literally!

literal (adj): 1. Taking words for their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory. Free from exaggeration or distortion.

So why the hell do people use this word to intensify a statement. "I've had kids literally rip my heart out." No, you didn't. Looks to me like you're still alive, sitting & misusing words. Seriously! Why has this become a way to say something outrageous as a metaphor, but just emphasize it more!! It's an oxymoronic idea & it's seriously annoying.

Literally, annoying.

I hate Great Depressions

There is very little in the world more depressing in the world than riding by the Ferrari & Maserati (Alfa Romeo?) dealership while riding the bus to work (ok, there are few really shallowly depressing things). They are all sitting in the show room super shiny & clean & well lit while I'm riding on the also well lit but grungy & smelly bus. I know that even if I could afford to buy one & pay the insurance & gas that I would probably let my inner tree-hugger win & ride the bus anyway... at least some of the time. They are just so pretty & look like so much freaking fun to drive!! I need to stop watching Top Gear. It is nothing but trouble.

Why are these really nice dealerships always in sketchy neighborhoods? I mean we're talking Italian-freaking-super-cars. & No the neighborhood is not the worst in Seattle (that's where I'm taking the bus to) But it's only a few blocks & big hill away. Do they really expect drastic changes in elevation to keep the hood at bay? I'm guessing that there is a serious security system & maybe bullet-proof glass involved but still. Which brings me to another thought: where do they test drive these things? I would want to be somewhere fast & out of traffic. It's in the farthest distance possible between the 3 major highways in a city with top 10 worst traffic.

Speaking of driving directions, OK so "get there" directions via public transit, have you used google maps lately? I use it almost daily to find the fastest bus to take places, it's way more user friendly than the Metro website & always has accurate bus times (well as accurate as Metro ever is). It now has street views that you can follow to your location & in the street level picture you can turn onto other streets & look all around. It's like someone took a video of your route & then placed still photos online to help you find your way!

P.S. Am knitting really cool socks (the most challenging pattern yet!) will post pictures when completed

Notice?

They power-washed to roof & cleaned off the gutters at my building. Hooray! Just 2 small complaints. #1 It would have been nice if the management also paid them to power-wash the courtyard when they were done because now it's covered with the mud & moss & leaves from the roof. #2 It would have been nice to know that there would be men on ladders outside my windows this morning. I would have put on pants. Or closed the blinds...

UPS came while I was out today, so he left me a nice little note. I can: a) sign the piece of paper & let him leave it wherever he wants (this was bad option even before the courtyard became a swamp) b) mark on the note that I will drive to pick it up (if I wanted to drive to pick it up, I would have bought it in a store instead of online) or c) stay home @ the time checked. Guess what he checked? before 10:30am, 10:00am-2:30pm, 2:00pm-5:00pm, & after 5:00pm (that would be all of the boxes). I can't leave my house if I want my package!?!

This isn't the 1st time I've dealt with this. I asked a driver about this before (OK, not so much asked but told them it was really obnoxious to check all the boxes) & they told me they aren't allowed to specify a time because they can't guarantee they'll be able to be there. So why are the boxes even on the freaking piece of paper!! & guess what time they showed up last time: 4:45pm. So, good, I didn't have to stay home after 5 to wait. WTF? I hate UPS, they are worse than the cable guy

Voting Dilema

I've been pretty stoked about this election. I haven't signed up to get absentee ballots because I sometimes forget to mail them, but I'm a little worried about voting tomorrow. I'm darn sure that Washington is going in the Obama column, unfortunately our governor's race is much closer. Rossi is the scariest possible governor I can think of--the analogy I find most appropriate would be O'Reilly as President. Did your your stomach just hit the floor. He's terrifying & the race was super close last time. When you have 4 years with nothing to do but plan your next campaign, raise illegal funds & illegally send mailers (while your opponent has things to do, like govern the state) you put together a pretty overwhelming campaign.

It's not that I particularly like our governor, she has her flaws & has made some mistakes. But Dino is the worst possible of all evils. Uber-neo-conservative, Religious Right: wants to allow pharmacists not only to refuse to supply emergency contraception but ALL contraception, health care, especially women's health care is going to get no funding, pharmaceutical companies will run rampant & the environment will die, & any hope of Legal Gay Marriage will be a distant thought.

So it's important for me to vote. The lines on TV are really freaking long & I have to work tomorrow; specifically, tomorrow night. So do I make sure I get enough sleep during the day & risk not getting to vote before having to be at work? Or do I risk not sleeping before work & go early to make sure I vote. Before you answer you should know I'm a nurse working in a very challenging ICU & if I screw up at work someone may die. But if Rossi wins the election I'll wish I was dead (& so will most people in this state, even if they don't realize it now).

I'm going with the latter. I can always call in sick, at least until Rossi has the union dissolved.