(no subject)

[geekchick]

Today is Prickle-Prickle, day 60 in the season of Bureaucracy, 3268.



Friday was "girls night out" with some of my cow orkers; we went to dinner and then to see "The Banger Sisters". Not a great movie, but a good one and an enjoyable evening's entertainment. On the way home, I was almost literally itching to just take off and go. No place in particular, just drive until I got "there", wherever that might be. It was warm and humid and hazy, my windows were down and the sunroof open, the music was cranked way up and the highway was stretching in front of me with just the occasional glimpse of tail lights ahead. It was almost a physical compulsion to take the next exit, turn around and drive west until I felt like stopping. I didn't though, although I did make a last-minute detour to head south on the parkway for a bit just to enjoy some more time in the car. I wish I felt like I could just take off and go on a whim like that; when I didn't have someone waiting for me at home, I was too scared to do anything of the sort. Now that I'm craving a bit of adventure, I think that indulging in that sort of thing would cause all sorts of problems for me which I'm not quite willing to have to deal with. Or maybe I really am still a big coward, who knows?

I'm not normally a big fan of overreaction, but I must admit that the sniper thing has me scared. I noticed when I got out of my car on Friday to go get some cash, I felt very exposed and nervous while standing at the ATM. I caught myself looking around a lot and I could feel that my pulse was faster than normal. I'm sure it didn't at all help that just as I was pulling up to the bank, I heard on the radio about the woman being shot in Fredericksburg. Granted, that's not right around the corner, but still... I think the only thing that's keeping me from utterly freaking out is that so far no one's been shot while driving or while in their house. If either of those things starts happening, I think I'm going to need some Paxil. Yeah, the odds are against anything happening, but that was true for the 6 people who are now dead too. (I'm not really as bad off as I sound, but I am nervous. It's not keeping me from doing anything that I would normally do, I'm not changing my routine at all.)

Saturday we went up to check on and feed the kitties for a friend, and run some errands to the pet store and the post office. The pet store had the CUTEST THING EVER, which I wish I had a picture of. Imagine a smallish clear plastic tube with 5 hamsters squeezed inside and sleeping, filling it up entirely. It only got cuter when the sixth hamster squeezed his way in to sleep on top of three of the others. *squeeeee* Went to the maul, obtained a very cute new handbag with a vintage print on it for almost no money, had dinner, and then came home to try to watch "Waking Life". Um. Wow, that movie made me seasick. Quit with the moving backgrounds already! I must confess that I don't see what was so fabulous about it, I just absolutely could not become engaged by any of it. I'm sure the feeling queasy because of the constantly shifting backgrounds didn't help at all. I skipped out on a lot of the middle part to come upstairs and do some journal-reading. Too much energy yesterday, as I took two Metabolift in the morning since I'd been taking one for a week or so. Apparently one is not enough, but two is too many. *boing* *boing* *boing* *boing* *boing* It was almost fun for a while, but when it wore off I crashed pretty hard. Stuck with one at a time, spaced out better today.

Today has been devoted to housecleaning. I've managed to hang up and put away a ton of laundry which was cluttering up my half of the bedroom. Major achievement for me. Of course I'm still out of room in my dresser so I can't put everything away; I've already culled a few times this summer and made several trips to Goodwill, I guess it's time to try that again (or at least put some stuff that I hope to fit into again into boxes and store them). I'm getting in a bit of aerobic exercise by dancing around the bedroom to the "Swingers" soundtrack in a pair of sweatpants and a sports bra. It's rather terrifying to watch, I'd imagine, as I'm at this point sweaty and dusty and extremely disheveled. Plus, I can't dance. ;) And now that I've used up my allotted break time, it's time to go back and vacuum and put the last of the random crap away.

Comments

Problems have solutions

[telnar.livejournal.com]

I'm not buying your claim that there would be "all sorts of problems" if you decided to have a small adventure. For example, just because there's someone waiting for you at home doesn't mean that you can't call him and see if he's in the mood to take off also. After all, you didn't have a destination in mind -- there probably was somewhere he would have been in the mood to go. Ok, you would have needed to come back quickly (or not go far) to fulfill your cat sitting responsibilities for the weekend, but that isn't true most weekends. The typical household errands are eminently postponable, and I've never had an employer who wouldn't say yes more often than not to a question like "since we're not that busy right now, do you mind if I take Monday off?"

Btw, as someone who has done the "hmmm... I wonder where I can go for the next couple days" thing my share of times, let me add that it's not as dramatic as it sounds. Once you get used to it, it's just a part of your life. You end up with a lot of practice at what works for you and what doesn't, so new trips can be scheduled quickly, but they will usually have similarities to things you've already done. Btw, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing at all. Why not do things similar to trips you've done and enjoyed? I'm just saying that if you did let the car wander West more often, you might find that your journeys eventually ended up more like to planned vacations than you might think.

Re: Problems have solutions

[geekchick]

I'm not buying your claim that there would be "all sorts of problems" if you decided to have a small adventure. For example, just because there's someone waiting for you at home doesn't mean that you can't call him and see if he's in the mood to take off also.

Ah, see, you're missing some of the context here. First, I wasn't in the mood to adventure *with* anyone, I wanted to go off and spend some time alone, a brief change of scenery. Second, had I called from the highway at 9:45 on Friday night and said "Hey, I'm not coming home tonight, I don't know where I'm going to be but I'll call you when I get there", I am quite confident that it would not have gone over very well at all. On the face of things, sure, it seems like it ought to be easy enough but taken in context with information I'm not providing here, it's not nearly as simple as it looks at first glance.

Yeah, I know it looks like I'm doing the "yeah, but..." thing. I suppose I am to some extent, as I could just say in advance that I'm taking a day or so to myself. I'm just saying that there is a reason that I say it would cause a problem if I were to just take off with no advance warning.

Part of the problem is that I've done hardly any travelling at all this year due to financial circumstances, and I'm really missing it. It's not necessarily that I want to be anywhere in particular, I just want to be "not here". And while I do want to do some travelling with C. once we can really afford to do that again, I'd also like to do a short trip or two on my own as I'm finding I need/want a lot more time by myself than I have in the past.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

As someone who frequently has to fight the urge to take off and drive into the sunset, I can understand completely. Last night, Brian and I were coming back from somewhere and ended up driving around for an hour and a half just to be driving and talking. Both of us miss taking off and travelling together, and I miss driving places by myself, but having children complicates things. (I'm really looking forward to when they go to college : > )

[geekchick]

Last night, Brian and I were coming back from somewhere and ended up driving around for an hour and a half just to be driving and talking.

I enjoy doing that kind of thing too, although C. doesn't enjoy driving nearly as much as I do (well he does, but only in his MR2, not so much in my Protege). For me, a long drive with no place in particular to go is a good way to spend an afternoon.

Both of us miss taking off and travelling together, and I miss driving places by myself, but having children complicates things. (I'm really looking forward to when they go to college : > )

That's one of the things that I enjoy about just having a cat...he's only four, but I've already been able to leave him home alone for the weekend for three years or so. ;)

[points.livejournal.com]

While this year has been.. less than optimal on many fronts, I've gotten a lot more driving in than I usually do. My east-coast 'wander.' My power trip to Seattle and back... I love just driving sometimes. Sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else. Sometimes with a planned destination, sometimes just to wander a bit. I didn't do it at all last year, and nearly went out of my mind. Doesn't really help that no one else in the household really enjoys long car trips that much. Ah well. :)

[geekchick]

Doesn't really help that no one else in the household really enjoys long car trips that much. Ah well. :)

Well that obviously means that you and I need to go on a road trip, eh? ;)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Re: The travelling thing:

"I have been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I have
never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do."

Georgia O'Keefe

Yeah, I see the responsibility/feasability standpoints, but if you can, do.