Cameras

If you know me, you know I like to take pictures. A lot. If you don't know me, you might have gathered that from all the pictures on this blog. I have two cameras -- a point and shoot and a digital SLR. And while I don't know how to use all the features on either of those cameras, I can at least take some decent pictures.

That's all to establish that I can operate a camera. Last night at the Keith Urban concert, though, I wanted to take a picture with my camera phone to send a mocking picture to my brother. (He believes that if you actually sell records, you aren't a real artist or something.) But I couldn't figure out how to make the thing zoom. I could take a sepia picture. Or a picture with a different f-stop. I could change the lighting. And the flash. But I couldn't make the stupid phone zoom. I finally figured it out this morning when I played with it more.

My point is, though, that I hate how cell phone companies want everything to be so complicated. It matters more to them that you be able to say that you can take a picture in sepia than it does to actually be able to figure out how to zoom in on something. And that's a problem.

However, the zoom function is now working well and my friend took a picture with her phone so that I could send that mocking text to my brother. Whew.

Concert

Last night my friend and I went to an awesome concert: Keith Urban with Sugarland. And in order to satisfy you music snobs out there, we left halfway through Keith Urban. He was too loud. And all his songs sound alike. And my friend was getting a headache from the bass.

However, Sugarland rocked the house. And Jennifer Nettles (the singer) will blow your head off with her talent. That woman can sing.

But they sang a song that I'd forgotten about: "Gotta Be Something More." I used to belt it out on my way to work. Which I haven't done in awhile because I haven't exactly been commuting recently.

But during the song while my friend and I were dancing and being generally joyful and happy, the words hit home again. And I realized that now I get to find something more. So while I would love to have any job, I hope that when I finally find something it won't just be another paycheck. And that it will give me time to find something more to do with my life than simply breathing in exhaust and staring at a computer screen.

Don't Worry, the Government's Here

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, but I have a decent excuse: crazy and insane sunburn.

See, last weekend I went tubing and even though I put lots of sunscreen on my pasty body, I got horribly sunburned and I think even got some sun poisoning. Good times.

But I love tubing. It's so fun and relaxing. And we even got to jump into the river off a rock. I blame my mountain upbringing for my love of swimming in rivers. I just wish there had been a rope swing. I love rope swings. Bust that's a relatively small complaint in the big picture of floating down a river with a bottle of wine and nothing to do but try to avoid the rocks.

But onto the title of this post: the incident of the school bus.

In order to get the multitudes of people who want to get on the river when it's nine hundred thousand degrees outside, Butt's Tubes uses school buses. And our bus driver got all hung up on a guardrail. It was marginally hilarious. Especially when the park ranger who was hanging around the put-in spot pulled out a sledgehammer to try to get the bus off the guardrail. And as he walked up to the bus with it he yelled: "Don't worry folks, the Government's here!" Hilarious.

But the bus got off the guardrail and we got in the river. And if the whole back of my body hadn't gotten sunburned, it would have been a perfect day.

Grocery Store Adventure

One of the things about being unemployed is that you have the time and patience to experiment and do things that you wouldn't do while you were employed. One of the things I wanted to do because it looked fun was self-scanning at the grocery store. And yesterday I finally got to do it.

This sounds boring to all you employed people out there, but for an hour yesterday I had a grand old time. It was very amusing. And I love how it totals up for you. No guessing. And since I hadn't been to the grocery store in weeks, it was a big total. But it also let me know that I could afford some shrimp to make shrimp kabobs for supper tonight.

Unemployment has made me feel much more patient with stuff like that. So yay. Because I might not hate people any more.

Bread!

I got to thinking that since I'm making a lot of sandwiches now that I'm home every day for lunch that it might be cheaper to make my own bread. That and I might actually be able to finish a loaf (grocery store loaves are too big for a single person).

So I made some bread. And, boy, it was good. Also super-easy to make. When I finish this loaf I think I might branch out to whole wheat since I like that better for sandwiches. But since I found out that my kitchen table is the perfect height for kneading, I'll probably be making a lot more bread.

As for now, I'm kinda hungry so I'm going to make some toast and Nutella.

Interview

Had my first interview today. It was weird. But, also, it's going to take me a few to really get the hang of this (unless I get this job, of course). I haven't had an interview in awhile so I'm a little rusty. But I bet I'll be getting a lot better at it.

That's all. And since this blog is more about me re-discovering the world outside my office and less about the job search, don't expect a lot of updates on this topic.

The Pool

So I have this friend and she has an old boss who has a pool in his backyard. And since he was out of town this weekend, she invited me over to hang out at the pool. It was 90 (bazillion) degrees yesterday, so I said "yup."

I love the pool (when I manage to keep the sunscreen on). You get really hot while reading a good book and then dive into cool water and splash around. And the best part is that I got to do that with one of my good friends that I haven't seen in awhile. And we got to update each other on everything in our lives. But since it's approximately 100 (bazillion) degrees today, I wrote a little limerick:

Oh the pool,

How deep and cool,

I left thee

Beneath the tree

Now I feel a fool.

Also, I didn't get sunburned. So huzzah!

Thief of Bagdad

Tonight I watched the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks "Thief of Bagdad." And it was rather awesome. In a "Disney copied this movie for Aladdin" kind of way.

But once the movie picked up and started the adventure, we started wondering how they'd pulled off most of the special effects and also how people reacted to them. Like the monsters that the thief kills and the transparent midget (that's right, I said transparent midget) that guides him.

In fact, just about every video game ever is based on this movie. The hero has to go through the fiery pit to defeat the monsters and then he finds wisdom through a talisman and ends up at the castle to get the prize. Which helps him win the princess. Every video game ever.

But back to the Aladdin thing. This movie is seriously Aladdin. Thief meets the princess in secret and then dresses up as a prince to win the princess. Shows up at the palace:

And then someone evil swings through, takes over Bagdad and tries to marry the princess. But with the help of some magic, our hero-thief defeats the evil dude, saves and wins the princess.

Which all begs the question -- has Disney ever had an original thought? But even if they haven't, I'm still going to re-watch Aladdin as soon as possible. Because even with lines like, "Take him to the ape. Let him be torn apart" Thief of Bagdad can't beat out the charm of a Disney movie.

In fact, I don't have anything to do and I don't have to wake up in the morning, maybe I'll just pop it in.

Bungy Jumping

This February I had one of the best vacations ever when I went to New Zealand. And my friend really wanted to bungy at the original bungy. Once we got there I decided to jump, too. Just so that I don't have to tell my grandchildren that I wimped out. And it was pretty durn amazing.

Today I was reflecting that this unemployment thing is a bit like the jump. At first, the view is all beautiful and everything as you stand on the bridge waiting to jump:

Which is exactly how I feel about being released from the chains of my previous workplace. Such a beautiful vista of not having to climb those stairs and sit at that desk and stare blankly at a computer screen. Instead I get the chance to do things I want to. To even write this blog.

But, see, then you look down and see just how far you're about to free-fall. Into a river. Which seems terrifying at first.

But the experts have put a bungy cord on you so that it will catch you as you free fall towards the river.

And this is where I admit how thankful I am that I prepared for a rainy day. Because my savings and everything are going to be my bungy cord. That metaphor makes me especially happy because it means that the fall will be thrilling, exciting and terrifying and then end in a lovely swing and not a jerky stop. And then some friendly faces will help me end the ride (the guys who collected me from the end of the bungy cord). This thought is making me happy.

Oh, and me jumping:

Adventure!

I went for an adventure this weekend with my brother, his wife and their dog. And it was so much fun. We canoed, drank wine while sitting in the river and hung out with some of their friends. Which was pretty awesome. And just what the doctor ordered.

There's nothing that will make you feel more relaxed in life than floating down a river on a sunny day. Whether you're in a canoe or a tube or, even, on your back. And the best part is that I don't have to take all this relaxation and channel it into a job that I hate. Instead, I'm channeling it into cooking some delicious food for supper and writing this post and hitting the search engines for a job. Unemployment is kind of neat in that way.

And since I don't have permission to post pictures of the humans on the trip, I'll post a picture of the cute dog on the trip:

Isn't she cute in her PFD?