Putting out Fires

Well, this weekend I was all alone.  Ryan is out ‘camping’ so I’m left to fend for myself.  But!  I did manage to have a great time and kept myself really busy.  I rented girl movies, ate a whole pizza by myself (over a period of 4 meals, come one, I’m not that much of a pig), and I took tons of pictures.

Saturday my parents and I headed out to the Fountain Hills art festival.  This one has over 500 artists, its free, and SO great.  The problem is, I like to linger and look at things for a long time, but my parents are in it for the excercise it seems.  To each his own, but I figured that I needed to go back on my own for a longer look today. 

So today I jumped in the Mustang and took the long way, past the desert lakes.  It was a gorgeous day out, and everyone was out there enjoying it.  I ended up right in the middle of a biker gang and it was an interesting study in social behavior.  Anyone ever notice that the Harley guys only acknowledge the Harley guys, the old guys on glorified scooters only acknowledge the other old guys, and the crotch rocket guys basically give a big ‘F U!’ to everyone.  Anyway, I cranked the classic rock station and did my best to blend the red ’stang into the rest of the biker gang.  When we parted ways I gave them the patented Harley two-fingered salute down toward the ground that they all gave each other…. and I got the death glare.  Fine.  I guess Harley guys don’t like blonde girls driving Mustangs either.

After I went to the festival with my parents yesterday, I stopped by Michaels and Home Depot with the idiotic idea that I was going to create a space w/ a background and a light source (using a work light) for my aperture assignment.  I then got beautiful flowers and some great looking veggies to try some different things.  Well, I took 162 pictures and hated them all.  Inside, outside, sunrise, sunset, 40watt, 100watt, light through a window, light through the blinds…  I’m embarassed to even show any of them, but I put one on Flickr in case you’re looking to waste 15 seconds. 

But then at the art show today I spent loads of time at each of the photo boths.  There were two kinds of photographers:  the GREAT ones who made me feel small and so jealous of their years of experience and all their amazing travels.  Then there were the ones who were just ok.  Uninspired.  Fluff to decorate a room but not to stop someone in their tracks.  It made me realize that while I know I’ve got years and years of practice ahead of me, there’s hope.  If those people can sell photos, surely some day I’ll be able to also.  With LOTS of practice.  Lots.

On the way back today I drove by my old house again.  But this time I was armed with a camera.  The weeds are so bad I almost pulled them myself.  And because BLOG.COM SUCKS ASS, you’ll have to click HERE to see the picture.

That is all.  Happy week to you.

First, I have a lot of discontent for the new crap going on at blog.com.  I can’t post photos, some people don’t see my background (such as it is) or my header.  SO FRUSTRATING.  Oh and the stupid thing I just found out that the font doesn’t stay consistent all the way through a post unless I physically change it.

Second, I should mention (on the last day of the week) that this is National Engineer’s Week.  Have you hugged your Engineer this week?  Come on.  Where’s the love?

So I got tagged.  I’ll do it, because its been a while since I’ve been tagged, but if I tag you please feel free to ignore it.

Four Jobs I’ve had in my Life:

1. Intern for a business jet engine program

2. Bike-riding security gaurd (can’t you just picture that??  I suspect that my friend Bec actually HAS a picture of that, but I’m hoping it disappeared)

3. Front desk at the YMCA

4. Test engineer

Four Movies I’d Watch Over and Over

1. Goonies

2. Love Actually

3. Mallrats

4. All the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Four Places I’ve Lived:

1. Mesa, Arizona

2. Flagstaff, Arizona

3. Seattle, Washington

4. Mesa, Arizona

Four TV Shows I like to Watch

1. Grey’s Anatomy

2. Project Runway

3. That ’70s Show

4. Friends reruns

Four Favorite Places I’ve been on Vacation:

Geesh, this is a hard one.  I love to travel.  Ummm… (I might sneak one or two more in)

1. Florida (my relatives have a huge fishing boat and they live ON THE OCEAN)

2. Fire Island, NY

3. Paris (which is great as long as you don’t have to talk to the people)

4. Sonoma (if you’re going to wine country, don’t even bother with Napa!)

5. Kauai.  The Napali coast is unreal and I’m dying to go back and take the kayak trip from top to bottom

6.  England.  As much as I didn’t choose to be there for so long, I saw that GREATEST stuff, especially Bath.  Bath is a must-see if you’re anywhere near England.

Four Web Sites I Visit Daily:

1. Flickr

2. The Drudge

3. Dooce

4. Go Fug Yourself

Four of my Favorite Foods:

1. Eggs Del Monico (a family recipe consisting of hard-boiled eggs, mushroom soup from a can, and cheese on toast.  comfort food!)

2.  Pizza.  mmm

3. Anything Mexican

4. My mom’s lasagne

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. With Ryan

2. Rocky Point, Mexico sitting on the patio of my condo right on the beach w/ a beer and friends

3. Sitting in the bar in The Pines drinking wine w/ Erin

4. Sitting on The Rim at our favorite camping spot in a hammock watching the monsoons roll in.

Four People I feel sorry for because they’re getting tagged:

Kross-Eyed Kitty

Suley

The Great Saphenous

M

You know that day.  The day when you wake up and from the very beginning you FEEL that its going to bad.  This morning I went to get my leather jacket out of the closet (because it was only going to be 70 degrees today) and I dropped it on the floor.  And I felt the bad day coming.

And come it did.  Things were all bad at my work today with some a-hole ,who’s got it in for me because I’m a woman, PURPOSELY set out to make me look bad in a meeting.  That confrontation was followed up with a horrible email by the Program Manager to me about how I was inadequately supporting his program (which truthfully is TOTALLY BOGUS, and I had email to prove it.  thank god for technology).  And it went back and forth all day getting nastier and nastier.  Blah blah blah.  You don’t care.  I don’t expect you to.  And here’s my problem…

No matter how much we say we don’t take our work personally, we do.  And its hard for us to explain to the loved ones in our lives how horrible a work thing makes you feel.  They don’t understand, and you’re left feeling alone in the fight. 

So I decided that a trip to the station w/ a new recipe in hand would fix my mood.  But then I got to the store w/ my recipe and realized it had an 8 hour chilling time.  So I made my favorite peanut butter and orange honey cookies.  I’ve made it a million times.  To perfection.  But today…. well today was a bad day.  So I totally fouled up the cookies, so I run to the store for ice cream and toppings for The Boys (so I could get a much needed hug from Ryan), and then Ryan and I have miscommunications and now….

……I’m sitting at home at 9:30 at night with my second glass of wine and a trash can full of cookies.  Maybe I’ll call in sick tomorrow. 

Man, the weekends go too fast, don’t they?  This weekend was FULL.  Friday night I went to the Cullinary School for dinner w/ my family, then on to poker at Bec’s house.  Sat morning Ryan and I had the MOST fun doing my most recent homework assignment.  We’re learning about shutter speed and the assignment is to take pictures of something moving w/ slow and fast shutter speeds.  Well, OBVIOUSLY everyone is interested in pictures of my dogs, so they were my subjects.  ;-)  Here’s a peak:

I particularly love the flapping tongues. 

After the picture-taking, Ryan and I picked up Bec and Matt for a little Taste of Greece.  The festival sucked, but the food was tasty, and there were many other bars nearby.  Picture me playing pool throwin’ ‘em back at 2 in the afternoon. 

Today I did something SHOCKING.  Prepare yourself…..  I WENT TO CHURCH.  I know…  *collective gasp*.  Its been 4 years, and it was as strange as I’d expected it to be.  Anyway, it was for a friend’s baby’s baptism, so it was worth it.  Then I spent FIVE HOURS cleaning the house and stressing about an Atkins-friendly meal because I have relatives in town and I’d volunteered to make dinner.  Anyway, it was DELICIOUS, if I do say so.  (Is there an obscene number of CAPATILIZED words in this post?)

Anyway, the food was awesome, so I thought I’d share the recipes for Tequila Chicken and Italian Marinated Vegetables.  Totally delicious, and very low in carbs. 

Well, feel free to leave loads of comments to keep me entertained tomorrow.  You know, seeing as I’m the only person in the world who actually has to work tomorrow.  Boo. 

Yesterday we drove by our old house.  It has only been 2 and a half months since we left our first home, but in that short time that dumbass loser who bought our house managed to RUIN IT.  Our old neighborhood was kind of crappy looking, but Ryan and I agree that our old house is now BY FAR the worst looking in the neighborhood.  There are weeds in the front yard which are approximately 2 feet in diameter and 3-4 feet tall.  Sometimes I exaggerate a little in posts for affect, but this is NO EXAGGERATION.  I was so heart broken I had to drive away fast or I’d cry.  Our old next door neighbor, a sweet older man, had actually put up lattice work all along the property line.  I’m guessing he couldn’t stomach the sight either.  But then there’s our old neighbor to the North.  A (large) part of me is laughing at the fact that those jerks are stuck with this a-hole next door now.  Its only fair.  Karma’ll bite you right in the butt every time.

So I have a very unusual problem.  Ryan and I are going to Key West this April and I’ve been looking at hotels for us to stay in.  We’re pretty low-key and sorta shun the idea of big resorts.  Well, I found this GREAT Guesthouse that is gorgeous and affordable.  Not only that, they have a nightly happy hour so you can hang out w/ the other guests, and they boast a gorgeous, homemade breakfast every day.  Perfect, right?

Well, as some of you know, Key West is very gay-friendly.  I grew up spending summers on Fire Island in New York (in The Pines, no less), so this sounds like a plus in a vacation to me.  Well, this perfect hotel that I found states very clearly on their website that they are a ‘gay-specific accomodation’.  I’m very sensitive to not making other people uncomfortable, so my first thought is that I should ask for permission to stay there.  But then I think, hey!  This is about tolerance and acceptance, right?  It should work both ways.

Am I over-thinking this?  What do you think?  Should I contact the hotel to find out?  Or am I correct to think that ‘gay-specific’ is a gentle way of saying ‘gay-only’?  Let me know what you think.

Ryan and I are all about trying new things.  In the spirit of that, I jumped at the chance to take some pics of my girlfirend Jen P’s brother doing motorcross racing.  OK, first of all, it was like an hour and a half away from our house.  Seriously, we have a map of the whole valley and we went from the extreme bottom right-hand corner to the extreme upper left-hand corner of the map for this thing.  Then we get there and it is a sea of motorhomes and dirt bikes.  We were feeling a little fish-out-of-water, but we’re are game for anything, so what the hell.

When we got there, the little kids were riding.  We’re talking 5 year-olds on these mini dirt bikes, and when they all started up together it seriously sounded like a massive swarm of bumblebees.  “Rumblebees”.  I don’t know how those mothers watched that without multiple heartattacks.  Those kids were fearless, and it seemed like the bikes were totally in control. 

But then the older guys got out there, and it was nothing short of thrilling.  When you enter the parking area, every single person has to sign a waiver form, and watching the race it is totally obvious why.  You can walk RIGHT ON TO THE TRACK.  Dangerous, sure, but it let me take some great pictures.  (OK, they would have been better if I wasn’t such a scardy-cat, but whatever…)  Here’s some pictures of random people, Jen’s brother Matt, and Matt’s friend Levi:

So to balance the motorcross (which truly was kind of exciting), we also went to the Scottsdale Celebration of Fine Arts and to Happy Hour w/ friends this weekend.  Pics of those things later.

But first, a commentary on current popular hairstyles.  Is anyone else dying for the time when these moppy, nasty, greasy-haired hairstyles go away?  All these messy skater-looking hairstyles are just weird.  I feel bad for these boys when they get older and look at pictures of themselves looking grundgy.  Just like how I can’t understand how my parents allowed me to tease my bangs up to about 4 inches above the natural level of my head.  I have fully burned those pictures. 

Ryan and I were talking the other night about how neither of us has gotten sick this flu season.  I’ve been expecting it, and every throat tickle has me worried, but nothing.  So our theory:  we drink enough alcohol that it kills all the harmful junk in our systems.  Either that or our body is so fully excercised from dealing with the alcohol that it is strong enough to fight off the sickness.  Either way, take note.

So last night in our photo class we had the opportunity to show our work on the big screen in front of the class.  Not to brag, but….. HEY YOU STUPID PRIMA DONNA BITCHES!  HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM PICTURES?!  That’s right.  Half the class didn’t even follow the assignment (but maybe that’s acceptable in an art class, I don’t know), and a few people took about 120 (ok, that’s a literal number of the guy who sits in front of me who makes jokes then says, “You wouldn’t get it, its a Renaissance Fair thing”) pictures instead of the requisite 50.  I’m not fully happy w/ the pics, so I’m going to take a few more this weekend, but here’s the best of what I’ve taken so far (click on the pic for the album):

The assignment was to get pics of something from far away, then get closer and closer until you’ve got cool abstract detail pictures.  Mostly what I saw was random pictures of lots of different things.  I got the impression that a lot of people saw this as their opportunity to show off what they thought to be their best work.  OK, I know I’m an engineer and that makes me a little anal about rules, but come on!

Work sucks a big one.  I’ve applied for 2 jobs within my company, but FAAAAAR away from the job I have now.  It is such an unhealthy, happiness draining environment.  You make your own happiness, right?  So that’s what I’m doing. 

 Oh, and before you write me comments about how I misspelled something in my title, use your noggin.  (and by the way, that was REEEAAAAALLLY funny the other night when Ryan and I came up with it…..drunk)

Might as well put ‘em to work, huh?  Ryan pays about $600 a year to the union, and today I’d like to thank Captain X for giving him the opportunity to use them.

Ryan is modest and won’t say it, but he’s really well-liked in the dept.  As such, his friend CJ offered to take his shift today so we could party at the Open together!  Thanks CJ!  So they had Captain X change the schedule, and I woke up this morning with visions of beer and slutty plastic-surgeried Scottsdale chicks dancing in my head.

At 8 this morning Ryan called to say that someone had called in sick, and instead of following procedure and calling the next person on the mandatory list, Captain X decided it would just be easier for him if he made Ryan stay.  EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW RYAN HAD ALREADY GOTTEN THE OTHER SHIFT COVERED BECAUSE HE HAD FAMILY PLANS TODAY!  EVEN THOUGH RYAN HAS HAD TO WORK EVER SATURDAY HE’S SUPPOSED TO HAVE OFF FOR THE LAST 4 MONTHS!

I wish it was as easy as having Ryan find another department, but it really isn’t just that easy.  I just hope that this crazy schedule ends.  Soon.  I miss my husband.

Thanks for listening.

To avoid sounding like a broken record I won’t complain about the fact that Ryan has mandatory AGAIN.  Thus negating our planned trip to the Phoenix Open tomorrow.  But I’m not going to complain.

So last night at 3am I wake up to, “Amanda!  Wake up.  There’s something wrong with Karma.”  I look over at her and she is going NUTS.  Our normaly nap-friendly, docile dog is hyper as hell and is acting like a 6 month old puppy looking for someone to throw a ball.  “Ryan, you better let her out.  She’s gotta be sick.  Wait.  Where’s Mika?”  So we call for her and hear a scratching sound coming from my side of the bed.  Turns out she was UNDER our bed and had gotten stuck halfway out.  Seriously the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.  That dog freewheeling trying to scratch her way from under the bed.  So we pull her out and turn the lights out again.  10 minutes later I’m just falling asleep when I hear hysterical laughing from the other side of the bed.  The image of that dog wedged under the bed and the subsequent giggling from Ryan got me through the day today.

So tonight I’m the third wheel on a date with Bec.  But her hubby’s just like a girl, so its cool.  No!  I swear!  That’s a compliment!  He’s the best.  Although his group of guys DOES gossip like my group of girls does.  And they do seem to talk a lot about wearing women’s clothes…  Wait a second…

Today at work I had a big test on my product so the company sent out their photographers to document it for the customer.  These guys have CAMERAS.  The cheapest they had was worth $5000.  WITHOUT THE LENS.  At any rate, can you imagine a job like that?  Getting PAID to take pictures, the company buys you whatever cameras you say you need, and you get PAID to take pictures.  I know I’m not a “photographer” or anything, but a girl can dream.  Although those guys had some interesting things to say about ‘hacks’ who take a photography class and think they can be a wedding photographer or something.  Guess that’s out at the end of my semester-long class then.

OK, gotta go get pretty for my ‘date’.  Oh, and I’m totally still going to the Open tomorrow w/out Ryan.  I just don’t get in for free because I’m sans firefighter.  Bummer.