Category: choices

Sunday, Police Action Sunday

Yesterday I drove to the small downtown section of a small town to meet with a group of photographers. It was our scheduled monthly get together.

I pulled into a parking spot and as I put ‘er in park, I noticed a police car parked right behind me.

As I opened my door to exit the vehicle, I noticed a uniformed police officer approaching me.

Me: “Hello, officer.”

PO: (stoic) “Hello.”

Me: “What can I do for you?”

PO: “You can’t make that left turn you just made.”

ME: *puzzled look* Then I consider being a cutup and saying, “Oh, but I can! I just did! Wanna see me do it again?” But I rein in my inner smart alec.

PO: (looking at my puzzled look) “You made a turn across the lane to get into this parking spot. You can’t do that.”

Me: “Really? Oh shit.” (<- yes, I actually said oh shit to a cop. Not the brightest bulb that Albuquerque Public Schools has ever turned out.) PO: "Yes, really. It's painted there on the pavement (he points) and there's a sign on most of the light poles down the street. (he points again)" Me: (now sheepish because I really hadn't noticed) "Oh. Ok. Do you need to see my license?" PO: "No, that's ok. I'm just warning you. Don't do it again." Me: (quavering) "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Have a good evening." PO: (walking back to his car) "You too, ma'am." Me: (inside voice) shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit Once I got done quaking in my rain boots, I realized...that police officer did me a solid favor. See, my last encounter with the black and whites was less than 18 months ago. Why does that matter? In California, every eighteen months you can take an online driver's ed class which masks a point on your license. You only get one every 18 months. So if I got a ticket I was plum outta luck in terms of my insurance. I was a little down and dour that day while headed to my meeting, but the rare kindness of the police officer brought a little decency to my gray and rainy day. Plus, I recalled one of the few bits of advice I carry with me from driver's ed classes. A police officer came to speak to us. He said, "Always be courteous to a police officer. ALWAYS. It might make the difference between getting a ticket and getting off with a warning." Thank YOU, McGinnis School of Driving.





Photo by Nick Cowie and used royalty free from stock.xchng.


Why So Picky?

Each day I drive to my job, located on the main campus of my very large employer. There are a lot of us folks who all gotta make our way into the many buildings that constitute HQ.

To that end, there is a huge parking garage out front for all us minions to pack our chosen vehicle into an allotted space. On any given day, that garage fills to capacity with our minion-mobiles.

Within that garage resides what I’ll call the Awkward Space.

Awkward Space is on the first floor, adjacent to the entry to the garage, right by the exit door. Meaning the location of Awkward Space is pretty good.

Despite the choice location, Awkward Space is also placed just around the first curve in the garage and by a wall. What this means is you gotta make a VERY tight right turn to get into Awkward Space.

The other thing is, Awkward Space is actually a pretty roomy spot. Once in, I have no trouble opening doors on either side of the car.

I guess people either can’t navigate the geometry or their car won’t turn that way, because no one parks there. My ancient Jeep has a smoking hot turning radius, so getting my black beauty into the spot requires hardly any effort. But I’ve also driven The Good Man’s sedan to work and had no trouble navigating the less than stellar turning radius easily into the spot.

If I come in by 8:00, I can usually park in a less awkward and even more well situated spot. But I always keep an eye on Awkward Space. On the days I come in later, I can almost always count on Awkward Space waiting for me with yellow painted arms, ready to embrace my Jeep.

What perplexes me is that people will pass up Awkward Space to drive up to the eighth floor to park rather than try to navigate the turn. It’s really not that hard. But everyone seems to turns up their Mercedes-driving nose at Awkward Space, which makes me love it that much more.

The upside about Awkward Space is that getting into it is much harder than getting back out. For some reason, the geometry works really well in reverse, and that makes Awkward Space a pretty gosh darn Good Space, in my opinion.

I almost feel like I should paint the wall at Awkward Space.

“Parking Reserved for Cars with Decent Turning Radius Only. Bad Drivers not allowed.”





This week’s Theme Thursday is space.


Monkey Mind Needs To Dance

Having a hard time concentrating today. Lots of reasons, but it seems that writing coherent sentences is impossible.

So you know what that means. Imagination Prompt madness!

You need other people because…

I can’t be expected to make my own perfect Manhattan straight up with a maraschino cherry all by myself, now can I?

Could you stay in bed all day and think?

%^$@damn right I can! Oh, wait, you said think, not drink.

I could stay in bed all day and think, too. It’s just less of a party.

Describe a typical day in elementary school.

Crayons, recess, paste, lunch, recess, paste, crayons, and something with numbers on a mimeographed worksheet.

What keeps me going?

force x mass

What if you were never born?

You wouldn’t be reading this completely awesome blog. You’d be reading a different and less awesome blog and wonder what was missing in your life.

Why should I be honest?

Because my short term memory sucks and I can never remember which yarn I spun where. The truth is just easier to remember.

List five things you need.

A nap.

A cookie from the conference room down the hall.

The group admin to look the other way so I can steal a chocolate chip cookie from the conference room down the hall.

Tweezers (you don’t want to know why)

Another nap.

My heart sings when…

I eat a huge plate of green chile chicken enchiladas. Later, my esophagus sings too, but it’s an entirely different song.

Write a haiku about today.

Here I sit writing
One day before vacation
No more today, boss




Since You Asked Nicely

Today during my internet wanderings, I spent some time with my friends over at CNN where an article titled “7 digital mistakes to avoid in 2011” caught my eye.

The story prefaces itself by asking you nicely not to do the seven things listed.

So ok. If asked nicely, I’ll consider it.

Let’s check out my report card on the Thou Shalt Not list:

1. Send an unspeakably rude e-mail to one of my employees or co-workers.

Ok, yes. I’ve done this. I’ve gone to rehab. When I feel the vitriol spewing from my fingers as they fly around the keyboard, I usually finish the email, then hit “save as draft” and let it sit a while.

Also, when writing a tacky email, I always delete the name from the address field on the email so I don’t accidentally send the unedited and unfinished email (done it! Lived to tell the tale).

So on item 1, I’m all good. Next!

2. Chase a messy breakup with sad-clown Facebook statuses and hours of sob-wracked ex stalking.

Ew. No. I hardly use Facebook, so no. Ok, I *have*…in the past…been known to mildly cyber stalk an ex. Mostly to see what they are up to these days, but those years are done.

I did have an ex contact me a few years back. We’d ended amicably and I was fairly happy to hear from an old friend. Then he pulled a Brett Favre and I got skeeved. I now avoid online contact with exes. Just better that way.

Next!

3. Waste everyone’s time with inane tweets.

Yeah, I could be guilty of this. But then again, so can anyone who participates in Twitter. I recently read an article where a celeb compared tweets to mental farts shared with the world.

Fair enough!

Let’s call this one, guilty as charged.

Next!

4. Keep my wedding photo as my Facebook profile pic for five months or more.

No worries there.

Next!

5. Leave offensive, sexist, childish or straight-up stupid comments.

Offensive? No.

Sexist? Nah.

Childish? Maaaayyybe.

Straight-up stupid? Certainly not! I’m sure my comments are always brilliant, insightful and add value to situation!

*ahem*

Next!

6. Drunk-text.

Yeeeah. I’ve done it. Was once a big offender. Just ask The Good Man, recipient of far too many drunk texts. However, now that he’s usually around when I’m having a couple sips, I don’t need to drunk text him anymore.

I am recovered (mostly).

And finally:

7. Peck away at my smartphone during dinner.

Ok. I’m guilty. I own it. There you go, my New Year’s resolution. It might be the one I can stick to because, as the article says, “…let’s face it, those whiskey binges and late-night Cheetos you swore off (of) on 1/1/11 aren’t going anywhere.”

True, true. Whiskey binges and late-night Cheetos are a thing of beauty.



Growing Into My Opinions

A knot of anxiety, excitement and trepidation tangled up in my gut as I approached the table and handed my driver’s license to the severe looking woman with a ruler in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

I was a trembling 19 year old, and it was time to vote in my first presidential election. She would be the first poll worker I’d encounter in my young life, but not the last.

I’d been raised in a very conservative home and since dear ol’ dad was a staunch Republican, he had let me know pretty clear who he thought should be the choice. But mostly he was just very clear that I should vote.

On polling day, I knew I had the right to make my own choices, so I thought a lot about both candidates and what they promised. With my mind made up, nervous but ready, I went into the polling booth and cast my vote.

There was a very satisfying tactile response from the voting machine. Click, click, click, then yank the lever. The curtains pop open like a low budget talent show, aaaaand you’re done.

I’ve voted in every presidential election since my first in 1988. My choices have ranged over the years from conservative to liberal, up down, back and forth, east and west. I always vote after doing some research and doing a gut check to see what I think is right.

My choices have not always been the victor or even popular, but that’s ok. My vote was cast.

Over the years, I didn’t usually vote in the minor elections or even the mid-terms, but since moving to California, I’ve been better about that. I’ve voted in almost all the elections that have passed through, including the elections where there wasn’t much to vote about.

And so here in mid-October, it’s time to start thinking about voting again. November 2nd looms large on the horizon.

For the State of California, this is a big election. We choose a new governor from two really poor choices (I don’t want to vote for either one, but I guess I’ll have to pick). This is also a big election for the country as many Congressional seats are up for election.

Even if you think your vote doesn’t matter, please, I’m asking you nicely, get out and vote.

Many candidates and pundits are not only expecting that people won’t vote, in some cases, they are counting on the fact that certain demographics won’t vote.

Prove ’em wrong. Vote anyway. Vote just because you can. Vote because it’s the one of the few times you feel like you get to make your voice heard.

I’m not here to lobby one side against the other.

I’m not here to back any candidate.

I’m not here to back any party’s agenda…

I’m just saying…vote, ok?

As a final thought…

A few years ago I signed up to vote by mail. It makes things very easy, and I’m more likely to cast my vote in any given election because of this simple process.

But sometimes I do miss that nervous knot I still get in my gut when walking into a polling place. It’s so official, almost ceremonial. There is a reverence for voting that you can only get at an official polling place.

The word knot is the subject of this week’s Theme Thursday