Category: weirdity

A quiet place to rest

Yesterday at work I had a meeting in a nearby building. I decided to be all eco-friendly and stuff and walk over.

As I toodled along, I was surprised to come across this:

I found it…peculiar.

It’s a nice cement bench with detailed Fish and Wildlife stuff about the “creek” that lay there in view of the bench (behind the, uh, chain link fence).

Here’s an unobstructed view of the “creek” from a small bridge.

(yes, the quotes around “creek” are on purpose)

Folks, where I come from, we call that an arroyo.

And we don’t sit by it and watch the weeds grow. We just don’t.

Is this like the LA river, where, to quote Wikipedia: “For most of its length, it flows through a narrow concrete channel?”

Does something that flows through a concrete channel really qualify as a river (or creek)?

I found it strange, on this walk, to find one random bench with a view of…a weed filled arroyo.

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Photos by Karen Fayeth and her trusty iPhone

Y-y-y-y-y-ou w-w-w-wanna k-k-k-know w-w-what’s e-e-e-vil?

This. This is what is evil:

That there is one each vanilla flavored iced coffee from McDonald’s.

So, you know, I’m really not a McD’s fan. I won’t eat their food. Blech!

But recently SOMEONE, who shall remain nameless (and has the initials TGM) got me hooked on McD’s sweet tea.

Damn, that stuff is good. Addictive too. Crack tea, we call it.

So this morning, in need of a “little something” to get the day started, I rolled through the drive through and decided to try an iced coffee.

I ordered a “large” thinking in Starbuck’s sizes, and was SHOCKED when they handed this bucket of liquid out the window to me. It takes two hands to keep it steady!

So as I drove to work, I began sipping away at this beast.

You can see how much I had. Less than a third of the cup and suddenly the jitters set in.

I’ll admit that I’m more sensitive than most to caffeine, but DAMN.

I had to put this into the fridge at work. If I drank the whole thing they’d have to hospitalize me!

It’s tasty, I’ll give ’em that, but not as addictive as the tea.

Fair enough, I tried the c-c-c-c-c-coffee. It should come with a prescription and a warning label!

: jitter :

Bits of paper

Talked my boss into letting me work from home today so I could avail myself to the Social Security office.

See, being an ol’ fashioned kind of gal, I’m taking my new husband’s name. No, not hyphenated. Just taking his name in place of my given surname.

And that means I gotta talk to the government folks and get their nod.

The place to start is Social Security. Once they make the change, then I can get a new driver’s license. With a new driver’s license, I can make the changes to banking, credit cards, etc.

So let’s go back. It all begins with Social Security. How’d I get a social security number in the first place?

Why, with my birth certificate.

With that, everything else falls into line.

Today, I also took my marriage license to show my new name is valid.

The sum of my identity, who I am to the world, or at least what my name is, how I prove I’m me, comes down to a couple pieces of paper.

One tattered almost forty year old certified birth certificate and one shiny new marriage license.

Paper. Wood pulp. All that I am. Without them, I don’t exist in the eyes of my country. Or the world, for that matter.

Can’t bank. Can’t travel. Can’t get into school. Can’t work. Can’t rent a home. Certainly can’t buy a home. Can’t buy groceries cuz I can’t make money.

Nuttin’

It kind of creeps me out, actually.

Thankfully the SSA lady couldn’t have been nicer. The change was made quickly. In about two business days I can get a new driver’s license. With my license I can change my name at the bank.

I still get to prove I’m me.

Imagine if you couldn’t?

A little mind bending.

Well. Onward, and getting used to signing my new last name. THAT will take some getting used to.

Happy Labor Day weekend to all!

Am I the only one greatly disturbed by this?

From Yahoo News:

“Meteorologists dispatched eight planes to release rain dispersal chemicals and fired 241 rockets into incoming clouds to ensure a dry Beijing Olympics closing ceremony, state media said Monday.”

Can you do this? Well obviously you CAN, but…SHOULD you do this?

I find this whole thing to be totally sci-fi and creepy as HELL.

I’m kind of having a day like this, too.

“A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn’t start.“

“He told police quote, ‘I can do that, it’s my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want.'”

Darn tootin’, you can! Except for those pesky police!

Thankfully for my coworkers, I posses neither a lawnmower nor a shotgun.

But I might whing a mighty ballpoint pen at my computer screen.

I’ll do it too!