traffic games

I'm pretty sure there is a kids game similar to the driving experience in Reading, PA. It's the one where you shoot the car down a ramp into the flow of traffic and try to not get it knocked off the narrrow track. That's how you merge onto the expressway in Reading in quite a few spots. Actually every ramp I've gone down is like that. This morning I made a game out of it. There is a yield sign and to most that means nothing more than time it right to slide into the slot between two cars. You must avoid eye contact too. Flinch and it's over. Punch it and go "weeeee" - make sure it's high pitched for the right effect. This morning I probably should have looked because I was cutting off a cop. Good thing he had other things in mind. I didn't even get a warning light. The highways are super narrow with no shoulders and concrete barriers just to make it all the more fun. The worst roads ever and I'm not even talking about pot holes this time. The other part of the game is avoiding the morning glare. Great ball of fire is how I would describe it. I couldn't figure out why traffic was going so slow and then I went around the bend and was totally blinded. Need to find the back way from the hotel to the office for future trips.
Now for the question of the day... why do people not drive in the right lane of a three or four lane highway? They drive in the middle lane and then look at you like you are the nut when you pass on the right waving. Ok, I don't wave, but I do look at them. The signs say "slow traffic stay right" and well you are going slow if I am passing you on the right and I'm not in England. Oh wait - they can't read. ahhh.... I am not going to go out in the left lane and draw attention to the fact I am driving a little above the speed limit. I seriously think anyone who immigrates to the US legally or illegally should have to pass a driver's test in ENGLISH - the road signs are not in Spanish or Chinese so why let them take a test in a language that the signs are not in? In case you didn't know drivers from India don't understand the signs because they don't use signs there - they drive the same way those in Reading drive. They shut their eyes and go "weeeee"! Seriously no signs there something I've learned from working with someone from there.
Tomorrow is a nice quiet 25 minute commute. yay!

Murphy's Law strikes again!

So I'm in PA for work - podunk PA at that and my e-mail shuts down from work. That only happens for one reason - no power. Just so happens that they are getting lots and lots of rain and high winds. Enough that the electricity went out and they all got sent home. So if I was at home for work I would be home and not working in PA. sigh... what sort of bad luck is that? I will make the most of it and go out for hibachi tonight.

stupid humans

Innocent he is not!

Pretty sure Mani thinks that I am a stupid human and that he has me trained. Every morning I wake up at 4:15 and I think it's because I have to pee. This morning I woke up at 4:00 and just laid there hoping I would fall back asleep. I didn't move much. A few minutes later I feel a nip on my elbow so I move it a little knowing full well it's a cat. Then I get another harder nip and then finally a full on bite. Again all on my arm. I keep pretending I am sleeping so he doesn't get the idea I might actually pet him. I now get bit and I've had enough. Fully awake I peek at the clock. 4:16. hmmm... starting to wonder if this is happening every morning and I am pretty sure it is. He is hoping that by waking me up I will feed him - to keep him quiet until I get up at 6:00. Sure enough I keep on "sleeping" and he keeps biting me. He was a bit shocked by my backhand I think and he did NOT get a treat this morning. Enough of that bad habit. He'll be lucky if I let him on the bed tonight.

Chicky Movie Review

What else is there to do when it's cold out and you have company? Watch some movies. We discovered Red Box at the local grocery store and can't just pass by the $1.08 movie deal. Mark has a knack for picking out chick flicks or for failing to notice which movies I get all excited about (chick flicks!). My parents didn't get much say, but didn't leave the room so they must have been ok. First up we watched "The Proposal" - I loved it. First of all it was shot in NYC and Alaska - great scenery. 2nd of all Sandra Bullock is in it. She was hilarious - along with grandma. Cute dog too! Definitely a movie worthy of viewing at home. Probably not found in theaters at this point anyway.
The next night he picked up "The Dog that Saved Christmas" - we mistook it for a similarly named Hallmark movie that was on in early December. It too had "dog" and "Christmas" in the title. Not the same movie! I don't know which was funnier - the talking dog or us mocking the movie. Ok... it was us for sure. I'll just spoil it now. The doggy star saved Christmas. It was sort of like "Home Alone". It didn't make the theaters so what does that tell you? Won't be at Red Box long, but you aren't missing much.
Last up we actually went to the theater on New Years Day. "Where in the World are the Morgan's" stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. Pretty sure we chose it because Hugh Grant was in it. (Shannon was here visiting - so another chick flick was chosen!) Again this movie started in NYC and moved to Wyoming (I think?) and had great scenery too. See a trend? I like scenery. It was a highly predictable movie from start to finish. I think it would have been a much better ending to see where they were sent for witness protection and then come to trial, but no they ended it with the bad guy finding them in hiding.
Red Box is quite the deal... compared to the theater. The matinee was $7 - regular movies at night were $13. Got any good movies for us?

Ringing in the New Year!

And how do we do that? With more company of course! Mark's cousin Shannon is here from Rochester and we kicked off the long holiday weekend with a trip to Woodbury Commons Outlets. It was totally dead - except for the tourists from China or Japan who pretend they couldn't see us and kept getting in our way. Normally I am not a shopper, much less an outlet shopper. The clothes is sub-standard at times and specially made for suckers going to the outlets. Some are not and you can find deals if you have the patience to look. I do not have patience for it. The Lenox outlet had a fab sale on my Christmas dishes and I'm sure I will be getting some for gifts at some point. Should have picked up a few more things, but oh well.

The new neighbors came over for appetizers and drinks. We didn't discuss what we were making. So we had lots and lots of chicken buffalo dip. Made different ways of course. Some other friends stopped over for a little bit and by midnight it was just the three of us and Mani ringing in the New Year and waiting to see if FoxNY got cut off by Time Warner Cable. They are fighting about having to pay to put them on the air. Like Time Warner doesn't make enough money to compensate Fox? Please. TV stations don't make money, but cable companies do.

We also got some snow... pretty snow and not much. AND Mark has TWO fire calls in 10 hours! To get a call every two weeks is good. Both some sort of car accident type things. The one at 3:00 am sounded not so good and involved downed wires. The worst kind of call - watching wires to make sure no one goes near them.

Now for catch up... it's been a while since Christmas Eve... We had some really mild weather after Christmas and mom and I were able to take a walk over the Mid-Hudson bridge - and not freeze! I only had on a t-shirt and sweatshirt and was fine. Gorgous day and many others had the same idea. The bridge is getting a lot of use and it's nice to see people out getting some exercise. If you go all the way across and back (and to your car since parking is never that close to the bridge) you are walking 2.5 to 3 miles. Maybe more.

Mom on the bridge with a shot south to NYC (about 60 miles south!)

Mother-Daughter shot going north. People are so friendly with helping take pictures - they just offer. And there are lots of camera's up there. It is the longest walking bridge in the world I hear so it's a tourist attraction of sorts. Come visit and we will take you there!

Happy New Year!