What A Dangerous World!

Or, a story about prejudice.

I’ve been parking my car these days a couple of miles from where I work. Actually, I have no idea how far it is - I’m a terrible just at distances - but it is a 15-20 minute walk, so however far I can get in this amount of time is how many miles away I park. Anyway, all you need to know for the story I’m about to recount is that I have been walking to work through an imperfect section of town. What I mean is that I, as a women, would not be comfortable walking this street after the sun goes down. However, I don’t believe it’s unsafe, but I’m a little guarded at the same time.

So I am walking down this not completely unsafe street alone while being slightly guarded when an old sedan pulls up a block ahead of me and just sits there, right where the sidewalk gives out and you have to squeeze between the parked cars, the parking meters, and a short wall. Well, I was sure as hell not walking right beside an old, beat-up car that may or may not be waiting for me. I don’t like to misjudge things, but I have seen enough to be comfortable being afraid at times.

So, I pulled out trick number one. Since it was raining and the sidewalk was about to give out, I decided to cut through the parking lot that is on the other side of the wall. I figured, if the car’s driver had ill intentions, there would be some distance and maybe he would be discouraged from his evil plot. However, if the car’s driver was just some poor guy who had coincidentally parked his car at that time and place, then he would think I was just trying to keep my shoes dry. I was feeling pretty swell at this point.

Until the car drove up one more block and waited. Now he is parked next to a construction site where, to pass, I will have to come within four feet of his car. You have to understand that this street is totally barren for the most part excepting passing traffic - especially on a rainy day. I’ll admit that I was scared at this point, but I fortunately don’t panic in the moment which leaves me free to think. I went through all the possibilities: this guy wants to harm me in some way, this guy is lost and needs directions, etc. At the same time, I’m gathering together all my current modes of escape.

Finally, I decided that there was no way anything crazy could happen unless I passed close enough to the car to be pulled in. Since the car was in front of me, I could get a pretty good start if I crossed to the other side of the street where there are a few stores. The car would then have to turn around on a street not quite big enough for a U-turn. (Always go the opposite way if a car is harassing you!) So I reached the end of the parking lot, was walking to the street keeping an extremely close eye on the car when suddenly...

...the world’s friendliest face appeared. “Hey, Jamie! Need a ride? I tried to get your attention, but I couldn’t get the window down.” It was my friend Tim, the congenial hooligan who likes potpourri and organizational charts with the “evil” intention of driving me to my car so I would have to walk in the rain any longer.

Sometimes I get things completely wrong, though I’ll probably make the same mistake again!

First Cup of Coffee Tastes Like Washing Up

I have GOT to buy new coffee. My current stock is utterly depressing. There's nothing like bitter, grainy coffee to put a frown on your day.

I also need to figure out a way to make coffee at work; it's a little tricky with no sink and no refrigerator. I can bring in a gallon jug of water since I'm a little loath to drink the water from our floor's communal bathroom. However, what would be easiest to clean: a mini-French press or a four-cup drip filter? I guess I could transport cream in those mini-Nalgene bottles (4 oz.). Sugar is not too complex considering I still have 437 packets of raw sugar. This is really all about saving money. I just don't think I can keep doing $10+ per week on caffeine, nor do I think I can cut down at this point. I'm trying to compromise.

Next on my list is to force myself to eat better. Because of bloodsugar issues I need to eat a good breakfast and a good lunch. The problem is that I eat too slowly and drive too far to eat breakfast at home and that I have eaten sandwiches for lunch for about five years now and I can't enjoy them anymore. Does anyone have any good, simple, and portable suggestions? To complicate matters, I need a significant amount of protein (equivalent of a cheese or peanut butter sandwich), plus I can't do very much wheat flour unless it's stone-ground or processed sugars.

Just Think Lovely Wonderful Thoughts

Here is a my current list of my ten greatest & most consistent joys. Don't expect anything too profound, but I was feeling thankful and thought I would share.

1. Friends who turn their schedules upside down (or skip something they were looking forward to) in order to take me out to dinner.
   
2. Gilmore Girls.
   
3. Oats
   
4. Three-year-olds who have worked the word "Actually" into their daily vocabulary
   
5. One-year-olds who fill my arms with various baby dolls and then force me to rock them all at once.
   
6. J.K. Rowling's wealth of knowledge and vast imagination.
   
7. Jasper Fford's wealth of knowledge and vast imagination.
   
8. The iPod.
   
9. Goldfish Crackers.
   
10. Overalls.
    

I feel like I should add David Beckham's right foot (and perhaps his left), but - alas - I have run out of room.

Public Service Announcement

"We've all come here tonight to tell you that hope will kill you."
I wanted to inform all of you with good streaming capacities that there is a hour long Sam Phillips concert on NPR. For those who haven't picked up on this fact, she is one of my absolute favorite songwriters and she has a way of saying something profound in obscure phrases. Basically, she's great and you should listen.

So, in Ms. Phillips honor, I am giving out related bonus questions at three points a-piece. However, the catch is that each person can only answer one question - though you can try another if you get your first guess wrong.

1. Sam Phillips once played under the name ___________.
   
2. What was the title of Ms. Phillips' very first release?
   
3. What is the title of her last?
   
4. Sam once compared the CCM industry to the which film?
   
5. Define "Torch Music." (Ahem. Careful using Google here!)
   
6. Sam's voice is featured on what well-known TV sitcom?

I'm Lost in the Supermarket

I'm currently taking suggestions for places to pursue employment. Benefits and enough money to live on are primary as well as a reasonably low stress environment. If these places exist, let me know!

Oh! Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying!

I think I need a new line of employment. I am up to a minimum of 40 oz. of coffee per day, I’m listening to electronic pop/techno music like Frou Frou at absurdly loud principles, I’m either extremely oversleeping or extremely undersleeping, dinner is the first meal of the day I really have time for, and I have no patience reserves meaning that I’m in constant fear of loosing it (further draining the reserves.) I’m even dreading my woodworking class just because it’s one more thing to do. I only took this job because I could come put in my hours and go home with no burdens and now I’ve somehow become stuck in the middle of a crisis I didn’t create and it seems like everyone wants me on their side and I don’t know who’s in charge and, really, I just don’t care anymore – yet I feel responsible to stick around until things are smoothed over. When should I say screw it all and run out the door like my life depended on it?

I think someone needs to make me a uniform for my birthday next week reading Death By Employment.

Sleep the Clock Around

I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair...

I took benadryllast night to clear up my allergies figuring this would be its only benefit since it has be virtually ineffective in making me more sleepy recently. When the alarm went off this morning, I hit snooze more than a few times like I normally do then I finally sat up feeling that my head was extremely heavy - and it was suddenly 10:48! I am not the clearest thinker in the morning and it took me a minute to figure out how and why it had gone from 7:30 to 10:48 in an eight minute snooze allotment until I realized that I must have turned off the alarm accidentally - or worse, have slept through the whole thing. I admit that I swore at this moment of clarity.

So, I called work, made coffee, lost my cell phone that I had just used to call work, searched for twenty minutes until I found it, skipped picking up my prescription, bought a hamburger at McDonald's (it's cheap), paid for parking, walked to my building, turned on my computer, and I've been organizing papers since. However, it being 1:00 now, and though I've only been here for an hour, I'm going for coffee because I am still foggy. I think I'm going to have to start shooting for nine hours of sleep a night instead of eight.

(Sorry this post is so topsy-turvy. I think I'm still running on adrenaline.)