Machelle Has Her Say
Have you ever wondered what is the official birthday of the internet? There is a set date but it’s not called the birthday. Its called the Internet Enoch.
I asked a tekkie friend if he knew, and he had to go look it up. Turns out the date is January 1, 1970. I never knew that but you might enjoy having this bit of trivia up your sleeve some day.
Really wish I could put a sign on my parking spot at work that say “Do Not Park Here!” Everyone knows where my spot is and half the time I get to work and somebody has already taken my spot. I think they do it out of spite. That doesn’t exactly put me in a good mood first thing and then when I walk in the door I have to deal with a phone that is already ringing and people wanting things fixed or someone to yell at.
I might hire someone to make me a sign and put it up at my spot – its a way to make your point! At least they will have been warned! If they still park there after I put up my sign I might just call a tow truck on them! I bet I’d only have to call the tow truck one or two times before they stop doing it!
Lately everything has been so pressured and rushed that I can’t wait to get away from work and get home to my own little sanctuary. But I have been so stressed out that even after I get home my mind is racing and I am distracted with things that have to do with work instead of focusing on my dinner and whatever movie happens to be on cable that night. And then when I go to bed, I can’t seem to fall asleep. I just stare at the ceiling and worry about things.
That’s not good and it has been going on for about a week. I love my job, but I need to find a way to close off what goes on at work and decompress. I need to have some fun and relax. I used to call that “recharging my batteries,” so that when I wake up each morning I feel energized (pun intended!) and ready to face the day. So I decided to do something less passive than sitting on the couch watching a movie. I am going to start doing something that forces me to engage my mind and focus. I think I found the perfect way to do that: online games.
I have a laptop at home and I can sit on the couch, get online, and play a few rhands of Hearts. That would be so much more relaxing than watching those awful TV shows and movies that I’ve already seen a few times. Every game is different and fun when you have new online opponents from all over the world. I log in and join a game and the next thing you know I am not thinking about work or problems anymore. I am just having a few minutes of fun.
I have tried that for the past 2 nights after work and I have found myself falling asleep right away instead of laying awake and trying to count sheep. What a difference a good nights sleep can make in how you greet the day and handle all the little annoyances that crop up. The key to a better attitude is making some play time for yourself and having some fun.
Wouldn’t you know it? We are having one of the hottest summers on record with a bad drought and today my car’s air conditioner quit working. I had just finished grocery shopping at Kroger and loaded all the groceries into the back seat and as I drove out of the parking lot a funny smell started coming out of the air vents in my car. I turned off the radio and heard a funny squealing noise, too. The smell was awful and I could actually see it pouring out of the vents like smoke, but it didn’t smell like smoke. I don’t know what it smelled like – but it was bad!
I turned off the A/C and drove home with the windows rolled down. Thank goodness it was not raining or I would have either gotten soaked from the rain by leaving the windows down, or soaked in sweat by having to leave them up. After I got the groceries put away I called Firestone and told the service manager what happened. Of course, he told me to bring it in, but I can’t go without my car for several days – especially not on the weekend. I asked him for a ballpark figure of what it would cost and he said probably between $800 and $1,500, depending on what is wrong. He can’t tell me without looking at it.
So I am just going to have to wait for my next paycheck and drive with the windows down for a week or so. That stinks – it has been so hot lately. We have had weeks of temperatures in the 90’s and feeling like in the 100’s. It is too hot to even go outside and cut the grass or walk with the dogs. I just want to stay inside where it is cool and just hide from the heat as much as I can.
Last night I smelled something bad when I went out to get something from my car. I looked around to see what was going on and I saw something moving from my yard and across my neighbor’s driveway. At first I thought it was a cat – but she does not have a cat. And then I saw that it was three things moving – not just one. And when they walked under her side door light, I could see that they were black and white and they were really skunks!
I was shocked! I have never seen a live skunk before. All the skunks I have ever seen have been road kill and they were stinking up the road. So I didn’t know if these skunks were going to see me and spray my car or what! I didn’t even want to close my car door and make a loud noise to get their attention. But I didn’t want to leave the car door open and have them get into my car, either!
So I closed the car door as softly as I could and then I ran as fast as I could to my front door and went back into my house! This morning when I looked outside I could not see anything moving around and I didn’t smell anything bad, either. So I hope they were just traveling through and don’t come back.
We have been in a terrible drought this summer and several places are having a lot of wildfires. The one in Colorado is really scary – I have friends that live in Colorado Springs and that is where my brother lived for 2 years while he was in school. It makes me very sad to see the thousands of acres of mountains and all those beautiful homes being burned. And all those poor animals – it is a real tragedy!
It is also a problem for a lot people who have big plans for this weekend and for the Fourth of July. I have heard rumors that the police and fire departments are canceling their community fireworks shows and not allowing private citizens to shoot off any fireworks in their yards or neighborhoods, either. What a shame, but I totally support them in being careful about not wanting any wildfires here. We can celebrate in other ways and maybe next year we won’t have to worry about a drought.
Memorial Day is right around the corner with the big Rolling Thunder Rally happening in D.C. Although I don’t live in D.C. I can see motorcycles all over town getting ready for the big weekend. There must be about a quarter of a million bikes that attend this event each year. I think it is a great thing to support our military and all those Americans who fought in the Vietnam War. It is a sad day, but those memories that the vets recall on a daily basis is far worse than the reminder we get every Memorial Day.
A few sights to see in and around D.C. include the Arlington Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Although the viewing of these historic monuments is not pleasant because of the memories and they lives lost, they are still worth seeing and paying our respects to the fallen.
I have recently become a big fan of Ebay once again. Why is it that we get involved in some project or activity with all of our heart and then get bored with it after 2 months? This seems to happen a lot in my life. I remember this happening with men as well. For about a monht otwo I would be head over heels in love with someone and then it ends. The same passion happens with things such as Ebay. I am working hard selling and buying things right now, but check back with me in a couple of months and I will let you know how it is going.
That must be the secret of success. If you can stay passionate about something long enough you will become successful at it. It works in marriage if you can stay passionate aobut it long enough it works out.
Growing older can be strange and interesting at the same time. Lately I’ve been thinking about people I knew way back in elementary and high school. I’m wondering if Facebook is playing a part in this. It’s interesting to see how people have changed and how their lives have taken shape. But I find it more interesting to see how they haven’t changed. Little traits that they held as young children still show through in their adult lives.
It is fascinating at the same time but very strange to me. My Mom once told me that no matter how old you get you still think the same. She didn’t mean you always reason as a child, but the same insecurities and fears can grip you in your adult years just as they did in your childhood. Certain characteristics such as being uncomfortable talking in front of a crowd can be just as difficult in grade school as it is in a meeting when you are 35. Life is interestign and fascinating at the same time.
My parents wedding anniversary is right around the corner, May 15th to be exact. It’s a strange one it is their 51st Anniversary. Strange in a sense that the 50th was a huge celebration involving the whole family and this year not a word has been mentioned about the anniversary.
Life is kind of strange like that. We take numbers and dates and they become sacred markers to us about our lives. While the rest of the world has their own individual special dates anniversaries seem to be special only on the 1st, 10th, 25th, 50th and 75th. It’s a funny system we run. In fact over 75 years of marriage I would definitely hope for more than 5 special anniversaries.