Bring out your dead! The Dark Man's Comin'!

So here it is, Friday (yippee!!), & it being February in the great state of Minnesota, we have a Winter Storm Warning beginning in, oh, 5 minutes as I write this (6pm CST). Supposedly, depending on which source you listen to, we could get anywhere from 10-18" of snow, with "significant" blowing & drifting possible. Now, seeing as we have only had 12.1" total for the winter thus far, people are freaking out. Apparently there were lines at Super Targets & other grocery stores. People were stopping for gas. Dogs & cats, living together... it's anarchy!

People, it's a snowstorm. I'm not a bred Minnesotan (Indiana gets to lay claim to that), but for cryin' in the night, have you people LOST YOUR FREAKING MINDS!?!? I'm told by Hubby that a storm with 10-18" of snow wouldn't have gotten people to blink an eye, let alone rush to the store for "staples". Wow... another effect of global warming. People go nuts. Fear not, dear readers... I have faith that these people will come to their senses, prepare responsibly & even (dare I say it?) ENJOY this return to winter? I, myself, will have my happy little fanny parked in front of the couch, watching some movies (The Departed & Little Miss Sunshine among them), & watching the snow fall outside.

Welcome back, Ol' Man Winter... we've missed you.

Can I get a do-over?

Do you ever have a day, which starts off relatively low-key & uneventful, only to have it turn into a complete cluster fuck? Yeah, that's the kinda day I had today.

Got to work early-ish, feelin' pretty decent. Finally got a respectable amount of sleep, only woke up once but was able to knock right back out. So it was starting out pretty good. Well, of course, it all went downhill from there. And the catalyst? Slinky, of course. Now, Slinky is the "loving" term (ha ha) I use for my completely obnoxious British co-worker. This guy is a total, king-sized Pain in the Ass. We work in a cube farm, & we sit next to each other. Our cubes happen to face out onto the main aisle of our side of the building. Slinky absolutely cannot let ANYONE pass by his cube without a proper "Hallo!" to them. I swear, he stops what he's in the middle of & turns around to say Hi to whoever is unfortunate enough to be passing by him. And he'll do it if you're talking to him also. He can be in the middle of a sentence of a conversation about (*GASP*) an actual work subject & if he sees someone pass by, it's "blah blah contracts blah blah OH HALLO (insert name of poor schmuck here)!" It is, by far, one of THE most annoying things I've ever witnessed. But I digress. Slinky was in rare form today. I hadn't even taken off my coat & he's yapping. Not just to me, but to his other "cube neighbor", & the poor new girl on the other side of his wall. He was (trying) to carry on 3 conversations at once! It was actually kinda bizarre. It was like someone wound him up like a top. And then he pops off with "Oh, I only took my meds a while ago, they should kick in here in about a 1/2 hour." WHAAAA??? Jeezus H... how about you keep your issues to yourself, huh?

*sigh* So like I said, things just kept going downhill. I couldn't seem to focus all day, mostly because I don't really have a whole lot to do right now. It's the "slow week" in my monthly schedule, which I guess is good considering I've cleaned up a lot of crap in my job from when I started. But sometimes it leaves me with too much time to think & not enough to do. So I got to obsessing over things going badly, & how much Slinky annoys me, & the fact that sometimes life just don't work out like the way you planned. I dunno, maybe it's because my birthday's coming up in a month, or maybe it's the fabulous PMS kicking in, but today reeeeeeeaaaaallly sucked.

But right now, as I look at the clock, it's almost over. Thank god.

Hi, I'm Nik, & I'm a TV Addict...

Well folks, it's Monday, day 1 of a new work week &, more importantly, one of the 2 best nights on TV. I am, of course, talking about my absolutely favorite show, 24, & my favorite new show, Heroes. Unfortunately, the TV Gods have pitted these 2 quality programs opposite each other. The good news for me is that I have a media center PC, a fancy-pants TiVo, so I can record both of them & watch them commercial free. Yay for me!

Tonight we had two great episodes. Some minor reveals, but good stuff. 24 has now made me go "OH MY GOD!" twice this season now. And I have a feeling it's not over yet. Heroes was good too.... the end (which I won't give away for those of you a- that watch it too & b- haven't seen it yet) was GREAT as far as I'm concerned. I was quite pleased. =)

Is it wrong that I obsess over TV like this? Probably. I should be worried about real stuff like global warming, the "war" in Iraq, or the fact that kids are cooking puppies alive in Georgia. Don't get me wrong - I do worry about these things, & much more. But on Monday nights (& Thursdays, the other "Great Night of TV" this season), I get to ignore all that for a little while & get to hang out with Jack Bauer & save the world in a day, or save the cheerleader, & save the world. Either way, I win.

What the?!?!

So apparently I have been "tagged"... why? I'm not sure. I'm a good person, or at least I try to be, & WHAMMO. So thus now I have to post 5 Odd Things About Myself. Ok, Jer, you asked for it...

1) I cannot swim. I also cannot ride a 2 wheeled bike, roller skate, or ice skate. Yes, I'm a freak. I didn't get out much as a child, mostly because of a completely insane, overprotective mother. Someday I might try to accomplish the last 3, but the first one tho (swimming) probably won't happen any time soon. I have this thing about getting my head under water - I hate it. So that rules swimming out.

2) I have a partially photographic memory. Like I can remember details from books, pictures, places, but it's kinda like the details aren't in focus. For example, I can remember where information is on a page in a book, I can see the layout of the page, the position of pictures, but the text is most often blurry. So this is only a partially useful talent. =)

3) I believe I have mild OCD. I'm a checker. I literally cannot leave the house without making sure that all the doors are locked, nothing is left on, etc. Several times. I think it has something to do with my short term memory. Or that I'm insane, one or the other. It also could be the same insane mother mentioned in #1 - she does it too.

4) I can flex the top knuckles of my fingers independently of the other knuckles. It creeps people out when I do it. That's fun. =) But if I have them bent for too long they tend to lock up & then they're sore. But it's still fun to watch people freak.

5) I LOVE sports. Probably more so than Hubby. Almost all kinds too. Soccer & pro basketball are exceptions. They kinda suck, especially soccer. Watching soccer is like watching paint dry for me. I know a lot of people like it, good for them. But I won't watch it. Football (the "American" kind) & baseball are my two favorites. I even play Fantasy Football. Did pretty well this year too, made it to the first round of the playoffs with crap for running backs, but got bounced in the first round. Maybe next year.

So there you are - 5 Oddities about Nik. Unfortunately I have no one to "tag" now, however. So if you happen to read this & feel the urge to purge about yourself, consider yourself tagged.

And now for the news...

So I haven't posted in a while, not because I don't have anything to say really, but just have kinda forgotten to sit down & write something. The Holidays came & went in their usual flurry of fun, parties, & travel. Managed to make it through this year without getting sick (YAY), & even managed to make it down to Iowa to the hubby's Grandma's house. This is good, because I a) haven't been able to get down there for a couple years because I've been sick @ the time, & b) I feel really bad if the hubby misses it too. Grandma D is in her late 80's, but other than poor eyesight & the occasional complaint, she's in pretty good health for her age. But you never know what can happen, so I'm glad we got down there to see her. I even managed to get the coveted Roll & Frosting recipes from her this year! =)

New Year's was kind of mellow - hung out with friends at their house. Very nice. I'm not into big parties or bar hopping @ New Years. A) I HATE dressing up... too much stress, & B) just seems like a recipe for disaster. Too many stupid people out & about for my taste. Altho I would like to do New Years in Times Square, just once to say I did.

January & February have been pretty uneventful, except for those 2 weeks around the beginning of February when I finally got that bad cold I normally get around the Holidays. (Thanks Hubby!) Altho for once I think the flu shot I got actually did some good, as I got through the worst of things about 1/2 as fast as the Hubby did. He had it 2 weeks, I only had it about 6 days. We both still have a nagging cough, but it sounds like that might hang around a while (yippee).

So that brings you up to date on everything that's been going on. Nothing terribly exciting, hence the lack of postings. I'll try to get better about it tho. I'm sure you're waiting with bated breath.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas....

So there it is, December 16th, in Minnesota, & there's NO FREAKIN' SNOW?!??!? As if anyone needed any proof of global warming, may I present Exhibit A ladies & gentlemen. Not that I'm a huge fan of snow mind you - it's not like I ski or snowboard (of course I'm sure those of you who actually know me are laughing hysterically right now - "What!?!? HER, ski? Bwahahahahahaha!"). But it's very nice to have the Currier & Ives picture for the holidays. I mean, when I was growing up, I can only remember maybe one or two Christmases that were "brown" or no snow. It was still cold, just no snow. But the last few years it seems has been a struggle to get that powder for the holidays. It's kinda sad really. I'm sure it's completely different for those of you, dear readers, who grew up in the South or in California or something. I dunno how I'd feel about that. I guess if I never had snow at Christmas growing up, then I wouldn't miss it. But I did, & I do miss it.

So today's agenda includes finishing ALL my Christmas shopping - & to quote Scarlet O'Hara "As God as my witness..." I will finish my shopping today! It kills me that I have to go to the mall, Target & possibly Best Buy on the weekend before Christmas, but it's a necessary evil. I guess I wasn't born with the "female shopping gene". I've never really been the girl to hang at the mall. There are times when I like to go wandering through the mall, but definitely NOT during the holidays. People are either rude, oblivious to their surroundings, or just plain DUMB. So I will perform my ritual of "Commando Shopping" - get in, GET OUT, as fast as humanly possible.

Hopefully you are done with your shopping, & can enjoy this last weekend of sanity before the Holiday Craziness begins.

Wake up call

So have you ever had an event, or a time in your life that made you sit back, take stock? A crossroads, if you will? Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's born out of a bad thing, but a change needs to be made. Well, my friends & readers, I happened upon such a crossroads over the last couple of days. Suffice it to say, the times, they are a changin'. It's going to be hard, & it's going to suck, & I'll probably vent alot here, but I have to do it. I realize that now. I'm just really sorry that it took so long to get here.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled nonsense...