Courteous bus drivers?!

My first day back to school went quite well. To begin with, the commute was a pleasant surprise. Last night I complained about the fact that I was planning on leaving at 8 am this morning. Well at 7 am, after just 4 hours of sleep, I wasn't very inclined to get up. I ended up leaving at about 8:45. It was fine, though. I got to campus just after 10. The bus system was really easy to figure out. It was kind of weird, I rode the bus all the time in Spain, but I've only rarely ridden it in the States. So commuting today brought back memories of being in Spain. The first bus I rode was pretty crowded and I had to stand up most of the way. However, nobody was pushing, and if anyone bumped into anyone else, they apologized. Not only that, but it didn't smell bad. Clearly deodorant does make a difference. It was quiet, too. Also, not only will a bus driver stop and let you on if you get to the bus as he's pulling away, but if you are making a connection and you see your next bus pulling away as you arrive at the bus stop, you can actually have the first bus driver honk at the other bus driver for you so that he will wait for you to get off the bus you're on and board the other bus. Nice, right? I think if I ever asked a bus driver in Spain to do that, he would laugh in my face.

My classes all seem like they'll be interesting; it's good to be back in school. I'm going to be doing a ton of writing, though. For starters, my German Lit. class has a writing assignment due at the beginning of each class. Luckily, I only have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That should make it a lot easier to juggle my job, classes, and homework. Not to mention the fact that I'll save a lot of time only commuting 3 days per week. I had a lab class that I was going to be taking on Thursdays, but today I got it switched to Friday mornings. It's definitely worth getting up 1 hour earlier on Fridays to save 3 hours out of my day on Thursdays. So I'm sleeping in tomorrow :)

Back to school

Tomorrow begins my last year of college - well, technically today does since it's past midnight. I'm mainly posting right now to complain about the fact that I'm leaving my flat at 8 am. My first class isn't until 10:30! The problem is, I'm not sure exactly how long it will take to walk to the nearest bus stop or how long it will take to walk from the bus stop where I get off to my first class. Once I have things sorted out and know exactly how long it will take me, I may be able to leave as late as 8:45. But still, an hour and 45 minutes for 15 miles? That's ridiculous! I can run that fast! Not for that long, though... Hopefully the carpool thing works out. Anyway, I just wanted to complain publicly. I even have to make my own coffee tomorrow. I'm used to getting up and going to work 15 or 20 minutes early so someone else can make my coffee. Hey, I make coffee for other people all day long. Is it too much to ask that someone else make me coffee in the morning? Oh well, I should probably go to bed since I have to leave in 7 hours.

Not fun times

One of my coworkers took a look at the Jeep today. He said it's not the battery or the starter. Unfortunately, to find out what it is, he would have to take it apart. So when I got off work, I gave him a call to see if he thought he could fix it. But he's never worked on a Jeep before and he would have to do some research before working on it.

As frustrating as it is not having a running vehicle, it's even more frustrating not knowing what's wrong with the Jeep or how much it's going to cost me to fix it - not to mention where I'm going to take it to get it fixed and whether or not they're going to rip me off.

At least I know that God will take care of me. Please pray that He shows me what to do and that I'm able to get this taken care of soon.

Free pass on the 2-10

I walked home from work today. That's not such a bad thing in and of itself- it's only a 2 mile walk. The problem is, I drove to work. I worked yesterday from 2:45 pm to 11:15 pm, then today from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. So when I climbed into the Jeep after work today, I was more than ready to go home. The Jeep wasn't. I turned the key and nothing happened. I checked to make sure I hadn't left the lights on - no problem there. But I thought maybe the battery was dead anyway and it wouldn't hurt to try and jump it. So I went back inside to find out if any of my coworkers had jumper cables. A set of jumper cables and a guy to operate them later, there was still no luck. So I walked.

One of my coworkers asked me earlier today if I would switch shifts with her tomorrow. She just started school and somehow her new schedule didn't get into the system at work. So I agreed. I didn't really want to, I was scheduled to work 6 am to 2:30 pm and now I'll be working 12 pm to 8:30 pm (I've really been enjoying the morning shift lately - weird, huh?). But as things turned out, I'm glad I switched. Otherwise it certainly would have brought back some hiking memories when I left my apartment and started walking at 5 am. Well, anyway, hopefully it's something minor. Either way, I need my own car soon. I wish it were as easy to not have a car here as it is in Madrid. Make up your own question of the day.

The honeymoon's over, baby

Now I know you may be thinking, "How can the honeymoon be over? You're not even married." Duh. I'm trying to use a metaphor here. Work with me, people, would you? *exaggerated sigh* Okay, back to my point...

I believe that I may be reaching the end of the honeymoon stage at work. I still enjoy my job, don't get me wrong, but sometimes the days drag by even when I'm busy. For one thing, I've developed a love-hate relationship with the drive-thru in my store. When I'm at work, I like to be busy. It makes the time go by faster. The drive-thru is always busier than the cafe, but the downside is that the customers tend to be snobbier, too. I must say, I was completely shocked at the percentage of customers that come through talking on their cellphones. Most of them do not even stop talking long enough to pay and get their drinks, they just hold out their money and keep talking. After a while, it starts to get to you. Then there are the customers who, although they are not on cell phones, just ignore you anyway. They pull up to the window and stare straight ahead the whole time. They don't talk. They just hold out their money until you take it, then keep their hand there until you put a drink in it. I'm not exaggerating - people really do this.

It's not all bad, though. We have a lot of nice customers who come through the drive-thru, too. Today one of the drive-thru customers asked me what my name was. She told me that she has been going to Starbucks regularly for five years and I'm her favorite, that I'm the only one who always gets her drink right. That made my day. Especially since I have only been working there a month.

It's nice to be settled in and know my way around, too. I've begun figuring out some of the stuff that they don't teach you during training. For example: the walkie-talkie function on the drive-thru headsets. Oh, sure, it's there to make our jobs easier and enable us to provide better customer service- but hey, it's just like a walkie-talkie! The possibilities are endless. We have a customer that comes in every day and orders some sort of alcoholic drink. I'm sure some people found it funny the first time, maybe even the second, but enough is enough. I've only worked there a month; I don't even know how long he's been doing it. Dude needs a new joke. When he came in today, he asked if it was happy hour. Then he asked if he could get a couple shots of tequila. After he finally ordered his actual drink, he asked if he could get an extra shot of jagermeister in it. As I went to the back room to get some ice, I couldn't resist making a sarcastic comment about the novelty of the joke in my handy-dandy walkie-talkie. I know, not very nice, but I'm sure that's what the walkie-talkie function was truly intended for. Sarcasm.

Classes start on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to the classes, but not to the commute. What would be a 20 minute drive(if traffic wasn't too bad) will end up being a minimum 45 minute bus ride - but that's only if I take an express bus. The last one leaves at 7:30 am every day. I intentionally arranged my schedule so that my first class doesn't start until 10:30. It doesn't seem to have paid off. So now I can either take the 7:30 bus and go work out at the University gym before class, wait and take a bus at 9:00 for a longer commute, or find someone to carpool with. Knowing me, I'll probably plan on taking the 7:30 bus to school every day and actually take it about once a week. The other days I'll press the snooze bar eleventy-billion times and take the 9 am bus. So the 2-part question of the day is: What is the longest you've had to commute for school/work? Do you prefer to drive, carpool, or take public transport?

I'm falling apart

When I decided to go on a 12-day hike in June, I had no idea how long it would take for me to fully recover. After the second day of said hike, I lost patches of skin of about 1-1/2" in diameter from both heels of my feet. Also during the hike, three of my toes were smashed. Two toenails on my right foot were smashed by my too-tight hiking boots (incidentally, also the inspiration for my patented invention, Peel-Away-Skin). One toenail on my left foot was smashed during a fight over whether a certain food item is referred to as a "cookie" or a "biscuit." I won't mention any names, but if you're at all familiar with my hiking companions - it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who I was fighting with. And no, a "ciscuit" is not a good compromise. My heels healed over (hmm...) within a week of finishing the hike, but the skin there is still pink and shiny. My toes, however, are a different story. Within the last week or so, I have lost portions of three different toenails. So, of course, I have pictures to share!

It's kind of weird. I've always been really healthy and never had to go to the hospital for broken bones or other injuries growing up. But during the course of the past year, I've been a wreck. In November, I broke the little toe on my left foot (you can tell by comparison in the above picture that it didn't heal back the same!); in February, I gave myself a mild concussion and bled all over the place; then in June, I destroyed my feet on this hike. So the question of the day is: What is the most memorable injury you've had in the last year? Alternative question of the day: What is the stupidest thing you've ever done to cause injury to yourself? My answer to both questions is the same: The concussion I gave myself in February happened when I stood up quickly, hitting my head on the cupboard door that I had just left open. I unknowingly cut my head on the glass pane and discovered it moments later when blood started dripping on my clothes. This just happened to be right at the beginning of finals, and it unfortunately affected my memory. I got headaches whenever I listened to, read, or spoke Spanish - not a good thing since my classes were taught in Spanish and my finals were given in Spanish. One night I even had to have Kelly explain my own notes to me because I didn't understand them (I had written them all in Spanish). Needless to say, not one of my proudest moments.

Hey

So I'm a little overdue for a post. I think the main problem is that I always wait for a reason or some sort of motivation to post. Why not just sit down and write something? So that's what I'm doing this time.

Just 10 days left until classes start up again. I think that's a good thing. It should be interesting going back to juggling a full load of classes and part-time work. Last year not only did I not have a job, but I didn't actually study except for during finals, either. That won't really be an option when I have to write papers and things.

On the workfront, things are going well. I've worked there just under a month and I feel pretty comfortable. I'm getting lots of hours, too. It's kind of funny, though. I think I actually prefer opening, even though it means I have to be at work by 4 am. I like the morning setup and it's nice getting off in the middle of the day. I'll probably be closing a lot once classes start. I don't mind that either, though. One thing is for sure, I'm definitely still taking full advantage of the free beverages. Most of the time I get one before work, one after work, and one at each break - so on a full day of work, that's 5 drinks. One or two of them are usually Passion Tea Lemonades, so it's not all coffee. However, the fact that each of the other drinks often have 4 shots of coffee in them, probably makes up for that... heh heh heh *twitches*

Here's a funny story: I bought a sectional couch off of Craig's List last week. I had been looking for one for a few weeks, but the problem was that I didn't have much money or any way to move a couch if I got one. Anyway, this one was advertised for pretty cheap and the guy told me he could deliver it. I went to look at it and it seemed to be in pretty good shape. So I bought it. We brought the shorter piece in first, without too much trouble. As we were carrying the longer piece in, one of my neighbors spotted us and came over to give us a hand. But when we tried to maneuver it through the entryway, we saw that it simply wasn't going to fit. So we thought maybe we could pass them through the windows. No such luck. We discovered that although the smaller panes were removable, the larger ones were riveted in place. That left one option: the balcony. I have large sliding glass doors in my living room that lead to my balcony/deck. That would seem like the obvious choice, huh? Why didn't we do that in the first place? The problem is, there is no outside exit from the balcony and it's on the second floor. But since that was our only alternative, we loaded the section back in the guy's blazer and he drove around to the back of the building. He and my neighbor turned the section up on its end and my neighbor called one of his friends (who was two doors down) to come and help. Then the friend came to my apartment and out on the balcony. As the two guys down below lifted the section up, we grabbed it and pulled it over the rail. From there it was a piece of cake. I felt bad that they all went to so much trouble, but it was a bit funny. Anyway, the couch is quite comfortable and I've really been enjoying it.

Politics

The topic of my blog today is political. Surprising? It's true I tend to avoid political discussion, but not because I'm not interested. One of the main reasons is that I don't enjoy being attacked and that has been the typical result whenever I have shared my political views in Seattle or Madrid. The other reason is that a lot of crooked junk goes on in the political realm and it makes me sick. Talking about it puts me in a bad mood and depresses me. But I'm breaking the mold today, mainly because I have some funny stuff to share - it's not all depressing.

For Washingtonians, the electoral debacle of 2004 is doubtless one of the first things that comes to mind when discussing local elections. For those not familiar with the situation, the contest for governor between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi had much in common with what happened in Florida during the 2004 presidential elections. After the original count, Dino Rossi(R) had just 261 more votes than Christine Gregoire(D). From an approximate 2.5 million votes, this comes to a percentage difference of less than 0.01%. Because the margin was so small, an automatic recount was done. The results were for Rossi again, but this time by just 42 votes. So then there was a manual recount, and the outcome was that Gregoire won by 129 votes. Throughout the process, ballots magically materialized and disappeared. Deceased voters miraculously made their way to the polls, convicted criminals managed to sneak out of prison just long enough to vote, and a bunch of other sketchy junk happened. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, but the final results hinged on the recount done in King County. At the final recount in King County, ballots which had been previously rejected were added into the count. But this was NOT done in other counties. King County is strongly democratic, so this played a large role in the final results. I now live in King County.

The reason I brought up the whole embarrassing, disturbing, disgusting story (I can come up with more adjectives if you like), is that I received an official local voter's pamphlet in the mail. Inside it says, "King County is working hard to fix problems and make sure your vote counts." Then there is a list of FAQ and answers. I found a couple of them particularly amusing and I wanted to share them with you, so I felt that I should provide a little background. Anyway, here they are:

"Q:What are you doing to ensure felons and deceased voters don't vote?

A:A top priority has been cleaning our voter rolls. We've cancelled more than 850 felons and 6,500 deceased voters from our official rolls since last year's election.

Q:May I vote for another family member if that person is away, or sick, or just recently passed away?

A:Absolutely not. It is against the law and a punishable offense to vote for anyone other than yourself."

It is really comforting to me to know that if any dead people show up at the polls, they will be turned away. As far as the question about voting for someone else, I sincerely hope that is not really frequently-asked. It is my feeling that everyone who asks that question should be automatically relieved of their right to vote because THEY ARE IDIOTS.