I'm not Clone Worthy

Some days just aren’t YOUR DAY. I think today is mine. It started well…I woke up at 6 am as planned but was too sore from curling so I postponed my morning gym workout until after work. I get ready and head out the door for work. I was pretty excited because the temp was supposedly 18 degrees F…..as opposed to the tropical 80+ degrees goin’ on in my apt. I remember my mittens, and my scarf but I thought I’d nix the hat and just wear my hair down. Not a smart idea seeing I had overlooked the “Wind chill 10 degrees……20-30 mph winds” Oops. So my poor ears experienced a very cold and windy mile walk to work.

Getting into work I all of a sudden got very tired, VERY fast and then my body (even after a 30 minute stretch moment) let the soreness sink it. So I’m sitting here….sore and tired. Great. Little work is getting done. But all was good seeing it was just the beginning of the day and I had lunch to look forward too. Not to mention that I was trying out a new Campbells Select soup.

Lunchtime arrives. I’m excited. That was….until I had dropped my soup on the counter/floor/myself. That’s right. I smell of Mexican fajita soup. It’s lovely.

And to top it off………..I read the below when my mood was already in the red; just allowing this to be the cherry on top.

Arthur Caplan , director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of
Pennsylvania , figures up to 40 percent of American consumers are "in play,"
meaning they are willing to try food derived from clones and their offspring.
They're such indiscriminate eaters that they consider "a Slim Jim , a Slurpee,
and pork rinds" a meal, Caplan said. (1/29/07 Boston Globe)

My two cents: Sometimes I think there are people out there who were put on this earth to say stupid things ….. for example………the man above. Clearly he is not a man of science. Cloning is NOT happening for kicks and giggles. It is being done as a way/idea of the future. It’s a faster approach to natural selection in all reality. So when the man is equating the consumer of cloned food that of such a narrow market (i.e. 16-29 male) I would like to point my finger at him and say “Who gave you a degree?”

I'm Dreaming of a White......395

This is tough. I am happy we have snow but also a bit disappointed. I guess a lot of it stems from the fact that I feel like I’m back in MN but in all reality far from. Very few people appreciate winter weather here. It’s sad. I’m also a bit sad over the fact that I’m stuck in an office cube looking out a window at the snow instead of curled up in my chair with a warm cup of tea and clicking away at my laptop while watching the flakes dance down to the ground. I was spoiled.

This time last year I was working from home mostly so the days included me waking up in the dark, throwing on my slippers and put-zing over to my chair by the window. It was a tough life. So I say “Boo to the grown-up version” where I go to work from 8:30 – 5:00…have the hour lunch break, workout/meetings/HH after work and then home to take care of mail and so on before I go to bed. Boring!

That type of lifestyle has left me with little if any time to enjoy the real weather where I can run outside and make snowballs or throw myself into an untouched area to create a snow angel (which I’ve perfected over the years). Nope. Just here with the crabs that grumble under their breath about the traffic and walking in the cold (which, again, 25 degrees F doesn’t count as real cold). I think I may hold a Real Winter Weather Appreciation Class. We can go over the basics such as: snowball making, sledding, walking on snow/ice w/out falling and then the major one……..driving.

People will argue that I’m not a good driver – which is true the weather is great (I’m not good at doing just ONE task at a time so concentrating on just driving is difficult for me). BUT when you add the challenge of snow and ice – I’m there and I’m good at it. This was proven yesterday when I had to drive back from NC through rain, then sleet and then snow. 110 miles away from DC and I was stuck in 3-lane traffic only going a meager 15 mph. It was nuts. The visibility was 95% and the roads were NOT slippery. But people freaked and stayed in their lane – even the fast one – and went very, very slow. By the time (an additional 1.5 hours later) I got to the HOV lane things had sped up. But I didn’t want to risk it so I hopped on the HOV road (that was far from having had a visit from the salt trucks) and sped along at a nice 55 mph. There were only five vehicles in the HOV with me…let’s see, hunh? They were all from Oklahoma, Maryland and Iowa. I felt safe around them knowing that they’ve more than likely experienced snow/ice a few more times than once a year for the past 10 years. It was good and I managed to only get home 2 hours later than planned. Of course that is when the snow stopped falling. Bummer.

p.s. I would like to point out that the snow had stopped at 2 am this morning and all the roads were cleared before rush hour. But yet, there were school closings. Come on people!

City of Wimps

I can't believe this place....it barley drops below 30 degrees and everyone is complaining. Then you add in the idea that there may be flurries...there's not just complaining but also freaking.

What one earth is wrong with everyone?! It's snow. Little white, fluffy stuff that will melt as soon as it hits the pavement here. Oh and boo hoo that you have to put on a jacket and maybe heat up your car a bit. And let's not forget the easy way to get over being cold is just to move faster.....(this may explain why the north is more fast paced than the south).

Really. DC knows squat about real winter weather.

Spinster

The joke of the week is that I'm going to become an old spinster. It basically came from two things...ready a ridiculous fairytale book for my BCB bookclub and then having a dream where I was 85, sitting in a big chair, knitting while watching Dallas and my cat at my feet. It was kinda sad! (mostly because I already like do so of those activities now!). BUT I don't have a cat and I do date people, so I have a feeling someday I'll actually settle down with a man....NOT A CAT. Though my story of the dream seems to be a hit - it drives girls crazy and makes them freak out whereas my buddies (guys) laugh their asses of and try to pick a good cat for me.

Speaking of cats....I SWEAR my camera is like a fricken cat with nine lives. Every time I'm ready to throw it out (pretty sure that's why it's on its deathbed) the damn thing works fine. I look like an idiot though, cause it will work at home and then I take it out and all of a sudden the thing becomes shy and won't even turn on. I HATE IT. You may be wondering why I haven't had it checked out (yes, I got the $60/5 yr warranty on it) but I haven't because you need to call a lovely 800 number, explain to them the issue and then 'send' it in. I'm sorry...but that's just not kosher with me. I like to be right there, asking questions and knowing that they are actually attempting to revive my once great camera (ahem, I think I know why doctors/mechanics/bankers/etc. have problems with me). Regardless....it's an issue, and I'm fed-up with it. It'll probably work tonight but then flip off tomorrow. argh.

And finally....does anyone else wonder where on earth The Ohio State football team was on Monday night? I swear I was watching Florida play some D3 school. By halftime I was too booed out and ended up going to my room, putting it on mute and reading a girly book. Yes, it was THAT bad. Maybe Glen Mason was there giving tips to Tressel. Argh. The only time I bothered to cheer for Ohio State (I may dislike them, but I always cheer for the Big Ten). Just such a disappointment.

Taxi!

I have been absent for a bit for several reasons....A) I'm attempting to spend less time infront of my computer....B) I'm trying to be less bitchy .....and C) I have little time to spend writing lately (maybe because I've been glued to watching bowl games, haha). In all reality its a part of being 'healthier' which I doubt will ever happen, but I will note that my alcohol consumption has dropped dramatically since Dec. 24th!

But needless to say I'm not totally out of your blogger life. Nope, sorry...just can't do that. I'm still me and that means if no one is going to listen to me (in person) rant and rave about nonsense that happens in my "Oh-so-fab" life then the internet will do. The New Year was good. Not great, but what do you expect. New Years is so hyped and rarely wonderful for anyone. Yes, it's a great excuse to get all dressed up and drink a load of alcohol but more than likely you'll be fighting for that moment of luxury with millions of other people.

I decided this year to not spend New Years in DC. Even though it's my first year living I've already celebrated three years ago in DC so that seemed lame. Instead I headed to Greensboro, NC. Now before you go knockin' it I've got a few good reasons why. First of all......the Southern Scuffle was taking place Dec. 29-30. That is a huge college wrestling tournament in which the Golden Gophers participate in. Seeing I'm a HUGE fan and that I will not be able to see them wrestle any other time this year, it was a golden opportunity. Secondly, a friend of mine was having a cocktail party for New Years Eve down there. And thirdly, one of my best DC friends wanted to hang in town with me and do the girl thang and it allowed for us to stay with her cousin. So it all worked out.....kinda.

Yes, we did the girl thing and she got to experience my Wrestling Appreciation Class (a.k.a. CWAC). It is well known amongst my non-wrestling friends. Even though she took the class I still don't think she gets the concept (e.g. she opted to stay home from the finals). But the UNCG wrestlers took me in and even some cheered with me in Gopher spirit. Good times.

So after two full days of wrestling, shopping and watching the Dogs beat the Hokies (yes, I watched Georgia but not my own team for several reasons...though I was happy that we lost and Mr. Mason was fired) we were ready for a night of craziness. Granted when we meant crazy we were thinking gettin silly while maintaining our lady-likeness. For the most part that happened.

The plan was to pre-game at home, get dressed-up for the cocktail party, cab to party then cab to Downtown to meet the guys wherever they were going to be when we got there. It worked for the first half of the night. We pre-gamed (off of wine coolers and wine, shut-up), got a little silly and listened/danced to Jock Jams and Cash then got our pretty little butts into a cab. Arrived at the cocktail party (where friend knew NO ONE and I only 2 peeps) made an entrance, enjoyed the food/drinks and started yet ANOTHER dance party. It's amazing how you can groove to Color Me Bad music!

But things started to turn.....the wrong way.

We decided it was time to meet the boys downtown. So at 10:30 pm we started to call for a cab. By 11 pm NO SUCCESS. Booooo......so a girl at the party said that it was a short walk and gave us directions, kinda. Well here's the deal - we ended up walking over a mile in heels in a town we've never been to before and IN THE RAIN! By the time we got to the bar we were just a tad, ummmm.....grumpy and wet. We paid our cover charge, recieved our beads and spent the next 15 minutes searching for the boys, who of course were about a 1/2 a dozen shots into the night. But we found them, did the countdown and started....yes, you guessed it....another dance party.

The rest of the night was a blur, with pics galore (out of focus of course), more rain and a 'long' cab ride home. But yes, it was worth it....even with the bad hair moment and semi-broken camera.