Coloardo, here we come

We've been doing a lot of planning for our Colorado trip. Not only is it a long weekend with our IC friends, but we decided to go the week before and make it our summer vacation. Luckily, the IC plans are coming along nicely, so I've been concentrating on our vacation plans.

Have I mentioned that CO looks awesome? I'm totally convinced I won't want to leave. Then again we're going in July. I should visit again in February. My impressions might be a tad different. I hate snow, I'm afraid to ski more than a bunny hill and I'm terrified of winter driving.

Anywho, we're going to a hot air balloon festival in Steamboat Springs. Balloons in the mountains - can you imagine the pictures? I'm trying to find a company that will take us up in a balloon. So fun. Then we're heading to Rocky Mountain National Park and spending some time there - it looks beyond beautiful. We'll be in Boulder for a couple nights and then down to Colorado Springs (Pike's Peak, maybe Sand Dunes National Park). Then our last night is in Denver and we meet up with our friends on Friday, also known as someone's 30th birthday!

We'll catch a Rockies game Friday night and then head to our awesome condo rental for the weekend in Keystone. White water rafting is on Sunday, yay! Monday we're leaving, but I have a feeling I'll quickly start planning our second CO trip when I get back.

How can you be so stupid as to not realize your car is rolling backward?

Picture being in a mile long line waiting on a freeway interchange. There's a black, beat up, pickup with gardening equipment and a guy wearing a bandanna driving. He puts on his right blinker. As he's starring at his right side mirror, he doesn't realize that his car is rolling backward. Backward, toward me. Not again (again, yes, see below). So I lay on my horn. He doesn't realize the horn is for him for a second and then finally, just as he's about to take off my bumper, he, um, puts his foot on that thing called a break peddle. He looks at me in the rear view mirror and I scream (not like he could hear it), "Your car was rolling backward". What's the international symbol for your car is rolling backward? So he moves up and soon cuts off a guy in the right lane.

Seriously, how can automakers produce manual cars? We can't trust that people know how to drive them. You should at least have to pass a special manual driving test at the DMV first or something. Maybe just make them for high end sports cars. If you're gonna spend $100G's on your car then I trust you know how to drive it.

And yes, this happened to me once before on the 405. Girl stalled her jeep in front of me on a big hill and every time she tried to start it, it rolled back. I couldn't get out of my lane and I laid on my horn, but she didn't stop until she hit me. Then we get out and she tries to say I drove into the back of her. I was like, "You didn't feel your car going backward? Every time you tried to start it?"

How can people not realize their car is moving? How?

The Office is Back!

That's right, new Office tonight. Michael and Jan host a dinner party for some office peeps. They're also hiding a very pregnant (in real life) Angela. Should be funny.

Is it really you?

When I first went to Ithaca I felt like I kept seeing people that went to my high school. Of course, no one from good old CFHS went to Ithaca with me, but it happened a ton. I would see someone from a far and swear it was someone I knew, until I got a little closer and realized it wasn't. It doesn't happen much anymore.

Until today. I went to the beach at lunch, threw down my blanket and plopped on down to my unobstructed ocean view. Then I noticed the couple next to me. Oh my gosh, it was our friend, Steve. And he was laying next to a girl that totally could have been his wife, Sheila. Why would they not tell us they were out here? They've read on my blog about beach lunch Fridays - did they want me to catch them here? "Sheila" turned around and it wasn't Sheila. Ok, she's off the hook, but what was Steve doing in LA? And why was he with a Sheila look-a-like??

"Steve" said he was going to see how cold the water was and started walking away. Clearly they were tourists. Locals don’t dare put even their toes in the ocean here, especially just south of the Santa Monica pier. "Steve" had the same build as Steve and he dressed just like him too. He wore what he probably bought weeks ahead as his cool beach outfit (sunglasses, navy shorts and a plaid short sleeve button down shirt). He even had that same goofy (in a good way) "I like Battlestar Galactica" look about him. He glanced at me once and shot me a cry for help look.

So that's the story. As "Steve" packed up their gear I wanted to whisper to him, "Steve, is that you? Is this girl holding you against your will?". But I didn't. It would've been crazy. Cause Steve's in NY, right?

Crackers

I think I've mentioned before that we're on the first of a three floored office building. The middle area is an open aired courtyard with a little stream, trees, etc. Have I mentioned that there's a woman (let's call her Marj) who feeds the squirrels in the courtyard? It's a boy squirrel, named Crackers and a girl and baby. Crackers will eat out of Marj's hand. That's about all the back story you need...

Recently, a boy and girl duck appeared in the courtyard one morning. They'd flop around in the stream...pretty cute. One of the IT guys loved to run after them to make them fly around like mad - so mean. Shortly after they arrived, the office manager said the building didn't want the the ducks around because their droppings clog the drains in the stream and it's too expensive to clean. So bye-bye ducks.

This morning things started all normal. Marj fed Crackers at 8:30am, like usual. Then, a couple hours later, word spread. The office manager found a squirrel in the courtyard, dead. He covered the body with a plastic grocery bag. Then Marj identified the body...it was Crackers. I wonder if we'll have a memorial service?