When you have short hair

When you have short hair, and you're outside all day, you have to wear sunscreen on the back of your neck. Otherwise, you'll probably get a pretty silly looking sunburn like the one I'm sporting between the collar of my t-shirt and the middle of my neck.

I learn new things everyday.

You Can't Discount the Ladder

My parents went into Manhattan last night to attend the wedding of a cousin. My dad talked at length with me before the wedding about how posh it was probably going to be. This girl's older sister arrived to her lakeside nuptuals in her father's boat.

"You know," I said, "you'll have to seriously readjust your expectations when your own children get married."

"Clair, I have no expectations," he replied. "I'm just giving you $50 and a ladder."

This morning, we talked about the wedding, which was indeed pretty high class.

"I'm going to have to readjust my expectations," he said. "I've upped it to $100 and the ladder."

"Well, I have access to the firescape. So if we forget the ladder, maybe you'd up that to $125?"

Good writing

This is one of the best lines I've seen in print in a really long time, and we have Bella Cantare to thank for it.

"Let's try to keep work and tricks separate."

Probably good advice generally. It's great out of context, but read the full entry to understand what it means.

Trampled by a Herd of Racers

I took a beautiful walk through the Presidio and parts of the Marina District this evening. Today proved to be the quintessential spring day - warm, breezy but not windy, clear, and surprisingly temperate well into the evening. I walked for about two hours, from my apartment through the Presidio almost to the Main Post. While there I noticed a large group of runners stretching below the freeway. I was standing above them looking towards the Bay.

I figured they were racing, or belonged to some running club. I finished my Presidio walk and headed out the Lombard Gate and toward Lombard St. As I approached the gate and the new Lucas Films studios, I was overcome by a herd of runners. There must have been about twenty in the first pack. I tried to get out of the way, but they surrounded me, leaving no space on the sidewalk or in the street. I decided to keep walking, figuring the group would pass. And they did, and then came the second (presumably slightly slower?) group. From these fifteen or so I was able to learn - from their t-shirts - that they're with the Team in Training marathon fundraising group. They passed, I resumed my place on the right side of the sidewalk, and the third group went by. I walked faster than they ran, so I figured the coast was clear to resume walking safely on the sidewalk. I watched the stragglers catch up, but I'm still not sure where they went. Maybe toward Chrissy Field, where they could trample more unsuspecting walkers, and perhaps get their ankles bitten by startled dogs.

Static on the line

Since I can't report the AT&T/Cingular/SBC Global megalith to the FCC, because I have to figure that since they approved the mergers they just don't care, I'm going to use this forum to vent my frustrations over THE WEEK I have now been without consistent Internet or phone service. You might want to step back a little. This could get ugly.

When I first noticed the problem on March 16, I didn't quite understand why the normally green light on my Internet router was blinking red. Nor could I figure out why the ear-piercing static on my phone line kept interrupting conversations. It wasn't until I was two days without DSL service that I realized every time my Internet connection failed, I also had no phone service.

Try explaining this (three times now!) to people who don't speak English, and probably don't have their own phone lines in a third world country. And who tell me things like "Just monitor the situation," and "Call our billing department once the problem is resolved to get a credit on your account, because we can't do anything about it before it's fixed." And perhaps my favorite of all: "We can't do anything about your phone problems. You'll have to call the phone repair line directly." BUT YOU'RE PART OF THE SAME COMPANY. AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO USE YOUR SERVICES IN MORE THAN A WEEK. I WANT MY DAMN MONEY BACK, BECAUSE I'M PAYING WAY TOO MUCH TO BEGIN WITH. And the only reason I'm not just ripping off somebody's nearby wireless connection is that my computer's too old for wireless.

And can somebody please tell me why, when I'm calling because MY PHONE DOESN'T WORK, everyone I've talked to has asked if I'm calling from my home number?

Sorry for yelling, but I'm feeling a little better now.

Fallout from the Ides of March

Strange things started happening to my friends around March 15 - breakups, layoffs, potential evictions, attempted pickpocketings, and the general bad day stuff of forgetting wallets and locking keys in cars.

At first it seemed like a weird coincidence surrounding the Ides of March. But it's continuing with alarming escalation.

I found out this evening that a friend's dad is in the hospital. He's been in and out over the six year course of our friendship battling congestive heart failure and other problems. But this time my friend said he won't come out. So if you have a minute, please say a prayer or think some good thoughts for the Murphy family this week. My friend and her family will thank you.

Trouble Ticket

My home Internet connection is on the fritz. I first noticed last weekend that the green light on my Internet hub, the light that confirms my broadband connection, was blinking red. Or was a constant red. A fire engine red. That can't be a good thing.

But I hadn't logged on. Perhaps the light just indicated a weak connection. Or maybe it had nothing to do with my ability to get on the web at all.

And then I tried to log on. And couldn't. My browser would open, but "the server could not be found."

Tragedy!

Tonight I had the time to call AT&T to resolve the issue. I spoke with a lovely woman named Alexa from India. Alexa did not speak much English and didn't understand the word "intermittently," as in "My Internet connection is going out intermittently."

She asked me to disconnect my DSL cable and hook it directly into the phone jack.

She told me the test of the connection (from India? I'm still not sure) wasn't showing any problems. And there aren't any outages in my area.

She filled out a trouble ticket.

She tried to transfer me to the "Line Department," but as it was after 6 pm they were closed. Not to worry, though. Alexa submitted the trouble ticket, and she promised the "Line Department" would call me. Sometime between now and Monday. Sometime between 8 am and 5 pm.

But I have things to post. Don't they understand? How am I supposed to write about St. Patrick's Day and post all the photos when I only have an Internet connection for 10 minutes at a time???

You too can commute with celebrities

I got on the 3-Jackson bus last night to get home from work. It doesn't get as close to (read: stop in front of) my apartment like the other two Sutter St. bus lines do, but it was there and leaving. And it had lots of empty seats. The Jackson bus goes through a beautiful neighborhood with lots of amazing houses, and the views are spectacular.

I sat down, turned on my ipod, and watched as happy homeward-bound commuters got on at the next stop. As I sat there, I swear that Diane Keaton got on the bus, complete with long pants, gloves, and darkly-tinted glasses. She walked to the back and took a seat a few rows behind me, so I couldn't stare to make sure it was her.

She got off on Jackson Street, in a really, really ritzy part of Pacific Heights, where consular officials and lots of rich people live. I got another look before she got off the bus, and if it wasn't her, then she has a double living in San Francisco.

Please explain this

I was in Banana Republic on my lunch hour and saw this sign near a display:

"Feminine Dresses"

As opposed to? Best answer wins a public shout out, and the Cadbury's Creme Egg that somebody left on my desk, which I can't eat because I've given up most forms of chocolate for Lent.

Angry baseball fans unite and riot

Tickets to the Giants home games went on sale today. I'm pretty excited about some of the early season matchups, and I bought a ticket for one of the Giants-Yankees series through a fundraiser at work. But then I logged onto the Giants website to buy a ticket to the other game.

And that's when tragedy struck.

Apparently, tickets to this series are ONLY available through the purchase of a six-pack of tickets. To lots of games I don't want to attend. I am VERY ANGRY and might have to storm the ticket window on my lunch hour.

At the deli counter

I went to the grocery store last night in search of American cheese so I could make a grilled cheese sandwich. I only eat the deli-sliced American cheese, because the processed, pre-packaged stuff is just gross.

Me: "Hi, do you have any deli-sliced American cheese?"

Deli attendant: "What kind?"

Me: "American cheese."

Deli attendant: "What kind?"

Me: "American cheese."

Deli attendant: "What kind?"

Me: "Um, yellow American cheese."

By this point we had moved our conversation to the end of the deli case, where all the cheeses were on display.

Deli attendant: "Do you mean this?" (while pointing to the Cheddar cheese.)

Me: "No, that's Cheddar cheese. I want American cheese."

Deli attendant: "We have lots of other cheeses in the self-serve case behind me."

Possibly the most indulgent thing I've ever done

I'm 29 years old, and for the first time since graduating from college, I'm finally in a position to support myself. Mostly. Gone are the days of great jobs full of awesome resume-building experiences and laughable salaries. Or the days of hoping student loans will stretch the duration of the summer to fill in the gaps where a part-time job doesn't quite stretch. But I'm still budgeting very carefully, and I never cave into the indulgences of manicures or massages or new shoes. And I only opened a gym membership because it was just sightly more expensive than using the city pool (and the showers have doors).

But yesterday, I participated in possibly the most indulgent thing I've ever done: I ordered groceries online and had them delivered.

Yesterday was supposed to be my night at the grocery store. My cupboards were bare, since I hadn't done any shopping before I traveled. But last night I had a fever and aches and felt way to lousy to restock my fridge, and I had little more in it than some leftover chicken and rice and a quickly dwindling half-gallon of milk. And I wanted orange juice. And soup. And scrambled eggs for breakfast.

And Safeway saved the day. I logged onto their website, filled out the new user form, shopped online, and scheduled my order for delivery this afternoon. The site was a little tricky, and it took a lot of concentration to make sure I ordered the right stuff (because scratchy tissues hurt my nose), but overall I'm pretty pleased with the experience. I stocked up on juice and soup and other "healing a cold" favorites, as well as toilet paper and some other bulky items I don't like to schlep on the bus.

And at 1 pm today, well within their noon-2 pm delivery window, two guys showed up at my front door with all my groceries. They carried them upstairs and dumped them in front of my fridge before explaining the bill and going on their way. They even wished me well in getting over my cold.

Ironically, the orange juice I ordered was out of stock, but they incorrectly left me two un-ordered jugs of cranberry juice, which I guess is a fair trade. I'm not sure that they delivered the right grapes, either, but I can disregard the seeds.

So as I sit here eating scrambled eggs, toast, and grapes for dinner, mostly courtesy of Safeway, I'm rejoicing in a little self indulgence. I don't know that I'd order my groceries online frequently, but I've spent some time standing in line at the grocery store with a fever and raging case of the flu, and this is much, much better.

Sick Day

I absolutely hate being sick, especially so sick that I have to invoke my right to sick days. When I left my office around 12:15 yesterday, I had hoped the achy, tired, cold, and generally icky feeling would pass soon - like before an important staff meeting I really needed to be at today.

To my dismay, a four hour nap and lots of cold medicine did not make me feel better yesterday, and I woke up this morning (after sleeping another 11 hours) feeling pretty lousy. But at least I no longer seem to have a fever.

So I'm sitting at home today, cranky and feeling lousy. I'm not quite tired enough to go back to sleep, but I'm not quite alert enough to do anything that requires serious brain activity. But I've progressed from my bed to my chair, so at least now I'm sitting upright. But from this angle, I can see all the files I need to sort through, so maybe I'm better off sitting in bed, where my view of the files, and the not-yet-unpacked box, is obstructed by my half-unpacked suitcase.

RE Congress 2007 - packing years of knowledge into four very long days

Apologies for my extended absence. After a particularly hectic three days at work, I departed last Thursday morning for Anaheim and the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, where I met up with two choir members and some others from St. Dominic's. It's the largest gathering of lay ministers in the nation, and a four-day experience that's really hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been there.

The days are divided into workshops, with time for lunch, morning and evening prayer, and seven Masses each evening. And concerts by a host of liturgical musicians. And about 21,000 people went this year. The gathering takes up the entire Anaheim Convention Center and packs local hotels and motels.

It's an exciting, overwhelming, and phenomenal experience. And that was before we went to Disneyland.

Since coming home, people have asked what I learned. And the answer is, quite honestly, so much that it's hard to communicate. Disappointing, I know, but I left with a lot of music, tons of new ideas, and some insight into myself.

And, as happens every time I travel, I came home and came down with a cold. But it's worth it for the experience, and I can't wait to go back next year!

Birthdays, birthdays everywhere!

I have two birthdays to celebrate in the 'nation today. How very exciting!

First, a dear friend is celebrating today. I'm not too sure she'd want me to call her out by name, but I will say I wanted to do an electronic birthday greeting because I've temporarily misplaced my address book, and her birthday card is still not in the mail.

I'm sorry we can't celebrate in person, but I hope she's had a fabulous day!

Second, Brian, former of Tater36 (until it met a sad end at the hands of a Blogger upgrade) has now reached, as he termed it, the halfway-to-50 mark. A very happy 25th to him!