Apppril

I guess I better get down to what appears to have become a monthly ritual! There is both a great deal and not very much going on. But that straddles that line between TMI and plain information. My last blog had me returning from my travels and it really seems like a blur of not very interesting stuff since then. We have had some good weather and some bad. Right now it is rainy and yucky. I am not opposed to rain in general, but for some reason I am not pleased with it today. I wanted to go running, grocery shopping, and transport some stuff to and from my storage unit today. None of these things are activities I feel like completing while contending with rain today. I should be cleaning up my desk, a task I have intended to complete for weeks now but have continued to put off. There are probably other things I could come up with to accomplish, but I feel kind of blah like the weather. Interesting things I have done lately... on Easter I went and helped at Tracee's church with an Easter meal they put on for those less fortunate. There were over 200 people in attendance and I was clearing tables of plates and trash as people finished. It was quite an undertaking. Then Tracee and I hosted some of her friends for Easter dinner which was lovely. I went to a concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Symphony Hall last weekend. The concert was good, the chamber was beautiful, but I left feeling a little disappointed by the whole thing. There were about 50 people in the audience when the concert began and the whole thing was a little odd. On Friday I took some time off of work to take the train to Milwaukee for the Brewers vs Cubs game. My good friend Tiffany had organized a gathering of people along with one of her co-workers so there was a crowd of ... well I don't know, I thought I heard 22 but it didn't seem like that many of us. So I got up there and they picked me up from the train and we jetted over to get a good spot in the parking lot and we succeeded! We ate some yummy food and had a great time tailgating in the parking lot, grooving to some tunes and some played beer pong. I accidentally encountered a guy peeing in the parking lot which I disbelieved at first but I have been assured that it was indeed what was happening. I don't know that I actually watched much of the game. The Brewers were not playing well and I had not seen Tiffany in many moons, and while I had seen Ryan recently, there is always a lot to talk about! In any case, we had a fantastic time. Best time I have had in a very long time. Unfortunately we all did not weather the evening as well as we might have so we all had to go directly to bed after the game rather than painting the town blue and gold in continued jubilation. It was good to be back in Milwaukee in familiar places. I do miss all my friends up there and wish I had friends like them down here.

Things have been pretty rough over the last few months in multiple facets of life. Work has been pretty stressful for a number of reasons. There has been tension between my boss and others at his level, and while it has reduced quite a bit as it effects my boss, it is still extant. And there have certainly been some ups and downs in my personal life. But I think things are looking up as the weather heats up. I am looking forward to playing softball in a league beginning near the end of May. My parents are also coming to visit at the end of May so watch out Chicago! Also let's hope for good weather for their visit so I don't have to hear about it!

Love to all!

What a Monday!

I really wanted tacos for dinner, I don't know why, but by the time I got home there was no way I was going to get any. Two things delayed me. First, it was dark and cold outside, I had my laptop in my backpack and my gym bag so it seemed logical to take the bus. So I looked at the clock and found that the bus was supposed to come at 5:50 pm. So I was waiting in the union and saw that there was a guy waiting outside at the bus stop. The expected time came and went and there was no bus, not surprising. So when I finally saw a Route 62 bus coming I headed outside. The guy at the bus stop moved closer to the stop. The bus slowed, but didn't stop! This is particularly odd because that stop is the end of the line and often the bus drivers take a break there so it is extremely rare for the bus not to stop at all. The conspiracy theorist in me is beginning to think that there is a notice out to bus drivers not to pick me up as this is the third time in the last five days something similar has happened.

As I was missing the bus, I was on the phone with my dad who I was asking how quickly my heart rate should drop when I run. He said his doctors have told him 20 in a minute is good, in case you are wondering. He told me I shouldn't call him to ask such questions, I should use the Internet like he does. Nice. Anyway, my dad advised me to walk home, so I headed back into the Union and through Bolton. In the hallway I encountered a guy. He wanted to borrow a writing implement so he could write down a phone number from a flyer, so I loaned him a pen and gave him paper. "I applied for a job today," he said.
"Really?" I said, "why is that ironic?"
"Well, work might be hard," he replied.
I think I guffawed. I think what he was getting at was that it is hard to work and go to school at the same time. I learned a lot about this guy. His name is Nick, he went to Lakeland College in Sheboygan, he wants to be an astronaut- live in space and work there. He is kinda in trouble because we have neither aeronautical engineering nor astronautical engineering at UWM. He was wandering the halls in search of Red Mountain Dew which is sold in only one machine in the Bolton/Union/Lubar complex. Oh yeah, he hasn't had a girlfriend in 2 years and doesn't feel like he is in a good spot to get into a relationship considering the time and effort required. Also he apparently doesn't get out much because he feels he must limit his social life in order to do well in school. At first I was waiting to get debriefed- like he was doing some kind of social experiment to see how long I would talk to him. Then as he asked, "Are you walking this way?" I thought, "Oh my God he is going to rape and kill me!" But, of course, I left him standing in the building with his red Mountain Dew. I called Brad he said he was hitting on me, but then he always thinks people are hitting on me. On the other hand Ryan says I never pick up on people trying to hit on me. I don't know the whole thing was kinda weird, but humorous. And it put me back at least ten minutes... and however long it has taken me to type about it.

While I was running on the treadmill this morning at the gym I watched most of the Roland Burris press conference. Why was a press conference held in an airport? Aren't they crowded enough and have to address enough security concerns without a bunch of reporters with cameras hanging around? It was a pretty repetitive press conference... "What will you do when you are turned away from the Senate?" "I feel I am the answer to the problems of the people of Illinois."

Okay enough for today... next time maybe a little about technology dependence.