behold: the awesomeness that is my job.

thank god for coffee

argh! i woke up at 5 a.m. (actually 5:17, but same difference, right?) and started reading my AP style book. while very interesting and surprisingly informative, it's still like reading the grammar nazi's version of the dictionary. then i left san antonio (the north side, i might add) at 6:35 only to be stuck in the blinding rain for forty-five minutes (when it usually takes me about 30 minutes flat to get from my place to his). what is it that makes texas drivers suddenly become extra-retarded when driving in the rain? i don't know, but your usual slow-people-in-the-fast-laners and fly-out-of-your-blind-spot-only-to-cut-you-off-and-slow-downers seem to come out of the woodwork when the weather gets a little (or alot) fowl.

then i ran up to my apartment to grab a rain jacket and swap out my flip flops for boots and these wardrobe adjustments took me approximately 6 minutes to complete. i hopped in my car and raced down the hill to the first apartment complex on the bus route (so i wouldn't have to deal with getting passed by full buses (yes- that's how you spell the plural of bus, according to AP) and while driving to my stop, i got passed by three buses en route to school! upon arrival at my seemingly clever stop, i had to wait twenty minutes for the next one to come! argh!

on the sunny side of things, a girl who came out to wait for the shuttle had an umbrella and offered to share it with me so that i wouldn't get as soaked as the girl standing far away from us in a cotton sweatshirt. it was rather fortunate that she offered to share the space, because my textbooks (unbeknownst to me at the time) were soaked.. so it clould have been worse! i could have left puddles on my desks throughout the day!

i got to class 15 after 8 (after nearly two hours since my departure from san antonio) and missed the current events quiz by the skin of my teeth. blah blah blah my morning sucked UNTIL -lo and behold- i saw the SPJ "coffee lounge." this is in reality a little common room between to professors' office doors with two coffee pots, a basket of snacks and a donation can on a table next to a small couch that looks like it got swiped from a dentist's office in the mid 1980s. i could have been reading my soggy AP style book, but i realized that for once i was carrying cash. i had some cinnamon crumb cake-flavored coffee in an unusually large styrofoam cup for the measly price of $1 and sipped it on the couch, enjoying some much-needed peace and quiet.

in walks a really tall, really skinny grad student who sits down next to me and starts rubbing his arms like i have been known to do in the stock room at work (where they keep it at a steady 69 degrees.) so i struck up a conversation with him and cordially commanded him to get some coffee so he wouldn't have to suffer. this seemed a novel idea to him (even though the two pump pots are the first thing you see when you walk in) and then he opened his wallet and announced, slightly disappointed, that he only had a five. so i did my good deed for the day and handed him another george washington out of my purse and we chatted about the AP style book until i had to go to class.

who cares if the tip of my tongue is still rather sensitive and a bit itchy from the burns... i survived my morning classes. yay!

after i got out of victorian lit at 2, i promptly went to the animal shelter, fell in love with a golden tabby who shall be named sunny upon the completion of her shots, checks for any illness/disease and spaying. i hate that she has to undergo surgery just to be permanently removed from her metal box, but it's the law, and she's a doll who deserves a loving home. i set up a payment plan for the pet deposit at my apartment and paid the $85 in vet fees and then went to walmart to stock up on kitty supplies. now it's time for a nap.

sigh.. it was a full day, but in the end, a good one.

talk about a smaller (carbon) footprint...

chron.com has a blog called "sciguy" on their website. i stumbled upon one of the articles and decided i had time to read it because of the amusing title: "Oh No! We're getting fat! It's horrible!" but i thought i'd share the article he posted for the next day, august 30th.

August 30, 2006

Why aren't these bulbs in every American home?

Tired of changing lightbulbs and worrying about the price of oil? The age of compact fluorescent lightbulbs -- no longer the clunky, unattractive bulbs of old -- should be upon us. Consider the changes since the mid 1980s:

Now every one of those problems has been conquered. The bulbs come on quickly; their light is bright, white, steady, and silent; and the old U-shaped tubes--they looked like bulbs from a World War II submarine--have mostly been replaced by the swirl. Since 1985, CFLs have changed as much as cell phones and portable music players.

And how can you change the world today?

Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75 percent or 80 percent less electricity.

What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people.

One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

Prior to reading this article I was vaguely aware that there were more efficient lightbulbs out there, but had never investigated the matter. But this seems like such a no-brainer. Sure, the bulbs cost a little more, but they end up paying for themselves. So why haven't we switched? Good question. I'm going to Home Depot tonight.

AHHH! TWO JOBS IS ALOT OF WORK!!

so, if i hadn't have taken wednesday off, it would have been a 70-hour week. 'twas hellacious. dispite the hours though, i absolutely LOVED the job i just quit. unfortunately, though, the commute (two gallons of gas every day, near-death experiences because I-35 under is construction but people drive 85 anyways, and minor terret's/road rage incidents) made it less than cost efficient, (and life efficient!)

so now i'm gonna get the rest of the crap i've been trying to get done this week out of the way:
-write two cd reviews for a local magazine i work for,
-work a 10-hour shift at the crate and barrel outlet,
-fill out 5 scholarship applications/write essays for them
-get back on schedule with running at sunrise every other day
-eat more than 2 meals a day!!

sigh. it's been crazy. i don't have internet on my computer (i'm using my roommate's compy) or else i would probably be checking my email more than 3 times a week and maybe even posting on here more than once every 3 weeks!

highlight of my week:
raising $30 to save barton springs (but still not meeting quota) by agreeing to play beer pong with some people in their driveway.. haha it was pretty funny.

running and peanut butter don't mix well

i moved in to the house with the family in it in san marcos a few days ago. the family is nice, their dog is adorable, and i've started running again. as much as i love running, i hate having to stop and start because a) my lungs are turning inside-out, b) my hips are trying to pop out of their sockets, or c) my breakfast is trying to make an appearance.

i went at sunrise a couple of days ago and the weather was great, and the sunrise was increadible. i only made it about 3/4 of a mile before turning back to go home, but it was a good start. last night when i got home from work there was a guy across the street whose (huge) dog always runs across the street to greet me when i get home, and the guy had on basketball shorts and was stretching in the driveway. i asked him if he was going running and he said yeah. we talked briefly and resolved to meet in the morning at 7:30 (sunrise was too early for him).

so this morning i was feelin pretty hungry and decided to have not only a peanut butter sandwich (which is what i had for breakfast the other day before my new exercise regimen started), but also a nutri-grain bar AND apple sauce. needless to say, we're running along (NOT jogging, this dude is a sprinter, damnit) and as soon as we arrive on the actual track, my stomach starts convulsing. it would be kind of embarrassing to vomit on the first run (not date) but at the same time i don't want the guy to get irritated because i'm a woos and can't sprint for 2 miles straight. (wuss? woose? wus? who cares.)

so i start speed walking instead and explain that i just started running again like 2 days ago.. hoping for an ounce or two of sympathy. it works, and he walks too (thank god). we talked about school and stuff and my stomach calmed down and we started to run again. this happens 3 more times! and i like to consider myself the owner of an iron stomach! we did make it all the way around the track , which i hadn't done before, and i didn't puke (amazingly). when we get back the point where the track and the street nearly converge, i'm thinking we're getting off to go home, and he starts turning the corner for another lap! i'm like, "uh... aren't you gonna get off?" and he's like, "oh! i thought you'd be up for another round!" HAHA YEAH RIGHT BUDDY.

i made it home safe and sound and with all my organs right-side out, but mister sprinter actually LIKED running with me and said he'd see me later. oh god. it's going to be a long and painful summer. this is what i get for talking to strangers (and their dogs).

the first post! yay!

so i'm sitting at the office all by my lonesome (which is kind of nice) but i have no idea where the boss and coworker are. this poses a problem because when i get calls from people like, say... cathy from st. john episcopal church, who thought she had a meeting with boss-man 10 minutes ago and she sounds peeved because she doesn't know where he is, i have to sound optimistic and encouraging despite the fact that i don't know where he is either. i try calling his cell and get no answer. he's probably at a press check that ran long. oh well. this is my blog damnit, not graphic-design-office-drama blog.

so anyways, nobody knows about this blog at present. this is in part because i created it on a whim becuase i got bored at the office, and partly because my brother has a goofy little blog on this site, and i thought that by my joining the internet junky community (via having a blog, and thus making me an offical member), that maybe it would help boost his blogarific self esteem. or something like that. that isn't a sentance but it's okay because i said so.

okay well let's see how this post looks in my fancy new template.

thanks for reading!