Month: November 2008

Great Googelly Moogelly!

I paid two dollars and thirty-three cents a gallon for gas today!

I almost wept! Given that gas was touching five dolla’ a gallon not that long ago, this was AMAZING!

Ok, to be fair, there was a forty-five cent surcharge for using my debit card at the pump. But that’s ok. On twelve total gallons, that brings my price to two dolla’ and thirty-six cents a gallon!

Look!

Unbelievable.

I procured this petrol while out running errands. I have enjoyed going out to stores on quiet weekdays rather than busy weekends.

I’m actually not seeing a slow up in spending. I’m guessing the economy might be doing ok, people are still spending with reckless abandon.

I personally provided my own “stimulus package” to the economy by spending WAY too much money over the past couple days.

Retail therapy always cheers me up!

In other news….from the retail front lines…why are leg warmers back? I was at Target and they had a full rack of leg warmers. They also had also neon colored baby doll socks (perfect for wearing with your patent leather stiletto heels).

When exactly did my HIGH SCHOOL years return to fashion? Look, I wore the rhinestones and vintage clothes and armfulls of black rubber bracelets back in the day. Sure, I was into it.

But looking back on my own personal fashion…well. It is best left in the past.

But no, Target sees fit to return it to me.

Just. Ugh.

I’m doin’ it!

Clearly I’ve lost my mind. But that’s ok, I never really had it gripped all that tight to begin with.

And that’s oooookay.

In the midst of traveling and changing jobs and the upcoming holiday season, I have decided, once more this year, to participate in National Novel Writing Month, or as we in the know call it, NaNoWriMo or just NaNo.

This will be my fourth year to attempt the death defying feat of writing 50,000 words in thirty calendar days.

I have tried and succeeded each time. Each year has been its own odyssey into learning about myself, about how I write and about scooting that internal editor over to the side and just putting down the words.

This year is looking a little…shaky.

I wasn’t as fired up about my story idea as I’ve been in past years. And I’ve learned when you are lost in the abyss at about 25,000 words, a really good, fun, story idea helps you climb through.

So that’s worrisome.

Last year I got a late start but ended up finishing in fifteen stupid whirlwind days. Who does that? 50,000 words in fifteen days?

Ah, the occasional benefits of being rampantly OCD!

This year, I got a late start, and despite having a killer six thousand word day yesterday, the fire just isn’t in my belly.

And that worries me.

Ah well, too soon to get really concerned. There are still 19ish days left in this race. A marathon, not a sprint.

If you want to follow my progress, I’ve put a handy dandy little widget over on the left sidebar so you can follow me along. Today I’m at about 12k words. Still many, many left to go.

All good thoughts and voices of support are welcome!

Slacker

Lazybones

Laggard

Sluggard

Loafer

Shirker

So endeth the thesaurus list.

Today, I am a slacker (sluggard?).

Today, I join the great masses of the unemployed.

Ne’er do well.

Thankfully, my shirker ways will end in exactly one week when I begin my new job and a whole new adventure.

I spent nine and a half years toiling for my former employer, and it was with a heavy heart that I left on Friday.

But ultimately, though painful, it was the right decision.

Next Monday I start with a company that is consistently in the top ten “best places to work”. We’ll see in the coming months whether or not I agree with that assessment, eh?

But for today, I’m a layabout. And I like it. Maybe a little too much.

Alternate spelling, alternate universe

You may recall from a post a while back that I use my secret agent 007 stealth first name when I order coffee and they ask for a name to write on the cup.

My secret agent name is Lucy. I use that name because it’s:

1) easy to pronounce

2) easy to spell

3) heard clearly over the whooosh whooosh sounds of an espresso machine

I copied this from a friend (who has my same real first name), even borrowing her own made up nom de bebida, because of the ease of use.

Until this past week at the Honolulu airport.

They asked my name. I said Lucy. They nodded and wrote the name. I got my beverage and it wasn’t until I was on the plane that I noticed.

You can’t make this stuff up.

A real mind bender

Yesterday at 1:15pm local time, as I was boarding a plane in Honolulu, CNN was reporting that “the polls in the east will be closing soon”.

When I got off the plane in Oakland, The Good Man told me it was a done deal, Obama was president.

That sort of blows the ol’ brain pan!

I’m still wrapping my mind around the fact that it’s over, it wasn’t a dream, and a new day has begun.

Just. Wow.