Dear Readers....

Dear Readers,
After a recent public outrage, I'm forcing myself to post a blog entry. You see, I have been waiting for the "blog mood" to strike. And, in all honesty, the mood has not been stricken. There are lots of blogs out there, some well written and entertaining, some horrible and a waste of everyone's time. My goal was to be in the middle of the two groups, leaning more to the well written side, of course. It's my personal blog philosophy that if you write because you feel obliged to and not because you want to, it won't be nearly as good. It has only been 7 days since I posted a blog - certainly not such a great length to warrant multiple people harassing me for a new blog. One reader went as far to say that if I waited so long between posts, I would surely lose readers. According to the complainant, people check the blog regularly and if they check back multiple days in a row and nothing is posted, they will eventually stop checking regularly. While this statement is the truth, if I just started posting babbling blogs about the monotonies of my day, tirades of friend drama, and the lengthy prose about the love of my life (...that would be Diet Coke, don't get excited. There is no secret (or public) love affair going on. Besides, I don't think I will ever love a man as much as I love the DC), no one would want to read the blog anyways, even if it was updated daily. Wow, what a long sentence that was. Did you follow it? I don't even think it was grammatically correct.

So here I sit, writing my blog, stealing McDonalds wireless. Well, that's false. I bought a Diet Coke, duh, so I paid. I'm just sitting in the parking lot because there's no outlets inside. Oh, here's a fun update - My car, a Chevy Caliber, has a 12volt outlet in the armrest. For those who don't do electronics, a 12 volt is a regular 2 prong power outlet. So my laptop plugs in and sort of sits on the armrest and my leg, as I sit sideways in my car. Why don't all cars come with these outlets? Who was the genius who just thought of this? You can charge a cell phone with a regular wall plug, straighten your hair, charge a laptop, or plug in a sound dock. Absolutely genius. I googled what other cars have 12 volt outlets and I couldn't find a list of cars. Fail, Google. Someone should make one. I am actually surprised that more business people don't demand cars with these outlets. You would think there would be some bigger demand for a listing. I want one in my next car, for sure. I predict they become more popular in the coming years, espeically as more people use laptops and wireless becomes more popular. I really want a wifi card for my computer, but I can't justify the $40/month cost. I'll wait a few years for the prices to come down.

Since you are probably here looking for an interesting story - I was just inside the McDonald's buying my drink when an employee accosted me at the soda fountain. "Just so you know, I am not voting for you. I am voting for blah, blah, and blah". I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I dont think I look like a candidate. Yeah, I have on dress pants, but I also have on a fake North Face (North Fake?) and flip flops. Yes, it is 41 degrees here in Albany, NY, and I am still rocking my Reefs. I'm holding on to the last bit of summer for as long as I possibly can. I figure, I am in the hotel (warm) then I run to the car (cold outside but warm in the car) then I walk like 2 minutes to store/school/hotel. So really, my toes are warm 95% of the time! They can deal with a little breeze during my brisk walks. Don't worry, when I am outside for longer, I put sneakers on. I'm not stupid, I just don't mind being cold. And my odd fear of shoes with backs. Maybe next week I will switch to my Ugg clogs when I'm not at schools. Those aren't too bad. Anyways, on my out of the establishment, he stopped me again and apologized. He thought I was someone else. Sorry, bud, but I'm glad you're exercising your right to vote today!

Other than the above, not much has really happened in the last week. One day in New Jersey, I thought I was part of a conspiracy plot, but that's nothing major. Okay, here's the story in a 3 minute nutshell, in three parts:

1. I went to a "New York Deli" for lunch. I was absolutely convinced it was run by the mob. Lots of big old Italian guys who stared at me. Like they knew I didn't belong there. So I ate my delicious-to-die-for chicken salad sandwich and booked out the door before I was swimming with the fishies.

2. Then I went to a college fair that night. Somehow the fair was on my calendar but no one in the office had ever heard of the fair. So I went anyways. Ten minutes before the fair started, only 4 schools were present. Weird. Usually schools show up an hour prior to the start time. That's good etiquette. So I get there 60 minutes early and I am the only person in the entire building. Which was good because I fell flat on my face when my heel lost traction on the shiny floor. But no one was there to see it. Success! I couldn't even find a janitor in this building. I walked the whole thing. No one. Finally, a second school showed up and I felt a little better knowing I wasn't the only lonely moron. Well, not a moron. I WAS in the right place, just 55 minutes too early. So I chatted with him and the other reps as they slowly filtered in. Only 15 schools in total, a sharp contrast to the 406 school fair I was at last weekend!

3. Typically night fairs serve dinner, but this poorly organized one didn't so I was starving. Fortunately, I always pack a little snack in case of emergency. So my fruit snacks held me over. But I went to McDonalds for a quick dinner. It was in a sketchy neighborhood but I was starving, so I went through the drive though. How scary is that, I didn't even feel safe enough to get out of my car. Lots of people loitering in the parking lot. So I parked in the back, under a bight light, and chowed down. As I was sitting though, about 5 cars came around me at once and circled my car, all with their lights on. It was very bright in my car! I thought for sure they were going to charge me and squish me in the middle! Certainly, all part of this bigger conspiracy theory. Perhaps it was the mob. I ate quicker, but the cars all left. Not a clue what they were up to, but they left me alone and I drove home to my hotel, safe and sound.

So other than my day of conspiracy, not much is new. I'm traveling these next three weeks where my friends/family will be, so I wouldn't expect too much blogging. My free time will be devoted to them. And, I hate to break it to you, dear reader, but someday soon this blog will end. My travels will be over and I'll go back to my regular 8-4 job where not much really exciting happens. No one wants to hear "today, I stapled papers". BORING!

Until next time,
-J