August 2002
2002.08.24
countdown
11:08 AM PST :: comments: 3School starts Thursday. I've been waiting for five years to go back to school. I discovered early on that the working world just isn't much fun. Been itching to retreat to the ivory tower ever since.
I can't wait. ;)
-wink
hair coloring
11:04 AM PST :: comments: 0To celebrate my release from the working world and my glorious re-entry into the life of a student, I have gotten highlights in my hair. Nothing dramatic; just a little bleaching of my black hair to make parts of it brown. I've never done anything with my hair before except get it cut. It's fun to do something different. ;)
Sadly, nobody at work has noticed.
-wink
2002.08.22
genetic compulsion
10:49 AM PST :: comments: 0I'm actually not close to my grandmother at all. I've only seen her twice in the past decade. We don't speak the same language. She has Alzheimer's and doesn't recognize me at all. And yet I have a powerful compulsion to go visit her *right now*.
I don't understand it. Maybe it is some latent filial piety, genetically encoded, finally finding expression. Maybe it is some heterofore untapped resevoir of compassion for those in crisis.
I simply know that I am restless. For two days now, my mind has been on a flight to SF while my body fidgets here.
Were it not for my aunt's urging me to wait, I'd be there already. So I wait...obediently...waiting...
-wink
2002.08.21
fire drill
01:47 PM PST :: comments: 0We had a fire drill today. The drill was preceded by some training where we learned some very interesting things:
- It only takes two minutes for an initial flame to become an inferno.
- Our building only has sprinklers along the hallways and exits.
After the training, we proceeded to have our drill. Our head of security called the fire department to let them know that we were about to conduct a drill. Then he heads off to the nearest pull station to set off the fire alarm only to make the following discoveries:
- Our building has no pull stations.
- Or smoke detectors for that matter.
(I should also note that we supposedly have fire drills twice a year. Amazing how nobody has noticed these problems during our previous drills. Or maybe the drills simply serve as a bi-annual reminder to the head of security that he still has not yet provided any way to set off the fire alarm.)
I imagine a fire starting in the stacks. Nobody notices for about a minute. By now, the fire has matured from a baby fire into a full grown adult fire intent on reproduction. People on that floor have now noticed and they calmly line up to egress in an orderly manner. Somebody calls 911 and looks around for a pull station. There aren't any. So much for notifying the rest of the building. They egress safely before their two minutes expire.
Those of us who work in the basement are blissfully ignorant of the fire raging above our heads. At around the two minute mark, the fire finally reaches the exits. Upon the obstruction of our means of egress the sprinklers go off, which triggers the alarms, notifying us that we are sealed in a building full of nothing but buring books.
This fire drill has done much to raise my morale.
-wink
2002.08.20
waiting...wondering...worrying
10:01 PM PST :: comments: 0My grandmother is not well. Alzheimer's has long ago seduced her mind, and pneumonia is now smothering her lungs. Our heroic antibiotics have proven themselves impotent. The doctors suspect that her heart will surrender under this siege.
I want to fly to her side. My aunt urges me to wait. How long do I wait? How long does my grandmother have to live?
-wink
cirucmstances beyond our control...
01:42 PM PST :: comments: 0"Due to cirucmstances beyond our control, we will not be open until Tuesday Aug 20th."
This sign was posted on the door of Tea and Tomes. Tree and I took a little vacation this weekend, traveling to Florence and Newport to soak in the alarmingly breathtaking Oregon Coast. On Sis and Doc's reccomendation, we had planned on going to Tea and Tomes for Afternoon Tea (and also to pick up a Glug-Glug-Jug). In fact, Tea and Tomes was to be the highlight of the trip and the primary reason we were going to Newport at all.
After a wonderful time in Florence hiking in the Dunes Overlook and the Devil's Churn we arrived at The Sylvia Beach Hotel (a perfect retreat for bibliophiles) and checked into the Emily Dickenson room.
Then we went to check out Tea and Tomes. And saw the abovementioned sign. Alas! Devestation. Much moping. Tree and I eventually managed to cheer oursevles up with pizza.
The Glug-Glug-Jug will have to wait till another time. Sigh.
-wink