Big Changes

We’re reaching the end of those dog days of summer where schools are starting up again and vacations are wrapping up. With so many friends and coworkers on vacations, I decided to take a mental vacation of sorts myself and give into the laziness of a dwindling summer. That’s not to say that these past two weeks have not been occupied with their respective activities, as I have found many a way to keep myself preoccupied and at times, overly-occupied. But with several people leaving Bakersfield, the town has grown rather quiet and me with it.

I have been able to make some noise during the past few weeks by focusing on the two key issues I had coming into 2006: new car and new apartment. At the time of my last post I had neither; as of today I both. About a month ago, I had set forth a plan to get a new car by talking with the dealership and picking out a car. The only catch was that I had to wait for the car to be delivered to the dealership since they had none in stock. Around the same time, I got a call from an apartment complex informing me that an apartment was opening up. So I put money down on the apartment, which I wouldn’t be available to move into for another month. Completely unintentional, my two big enterprises of 2006 were to occur during the same week.

This past week was spent in finalizing the details for both ventures, specifically in terms of finance. By the time Thursday rolled around, (I didn’t work this past Friday) I was tired and frustrated with the whole thing. Then I got a call Thursday evening telling me that I could pick up my new car after sorting out some of the financial issues earlier that day. It was a great relief and well worth the wait once I got behind the wheel.

I had spent the previous weekend buying new toys for my (at the time) soon to be apartment and had started to create a large, menacing pile of crap in the front of the house. I wasn’t too concerned about the move since there weren’t too many large items to move and even with a flight of stairs to deal with, everything was doable. But that pile did look menacing and I wondered how long it would take to move everything that had been laid out. Apparently, not that long. Six people (myself and five other girls) were able to move everything in under two hours over the weekend. All of the possible concerns and potential problems (remember, it’s still summer here in Bakersfield) were completely non-existent and you couldn’t have asked for a smoother transition.

I guess I find it rather amusing how fast life moves at times and conversely how slow it moves too. After so many months of thinking about moving out or thinking about buying a new car, who would have thought that I would leave work one Thursday with one life and return with another. I guess I had it coming.

Safety First

Today I had my annual safety training for work, so now I'm all safe-d up until next year. The class itself was separated into two sections. One section covered the company regulations toward various safety and environmental situations, including what permits to fill out, chemical treatment and incident contact requirements. All of this information was presented in the form of a game, so it was at least bearable to sit through even when I couldn't answer 80% of the questions asked. The other section pertained to physical injuries where we watched a safety video that covered all types of medical concerns, followed by a CPR training session. I particularly enjoyed the videos, because they would establish between two or more characters and then proceed to suddenly interject an injured individual.

I especially enjoyed the situation where a boss was talking to an employee while walking, and their conversation established that she, the employee, had finally caught up to date on some projects she was working on. Okay, we’ve established a relationship here and we’ve filled in some background information, so how does the plot continue? Well, they hear a yell and literally they open a door next to them and to find a man covered in blood. What? Why all the context and build-up just so they could open a door to reveal an injured person? It was all very random, and I had to really watch myself to not openly laugh at the traumatic situations that were (eventually) being depicted.

But it must have been fate that I took my training class today, as I aided in preventing an accident. I was meeting my father for lunch, and when I didn’t see him as I arrived at the restaurant I gave him a quick call (since I was on a tight schedule with this training). I let it ring twice before I noticed his car at the stoplight in the distance so I quickly hung up and waited as he came around. Well I couldn’t see it from where I was standing, but I called right when he got the green arrow. He hesitated in turning when the light changed because he was clamoring for his phone, which was helpful since at that moment a truck blatantly ran the red light from the opposite direction. If I hadn’t called at that moment, he might have been clipped by the truck and then I really would have to use that safety training. So being a good reliability engineer, I helped prevent an incident and was able to enjoy a nice lunch with my father.

Guilty

I have this weird idiosyncrasy where I like to dance in front of mirrors when I’m alone. When I’m dancing with someone else I try to avoid looking at any available mirror simply because I can be very self-conscious of myself in public. However, in private, I just let loose and do it more often than not. Since my house is full of mirrors everywhere, it’s easy to get away with. Sometimes as I’m walking down the hallway I’ll just rock out, even if there are people are in the kitchen on the other side of the wall. I time up the dancing so that all they’ll see is me walking by.

Well, this past weekend I was caught red-handed by Jessica as I was rocking out in front of the mirror in her room. I didn’t hear her approach the bedroom from the kitchen and so she saw me dancing in silence. I imagine that it was quite a sight to see. I immediately stopped and felt very awkward, like anyone might when having a very private moment with themselves.

“You’ve never rocked out by yourself before?” I asked her. She said she hadn’t. Personally, I think everyone should do something goofy when no one is watching; it adds a little spice to life. Just try not to get caught.

At least it makes for an amusing story.

Beer Run

At a stoplight on my way home from work today I saw a Miller Genuine Draft van driving past, followed immediately by a Coor's Light van followed immediately by a truck with a refrigerator in its bed. Fun times!

More to come tomorrow, time permitting.