A day in review

The alarm on my phone went off this morning at 5:00 am. And 5:05. Again at 5:10. Then 5:15. Finally, at 5:20 I got up and turned it off. (That was the last time it would have gone off anyway before turning itself off.) Instant debate--get ready or reset my alarm and go back to bed? Grudgingly, I headed off to the bathroom. By 5:50 I was dressed and ready and had the 3 inches of snow scraped off of my car.

First stop, gas station. Whoever invented the rule that you shouldn't get back in your car while filling up with gas should be beaten and flogged with a wet noodle. Publicly. Twice. So cold this morning... I've noticed recently that gas pump nozzles come with all sorts of warnings on them, one of which being, "Do not top off." The idea of not topping off reminds me of my trip to Pennsylvania in 9th grade when we picked up Jalin off her mission, and I learned that topping off your gas tank is illegal there. Such an odd concept, really. My parents have always topped off their gas tank. I followed suit and have always topped mine off as well. Today I was considering this as I stood, in a skirt, in the freezing cold and decided that I would only top off my gas tank enough to make either the gallons or the price end in zeros. The pumping stopped... exactly at $36.00. When does that ever happen? Huh. Guess I wasn't supposed to top it off.

That reminds me, the person who decided I have to wear a skirt every day should also be beaten and flogged with a wet noodle. Publicly. Twice. It had to have been a man; I'm sure of it. I knew I have been wearing skirts for too long when I got dressed yesterday, a holiday. I looked in my closet and my eyes landed immediately upon my skirts to decide which to choose today.

The drive to Salt Lake was rather uneventful. (Well, except the time I switched lanes and headlights appeared out of nowhere directly behind me and scared me to death. I could have died. I'm not sure why I continue to drive.) I decided to drive today so that I could bring Kristy some clothes that I pulled out of my closet yesterday with the intent to give away or take to DI. I realized this morning that the point was moot as I wasn't sure if Carli had looked through them yet, and I had promised her first dibs, since she has given me so many clothes. I decided to drive anyway. Sure, I could have taken the early bus, but I still would have been stuck here until the first bus home at 4:15, and I really had no desire to work for 9 hours today.

I parked under the Conference Center at 6:50. The intersection at Main and North Temple is an interesting one indeed. There are four directions, but one is to the underground parking under Temple Square, and you can only turn in and out of it... you can't drive straight in or out. It makes the pedestrian lights really odd, too. If you don't get there at just the right moment, you could be standing on street corners for a very long time. Like I did this morning. I got there (the northwest corner) just as the west pedestrian light (crossing North Temple) finished blinking its little hand at me. Immediately thereafter, the east pedestrian light (also crossing North Temple) turned from the red hand to the white man as the North/South facing traffic was allowed to turn right and only right. Also as I sat there freezing on the wrong corner. Finally, it ended and the light changed for North Temple traffic to go on their way and my little white guy showed up, allowing me to cross Main street heading east. That is the longest light ever. Or, at least it seems that way when your fingers are falling off dues to frostbite. The light turned again, so now the south-facing traffic from Main street was allowed to turn, either left or right. The north-facing parking lot people... no luck. But, the people crossing North Temple on the west side got to cross the street. Me, wanting to cross on the east side? Also no luck. Again, I was stuck on the wrong corner. I sat there counting down the 17 seconds of the red flashing hand on the other side of the street and was surprised to see the left turn arrow turn yellow when there were 3 seconds left counting and then red before the hand changed from a flashing 1 to a solid hand. The newest red light allowed the parking lot-leaving people (who at 7 am are none) were allowed to turn left, which also allowed me to cross the street. Finally.

There's a man who stands outside the COB every morning in a little booth with a big space heater in front of him. He seems to be guarding the driving ramp that goes under the COB. I would think he directs traffic, except it's only one way. And he's never there when I leave in the afternoon. I wonder what he does. Y'know, besides freeze. I also wonder where that driving ramp goes...

A long while ago I got on the elevator at work and two girls were on there, talking. One girl was explaining to the other the fun game of Elevator Bingo. Basically, when you get on the elevator, if three buttons in a row are pushed (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) you're guaranteed to have a good day. I remember back in middle school, Anna Frecker and I spent hours playing Tic Tac Toe and figuring out strategy to always win. From that point on I have never lost at Tic Tac Toe. I either win or there's a Cat. (Who ever decided that the word 'cat' would be good terminology for a tie? And why is it only used in Tic Tac Toe?) There's a set-up guaranteed a win (Actually, there are a few, but one specifically that matters to this story): Bottom left corner, bottom right corner, top right corner. That way, if the other person puts their mark in the bottom center to block you, you can get the right center or the center-center. Basically, no matter where they place their mark to block you, you have two other options to still win. Even if they already have one taken, you still have a guaranteed win. Anyway, point is, I got into the elevator today and looked at the buttons to see if I was guaranteed a good day. 3, 5, and 11 were pushed. Any guesses as to where that would land if the bottom 9 squares (minus the bottom row) were a Tic Tac Toe board? Yup - bottom left, bottom right, top right. So... I guess that means I'm not 100% guaranteed a good day, I still have choices to make it such, but, if it doesn't turn out that way, I have no one to blame but myself. Apparently I would have to try to make this day not good. Or be completely oblivious and very unlucky.

It's now 8 am. I have successfully looked at all new emails, even doing something about several of them. I have downloaded many new books for me to load for Ft. Wayne and am currently extracting them to the server. And I've written this blog (forgive the length... I was really going to try to keep my posts short. But sometimes, stories take over my conciseness-goals.) Today I have in coming: End-of-year performance review with my boss (time unknown), a meeting at 9:30, lunch around noonish, departure for home around 3, a nap for an hour-ish so that I can stay awake during the 6:20 session tonight for ward temple night, then to show up late for our weekly family Ticket to Ride night online. (Attending: Mom, Jalin, Travis and Me. Also available, room for one guest. Usually Jessica. Perhaps Stephanie?) Then it's time to do my nightly sit-ups and scripture reading and finally... bed.

What a busy day. Gotta love Tuesdays. I was also invited to a weekly movie night tonight, but I don't think I'll be able to squeeze it in.