Monday, July 25, 2005
Monday Morning
It’s early Monday morning. Not even 7:15 am. I exit the bus onto the dirty streets of Seattle. It looks like it’s been a busy weekend and the local homeless drug addicts are up early, looking for their fix. As I walk towards a crosswalk I see the deal take place. The couple who have just received their long anticipated fix eagerly wait for the light to change. The man steps into the street, daring cars to hit him as he waits. He can’t stand still and is waving his arms about excitedly. She is a little calmer. She’s got the drugs in her hand. She knows what is coming. The light changes and they hurry into an alley. I notice, as I walk by, her hand out with the drugs in her palm. I turn and keep walking, pretending I didn’t see.
I don’t breathe deeply; I attempt to not breathe at all. The air smells of day old ketchup and urine. It’s been hot, no rain has washed away what people have left behind, and the morning clean-up crews won’t arrive for another hour or so. I try not to notice the trash on the streets. Most of the litter doesn’t bother me; it’s made up of wrappers, napkins, cups. Every once in awhile, though, I see something I wish I hadn’t. I try to keep my eyes averted from seeing things I know will bother me the rest of the day.
The stark difference between the inside of my building and the outside isn’t lost on me. I stand in the elevator lobby and notice that new carpet was installed. I wonder if they will also replace the carpet in the elevator. It’s a nice soothing blue, dark with cream accents. The newness of it, the cleanliness of it, contrasts with the litter on the streets outside the window.
**********
The weekend was interesting. Freeman and I are searching for a place to live. We went looking on Saturday afternoon and found a couple of places we may be interested in. It was fun to look, envision our furniture in different rooms, us living in a different way. I realized I’m more excited than I thought to make this move. I didn’t know I was ready. I am.
Now I’m at work, trying to figure out all the things I have to get done before I leave Thursday for vacation. I’m ready for it. Am I EVER!
Monday, July 18, 2005
Blech
A) I had a great weekend with my mom
B) I’m tired
C) It’s hot – but I’m cold
D) Can it be time for my vacation now? Please? I’m a little tired of running around at work all the time and just think some extra sleep would be the best thing.
Squirrelly
Mom and I were leaving my apartment building to go to breakfast Saturday morning and I saw a squirrel in the planter in front of my building. I warned mom about it, and she informed me it had already run away. We both looked over at the building next store to see the squirrel jump onto a second floor balcony. We stopped dead in our tracks because a black cat sat on the other side of the same balcony. We held our breath as we watched the squirrel RUN TOWARDS the cat. Then burst out laughing as we watched the squirrel chase the cat around.
We picked Freeman up for breakfast and he proceeded to tell us about the video game entitled “Conker” which features a drunk squirrel. Apparently you can get the squirrel drunk and run around and shoot things.
Which leads to this though on Sunday afternoon:
I was walking to Freeman’s for dinner and saw a missing cat sign. My first though? “Wonder if the squirrel’s got it…” to which I started laughing uncontrollably.
I received some online pictures of a friend’s child. My first reaction? “Oh look, the kid isn’t ugly anymore. Now I can stop lying to her.” Really, I am VERY thankful the kid had grown out of the ugly stage it had been stuck in.
Stolen Picture:
I “borrowed” this picture from defective yeti. Mostly because I love him so much. But a little because I thought it was really funny and deserved to be shared elsewhere.
The new Google Earth application lets you zoom in on any place in the world, and then overlay the satellite image with the locations of commonly-searched for establishments, such as grocery stores, bars, and schools. Obviously this one is all about coffee shops…
(I find it even more entertaining as a Starbucks just opened across the street from my builidng.)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Things that happened this week that I haven’t mentioned:
1. The fire alarms went off in my work place first thing Monday morning. I sat at my desk a full 30 seconds before I realized what was happening and deciding that I should probably leave. I got up and followed other stragglers out (I hadn’t done a fire drill here so I really wasn’t sure what to do.) We stood outside the building waiting for them to tell us we could come back in. When the fire trucks arrived they actually had to shoo some people out of the way. People were so engrossed in their conversations that they didn’t notice the arrival or the men trying to get into the building. It was kind of funny to watch.
2. I attended a baby shower on Monday. My favorite part was the look on the woman’s face when she saw the baby blanket I made for her. I love those moments.
3. I was heading over to see F yesterday. I entered the elevator, pressed my floor and waited. A guy got on the elevator with me. He became immediately engrossed in the small TV screen mounted in next to the door. The elevator stopped on the 2nd floor and picked up another guy. He stood directly in front of the first guy and also stared intently at the screen. I wish I had a camera for that moment. Two men, who otherwise might have talked or interacted with each other or me (I actually knew one guy but he was too immersed to notice me) were glued to this small TV screen, heads cocked at the same angle.
4. Yesterday, as I was walking to the bus, I head a loud thump above me and glanced up to see a pigeon falling from the sky. Another woman heard the thump and jumped with surprise as the bird landed on the ground. She gave me a look like I had something to do with it. It shocked the bird pretty hard, it took awhile but it did eventually fly off.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Ranting
All I really feel like doing is ranting. Ranting about work, co-workers, team members, life in general. I’m feeling a whole new level of frustration with my new management and team. And I just want to complain. And don’t even get me started on mini-golf…
But complaining doesn’t get my anywhere. It doesn’t solve the issues that are occurring. It doesn’t help me to make progress in my deliverables, or even to figure out what those deliverables might be.
So, instead of ranting, I’m working. I’m thinking, figuring things out, and trying to move forward.
And I know mini-golf will only last for 6 weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I like mini-golf. I am just thinking the group I am with isn’t for me. They aren’t as fun loving as I had initially thought. Plus, I feel like an outsider with them. I often found someone standing directly in front of me, as if I weren’t even there. Or jumping in front of me when I was ready to go, ball on the ground. Huh. They aren’t all bad, but I am feeling as though the group together isn’t for me. I had a thought after the game last night, I gave up power belly for this? Huh. Plus, several of our team members are chimneys. Smoking almost constantly over the course, leaving cigarette butts all over the place, not to mention clogging my lungs with smoke. I feel like I spent the night in a bar. Which, in a way, I did. Yuck. No thank you.
That was a bit more rant than I was planning on. Oh well.
I’ve found a new favorite thing to do over the weekend. Every weekend for the past month Freeman and I have headed down to the Ballard Locks to watch the ships. Mid-day they usually have some larger tugs go through and use the large locks instead of the small locks. It’s really cool to watch the whole process. They load the ships in, the largest to one side, and then stack the ships side by side. Usually they are stacked 4 deep. There are about 6 or 7 rows of ships. The water is raised and they open the gates. Then it is a small parade of ships. It’s really cool to stand and watch all of the different types, shapes and sizes go by. The people are as equally interesting. You can tell who has done the whole thing before, who is there for the first time, which couples may be arguing later, who is there just to look pretty. It’s an interesting and insightful slice of society.
During the summer the Locks hosts bands. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoons the bands play, people bring chairs and sit all over the lawns and listen. I think they play for a couple of hours. It’s an added bonus listening to a band while watching the ships pass. It’s very relaxing too.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Friday…
It’s raining this morning. A nice drizzle that makes me want to curl up in my favorite chair with a good book, some hot coco (spiked with peppermint schnapps thank you very much), some soft music playing in the background and my big purple blanket wrapped around me. Perhaps my cat would curl up next to me, purring softly and making me warm. I would sit in my favorite chair, dozing off and on, reading here and there, and watch the world outside in the rain.
Instead of that, I’m at work. Not working yet, but it looks as though I may have a busy day ahead of me. A nice change from the drab, dreariness of work lately. Yesterday I barely had a break as I ran from thing to thing. The pace seems to be picking up. Slightly. I’m having problems with the boss lady. She seems to be a bottle-neck for work. So many things need to get done, and I would do them, if she would let me. Every time I push, though, she gets this look on her face and tells me to wait. I can’t quite read the look. It’s something between worry and consternation. I think she may be afraid to hand things over to me. She doesn’t know me that well; I don’t think she is comfortable yet. She also seems to be afraid of losing control over something. I need to talk to her…hopefully she will start letting this stuff go. She has a great team who is excited to be doing the things that need to be done.
Blah Blah Blah…
This morning I caught the elevator up to the office lobby. My building has a food court on the first floor, so you can either take the escalator or the elevator to the office elevator lobby. Normally I just walk over to the escalator, it keeps me moving and not standing, waiting for the elevator. This morning the elevator opened just as I was walking by so I jumped on it. Two other women got on the elevator with me.
One woman had an umbrella, I had passed her on the street and she almost hit me with the umbrella. She couldn’t decide which side of the street she wanted to walk on and kind of trapped me behind some thugs walking in front of the building. I barely missed getting swiped by her umbrella as she tried to figure out what she was doing.
The second lady in the elevator was an older lady. She looked tired and disgusted. Perhaps a little angry too. I happened to notice her jacket; it was a nice gray fleece. The logo was Grumpy. Ha!
As you wake in the morning
What do you feel?
Does a rush of happiness
wash over you when,
Suddenly, you realize you are alive?
