Paula Polinski has your number...

Remember this?

Well the photographer, Mike Calanan, is from Buffalo, NY originally. He finds the video linked below very funny - as do I.

Paula Does Downtown

He recently went back there to visit family and got a voicemail message from Paula right after he returned. For some strange reason he thinks I left him that message, not Paula. Isn't that odd? Why would he think such a silly thing? He also decided to commemorate the message with a slideshow on his Flickr account. You can clearly tell it isn't me.

Pahla!

Totally not something I would do. Totally. ;-)

Blank space.

Hi.

I'm just trying to write something in here today. I've made that promise to myself. I am going to try and write here EVERY SINGLE DAY for 21 days. Apparently after 21 days, if you're consistent, the whatever thing you're trying to do will stick and be permanent.

Or you'll go crazy and never want to do it again. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, right?

BUT WHAT DOES ONE DO when their mind is BLANK? I am sitting here, in a shirt that's way too big for me, in a stuffy room, and have nothing at all going through my cerebral cortex.

Like a VOID.

(Woosh.)

The only thing I am thinking about in conscious thought is how my left eye stings really bad and it could be possible I've burst another blood vessel in it. Let me check. Hold on.

Nope. Looks ok to me.

Don't get me wrong, there are things on my mind...way back there...but due to the extremely diverse audience reading this blog, I don't like to mention just ANYTHING. It wouldn't go over well. It's safer not to mention some things. I'm sure you understand.

So there's nothing to discuss. Really.

But at least I wrote something, right?

Hello.

Sorry it's been so long. You know how that can happen though. I just...leave...for awhile and come back later. Heh. It's great. Admit it. You love it.

Actually, when I was in San Francisco there was a show on about blogs on NPR and they covered two main topics: How to determine if a blog is real and how to avoid the dreaded "Cheese Sandwich Blog" Syndrome.

If posts suddenly just STOP and the blogger comes back later with a "sorry I've been away at horse riding camp" or "my aunt Merna and I went to China" or some such thing, you know the blog you're reading is written by a REAL PERSON and not some staff of a newspaper somewhere pretending to be a person.

That's me. Totally keepin' it real.

Then, apparently, someone once wrote "Today I had a cheese sandwich" on their blog way back in the infancy of blogging, prompting the Interworld to ask "Why? Why the hell should we care? We're sitting at work, risking our jobs that we despise to read your daily comings and goings and that is all you have to say? It's enough to make us stop this and do some work!"

Or something like that.

In any case, the point was that if you don't have something interesting to say, don't bother. This has been my problem. Adding to that is the fact I have eaten quite a few cheese sandwiches recently...so blogging has been downright out of the question.

UNTIL TODAY.

Actually yesterday.

Yesterday we had a staff meeting at work and I officially told my coworkers about moving to Oregon. I started out with "July 15th will be my last day" and there was an audible gasp in the room.

I was not expecting that.

It made finishing my sentence even harder.

I yammered something like "...sobecauseIamumrelocatingtoOregonumyeah." and looked at my hands. They were shaking.

Now most of you may be going "It's just a job. Get over it, drama queen." and you would be partially right. I can take things too seriously sometimes. But this has been FAR more than just a job to me. When I was going to lose my previous position from a cut in funding, that place took me in and gave me the relief of not only a job, but a job where I was already comfortable and familiar with the surroundings. I was given a job in a lower position than I had held before (technical writer to office assistant) and never, ever, ever felt less important than anyone else in the department or cheated out of status. My boss has been amazing. My other coworkers have been amazing. I have made friends there. They have come over to my house for dinner.

Basically, leaving will be really, really hard for me. There is nothing more exciting and desirable than the opportunity to make a fresh start in a new, captivating city with tons of things seemingly tailor-made just for me, but in exchange I have to leave my job.

My awesome job.

I'll be ok. I'll get over it. Once I hit the Columbia River Gorge I don't think it will sting nearly as much (TREES!) and I know my coworkers are happy for me...but still, I know going to work may never be like it has been again. It may be, dare I say it, NORMAL.

Here's hoping there's another abnormal job for me out there in Oregon.

Seriously.

Banana Box

Fuel cell vehicles are here.

Well, they are if you live in Southern California. I knew Honda was testing this but didn't think it would ever move ahead! Zero emissions! Wow!

Honda Clarity

Let's hope it becomes more widespread.

Thursday's Good News.

Slowly it happens...

He must really like that food.

My computer died.

Died as in "won't even turn back on". Thankfully it's under warranty (for about 72 more hours) so there won't be a charge, but I have to ship it off to Hewlett-Packard for the repair.

Yikes!

I could go on and on about how annoying the whole thing is and how this experience has significantly altered my preference in personal computing devices but I won't. There's no need. We've all been there before. At least, thus far, the process has been pretty quick and painless - plus they're paying the shipping cost - so kudos to HP for that, but still. Yeah. Shouldn't happen in the first place.

LUCKILY my dad has a computer (which is how I wrote this).

HOWEVER he uses said computer. Regularly. It is his computer, after all.

As a result, there are LONG STRETCHES of time that pass with nary an internet connection to be had - but where there isn't internet, there are ART SUPPLIES.

I did both of these in one night.

HA!

ALLERGY SEASON.