i'm so glad i didn't have to smack down at the tire place!

as i sit here typing, i think i may be inhaling fumes from next door. i don't know where it's coming from, but there is some strong smell happening right now (my syrup-neighbor moved, not creepy), and they're re-doing his place, so it could be from that.

this morning i was rudely awakened by a huge clap of thunder-the boys had no idea what was going on. and at 3a.m.i was hoping that i would wake up and have enough air in my tire to get me to the dart station; in my groggy state i was envisioning myself in the parking lot in the dark rain trying to get the spare out (mind you, my car is still full of everything-school right now). thankfully i got to the dart station safely! i just saw something on the news, if i had seen this, i might not have been so gung-ho about getting on the rail!

on the way to the conference, there were some unexpected delays, and the worst was when the conductor person came on and let us know that the train was stopping for service at union station (one stop shy of mine), so i got out and kinda' followed people around. i had no idea where i was going. i found a bus up on the street and i asked the gentleman driving the bus how to get to the convention center and he thought about it for a second, and couldn't give me directions, but said, "hop on, i'll just take you up and drop you off right now, i go that way." i'm the only passenger on the bus at this point, so on the short commute, i mention that my uncle used to drive a bus up in iowa. yep, just a little awkward talk on a bus with a bus driver who was probably now wondering why he offered to give me a lift. but he got me there and i am grateful.

then on the way back, i barely missed the train i wanted; the conductor-type was watching me cross the crosswalk even, and i know he was laughing inside when the doors closed just before i got to them-loser. so i waited for the next one, and when i finally got a seat, i could smell old business guy's breath even with his mouth closed..it was like 'death-in-my-mouth' breath. and then his buddy across the aisle by the other window missed his stop because he was nodding off and so the guy beside me chided him a little. well, his friend got off at the next stop. then guess what. my seat-guy starts nodding off (i notice as i try to inconspicuously glance over). well, about 3 stops later, the train was at another stop and he jolted awake and almost pushed me into the aisle because he thought it was his stop-but noooo...it would be the next one. no apology.

and when we got off, electric wheel chair guy made me feel like a snail-he whizzed by me like road runner and i could barely keep up!

this guy in an electric wheelchair made me very jealous-i want one.

once i got back to the car, i was hoping to maybe eke out one more day from my tire, but mr. tire looked up at me and said he was feeling rather deflated. so i took the ol' g6 to AA tire, which i found on the internet. on the internet, the reviews were good and one person even said that the office was neat and clean...(that person must've had a seeing eye dog that lied to her).i didn't get an indoor pic, but here was the outdoor the scene:

this guy's mustache was so typical old mexican movie mustache.

 i parked my car and went in to tell the old man what i needed and he went around to see if he could find a tire that worked for my car. so once he finally found one, he told me to pull in and someone else had pulled into the other slot. well, the young man who had come out to help me with my tire was confronted by the other car (we'll just refer to them as the rude car who thought the owned the world). anyhoo, they started telling him all of their problems and when he acknowledged them, he then came back and began to jack up my car and they got huffy- "why are you working on her car and not getting our tire for us? she just pulled up!" he was a little flustered and i just looked at them and said, "because i got out of my car and explained what i needed and i have been inside taking care of business-and yes, i arrived about 5 minutes before you." i don't think the guy really wanted to go help him. he he he. not trying to be mean, but i really don't like rude, bossy people!

rude, bossy people are yucky, 
julie

DART...be relaxing and on time, please

today was the first day of a week of training. i was planning on taking the DART public rail. my phone needed to be recharged, so i plugged it into my computer last night (as i cannot find my recharger-besides the one in the car). well, i put the computer in sleep mode, and learned a valuable lesson: the phone will only recharge when the computer is actually on. so it was dead dead dead this morning. boo. i needed my phone b/c a group of us were meeting. so i ended up driving so that i could get the phone recharged on the way to the meetings.

this was during the keynote speech, and the girl in front of us with the green shirt got a tattoo to match her shirt

tomorrow we're taking lunch and i think i'll catch the dart (otherwise i'll go broke because lunch was ridiculous plus parking-ew!). and i will not be wearing a skirt tomorrow-we weren't sure what everyone else was going to be wearing, so we dressed up and everyone else was fairly casual. on the way up the hill the wind grabbed my skirt, and i was afraid it was going to fly me away like mary poppins with her silly umbrella (only people might be seeing things they don't need to be seeing!).

i had to stop and put air in my tire today on the way home because it was gauging low. so when i stopped, i saw a nail in the tire. boo on all construction workers everywhere who leave nails and screws in the roads and parking lots! but i didn't take it out because i was afraid that the nail was the only thing keeping the air in...hopefully when i wake up in the morning, there will be enough air in it to get me to the dart station! (or to the gas station to fill with more air). i'm a little worried! poor little car!

when we got home, i let chaco out on the balcony because he was begging to go hang out. well, as soon as i shut the glass door, bruno grabbed a toy and said, "watch this!" then he trotted up to the door and dropped it right in front of chaco who couldn't really do anything from the other side but look at it. bruno just sat on the side chuckling.

chaco was trying to act like he didn't care, but i knew he did as he just stood in front of the door staring, i let him know that it was pretty obvious how he was feeling- he betrays his feelings-wears them on his sleeve.

well, i probably ought to check on the dart rail times in a minute and go down to see if the tire has lost air.

when i say your nails look great, i'm not talking about the ones you left in the middle of the road! rude.
julie

bruno, it couln't have been professor plum-he's not on csi

i have become such a 'non-fan' of special reports on the news. i mean, seriously! last night i was in the middle of a show when they cut in to talk for approximately 30 minutes about the fact that the president was going to tell us that bin laden is dead. ok...why do you need 30 minutes to tell us what he's going to tell us in 5? ruining the moment..that's like the blabbermouth friend that steals your thunder by telling everyone that you got engaged or that you're having a baby before you get a chance. and really? must we hash it out from every person's point of view? this ambassador, that terrorism correspondent, a white house correspondent...housewife correspondent...butcher...baker...candlestick maker...i didn't really even need to keep watching to find out what the president was going to say. and now to add to that, i have no idea who killed the lady on the fake show and if i really want to know, i'll have to watch it on the internet! (bruno said it was Professor Plum in the conservatory with the rope-which makes sense because he likes purple, he is a reagan conservative, and he calls his leash a rope...)

he's a patriot...and he said that the whole bin laden thing reminds him a little of the ancient undercover combat forces...ehud ridding the israelites of the reign of eglon, the moab king in judges 3. he would make that comparison.

and then afterward, i don't think more people could have commented about the whole ordeal...may i make a comparison with one of my favorite movies? yes, the wizard of oz, thank you. first the proclamation by glinda, how great that dorothy had killed the wicked witch...(of course killing a terrorist wasn't an accident like a house falling), but courageous dorothy killed her none-the-less.. and then of course the munchkins couldn't stop singing, "ding dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead!"(which is what all the fb comments reminded me of) but then, if you remember the wicked witch of the west came along and was much worse and more feared than the one who was killed. hopefully such is not the case here--that's where the similarities end really...(hopefully because i don't want to fall into a deep sleep in a poppy field with an incredible emerald city just out of reach!)

chaco is getting restless. he's squeaking his toy and getting closer and dropping it, squeaking it again, dropping it on my arm, squeaking it again and climbing even further up my arm to leave it where i can see and hear it better...incredible.

pretty sure he might've just said if i don't play with him he's going to start making guttural noises and get a crazy look in his eyes...because he just did.

it was raining when i drove to work this morning, and as i was driving, the tire pressure light was on, so i stopped at the station to get air..in the rain. but i didn't have my tire gauge with me and it was still low when i got back into the car...but i filled the tire it was telling me to fill, and now it's reading that the rear left tire has too much and the right front has too little...i think it might be a dyslexic computer. so i need to take my tire gauge out and check it manually. you just can't trust these computers!

this morning i walked into school and a little boy asked if i had a good rain. he's the younger brother of one of my students (i think) and i'm pretty sure translated he meant: did i enjoy the storm last night, but in my head i was thinking, 'hmm...did i have a good reign? i am the queen of my own little world, so yes, it has been a good reign, but it's not over..is this little boy suggesting that it is? he's using past tense...perhaps i should set up protection around the perimeter!'

ok, bin laden's dead, now let that be a lesson to you: don't be a terrorist.
julie