Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Token Election Blog

I'm going to put out this one blog about the upcoming election and then that will be it for me.

In California alone, there are a little over 23 million people eligible to vote. (To register to vote you must be a U.S. citizen, a _____ state resident, at least 18 years of age on Election Day, and not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony. It does NOT matter if you have a parking ticket, although apparently there are people in some states trying to convince you that this is true. Also not true: your party votes on Wednesday, November 5. EVERYONE votes on Tuesday, November 4. Silly tactics.) Only 69.79% of eligible voters are registered. In California it's too late to register, but some states you still have time.

For a map of your voting location click here.

And if you're still not sure...take a cue from Snoop Dogg. :)



...or there's always the kids (thanks Ing)!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

We Didn't Start the Fire...But Someone May Have

Apparently, for San Diego and Southern California, October happens to be Fire Season. I didn't realize there was a "season," but with the combination of the Santa Ana winds coming in from the north and the dry heat, fires are frequent. Surprisingly, it seems as though many of these fires are made on purpose. Most are man-made of course (think cigarette butts thrown out car windows), but some are considered arson. I can't imagine the mind of the person who willingly starts a fire. Thousands of people loose homes, animals, lives. It takes thousands of tax-payers dollars to fight the fires, and years to rebuild. There are stories all around the media this month about people who are just now able to move back into their houses that were destroyed by last year's fires. Crazy. If it's not hurricanes, it's something else.

In other natural disaster news: Spray Foam on Extreme Home Makeover House.

UPDATE: Check out California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention's Web site for updated information throughout the fire "season."

Friday, October 17, 2008

Royal Disappointment

I'm pretty sure yesterday was one of my top five most disappointing days of all time. Here's how my day went:

I got dropped off at work at little early since Justin needed to get to work for a meeting (we car pool as often as possible). It worked perfectly because I was supposed to pick up a Pier One gift card for my boss for National Boss' Day. I jumped in my car ready to head to the nearest grocery store (they have name-brand cards now there) when I had an epiphany. 7-11 should have the cards! So I run into the 7-11. It's in the same complex as my office. I pick up the Visa check card for $25 and head to the cashier. The gift was supposed to be $30 so I ask for five $1 scratch-off cards also. The transaction goes through on the scratch-offs, but it declines my debit card for the gift card. OK. Let's try the AmEx gift card. No dice. The lady hands it back to me with a 'whatever' look and tells me it's not working. Perfect. There's a 7-11 right down the block. So, I drive down the road and try again. The lady behind this corner, however, mentions that it might not work because I'm using debit. Apparently you have to use CASH, which would have been nice to know THE FIRST TIME. Do I have cash? Of course not. I'm a member of the Debit Card Society. So clearly I need to go somewhere I can get cash because the rest of my office is depending on me to get the gift for my boss.

To the Albertson's grocery store I go! I go on a five-minute detour around the block to get out of the 7-11, but make the light. I head 10 minutes into PB, take cash out of the ATM, and hit the check-out guy. Unfortunately, the first two Visa cards he picks up have the actual cards stolen out of them. (Note to grocery store thieves: There is NO MONEY on these cards. Stealing them is dumb and useless.) I finally get a card that works, which costs an extra $10 just to BUY IT. Rip off. When the clerk says "it's 9.95 just to get the card, are you sure you only want to put $25 on it?" I lose it. I just started yelling about how he can put whatever he wants on it. It didn't matter at that point. So, he takes a step back, puts the $25 on it, and I walk out the door.

By the time I get back to the office I've been gone for an hour. I'm now LATE to work and extremely flustered. Luckily, I get my articles finished and photos uploaded. I'm running on cruise control until 5 o'clock hits and it's officially time to head to the Jimmy Buffett show!

I'm taking Shannon for her birthday. The tickets are $20 a piece. I have to pay cash to our hookup when I get there. So, we drive in rush-hour traffic TOWARDS the border (for you East Coasters, this means towards traffic). It takes an hour to get there, but in no time we're in the parking lot drinking a Coors Light and munching on graham crackers in the back of Shannon's SUV. I've never met my ticket hookup before, so when I finally get the reception to text and call him, his "meet us near the RVs" is less than sufficient.

We walk through the gravel, dirt, and straw toward the stadium and were waiting in line for the port-a-potty when I realized I was missing the wristlet with my wallet. Shannon and I spent the next 45 minutes walking up and down the path we took to get there. Nothing. When we got back to her car I looked in my bag and pockets just to be sure, but it was definitely missing. I had the money to get in, so we were out of luck. I know this sounds ridiculous, but if you imagine your favorite band, the band you've loved since before you hit elementary school, the band that reminds you of your best childhood memories, you would have Jimmy Buffett for me. Yes, I've seen him before, several times, but dammit! I wanted to see him again! So, I'll be honest, I cried several tears for Buffett last night. I wiped them off like Cry Baby and tried to get on with my night. (Justin buying my anniversary gift definitely helped!)

Luckily, the amphitheater people called me later that night to tell me they found my wallet. Which is nice.

All in all, quite a disappointing day :(

UPDATE: When I tried to go get my purse back from Chula Vista, I realized WHILE I WAS ALREADY IN MY CAR that I needed gas. So, I start to pull off towards a gas station, when it hit me that I didn't have my wallet! Which means no money. Which means no gas. Which means I sat and waited for Justin to come back to his work from lunch because my phone died while I was trying to track him down. I did get the purse, but of course my money was stolen. Oh well. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still have hope for humanity.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Epidemic

Not one, but TWO people farted in my Yoga class last night. And NEITHER of them was me! :) Nike!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle!

I am aware of how simple this sounds, but Justin and I used our very own reusable bag at the grocery store last night for the first time and it felt so damn good! We kept forgetting to bring it with us and would get home to realize that we had yet another 20 plastic bags with no home. So, last night Justin (props to the Booger) remembered to bring the bag with us to Alby's. Holler! He'll probably never let me live it down that I wasn't the one to remember, but I'm OK with that. At least we're using our reusable bag :)