Sucking at Life

So, apparently I fell off the face of the earth. I dunno - I just haven't felt up to writing lately. I get home after 10 hours of work and two hours of commuting and I just can't. I knew this would happen eventually...the blog is always the first thing to get neglected. The only reason I'm writing right now is because I've had a very low key day and I have the day off tomorrow too (two days off in a row is a rarity for me right now and two days off where I'm not traveling to LA is an even bigger rarity.) While it's been nice to have a bit of down time (and the house totally to myself) I'd rather be with my family right now. I haven't been able to see them in nearly a year. Anyway, the big storm we had turned my plans upside down, so, here I am.

I'm going to do a super-quick miscellany post. I hope I find the humor in all the suck that has defined this week.

• A rock hit my windshield on Monday - no big deal, happens all the time. Only this time? It was a slightly bigger deal. I was driving to work on Tuesday and was all "why is there a pine needle on my windshield? There are no pine trees around here." Just as I had that thought, I realized it was cracked. The crack has been growing all week long and while I initially freaked out over it, it's not a huge deal - it's not shattered or anything. However, I drive a lot and really can't risk it (that and a family member had a really scary accident this week and the one thing that probably saved them was having a sturdy car with everything in good condition.) One funny thing? I swear the crack got bigger when I blasted Guns n' Roses on the drive home Friday (I was angry and needed some good 80s music I could yell to.) 

• I'm thankful for comprehensive insurance that will cover most of the cost of replacing said windshield.

• California had its version of 'storm of the century' on Thursday and while normally I'm all over rain and stormy weather, I'm bitter about it. Not only did it shut down train service, derailing (pun intended) plans to see my family, but it fried my computer. I was stupid and had my almost new desktop on before the storm hit (but it was a bit windy) and I'm pretty sure I killed it. It was plugged into a surge protector, and everything else is working fine now, but the computer won't turn on. I'm not sure if I should have someone look at it, or if I should just get a new one. I know, I know, turning off electronics is like, 'storm 101' but we really haven't had a storm here in years and it's just never been an issue. I wasn't even thinking (obviously) and now I feel like a douche. A really unintelligent douche.

• Thankfully, not long after we purchased the desktop, Best Buy had an incredible deal on laptops, so I bought one to have while traveling or as a backup while working from home (and, surfing the interwebs from bed.) I was initially hesitant to purchase the laptop (it just felt so indulgent) but I'm glad I did (my old laptop was 6 years old and only worked with the cord plugged in...but the cord was sensitive and if the cord was bumped/moved, the whole computer shut down.) I'll be working from home a lot the next few weeks and I need a computer.

• I was totally caught of guard by something major being launched from NASA/the base. Sometimes I forget that I live less than 10 miles from a launch pad. Luckily, I realized what was happening pretty quickly (because earthquakes don't make noise like that) but it was still unpleasant at first. Luckily, I recovered and made it outside with my phone to take a few pictures before it faded out of sight. While I don't love the noise and shaking (it's not just the windows that shake, it's the whole house - it really feels like an earthquake.) it's still pretty awesome to experience it - not many people do.

• I made rosemary sea salt almonds today and they're heavenly

• I also made Bora Bora meatballs for the first time and they were pretty tasty, I'd make them again for sure, but next time I'm adding more jalapeno and cayenne. I'm going to do Asian-inspired meatballs tomorrow (what can I say? I'm in a 'ball' phase.) 

• Normally I bake like a mad woman this time of year, but I'm just not feeling it. I've been having a rough go of things this holiday season and am feeling very 'bah humbug'. I may break down tomorrow and bake a few things, but meh.

• I'm not sure what was in the water at the gym today, but people were failing at gym etiquette. Like, if there are 500 empty machines, WHY ARE YOU GETTING ON THE ONE NEXT TO ME??!! It's not like something really awesome was on one of the TVs that she had to be on that particular machine for (I'm pretty sure it was a re-run of Law&Order) The creepiest part? She literally changed machines and got onto mine two minutes after I got off. It was so, so weird. Then, another woman hovered over me as I was on the hip abductor machine. It's not like I was was sitting there chatting or extensively resting between sets. I finally got so annoyed that I decided to take my sweet time in finishing up (and live-tweeting my annoyance.) Again, there are a ton of empty machines, why do you need this one RIGHT THIS SECOND? One day I'll learn to not be so passive aggressive. Today was not that day.