Summer So Far

My top 5 of 3 recent adventures:

Duck Beach

 1. Spending the weekend in the beautiful Outer Banks

2. Getting a head start on my summer tan

3. Meeting lots of new, fun people

4. Duck Beach leads that have led to text messages such as "I miss your cute sexy librarian mannerisms"

5. Dates that have come out of Duck Beach, such as a double header this weekend (with a different guy from text message guy)

Hawaii

1. Family time

2. No agenda for a full week

3. Shondel's fabulous wedding

4. A hike through a bamboo forest--seriously, it was more spectacular than the waterfalls

5. Drinking lava flows and eating fresh seafood

Emily's DC Visit

1. Having a full time wing woman for 10 days

2. Trying new, delicious DC restaurants

3. People and boat watching in Annapolis

4. Paddle boats on the tidal basin

5. A Nationals game that ended in under 3 hours

And to think: June's not even over yet!

You Are Knowledgeable, But Not Very Helpful

This is what I am left thinking every time I go see the doctor.  He could offer me nothing more than a prescription painkiller.  I'll take it, but I hardly think it worth my $10 co-pay and 2 hours of sick leave. And I still can't run for who knows how much longer.

While waiting for my appointment I scanned the room and had the same question I always had in the Virginia DMV (it took me 4 tries to get both a new license and my car registered): have all the rich white people figured out how to avoid this process? Seriously, every person in the waiting room of both establishments was foreign.  Not that that's bad, I was just left wondering why I have yet figured out a way to skip depressing waiting rooms.

Essie ended my search for the perfect turquoise nail polish for spring. (Lest you think that photo had nothing to do with my blog post).

Another Listserv Gem

I promise my blog won't entirely consist of these going forward, but this week there was another good one:


"Hi! I have an awkward request to make publicly, but I need help and don't know where to find it. Plus, if I had asked for help sooner, the whole situation might not have occured.

So I have seen an occasional wreckless driving cry for legal help on here. But, my problem is a little bigger than that. It involves 4 criminal charges, one way more serious than the rest, but in reality that is the one I most innocent of... I was honestly just trying to be a good samartian. Some may say I got a good deal, but I don't think it is good enough. I desired to maintain actual innocence to all charges, but I am not sure that is what I did. I want a solution that offers expungement for all charges so that I may try to put this ordeal behind me and have a some sort of normal life in the future. I had a really crappy false start coming out of the gates, but am moving forward and want to keep moving. I am willing to do just about anything to make this happen. The case also involves mental health issues. Again, I will do whatever it takes as long as I am assured that I can get out of the system. I am looking for some legal guidance feedback on what legal remedies might be available. I lack of legal consultant that will explain, communicate, and listen to me in an appriorate manner. I also looking for someone who might have some sort of connection to someone in the Arlington County Commonwealth's Office and specifically whoever the elected chief is, I think it is Theophani Stamos. Ultimately, it is my current impression that the only way to reach a more desireable result is to gain the support of the Commonwealth. It really is an unfortunate set of circumstances and big misunderstanding. I keep getting grouped with people I don't belong being grouped with and it is hard to get apprioriate help. Please help. I may have sometime to address and work on this matter. But, it is a heavily on my mind matter. I need a plan and if I need to do certain things before approaching people, I would like to know now. Thank you for your consideration."


Whoa.  I'm so glad I'm not barred in Virginia, and thus can't represent people here, so ignoring crazy requests like these don't weigh on my mind.

Crazy DC Names

I come across a lot of creative names in my work.  Here are my favorites so far, 3 brothers named:

Myangelo
Myandre
Myanthony

What was their mother thinking?  Did her sister use all of her favorite baby names first and she found a way to personalize the names for her own use?  The only thing that would make this better is if they were triplets.

Listserv Gems

There is an email list for LDS young single adults in the DC area.  People mostly use it to advertise housing availability and activities that are going on.  However, every once in a while someone uses it for something strange, or for the regular stuff in a strange way.  I've decided I need to start sharing the funniest of the emails with the world.  (I know claiming that posting something to my blog is sharing it with the world is a little presumptuous because I'm really just sharing it with the few friends who read my blog, but that's the part of the world that matters to me).  I've been debating which backlog absurdity to start with, but I think this one will do: 


"I'm simply looking for some good, unique, miscellaneous idea(s).......... not even necessarily money-saving, but just something that can help us. For example: filling up gasoline to an odd amount, such as $25.01. Otherwise, when you look at your bank transactions, you might not know whether your bank charged you an insufficient funds charge, or some other charge. One of those fees would be $25 exactly (or $20, $30, $35, etc), NOT $25.01. Now
that is just one of numerous examples. Also, I've heard to put a stick shift car into neutral, WITH the parking brake on, in a public parking lot, so that just in case your car gets bumped by another vehicle, it would not damage the transmission if it were in gear. Also, it is better to NOT have your foot on the brakes when you hit a speed bump. It is better on your vehicle to slow down first, and then just let the car go over the speed bump WITHOUT your foot on the brakes. If any of you mechanics out there know otherwise, please tell us all. But, anyway, I hope you all understand what I am after..... just some of these little, (even simple) ideas that will be little gems of knowledge for us, perhaps things that are very out of the ordinary, something that you might think no one else does. I am NOT of the idea that we all need to do things alike. Even if you felt like you could never get away with letting your idea become known, lest you be mocked, I want to hear it. Even if I do not see the light of one of your ideas, please let me entertain it. Maybe my life, and a few others reading it, could be blessed by it. Some of my ideas have been shot down before; and I know it seems hard to accept. But, alas, I guess we must all realize that everyone does not see the world just as we do. Anyway, I really do hope that I will receive several new ideas. I hope you've been able to learn from &/or entertain my ideas above. Oft times, good ideas never get off the ground. Once in a while they do, when they are actually tried. I'm in a mood to try more. I need to try more now. I hope I would never turn away a good idea. Thank you very much.
PS The electric company lady told me that water heater timers save a lot of money. I haven't tried it, but she claimed that a lot of her customers were saving lots of money."


This lead me to a twist on the generic conversation starter--have you heard any good jokes lately?--to a potentially much more enlightening one: have you heard any good ideas lately?

Being an Adult is Hard

Transitioning into adult life has been more difficult than anticipated.  Working full time takes nearly all of my energy so when I have free time in the evenings and weekends I don't feel like getting other (responsible) stuff done.  I have finally taken care of getting a Virginia driver's license and registering my car.  I'm working on figuring out health insurance--I have made it to the eye doctor, but still need to visit the dentist.  If I have an evening activity, by the time I make it home at night I'm tired and want to go straight to bed and don't feel like taking the time to blog.  Further, working on a computer all day at work leaves me with little desire to spend any more time staring at a computer screen.  I am considering investing in an iPad.  I think it would solve my blogging struggles, as I could blog on the go.  I also think it would solve many of my other problems.  (My iPhone made my life better so I'm sure an iPad will have the same noticeable impact).  Not that my life is so exciting, but I am doing fun things here and I should blog about it.

I Guess I'll Just Always Wonder

Two things left me scratching my head this week:

• At work they are collecting food to make a Thanksgiving meal to give to needy families. My floor was assigned to bring in canned tomatoes. I've no idea what traditional Thanksgiving dish requires canned tomatoes. I asked around, including locals, and no one had any idea what canned tomatoes would be used for. Any guesses?
• While walking to the Metro one morning this week a man who was pulled over to the side of the road rolled down the passenger side window and asked me if I was wearing a slip. I responded in the negative and hurried on my way. Why did he ask me that? Was he just curious? Conducting a survey? Did he need one? If I had said yes would he have asked to borrow mine or to buy it from me?