things are … slow… how odd

Nervous about taking a day off with Michelle having just given notice, and the April 1st deadline creeping up, I manage to transfer a lot of stuff to my laptop so I could work while out of town. Knowing that JT’s dear cousin & bf don’t have a computer of their own, we came prepared with a phone cord and a dial-up account, but it seems they don’t even have a home phone line. Instead they both have cell phones attached to their faces at all times — driving, eating, watching TV– you name it. They keep in touch. None of this does any good for me checking my work email, of course.

I had my laptop open (working during the football game and watching the commercials) and was asked by our hosts a couple of times to pull up some website or another. I’m not online, I reply. Why not, they ask? Um…. okay perhaps it’s best you don’t have your own computer.

Anyway, had I been able to check work email, I would have discovered that 12 websites have been killed. The customers will get their deposits back. And, yes, of course, at least half of what I stressed and worked on Sunday was for nothing. Figures. My calendar of work is very slim for Feb, and March is now empty. Are they perhaps giving me free time to seek out other employment? Hrmmmm.

On snowboarding…
I’ll let you know how I like it if I ever get to try it… Crappy weather conspired to keep us off the mountain. Seems freezing rain in the wee morning hours made most of western North Carolina too treacherous for travel. Highway Patrol told the news they had worked over 220 car accidents from the ice…and JT’s fam were not spared. His couzy (Jenny’s brother) Patrick got a call from his wife that she had slid and wrecked her Impreza on the way to work, so he went out to rescue her. He managed to find ice of his own, though, and smashed up his WRX. (They’re a Subaru family).

So, the closest I got to snowboarding was being strapped onto Jenny’s board in the living room to try to learn some of the finer points of stance, leaning, and changing direction. Of course, not having snow boots, and being strapped in wearing tennis shoes and using bulky socks to try to get the straps to fasten tight, it was most uncomfortable. After only a few minutes my legs were killing me, so I guess it’s alright I didn’t get to go for real. Even with boots, I’m sure I’d still be a puss. But, well, the principles of how to do it seem clear enough… perhaps someday we’ll get snow instead of ice on the mountain, and I can go try for real. If I keep doing these almost trips, I’ll soon have all my gear. Last year I got pants and gloves. This year I got a jacket and goggles. Maybe next year I’ll get some boots and a board….

Oh well. It was still an okay trip. Nice to be away. Nice to be cooked for and eat out. Nice to be chauffeured around. They have a great house and their guest room is made up nicely… and with all their toys, I think we might find the trip short enough to make more often. We may try this snowboarding thing again soon, and if not, there are always the jet-skis for summer, and the bikes. I can’t believe Mark allows Jenny to keep her R-6 in his garage, but I guess if it’s there he knows she’s not out on it trying to do stoppies or whatever. He is putting all the numbers together to afford a chopper soon… his dream, and the both of them are relentless at “suggesting” James and I get a house next door to them. We walked through a ton of model homes, and toured the area, and talked about what jobs are available. How many times Mark said we could be calling Simpsonville home, I lost track of. How many times he told us what our address would be if we bought the lot next door… How many times he told us how many minutes it was from the house, which is very secluded and seemingly rural, to civilization…

But this wasn’t the weekend to be selling us on moving any farther north, that’s for sure. The sky was surreal all day yesterday as the storm system passed over. Barely over freezing and windy… jeez. What a great day to drive all over town shopping for guitars and amps. I have a feeling their savvy for guitars and amps is almost as refined as their savvy for computers and the internet… as in, I think he only knows how to hold a guitar correctly because he’s watched MTV a few times. James is trying to explain the functionality of some amp to him, changing all the settings… showing him what it can do, when some hood picks up a guitar and plugs it in beside us. He starts cranking out some metal-ish riffs all strung together–I caught a snippet of Outshined among them. As soon as the guy started playing, Mark’s ears perk up… THAT is the sound I want. I want an amp that sounds like that!

Ugh… meanwhile, I have things to do. Need to hit the grocery store, get mom a birthday card in the mail, and think about how best to spend a Valentines’ Day where your sig-other is on the tail-end of a “week from hell” shift, which includes working that weekend.

Oh, and for the record, just when a girl is convinced she couldn’t even find the parking lot near the ballpark of being a type that might be attractive, some people sure know how to make them feel better. Thanks, honey.