Here’s how I felt after dealing with private school brats and Satan’s personal minions, a.k.a. “cub scouts”, all weekend:
Author Archives: Marci
Always an adventure…
I just returned home from my first night covering security at the back gate at the Wild Animal Park. The good news is that I managed not to curse over the radio. The bad news is that they didn’t give me a gun. I suppose this was good thinking on their part, but with a gun I might’ve actually had something to do. Let me tell you, not a whole lot goes on at the back gate between five and eleven pm. I think I saw a bunny cross the road, but it was pretty dark out, so it was hard to tell.
On the way home, as I was about to cross a very busy intersection, I saw a rather large dog bounding confusedly down the road. I pulled over my car and called the dog over, and lucky for me, he was pretty friendly and very cute. I then noticed another large black dog that was with him, but no owner in sight. I managed to get Pete (the first dog) into the trunk of my car so that I could read his tag – luckily, there was a number on it, and Pete’s owner answered right away. They’d been looking for the two dogs frantically for the past hour and said they’d be right over to pick him up (the black dog had headed down the road, across the intersection, and I couldn’t go after her). Unluckily for me, as I was securing Pete in my car, I slammed my trunk hatch down on the bridge of my nose, which proceeded to spill blood from the cut. Good thing I’m so prepared and had a first aid kit! Well, the owners drove up right fast, and the guy was an EMT so he checked me out to see if my nose was broken; alas, it’s just ugly. The woman took my name, address, and phone number, and I didn’t even ask her why as my head was still spinning from eight hours of mind-numbing boredom followed by a swift crack to the ol’ noggin. Anyway, they loaded up Pete and I hope they were able to track down the other dog. They were very friendly and very thankful that I called – they both seemed quite distressed, but relieved, too. So I’m glad I could help.
What do you think? Should I tell everyone at work tomorrow that I got cut in a fight at the back gate when I single-handedly stopped lion thieves from getting into the park, or should I just tell them the sad, sad truth? Hard-core, huh?
It’s Alive!!!
Yippee! The electrician that came over today took nearly 7 hours to find, diagnose, and fix the problems of yesterday’s turmoil (see post, below). The good news is that my tv was not fried! Unfortunately, the dvd player, vcr, and stereo did not make it. So I had to go out today and buy new ones! I got pretty good deals (I won’t tell you where I went because I’m so ashamed of myself, but it rhymes with “Almart”) on a combo dvd/vcr and stereo. So I’m good.
And now here’s something to cheer YOU up:
So my tv blew up today…
Sad but true, I came home this evening to partake in my usual Sunday night VH1 Celebreality extravaganza (a triple treat consisting of “The Surreal Life”, “My Fair Brady”, and “Breaking Bonaduce”) and discovered that my entertainment center (a.k.a. my entire world) was on its way towards self destruction. I pushed the power button on my tv and nothing happened. That’s odd, I pondered, my tv has always been such a reliable friend. Goodness – my vcr, dvd player, and stereo also all appear to not work. I figured I must have blown a fuse so I called Mom over to show me where the fuse box was.
While I waited for Mom to arrive, I strolled out into the living room, only to see that an evil poltergeist was turning on some of the lights in the house, making them brighter than usual, then turning them off after a few seconds. Odd indeed! By that time, Mom was at the door.
Pop pop bang bang!!! We went into my bedroom and found my stereo and vcr smoking. I quickly unplugged the whole power strip and momentarily mourned the loss of my stereo. Well, it was cheap anyway, so no terrible loss there. And my vcr had been eating my tapes, so as far as I was concerned, it deserved an inferno-like demise. But what about my tv? My dvd player? They did nothing wrong – they were innocent victims of some evil eletronic surge that sought to rip all that I love in my life right out from under me…oh, the humanity!!!
The SDG&E repair guy that hustled out disabled the circuit, so I sit here blogging to the light of two candles. I have electricity in the living room, dining room, and most of the kitchen, but I’m under black-out conditions everywhere else. I get to call some electricians out tomorrow to fix the problem – pray, please pray, for the safety and well-being of my tv and dvd player. I’m certain the stereo and vcr are toast, but if the others are fatally injured, I…just…don’t…know…what…I’ll…do…………
Will somebody please hire me already???
I mean, come on! I keep applying for these government positions, and I haven’t heard anything (except for the one job I didn’t get). It’s such a pain applying for these jobs – enough already! Someone just give me a job! I’m smart, right? Creative, am I not? Provide color in the work environment, yes? I know the speed at which the government works, but I’m getting a little impatient here.
I need money! I need benefits! I need my own office that I can decorate with Sea Monkeys and Life In Hell cartoons (ok, I might even settle for my own cubicle). I want to move out of my uncle’s house before he comes back and discovers that my cat has been peeing on the carpet in his hallway!!! I can live with being an aquatic biologist or ecologist or even a fish-type scientist, but if you know of any position opening up that pays really well and involves petting cats and watching tv, please let me know! Because clearly this is what I’m most qualified for… (and those darn government hiring people know it!).
Maxfield Parrish – Master of Make-Believe
Last Sunday, Mom and I went to Balboa Park where we caught the last day of the Maxfield Parrish exhibit. Parrish was an artist who lived in the early half of the 20th century, and is one of my all-time favorite artists. We were able to see many of his very famous works, including “Daybreak” and “The Lute Players”. His use of color and light is amazing, and it takes me to a wonderful world of magic, beauty, and serenity. One of the reasons I have such a fondness for Parrish’s work is because as a child, Nik used to tell my brother and me stories he made up from the Parrish prints he had in our home. They were wonderful stories, true to classic Nik form – I wish he had written them down for me to remember now! Below is “Daybreak”, and a re-enactment done by Mom and I in Balboa Park outside of the Museum of Art.
Dodging Hurricanes in Miami
Last week I went down to Miami to see Bob over Labor Day. It was hot, muggy, and hurricane season (as we all know)! Sunday night, after my flight got in, we went to Bongo’s (Gloria Estefan’s restaurant/dance club) where I had Cuban food for the first time. It was good, although not as spicy or saucy as I thought it would be. On Monday, we spent the afternoon at the Fairchild Botanical Garden – it was beautiful (see picture below), but the mosquitoes had a field day feasting on me – I think I had about 40 bites on me by the time I left! Bob had to work the rest of the week, so I spent the days on his boat with Brie (his kitty). We went to Coconut Grove every night where we shopped and saw a couple of movies. The Wedding Crashers was very funny, but Skeleton Key was somewhat disappointing (oh well, I didn’t really have high expectations of the movie anyway). And of course, the food was outstanding – we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and the Green Street Cafe, which served up an awesome salad and goat cheese pizza. Yummy! I had a very relaxing trip, but I did pick up a nice little head cold from some sick person on one of my flights. Sniff sniff!
Mom’s in the doghouse because…
She’s got a new dog! Yesterday, Mom went to Petco to buy her cat some stuff and came home with a new dog (which indeed is not the “cat stuff” she originally intended to buy). His name used to be Poncho, but Mom is renaming him Bailey. He’s two years old, some sort of border collie mix (I think maybe with Australian sheep dog or something), and seems to be fairly well trained and obedient. A bit goofy, too.
Of course, Leo (Mom’s cat) can’t stand him, and Michael (Mom’s parrot) has already crafted a handful of plans resulting in Bailey’s demise (which mostly involve a lot of pecking and biting). I introduced Teddy Bear to Bailey in neutral territory – the grass island on Fairway Park – and things seemed to go pretty well – Teddy growled, they sniffed each others’ butts, and then ignored each other. However, when Mom brought Bailey into my place, Teddy went ballistic and ran out from under the bed, barking, and charged Bailey. Zoe, my cat, puffed out immensely. Ok, so we have some territory issues, but that’s ok. Things will work out well between the two of them, I think!
Mom seems to be very excited with her new companion, and I hope it works for her. Her house is now officially a menagerie of animals (all of whom hate each other), and if Teddy and I ever stay with her again it’s going to result in some real chaos. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we have to!
Wwwwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Today I found out that I did not get the Department of Energy’s Fishery Biologist position. Boo hoo! I really had gotten my hopes up about that one, but apparently, my application was not among the “most qualified” out of the many that they had received. Bastards!
Oh well – I’ll keep applying. My brother told me to not be discouraged, so I’m trying to take his words to heart. At least I have a better idea of what I’d like to do in the next five years (i.e., get a good paying government job in the Pacific Northwest and pay off my debt). So keep your fingers crossed for me – I evidently need all the luck I can muster!
Stumpy’s on the move!
I finally received word from MonkeyToes…Stumpy will be sent off to his next stop tomorrow to…(drum roll here)…Olympia, Washington! He’s been patiently waiting the journey, stuffed in his box now for a couple of weeks. After Washington he’ll finally be sent back home. This little guy certainly has made the rounds, and he deserves a nice homecoming. Way to go Stumpy!!!
Fuzzy Undertones 
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