Saturday was the NFB-Richmond Chapter picnic. I was a driver. The picnic was held at a big, new house. On the patio. Which surrounds an in ground pool. Luckily, no one fell in. Because, really, could have been a recipe for disaster.

My parents were heading back from SC this weekend, so they stayed at TRgirl and Randy's that night. I joined them for dinner. I was cutting up cucumber for the salad when TRgirl said to me, "Why are you cutting them on that?" "Because it's a cutting board?" "We don't use that one. Now I have to wash it."

She also has a kitchen island that you may not put drinks down on.

(Should you come to my house, feel free to use any cutting board you can find. Also, you may put drinks down on all surfaces in the kitchen.)

Today I went over there for breakfast. This afternoon, I went to see Sex and the City. I'll post my thoughts after the jump in order to avoid spoiling anyone.

I enjoyed the movie. The length didn't bother me. And of course, as always, I loved the interaction between the main characters. Especially Charlotte defending/protecting Carrie. What I didn't like? To me the series was always about how a happy ending isn't the be all and end all. That you can still be OK without it. But the movie? Wrapped everything up in a neat little bow. I feel like the message was, "You can still get married and live happily ever after after 40. There's still hope!" Which, eh. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying I don't want that, I would. But I'm also OK as things stand.

I have lately been railing against societal expectations, and the movie didn't really help my feelings on that.

Driving to work today, thinking about what I have to get done this week. Pull off of the exit to work as I realize

"Shit! We've got a 9AM meeting at the WTP lab. And I'm wearing open-toed shoes!"

Call co-worker, tell him that I'm a moron, will most likely meet him at the plant.
Call co-worker back, tell him that the one thing I wasn't a moron about was printing out the agendas Friday, and to please bring them.
Drive home, run upstairs (Orion: "Wha?"), change shoes.
Run downstairs, drive back towards office.
Realize at exit for WTP would be very early. Decide to drive to office. Realize this is good, as have turkey sandwich in bag for lunch.
Rememeber that we have new employee welcome lunch today.
Get into office, put lunch in fridge for Tuesday, pick up agendas, notebook, and co-worker. Head towards plant.

Co-worker, upon hearing that I brought lunch, "This weekend messed you all up. What did you do?"
WG: "I didn't even drink."

An article on MSNBC about new security measures for visa-free travel into the US contains the following:

"There are currently 27 countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas for U.S. entry, including those in most of western Europe as well as Andorra, Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore."

I had thought that Andorra's location in the Pyrenees between Spain and France would place it in Western Europe.

Friday after work I went to get a pedicure. I hadn’t had one since my last trip to Raleigh (a month ago), and that one? Not so great, actually. I forgot to take my phone off of vibrate when I left work. (I always put it on vibrate at work. That way I can be annoyed when everyone else’s phones ring and not be a hypocrite.) At some point when I was in the chair, TRgirl called and left me a message. When I was sitting at the drying station, I checked my phone and listened to her message about how she had to work at 1730 but that Randy was going to be late getting home and could I come watch Monkey? It was 1725. I called her back and said I would be there as soon as I could, paid, and went out to my car. Note that I did not turn the phone’s ringer back on.

I got to the house, ran in (still in my pedicure flip-flops), and there was Randy. TRgirl had called and left a message saying he’d gotten there, but I hadn’t heard the phone. Randy said, “Since you’re here, want to stay for dinner? It’s hamburgers.”

Saturday I washed my car. I’ve never done that before. In fact, my previous car? I never once washed it. Don’t get me wrong- I had it washed, I just never washed it myself. Once I’d finished that, I drove out to the storage unit and picked up my tent.

I went over to TRgirl and Randy’s to put it up. (Next week we’re heading north to see Bud’s big Army send-off. The next week I’m heading to West Virginia to go whitewater rafting. We’re camping, and I’d never even taken the tent out of the box. I thought it prudent to check it out before leaving.) They weren’t home, but apparently you can go over their house, walk into their backyard, and put up a tent without any of the neighbors saying anything or calling the police. Although, come to think of it, maybe they just didn’t want to make that call.

911: 911, What’s your emergency.
Caller: Someone broke into my neighbor’s back yard and is putting up a tent.
911: They’re putting up a tent?

Did I mention it was 100 degrees out? It was, so after spending 3 hours outside, I had to take a nap.

Saturday night I went to a party. I stayed until 3AM. As I was leaving, the host asked, “Are you sure you’re OK to drive?” I said, “Dude, I’ve been here since 7PM and have had 3 beers. The real question is, why am I OK to drive?” (One explanation: I did not participate in the ghetto beer pong. (Ghetto beer pong: played on tray tables instead of a ping pong table.))

Sunday we took Monkey to the pool. He is a fan of all things water. He even kept putting his face in. Afterwards, I thought about going to the bike shop and getting fitted, but then I remembered I’d had 5 hours of sleep. I stayed home and watched some season 1 episodes of Big Love. And, of course, the season premiere of Army Wives was last night. Ah show, I’ve missed you.

While talking about the flooding in the Midwest today, Matt Lauer brought up the point that the flooding in 1993 was a "100-year flood event" and then expressed surprise that floods of that magnitude were happening a mere 15 years later. What he's missing is the fact that a 100-year flood is not necessarily a flood that occurs every 100 years, but a flood that has a 1% chance of occuring in any given year.

Friday night TRgirl, Randy, Monkey and I hopped into the Escape and headed up to NJ. Bud's Guard Unit is being deployed, and the Farewell Ceremony was Saturday. Bud ended up being the Brigade Color Bearer. (That'll teach him to be tall!)

Here you can see him holding the flag as the Governor unfurls it.

Here you can see him marching by with the Colors during the Pass and Review. (You may have to hit the "video included" button.) He enters the frame at 0:37.

They are heading off to Ft. Bliss, TX this week for training; once training is complete they will head to Iraq.

I have been informed that one of my first Richmond Jaycee projects will to be collect care package contents to send to his unit. E-mail me if a.) you want to help; b.) you'd like to include another unit; or c.) you have content ideas. ( A friend of mine who spent a year in Fallujah assures me that gum will be most welcome.)

This is clearly a rare alligator:
"Three Central Florida deputies are being reprimanded after an officer was bitten and hospitalized by an 8-foot alligator."
(From Local6.com in Orlando.)

On the Today Show this morning, it was mentioned that people are wondering if Michelle Obama is "too sarcastic and too independent." Whilst I am not sure that one can be too sarcastic or too independent, I can't help but think that's code for "is not afraid to have her own opinions."

If I refused your Myspace friend request, your LinkedIn network request, and you found out about my going-away party because you tried to throw an impromptu get-together on the same night, why would you try and friend me on Facebook?

So, about the last entry. The person in question is a member of a group I belonged to in Raleigh, and I just don’t like her. Since she bases her self-esteem completely on what other people think of her, she can’t accept that.

I suppose the possibly interesting part is why I don’t like her. The whole self-esteem issue is a big part. She’s also one of those women who will not be happy unless she is married. One day I’d like to be in a long-term, committed relationship, but if that never happens, I will be OK. I’ve made a life for myself that I like. Consequently, people who are not content in the moment (I do mean overall, because everyone feels discontent sometimes) annoy me.

As another example of the above, when she’s talking to a group of people at an event she’s always scanning the room to see if there is a more interesting conversation going on. Many people have picked up on this. It’s always a good idea to send signals that you are not interested in the person to whom you are speaking. People love that.

She’s also really obsessed with being part of the “in crowd” as she defines it.

Then there’s the whole issue of her always asking for other people’s help, but being the one to help. I stand corrected- she will offer help if she thinks she has something to gain from it. And by “something to gain,” well, see the part about the in crowd. And when she does ask for help, it’s always along the lines of “come help me paint, and please bring your own supplies, because I am way too poor (cheap) to spring for a few paint rollers/brushes.”

The moral of the story is that she is not the type of person I choose to associate with. I am selective with my friends. My friends add to my life; they do not define who I am and they certainly don’t define my self-worth.

So, this weekend I went whitewater rafting! And I didn't write about it until now because I just got sent the pictures. Or something like that.

We headed up to West Virgina on Friday and set up camp. Then we got dinner and hung around the fire having deep conversations about religion. (Paaartaaaay!)

The rafting trip was Saturday. We set out at 0830, which worked out well, because we were among the first groups on the river. The water was cold, but the rafting was awesome. Well, except for the fact that 2 of the 4 people on my side couldn't paddle. Or follow any sort of rhythm. I was maybe thinking about clocking someone with my paddle.

The water was cool, so I didn't swim much. I did get a face full lin one of the rapids. Oh, and at one point we landed on anther boat and I thought we were going to flip. But we didn't.

Interesting fact: The New River is one of the oldest in the world and runs North.

According to our guide, people who cannot are often on her rafting trips. I would like to suggest that if you can't swim, whitewater rafting is probably not a good activity for you.

That night we went back to camp, hung out, played spades, and taught MMatt how to roast marshmallows. Good times!

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Our boat (Heather, the guide, is in the front):

What boats look like from up at the New River Gorge Bridge Overlook:

(Pictures not taken by me or with my camera. For I am so lame that I did not bring one.)