I got a new pair (set?) of Chums for my sunglasses, and was amused when I read the care directions.

(Yes, the picture does show a head with a fork.)

I showed them to Michael, who was also amused.

Later, when I was taking off my sunglasses and hanging them up…

Michael: How did they taste?
Michelle: ?
Michael: We know you don’t follow directions, so how did they taste?

I had an odd little experience this morning when I first arrived at work.

First, the building where I work has two long hallways, connected by several crossways. But to make it easier, think of it as an upper case H.

I enter the ground floor of the building at the foot of one leg, halfway down the hallway turn onto the crosspiece, and then when I reach the other leg, take the stairs up to the first floor.

This morning, after turning from the main hallway into the cross way, I suddenly noticed my footsteps were strangely louder–as if I was wearing shoes with hard heels instead of the soft soles I have been wearing. (The sidewalks have been treacherous–one ugly slide and a fall in a single day put me off wearing my Docs until the walks are clear.)

I softened my step, but I could still hear the striking of my heels on the tile.

Then I reached the intersection and saw walking away from me a woman in boots, walking the exact pace I was.

She was not, however, my doppelganger, seeing as she was tall and thin with long, straight, blonde hair.

Not only were there no existing images of a Bespin Clown Car, apparently NO ONE ELSE ON THE INTERNET EVER MADE THIS MISTAKE.

What do I win?

We went to Frostburg to have dinner for my Dad’s birthday, and I talked my parents into stopping by The Ark!

Look! Here we are!

Ta DA!

We’re in luck! Clear skies!

It’s large, but it’s not THAT large. Guess that’s why the dinosaurs couldn’t fit.

I’m guessing this is the ramp for the animals to go down into the hold. Not much headroom for the elephants and giraffes.

All the cement is crumbling.

The footers (again, crumbling) were poured for a much larger structure than the existing steel super structure.

There you go! A closer look at the Ark, a structure that has provided hours of amusement over the years.

There are several more pictures if you click through to Flickr.

I believe I’ve talked before about participating in the Walk 100 Miles in 100 Days program at WVU.

I’ve done it every year since at least 2005 (that’s the oldest record in the Excel file I used to keep track), and except 2010, when I broke my ankle, I got way over the minimum every year.

What I find fascinating (because I am a huge geek) are the pattern differences from year to year.

Here is a chart for last year:

Here is a chart for this year:

I’m thinking that the Saturday change is due to the number of rainy Saturdays we had this year, where we couldn’t get out and go hiking. But I find it just as fascinating that my peak walking day during the week shifted from Wednesday to Friday. Most likely because Wednesday is the day I’m most likely to go out to lunch with friends.

And if you’re curious, the number of miles I walked this year during the program was 477 (longer than the distance from Morgantown to Fayetteville, NC). Only 176 (just a bit longer than the distance from Morgantown to Charles Town, WV) of those counted towards the program, because you can only count 12 miles/week for the program, and that’s pretty much the max you can get.

So, it was fun. Both the walking and the tracking.

(And my team? We walked 1972 miles, which is longer than the trip from Morgantown to Denver, CO (1465).)

I work IT.

That means I dress in jeans and a t-shirt (in my case a long sleeve t-shirt, because I have a propensity to touch things that will give me a rash.

I dress for working on computers in rooms that process soil or other messy things.

In fact, here is how I’m dressed today.

Comfortably.

Why am I sharing this seemingly inconsequential information with you?

Because of something that happened this morning.

As I stepped out of the room where I had been working, I saw two men standing in the hallway. One most likely a few years older than me, and one probably a few years younger.

They both turned towards me when they heard the door close, and then the older of the two went back to studying the bulletin board.

The younger male stared at me.

As I walked towards him, he continued to stare at me, and as I walked past, he actually turned his body so he could continue to stare at me as I went past him and into the stairwell.

The reason I’m sharing this is, you see, this is the kind of shit that happens all the fucking time when you’re female.

Shit like this is why I don’t feel safe walking places alone.

Shit like this is why I carry my keys in my hand, sharp bits pointing out.

Shit like this is why I hate dressing nicely, because then it’s worse.

Shit like this is why I always wear shoes I can run in.

No, it doesn’t “feel good” that someone thought I was attractive enough to stare at.

It feels creepy.

It feels unsafe.

And it feels incredibly unfair.

There isn’t much blooming right now except my Stella d’Oro day lilies, but they’re making up for the lack elsewhere.

Buttercups (Ranunculus asiaticus) at Tomlinson Run State Park

Stella d’Oro daylilies

Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus ‘Variegata’) is one of my favorite herbs. I adore the way it looks and the way it smells.

“Aunt Michelle! Run in a circle!”
“I can’t! I’ll puke.”
Waitress: “Can I get anything for you?”
“Aunt Michelle is gonna puke!”

Here’s something random:

Someone put together the Most Popular US Attractions: State By State and Time put it into a single map, so I decided to see which I’d hit.

Considering that I haven’t visited all 50 states, I’ve hit quite a few of them.

How about you?

I haven’t actually fallen off the earth, I’ve just been spending my evenings reading, rather than on my computer, so, I haven’t been posting at all.

Sorry about that.

I’ve also been busy with my new job, but in a good–dare I say, delightful?–way. It’s been lovely to enjoy going to work, to feel appreciated at my job, and to come home and not have to spend my evening wondering how I’ll find the strength to go back the next day.

As I said, it’s been lovely.

Another cause for joy is that my depression has been well-controlled, my anxiety has hardly bothered me, and even my OCD has been quieter than usual. (Of the three, my OCD never goes completely away, but when I’m anxious and/or depressed, it gets really bad. But right now, I’m beginning to remember what it feels like to be an almost normal person. It’s a strange feeling, and I’m not taking it for granted, but it’s been a tremendous relief.

I’ve also been baking, for the pleasure of it, rather than as stress relief, which is also fun, but less good for my waistline. But life is short, and I’ll take pleasure and enjoyment where I find them, and be glad that I also take enjoyment in walking and hiking and other exercise type things.

However, it’s caused posting to be light, because instead of coming home and compulsively getting on the computer, searching for escape from my day, I’m instead spending the evenings, curled up on the sofa with His Furriness, reading, because it makes me happy to do so.

But now that spring is attempting to make an appearance, I’ll probably be posting more frequently, most likely pictures, but perhaps other things.

This is not how math and statistics work:

About 92 percent of all malware attacks are delivered by zip files.

“Whatever it is, it can wait,” Meyers said, “because you have a 92 percent chance of losing access to all of your data. Those are not good odds.”

I am positive that you can substitute Loki or Anansi or Coyote or any other trickster for that chapter.

Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology

See an interview here.

However, I take issue with his contention that mythology is boring. I’ve found it anything but. Perhaps I’m a weirdo.

(via Fixed That For Ya)

OR

What happens when WVUH masks their phone number.

I totally keep playing this over and over.