Return of the Keys

Finally found my stupid keys. And look! I have a whole 3 hours before my alarm goes off for work tomorrow.

Good night.

Where the hell...

So it's 2:15 in the morning, and I can't go to sleep. Not because of lack of fatigue, no. It's because my car keys (necessary for things like getting food and going to work) are gone. MIA. It's actually getting borderline ridiculous at this point. I mean, I drove home and got in my apartment this afternoon. They're in here. But WHERE?!

Hearting the Flannigan Crew

Can I say, the show on Saturday was a blast! Flannigan's Right Hook, for those who are unaware, is a great band from KC that combines traditional Irish music with some contemporary songs and bluegrass touches mixed in.

We got to chat with the band a bit throughout the night, but were unable to convince them that breakfast at 2 AM was better than an after party involving copious firewater. Oh, well. But I am happy to say that Shane (the fiddler) is now my Facebook friend! Why am I so happy? I dunno, but it makes me smile.

The dark side of Facebook

Earlier today, I gave my parents a call to see how they've been doing. Mom picks up the phone, and it's immediately obvious that she's not happy - anytime she calls me anything other than Gigita, I know that somewhere, sometime, a crime has been commited by me.

The question is, what was it this time? And the answer: Facebook.

There are several pictures of me participating in St. Patrick's Day festivities over the course of the weekend. In several, it is obvious that there is drinking going on around me. And I did drink a couple of beers over that week. But I was never drunk over those days. Not even a hint of a buzz. I nursed one beer for 2 hours, come on. Nevertheless, I was informed that in several pictures I am obviously intoxicated. Really? No. I just look stupid in several, and I don't need alcohol to help with that. That's just me.

I think she was eventually assuaged, but times like that I wish my parents weren't on Facebook. Oh, well.

Boo

Recently, my group has moved to a new set of digs in the hospital. We now have a small kitchen/bathroom area that we share during the day with the chaplains, a small call room with a bed, and an office where all our paperwork and computers are situated. I have a few gripes about the whole thing, but the main one is the fact that ALL of our computers are highly visible through the multiple glass windows facing the hallway, and for some reason there are random people that roam up on this otherwise empty floor all night long. Sometimes they tap on the glass to ask where someplace is, and sometimes they just stand there watching you inside. It creeps me out, especially when I'm alone up here at night.

So, I've found a couple of spots where I can sit where no one can see me in that particular zone. Problem is, there's not really room for a chair, so I often sit indian-style on the floor while I read or write. Weird? I don't think so. I do this at home a lot, too.

While in my corner tonight, I heard our door beep open and one of the cleaning guys came in to sweep and tidy up. When he came back to the spot where I was, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin -- he gasped, clutched his chest, and stumbled back a few steps. Apparently, his first impression was that I must obviously be injured or otherwise ill to be crouching in a corner in a semi-darkened room (to be fair, I do the semi-darkness thing at home too. What, you don't?). It took me a few seconds to calm him down, and then he left in a hurry. I guess he gets creeped out easily late at night, too.

Well, back to call.

Shoelace Mastery

Having fun hanging out with my nieces currently, and so far it's been a typical memorable day. The youngest one demonstrated the death throes of a cockroach for our viewing pleasure, very accurately, I might add. We also learned how to tie shoelaces - my middle niece is quite proud, and will now be able to help out her friends at school. The youngest, while speaking to her parents on the phone, stated, "Surrender! I can tie my shoes!" I don't know why, but it was pretty hilarious.

Naked Pizza? Sounds good to me!

While eating some lunch at Cafe Brazil, I was flipping through the Observer and came across a short segment regarding Mark Cuban's stimulus package. Basically, he's looking at various different business ideas or current small businesses that have potential for growth and investing. The article was discussing Naked Pizza, one of the first to benefit. This sounds like a great concept: all natural crust, green restaurants (part of their model is to use rooftop gardens to provide as much of their supplies as possible), and an addictive product, apparently. They arose from a firm belief that pizza should not and does not need to be junk food. It sounds like Cuban sampled their fare and believes they've got a winning product. Well, here's hoping to try this out in the future.

Sigh

In a moment of not paying particular attention, I found myself earlier today turning left under an overpass, the last in a line of cars. I realized as I was turning that the light was going from yellow to red. I also noted a police car at the intersection, right as the camera on the stoplight flashed, sending a commerorative photo to be paid for by me. The officer pulled me over, shockingly.

However, here's where it gets even better. I handed my license and registration to him. My license which was, incidentally, renewed 5-6 weeks ago. SO, despite the fact that the city of Richardson is already automatically processing a ticket from the camera, I got an additional ticket from the officer for the same offense, and he also gave me one more ticket. Why? Because the address on my license is still for Arlington and my insurance is for my home Dallas address. The annoying thing being that I inquired about this at the DPS office, they said that I could still count my Arlington (aka parent's house that gets the bulk of my mail)address as permanent and didn't need to change.

So that makes 3 tickets in one stop, 2 for the same offense. Interesting, but mainly annoying. At least my registration and inspection stickers were current, one thing to be grateful for.

Forrest Gump in One Minute

Awake

Perhaps spurred on by reading a blog posted yesterday, my brain was apparently in overdrive last night. I woke up at 5 am with several phrases pertaining to an idea for a book that's been rolling around my head for a while. Unfortunately, 3 or 4 good lines aren't going to cut it. Still, it was nice to capture them before they winked out of memory.

Of course, now I've been lying awake for the last 4 hours, dreading going to work. Maybe breakfast would help...