a car exploded outside of my office yesterday! not just outside of my office building, i'm talking about outside of my individual office window! there was just the tree (where the squirrels play and provide me much afternoon entertainment) between the car and my office window! crazy!
ok, ok - i may exaggerate a little bit. but let me start from the very beginning (a very good place to start)
so i'm sweltering in my office yesterday (apparently the ventilation system broke ... plus they had to turn off the air conditioning anyway b/c the government thinks it must make a good conservation example and does this by turning off the air conditioning, non-essential lighting and 25% of the elevators when there's a smog day... the a/c doesn't come back on until the interior temp hits 27 degrees or something like that. i'm usually ok with this, except that they didn't have the ventilation system on yesterday - so as a result i was light-headed, dizzy, hallucinating ... but this story did actually happen! i swear!) ok ... so back to the start...
i was sweltering in my office yesterday. there's a sudden commotion down the hall. a bunch of ppl are gathering in a co-workers office and making exclamations. i ignore it and continue with my reading. the excitement seems to die down and then one of the group walks by my office and says "you shoudl check out your window - there's a car on fire)
so i look ... there's flames! lots of flames! i pause for a minute - then i think, "MY GOD! WHAT IF THE GAS TANK EXPLODES!" so i grab my purse and my keys and hightail it out of my office. by this time, most everyone with an eastern exposure has seen the car on fire. some are still wanting to watch yet torn because, what if the thing explodes ... the whole wall could be taken out. so we start heading outside ... i glance at the windows behind me and see billowing black smoke. there are some small booms (the tires popping?) our director decided at this point in time that perhaps we should all evacuate - but then, one of the ppl who just couldn't keep their noses away from the window noted that all the excitement was over. the firemens had come, they spayed the waters and the fire was out. still ... there was shattered glass on the sidewalk and even some melted aluminum or something like that.
from there on out, i just had to deal with the toxic fumes that made their way into the stagnant office air.
such an odd day.
AND ... it wasn't even the only car fire i saw yesterday. when i was walking after work, i saw another burnt out car in a puddle of water with firemens milling about.
apparently it was just *that* hot out yesterday. i don't know how many more days i can handle with it feeling like it's over 40 degrees ...
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
becoming the cat lady: step one
i've taken the first step, yes, yes i have.
back in the day, i believe i was voted "most likely to become a cat lady" in my high school graduating class. since that time, i've been resisting the urges, i've been analysing my actions, i've been trying to ensure that i don't become a cat lady.
but really, what is a cat lady? how many cats do you have to have? does one cat make you a cat lady? does two? and why aren't there cat men? that just doesn't seem fair! but this is all beside the point right now.
yesterday i took the first step - now i'm sure you're thinking that this means that i got a kitten (which would be fantabulous if i actually did) ... but no, i did not. however, i did get me one of those nifty shopping carts so i can easily wheel my purchases from the grocery store to my house.
maybe this is really just the first step on the way to me becoming a bag lady ... but i think it's more the cat lady route. you see, this little cart can make me more independent - i won't need to grab a taxi or even go on transit with the other pl in order to transport heavy purchases home. instead, i can do as i please, in my own little world. heck, i can even block out the real world with the music on the ipod (so if we step backwards, maybe that was the first step to becoming a cat lady. if i'm listening to music, i find i have an excuse to ignore ppl when they try to talk to me on the street)
and in the end, what's a cat lady but an independent, recluse who only has cats for friends?
back in the day, i believe i was voted "most likely to become a cat lady" in my high school graduating class. since that time, i've been resisting the urges, i've been analysing my actions, i've been trying to ensure that i don't become a cat lady.
but really, what is a cat lady? how many cats do you have to have? does one cat make you a cat lady? does two? and why aren't there cat men? that just doesn't seem fair! but this is all beside the point right now.
yesterday i took the first step - now i'm sure you're thinking that this means that i got a kitten (which would be fantabulous if i actually did) ... but no, i did not. however, i did get me one of those nifty shopping carts so i can easily wheel my purchases from the grocery store to my house.
maybe this is really just the first step on the way to me becoming a bag lady ... but i think it's more the cat lady route. you see, this little cart can make me more independent - i won't need to grab a taxi or even go on transit with the other pl in order to transport heavy purchases home. instead, i can do as i please, in my own little world. heck, i can even block out the real world with the music on the ipod (so if we step backwards, maybe that was the first step to becoming a cat lady. if i'm listening to music, i find i have an excuse to ignore ppl when they try to talk to me on the street)
and in the end, what's a cat lady but an independent, recluse who only has cats for friends?
Monday, May 22, 2006
bits and pieces
i keep thinking i should write in my blog and i have lots of things to write about. but when i think about writing them, i find i have not much to say - no expansion upon the original thought. so this could definitely be a post of random thoughts.
1. life jackets are important. especially in hypothermic type temperatures.
2. rain makes ppl wear funny things - like garbage bags as pretend ponchos. but my favourite outfit i saw during the downpours was the asian IT type guy was wheeling a little shopping cart thingy with a case of lakeport honey brown (or some such brand) in his too-short, tapered, pleated khakis and plaid shirt holding the lavendar umbrella with bows and flowers on it. wonderful!
3. the true love cafe has redone its signs! apparently you can stay in the true love castle - i wonder if they rent it by the hour?
4. do fireworks sound like gunfire? what does gunfire sound like? am i just being paranoid?
5. when you make an appointment, keep it. i'm not clingy - it's just that if i make a commitment to meet up with someone at some time, i respect that commitment and turn down other possible activities/rendezvoussss - so i'm annoyed when the appointment gets cancelled at the last minute.
6. will greg be the minister of finance again? when will dalton let us know? is it wrong to refer to elected officials by their first names?
7. am i being a baby if i refuse to try to make contact with someone if they have ignore my last attempt to make contact with them? should i swallow my pride and maybe open the window so i can escape my life as a recluse?
8. is it wrong to find compliments - no matter the source - even in the form of cat calls from construction workers or in the form of the homeless man on the bench in the park displaying his wealth by throwing a handful of change on the path in front of you and saying he'd like the pretty girl to spend some time with him - oddly flattering? is it wrong to be blushing and rolling your eyes/shuddering at the same time?
9. i thought may was supposed to be nice? why can't i wear my sandals yet?!? why why why?!?
10. is the mouse poo i found on my desk old or new? have the mice come back?
11. why do the IT guys lie? we got new computers at work and they make whiny/squealing noises (at first i thought there was a mouse torture chamber in my wall ... this goes back to my mouse paranoia). every 15 - 20 minutes it sounds like a mouse in horrible pain. apparently it's normal for computers to do this? well, it's normal for these computers to do this b/c they're small and there's not enough insulation to muffle that squealing noise? highly dubious!
12. (this is the last one, i swear) what's up with the da vinci code controversy? i can see why opus dei is mad b/c they are painted in a rather un-nice light ... however, i think it's great for the catholic church - faith is only strengthened when it's challenged, isn't it? it's kind of like how god tested moses in the desert ... right?
1. life jackets are important. especially in hypothermic type temperatures.
2. rain makes ppl wear funny things - like garbage bags as pretend ponchos. but my favourite outfit i saw during the downpours was the asian IT type guy was wheeling a little shopping cart thingy with a case of lakeport honey brown (or some such brand) in his too-short, tapered, pleated khakis and plaid shirt holding the lavendar umbrella with bows and flowers on it. wonderful!
3. the true love cafe has redone its signs! apparently you can stay in the true love castle - i wonder if they rent it by the hour?
4. do fireworks sound like gunfire? what does gunfire sound like? am i just being paranoid?
5. when you make an appointment, keep it. i'm not clingy - it's just that if i make a commitment to meet up with someone at some time, i respect that commitment and turn down other possible activities/rendezvoussss - so i'm annoyed when the appointment gets cancelled at the last minute.
6. will greg be the minister of finance again? when will dalton let us know? is it wrong to refer to elected officials by their first names?
7. am i being a baby if i refuse to try to make contact with someone if they have ignore my last attempt to make contact with them? should i swallow my pride and maybe open the window so i can escape my life as a recluse?
8. is it wrong to find compliments - no matter the source - even in the form of cat calls from construction workers or in the form of the homeless man on the bench in the park displaying his wealth by throwing a handful of change on the path in front of you and saying he'd like the pretty girl to spend some time with him - oddly flattering? is it wrong to be blushing and rolling your eyes/shuddering at the same time?
9. i thought may was supposed to be nice? why can't i wear my sandals yet?!? why why why?!?
10. is the mouse poo i found on my desk old or new? have the mice come back?
11. why do the IT guys lie? we got new computers at work and they make whiny/squealing noises (at first i thought there was a mouse torture chamber in my wall ... this goes back to my mouse paranoia). every 15 - 20 minutes it sounds like a mouse in horrible pain. apparently it's normal for computers to do this? well, it's normal for these computers to do this b/c they're small and there's not enough insulation to muffle that squealing noise? highly dubious!
12. (this is the last one, i swear) what's up with the da vinci code controversy? i can see why opus dei is mad b/c they are painted in a rather un-nice light ... however, i think it's great for the catholic church - faith is only strengthened when it's challenged, isn't it? it's kind of like how god tested moses in the desert ... right?
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