Don't Start Over--Just Fix It!

I try to keep this blog interesting and fun to read, but today I’m going to delve into a little Boise history, so if you think history is boring, keep reading!! I desperately hope that when we die and go to heaven we can, somehow, experience life in other parts of the world, or in other parts of history. It would be so fun to live for a day as a pharaoh in Egypt in 1200 BC (don’t question my time reference, I have no idea when the pharaohs lived), or be the Queen of England for a week, or be a high roller in Vegas for a couple of nights, or spend a day as a kid with a dollar in Boise Idaho in 1930. Oh, you think that last one sounds boring, eh? Well you don’t know what I am about to tell you! If you’ve ever been to the Natatorium, you know that it is a city pool—a pretty cool one as far as city pools go. They have a slide…and a pool…I think they have nachos…maybe a drinking fountain. It is pretty nice. Okay—are you ready for the really, really, really exciting thing you are about to learn? This is pretty much as cool as the movie National Treasure. Here goes—the Natatorium used to be a beautiful building built after the design of a Moorish structure. It had a pool with a huge slide, a rock fountain at one end, was 14 feet deep, had private baths filled with natural hot water, 120 dressing rooms, and banquet rooms with hardwood floors! Additionally, there was a complex behind the Natatorium (in the area that is now a sewage treatment plant) which was called “The White City”. The White City had a roller coaster, a “fun wheel” a little steam train, and a skating rink. (I’m sort of questioning the skating rink—it came from an oral history of someone who I’m assuming was probably pretty old when he gave said history. I’ve heard/read more than one account of all the other stuff though, so I think it was real.) Okay, if you are not convinced that this is absolutely awesome, check out the photos below.

Just like so many other things that have gone the way of the earth, the Natatorium fell victim to a windstorm, a fire and people who wanted to speed up “progress”! I'm going to have to declare "shenanigans" on that last one. This is just one of those cases where new was NOT better!

We'll be in SO much trouble!

I got a new cat yesterday. To those of you who know me this will come as an utter and complete shock. No, I’ve never liked cats much, but here’s the deal. Craig is gone a lot right now. He’s super busy and I thought it would be fun to have someone to hang out with. I LOVE dogs, but they are so high maintenance. Basically I need someone to chill with when Craig is gone and someone who can be completely abandoned when Craig is home. Child? No. Friend? No. Dog? No. Basically I’m left with either a cat or a person who is not my friend but whom I pay to hang out with me at night. Humane Society—here we come!
So, Craig and I headed over to the Humane Society and found my new buddy who we’ve bizarrely named “Couch Kitty”. The explanation is long enough to warrant its own post. So, I don’t have a real picture of her yet, but here’s the picture from the Humane Society’s website.
(At this point I’m going to launch into a completely different topic, so humor me and be sure to note the caption on the photo.)

We are going to be in so much trouble when she turns 16

It is a proven fact that parents think their kids are the cutest kids on God’s green (well, technically blue, green, brown, red) earth. The thing that boggles my mind about this is that they notice this folly in other parents, but are completely oblivious to it in themselves. I spent some time yesterday morning looking at several blogs belonging to mothers who all think that their children are the cutest out there.

One thing that absolutely makes my skin crawl, my blood boil, my vomit rise, is when mothers post pictures with the caption “we are going to be in so much trouble when she turns 16”. Okay, so stick with me for a second while I walk you through the two disgusting things about this caption.

Most girls look like their moms, right? So, basically what a mom is saying in a round about way is: you know how you just said how much she looks like me? Well, think about how hot I am and how much guys want me and yep, guys are going to want her too. So, problem #1 with this caption? Mom is conceited.

Next problem. Kids don’t think much about their sex appeal when they are still pre-school aged, so really, why are their parents? It is SO—creepy childhood beauty queen—to post these photos on the internet of their kid dressed up with jewelry, makeup and hair done. There’s problem #2—mom is making suggestions about her 4 year old daughter’s sexuality.

Alright, this post could be taken pretty seriously, so don’t freak out on me—if you’ve ever scrolled to the bottom of my page you’ve seen my favorite quote which is “Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it.” I know I don’t know what I’m talking about since I’m not a mother. I don’t have kids so, no, I’m not capable of understanding your logic. People are constantly imparting that bit of wisdom upon me!

So, as for me, I’m sticking with Couch Kitty. She’s spayed, and I’m pretty sure she’s not a virgin, so I don’t think I have to worry much about the boy cats down the street wanting to hook up with her. Oh, and for the record, she’s the cutest kitty on God’s green earth.

Robie

There’s a half marathon here called “Race to Robie Creek”. It is grueling—8 miles up hill and then 5 miles downhill. I cannot figure out why, but people flock to this race. Okay, not only do people flock to it—I flock to it. I’m not a good runner. I am not built like a runner. I don’t win races. I rarely improve on my personal records, but for some reason I, along with thousands of other people, flock to this race. Maybe it is because we are driven by the sheer intimidation of a race that we can not fully conquer. Some people say it is the beer at summit. I don’t drink beer, so I can’t say how attractive it is, but I’m thinking that if you’re going to drink a beer, why pay $40, run 8 miles uphill, 5 miles downhill, kill your feet, legs and back, and then have to take a half hour bus ride at the end in order to get your beer? Why don’t you just run over to the convenience store? My point is that I think that “they have beer at the summit” is an extremely lame excuse and a cover for some other hidden attraction of Robie. The problem is that the “hidden attraction” has been, for me, impossible to nail down.

Basically, I think Robie is a rite of passage for anyone who lives in southern Idaho who considers themselves a “runner”. Until you have taken on Robie, you are really just someone who lives in Idaho and runs in Idaho, but after you have run Robie, then you can call yourself a runner. You know that any other runner you encounter on the streets will ask you if you have run Robie and you can proudly say that “yes, I have…and I walked the steep part and I’m proud of it!” I’m sure there are those out there who will argue that my theory is a bunch of crap, but it makes a lot more sense than the beer at the summit, right?!

I just read through my last post. For those of you who have been waiting with baited breath to hear how well I survived my desk move (ha ha…all one of you who reads this)…yes, I am still employed, still happy, and still have all of my desk décor happily organized at my NEW desk.

I had several alleged downsides to my new desk listed in my last post. The real ones turn out to be the following:

1. I have to time my blog posts/bank account reconciliation/vacation planning/research/homework/shopping with one particular person’s lunch break. By so doing, I have thus far been able to avoid being fired based on inappropriately using company property i.e.—using the internet when I’m supposed to be working.
2. It is cold over here too.
3. I can’t lean really far over and see out the window…so I’ve resorted to looking at weather.com during a particular person’s lunch break.
4. No one comes to talk to me anymore (except during a particular person’s lunch break). I’ve remedied this problem by going to talk to them (a unique idea, I know), which seems to be working out okay, plus that way I have to walk more and I’ve lost 4.4 pounds since moving to my new desk.
5. My computer speaker wires were damaged in the move. I tried to plug them in on day one and shortly thereafter I began to smell burning. So—I’m working on finding some cheap computer speakers. No music for now.
6. I’m REALLY bored. I get my work done so much faster now that I sit by a particular person…who actually doesn’t take a lunch break every day.

I think those are all of the “bad” things about my new desk.

There is one very big plus. I spent the bulk of my work days last year trying to contrive ways to wear out my computer monitor. It was created in about 1986 and it was that creamy color that NEVER looks clean no matter what you do. I was thrilled the first day I came to work after the move to find out that, not only did the IT department move my tower to the correct desk, but also, they left me with a beautiful black flat screen monitor. It was the best day of my life thus far. Okay, not really, but it is so awesome. The flat screen more than compensated for the fact that my new desk is smaller by taking up such a miraculously tiny amount of space that I now have a gigantic empty area on my desk. Yea! I feel so executive!

Oh, also, I love that my new keyboard has some of the letters worn off. I used to have all of my keys mixed up on my keyboard just for fun, but one time I came back from vacation and someone had put them all back in the supposed “right” place. So, this gives me a little of the feeling of having a renegade keyboard. Rage against the machine, right?!

All in all, I’m satisfied.