80s Night

I went to 80s night at a local bar on Friday with a coworker, Rebecca. She and her husband and their friends all remember the 80s. I was born then.

Rebecca introduced me to a friend of hers (Chris or Dave, but it doesn't matter, for the story, I'll call him, Chris). We went through the awkward introductory questions. I tried to make myself sound older; he is 35. But he is short, so I felt older. When I told him I'm originally from rural Pennsylvania, he said, "Oh, so you had a farm?"
"No."
"But you had a lot of farms around your house?"
"No. We had woods. You could hunt there if you want. But I lived in a neighborhood. We actually had sewers installed when I was in high school." I said this to be funny (even though it's true), but he took it seriously.
"So, is your family really religious then?"
What the hell? Where did that come from? And who asks that within the first five questions of meeting someone? And it's entirely too subjective. I don't think I'm very religious, but some people might. And on the other hand, most zealots would caterogize me in the "heathen" column. But it's none of your (Chris's) business anyway. So, for a strange question, I gave a strange answer:
"We're a blue state."
This ended the conversation. Well, it brought on some awkward silence and then one of us walked away. But later I found out that he's fron Osh Kosh. Osh Kosh! Who are you to be judging rural PA? You're from Osh Kosh.

They did not play "Livin' on a Prayer" or "Like a Prayer".

Library Story

I'm going to combine two events that happened to me this weekend because it makes the story much better. The sum is more than the pieces.

I went to the library. I had two goals - read my Actuarial Mathematics book for at least 3 hours and to read the rental copy of Half-Blood Prince so that I won't have to buy a copy nor pay the $1 to rent it for the week. The library that had a copy of Prince is about 12 blocks away. It's a great distance to ride my bike - too far to walk comfortably with my text book but too close to rationalize using my car. So, I took my bike: I fought traffic, I used hand signals, I rode uphill in the blazing sun without sunglasses. I arrived at the library in about 15 minutes (I hit a number of red lights.) but when I went to lock my bike to the rack I realized that I had forgotten the key to my bike lock. Curses! I stood and stared at the rack for 5 minutes willing the key to appear even though I could picture it on my shelf at home. When I finally accepted the fact that "apparating" is impossible, I got back on my bike and rode home. Somehow, I rode uphill again, though this time the sun was behind me.

I arrived at home a sweaty mess. I decided that this time I would walk to the library. My biking enthusiasm was quashed and I didn't like the idea of dripping perspiration on my textbook. I dropped my helmet, lock, and tire pump on my table, laced up my sneakers, and set out on my return trip to the library. Thirty minutes later I arrived at the library. I walked past the bike rack to the front door. But it was locked. The Milwaukee Public Library is closed on Sundays in the summer.

A Dash of Mortality

In a recent conversation with my mom she told me that she quit her job. This isn't too big of a deal. She worked at the front desk of a local supermarket. She did it more to get out of the house than for the money. Actually I think it cost our family more to have her work 20 hours each week than if she were at home. She had gone back to work when I went into high school so it's not as if she's not going to know what to do with her time either. I have a feeling that her yard is going to finally get some long-needed attention. She says she quit because she was tired of dealing with the management; there had been some changes in the last two years. And also, her peers that she counted as friends had already quit as well.

What bothers me about this though, is that when she told me she quit and I asked her what she's going to do now, she said, "I guess I'll retire." She then laughed so I didn't take her seriously. But still for a brief moment I was reminded that my parents are not going to remain the same forever. I've been so caught up in the changes that I've gone through in the last 10 years, I forgot that the rest of my family is living their lives as well.

My family is still pretty much the same as they were a decade ago, except everyone is older. The youngest member is about 11 years old, though we still call her "the baby." All four of my grandparents are alive and so are my great aunt and uncle. They don't drive as much as they used to, and they don't golf anymore, and they talk more often about their doctors than their grandchildren. But in a lot of ways, they're still the same. Grampa Dicko (seriously, that's what we call him) still goes to the VFW for a beer directly after church. Dad's mom still looks like she could spit fire whenever Hilary Clinton is brought up in conversation. And Uncle Harry still sends every dish back to the kitchen when we eat out. They still tell the same stories and laugh at the same jokes.

So, I was taught a little lesson during my conversation with Mom. Things will change. And I can't do anything to stop them. But my money's on the fact that I'm going to be taught that lesson again. And then probably a few more times.

Sausage Race

Last night I was out dancing until 2 am with a coworker and her friends - 80s night. I was teased a good deal for the fact that I was born in the 80s.

This morning I still managed to wake up for the 5K Sausage Race at Miller Park. I had registered weeks ago and had already paid my entry fee. Karen was supposed to run with me but she wimped out. But that's ok. She still, kept me company, and cheered me on. We also met a coworker of mine, Mike. Mike ran the race in 23 minutes. I ran it in 30. So we didn't see each other for the whole race.

My favorite part of the race was the fact that the famous Racing Sausages, ran along side of us. I'm disappointed in my self, though because the Bratwurst and the Polish Sausage both had better times than I had. But at least I beat the Hot Dog and Italian Sausage.

After the race, all of the runners received either a free bratwurst or hot dog. The idea of eating that after the run didn't sound appealing but surprisingly it was great.

Sexual Harassment

Today we didn't do work at the office. We all went to the Brewers game instead. We had a lot of bear. We ate brats, chips and dip, and cheese balls. And someone baked cookies too. We finally went into the stadium at the 5th inning. That was because we ran out of beer in the parking lot and some of us had to use the restrooms.

After the game, some people decided to go out for drinks. I wish I hadn't gone, because I feel that too much information was shared tonight, and I may be called to speak to a human resource manager. Especially because we just had our "Respect at Work" meeting last week. Anyway, Mike tried to hook up with a new hire, even though an ex-girlfriends was at the bar. I think she was trying to hook up with me, though I'm pretty sure the intern grabbed her a few times. I know that she punched him; she also punched one of my bosses, though I'm not sure why. Some of our topics tonight were "who shaves what", "frequency of masturbation", and "lesbians". I seriously thought we were going to have a girl-fight on our hands at one time.

A sexual harassment suit could be possible after tonight's actions. And unfortunately, I may have been the only one sober enough to know what was going on.

Golden Girls

Today is Estelle Getty's birthday. She turned 82.

Did you know that Betty White was originally asked to play the part of Blanche Devereaux and Rue McClanahan was supposed to play Rose Nylund? However, Bea Arthur felt that those characters would be too close to previous characters that they had played on other TV shows. White had been the sexpot, Sue Ann, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and McClanahan had played the sweet Vivian on Maude (with Bea Arthur). It's tough to imagine those roles reversed.

I actually got out of bed to make this entry. You had better appreciate it, Adina.

totem

We have a New Hire at work. I'm no longer the bottom of the totem pole. And the two guys above me have quit. So there's a huge gap between me and the next least seniority. The difference is about 5 years of experience. I'm really happy about getting a new guy. Huzzah.

Alaska

I can't summarize my trip in an entry. It was two weeks long. I traveled by bus, commercial jet, ferry, van, raft, legs, small engine plane, shuttle bus, and subway. I met a range of people. I went through states and provinces. And really, how could I fit mountains, rivers, and glaciers into a blog post?

We had five guides on the trip. One was violinist and played for us after dinner some nights. She played Eine Kleine Nachtmusic, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Pachelbel's Canon, Summertime, and so much more. Another guide was a podiatrist. I suppose he likes to do these types of things on his vacations.

There were seven passengers. They included a police officer and veterinarian (husband & wife), a financial consultant who had been on trips with this outfitter 13 other times, my father - a lumber store owner, a teacher and an insurance actuary (wife & husband), and me - an actuary-in-training. I can't believe there were 2 actuaries on the trip. And he was so boring. And he didn't stop talking. I eventually had to ask him to stop talking about math and the exams.

This was the type of trip where something would happen and afterwards I would think to myself, "That could have killed me." Some of the rapids were intense the first day. The weather was certainly cold on some days. We climbed on glaciers and tried to avoid the cracks in the ice. We rafted around ice bergs and watched them roll over. We saw a bear but that was about a mile away. We did see a lot of bear shit though.

I saw many bald eagles. And I was "attacked" by terns one morning. We saw moose tracks (and droppings). We saw whales when we were on the ferry and seals in the bay near the ocean. I saw ptarmigans and marmots. And we're not sure if we saw a mountain goat or a rock. I think it was a rock, but those with binoculars swear a goat.

As I remember stories from the trip, I will try to post them.

the Poor Man's Cruise

My father and I took a ferry from Juneau to Haines along the Alaska Marine Highway System in the Inner Passage. It only took 4 hours. However, we talked to other passengers who were taking the whole trip from Seattle to Skagway, which is over 80 hours long. The ship doesn't sail that whole time; sometimes it is docked overnight.

The cool thing about this is that you can either rent a cheap room on board or you can pitch a tent on the Solarium deck, which has heating lamps. Also, the movie theater becomes "the reclining room" at night so that people can sleep there if they like. There is a restaurant on board and a cafeteria. There are bathrooms and showers. Plus, there's ranger on board who gives talks about glaciers and whales and lighthouses and other things that you see along the trip. This seems like it would be a much cooler way to see the Alaskan coast than a posh cruise ship. Also, because a ferry comes every few days it makes sense that one would be able to get off the boat, visit a city for a while, and catch another ferry later.

ice ice baby

On Friday I woke up overlooking a lake filled with ice bergs. I wore 6 layers that day. I'm now sweating while sitting at my table. Things change so quickly.

Rush

I was going to have a nice "catch-up" entry about my whirlwind week, but I'm 9 hours from my flight, 7 hours from my bus departure, and 5 hours from my alarm. And my stuff is still unpacked on my bed.

Some highlights from my week:

Being told numerous times how much I'd be missed from work. Mostly by the people that will now have noone to push around.

Getting a crew cut. I look like Bartoletti from high school - if any high school friends read this. I keep feeling my fuzzy head.

Passing my actuarial exam. This really hasn't hit me yet. Perhaps when I receive the bonus and pay raise, I'll finally be excited about this event.

Seeing a BJ being performed on a guy who was driving a car. This was at a stop light. Sure maybe the girl was picking up something from the floor around his feet, but he seemed to be enjoying it, a lot.

Receiving my Wisconsin State Tax Refund. Finally.

Packing and shopping for this Alaskan adventure. I don't know how many grizzly-mauling stories I've heard this week. I started to tune them out.

friends

Garrison Keillor this weekend said, "One doesn't find friends; one makes friends."

Huge Gym Bag Sale

Without a comma, this sign at my gym is indecipherable. What's huge? The gym? The bag? The Sale? Confusion reigns with signs like this posted around town.

Last night, at SummerFest I saw Howie Day and Moby. I didn't spend much time listening to Howie Day. I was the only person there that was drinking legally and Howie was mostly playing his new music. I did hear Ghost and Secret but the latter was interupted by an ambulance coming through the crowd.

From my building I have been watching fireworks going off through the whole city. There have been about 50 different displays going off throughout the city and suburbs in the past hour. None are too close, but it's a great sight to see. I whistled You're a Grand Ol' Flag while I watched them for a while, but eventually my lips got too dry. And the blog called.