There is a cool little website about Santa Barbara that I discovered last month. Of course, many people discovered it way before me, but I’m a little slow sometimes.

Anyway, this site has lots of interesting and useful articles about Santa Barbara. It’s also fun and quirky—they will have contests asking you to guess things like the number of palm trees lining a street, the cost of a cup of coffee in town, or how many people push the crosswalk button more than once. Some of these contests are just pure fun—but some, like the cost of coffee or location of wireless internet, can be quite useful, as the writers publish an article describing the results.

The site is Edhat (which you should visit if you want to see a neat perspective on this little beach town), and I am proud to say that I won Friday’s contest! The goal was to guess how many ships came into harbor during a one hour period on Friday, and I was the only one to guess exactly right! Of course, since I never watch the harbor, it was a completely random number, but hey, it worked!

I am now the proud owner of a free t-shirt! (Or I will be, once I go pick it up)

Posted at 9:58 AM | (3)

Good God, last night I saw the HUGEST brown spider scurry across my carpet. Thank goodness I was on my bed and not in the path of this giant creature.

I am not sure what variety of spider it was, but it looked like it could’ve been part tarantula. I would also swear that this thing had like 16 legs. It was obviously a mutant.

Anyway, I’m sure it must still be in my apartment, but I have no idea where it went. It was last seen in my kitchen. If you hear a loud, ear-piercing scream, that’ll be me when the spider next decides to cross my path.

I hate arachnids.

Posted at 3:48 PM | (4)

Oooh I forgot to mention. For the last month I’ve been going to Quizno’s semi-frequently. Our front desk had a TON of coupons for a free small sub when you buy a bag of chips and a medium drink.

This means that when all is said and done that you’ve spent less than $3.00 for your entire lunch! You can’t beat that. I made sure to go again today because the offer ends Sunday!

I eat my sandwiches completely plain (meat, cheese, and bread), but I do really like their subs—they are toasty and the seasoning they put on it is good too.

Posted at 12:09 PM | (2)

Despite it being a shortened week due to the President’s Day holiday, it still seems like Friday took its time getting here. I don’t really have much to report at the moment, so I guess everything is just status quo. Despite the super rainy first part of the week, the last few days have been sunny and almost warm. Craziness.

Posted at 11:15 AM | (0)

Well, I’m not sure what time it happened, but the power was restored to the other half of my place without any intervention.

Unfortunately though, my landlord has now looked around and seen that I have waaaaaaaay too many electrical gadgets. He tried to tell me that maybe I shouldn’t use my microwave for awhile “just in case”, but I think I’m going to anyway. Because, the thing is, my power didn’t go out while I was using any appliances. It was out when I came home—and I don’t have anything except for my computer on while I’m away. While it’s true that I have a zillion things plugged in to power strips (there is a serious lack of electrical outlets in the place), I don’t ever have EVERYTHING running at once, and if I did, it would just trip the circuit breaker and shut off everything—not just one part of the room.

I guess I’ll just have to be careful though, because I suspect that if any future weirdness happens with the electricity, he’ll come see if it’s due to anything I’ve been doing, since he now thinks I’m the crazy girl with too many electronics.

Posted at 10:48 AM | (3)

Great, so I’m sitting half in the dark here. I come home and turn on the light by my door and don’t think that anything is out of the ordinary. Clock is displaying and the computer is humming.

I go to pull the chain to turn on my overhead light and…nothing. All my overhead lights, my tv, my microwave, and my refrigerator are out of power. But theoretically they are on the same circuit as the rest of the stuff in my place, so what gives??

I called my landlord, but he is stumped and can’t get it fully checked out until tomorrow morning. If it doesn’t resolve itself, I guess I’m losing all the stuff in my fridge—good thing I didn’t go grocery shopping like I planned to!

So this I guess “half” sucks. I have a tiny bit of light and my computer/internet, but no TV or food-making capability.

Posted at 7:27 PM | (1)

Last night I took advantage of the cheap movie passes that my employer offers and went with Steve to see Sideways. He’d already seen it, but I hadn’t. Our other movie options either turned out not to be options due to the movie being too “new” to use the passes on, or playing too late.

I think I’m glad we didn’t go see one of the other movies—they may have been mildly entertaining, but they probably wouldn’t have been as good. And of course, the added benefit is that you get to see a bunch of scenes shot in familiar locales throughout California—especially the Santa Barbara/Solvang area. There was a bit of blatant label advertising in one of the dining scenes, but I guess you can’t blame the wineries for wanting to cash in on a film that will make people want to come visit the locales seen on screen.

BTW, does it make me a dork that I instantly recognized the passage being read by one of the main character’s 8th grade students as being from “A Separate Peace”?? And why on earth did we not read it until 10th grade, if these 8th graders are reading it?!

Posted at 11:15 AM | (2)

Last night Steve and I went downtown to Q’s with some of his friends/former teammates. Some plans had been altered and Steve and I started out by ourselves, but eventually everyone showed up.

I had a lot of fun, even though I wasn’t quite able to hold my liquor. It was probably for the best though, because instead of feeling nauseous when I woke up in the morning, I merely felt dizzy with a headache.

But now I’m all fed and showered and teeth brushed so I feel fine. If only the weather weren’t so crappy!

Posted at 6:30 PM | (1)

I’m waiting for my class to kick into gear. Before class began I was sitting in my car, listening to the radio, to kill some time.

I heard that song by Louis XIV and I just realized when they announced the title that I definitely misheard some of the lyrics.

I found out the title is “Finding out true love is blind”, but I SWEAR they were saying something like “funny little tramp”, which didn’t make much sense. But then, neither does the song.

I think I like my version better. ;)

Posted at 6:11 PM | (1)

Today someone has again been called in to try to fix the leak in our office’s ceiling. I am guessing the call has a dual purpose—it is expected to rain some this week and someone in senior management is going to be taking up residence in the office next to the leak.

My coworkers and I were watching in amazement as a guy got on a ladder to take a look up inside the area where the leak is. We watched as he got on the VERY top part of the ladder; you know, the part that says “This is not a step”. To make it even more incredible, he decided to stand on his tip toes and even move around quite a lot for a guy who is standing on a small-ass ledge not too close to the ground.

Granted he could keep his balance using the ledge in the ceiling that is created with one of the tiles missing, but what would he do if the ladder suddenly fell over or got hit by a passerby??

Doesn’t seem too terribly safe. I’m going to take a wild guess that the warning was put on those ladders for a reason….kinda like “do not operate hair dryers in the bathtub or while sleeping.”

It’s called common sense, people!

Posted at 1:18 PM | (2)

In my office we have a nice policy where you can come in any time you want, as long as it’s before 10am. You don’t have to tell anyone in advance, and you are free to change your schedule from day to day.

Today, however, it is 10am and I am still the only person in my section. What is going on??? Where is everybody??? Did I miss a memo saying “Let’s all meet for breakfast” or “Let’s take the day off!”?

This is getting creepy…normally SOMEONE is here by now. Thank goodness other people are around the office or I’d really be worrying that I’m not supposed to be here today.

UPDATE: Whew, I guess I’m not crazy. Everyone just came in around 10:05. Still a little weird to be here alone so late in the morning.

Posted at 10:00 AM | (3)

Whether or not you have someone to celebrate with, and regardless of whether you find the holiday romantic or entirely commercial, I am wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted at 3:44 PM | (0)

Yesterday I attended a housewarming party down in Ventura for a former coworker and her husband.

Their house was nice with several bedrooms and bathrooms, which is obviously more than they could’ve ever afforded here in SB. It turns out they moved in like a week before the La Conchita mudslides, so during the week they were trapped at home, they unpacked all their stuff, and so they already look totally moved in, which is cool.

Although the girl invited a few of her former library coworkers, I am the only one who showed up. This means that I knew NO ONE there except for the hosts.

Despite the fact that I am not normally social and don’t like new situations, I feel that I did a good job of mingling—I talked to lots of different people and participated in several circles of conversation. It probably helped a little that I drank a little (don’t worry, I didn’t get drunk and was fine when I made the drive back). Several of the people were my age, so I think that helped too. They were all a bit geeky because they were all engineer-type people, but they were nice and talked to me.

So anyway, I was actually debating not going because I was pretty sure I wouldn’t know anyone and hence wasn’t sure that I’d be comfortable there. But I wound up having a much better time than I anticipated, so I am glad that I decided to get out and do something interesting.

And of course, shocking, I got along with smart, geeky people. ;)

Posted at 3:37 PM | (0)

…or it would be, if I was wearing a skirt. Especially since it’s so windy out—Marilyn would have nothing on me!

Anyway, it’s FINALLY Friday. This week just seemed to laaaaaaaaaaaag.

How has it been for you? Anyone got any exciting weekend plans?

Posted at 1:10 PM | (2)

Hmm I can’t think of anything interesting, or even somethin non-interesting, to report.

Finished my Dreamweaver class on Tuesday, but now I start another class tonight. My last class. Yippee! Hopefully it won’t suck—I’m not sure how much faith I have in the instructor.

After I finish that class I will have my certificate. Although, then what? Who knows. But I’ll have a piece of paper saying that I know enough to be a web designer. I’ve gotten gigs from 2 people so far who seemed to be pleased with what I did for them thus far, so anything could happen.

I get to do a little more with an extranet site at work and give my opinion on some site functionality, so that’s cool. This week has really lagged, so I just can’t think of anything fun to say. I want to take some pictures for the photo memes but haven’t remembered.

So, yea, blah. :)

Posted at 10:38 AM | (0)

As in actual, literal buzzing….from a bee.

It’s not even Spring yet, and the bees seem to be out in droves. Perhaps it is a result of the heavy rains and lush vegetation, or they are just bored until the season changes, but I have seen lots of lone bees lately.

One even flew into my car yesterday. I spent the better part of 10 minutes trying to coax a bee out of my rear window, without actually getting close enough for it to accidentally sting me. All it wanted was to get out of the car, but it was going about it the wrong way, trying to find an opening in the window. I finally had to find a piece of clothing in my trunk and throw it over the window so that the bee would decide to look for an alternate route of escape.

I assume it worked, since I was unable to locate the bee shortly thereafter. However, today at lunch, another one tried to come in and join me for a ride.

I can’t remember ever seeing lone bees in parking lots before, so why now? And what’s so special about my car??

Posted at 1:05 PM | (0)

This is a list of the 50 Worst Songs of All Time, as put together by the hip magazine Blender. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to bold the items that you actually like. This might be more embarrassing than you think. Remember, no one is reading this. Well, no one of importance…

Stolen from Bart

1. We Built This City……Starship
2. Achy Breaky Heart … Billy Ray Cyrus
3. Everybody Have Fun Tonight … Wang Chung
4. Rollin’…..Limp Bizkit
5. Ice Ice Baby … Vanilla Ice
6. The Heart Of Rock & Roll….Huey Lewis And The News
7. Don’t Worry, Be Happy … Bobby McFerrin
8. Party All the Time … Eddie Murphy
9. American Life … Madonna
10. Ebony And Ivory…..Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
11. Invisible … Clay Aiken
12. Kokomo … The Beach Boys
13. Illegal Alien … Genesis
14. From a Distance … Bette Midler
15. I’ll Be There for You … The Rembrandts
16. What’s Up? … 4 Non Blondes
17. Pumps and a Bump … Hammer
18. You’re the Inspiration … Chicago
19. Broken Wings … Mr. Mister
20. Dancing on the Ceiling … Lionel Richie
21. Two Princes…..Spin Doctors (OMG how can this song be on the 50 WORST…I LOOOOOOOVE this song, lol.)
22. Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) … Toby Keith
23. Sunglasses at Night … Corey Hart
24. Superman … Five for Fighting
25. I’ll Be Missing You … Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112
26. The End…..The Doors
27. The Final Countdown……Europe
28. Your Body Is a Wonderland … John Mayer *Sigh* I would marry John Mayer…as long as he doesn’t make those faces at me when he sings. :)
29. Breakfast At Tiffany’s…..Deep Blue Something
30. Greatest Love of All … Whitney Houston
31. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm … Crash Test Dummies
32. Will 2K … Will Smith
33. Barbie Girl…..Aqua
34. Longer … Dan Fogelberg
35. Shiny Happy People….R.E.M.
36. Make Em Say Uhh! … Master P featuring Silkk, Fiend, Mia-X and Mystikal
37. Rico Suave … Gerardo
38. Cotton Eyed Joe … Rednex
39. She Bangs … Ricky Martin
40. I Wanna Sex You Up….Color Me Badd (Ha ha, this reminds me of 6th grade…Hmm should I have been listening to this when I was 11?)
41. We Didn’t Start The Fire….Billy Joel
42. The Sound of Silence … Simon & Garfunkel
43. Follow Me….Unkle Kracker
44. I’ll Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) … Meat Loaf
45. Mesmerize … Ja Rule featuring Ashanti
46. Hangin’ Tough … New Kids on the Block
47. The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You … Bryan Adams
48. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da … The Beatles
49. I’m Too Sexy … Right Said Fred
50. My Heart Will Go On … Celine Dion (Although as a disclaimer, I don’t really like it anymore. A girl in my freshman dorm played it over and over and over until I hated it. But because I DID like it I am including it.)

Damn, I like almost half of them. I may never be able to show my face again!

Posted at 5:05 PM | (8)

*SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK*

Arg, I can’t take it. The coworker sitting closest to me has what I am convinced is the world’s squeakiest chair. Which of course means that she is required to move around in said chair as much as possible, producing that horrible, loud, prolonged squeaking sound.

Make it stop!

Posted at 10:15 AM | (1)

Today I went to lunch in a different place than yesterday. At one point 2 middle-aged men sat at the table to the left of me.

Like yesterday, I got up to get more soda. When I sat back down, one of the guys (who is kinda weird looking) says “I thought you were done. I was going to help myself.”

WTF, man?!

Do I have a sign on me that says “Appreciates lame-ass comments”? I have no idea if they are talking to me because they think I’m attractive (NOT my first guess) or because a girl eating lunch by herself is an open target for “cute” comments by weird old men.

Maybe I shouldn’t eat alone!

Posted at 12:18 PM | (1)

Yesterday I ate my lunch outdoors. It was a nice day and the pizza place I ate at had outdoor seating, so I figured, why not.

I was enjoying the bit of sun I was getting, but I wasn’t too pleased with all the little birds gathered around, just waiting for people to feed them or drop food on the ground.

Still, they left me alone to eat my slice of pizza in peace, so I didn’t pay them too much attention. I did, however, notice the two strange men at the table next to me who were absolutely fascinated by these birds. They let the birds eat the pasta off their plate, and practically squealed with delight whenever any of the birds happened to hop on their hands.

I got up for like half a minute to go inside and refill my soda (Pepsi, not Coke, sadly) and when I came back there were at least a dozen birds pecking at my unfinished food.

“Are you done?” the men asked. “We thought you weren’t coming back.”

Yea, I leave some of my stuff on the table when I leave and go INSIDE the eatery instead of walk to the parking lot and I’m not coming back. I think those men were excited to see the birds all attack the pizza crust, and had no intention of shooing them away for any reason.

Even though the men insisted that the birds are clean, I still couldn’t bring myself to eat the little bit of pizza that remained. I got up and threw my crust away—those birds looked like nut and seed eating birds, I’m sure they didn’t need to be eating bread and pasta.

The men probably hated me for doing that, but I couldn’t let all of my food go to the birds!

Posted at 9:49 AM | (1)

I’ve wondered this in the past, but I forgot to blog about it. Since it just entered my mind again, I figured I’d post it.

Assuming you don’t work from home, does your office provide a shower?

Steve mentioned to me before that his company’s bathroom is quite nice, and contains a nice shower. I was amazed by this, assuming that no other offices offer this amenity. I mean, the University Library certainly didn’t! I suppose this could be because it was a facility frequently accessed by the general public—if they offered showers, all kinds of weirdos might start hanging around in there. Although, they did offer a staff room, which, if it contained its own bathroom, could’ve included a shower.

So then I switch jobs and assume that my new employer is also sans-shower. I see a bunch of stalls, and what looks like one of those large handicapped stalls. I tell Steve he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that office showers are NOT common. I mean, I’m 2 for 2, so wouldn’t that stand to reason that my experiences are indicative of the corporate world at large?? It doesn’t help though that Steve is also 2 for 2, but on the opposite side.

Anyway, I decided to peek into the handicapped stall the other day and discover….a shower!! So I guess I’m wrong and company showers do exist. It is no longer a mythical tale, like that of Santa or the Easter Bunny, but a real, tangible item.

So I ask you, do you think office showers are common? Does yours have one? Has anyone actually USED their shower? And why/why not?

Posted at 11:00 AM | (7)

Yesterday I had another session of class, which is held at the University, about 10 miles from my apartment. After class I drove home, entered my room, and turned on the computer monitor. As soon as I did that I realized that I left my USB Flash drive in the class computer lab….10 miles away.

DOH!

I didn’t want to NOT pick it up right away, for fear it would get lost or stolen—not to mention I paid good money for it, it’s really nifty, and it has all my class project stuff on it.

So I immediately got back in my car and hauled ass to the lab, hoping that it was still open and that no one had stolen it. When I walked in the room, it was gone, but luckily it was just because the attendant had set it next to him at his desk. So I got it and drove back.

I wasted about 20 minutes and 20 miles on that mistake. I need to be more careful with that drive—it’s so tiny that it’s easy to forget it’s there.

Posted at 1:28 PM | (2)