is it just me?

my alarm goes off at 6:40 and I have it set to NPR. Apparently NPR reports the weather at 6:40:10 so just as I am contemplating getting up they tell me that it is ridiculously horribly freezing outside again so I get pissed off and hit snooze. 6:40 is too early to be angry, but this weather is really making me mad. This morning it was -10 degrees outside when I left the house. I walk around in long underwear, lined boots, gloves AND mittens (just in case I need to take off my muppet hands so I can actually do something), a giant down parka, etc. I pull up my scarf so only my eyes are showing, and I am still cold. And yet, every morning I see students walking around with no hats. NO HATS. It is -10 degrees outside and they are throwing their ears to the wolves. So, are they just not cold? Are they used to it? Do they love frostbite? What? Maybe I am just a wimp, but whatever. I will walk around like Nanuk of the North until further notice.

It is becoming more clear to me every day why everyone I know moves to Southern California and never leaves.

Practically the same thing

As I was thinking about personal drivers the other day, I remembered a story that I never got to tell you because I was on hiatus. In August I had to go to a meeting in Newark. (As an aside, Newark is every bit as awful as everyone says. Sorry to any Newarkians, but it is really a pit.) Anyway, I decided to go see my sister in Brooklyn for dinner, and then go to the hotel which was by the Newark airport. She called me a car service to get me over there. They showed up super late, and the driver (to my surprise) was an Asian woman. I believe my feelings on the driving competence of Asian women is documented here, and while I am sure there are some that are really good drivers, most are not. I assumed this woman would be an exception, since she was a professional driver after all. I was sorely mistaken. She punched the destination into her GPS, but really seemed like she had no idea where she was going. More troubling, however, was her complete disregard for basic traffic rules and practices, such as not stopping in the middle of a lane at a green light, not driving with the lane line directly centered under the middle of your car, trying not to hit people. You know, that kind of stuff. So much to my relief we get out of the city without incident and appear to be headed for New Jersey. But despite the GPS, you can tell she has no idea where she is going. She drives by what I am fairly sure is the turn off, but when I mention it she waves me off. Then I can tell she is following signs for the Marriott airport hotel, which is not where I am going. I was going to a Marriott affiliate, one mile from the airport. So I say "no, it's not the one at the airport" and she says "don't worry, don't worry". Um...it's a little late for that. After she stopped dead after entering a relatively fast moving road, and proceeded to drive (straddling the lane line) at about 35mph, I texted to my sister "I think the driver is trying to kill me." So, we get to the Marriott, I tell her that is not the Courtyard Marriott, and it is not the place that I have reservation, nor is it the place where I am meant to be at a meeting at 8am the next day and she says (get this) "Practically the same thing!". Well, perhaps. But there is one crucial difference: IT IS NOT WHERE I AM GOING. So they give her directions to the right place, we proceed to go in a circle three times, I finally demand that she hand me the directions and I order her around until we get there. Uff da. So, if you are going to get a driver I might recommend a few test drives with them, just to be safe.

is that a meth lab in your pocket?
I have had a cold/sinus thing for about a month now, and it is getting kind of old. I have forgotten what my normal voice sounds like. Seriously. Anyway, I decided I wanted some Sudafed. I did not realize purchasing Sudafed was more difficult than sneaking across the Mexico border. First, it is behind the counter, which is fine. Then, you have to show your driver's license. And THEN you have to sign for it. For one box of Sudafed. Now, I will admit, I have never made meth (and probably will never do so after the whole Matt sets himself on fire thing in Nip/Tuck) but I imagine it takes a lot of Sudafed. A lot more than one box. And I know the idea is that they want to make sure I don't buy one box here and another there and so on and so forth until I can start my own lab. But seriously, a 30-something mom with a head cold wants of box of HEAD DECONGESTANT, don't you think they could apply common sense rules? In fact, I was denied purchase of some other drug last winter because I had entered the pharmacy without my license. It's so silly. I think they should look at me: is my hair stringy? (okay, maybe that's a judgment call.) do I look too thin? (definitely not.) strung out? ( a little glassy eyed, perhaps, mostly due to the fact that I can't breathe.) And then decide if they need to go all Fort Knox on me. But, I showed them my license, signed my name, handed over my first born (she's been super cranky anyway) and got the goods. I must say, though, I can see why people like that meth stuff, because on just two Sudafed I feel perkier than I have in weeks. Yay for that.