The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
The Airport
I left the house at 0 dark-hundred to catch the earlier flight to Washington. Traffic was great, I parked in my regular area at O’Hare, the security line was short and the flights ran on time. I was flying with all of the regular DC commuting types, such that there was actual snarkiness between two Global Alliance passengers regarding the “line” to board and who would be getting on the plane first. One guy said:
“Calm down. My standing here is not going to take away your Global Alliance status.”
Real Time Interlude: I ordered a pizza for dinner. The lady that delivered it said, “I haven’t seen you in, what, a month?”
“Three weeks.”
Anyway, when I arrived, I checked in on Facebook and my friend Ingrid took a picture from her camera phone of just how bloody crowded it was at O’Hare’s Terminal 1 this morning. Five gates down. At exactly the same time.
I have often wondered, while wandering around O’Hare, how many people that I know personally are actually in the airport right at the same time. Odds are, there are several. I only ran into one once and it was a co-worker. Maybe I’d better start paying attention. This is going to make me crazy.
So, yeah. Pizza. Homework. NCIS. Again.
Hand Washing and Sanitizing
Good Morning America had a piece this morning on the mega-business of hand sanitizers and the people that are using them 30+ times a day. I went online to take another look and it isn’t up yet, but I found an article they did in October that I found interesting:
They did an experiment comparing bar soap, liquid soap, (with and without out the “anti-bacterial”) and sanitizers (with and without alcohol). The results? “Technique is more important than technology”, meaning wash for at least twenty seconds with soap and water.
Also, “Experts say washing with soap and water is first choice, especially if you have visible dirt on your hands. Sanitizer can’t cut through that grime. Hand sanitizer is great for when you can’t get to soap and water, and it’s actually more effective at eliminating germs because it kills them rather than just removing them.”
Personally, I wash my hands regularly and have a hand sanitizer around, but don’t use it very often. 30+ times a day? Do you know how drying that is? I can’t imagine how much hand cream I’d go through if I did that.
Doggie Dreams
I have talked about the Pet section of USA Today, and now I see that the Chicago Tribune has a pretty serious section going as well. There were blogs and pictures and some videos. January is National Walk Your Pet Month.
I am posting this video because Shadow has some crazy Doggie Dreams, but this is ridiculous:
There is a second, longer video in which the dog actually stands up and starts barking, and still appears to be asleep.
What-the-Dickens, Gregory Maguire
Book 43
“I gave a writing assignment to some middle-school kids. I told them to write about the meeting between an impossible creature and an ordinary citizen. I did the assignment myself, and I came up with an ancient bedridden grandmother mistaking a lost tooth fairy for the Angel of Death. Eventually, the story evolved…”
This is a story within a story that has three kids stranded with a cousin in what seemed to me to be post-apocalyptic setting. I guess it was just a hurricane, but this was a seriously isolated group. Anyway.
What-the-Dickens is actually the fairy’s name. He was lost or abandoned at birth and stumbles into another fairy, who was a member of some colony or another of fairies. The two worlds – the real one and the fairy one – are only fleshed out from a very narrow perspective, which isn’t terrible, but isn’t exactly Harry Potter. And just as our world view is starting to expand, both the “real” world and the fairy world, the book is over.
It was another “what the heck happens next?” book. Sometimes, that means a writer has a series on his hands. In this case, I felt like I hung in with this until the end and there was no payoff. Beh.
Random Travel Train of Thought Post
Here’s something that I hate to see:
I stopped drinking Diet Coke in the morning several years ago. I drink water until lunch time. And a pint of chocolate milk. And can I tell you? That Diet Coke this morning was the best Diet Coke I have ever had in my life. I have been drinking Diet Coke all day trying to re-create the greatness of that one this morning. It isn’t happening.
So now I am….wait for it….blowing off my homework and watching repeats of NCIS on the USA Network. Is this the one with Abby’s crazy ex-boyfriend? I am like Name that Tune with this show now. My mother would be so proud. No, seriously.
I Can’t Make this Stuff Up, Folks
Kiwi was perched on the refrigerator. It is her favorite lookout point. I went in to the next room, the bird room to see Billy. I had left the door to his cage open, but he hadn’t come out.
Me: (reaching out a hand) Billy. Step up.
Billy: (takes a swipe at me with his beak)
Me: Ugh. Fine.
Kiwi: Are you gonna step up? You’re ok!
Me: Thank you, Kiwi.
I managed to get Billy to come out onto his door. He wouldn’t step up, but he climbed to the top of the cage. I gave him a piece of carrot. He dropped it. I left the room to check on dinner, leaving Shadow to get the carrot. When I came back, I gave Billy another carrot. As I walked away, I heard him drop that, too.
Me: Well, it seems Billy has learned Kiwi’s favorite game.
Kay: (from the family room) What’s that?
Me: Feed the Dog!
Kiwi: Ohhhhhhhhhh! (laughs) Good dog!
Reflecting on the Allergy Shots
So. For the past 18 months, I have been getting allergy shots. Every single week. Just when I was getting to the point of “OMG I am so sick of this, I am going to quit”, I had an appointment with my allergist and he told me that I was really close to maxing out the dosage and moving into Phase 2. It took longer than usual because:
- My awesome immune system changed its mind about which types of mold make it mad. I had to start over.
- During the Great Mold Infestation of 2009, I started reacting to the weekly shots and was held back on the dosages.
Phase two is “maintenance”. I stay at this dosage and only go in for shots every other week. I have dropped one of the three daily prescriptions I’d been taking. BCBS will be happy to hear both of these things. I am happy that I can start sleeping late on Saturdays. Some Saturdays.
In my doctor’s office, all of the kids get their shots on Saturdays. So if I don’t get there by 8:30, right when the doors open, the office is packed. To get to Highland Park by 8:30, I have to be out the door shortly after 8am. In order to be up and dressed with contacts in and teeth brushed…to give Kiwi her fresh food and water and medicine (next recheck 12/18)….Well. I get perhaps an extra hour of sleep over the average day in a workweek. This is not the purpose of a Saturday. Of course, taking quizzes is not the purpose of a Saturday, either.
OK, now I’m just complaining. Weren’t we talking about shopping?
Deep Lacquer
I was at Joann Fabrics today. While I was waiting for them to call my number, (so that I could get a yard of fleece for Kay who is making a jacket for the dog) I saw some stackable plastic drawers. I picked up three, thinking that I really must do something about the mess of cosmetics in my bathroom. I have an old Caboodle’s box – you know, the ones that were modeled on the things fishermen use – that is in seriously bad shape.
I really did have some old stuff in there. The experimental green eyeshadow. Gone. Two pairs of earrings. I’d been wondering where they went. Clinique Deep Lacquer lipstick.
It was a deep red. I didn’t wear it every day..I wore it on “bad girl” days. So, not all that often after college. The last time I wore it was perhaps five years ago. I put it on before work, just for fun. My friend Nicholle told me it was freaking her out and I was to go to the bathroom to wash it off and never wear it again.
Would you believe that I did?
I don’t wear much lipstick because I rather believe that a lady either accentuates her eyes or her lips but not both. I choose the eyes. Also, I no longer wear red nail polish because my mother has convinced me that it doesn’t look right if you don’t have long fingernails. Which I will never have again. Actually, my color was “Toast of New York” but nevermind. Back in the day, I had a signature color and a signature scent.
I also stopped wearing perfume because I don’t think it belongs in the workplace. Too many people don’t know how much is too much and I don’t wish to contribute to the problem. But one day last year when I happen to be going past an H20 store, I stopped in to consider buying my old scent in a lotion. I remember taking a whiff and thinking, “Yes. This is how I used to smell. I don’t smell like this anymore.” And I walked out of the store.
So instead of Deep Lacquer lipstick, Mariel perfume and Toast of New York, I am wearing Bigelow lip gloss, smelling like cranberry body butter and my fingernails are…(reaching over to look at the bottle)…Country Club Khaki.
Wait. Country Club Khaki? I suddenly want to kill myself.
Anyway. I kept the earrings. Tossed the lipstick.
What I Learned During the Black Friday Shopping
- Those awesome-looking wireless charging pads? I went into Best Buy where they weren’t even on sale and the sales lady made sure I understood that in addition to the $100 I’d be paying for the pad, I would be required to purchase these adapter thingies for each device I planned to use on the wireless charger. $30 each, assuming they are even compatible. Not so awesome. Which leads to…
- Now I am thinking I should buy the Wii Mario Brothers for Scott. Which means there is a very real possibility that he and I might get each other the same gift for Christmas. Again.
- The cell phone lot at O’Hare is a myth. There are rumors, but I couldn’t find it. Therefore, it does not exist. I did, however, find the Starbucks at Baggage Claim in Terminal 3. Starbucks is no myth.
- If there is a silver lining to the H1N1 virus, I think it is that people are making honest attempts to not cough and/or sneeze on other people. I didn’t notice it until yesterday, but I appreciate the collective effort.
- Between the retailers planning better, the shoppers having a sense of humor and the options to go online…I think we are getting pretty good at this nonsense.
So It Begins
I hadn’t planned on doing Black Friday for real. But yesterday during the Lions game I was going through the paper and had an idea. And then I compared prices. And then I found one that was substantially better than the others. That could only be found before 1pm on Friday.
I was at Carson’s by 7:30 this morning. Shopper’s tip: the Rewards Card discount works on Door Busters. Ha ha!
I can’t go into detail because people for whom I shop also read my stupid blog. But suffice it to say that I rocked the shopping today. In between getting my allergy shot, having lunch at Meatheads, and picking up my brother at the airport.
And I have three gifts wrapped.
The Next Dark Age 