Intrigued

You ever want something that you know you really didn’t want? It looked shiny, intriguing even. Just not for you, yet you couldn’t help yourself. You just wanted to touch this shiny, not good for you toy. Knowing that the shiny new toy would eventually fade away to reality, you still want a peek.

Maybe its angst and maybe I should just put that toy back on the shelf.

PSA: Left Lane is a Passing Lane

I haven’t taken a drivers test in 15 years so maybe just maybe they’ve added new rules. Hell I break road rules every so often (snicker) because sometimes that “No U Turn” sign isn’t helping. However, driving below the speed limit in the left lane and driving slower then the speed of traffic in the left lane is UNACCEPTABLE EVERRRRRRRR. Last time I checked the left lane was the passing lane, not the just sit there lane. In fact if there’s more then one lane on a highway so do us all a favor and just chill in the right lane UNLESS you’re ready to pass someone. For the life of me I don’t understand why people are so rude to think they can SIT in the left lane while people are passing to the right.

Maybe it’s because I’m in my car in highway traffic for more than an hour a day and feel the frustration of those inconsiderate people who hog the left lane when they’re not passing anyone and god forbid are driving below the speed limit.

To the idiot dude in the Jeep Cherokee who hogged the left lane going slower then the speed of traffic, whom I passed on his right this morning at 7:20 AM on GW Parkway I’d like to say VA TE FAIRE!

Clearly I need to find a job downtown. This commute from DC to Tyson’s Corner is driving me bananas.

Keepin' it Real

I was catching up on my school reading when my home phone rang at about 9:30 PM. I figured it was one of my parents since everyone else calls me on my cell phone and answered.

Quick background, I have a very very basic home phone service. No caller ID, voice mail or even answering machine and I don’t even have long distance capabilities on it. My cell phone has all those services included in the plan so I only used my home phone to dial into my company’s network. When I finally got DSL I kept the home in operation to make those just in case calls and so I wouldn’t “burn up” my cell phone minutes when I worked from home.

To make a long story longer, the person asked for me and then proceeded to tell me that my number was listed as an alternative telephone number for my little brother. That was news to me because I don’t think my little brother even knows my home number. I can count on one hand the number of times I talk to him in a year and that’s just because we’re not particularly close and we generally catch up when we see each other on holidays and over IM. The person on the phone identified himself very quickly and then asked me for a way to reach my brother. I was a taken aback because 1) I had no idea what this was about and 2) I was weirded out that they called me looking for a way to reach my brother. Since I don’t give out anyone’s number all willy nilly I asked the caller to tell me his name again and where he was calling from.

Now here is where things got a little bit dicey. The dude on the phone immediately got snippy and then tried to use some scare tactics such as “I know your bro is still in XXXXXXX (to use The OE’s term) and that it was in his best interest to contact them. That’s when the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I got a little bit pissy and said I’m not giving him any information until he tells me what this is about. That’s when dude said I’m not going to waste any more of your time and said goodbye, so I hung up.

Remember that scene on the Chappelle show in the “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong” segment and the girl receives a wrong number? Well that’s how I felt so I called my brother who assured me he didn’t have any clue as to why the person called me and that he was current on all his bills. Then I “Starred 69” the number and then gave it to my brother. I could have called what appeared to be a bill collector back to give him a tongue lashing but I saw what happened when folks “kept it real” and really it’s none of my business.



I’m just trying to figure out how in the world they received my number since I’m pretty sure my brother 1) doesn’t have it and 2) why would he give out my number as an alternative when he could easily have given them my dad’s number or a fake one.

I saw a 20/20 episode one day about the scare and illegal tactics bill collectors use to try to intimidate folks who owe money and if there are any out there reading this:

“I hate when mofos ‘be’ playing on my phone”

What would you do?

If someone you liked, like really really really liked tried to set you up with one of his friends. You and dude have hooked up on more then one occasion. You profess your undying “like” to him and that you want more. He gently tells you that he needs to work on himself and isn’t ready for more. Yet you find out that a few weeks later he flies across the country to hang out with some chica. You then tell him you can no longer hook up. However you continue to hang out on occasion, IM, email, phone and of course hook up. Two weeks after the last hook up you organize a Happy hour to where you each bring friends. Walking back to your respective cars, he repeatedly asks if you think Tom is cool. The next day you realize he gave your email address to Tom, who asks you to hang out.

What would you do?

Excuses

You ever talk to someone who has an excuse for everything! Who is always justifying their actions because they know they shouldn't be doing x, y or z. I seem to be surrounded by indecisive people and people who have excuses for things that they KNOW are unacceptable. I’m not throwing rocks because I live in a glass house. I KNOW I shouldn't have bought and ate that bag of cheetos when I stopped for gas last week. So what if I’d just ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill. I used that tidbit and a crazed work day as my excuse therefore I had no one but myself to blame when I couldn't fit into a pair of shorts from last year.
There are reactions for every action even if you don’t think your actions warranted that reaction. Am I making any sense? I’m not saying you have to watch every single thing you do or anticipate every reaction. BUT you do have to think about how your actions are going to affect the people around you.

Green With Envy

I don’t typically “envy” people but right about now I’m pretty envious of folks without any vision or tearing problems. Some of you may remember the clogged tear tuck, if not click here. I ended up having the surgery to create a by pass and unfortunately I’m now in a wait and see game. I’m still tearing and have had two subsequent doctor visits after the surgery and so far they’re still telling me to hold on it should get better. Since I’m using medicated drops the doctor made a stress test that included putting in yellow drops in my eyes. Unfortunately I still had my contacts in. On the way back to the office I looked in my rearview mirror to “check my hair” and saw this looking back at me.




I’m laughing now because I look like someone possessed by some alien life form. Either that or a new X Men character. I wonder what my powers would be.

Girl Scouts

A friend and I were walking back from the neighborhood "likka sto" (the kind with bullet proof glass) and ran across this squirrel on the side walk. He immediately ran up the tree and started munching on his prize. After a closer look we realized he'd snagged a girls scout thin mint cookie. He had one eye on us and the other was focused on grinding his little rabid teeth into the cookie.

Didn't realize that squirrels liked cookies let alone thin mints. You learn something new everyday.

Stepmothers

Mine is pretty nice and we get along which should be a given since she’s been my step-mom for almost twenty-five years. We’re definitely not Mother - Daughter close, not even Aunt – Niece close but more like 2nd Cousin close. As a kid I remember her not being able to comb my hair and I’d come home looking like a crazy person. I remember her throughout my child hood as someone who made sure that my dad who was no Ward Cleaver, made an effort to have me visit every other weekend when they lived in NYC and at least once a year when they moved to NC.

Yet throughout the years there’s always been that layer of uncertainty on how close we should be to each other. How close do you get to someone who isn’t your mother, yet has that role for your siblings and is your dad’s wife? Now that I’m an adult we see each other several times a year and she comes up to visit with me and some of her family in DC without my dad at least two or three times a year. I went on vacation with her and my sister a few years ago and she’s the one I communicate with when I’m planning a visit. That layer of uncertainty has thinned out a bit but is still there.

At my age there’s a greater chance that I may be a step mother. How close should I get if I’m not raising my husband’s child, how close should I get if they live with us? As a stepdaughter who has gone through the awkwardness what kind of stepmother would I be?

One of my good friends is going through some drama with her family now and a lot of it centers on her feelings towards her step mother who raised her and her dad who isn’t exactly Ward Cleaver. Her real mother is sort of in the picture but is emotionally unbalanced and they have a turbulent relationship. She’s relied on her stepmother to give her that maternal love and unfortunately according to my friend she doesn’t feel it. Family dynamics can be dicey to begin with and then you bring in the step parent element and it can get even messier.