program (even if I do have to pay for my whole trip). It’s funny how this all came to head after a night of drinking with my parents. Several drinks and one excited conversation later, I became so committed to the idea of the trip that nothing could sway me. Maybe it is true what they say about alcohol being the gateway to your true inner desires. Somehow, though, problem solving through alcohol makes me sound more like an alcoholic than an innovator.

Who's Hamming It Up?

My supervisor informed me last Friday that he wants me to join him and some fellow employees in going to a reliability convention in Chicago in April right after my birthday. He told me that the organization putting this on is called MARTS, and that if I did a websearch using that as my keyword, I could find out more information on the program. So I Googled “MARTS” and hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. The site that opened was the “Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters’ Society.” Somehow, I don’t think this is the reliability summit my supervisor was telling me about. Frankly, I'm surprised that this organization is popular enough to be the first choice for that search.

Chris and the Valentine's Day Massacre

I've been meaning to write a somewhat lengthy tirade about the cancellations of these really good television shows I’ve been watching. Unfortunately, I have no time to tirade at the moment. I was looking forward to my Friday at work to be more laid-back where I could send out some emails and make an extensive post. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case thus far today so I will hold off on banter that needs to be carefully thought out before I post it.

To recap my week, I spent my Valentine’s Day as most people do: in pain. We had a big BBQ at work to celebrate safety that day where everyone got a huge steak, a huge baked potato, salad, beans, pie… the works. Later that night I decided to only eat a little bit for dinner, but it was enough to send my stomach into a world of pain that I hadn’t experienced since Super Bowl Sunday. I really need to start taking care of myself better because my stomach can’t keep up with every feast-fest I encounter. My stomach pain did subside the next day, but it turned me off lunch for the rest of the week. All I would eat for lunch each day were two leftover rolls from the BBQ.

But it wasn’t all pain this week. I did manage to join up with Rachel and Rebecca for a night out of drinking, where all three of us became very quotable for the rest of the evening. Someone at work asked me today if I had any plans for the weekend, and I just stared back at him blankly. I would like to go down to LA, or up north to visit my brother or take a trip to Las Vegas, or do something this weekend, but it looks like I’m stuck in Bakersfield. Another weekend stuck in town... at least until I get a new car.

Traffic

Someone please explain this to me:
Why is it that cars only go fast when they see the sign, “Passing Lane Ahead” and not any time else?

That right there could be the solution to traffic jams everywhere.


Tomorrow I'll have a long-winded, disgruntled post, time permitting.

Doomed To Suffer

My tongue hurts. There’s a cut on the side of my tongue that’s slightly puffy and I don’t know how it happened; maybe I bit it while sleeping or eating; maybe toothbrush or floss accidentally slipped; or maybe my tongue is allergic to work-induced stress. Being at the center of all activity, the tongue is an active participant in all my daily routines: talking, eating, drinking, breathing, swallowing, whistling, etc. An injured tongue causes pain during all these activities. I like eating, drinking, talking and breathing; therefore, I am doomed to suffer... just like my 12th grade English class.

Fast Times At Troll High

The city of Bakersfield is planning to build a new freeway that will go through the downtown area. One of the preliminary plans for the proposed freeway involves building onto the campus of my former school, Bakersfield High School. The city proposes to purchase the Shops building on the corner of campus by the ROTC building and build the freeway through that sector of campus. Right now things are in the very early stages of development and nothing has been agreed to yet, but it seems outrageous to even think that they would propose on building a freeway on top of a high school. I mean these are students we’re talking about, not trolls who are accustomed to residing under bridges and presumably freeways. They’d probably even change the name of the school to Troll High School where the large bodied and small minded can amass in troll-like fashion. Considering that trolls eat children (they do eat children don’t they?), maybe a school with a freeway through it is the perfect lair for trolls. Hmmm…. I wonder what urban trolls might look like? Maybe they're already on the move.

Despite my purely selfish reasons for not changing the campus of the school, I still think it is foolish to build a freeway through the campus of a school that has been around since the 19th century and has withstood years of urban development around it. Let’s just hope there’s a better solution out there.

Souper Bowl

I seem to recall last year on the Super Bowl, I woke up late with a massive hangover (which is surprising as it seems I rarely encounter hangovers anymore), and I don’t really recall what I did the night before to warrant such head trauma. I guarantee, though, that it was a night of debauchery that has come to embody the spirit of the Super Bowl. I present you with this introduction because this past weekend was the Super Bowl and once again I fell into a weekend of debauchery like no other (sans the Sunday morning hangover). In the 2.5 days of my weekend, I consumed a total of 11 beers (plus a Long Island iced-tea) and of the 11 beers I drank, 10 of them were different types of beer (and I can recite all ten if asked). Regardless of a small interest I had in the actual game, the weekend turned out to be a great social event full of good food and good drink (resulting in good times). At the end of the day, I didn’t care so much who won or lost the Super Bowl, but rather I cared that my stomach felt like it was going to explode under a weekend’s-long duress of alcohol and too much food. Fortunately, I held out to drink and eat another day, although I did use some of the food to remind Robert about the weekend: “See we’re having soup in a bowl for dinner because of the Super Bowl. It’s our Soup-er Bowl.”

On the Rocks

What Your Drink Says About You

Europe

Every year the Luther College chamber choir, of which my brother is a part of, goes on a large, comprehensive choir tour. Last year they toured the West Coast, next year I think they tour the East Coast, this year they’re going to Europe. Members going on this tour are eligible to take along one additional person with them if they elect to do so; thus, I am heavily considering putting my name up for a bid. The tour takes place during the end of May through the beginning of June and goes from Italy all the way up through Europe hitting Austria, Germany, Prague and so forth. I initially thought using 3 weeks of my vacation time during the middle of the year would be a bit excessive, not to mention all the work I could possibly be caught up in, but the more I look at it, the more lucrative the offer becomes. My schedule is roughly clear for those dates, plus I did go through all the hassle of getting a passport, and opportunities like this rarely come up. My mom is also interested in the spot and I think if she can go then she should (since that’s her thing), but if something should arise, I don’t mind stepping in. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out….