krink

Cheers to a happy weekend and fun things to look forward to! Tonight is a girls' night out with Andrea, of former Norman fame, and some of her friends from grad school. We're going out downtown "somewhere nice" which is a welcome excuse to try out my new little black dress that I scored at a discount shop for minimum expense. And then tomorrow is a pilgrimage to the city of steel (Pittsburgh) with my friend Jack, of art museum fame, to meet up with some of his mates, one who lives there, and another who is in town from LA. Very cosmopolitan.

And of course this coming Thursday is a quick jetaway back to those Oklahoma hills where I was born.

I'm just an old lump of coal... oh lord... but I'm gonna be a diamond some day

Having nearly reached my three month mark of Pennsylvania living, I feel adequately prepared to give it a bit of a review.

*ahem*

I enjoy the fact that many restaurants in Pennsylvania are BYOB. They'll even pour your wine for you. This is an annoyance only when the liquor store (which are all government run, and don't sell beer) is closed. I enjoy the fact that you can buy beer out of a bar. But you can't get it in a gas station. That I don't like quite so much.

I like that you can speed up to 30mph over the limit on the interstate and not get pulled over. I do not enjoy that the speed limit everywhere is 55mph. And because there are no cops, some drivers get away with some pretty crazy stuff. I have adapted to getting cut off, being tailgated, and a general non-usage of turn signals. I've also become a much more agressive driver. I-35 better watch it when I'm back home next week.

I love having public transportation as an alternative to driving. Buses, regional trains, subways, cabs. I do not love how expensive it is ($3.75 one way into Philly on the regional rail - one of the most expensive transit systems in the nation). Or that the subway transit system in Center City Philadelphia is very dirty and scary and not really that safe to ride. You have to take a cab instead, and cabs cost a lot. But still better then driving...

I do not enjoy how the east coast accent sounds. Most of the time when people are speaking, I have to suppress the urge to cringe. I speak with little or no accent, despite being from "the country" "where the horses run."

I don't like how high the taxes are (25% of my income).

I don't like how much car insurance costs.. most of my friends lie and pretend they keep their cars out of state. I'm honest. and I pay. a lot.

I like being close to the ocean, and having a bazillion things going on at any given time.

I like how everyone expects that this must be such a huge cultural change for me, when really it's very similar to Oklahoma. Most of the people I meet here have never lived anywhere else, so I wonder what makes them think here is so different? If they've never lived anywhere else, how can they know? Same idiots driving big SUVs, same people working the same jobs, same franchise shopping centers, same television programs.

I don't like how everyone who has lived here for a long time hates it, just like in Oklahoma. I'm glad that I have the perspective to appreciate it for what it is. A pretty amazing place.

Today at lunch I sat on the pond in my office complex, where resides a colony of canadian geese. I didn't know this was where they spend their summer, whenever I would see them migrating through Oklahoma, I assumed they were headed for Canada. So really these should be called Pennsylvanian Geese.. but no matter. I shared with them my crackers and gingersnaps. Two of them have a little flock of five goslings that are just entering into their awkward ugly duckling phase. But they're cute, especially when they dunk their heads in the water so their butts are extended high in the air and flail their legs about desperately.

In the midst of this I struggled to find entertainment for the weekend. A friend I thought I had made has been giving me the cool shoulder lately. Regardless, I was able to hustle up something for this evening. I'll go visit my friends Heather and Drew in their shop on State St. near my house. It's a neat shop, I've mentioned it before, they sell art and pottery and all sorts of hand-made delights, and cute little african drums. I can help them unpack things perhaps, and have some good conversation. Cheers to good conversation. I've been rather lonely lately.


The geese provide much better lunch company then many people I know. I think I'll go back on Monday.

I wonder why I'm addicted to a tv show that makes me queasy and sad. Just can't get enough of my ER.

forgive me. i hate people who post these.


You're a Spirograph!! You're pretty tripped out,
even though you've been known to be a bit
boring at times. You manage to serve your
purpose in life while expending hardly any
effort (and are probably stoned to the gills
all the while).


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

in the grand scheme of things, i am largely left disappointed. often felt left behind, left out, left of center. i wonder why that is? mine own skewed perception of things i suppose...

tonight my sister-in-law called me to ask if i had talked to my mom today. funny thing is, i had just called her about a half hour before, and was surprised when she didn't answer her cell phone or the home phone. my brother is going to call her next door neighbor to go and check on her. i hope she's ok.

it's surreal to be worried about my mom in this fashion. the joys of getting older...

There isn't much to say, but lack of much to do leads me to blog. I took my car to the mechanic yesterday because it's been making creaking noises when I turn. Ends up that I need to have my front axel boots replaced (they're cracked) and all four of the engine mounts replaced (before my engine falls out). Now this wouldn't seem like that big of a deal, except they have to take the engine out in order to replace the engine mounts. Total cost to me, including recharging the A/C and changing the oil,

$900.

That's right folks, Kate has officially depleted any spare cash she had lying around, and will be paying off this repair for the next eight months. At least I have a job and can afford it. They raised my credit card limit last week from $500 to $2500. Coincidence? I think not.

But at least my car won't make funny noise anymore! And they gave me a free rental to use last night. It's a brand new Toyota Camry. I was amazed at the ease of the commute home with an automatic transmission, but I missed the manueverability of my little Accord. That Camry is a monster. I don't see how people drive SUVs.

I discovered my space today. It is far superior to friendster is many many ways.

In other news, I'm tired today. I think I lost weight being sick last week, and I'm still waiting for my appetite to come back. All good things come in time I suppose. Maybe I'll actually go visit a nutritionist this time.. like I've been talking about doing for years.. but probably not.

Tonight there is a sales social for work. Everyone is going, but "car problems" will prevent me from attending. Read: I already waste enough of my time at this place without devoting my precious personal evening time to them and I'm going to lie and not go. Instead, I'm going to go home and work in the back garden. Our roses need some love.

Ah, love.

i haven't been that sick in a loooong time. monday i was working with a 101.2 fever. i went to the doc, and ended up staying home for 3 days! I had to use up my vacation time, how much does that suck? But regardless, I'm feeling better now, thank goodness, being sick like that was torture.

P.S. God Bless Patrick for taking a day off of work to keep me company, and for buying me soup.

Now if the darn stuffy nose would go away my life would be perfect.

3 weeks until I'm home for a visit, how wacked is that?

Love to all.

update on my crappy monday:

i'm getting sick. my back hurts, i woke up multiple times last night alternately sweaty and really cold. i have a headache, my ears won't pop because they're filled with something, my nose is running down my throat, so my throat is sore, and i can't remember where on earth i'm supposed to file the check requests.

i called my HMO doctor to make an appt, and was told they were full for the next three days.

("i've got the doctor on the line, but he's talkin' and i can't get through"...)

thankfully they called me back and are going to see me tonight at 5.30. please don't let me be dying, i have too many things to do.

did i mention i saw peaches on friday night? blissful.

i think i'm falling for someone i've met out here. i'm not supposed to do that.

I hate going to the dentist. 3 cavities they found. I already have 8 fillings. I didn't think there was room for anymore! And I do brush regularly, for god's sake!

Argh. At least I (or my mother) don't have to pay the bill this time around.

I have a headache. It's shaping up to be a bit of a lousy day. I don't even get to go to lunch, I have to work through because I took an hour to go to the dentist.

My good deed for the year:

While waiting for my appointment this morning, the radio station announced that so-and-so had one hour to call in and claim a $1000 prize. Turns out that so-and-so is a woman I work with, I called the office to tell her, and they tracked her down even though she's on vacation in Florida, and she won $1000. All thanks to yours truly.

Picture Kate patting herself on the back *here*

cheers!