| TAKE THAT POSTAL SYSTEM! |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|05:26 pm] |
I came home ridiculously late last night in order to attend a meeting in Oxnard today. At my parents house, I found that my father brought back my stuffed manatee, Thundercow, back from Taiwan. I also had a mysterious package.
Upon closer inspection, I find that THIS IS THE PACKAGE I SENT MYSELF FROM SYRIA!
The date stamp? 08.11.08 Translation: Nov 11 2008
This package has taken over a full year to arrive. I have no idea where it's been, it looks like its been used as a stool for several months. It is as if the world felt bad about the last couple of weeks, and is trying to make amends with small tokens of affection!
I haven't opened the package yet, I want a camera to document my moment of triumph. I'm not even that certain what I had sent in the package anymore. Although, I know that I will soon be sporting one super awesome abeya...
DAHAHAHHAAHHAHA! |
|
|
| I hate being a grownup |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|09:14 pm] |
This is my triumphant return to LJ!
It is mostly to complain.
I am informed by the new dentist I visited, that of my NINE teeth that need fillings, and that my insurance only covers 80% of the cost of silver fillings. They estimated my out-of-pocket costs to be ~ $600. In an ordinary adult human mouth, one could expect 32 teeth. In a Vicki mouth, only 24 teeth can be found, on the basis that I am missing 8 due to enormous teeth in an unsuitable mouth! What does this mean? This means that FOR EVERY 3 TEETH I OWN, ONE OF THEM HAS TEH ROT! 37%, actually.
This makes Vicki unhappy.
The new eye doctor I visit has informed me that my perscription has gone up in my left eye, significantly. Also, he has found an anomaly in that same eye that is non-correctable. There is nothing they can do, but now that I know about it I can fret about it more. Then I was informed that my insurance covers lenses and frames, unfortunately, the lenses I needed are DIFFERENT THAN THOSE NORMAL PEOPLE HAVE. Therefore, I must needs to pay extra.
Ridgecrest doctors conspire to make me feel like a freak.
I'm beginning to think this health insurance thing is a scam cooked up by the health industry. When I didn't have insurance I never had this many problems. In fact, I had no problems. To date, I have had one cavity in my life, and it was in a tooth that fell out when I was 9. I have always had poor vision, but I dont remember having to pay this much WITH insurance. Also, I have developed a skin condition. I am afraid of seeing a dermatologist, because I am sure it will cost me much monies. I'm just not sure if I want to know what else is wrong with me now.
I woke up on Saturday morning to discover that someone has backed INTO my car, and the front fender is punched in and the paint is cracked up into little jutting sheets. This is particularly galling, because I park in the apartment complex. This means that for someone to have backed into my car at that angle, they'd have had to ALSO be parked in my apartment complex. We have 5 apartments here. No one left a note. I am seriously pissed. I don't want to antagonize my neighbors and I have no proof.
Lastly, my sleeping thing has officially become a work issue. I am to see a sleep doctor. Sleep clinics will not take me without a recommendation from a doctor. I lost my last recommendation. I cannot find a single doctor in Ridgecrest that is seeing new patients. Additionally, the closest sleep clinic is ~2 hours away, so why don't I go see the one in Ventura instead. I will have to use up all of my leave saved up to see a doctor who will tell me that I have a problem and send me to another doctor who will need to see me another couple of times, at least. All of these doctors will be out of town, and I will have to see them by taking time off of work, and each of them on a separate day.
My recent job application required me to FedEx 3 sheets of paper to HR. The FedEx in town was closed by the time I could send it out. I had to drive 90 miles away for the next closest one open on Sat. It cost me $14. If i wanted it delivered on Monday it was $36. WHY IS FEDEX STILL IN BUSINESS? MOST RIDICULOUS PRICE SCALE EVER.
P.S. I stepped on a particularly painful burr. The burrs here have one huge spike, so that they always land pointing up. It was like stepping on a tack. A tack may be less painful, because the spine is thicker than a tack. |
|
|
| Back-posting of demographics |
[Oct. 9th, 2009|08:12 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | timewaste, work | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Ridgecrest, CA | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Jamie Cullum - I Get A Kick Out Of You | ] |
Today I returned to the coast of CA to attend what turned out to be a really great meeting. It was both interesting in subject and in attendees. Today was also the day that I realized I attend meetings with an unusually large population of grizzled older engineers who wear suspenders and sport badass marine tattoos. I was very excited by this discovery. How excited you ask?  Venn Diagram Excited.
Twenty years ago they'd have broken me in half and sawed off my ear as a trophy. These days, they sit around a table and discuss reliability. Imagining thoughts for them makes me happy. Most of these thoughts will sound like Chuck Norris' tweets, I'm sure.
Another conversation:
Me: I have monday off. i've never appreciated Columbus more. /Gloat
Stephen: You suck. Though, we get kamehameha day, statehood day, and prince kuhio day off
Me: What? What sort of fake holidays are those? You cheat! As if hawaii isn't enough!
Me:What is kamehameha day about? Blasting people into space?
Stephen: Close. He was the first hawaiian king who realized how awesome cannons are and united all the islands.
Me: OMG I totally called it! What are cannons but primitive attempts at blasting people into space?
1969 MOON LANDING, A NATION IS UNITED!
They sure planted a flag in your cannon, long dead Hawaiian king!
|
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 2nd, 2009|03:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  determined | ] |
Happy birthday Lisa! I WILL call you! Soon... very soon... |
|
|
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvIm6Z3DMIo |
[Aug. 13th, 2009|06:03 pm] |
The entire month of August was non-stop.
So I now officially live in Ridgecrest. In theory, t is so that I can go to work. But since I'm still waiting on the security clearances it is still only in theory. I have so many people who are my boss but legally have no authority over me, even THEY don't know how many bosses I have, nor who ranks the other in importance. I asked my official supervisor today what I was supposed to be doing, even she doesn't know.
Day 1: fill out paperwork, drive back to SB
Day 2: attend meeting in Camarillo with EVERY SINGLE MAJOR DIVISION HEAD, no reason given.
Day 3: learn data analysis in Oxnard, return drive to Ridgecrest
Day 4: mill
Day 5: projected milling
Driving from the coast back to Ridgecrest, it was jacket weather all day, at night when I got back I needed the A/C.
Uncool, uncool.
Only one thing has saved this week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvIm6Z3DMIo
|
|
|
| PSA |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
Nicole! I called your cell phone because your house phone machine gives me the gibblies! I thought your birthday was today, when in reality its the 16th, but in my defense I thought today was the 14th, so in reality. I'm really only 2 days off. I'll call again :D
I spend the last two weeks in constant company. It was great! I got to see all sorts of people that I never get to see anymore and hang out and have super fun awesome times. Afterwards, I spent two days not speaking to humans. Sometimes, I just need some alone time to sit limply and stare at a screen. What did I do, you ask?
http://graphjam.com
http://thereifixedit.com/
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/
http://www.postcardsfromyomomma.com
I believe I have some great ones from my very own mum stored away in an archive somewhere, I'll have to pull them out and post one...
EDIT: http://mymomisafob.com/
OMG! ALL HER EMAILS CAN GO HERE!
( Particularly enjoyable mom notes )</div> |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|08:10 pm] |
In the greatest belatedly discovered tragedy ever, I am missing all the photos from 10/12 - 10/20. This including the period where I wandered SE Turkey, COMPLETELY ON MY OWN, encountering NO OTHER FOREIGNERS, so that there is no possibility of ever tracking down someone who had accidentally taken a photo of me on say, Mt Nemrut (of the fallen heads) and frozen determination to stay till sunset, the enthusiastic girls in the shop in which I bought my coat, the man who beckoned me into his shop to try out marzipan and refused to let me pay for the pair of socks I wished to buy; or Şanlıurfa the traditional conservative city where I stayed with the sweetest little old Kurdish lady who took me to a local hammam with her, had a conversation with the most well spoken/mannered 12 year old boy who learned over 3 languages entirely from tourists, was dressed up by scarf sellers in the bazzar, bought tiny amounts of laundry detergent, posed with newly wed couples and fed sacred carp, shared pomagranates with a tiny wizened little doorstep lady.
A single awful shot over the battlements on a wall in Diyarbakir, the Kurdish stronghold that was bombed two days after I left; one crooked personality-less photo of Hasankeyf, the beautiful tiny town slated to be flooded by the Ilisu Dam where I ate fish from the Tigris in the dark. None from the random dolmus trips I townhopped on trying to get to Mardin and the little nowhere towns in between where I was invited to a wedding, took photos with bus folk, all the staff from a gas station, and a little old lady who gave me a sprig of basil.
None of Harran (one of several of the "oldest continuously inhabited town"'s in the history of civilization. Only three horrible photos remain of Gaziantep none of which include the most gorgeous mosaic museum in the world, the nutsellers and their determination to serve us softdrinks, and a hilarious encounter with a three little boys, their bicycle and a giant sloping hill.
Actually I hit my first traveler in a week in Hasankeyf, so there might be some hope of begging some of their photos from their collection if I can find them again. But none of them will be MY photos that /I/ took. Or of the people that /I/ met and chat with/drank tea/ ate desserts/were randomly asked to pose with. This ranks in one of the top ten failures in my life.
10/12/08-10/20/08 search results on all three drives = a grand total of 8 photos. And it took me over 8 months to realize they were missing. I am absolutely furious with myself. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|12:05 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cynical | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing | ] |
I have chickens! They are growing in feathers, but are still mostly fuzzy little fluff balls. Their first night, I got up no less than 3 times to check their heat lamp. If this is what being responsible for human babies is like it is good that I don't encounter them often. The saving grace for my peepers are that they're damnably adorable, and are mostly content and quiet. I hear this is not true of human infants.
Now my time is divided between monitoring them and building them a solid coop so they don't get eaten like my last chicken. This is what I get for living behind a nature preserve. In the creation of this coop, I have discovered that theoretical drafting knowledge does me no good, and my garden does not come in "flat surface". If it weren't for the level, maybe it wouldn't have been that much of an issue, but now there is a level, and it bothers me. It bothers me a lot.
My mother has been demanding that I rid her house of my precious belongings. She wrote me an eviction notice and taped it to my computer. It reads:
( (in size 16 bold font no less) ) |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Feb. 19th, 2009|05:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | terrified | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Andrews Sisters - Civilization | ] |
While in Taipei, my cousin let me try out Fallout 3. Sadly, my video card wasn't good enough to play it on my computer, so I could only read post-apocalyptic fiction as a substitute. Oh, and watch Sarah Connor Chronicles. But I continued to distantly dream of it for the last 2 months. And now?! NOW I OWN MY OWN COPY! GRAARRR!! Mike gave it to me, unaware of what it would do to me.
( Do you want to know what I've been doing? ) |
|
|
| Egpyt: Part 1 |
[Dec. 12th, 2008|10:20 pm] |
So, for a country that had began as the highlight of my trip and was was roundly cut down by every traveler I encountered, I found Egypt to be overal, as good or better than I expected. I must admit, I was quite disheartened to hear from others about Egypt, such that fantastically low expectations may have something to do with how positively I viewed the country. This is not to say that I loved Egypt. I would go back to Syria or Jordan in a heartbeat. If offered a free ticket to Egypt, I would probably consider it first.
The country is amazing. More than any other country, Egypt had marvels just piled up in heaps. Other things found piled in heaps are: refuse peppered with goats (who really do eat anything), and package tourists (who will eat nothing not carefully prepared by their chef from France). I skipped the Sinai penninsula after Dahab, there was just nothing that struck me as unique. In my opinion, a mountain is a mountain, no matter who once stood on it and looked at Israel.
So I hauled my ass out of the mini beach paradise that is Dahab, and made my way to Aswan, the last major city before crossing into Sudan. Aswan is gifted with two museums. The Nubian Museum, a massive and impressive tribute to everything Nubian. Egypt : France as Nubia : Egypt. In the 1830s, Egypt gifted the French king with one of the matching Ramses II obelisks from Luxor temple; in return, France sent them a clock thats never worked. In the 60s, Egypt built the Aswan dam, flooding Nubia, followed by the High Dam which flooded pretty much the rest of Nubia; In 1997, they opened the Nubian museum. I doubt it made the Nubians feel all that much better though. UNESCO mounted a 50+ country emergency rescue of the treasures of the area proposed to be covered by Lake Nasser, and much of their work is documented in the museum. The star of the show is Abu Simbel. Two temples built into a mountain II, lovingly and meticulously cut up and reassembled up and inland, they angled the temples to catch light at the same angle, and even constructed a mountain to look like the original. Knowing the original and relatively recent history of the temples at Abu Simbel made the visit to the actual site even more impressive as there is no sign at all, that Ramses II hadn't commissioned their construction there 3000 some years ago.
( In which I embark on my adventures through Upper Egypt, and frequently diverge into hate schpeels )
|
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 24th, 2008|09:10 pm] |
On the afternoon of the 22nd, I was in Dahab, 18.5 hours later I was in Luxor. A swing around town and 5 hours more on a train and I arrived in Aswan Nov 23, 10pm. TRIUMPH! MWAHAHAHAHA
Prior to my arrival to Aswan I had spent 4 days in the middle of Wadi Rum, a desert preserve on the lower inland part of Jordan. I slept outside on a series of seat mats, and stared at the stars all night until the moon rose and blotted out the rest of the sky with its light. The desert is absolutely silent at night, and after a while, my ears begin to fill the silence in with made up noises in an attempt to break up the silence. It was amazing, the only bad part was that since we were staying at a camp empty of all other people, it was also pretty empty of water. I had red sand everywhere, and no water to shower.
Where the desert is completely silent at night, the day is completely different. Swarms of flies appear out of nowhere and descend like a plague upon anything that may provide moisture. Humans are a particular favorite. I began to long for a full face veil. Irritatingly enough, the only place where the flies DIDN't follow anyone, was the toilets. That's just not right. The flies were so thick on...just about everything, the only thing to do was to give up. I would spill water onto my pants to try to get the flies to stop landing on my face. They were like a blanket of flies. It was terrible. When eating lunch and holding lunch conversation with Ana, I would punctuate each sentence with an expletive. "So if I HAD to see Gallipoli on my way out of Istanbul, I'm actually glad that I went with a tour. MOTHERFUCKERS!" Following my 4 day desert adventure was my full day microbus adventure through all the towns that had infrequent bus connections. By the time we finally arrived in Madaba, all we wanted was a shower and to sleep. My foolish decision to see the dead sea while I was still in Jordan was how I began the long descent into a hobo existance. Salt covered hobo existance. The Dead Sea is so salty, you can't swim in it. Your entire body turns into a cork, and should you be unfortunate enough to get any of it into your eyes, a squealing blind cork. I was unfortunate. And I was wearing contacts. Prolonged agony ensued all the way back to Madaba, where attempting to take a shower, Ana and I found that the water main project cut off the water to our place. So off to Amman we went, where I shoved my way onto the next bus to Aqaba.
In Aqaba, i was adopted by a pushy lady, and that's how I ended up living in a tent on the beach. Covered in Dead Sea salt, unwilling to salt up any more of my clothes, and without a blanket.
Internet time is over now. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 24th, 2008|05:39 pm] |
OH BOY do I have more on Aziz and his lovely family! Loads! But I've got people waiting on me, so I'm not going to share that epic yet.
Instead, I have come to crow. I arrived at the border with possibly the worst combination of travelers possible. I held an AMERICAN passport with NO visa, and an unusual addendum of pages, the American girl with the visa was told her visa was FAKE, and the Korean girl had been REJECTED at another border. We must have been the most suspicious set of travelers that whole day. I wanted to take a photo of us like a line up all holding our passports, but they got theirs cleared around 2pm and I was to wait unil 8pm.
But I am IN Syria!! It took me 16 USD and 11 hours of waiting at the border. In return, I got a cup of tea, dinner made by the Syrian border official cook, basic Arabic lessons, and a shot of arabic coffee which I highly do not recommend. I had to hitch from the border to Aleppo because the busses had stopped running and I had NO idea where I was going to stay the night. It was all quite exciting. I lie, it was more horribly boring and later on, exhausing.
I took a photo of my Syrian visa, it will remain the pinacle of my stamp collection for many years to come. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 13th, 2008|12:14 am] |
Last night I took a bus out of Göreme, up to Kayseri to arrive ın Kahta at 8am. Kahta is a lıttle town that bears no partıcular dıstınctıon other than the fact that ıt ıs closest ın proxımıty to Mt Nemrut of the fallen heads, not the actual mountaın. Apparently on Sundays, people also lıke to get marrıed and race up or down the maın street honkıng theır horns. There were at least seven seperate marrage parades.
Acosted at the bus stop, I was then coerced ınto sıgnıng up for a tour. Esentıally I paıd for a shared taxi ride, but the offıcıal name was 'tour'. Scheduled to start at one, I managed to earn myself two glasses of tea, a free breakfast, use of a shower, and a promıse to help me arrange somethıng at the top of the Nemrut. I fıgured, ıf I were to come to Nemrut but once, why not see both sunset and sunrıse -- and so I thought to take the tour up, have them leave me at the top where I would spend the nıght and hıke up to see sunrıse, then hıtch a rıde back down wıth one of the sunrıse tours, or even walk to the vıllage and catch a local dolmuş back ınto town. It was a great ıdea, ıt made the best use of both tıme and money and was arranged to perfectıon.
To whıle away the waıtıng hours, I trotted back out to the otogar to see my busıng optıons and attempt to fınd gloves. On my way I attempted to buy one paır of brıght turquıose socks wıth geometrıcal shapes and was ınstead gıven them; attempted to fınd a small package of laundry detergent and was gıven a seat and pıeces of lokum; and sucessfully bought a tunık -- whıch ıs a thın coat that ıs about mıd-thıgh length and wıll hopefully help me get past the border. Upon entry to the store ın whıch I fınally bought my tunık, I drew shop gırls to me lıke a magnet. They spoke a lıttle more Englısh than I spoke Turkısh, but wıth great use of hand wavıng, map poıntıng, and charades we had a great tıme. We took photos together, whıch I promısed to send --and they provıded me wıth one address that ıs dıffıcult to read, and one emaıl whıch ıs wrong no matter how I type ıt. We managed to spend over two hours conversıng ın our own respectıve languages and drınkıng more tea culmınatıng ın one of the gırls gıvıng me her bracelet. To be honest, Esra actually gave me Suzanne's bracelet, but I only had one gıft to gıve ın return, and ıt went to Esra. Had I known the Turkısh were so prone to gıft gıvıng I would have pıcked up more trınkets ın Thaıland. Now I sport two bracelets, when I don't actually lıke bracelets. But the poınt ıs that I met some really sweet gırls who thought I totally made theır day. They even ınvıted me for lunch wıth them whıch I had to turn down due to my tour, but I promısed to return the next day.
By the tıme I returned to the offıce, I was to fınd myself delayed for the duratıon of a perfect lost lunch opportunıty, and pıled ınto a car that had only a wındshıeld, a drıvers sıde wındow and a passenger wındow. The backseat had blank metal to look at, ıt was quıte dısapoıntıng. So the long tour wrapped around the mountaın, hıttıng some poınts of upper mesopotamıa near Mt Nemrut that were unfortunately not terrıbly ımpressıve. Mt Nemrut was constructed by a sılly kıng who demanded that gıant stone sculptures of hımself and hıs 'ancestors' (partıcularly esteemed gods), be eıther contructed upon, or dragged up to the hıghest poınt ın the entıre regıon. A cobbled stone terrace path was to wınd ıts way up the mountaın untıl the path would splıt so that one set would sıt on an East facıng terrace, and another set to face West. In between, the lucky people of thıs kıngdom got to pıle up an 50m artıfıcıal mountaın out of fıst sızed rocks -- presumably where the bodıes of the kıng and favored famıly lıe. I bag on hım now, but Antiochus certaınly knew how to go all out. The statues contınue to sıt where they were placed, the Eastern bodıes ın better shape than the West. And whıle the heads on both sıdes have both toppled, the Western heads have held up better and theır bodıes weathered worse. I dare anyone else's face to be both that massıve and look that good, some 2000 years later.
My orıgınal plan to stay at the summıt contınued untıl 7pm when the sun was just about settıng, and I could no longer feel eıther hands or ears. Then there was that conversatıon wıth a man from Swıtzerland who merrıly told me that ıt regularly went down to 0 to -5 C. I was almost resıgned to trundle on back down to Kahta, or to prepare for a long nıght of cold and to hell wıth beıng up to see dawn when I managed to meet a very nıce man from Gazı Antep, who was vısıtıng wıth hıs famıly (hıs wıfe and baby gave me a cucumber) and was headıng back to the cıty that nıght -- he offered me a rıde. Then another man who owned a guesthouse ın Urfa overheard, and told me he was headıng back down wıth the small tour he had brought up to see Nemrut, he told me to swıng by hıs guesthouse ıf I ever got to the cıty. I dıd hım one better, I ended up travelıng wıth hım and hıs group all the way back to Urfa -- whıch ıs both on my way to Mardın, and my last major stop ın Turkey before I try to cross the Syrıan border.
More on Azız and hıs lovely famıly later. If anythıng, the Kurds are even kınder people than the Turks. Thıs ıs dıffıcult to say though, sınce apparently half of the people I have met ın Turkey (ıncludıng just about everyone ın Istanbul's Sultanahmet) ıs Kurdısh --thıs ıs what the Kurds tell me, at least. Suffıce to say ıt must be somethıng ın the water. Turk or Kurd -- thıs ınfectıon of nıce ıs reportedly to contınue wıdespread throughout the entıre mesopotamıan area. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 11th, 2008|04:36 pm] |
My phone is being a bitch. And I think its totally unfair, since I actually had to buy this phone in Thailand so I could use one at all. The fact that its presenting an ominous "SIM card registration failed" message doesn't bode well. I think I have spent over two solid days in total trying to fix phones in various places and my track record is 0 success. I hate cell phones.
I almost died yesterday, which was absolutely terrifying for about 7 minutes. I managed to wander down a "shortcut" goat path to Uçhisar castle in sandals, and found myself stranded on a 2 foot ledge about 25 feet below where I needed to be. The newly sandy path continued at a 60 degree incline and tilted outwards, towards an estimated 15 seconds of picturesque free fall into some interesting rocks in the valley below. I literally clawed my way up the embarkment above it, hauling on scrub brush and trying to find rocks to brace against. It was utterly awful. Afterwards, I trembled triumphantly for a few minutes at the base of the castle I had yet to actually ascend. Then, proper footware wearing Alan arrived up the longer probably equally perioulous side path, (he's that black dot at the bottom) and we paid admission to go into the "castle" to further risk my life. It was a very nice view, but the fact that it had a couple of falling fatalities in the past year wasn't exactly reassuring after my wheezingly desperate shrubbery climb.
I grow tired of resizing pictures using Office Picture Manager, so here is a final photo of me having a snicker while hiking through Love Valley. I almost died there too, courtesy of sandy paths and shitty treads, but the thought of that sort of demise was too ignoble, so I don't wish to recall it.
Accordingly, today I went into town and bought a pair of actual shoes. I plan on going to see Mt. Nemrut, but I don't plan to die there, either. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 6th, 2008|02:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Pammukale, Turkey | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | satisfied | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | They Might Be Giants - Istanbul | ] |
My timing is superb. In waiting for the Syrian Embassy, I managed to be stuck in Istanbul a total of six days. Six cold dreary days coming directly from a region in which I just spent 3 months at 30+C. I wore every item I had with me simultaneously, but not soon enough, for I had already caught a cold. With a city the size and grandeur of Istanbul, six days are nothing. The problem lies in that I flew in on Thursday night, spent three days splurging money on museums and monuments, to find Mondays are the national off-day, and Tuesday is Bairam (the end of Ramadan). All public transport was booked solid, (Bairam is like having Christmas day for the next 5-7 days) and the only way to escape the city was to book a package tour departing on Weds.
( For the rest of my long-winded story )
Newest shit list member : crusaders.
Even today, the fifth wonder of the world can still be seen in parts of the wall at St. Peter's. I bet Mausolus is proud.
No one steals priceless artifacts or building material quite like crusaders.
Recent members of note: Tanners
Melting marble into lime to treat shoe leather is totaly un-cool. (on the other hand, someone out there could concievably brag "With every step, I tread on the faces of fallen gods")
|
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 25th, 2008|09:51 am] |
I not only didn't have to sleep at the Doha airport, Qatar Air actually put me up in a swanky hotel! Upon arrival to the airport (again), I find that they have FREE internet. Even though it automatically logs out every 10 minutes.
The uniforms for the airport people are amazing. Of course you have the generic airport dresscode, but the majority of customs officials and others whose function I have not yet determined, do not. The men wear full length white robes, matching white sandals, and the headdress, while the women look like black clad versions of the blue opera singer from the 5th element. They have their hair covered in a scarf, so their heads even have the height and the down trailing fabric, they are all quite lovely. I'd take a photo, but I don't know how that'd go. Seems like you're allowed to change your headcloth, but most of them just go with the assigned black or white. The robes are embellished with the badges and tags that most airport employees wear, with their mysterious stripes, and stars and symbols of office, so it all looks quite spiffy. Some of the ladies in a shop wear their suit jacket over their robes, and abadged beret set jauntily on top of their headscarfs. Its amazingly charming, too.
I was forced to check in my backpack for the first time, and now I feel naked. I'm also terrified that my bag won't be there when I arrive. I think that one time the airlines lost Bill's luggage really made an impact on me. But at least he was meticulous in keeping reciepts and having travel insurance. I begin to regret my impetuousness, at last.
I'm having a great time ALMOST reading Arabic. SO CLOSE...I'm bound to forget it all by the time I get out of Turkey though >_< |
|
|
| Where did this come from? |
[Sep. 21st, 2008|02:40 pm] |
I sent my flight itinerary to my parents a few days ago complete with times dates and transfers. A general summary of it should look like this TPE--BKK--DOHA--IST; CAI--BAH--BKK--TPE--LAX.
The following is recent correspondance with my sister. Slight editorial changes,
"Mom says you're going to Nigeria.....
Really?
How's the back? Try using aloe vera gel."
"What the? I sent mom my itinerary. And nowhere on that ticket, does it suggest I'm going to Nigeria! Its on the WEST coast of Africa. WAY off course. Where does she get these things?
I'm flakey but good, can't see it too well, but I'm pretty sure it looks like I've got a skin disease."
[at this point I'm pretty sure my mother dreams up this stuff, then convinces herself that its true]
"HAHAHA! I was like, "Mom, are you sure? Nigeria? The AFRICAN country of NIGERIA?" And she was like, "Yes! Yes! Nigeria! she's going to Nigeria! i have no idea why!"
[neither do i -_-]
Haha you're a leper. i'm going to tell Kong Kong [our cousin] that you need to be taken to the ji zheng shi [emergency room], and then sent to a leper colony in Japan.
I hear the leper colonies in Japan are really cool and then I could come visit you! It'd be a party!"
Current status: Mother convinced I'm going to Nigeria. Sister wishes I were a leper so she could come chill in Japan. And people ask me why I don't want to go home...
Taking votes: Should I go to Nigeria to support my mother's prophesy? If I contract leprosy should I NOT go to Japan to thwart my sister? |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 18th, 2008|01:06 am] |
I'm molting.
I went snorkling in the islands off of Koh Chang and got a full body sunburn. I, having been born with skin that pigments instead of redenning, relatively rarely burn. This statement was "never burn" up until the beginning of high school when I suddenly stopped going outside, at least in comparison the adventurous summers of my youth.
By the time I was done with the amazing snorkling trip, from the back of my neck to my ankles, excepting my yellow ass, I was one sheet of painful, bright red. And now? Now I get to pick bits of skin off the reachable areas of my back. I've burned before, I've even peeled before, what I haven't experienced, is peeling off an intact two cm strip of my own skin before.
Oh skin, with all your glorious properties of keeping bacteria out and all my many visceral bits in. I wish I had never been able to hold you in my hand like a snake molt.
Sometimes if I get a nice chunk, I put it on my cousin. He doesn't appreciate it, but its my own brand of revenge for the fact that I can't distinguish truth from lie coming from him. Especially since there's a 50% chance that he's lying to me at any given moment. I wouldn't ever want to play poker with him. Even if I knew how. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 15th, 2008|11:08 pm] |
The typhoon finally moved on, and Malaysia decided to resume flights. Seeing a chance to cut costs, it took all the displaced passengers of the last two days, and crammed them on one plane. Instead of the two flights they have to LAX they usually offer, this time it was only one. That is if you were lucky enough to actually get your call through to reservations. Mike had to get his mother in the US to do it, as a 3 hour attempt on our part got nothing but irritating beeping. Thank you, Autumn Moon Festival - typhoon - weekend.
My mom took this opportunity to send me an email about expecting the unexpected and planning for the worst. I was prepared to get another lecture about how I should come home early, but instead the point of that email was, and I quote: "That is what I have been kept telling Tessa and you, don't wait till the last minite to finish your homework. "
Else a typhoon might cancel school for two days?
I think I might one day actually assemble my mother's emails into a book. I'd call it "My Crazy Mom", but then she might sneak read it and get offended like that one time she read that letter from Robyn. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
grausherra's journal
victorious
uncomfortable
accomplished
