Brace Yourselves

For news that (some of you) can REALLY use click here and tune into the Today Show on Friday. If you live in the UK, I'll see what I can get for you - I am guessing it will be all over YouTube post haste.

Cherryride is gonna be so sad that he left the country. Poor timing on that one chap!

Comments

I don't know why the comment link is being weird on the post below. I tried to fix it but I am not that talented so you can leave a comment on this one instead if you are so inclined.

Please feel free to share with the group. Your call is very important to us.

An Open Letter to the Drivers of Seattle -

*Warning: RANT ON*

Dear Seattle Public,
How are you? It's been a while since we chatted. I hope things are going well. I know you made it safely to work today. In fact, that's what I'd like to have a little chat about. Today, on my way to work, I encountered no less than SIX DRIVERS in a span of 30 minutes (that's one every 5 minutes or so) who didn't know what they were doing on the roadway. This is a serious issue. We need to have a little chat. Would the following drivers please report to Driver Ed? You can stop by my house for an arse whooping first:

1. Parked in the Traffic Lane Guy - DO YOU NOT SEE THE SIGN that says NO PARKING in that lane from 6 am - 9 am? Clearly not. Thanks for screwing up everyone's mojo.
2. Not Going to Let You Into My Lane Guy - you suck. It's a residential street and some idiot parked in one of the 2 driving lanes. You see him parked there. You see me trying to get over. Don't be a dick, Dick. Yes, I am going to force my way over. Go ahead and honk. You suck. Oh, and your girlfriend is UHGLEEEE.
3. Delivery Van Who Doesn't Know How to Merge - These two lanes become one lane. That means you proceed and take turns with the cars in the other lane to merge into one lane. That does not mean you come to a complete stop (where do you see a Stop sign? Please explain.) and let ALL OF THE OTHER TRAFFIC GO first. That means you go. They go. YOU GO. They go. YOU GO. SO GO!!!!
4. Changing Lanes Recklessly and Fast With No Blinker in Jammed Freeway Traffic Guy - you are going to cause an accident. Seriously. I hope your car gets totalled.
5. Don't Know How to Exit Girl - When you see two cars, travelling at about 65 mph, and they are in your lane traveling at a relatively close distance, and you see that there is a completely OPEN lane behind them, it is WRONG to place your car directly in between them in the lane next to them and sit with your blinker on. Ease off the gas honey. Slide in behind. You can do it. Stupid cow.
6. Don't Know How to Change Lanes Guy - Alternatively, when I am travelling a decent distance behind the guy in front of me, and I am letting you over, GET THE HELL OVER. Don't sit there with your blinker on and try to decide for a good 5 minutes. I realize you've probably been driving next to Not Going to Let You Into My Lane Guy and had a bad experience but hey, we're not all like that. A little awareness is all I am asking for.

And finally, to Everyone Out There Driving a Car Anywhere in the World, HANG UP YOUR DAMN MOBILE PHONE. You're driving like an idiot and pissing us all the hell off.

Yes, that includes you.

Thank you for your time and attention in this important matter. With a little extra attention, a bit of space in between us and you getting the hell out of my way, I think we can all just get along. I have a good feeling about this.

Sincerely,
ReckenRoll

Grounded

The ReckenRoll is on restriction. We've grounded her plane, sent away her driver, and hidden her passport. We're considering removing her mobile phone but we aren't Sam Lufti so the phone remains in her possession. No more travel. No more trips. Not until at least 30 days have passed with her arse remaining in the Pacific Northwest (Portland and Whistler are considered PNW).

I mean seriously, I couldn't let a whole work week go by without blogging at least ONCE! Man, am I a serious lame ass lately. Grounding was the only way to go.

Speaking of Once, have you seen it? I have not (yet) but have been told by several people that it is apparently the most amazing thing since sliced bread and my life is not complete until I've seen it. It's going to blow my mind. I'm looking forward to it - although I fear that expectations are too high...

Friday Video of the Week

Let's get some normalcy back up in here.

Reckenroll Out.

Welcome to the World Grady James!

One of my nearest and dearest friends had a baby last night! Little Grady James joined the world in the wee hours of this morning after putting his mommy through over 48 hours of quality time at the birthing center (apparently induction doesn't always happen that quickly). He rocked the scales at a whopping 6 lbs, 11 oz.

In honor of his birth, I'd like to share some of the funnier gems I got in emails from Jenn during her pregnancy. All you need to know is that Jenn is a high school English teacher by trade and we should fear for the future of America:

• I'm wearing a sweater that ties above my belly and heard the statement, "Dang, Mrs. D, your belly is getting BIG" more than once today. Thanks, kids, I hadn't noticed. And they talk about it because they think that's the socially appropriate way to be excited. Sigh, 9th graders. And yeah, if they made these comments and I wasn't pregnant, then I'd seriously be issuing detentions like a madwoman.
• I just said, "That's not an acceptable choice. You're not in kindergarten; you're a big boy," to an 18-year-old.
• Today in one of my 9th grade classes I was talking about Langston Hughes and how he wrote during the Harlem Renaiisance. I said, "so when I say Harlem, where do you think of?" And like 8 boys all at once said "Globetrotters!" while one kid, who is actually usually kind of slow, said, "New York." So great, my other supposedly bright kids think Globetrotters is a PLACE and the kid who usually doesn't know what's going on knows that Harlem is in New York. Be afraid.

Just think, someday little Grady will be giving his teacher's precious little gems like these to share with their friends...Congratulations Jenn & Aaron!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Last year at this time I was celebrating St Patrick's Day in Singapore with the Shaun and the Rob and calling The Cherryride from across the world to see what was up with the Green River. I went to look up the blog entry on this fabulous experience but there wasn't one.



I have no one to blame but myself.

So to recap for all of you this year: in true Irish style, we drank Guinness in an Irish pub while a local Singapore band played the English hits of the 80s and 90s; feasted on local street food in a hakka market; and then stumbled our way home in the humid 90 degree weather that is always present in Singapore, even at midnight.

You've never done a proper St. Patrick's Day until you've done it on the other side of the world. I challenge you to find a country in the world where there isn't an Irish pub. I think there may be more Irish pubs in Barcelona than there are tapas restaurants. If not, it's a close race. I mean, come on, EVERYONE loves Guinness.

Happy St Pat's Day Everyone!!

The Best Steak You EVER Had?

I am pretty sure mine was at Canlis last night.

Oh yeah, it was so good I had to DOCUMENT IT* on my blog.

It was filet mignon. It was a perfectly cooked medium rare. It was magic magic magic. What is it about red meat? I could never be a vegetarian. Not ever never ever.

*the photo is not the actual filet mignon I ate last night but that's pretty much what it looked like. Yum.

Sore.

Whistler was awesome (as previously noted, it had no choice) but I am feeling the pain today, let me tell you. This old girl ain't what she used to be. When did I get so old?

I spent a gorgeous sunny Saturday desperately trying to keep up with my mom. She was on skis, I was on a snowboard and it was such a pain. SUCH a pain. She had to wait for me every time I got off the lift while I did up those STUPID bindings. I couldn't keep up with her on some of the steeper bumpier runs. When we hit a flat anything I was totally screwed and had to hop off the board and walk it/skate it (great way to suck the life right out of you by the way, struggling to walk in snow and carrying a board in full gear) and for some reason, everywhere we went there seemed to be flat cat tracks EVERYWHERE.

My legs were constantly on fire.

Ugh.

On Sunday, the weather wasn't as good but I was on skis and we (almost) conquered that mountain! Unfortunately I had totally burned my legs the first day on the snowboard so I wasn't in for as long of a day as I would have liked. My legs ached and ached and every turn/stop burned my quads. By the last run, I was taking breaks every minute or so to let my legs rest. Only by keeping my eyes on the lodge at the bottom was I able to make it.

So I have a new rule. Skis with skiers. Board with boarders. Oh, and hit the gym and work the legs before next time...but not until after they've had a few days off.

Sadcakes.

Bliss.

Friday afternoon my mama comes to town and we are heading north to the happiest place on Earth.

Whistler.

When you think of me on Saturday (cause let's face it - you all always think of me on the weekends) picture me there.

I choose to ignore the weather forecast for rain and the fact that I am going to be spending 5 hours in the car with my mother as she critiques my driving with deep quick intakes of breath.

It shall be magic. It's Whistler! It has no choice.

Excuses Excuses

I gotta tell ya kids, the ReckenRoll is TIRED.

Dog tired.

And she's having a string of bad luck.

Bad luck + TIRED = Not so famous.

London last week was great. I was there for 10 days and was BUSY the whole time. And I don't mean busy in a social kind of way. I mean working 9-10 hours days everyday, with jet lag, for 8 of 10 days I was there. It was go go go the whole time...and while I was always go go go in London when I lived there, this trip seemed particularly frantic. I also jam packed my one weekend, because it was my one weekend, and while I LOVED seeing everyone and everything, it didn't make for a very relaxing time. That's why I didn't blog so much about the London...but I will.

Oh, and the toughest thing about trips that last from 7-10 days is that is right about the time that you start to get over your jet lag...and then you go home and reverse the process.

Got back on Wednesday and have been waking up at 5 am ever since (without an alarm clock). On Thursday morning the work I was doing in London carried over, (no rest for the wicked)except now when I got in to the office in the morning I was already 8 hours behind on email. I was putting out fires all over the place and the 9-10 hour days became 12 hours days.

But I was doing ok with it...until the weekend when:

• The work that I was hoping would be finished during the week, made me work on the weekend. Like at 7 am on Saturday...but hey, I was already kind of awake anyway.
• The sump pump at my house broke, meaning I can't use the toilet or shower. So even though I am home, I am not able to be at home and am staying at various friend's houses until it gets fixed today. My landlord offered a hotel but the very idea of being in another hotel makes me shudder.
• A jar shattered when I opened it and sliced my thumb open pretty deep. Didn't get stitches, but they were seriously considered while it was bleeding all over.
• My computer, which is my life at work, decided to fritz...a lot...when I needed it not to be on the fritz. I love Vista!
• Completely sober, I spilled a full glass of red wine all over Suz's new expensive boots and coat right before she got on a red eye flight back to NYC. But hey, at least I didn't kill anybody! Right?

So hopefully today I get to sleep in my own bed again and hopefully soon I'll be back on the blogging bandwagon. I miss you guys! I really do...