Smoky thoughts of the day

Well it is another smoky day in Atlanta... it just blows my mind that the winds can change direction and move smoke such a far distance. I am still tending my physical wounds from the biking crash this past Sunday. I even opted to miss my softball playoff game last night because I can hardly bend my leg to play catcher (my skin stretches the wounds when attempting a squatting position for playing catcher). I am sure my team is not happy about that decision. I am not sure if all the smoke in the air has affected folks this week but I have encountered nothing short of just plain freaky-driving Atlantans on the interstate. Tuesday evening I was forced into the emergency lane as I was about to exit onto I-285 West from I-85 South by a confederate-flag-displaying, 18-wheeler driving hillbilly trucker who was too busy yakking on his CB to see my large F150 in his target lane with no where else to go. Then, on Wednesday I sat through SIX traffic light cycles under the 400 overpass on Abernathy Rd while waiting on a tow truck that just appeared out of thin air to park across the two lanes of traffic to hook-up a stranded car- You should have seen the back-up of traffic! And then this morning, I had three, count them THREE different vehicles pull out in front of me and then veer into my lane while I am steadily moving at the speed limit of 55mph. Now usually this is not too big of deal IF the driver puts the pedal to the metal and scoots on up the road where I am not screeching to a halt to keep from rear-ending them. Not the case this morning though- in the stretch of road between the interstate exit ramp and my office (which is about 1.25 miles) I had two different box trucks cut me off and then proceed at the numbingly slow speed of 20mph tops!?! I had to nose-dive TWICE to keep from hitting these idiots! All of these incidents just go to support my personal driving theory about the drivers in this city... its too bad I cannot explain my theory in this blog... it's not very lady-like. (FYI-that's a Memaw term) Sieze the day!

Motion sickness for me...

I have decided that after this past long 3-day weekend that ALL weekends should be 3-day weekends! Who decided that the "work-week" should be 5 days and not 4? We had the most fun and wonderful 3-day weekend considering for once we did not travel out of town and did not have a hectic or planned schedule for the entire 3 days. We just stayed home, went mountain biking, swam lengths at the local aquatic center, caught up on household and yard work, hit some golf balls at the driving range and just rested... hmmmmm how nice... Again, I could get SO much done if every weekend was a 3-day weekend! We did have an eventful Sunday... speaking of mountain biking, my husband convinced me to purchase the "clip-in" cycling shoes that every biker MUST have... the theory behind these shoes is that they "attach" your feet to the bike so you are moving in one motion. This one motion supposedly helps with biking up tough inclines, over rocky terrain, etc. Well that might be so for the professional level bikers, but for me that means when the bike stops on the steep hill, the bikes falls and so do I! Needless to say, I took 2 really bad spills Sunday just practicing with the clip-ins in our driveway for crying out loud! I thought the first crash was bad on the rough asphalt but the second hurt REALLY bad. I fell on the wood bridge over the creek in our driveway; therefore, also banging my head on the bridge rails. I have been in pain from all the "road rash" I received in both falls: bruises, scrapes, swollen elbow and knee, etc. I am a mess! (Road rash is what the Barista at Starbucks called it this morning when he saw it) Anyhoo, I realized while sitting on the bridge crying and staring at my busted limbs that I am not in my early 20's anymore... My husband went right back then and changed the clip-ins to regular pedals... for now. Maybe after the wounds are healed and I am my chipper self, I will try again and again and again- just on the grass.

On the Road Again

This morning on my way into Atlanta for a job site meeting, I am trudging along with the 70+ mph flow of vehicles on I-75 South. I am about 3 exits away from my destination still fuming from the little incident earlier back up the Interstate when the lady in the minivan started honking at me while merging off the exit ramp. I look to my right and notice one of the funniest pictures I have ever seen on the Atlanta roads. Picture this: An old beat-up beige-colored Ford pickup… old sticker markings on the doors from the previous life of being a commercial-owned fleet vehicle… bent rear bumper, miscellaneous dents and dings all over, a homemade roof-mounted megaphone of some sort on top…. And the best part- a large rubber skin-toned almost life-like scrotum sack hanging from the center of the back bumper… and they are just swinging in the wind from the steady vibration of the ol’ redneck truck cruising up the interstate. I almost died laughing… Now, I have be honest…. This was not the first time I have ever seen the rubber balls before in my time… One of my oldest friends from back home proudly displayed a red pair from the rear of his red Dodge pick-up, but at least they were somewhat discreetly hung from behind the bumper and not directly off the top! But, the pair this morning were way too in-your-face! I am sure that fella gets LOTS of attention from his sizable pair to say the least… He should be fussed at… I bet more people have crashed their own vehicle from doing a double-take after catching a glimpse of those on the road!

Home- where the deer and the ticks play

We have been looking for some land for a while now back home. Specifically a large tract of land to build our dream home on one day... our scavenger hunt for the perfect acreage is complicated because the entire tri-county area down there has just skyrocketed in regards to real estate prices. Every since the announcement was made that Kia was going to build a brand-new manufacturering plant in West Point (on the western-most portion of Harris Co), every redneck in HC has upped their price per acre from West Point to Warm Springs to LaGrange to Columbus. It is so hard for me to swallow the fact that land in the country is going for $10+ an acre! At that price, you just cannot find much less afford a decent sized piece of property for building a home, having 100% privacy and room to hunt too. We rode around last Sunday with a real estate guy that specializes in large tracts of land sales, timber mgt, forestry mgt, the whole nine yards. We specifically looked at one HUGE tract just into Meriwether Co about 4 miles north of Pine Mtn... He toured all over the dense, wooded property that was previously owned by Mead for timber growth. It has been owned by a group of investors and used for hunting for the past few years... We are pondering the idea of making an offer... We could almost get lost in there. So many decisions to be made, career choices, lifestyle changes, etc. The best part of course would be NO traffic!! All of this was still fresh on my mind that evening as I am in the middle of the produce aisle in Publix franctically removing a tick from Mike that has buried itself behind the waistband of his boxers. Yes, Mike attracts ticks like you wouldn't believe... Me, on the other hand, no ticks yet (knock on wood). How in the hell do those things always wind up on his waist?? Now that is the million dollar question..

Small towns feel well small

So I made my first trip out to Conyers yesterday for the first scheduled meetings regarding my newest project we are kicking off at work. What a haul! I had to be at the existing wastewater plant between 6:30 am and 6:45 am. I left the house at 5:30 am and it STILL took me almost an hour and 15 minutes to get there- and with NO traffic whatsoever... Just what I was looking for... another long torturous project clear on the other side of town... 7+ months of hell I am sure. The meetings went reasonably well... I was amused by how "small town" the city of Conyers felt- (almost like my home town) Every person we saw greeted us with such happiness and enthusiam... it was almost scary- I am thinking to myself "what chemical do they put in the water in Rockdale County to make every person so cheerful?" I suppose I am just so used to being the daily pessimist in a pessimistic industry. We did have a little trouble locating the building in downtown where the meeting was held... but, in search for the building we happened to pass by the UMC two doors down... Which ironically happens to be where my dear friend and minister, John is being relocated to next month. Yes, I am deeply saddened for my friend and his situation... to make a short story as short as possible, after 10 years of service and steadfast love and support for my Church, Grace UMC, the higher power decided to move him to a much smaller church in Conyers. Some might say it is punishment... some might say it is a stepping stone in his career?... some might even say it is a good thing to step back and keep oneself in check... many thoughts are pondered when these things happen... the UMC seems to thrive on moving their leaders around on a quite regular basis (usually every 3-4 years it seems except for special circumstances like the 10 years of service at Grace)... I have never understood that concept being raised Baptist at all... we keep our good folks around for years! Anyhoo, I suppose I can at least catch him around the town square when I am in Conyers for work... since we will not be traveling that hour and 15 min to Conyers for worship...I still have another year and half left in my term on the Board of Trustees at Grace (yes, I am on the BOT- pretty scary, huh? don't ask, don't tell)... might have to go Church shopping closer to East Cobb after that...

The Great Gas-by

So I leave work yesterday evening and remind myself that I have less than 1/4 of a tank of gas... stop and get gas on the way home... I sit through the usual afternoon rush-hour traffic... stop and get gas I keep thinking... I finally make it to the most convenient corner BP on the way home and pull into the station... I can barely pull the F-150 in the lot because there is like a traffic jam at the pumps! I sit for about 1 minute and decide not to wait since I had about an 1/8 of a tank to get home... so I weave my way around the 20 or so cars all grid-locked waiting on the pumps... I think to myself " that was really odd- wonder what's going on..." Well this morning as I driving to work on the same stretch of road I think to myself... stop and get gas- there is no way in hell you are going to make it to Nocross on 1/8 of a tank without stopping in an emergency lane along the way... Then, my mother calls me to remind me not buy gas today for the big "GAS OUT".... I inform her that I had to get gas or stay home... I am thinking that must be why everyone and their brother was at BP last night as I pull into the last BP on the way to the Interstate and pull right up to the only available pump. I get the gas card and all the codes in and go to pump and nothing comes out of the nozzle... keep trying... nothing... what the hell?... is there something wrong here? So I move to another pump... same thing... and then another pump... same thing... so I decide to try the Silver grade... it works!!! In honor of the big "GAS OUT" I only pump $45 worth (that's about 5/8 tank)... I then ponder this whole issue and here is my opinion:
We as the gas customers are not doing a damn thing by pushing not to purchase gas for ONE day... because everyone went and filled up yesterday and the gas suppliers made their money off record sales on Monday! And on top of that, we pumped so much Regular grade yesterday, that now there is nothing but Silver grade to buy today and tomorrow for those of us who did not wait in the long lines- I personally have better things to do with my time than sit at the BP for gas. So because Silver grade is being purchased today and tomorrow, then the gas suppliers are making even more money!!! How many "GAS OUT"'s is it going to take to stop the chaos? If we as Americans want to hurt the gas suppliers then stop driving for a month at a time... not a day. That will get them in the pockets! But, then who can do that? I sure as heck can not bike to work or even carpool for that matter... not in my industry. Of course, I personally cannot really fuss about gas prices since my company buys all the gas for my company truck...

It's a bird, it's a plane...

I have had the joy of flying to Denver, Colorado twice in the past two weeks for work. My company's main office is located in Denver and every once in a while they spend all this excessive money to fly employees from our branch offices into the Denver office for meetings, bids, training, etc. I have been with this company for over 4 years (4 year anniversary was April 11) and have NEVER been sent there in all this time.. and then all of sudden they send me out there twice in a matter of 9 days. Well I am here to tell you that 24-36 hour trips that involve 3+ hour long airplane rides one way are for the birds! My ears still think they are changing elevations even now 4 days after my last leg home. All of the bloating and headaches from being vaccuum-sealed in that bird just sucks. And on top of that- they put me in a middle seat! There is nothing worse than getting stuck between two football player sized men who hog all of the arm rests and leave me sitting with both my elbows permanently dug into my ribcage all the while trying not to fall asleep and lean on them. I mean who could read a magazine or book in that position for 3+ hours? Unfortunately, I made a fatal mistake in not bringing my iPod on the first trip...By the way Delta was the first trip and Frontier was the second... I have to say that I was quite impressed with Frontier... they gave you the ENTIRE can of soda and a decent-sized snack compared to Delta who rationed out 4 oz. cups of soda and then a tiny bag of peanuts. I did learn that Frontier does not have 1st class... I was so darn excited when I got my boarding ticket and the seat assignment was 1D!!! Only 1st row in a plane full of Coach rows. Oh well, we were first on and first off at least. Denver was nice... what little I got see of it.
Here are a few things I learned:
1) It is a really bad idea to consume 3-4 beers before you get on a plane for a 3+ hours flight.
2) Every one has gas on airplanes.
3) Even though Denver is 2 hours behind Georgia, it is still hard to get out of bed at 6am MST
4) Doubletree chocolate cookies are awesome!
5) That PT Cruiser rental we got upgraded to drives like crap! And it was too small!
6) They do not serve sweet tea in Denver- at all.
7) My co-workers have no concept of when to stop consuming beer on business trips.
8) Never, ever get a middle seat assignment.
9) Denver traffic is no where NEAR the traffic congestion in Atlanta.
and
10) Never, ever wear shoes with strings when going thru airport security- you will get run over by those people behind you while attempting to re-tie them.

All I can say is, hopefully, my butt will not see an airplane seat for a while...

Say It Ain't So!

I have been meaning to blog on this topic for a couple of weeks now… but, just have not found the time to…

I read an article in the AJC back on 04/23/07 regarding how a high school in the styx of Georgia had finally had their first INTEGRATED prom and elected only ONE homecoming queen for the first time ever in the history of the school. Well I’ll be, Bubba, say it ain’t so!!! Are you kidding me? The article claims that “Now, for the first time since court-ordered integration in the 1970s, the campus has one homecoming queen and its very own prom.” As I state above, are you kidding me? I was in shock with my mouth dropped open the entire time I am reading the unbelieveable article. I mean it has only taken Turner County roughly 30 or so years to intergrate extra-curricular school activities! What about their Greenhouse class or the Tractor Maintenance class? Are those integrated yet? I bet Forestry and Shop are still segregated too! I remember all of these classes in my country-bred high school. It was almost embarrassing to admit that we actually offered classes for the “non-college” bound curriculum- you would not believe how many hillbillies and rednecks were enrolled in these courses during my 4 years of high school. One class even had a “biggest rack” contest every year for whoever shot the buck with the biggest antlers. AND they would put a picture of the first prize winner and the runner-ups in the local newspaper… Yee-haw! I will never forget- my senior year I had taken pretty much taken every scholastic class they offered since my freshman year and needed two more electives to fullfill my 7-classes load. Since I was enrolled in my fourth science and fourth math class (GA graduation requirements do not require sutdents to take but 3 years of science and math to graduate- EVEN if you are college-bound) on top of english, social studies and health, there was nothing else to take but electives. I had already taken Typing, Computers, and two years of Spanish- everything they offered to prep one for living in the big city of Atlanta… My only options were another foreign language- NOT- spanish was enough for me, Home Ec- NOT- all they did was bake cookies and I did not need the extra calories, all of the redneck courses listed above and Art. So I wound up with Art and a third year of Spanish class… real exciting… they tried so hard to enroll me in Greenhouse… I refused to be vocational in a college program… is that bad of me? Naaaaa Look at me now- even without Greenhouse in high school I can still plant vegetables and watch my garden grow!
Anyhoo, back to my original blog rant… Turner County… I remember you rednecks from even when I was in grade school, in the 4-H club, going to Livestock Judging contests… (Yes, I did participate in 4-H Livestock Judging- don’t ask, don’t tell) I knew even back then something was scary about those folks from Turner County.
Let’s just end this with few thoughts… Thank you, Turner County for giving the yankees and westerners one less reason to call all of us Georgians, “a bunch of back-woods rednecks”. It is so nice that you finally decided to join the integration movement- what’s 30 years anyway? Just a few years short of my entire life-span for crying out loud! It is folks like you that make some of us civilized Georgians wonder why we even admit our traditions.
Go check out this article for yourself at:

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2007/04/22/0423metprom.html