Air Flight = Self Awareness

In the month of September, I spent much of my time in an airport or in the air. This has caused me to learn several new things about myself. Strange and disturbing things. It’s now October, and I have no idea where September went, hell, I don’t know where half of October went. But, the things I have learned about myself are listed as following:

1. I am not a morning person. I don’t like to get out of bed before the sun rises. I did that consistently for about 2 weeks. Brain power is low if there is no sun for my to charge with. I’m like a solar panel. I need the sun to be up to function properly.

2. I do not have the patience I used to think that I did. I have evidence to support this, which is listed in my next personal discovery.

3. When I am required to stand in lines, I very quickly degenerate into hating everyone. There were nuns (I’m serious) in one line I had to stand in and I hated them. Children asked questions, I hated them. Adults moved to slowly, I hated them. Colleagues made inane comments, I hated them as well.

4. I have a lot of hate. I should see a shrink.

5. I tell myself I am OK with air travel, but I think that’s the denial talking. I hate turbulence, especially when you get that first unexpected drop. That’s always alarming. I’m not a fan of the landings either, because I can never figure out how they stop the plane. I know, breaks, but we were traveling so quickly – how can we be sure the inertia will be stopped? An object in motion…
Evidence: During a flight that had turbulence, I may have flailed in a rather alarming fashion on the first drop. In my defense, I was asleep and it startled me. I flailed, then gripped the armrests like Kate Winslet clung to that door in Titanic. Yeah, Strain, that’ll save you if the plane FALLS OUT OF THE SKY.

6. I am really skilled at making myself go to sleep on planes. I pretty much put my head back and will myself asleep. I think it helps that the sun usually isn’t out when I get on the plane. Please refer to self-discovery #1.

7. I like the movie Battleship. Saw it on an in-flight movie, found it entertaining.

That about wraps up my list of self-discoveries fueled by air travel. If pushed, I could probably think of a few more, but I think most of those would relate back to #4, so we’ll skip it.

What then, do you, dear reader, have to look forward to for my next post? I have no idea. Suggestions welcome.

World Travel, Interrupted by Tires

As previously mentioned, I have a new job. I’m excited about it and I’m excited about the places I will have the opportunity to visit. It’s really nice to have a job. In the interests of keeping it, I won’t be sharing any details about the job itself, just the travel related things, or particularly funny stories I can edit down to “safe”. But anyway, some of this travel is going to be international. This is fan-freaking-tastic to me, because the first time I did international travel was in 2011, 26 years old, and I went to France with J*Rock and another fine lady that I now work with. So – yay, going to see the world, one job at a time. So far, as you can see from my previous post, I’ve been to New York. I’m doing some more domestic travel this month. In fact, September is going to be the month of travel for me. I kinda hope every month isn’t this busy.

This coming week I will be going to Washington state. This is exciting because I have family there and I’ll get to see them after I finish the work things. The week after that, I’ll be in Georgia for three days. The week after, I’m in California for the week. I’m going to be tired. But I should have plenty to blog about. I’ll try to remember to take my camera hook-up with me so I can download and post pictures of stuff faster. Oh yeah, I originally had a trip to Japan for October planned, but it got cancelled. That bummed me out. But now I’m scheduled to visit the Netherlands in November. Insane.

Because of all this upcoming at some point world travel, my friend that works here with me suggested I enroll in the Global Online Enrollment System, which is through U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The idea is basically that if you are an American citizen and not a crazy person, you can apply to skip the long lines in customs. You get to use a kiosk and skip all the stuff that takes so long to go through. So, I thought to myself, “Self, this seems like a good idea.” I signed up and paid the fee, whatever it was, and I think they do a background check to make sure you aren’t a home-grown terrorist. Then you have to go to an airport and do an “interview” before they’ll enroll you.

I did all this online and then picked a date, online, that I would go to an airport on, which happened to be Dulles. So on Tuesday, I’m on my way there – I left work early and avoided the major highways so that I would be on time. Because the kicker is, I work/live in the Alexandria area and Dulles is about 30-40 minutes away, depending on traffic. Hi, yeah, welcome to DC, everything depends on the traffic. At about 15 minutes out, I notice my tire, or possibly the road, is making a strange clacking noise. I think we can just pare that right down and say, what wishful thinking on my part, that I would assume that the ROAD is making a CLACKING noise. But wish I did.

I turned from the clacking road onto a highway with a higher speed limit. I had not gone any higher than 40 miles per hour when I heard something fly off my tire – definitely not the road – slam into my undercarriage and boom, all the lights on my dashboard go, “OHWHATTHEFUCKISTHAT.” So I pull over, flashers on, and think, “Well hellacious ass. I have someplace to be.” The front right tire is flat. Flat like Keira Knightly’s chest. (BURN.)

Readers, do not judge me. I do not know how to change a tire on a car. I have the fear that if I try it, I will do irreplaceable damage to the car, and at the time I was driving the newer car, not my car from high school. What if I jack the car up and it collapses on my hand or foot? What if I do it incorrectly and the tire falls off as I drive away and then everything blows up like in Die Hard? What then?! So I called my husband. Hot Husband, or HH, as you may recall, is not a handyman. For further proof of this statement, please see my post Panic! In the Bathroom. HH does have a AAA account though.

However, upon calling AAA for me, HH found that I am not on the account and as long as he is not physically present at the scene, AAA will not help me. The nerds. HH starts his attempts to find a tow-truck company that will come change the tire for me. In the meantime, I am calling the GOES office to let them know I may not be able to make it. This is particularly amusing for me because the GOES website is a hardcore place. BRING ALL THESE DOCUMENTS AND DO NOT BE LATE OR WE WILL NOT SEE YOU sort of thing. So I was worried about trying to reschedule. But on the phone, they were all like, “Oh yeah, we’re open until 7, so just show up if you can!” Alright then.

HH wants to know my location, which is no big deal, I’m on such and such road and just past this exit, which by the way, has no number. He wants a mile marker number to tell the tow truck service persons, but alas, there are NO NUMBERS ANYWHERE on this stretch of highway. I swear. I keep a look out for these things, in case I am ever taken or if, gasp, I get a flat tire. HH insists that there must be numbers. I promise there are not, but get out of the car to see if I can find one anyway. It is at this moment, as I am walking away from my car, that a police officer pulls in behind me.

My first thought is, “You’re not supposed to walk on highways, Strain, its illegal. You’re in trouble now.” Thankfully, this officer was not going to be that guy and instead checked with his dispatch for me and when there were no tow trucks available for an hour, put the spare on. Watching him, I’m pretty sure I could replicate the process next time, and there will be a next time. I swear this is the fifth tire issue I’ve dealt with since moving here. When I lived in WV, my biggest tire problem stemmed from the time I accidentally clipped a dead skunk and my tires stank for months. Sometimes I still smell it – and that was close to five years ago. I digress. My main point is, thanks to the kindness of that police man, I was still early for my appointment with the customs officers. Thank you, nameless Police Officer, I appreciate you getting your hands super dirty for me.

The appointment itself took about seven minutes and then I drove home like a little-old-blind-lady; slow and panicked. I think that’s way too much effort, don’t you? Now I have to get a new tire. Curse the debris.

Tripping over my Music

As you can tell, I’m sure, I didn’t bother to continue the Navigator’s log after Day 1, mostly because I was too TIRED to do something like that every night. Plus, I was never sure when I was going to have computer use. You can check Tominda’s blog for a funny rendition of our trip. (www.whiskeypetals.blogspot.com/)

I thought the trip was pretty cool except for a few small things, like Tom’s car not wanting to work. Other than that, the drive was easy, the weather was good, and at the end I got to see my family. I enjoyed walking around Seattle and looking at stuff, and I got a pretty good tan while I was there. (For me, anyway. Tominda is sure I’m an albino.) I thought it would be wetter, but Seattle was having a dry spell while I was in the area. That was fine with me, since it had rained about non-stop in WV for two weeks. When I flew back in to WV, it was raining. So, I spent the 4th of July in a movie theater with my mom, watching The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Great movie, by the way. Go see it or rent it when it comes out. I laughed a lot.

Well, since I failed to properly chronicle my travels (mostly uneventful, but fun), I would like to take the time to write about the music I have playing on this blog. I recently switched out the other playlist of fun and fantastic songs for this playlist full of fun and fantastic songs. And thus, my ramble starts.

I love the Japanese language. I find it so different and fascinating from my own; I really want to learn it. What I do not love is the sort of stereotypes that seem to come with it. “Oh, you like Japanese culture and language? You must be one of those super nerds. Do you watch cartoons? Geek, haha.” Yes, do say this to me sometime. I’ll punch you straight in the baby-maker, male or female. There are some very strange people associated with what America views as the “Japanese culture”. I will not deny this. I have seen them in action. I have hurt on the insides. However, I am not that person.

I do enjoy some of the cartoons that were made in Japan (“anime”), and I also like the comic books that come over from there (“manga”). I like the pictures, I like the art, I like the stories. My love of the anime started when I was in middle school and Cartoon Network played the animes “Ronin Warriors” and “Gundam Wing”. Other than that, I can’t say I’ve watched much anime. Here and there, if I find a good one.

Gundam Wing and Ronin Warriors, respectively.

I found manga when I worked at Sears. I know, weird. But, on my breaks, I would go over to the bookstore and sit and read the manga. I finally found Hana-Kimi, which is a really fun read and the art is good, so I wound up getting hooked on that and buying it. It’s the only one I have bought, and I still read it over sometimes, when the mood strikes me.

So, my love of that particular manga led me to the Internet, where I found that they had created a live-action drama of the book in Japan. How fun! I watched it, I loved it. I searched out some of the actors from that drama in other Japanese dramas. I found another drama called “Hana Yori Dango”. Also fun. Searched out some of the actors in it. You see the pattern here. However, one of the actors also happened to be in a group called “Arashi”. I went to YouTube. I FELL IN LOVE.

Arashi’s music is my favorite. I love how up-beat it is, I love the sound, I love their voices. It doesn’t really matter to me that I don’t understand the words. I have the same problem is some rap songs. It’s not so much about the words, really, but the music and the way everything sounds. It’s fun. I like fun and happy songs. It suits me. When I was younger, I enjoyed similar groups, such as NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. I’ve just moved on to a different language.
Fact: I LOVE POP MUSIC. So sue me. All you music snobs out there who are reading this (as if) and hurling, can kiss it. I don’t care that you think that pop music is the degradation of musical society. It makes me happy. I like the beat, I like how you can sing to it even if you suck, and I like the simplicity. Sure, many things are synthesized and such, but I still enjoy the work that went into the song. Besides, I like other genres as well, such as classical and rock and R&B. And I love Japanese pop.

Arashi. Favorites of mine.

I’m pretty tired of getting weird looks. I’m pretty tired of being embarrassed because I like a pop group from another country. What’s wrong with that? I don’t understand why people like Alanis Morrisette, or flock to that Ne-Yo dude. (I probably eff-ed up his name, sorry.) Do I give you weird looks and give you crap for liking a woman who sounds a bit like a yodeling cat? Do I giggle at you because you like songs by some man who only sings about sex and getting it on in a limo? (I just did, if you’re wondering.) Just because I like something that is not main stream (and has really weird stereotypes attached to it), I catch flak.

Another fact: I LIKE JAPANESE POP. So far, I like three groups. They are all boy-bands. I think they’re pretty. I like their music. I’m probably not going to stop. Quit calling me weird. I’m not. I’m no different from the kid that stretches his ears out with those plastic things. I’m no different from the “emo” kids who wear really tight pants. It’s what they like. This is something I like. In the words of my esteemed former roommate, “DON’T JUDGE ME!”

Cheers all.

NEWS. They have some songs on my playlist there.

The group KAT-TUN. Different sounds, etc.

P.S. – I love pictures. I like putting them on blogs. Still learning, so please ignore the mess.