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sarea
I'm back in Seattle, and it's pouring down snow where I am. What a difference from the last week and a half in SoCal. Sigh.
Being sick while on the plane was awful. My ears kept popping as we climbed, which was uncomfortable but OK. The absolute worst was going down -- then my ears kept getting plugged and my usual tricks to pop them didn't work. It was so painful and uncomfortable. :-(
Anyhow, I survived, but promptly did the most idiotic thing once we'd landed and I'd retrieved Talis and Jaime. If you were sick and traveling solo with two pets, what would you do to get back to where you'd parked your car?
a) take a taxi
b) take a shuttle
c) call someone to see if they'll pick you up, even though you'd be a huge inconvenience
d) take the bus, even though there's two transfers and a fair bit of walking involved and you don't really know the routes
Well, if you're me, you'll decide to do A or B, but then think "better" of it, putting too much stock in your own strength and abilities, and go for D instead. WHY AM I SO DUMB OMG. I used the King County Trip Planner on my phone and even though there were two transfers, felt that I could do it. It would cost me nothing to ride the bus and probably around $45 to take a taxi. I had decided in advance that whatever the taxi cost, it would be worth it, given the suffering otherwise. Yet somehow I blew all that off when I saw that the 560 bus was sitting there. I should've known it wasn't the right bus because it shouldn't have still been sitting there -- it should've left like 15 minutes ago. But I figured maybe it was late, maybe it waited because it's the airport, etc.
Luckily there were two helpful guys on the bus or I don't even know what I would've done. One was a bit of an obnoxious know-it-all type, who first alerted me to the fact that while I was on the right bus route, it was going the wrong direction. The second, much quieter guy, actually helped me by telling me where I should get off and which bus I should take back the other direction, because he used to live in West Seattle and knew exactly what to do (I also confirmed the info on my phone). Basically I took the 560 to Bellevue (!!!) then took the 550 the other direction until I got to Pioneer Square. Thankfully Talis was well behaved for most of it, although he was starting to freak out on the 550, making me sweat bullets. (I do not think a noisy dog would be tolerated on a public bus.) TWICE, one of the kennel doors swung open -- they're not super sturdily built -- but luckily both pets were too scared to actually come out. Once I got to Pioneer Square I was supposed to take the 54 to my actual stop, the one closest to K's, but I couldn't do it. Pioneer Square is an underground stop and I had to walk the length of this loooooooooooooooooooong tunnel, then take two escalators up to the street level. With my heavy backpack and two pet kennels, I just couldn't fathom walking to where I had to pick up the next bus, 1/5 mile away, especially not since I was starting to freak out that the kennels themselves were starting to get iffy in terms of securing the pets. Plus once I got to K's stop I'd have to either trudge up a really long hill with everything I mentioned, or I'd have to leave the pets at the bus stop and chance something bad or PITA happening while I went to K's to get my car. So once I got to street level, I put the pets down, and almost immediately was able to flag down a cab. Thank goodness it was that easy, since I wasn't on a major street or anything. It cost me $27. It basically took me $10 less than it would have if I'd just taken a taxi or shuttle directly from the airport. ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH.
I think there is something wrong with my brain. Like, when it comes to saving money, it's like irresistibly attractive to me or something, even more attractive than EARNING that same amount of money. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. If you asked me if $45 was a lot of money, I'd say no. If you asked me if it'd be worth that amount of money to ferry my sick self and my two pets from point A to point B with relative ease, I'd say definitely. And yet if you told me that I could save that money by doing A + B + J - L divided by the square root of P, I'd be like, "You're on!" It's crazy! I even acknowledge that it's crazy! I had even done the whole pros and cons beforehand, and decided to take a taxi! And STILL MADE A DIFFERENT DECISION ONCE FACED WITH THE OPTION at the airport. Even now, as I'm relating this, part of me is thinking, "Well, it would have all been fine if the 560 I took had been the right one." Seriously, it must be some kind of specific mental illness.
This isn't the first time, either. I did it tojade_okelani once, when we were in Washington, D.C. Because of my insistence not to take a cab, we walked for sooooooo long in the wee hours of the morning to get back to our hotel (the Metro was closed). In my very minor defense, I didn't realize how far it actually was; I had thought it was closer than it was when we walked it. But still. I think that was the most done she's ever been with me. Or if not the most done, then probably at least rates in the top 3.
ropo will also say that I did it to her in Chicago, but believe it or not, that was very minor compared to these incidents. Those were (mostly) walkable distances. I guess I just have this anti-cab thing and I don't even know why, other than that I find them ridiculously costly. Maybe that's the only reason.
I just have better things to spend my money on, I guess is what my brain thinks. And sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. Like if Jade and I had actually gotten mugged because I wanted to spare us a $100 cab ride, that obviously would not have been worth it. But I'd rather spend it on a new camera (which I have in my hands, eeeeeee!), or Talis's eye. Yeah, so it turns out that Talis has an ulcer in his left eye. Took him to the vet before we left and they gave me some medicating cream to put in it for a week, but apparently it didn't help. Today's follow up showed that the ulcer was still the same size, so now I actually have to take him to an animal eye specialist. Yeah, THAT'S going to cost a pretty penny. But fine, as long as it helps him, worth it. Now, of course, I'm so worried about him and my heart breaks whenever he looks at me with his one good eye and one squinty eye. :-(
I'm caught up on S7 of How I Met Your Mother. God I love that show, it's so good. And funny. Even though they drive me CRAZY with how they won't let the stupid Ted/Robin drop and how they keep doing the "will they/won't they" with Robin/Barney.
Also, I'm midway through S2 of The Walking Dead, which I'm enjoying a lot.
The Walking Dead, S1 and S2 through ep 7
- There are only two characters I like: Daryl and Glenn. The rest of them can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned. OK, Dale is all right too, even though he's been annoying a time or two.
- I can't stand either Rick OR Shane. The thing that drives Lori crazy about Rick drives me crazy too. He has no priorities. He runs from his true responsibilities and instead does things that he thinks are right, but that are just dumb and shows him to be weak. Especially for this world, he thinks too much in ideals rather than practicalities. Shane is the opposite -- he's like, evil. He only gives a shit about Lori and Carl (and maybe Rick, though obviously he's torn there), and in the end just can't be trusted. I hate guys like him, who are all moral and righteous on the outside but actually hides a reprehensible nature. I much prefer guys like Daryl, who are thorny and rough on the outside but who are actually decent people underneath (like Sawyer on Lost, too).
- Lori I hated initially. I'm sorry, but your husband hasn't been dead long enough for you to be carrying on with his best friend like that. Because of this plotline I thought I was going to not like the show; thankfully they resolved it in a way that I was able to live with, though the fact that it happened at all makes me generally anti-Lori. They've never really said how long it's been, or maybe they have and I just haven't paid attention, but it's obviously been weeks/months -- NOT years. Definitely not long enough for Lori and Shane to be like, "Welp, Rick's dead, let's fuck!" Maybe Shane, because I think he's awful in general, and probably has coveted Rick's life for as long as Rick's known him, but Lori, who apparently actually really loves Rick? Ugh.
- Carl is a stupid brat who just gets in the way.
- OK, this old doctor/farmer dude who thinks the walkers are just "sick" is fucking stupid.
- HOW FUCKING LONG ARE THEY GOING TO LOOK FOR THAT DUMB LITTLE SOPHIA?? That girl was stupid too! God, there are so many stupid people on this show, lol. But that reveal of her coming out of the barn was really good.
- What I don't get are how there are so many walkers, period. I mean, they're hungry, right? They eat people, right? So how do SO MANY bitten/eaten people even get turned into walkers, when you'd think the existing walkers would just eat them all up? They're not like vampires, who can consciously choose to not kill their victim but to turn them instead.
- Also, the big cities and what not full of walkers? WTF? Why would they stay there if there's nothing to eat? And what about outside the CDC and what not, where it seemed like people just conveniently spaced about 2 feet apart, then dropped dead where they stood? How are those "neat" scenes even possible? People would have died in clumps, not just neatly spaced apart like that, if they'd been attacked. Doesn't anyone working on the show even think about realistically preparing scenes like that, imagined how it might've all gone down? There's no realistic scenario I can think of that would result in a scene like that.
- How did Rick survive, anyway? So Shane blocked his hospital room with a freakin' gurney -- SO WHAT. Like that would stop walkers from getting in if they wanted to, or the Army or whoever.
- Why doesn't anyone ever talk about how this all started? Or even ask the question??? I don't expect them to have the answers, but surely they're as curious as I am?? Especially Rick, who knows as much/little as we do!
- OMG at Lori driving out to get Rick and Hirschel because of Beth being in shock. Seriously, why do neither of Carl's parents have a LICK OF SENSE???
- How is it that every one of them can be so careless about extraneous blood and yet none of them ever get infected that way? They're constantly blowing off a zombie's head with their mouths wide open, screaming and what not. Some of them have wounds, I'm sure, or even a papercut, and yet zombie blood flies everywhere and there are no repercussions. I mean, if you can get infected from a bite, that stuff should matter!
- Ep 8: Wow, that is the most badass Rick has ever been, drawing on those two punks who wanted to force their way onto the farm. /applaud
Meanwhile, another tax form came in. Apparently I sold some stock last February, which I don't recall doing at all, which will require me to upgrade to a paid tax preparation suite if I want to do it myself online. Bah. Also, I think all financial institutions should be required to mail out their stuff to you by January. I mean, I could've already filed! I almost did! And then I would've had to file an amendment and everything.
Being sick while on the plane was awful. My ears kept popping as we climbed, which was uncomfortable but OK. The absolute worst was going down -- then my ears kept getting plugged and my usual tricks to pop them didn't work. It was so painful and uncomfortable. :-(
Anyhow, I survived, but promptly did the most idiotic thing once we'd landed and I'd retrieved Talis and Jaime. If you were sick and traveling solo with two pets, what would you do to get back to where you'd parked your car?
a) take a taxi
b) take a shuttle
c) call someone to see if they'll pick you up, even though you'd be a huge inconvenience
d) take the bus, even though there's two transfers and a fair bit of walking involved and you don't really know the routes
Well, if you're me, you'll decide to do A or B, but then think "better" of it, putting too much stock in your own strength and abilities, and go for D instead. WHY AM I SO DUMB OMG. I used the King County Trip Planner on my phone and even though there were two transfers, felt that I could do it. It would cost me nothing to ride the bus and probably around $45 to take a taxi. I had decided in advance that whatever the taxi cost, it would be worth it, given the suffering otherwise. Yet somehow I blew all that off when I saw that the 560 bus was sitting there. I should've known it wasn't the right bus because it shouldn't have still been sitting there -- it should've left like 15 minutes ago. But I figured maybe it was late, maybe it waited because it's the airport, etc.
Luckily there were two helpful guys on the bus or I don't even know what I would've done. One was a bit of an obnoxious know-it-all type, who first alerted me to the fact that while I was on the right bus route, it was going the wrong direction. The second, much quieter guy, actually helped me by telling me where I should get off and which bus I should take back the other direction, because he used to live in West Seattle and knew exactly what to do (I also confirmed the info on my phone). Basically I took the 560 to Bellevue (!!!) then took the 550 the other direction until I got to Pioneer Square. Thankfully Talis was well behaved for most of it, although he was starting to freak out on the 550, making me sweat bullets. (I do not think a noisy dog would be tolerated on a public bus.) TWICE, one of the kennel doors swung open -- they're not super sturdily built -- but luckily both pets were too scared to actually come out. Once I got to Pioneer Square I was supposed to take the 54 to my actual stop, the one closest to K's, but I couldn't do it. Pioneer Square is an underground stop and I had to walk the length of this loooooooooooooooooooong tunnel, then take two escalators up to the street level. With my heavy backpack and two pet kennels, I just couldn't fathom walking to where I had to pick up the next bus, 1/5 mile away, especially not since I was starting to freak out that the kennels themselves were starting to get iffy in terms of securing the pets. Plus once I got to K's stop I'd have to either trudge up a really long hill with everything I mentioned, or I'd have to leave the pets at the bus stop and chance something bad or PITA happening while I went to K's to get my car. So once I got to street level, I put the pets down, and almost immediately was able to flag down a cab. Thank goodness it was that easy, since I wasn't on a major street or anything. It cost me $27. It basically took me $10 less than it would have if I'd just taken a taxi or shuttle directly from the airport. ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH.
I think there is something wrong with my brain. Like, when it comes to saving money, it's like irresistibly attractive to me or something, even more attractive than EARNING that same amount of money. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. If you asked me if $45 was a lot of money, I'd say no. If you asked me if it'd be worth that amount of money to ferry my sick self and my two pets from point A to point B with relative ease, I'd say definitely. And yet if you told me that I could save that money by doing A + B + J - L divided by the square root of P, I'd be like, "You're on!" It's crazy! I even acknowledge that it's crazy! I had even done the whole pros and cons beforehand, and decided to take a taxi! And STILL MADE A DIFFERENT DECISION ONCE FACED WITH THE OPTION at the airport. Even now, as I'm relating this, part of me is thinking, "Well, it would have all been fine if the 560 I took had been the right one." Seriously, it must be some kind of specific mental illness.
This isn't the first time, either. I did it to
jade_okelani once, when we were in Washington, D.C. Because of my insistence not to take a cab, we walked for sooooooo long in the wee hours of the morning to get back to our hotel (the Metro was closed). In my very minor defense, I didn't realize how far it actually was; I had thought it was closer than it was when we walked it. But still. I think that was the most done she's ever been with me. Or if not the most done, then probably at least rates in the top 3.ropo will also say that I did it to her in Chicago, but believe it or not, that was very minor compared to these incidents. Those were (mostly) walkable distances. I guess I just have this anti-cab thing and I don't even know why, other than that I find them ridiculously costly. Maybe that's the only reason.I just have better things to spend my money on, I guess is what my brain thinks. And sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. Like if Jade and I had actually gotten mugged because I wanted to spare us a $100 cab ride, that obviously would not have been worth it. But I'd rather spend it on a new camera (which I have in my hands, eeeeeee!), or Talis's eye. Yeah, so it turns out that Talis has an ulcer in his left eye. Took him to the vet before we left and they gave me some medicating cream to put in it for a week, but apparently it didn't help. Today's follow up showed that the ulcer was still the same size, so now I actually have to take him to an animal eye specialist. Yeah, THAT'S going to cost a pretty penny. But fine, as long as it helps him, worth it. Now, of course, I'm so worried about him and my heart breaks whenever he looks at me with his one good eye and one squinty eye. :-(
I'm caught up on S7 of How I Met Your Mother. God I love that show, it's so good. And funny. Even though they drive me CRAZY with how they won't let the stupid Ted/Robin drop and how they keep doing the "will they/won't they" with Robin/Barney.
Also, I'm midway through S2 of The Walking Dead, which I'm enjoying a lot.
The Walking Dead, S1 and S2 through ep 7
- There are only two characters I like: Daryl and Glenn. The rest of them can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned. OK, Dale is all right too, even though he's been annoying a time or two.
- I can't stand either Rick OR Shane. The thing that drives Lori crazy about Rick drives me crazy too. He has no priorities. He runs from his true responsibilities and instead does things that he thinks are right, but that are just dumb and shows him to be weak. Especially for this world, he thinks too much in ideals rather than practicalities. Shane is the opposite -- he's like, evil. He only gives a shit about Lori and Carl (and maybe Rick, though obviously he's torn there), and in the end just can't be trusted. I hate guys like him, who are all moral and righteous on the outside but actually hides a reprehensible nature. I much prefer guys like Daryl, who are thorny and rough on the outside but who are actually decent people underneath (like Sawyer on Lost, too).
- Lori I hated initially. I'm sorry, but your husband hasn't been dead long enough for you to be carrying on with his best friend like that. Because of this plotline I thought I was going to not like the show; thankfully they resolved it in a way that I was able to live with, though the fact that it happened at all makes me generally anti-Lori. They've never really said how long it's been, or maybe they have and I just haven't paid attention, but it's obviously been weeks/months -- NOT years. Definitely not long enough for Lori and Shane to be like, "Welp, Rick's dead, let's fuck!" Maybe Shane, because I think he's awful in general, and probably has coveted Rick's life for as long as Rick's known him, but Lori, who apparently actually really loves Rick? Ugh.
- Carl is a stupid brat who just gets in the way.
- OK, this old doctor/farmer dude who thinks the walkers are just "sick" is fucking stupid.
- HOW FUCKING LONG ARE THEY GOING TO LOOK FOR THAT DUMB LITTLE SOPHIA?? That girl was stupid too! God, there are so many stupid people on this show, lol. But that reveal of her coming out of the barn was really good.
- What I don't get are how there are so many walkers, period. I mean, they're hungry, right? They eat people, right? So how do SO MANY bitten/eaten people even get turned into walkers, when you'd think the existing walkers would just eat them all up? They're not like vampires, who can consciously choose to not kill their victim but to turn them instead.
- Also, the big cities and what not full of walkers? WTF? Why would they stay there if there's nothing to eat? And what about outside the CDC and what not, where it seemed like people just conveniently spaced about 2 feet apart, then dropped dead where they stood? How are those "neat" scenes even possible? People would have died in clumps, not just neatly spaced apart like that, if they'd been attacked. Doesn't anyone working on the show even think about realistically preparing scenes like that, imagined how it might've all gone down? There's no realistic scenario I can think of that would result in a scene like that.
- How did Rick survive, anyway? So Shane blocked his hospital room with a freakin' gurney -- SO WHAT. Like that would stop walkers from getting in if they wanted to, or the Army or whoever.
- Why doesn't anyone ever talk about how this all started? Or even ask the question??? I don't expect them to have the answers, but surely they're as curious as I am?? Especially Rick, who knows as much/little as we do!
- OMG at Lori driving out to get Rick and Hirschel because of Beth being in shock. Seriously, why do neither of Carl's parents have a LICK OF SENSE???
- How is it that every one of them can be so careless about extraneous blood and yet none of them ever get infected that way? They're constantly blowing off a zombie's head with their mouths wide open, screaming and what not. Some of them have wounds, I'm sure, or even a papercut, and yet zombie blood flies everywhere and there are no repercussions. I mean, if you can get infected from a bite, that stuff should matter!
- Ep 8: Wow, that is the most badass Rick has ever been, drawing on those two punks who wanted to force their way onto the farm. /applaud
Meanwhile, another tax form came in. Apparently I sold some stock last February, which I don't recall doing at all, which will require me to upgrade to a paid tax preparation suite if I want to do it myself online. Bah. Also, I think all financial institutions should be required to mail out their stuff to you by January. I mean, I could've already filed! I almost did! And then I would've had to file an amendment and everything.
