Barb’s Burblings

See? There is somewhere that requires wearing jeans and long sleeves to be comfortable! Even in late July!

The other day I was walking from the bus to my house after work. One of the roads is fairly narrow; with cars parked on both sides of the street, there’s only room for one car to get through. So I was walking along, and I can hear a car come up behind me. It can be uncomfortable to try to fit a pedestrian and a car in that middle lane (nope, no sidewalks), so usually cars just wait for the person to get past the car. The pedestrian generally moves over, and the car goes through, no problem.
So I keep walking, get past the car, and move over. The car behind me, I noticed, had beeped, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Until the car passed me, and the woman driving it totally glared at me. It took me a second to work out that she had beeped at me. Just what she expected me to do, I’m not sure. Jump onto the car? Seriously, there was nowhere for me to go.
She passes by, and I make a “What the heck?” gesture (as in palms raised, questioning, not a single-finger gesture) at her, which she makes right back. And then she zooms off. Apparently that 20 seconds I cost her was vitally important.
Stupid DC driver.

I was glancing over Reader’s Digest (yes, I subscribe to Reader’s Digest–what can I say? It’s good bathroom reading) when I saw the words “Ridgefield, Connecticut,” which is where I lived from 1987 to 1994. It was a story about the town coming together to help the family of a boy who has a rare disease. It’s a nice story, but I must say that one line totally impressed me: Most sixth graders in Ridgefield, Connecticut, spend their vacation swimming at Great Pond or playing ball. Great Pond. Wow. Totally accurate. I actually didn’t spent much time there–we had a pool in our backyard–but that’s where our eighth grade class party was, and I went there a few times with friends.
It’s very easy in stories like this to get that kind of thing wrong (there was a story about my dad in Guideposts once, and I got annoyed because it mentioned an armchair in my parents’ bedroom when there wasn’t one there), so to get a throwaway detail like that right made me happy. Also, the mention of the Ridgefield Playhouse. Ah, the memories.
Of course, now I want to know where in town the family lives. I’m just curious.

January of next year is going to rule. No, not because we’ll get a new President. (Well, yes. That, too.) No, because next January they’re launching the MLB Network. Finally! The NFL, NBA, and NHL all already have networks. Really, it seems like it should’ve been first–baseball has the most games per season (162, compared to 16, 82, and 82, respectively) (and, on a side note, why does basketball have an association, while the others have leagues? Is the NBA headquartered in the DC area? If not, it should be. All the other associations are.) Plus, baseball has been around so long, and there’s so much footage there… It just seems natural.
Of course, part of the reason that it hasn’t existed is probably that each team pretty much has its own channel to broadcast games, though it’s MLB that owns the games, not the networks, so hopefully there won’t be anything to prevent the MLB Network from airing classic games, etc. And, since the various cable companies own part of the network, hopefully I’ll actually get it. (Yes, I’m still bitter than Comcast took away my ESPN Classic.) Huzzah!

My little Colin bear turned 5 today! Hard to believe that I’ve had him for almost 5 years now. (I didn’t get him until late August of 2003, but estimated his birthday. It’s easy to remember because it’s Bastille Day!) He was so teensy tiny, but even then the vet said he would get big.

Which he did. And he also has scary glowing eyes! And despite what people want you to believe, he’s much less a menace than Pem, who cruelly chewed the Post-Its I left on a manuscript.
Anyway, happy birthday, Colin!!!

Last night I had one of those nights where I just kept having really weird dreams. The last one of which involved Colin Firth. We only hugged, but it was lovely–I felt very safe. It was a very fatherly-type embrace. Maybe I’ve just seen too many commercials for Mamma Mia!? Anyway, I woke up just completely disoriented. Like, stumbling around the apartment, as those drunk, disoriented. It was bizarre.
Can’t complain about dreaming of Colin Firth, though.
On an unrelated note, I hate Sarah Parish. She got to make out with Damian Lewis in the Much Ado About Nothing remaked AND she got to make out with David Tennant in Viva Blackpool.

At work, we have a monthly all-staff meeting. They bribe us into attending by having cake (in honor of that month’s birthdays)–which is enough for me, honestly. They also have us fill out attendance cards, and then hold a drawing. One person wins free parking in the building garage for a month and one person wins Metro passes. And I won at the June all-staff! It was very exciting. And I discovered that parking in the building itself is incredibly superior to parking in the garage right next door. (That yes, even has a walkway between the two. I am that lazy.) Also nice was not having to pay and sleeping in a bit later.
Anyway. I picked up the clicker to get into the garage and the window tag on June 16. And we had the July all-staff this Tuesday. Which means that the next person should get them starting next week. Only…nobody from HR has contacted me to tell me that. And when I picked them up, the HR person didn’t say anything about returning them. I really probably should take the bus on Monday and turn in the parking pass, but…man, I don’t want to.
Although driving such a short distance is killing my mileage.

Holy crow, you guys. I found it. I found My Perfect House. I drove by it yesterday and thought, Wow, that’s a nice house. And I didn’t even realize how awesome it is. It was built in 1913 and has that Victorian look–complete with a front porch, which I love!–but it’s been renovated. It has central air and a really nice kitchen. It has wall-to-wall carpeting in some rooms. It has a bay window in the master bedroom. It’s within walking distance of the Takoma Metro station. There is nothing I don’t like about this house.
Well, except the price. But it’s dropped $20,000 since I looked at the listing yesterday. So at that rate, I’ll be able to afford it in, like, a month. Or someone could just give me a million dollars (have to account for taxes, etc.). That’d work, too.

So the rosters for the All-Star Game have come out, and George Sherrill will be representing the O’s. He’s probably not the best representative; he can be a lot of fun (if somewhat heart-stopping) to watch, but there are other Orioles who are more deserving. Including my boy Brian, who, after a bit of a slow start, is doing pretty well.
Luckily, Brian is on the ballot for the final roster spot–along with Evan Longoria (Rays), Jason Giambi (Yankees), Jermaine Dye (White Sox), and Jose Guillen (Royals). Sadly, Brian is currently fourth in voting, even though he’s clearly deserving. He’s leading the league in doubles and triples, is hovering around .300, and has stolen 24 bases. He’s totally the sparkplug for the Orioles. And is more deserving than, say, Jason Varitek. (Seriously, players, what were you thinking? Ramon Hernandez is having a better year, and that’s saying something.)
Honestly, Brian would probably benefit from the time off, but it’s the principle of the thing. I won’t be upset if Longoria gets it, though. The Rays are having a stellar season and their presence at the ASG should represent that. It’s kind of odd that when the O’s had their crazy good start in 2005, they had 4 representatives (including two starters–Brian and Miggy). Right now, the Rays have two (Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro). Plus, Longoria? Kind of hot.
And if anyone’s feeling generous, feel free to pick me up an All Star Game shirt or something. I really, really like the logo.

I try to do my work. I have a manuscript to proofread, and what do I have to deal with?

You try getting those papers away from him.
(And isn’t it super cute how he looks so casual with that leg on the manuscript? Too adorable!)