Just a few words for Seattle area drivers...

Do not stop two inches from my bumper when I am stopped at a red light travelling up hill. I drive a standard-shift vehicle (yes, they still exist!), which means that I will roll back slightly before I accellerate. To date, I have never rolled into anyone, but have seriously considered doing it on purpose, just because you piss me off.

Please, for the love of whatever deity in which you place your faith, learn how to merge. The logistics of operating efficiently on the interstate aren't that difficult to comprehend--in a nutshell (for mergers): don't. slow. down. Simple, huh? For mergees: don't hang out in the right-most lane, as it makes not slowing down more difficult for mergers. If we can all remember these rules, Rayna will be very happy because she won't get stuck in rush-hour traffic heading down to Tacoma.

Don't gawk at car accidents. Though I've never been in one, I think it's safe to assume that the persons involved don't want the extra attention. This is especially significant if you are on northbound I-5 and the accident is on the other side of the freeway, in southbound traffic. In this case, you have absolutely no reason to slow down except to try to stick your nose in other's peoples' business. And if you're really just that morbid, you can read the body count in the paper the next day (you sickos). STOP MAKING ME LATE FOR WORK.

Okay. Time to go to the first of many Independence Day Festivals, The Taste of Tacoma. Tomorrow, we'll probably go to the Bite of Seattle and then Freedom Fair on Monday. Oh, how full the schedule is!

pictures of picnicking

Tuesday picnic in the park!

Had a picnic with Amber today. I had so much fun. Amber is a great girl and we always forge the most off-the-wall stories together.

First off, when we went to the grocery store to get the food, we had no idea what to get. We ended up wandering around, eventually picking up some edible things including: 7-grain rolls, two delicious apples, assorted vegetables, some stuff for said vegetables, a bit of roasted potatoes, and.. string cheese. Haha. Oh, and bubbles. Because you can't have a picnic without blowing bubbles. Amber also brought a long some old bread to feed the ducks.

Some memorable moments:
-When I was about to eat a roasted potato and I said "rrrrrroasted!" and then just kind of turned and stared at Amber. About two seconds later, we both started cracking up and couldn't stop for like five minutes (don't know why).
-The wind always blowing the bubbles directly into my face. It didn't matter where I moved to, damn it. Those bubbles found a way.
-"Ribbix is the sound robotic frogs make."
-The shirtless cyclist man who just kind of laid down in the grass and feel asleep in the sun (we were going to wake him so that he didn't get burned, but he was kind of sweaty and hairy and just generally not too approachable).
-DUCK FIGHT.
-Lazy squirrel.
-ROCKING out to Kelly Clarkson, The Killers, and Michael Jackson in the car.

Rest in Peace, Beverly.

What you gonna be when you grow up?
What you gonna do when your time is up?
What you gonna say when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when you're on your own?

There's a road, long and winding
The lights are blinding but it gets there
Don't give up, don't look back
There's a silver lining, it's out there somewhere

Everybody wants an answer, everybody needs a friend
We all need a shining star on which we can depend
So tonight we're gonna wish upon a star
We've never wished upon before

There'll be times in your life
When you'll be dancing n' shit
But you ain't gettin' it
Don't get disillusioned, no don't expect too much
'Cause if what you have is all you can get
Just keep on trying, it just ain't happened yet

Everybody wants to be a winner, everybody has a dream
We all need a shining star when things ain't what they seem
So tonight we're gonna wish upon a star
We've never wished upon before

Everybody wants some kindness, everybody needs a break
We all need a shining star when things get hard to take
So tonight we're gonna wish upon a start
We've never wished upon before

You gotta find what you're looking for..
So don't get disillusioned, don't expect too much..
It's out there somewhere, babe..

by the way

true love knows no bounds.

Words of wisdom

When you are challenging your goofy roommate to see who can hold more oatmeal in their mouth without swallowing, try not to laugh. Oatmeal goes everywhere.

That is all.

A new work gimmmick..

I've created a new way of begging for tips at work (the coffee shop) that is so completely off-the-wall, it works!

Basically, I have a little sticker nametag that says "the singing barista" next to my name badge. At the register where people order their drinks, there's a little sign that says "Our singing barista is well versed in all genres of music and knows songs in five different languages. Drop $1 in the tip jar and she'll sing for you while she's making your drink. Drop in $1.50 and she'll take requests!"

Believe it or not, I was singing for about 1/2 of the drinks I made. Of course, when people tipped $1.50, a lot of them would ask which languages I can sing in and would more often than not request a song in Japanese or Hebrew, just to see if I was telling the truth. A lot of people were amused--the kids especially got a kick out of it. I figure if I can make someone I don't know smile or laugh, it's a good day.

We made a ton of tips. I don't know if I'll keep doing it (my guess is that it would piss my boss off). I imagine if I did it all the time that people would get bored and quit buying into it so it'll probably be a once-a-week thing.

And kudos to the guy who flung this creative pick-up line at me:
Him: You smell really good. What kind of perfume are you wearing?
Me: It's Amor, Amor by Cacharel.
Him: I can see why they call it amor, amor. It makes you want more and more. *devious grin*
Me: *blinkblink* haha. k.

I mean, it was still cheesy and embarrassing but he just thought of it off the top of his head and it was pretty creative as far as pick-up lines go. I gotta give him props for it.

Hooray!

I have officially eaten actual food for the first time in 4 1/2 days! It was half of a delicious panini with sundried tomatoes and basil, havarti cheese, on garlic ciabbata bread. And I got a wonderfull, amazingly refreshing hibiscus tea lemonade at the same time.

The problem is that now I feel REALLY sick. I should have eased myself onto eating solids again.

And, just fyi, I'm not anorexic. I just haven't been hungry. I think I'm sick.

oh yeah

That's about the creepiest thing that you could hope to see while you're jogging the trails by yourself at 5:00am.

And it's the Aqua Avenger herself. I love my car. <3

Random pictures of random things

WA-705. My friend sucked at taking pictures of what I wanted him to, so this is what's left. I liked the sense of motion.















The duck pond at Pt. Defiance. But where are the ducks?















Oh, there's one.















K I'm bored with ducks so here's a rose.














I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. But here it is anyway.














The trails I jogged yesterday morning.

k

never call in sick to work to go on a short (but relatively sweet) road trip. people usually are pissed when you get back.

The very definition of f***ed up..

When I have to ruin my $40 manicure because ALL OF A SUDDEN they don't allow nail polish at work.

They will regret that they ever even suggested that I remove my nail polish. My nails are so.. plain and unpretty.

In other news:

My mother's ad spot appeared in a major nursing academic journal today. It's so odd to open up a magazine and see your mom's face on the inside. I'm so proud of her (the health care system she works for is using her as a spokeswoman). She's come from growing up poor and uneducated in Brooklyn, NY to being a registered nurse practitioner and head of the pediatric infusion department at her hospital. If only abuelita could see her now.

Speaking of work, I do believe it's time for me to go slave away in front of a hot espresso machine and get hit on by innumerable creepy guys. Wish me luck! :D

A new drink in my life?

That's right. It would seem that I'm having a sensual affair with my hibiscus tea lemonade.

I went through the drive-through at Forza coffee company and it was love at first sight. It's so smooth and tropical tasting--I wish it would never end. In fact, I feel obliged to write a haiku about my new-found infatuation:

True love borne from tea
Hibiscus blushes deep pink
My life is complete

But now it's more than halfway gone. What will I do without it? Oh no!


In other news, it rained just enough today to get my car dirty again before clearing up. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. The poor "Aqua Avenger" just wasn't mean to be pretty, I guess. :(

But this means I can go take pictures of Puget Sound beautiful-ness! :D

And I really don't want to work tomorrow. At least I'll be working with Spencer (but he gets to leave 2 1/2 hours before me grr..). Nah. I don't care how cool Spencer is. Work is work. Woe is me!

Really, I should be sleeping.

So why am I not tired?

Today was a pretty good day. I guess it was semi-productive.. Nah, I take that back. It really wasn't that productive.

I went and got my car washed. My poor baby was in such dire need of a bath! Too bad it's going to rain tomorrow morning (according to the weather man, at least). I guess I just spent the money for no good reason. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I also picked up dog food for my parents' dog. I'm really not a big fan of driving 20 minutes each way to get it but I do it anyway. Speaking of my parents' dog, I looked at the wound on her neck. For the life of me, I can't figure out how an animal would get such an oddly-placed abrasion. Since I [still] didn't have saline/salve/gauze or pretty much anything else with me, I just had to clean it out as best I could. I'll get all of my equipment tomorrow and put a dressing on it. Stuff to look forward to.

I did go for a pretty good run. Unfortunately, I didn't stretch well enough beforehand so I'm a bit sore. Lesson learned, I suppose. My route looked like this:

The red line, of course, is my path of travel. It was roughly 5 miles, or 8k everywhere else in the world. My time was so embarassing that I won't even bother posting it. There are some wicked hills on that road that I totally forgot about. I'm going back tomorrow to try to improve my time. On Monday (since I'm working all weekend, grrrr), I'm going to try Ft. Steilacoom park. It won't be as long of a run but it'll be a change of pace. Maybe I'll take my friend up on his offer to play tennis, too.

Oh, how lovely. It just started to rain. It had better be dry tomorrow when I go running.

Umm.. and I guess all of the "tomorrow"s in this post really mean later today, since it's 3:00am and all. Good goin', me.

audio post numero uno

New source of income?

I should really just start charging by the hour for my veterinary services.

My friend's parents called me the other day about their dog. He has a hot spot on his left hip that, from what I can surmise is caused by a poor diet (they're feeding him terrible food). I told them to put a hot compress on it for about half-an-hour every day to relieve the itching and pain, and also to keep it relatively clean. I also recommended a new diet for the poor dog, a premium one that doesn't cause allergies, and told them to transition him onto it slowly so as to not upset his stomach.

One thing that made me angry about this visit was that, when I was telling them about the food that they should feed, my friend's dad said "I don't really care much about this dog and didn't pay anything to get him, so I don't want to spend too much money on him." I honestly don't care if he doesn't like his dog, but he needs to keep that to himself. Saying that right to the face of someone who is investing their time, energy, and knowledge to help this animal get well--because I care about the animal--is a slap in the face. I'm tempted to tell them that the next time they need help, that they can pay the cash-up-front to see a DVM.

On another house-call, my other friend called me over because her cat was bleeding and she couldn't figure out why. I immediately asked if the animal was sterilized and she said that she thought she was. So, not wanting to take any chances, I did a physical exam to make sure that the cat wasn't injured, as snagging and losing a toenail is a common occurence.

After being bitten and scratched more that I would have liked to, I deduced that the cat was, indeed, unsterilized, and that she was in heat. This wasn't a very fun housecall. :P

Now, my parents are telling me that their golden retriever has a big, weepy wound on her neck. I can't do much about it right now because I'm out of sterile saline and veterinary tape (which means I should probably get some). The most I can do, really, is shave the site, clean and dress the wound. If it gets infected (which it sounds it might well be on its way there), she'll have to go see a DVM.

But seriously. I should be making some money for my house-calls. And, y'know, I would really hope that when I get my DVM that they all bring their animals to me.

Did I also mention that I provide free dog grooming to my friends/family? Seriously. These people owe me. :P

An addition to the menagerie?

I got a call from the Tacoma Humane Society today, asking if I would foster a 6-week old labrador puppy until she's old enough to be adopted.

I obviously want to do it, but I'm not sure that it's logistically possible, with work and everything. I also have to ask myself if I'm willing to wake up every two hours at night to let the little thing outside. My first instinct there is yes, but I don't know.. I much love my sleep.

So, um, I don't know. I'll think about it and, in the meantime, change the music video on here. Good times.

This is me..

...y'know, in case you were curious.

My feeble attempt at snapping a pic with my face and the beach in the background. Taken at Kopachuck State Park in Gig Harbor. It was a beautiful afternoon. Too bad I didn't capture that.

The best part about this picture is that it was really a test. My hands are pretty shaky and my pictures always turn out blurry. For this one, I just raised my hand above my head, looked up, and snapped the photo, all in about a two-second span. It came out like this. Triumph!


Obviously, the standard bathroom mirror shot. Um, my arm is not disproportionate to my body. I was leaning forward on the sink, thus that arm is closer in to the source of the shot. Yeah.

Note to self: black tank tops make one look mannish. Don't wear again for pictures, no matter how comfortable it is.

Inaugural post

Welcome to the Consecutively Concussed!

To be quite honest, I don't know why I made this blog. Maybe I just felt like giving random people a glimpse into my life. More often than not, this will probably be pretty boring but hopefully, every once in a while, I'll write something entertaining.

I'll probably make my first voice post in a little while, so that all of you out there in blogger land can see what I sound like (keep in mind, though, that I am ill and probably don't sound too great).