the 'querque

Life in the 'querque has been quite interesting.

There are lots of liquor stores and "adult" stores. I'm not judging, simply commenting.

There was a bit of a windstorm today. I almost got blown away.

Class has been fun. One of the highlights was listening to a man named Leon Smith. He was one of the original engineers that worked on the Manhattan project. By a coin's toss, he lost the job of weaponeer on the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima). He ended up being the weaponeer on the bikini island tests. Pretty crazy. He's pretty much a genius, degrees from Yale, Harvard and MIT. Nicest, most unassuming guy.

Also in the class is the man that disarmed the bomb found in Ted Kaczynski's cabin in Montana.

The guy that teaches a class has a friend that knew Einstein.

I'm watching American Idol right now.....how is this Antonella Barba girl still on the show...last week they told her not to sing a big song, so she does Celine Dion..... (Melinda Doolittle all the way!)

Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Take the test here

Finally, I'm thinking about getting a roommate. He/she must meet the following requirements:

• Be nice
• Enjoy baseball
• Eat peanut butter toast
• Been known to jump out of perfectly good airplanes
  
• Still wear jeans from high school (but has bought some since)
  
• Have a bit of a shoe fetish
• Enjoy the Amazing Race
• if I think of more I will update the list...
  

Live from the 'Querque

I arrived in Albuquerque NM at about 2:30PM today.

What is there to do in the 'Querque you ask?

Not much.

I spent about an hour in "Old Town." It's cute but you either hace to parallel park or pay to park. I chose to parallel it. Oh, did I mention I'm driving this gem. It's like the poor man's PT cruiser. It's decent but I wouldn't buy one. Kind of a safety hazard if I do say so myself.

I was the invisible girl today at the airport. I was waiting for the guy in front of me load his stuff onto the x-ray machine. Next thing I know, the woman behind me has started pushing the man's things out of the way and begins loading her stuff onto the belt. No matter. So I make my way to the gate, "A" pass in hand, and plop myself down in the "A" line. I'm 3rd in line and pretty pleased. Next thing I know, a man walks right up and plops his stuff down in front of me and calls his wife to tell her about his great spot in line. Normally this would piss me off but I kinda just laughed about it. I must be in a decent mood.

So what is Albuquerque famous for you ask?
-Green chillis...I don't care for them AT ALL, but some people think they are AMAZING!
-The Sandia Mountains, that's right, the watermelon mountains to those Spanish speakers out there.
-Motorcycles (I made this one up....but I did see about a bagillion on the road today)
-They also have a triple A baseball team named "The Isotpes." I find that quite amusing, anyone else?

I'll update this list if I figure out what else they are famous for.

Guys named Nick have a thing for me...

I'll get back to the title in a second.

So Anthony came and visited me this weekend. We went into the city and:

• Had dim sum at a really good place.
• Went to the Palace of Fine Arts. It's the dome looking building. They have a replica at Disney's California Adventure. Glad I finally got to see the real thing.

• Went to the exploratorium. It's better than the Science Center. I totally annhialated the circuit problem. That's right, the ME took on the EE problem and kicked its behind.
  

• Road MUNI bus 30. It should just be called the "cram as many people as possible onto a bus" bus.
• Waited in line for an hour to get front row tickets to Jersey Boys. We got the front row tickets and the show was great.....

So, "guys named nick have a thing for me," and I'm not talking about Nick Loper. I'm talking about Nick Massi, one of the 4 seasons. So we are sitting in the front row and long story short I received:

• point and a wink
• random stare
• double point and a wink

All from the guy who played Nick Massi. I'm just saying.

So Amazing Race all stars is on and I already have my favorites. I've only missed 1 season of this show. My absolute favorite team is Danny and Oswald! I love them. I also love John Vito and Jill and the bald friends Kevin and Drew. Teri and Ian pissed me off, but they should be fun to watch. I can't wait for the first confrontation between Teri and Ian and the blonde beauty queens. I really don't like Joe and Bill. They are from season 1 and beat Nancy and Emily (the mother daughter team...they aren't on all-stars). Joe and Bill vs the beauty queens should also be good. Now let me get to the team I absolutely hate...ROB AND AMBER. Ugh, how can you make your life as a reality star...first survivor, then survivor all-stars, then amazing race, then they have their wedding shown on tv.....ugh. They are mean evil people. I can't stand them. Huh....Rob just did something nice...gotta be the first time in his life (I'm writing this real time).

In any case, I will cheer for Danny and Oswald, Kevin and Drew, team Kentucky and John Vito and Jill. Once they are out I will cheer for whoever is beating Rob and Amber.

There should really be 2 lines at the airport....
One line for those that know what they are doing and one for everyone else. Everyone else would include the following:
1. People that don't know about the plastic bag rule.
2. People that move slowly.
3. People that bring laptops and don't understand the concept of taking the laptop out of its case.
4. People who walk through the metal detector with metal on.
5. Children.
6. People with children.
7. People who block the aisle while boarding because they can't get their carry-on in the overhead bin.

Here is how you graduate to the fast lane:
1. Bring 1 quart size plastic bag with ALL your 3 oz. liquids in it. Have it ready, pack it at the top of your carry-on or get in the slow lane.
2. Move at a brisk pace.
3. Have your laptop out of the case before you get to the bins or at least have the case unzipped to facilitate the process.
4. Don't leave change in your pocket, put your cell phone in the tray and don't wear a belt. If you must wear a belt, take it off while you are standing in line and shove it into your carry-on. (Side note: when I was little I wanted to set the alarm off. I would load my pockets with quarters to try and make it go off...never really worked. I think my pockets were too small.)
5. Loosen your shoelaces and unzip your jacket. They are both coming off whether you like it or not.
6. Walk down the aisle with your carry-on in front of you. Have it ready to throw into an overhead bin. Carry-on luggage is for people who like speed and efficiency, we don't want to wait for checked bags. If you can't get your carry-on into the bin in a reasonably fast manner, you aren't driven by speed and efficiency and would probably enjoy waiting for your luggage at baggage claim.

I'm really not that cynical, I just think that air travel could be more efficient.

I Still Hate Stanford
When I got off the plane in Seattle I saw a hord of tall skinny guys dressed in red sweater vests. Standford had just arrived. They only thing that crossed my mind was, "man I hope we kill them." (I meant that as "man I hope we beat them really bad," in case you were worried).

On the way home I sat right in the middle of the entire San Francisco State University track team. They were a little roudy but it wasn't too bad. The best part was the phrase they talked about for about 30 minutes. This is the phrase that they will be telling all of their friends: "While you were asleep, I was haulin' ass." Now, I understand where they are going with this...but they really didn't need to talk about for 30 minutes. They were really proud of it. Did I sound like this when I was a freshman in college? I sure hope that wasn't the wittiest thing I could come up with.

Superbowl Commercials
So I think it's silly that people are upset over some of the superbowl commercials. People need to lighten up. That's all I'm gonna say.

Christmas in February

I returned home, ready to post my weekend blog. I will postpone the weekend blog until tomorrow. Instead, I am posting the awesome piece of mail I received.


This was the house Christmas picture and the boys sent me a few. In case you can't see, we are all looking at Playboys, the boys have beer and I am "shocked by" the centerfold (if you click, it should come up bigger in another window). As a sidenote, Hunter's face is great.

How cute are those guys. I had fun living with them but I'm sure they are happy to have an all boys house now. Enjoy the picture and be on the look out for another blog tomorrow.

the weekend in review

X-men is on right now. I really enjoy that movie :-)

Spent yesterday with Katie, Paul's cousin. We went shopping in Walnut Creek. Hit up Nordstrom and H&M and some other fun spots. I've decided that the customer service at Nordstrom is better in Seattle than in California. Nordstrom is 0 for 2 right now. I have yet to visit the San Francisco Nordstrom but will report back with my findings.

We came back to P-Town and spend the evening with Katie and Paul's grandparents, nana and papa. They are a feisty pair.

Spent today with work people for a Superbowl party. It was a pretty anti-climactic. I decided to cheer for the Bears after their intial return....they let me down. I am a fair weather fan and have no shame admitting it. I really just like to win. I'm excited for baseball this year. I have 3 chances to go to the World Series: Mariners, A's and Giants.

It is suppose to hit 71 tomorrow. I know you're jealous. Too bad I can't wear shorts to work.

I've decided that one of my biggest pet peeves is slow people in cross walks. I know they have the right of way, I just appreciate the hustle. I hustle. It's just a courteous thing. I don't get upset if they are older and lack the ability to hustle (I'm not that mean). Today for instance, 2 guys in their 20s are just taking their sweet time to cross the street. I want to make make a left turn but they are walking so darn slow that when I finally have an opening they are in the way. Clearly I have some slight road rage issues, but if people would just hustle their buns I'd be happy. My other pet peeve is people that don't wave. I appreciate the wave. And now I will step off my soap box.

Speaking of driving....it's crazy down here. People speed like it's nobodies business. And it's incredible the amount of space people find sufficient for changing lanes. Good thing I learned how to drive from Bob at Sears.

I like valentines day because it is a good excuse to buy dove dark chocolate.