And another thing

I now have a reputation, possibly, in the well drilling world for being a complete and total bitch who complains about every little thing that the driller and drill crew do that I don't like.

Turns out that the last driller I worked with was fired because a co-worker and myself complained, legitimately, about some problems we had with him and his crew.

What it came down to was that he made inappropriate comments directed towards us but not TO us. He also verbally expressed discontent with us and our project.

Between you and I, the project wasn't all that great. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool project but we had some problems with the drilling that neither us (the geologists) nor them (the drillers) had any sort of control over. They were things we had to work around, and working with a driller who had a bad attitude (but great sense of humor) and was nothing less than hormonal exacerbated the problems.

But that doesn't make me feel any better about this guy getting fired because we had issues. I feel like a total ass!

Have you ever gotten, unintentionally or not, anyone fired? If so, how did you feel about it? Am I just extra sensitive?

My ass yearns to be seen

or something of the like. I'm not sure exactly what is going on with it but maybe all this running/biking is making my ass look fabulous and it wants to be seen by all. I say this because of 2 recent side-splitting (ahem... pants ripping) events.

If only I had pictures, this post would be SOOOO much better and my ass's dream would be realized.

EVENT 1-
Tom and I are hiking north of Pike's Peak (maybe you've heard of it?) which culminates in a glacial cirque (are there any other kind?). After a difficult but exhilarating hike through the snow and up the glacial valley we get to the "top" and decide to wander around for awhile and have a few beers.

As the sun began to wane, we decided it was time to head for the bottom of the hill and so started searching for the elusive 'best way down.' I decided to head down at a certain spot that seemed quite promising. All was well until I stepped on a gently sloping (about 10 degrees) slab of wet Pike's Peak Granite. I'm sure you can guess what happened next... I slipped and slid on my ass down the final 10 ft of this slab.

I almost lost 1/2 of my shorts! The rip was that big! Ok, I exaggerate, slightly. But the ripped flap, held open, showed the world my ass. And we had a 6 mile hike back down to the train stop... and LOTS of people who would ALL see my ass!

Luckily, I have a great guy who remedied the situation by lending me his boxer shorts to cover the ass.

You should've seen the customer service guy's face at REI when I returned the shorts (they were new, damnit!) when I told him how they ripped. He was trying really hard not to laugh but didn't succeed very well.

EVENT 2-
I'm out in the field earlier this week, and it's HOT, methinks it was approximately 99 degrees. I squat down to open up a well head and RRRRRIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPP!

I thought, to myself, did my pants just effing rip?

And then I felt the breeze on my ass. I quickly stood up and must've had this 'HOLY SHIT MY ASS IS HANGING OUT' look on my face because the guy I was working with knew, immediately, what had happened.

He was almost rolling on the ground laughing, as he should. And then, after almost composing himself, asked if my shirt was long enough to cover the rip.

It wasn't.

So he lent me his shirt (he had 2 on) which was a bit longer than mine. And then continued to make jokes and laugh (as he should). Luckily for me (again) I had a spare pair of pants in my car.

When I switched out the pants and was able to SEE the rip, I about cried, I was laughing so hard. The rip was about 8 inches long and went all the way to the waist hem!

The best part... I was, of course, wearing very revealing panties (read: g-string).

my new-ish workout plan

my new work out plan is this:

35 minutes of heart pumping exercise every day for 30 days

AND yoga doesn't count?!

so... now i'll tell you how i'm doing thus far... i just finished day 9. i'm trying to switch between biking and running so as to not kill myself from the get go. thus far, i'm doing great. i might even start to like the run. and today's run was made all the more better by listening to the Savage Love Podcast. it's like his column but people call in and he rants while answering sex questions. makes for good laughs while sweating your ass off and such.

so i got this idea about blogging about the fitness plan (yes, i know, no one's ever thought of it before- call me revolutionary) when i heard this effing lame story about a lady blogging away debt. now, not that posting your spending, to the penny, for all the world to see isn't motivation to get your shit together and pay off ass loads of credit card debt, because it is. scrutiny is always rough. but it made me think about this other story i heard (i am a talk radio and podcast junkie) about a woman doing the same sort of thing but asking people for money to help her pay off her credit card debt.

let me be forthright about this... i think donating money towards a good cause, such as the Barfuss kids coughing machine (which i donated to) is fantastic. and as americans, we're great at coming to the rescue with money when it's needed. but, seriously! asking total strangers for money to pay off your credit card debt because you don't know how to live within your means seems totally uncalled for. in my opinion. plus, i don't think it gets to the heart of the spending problem and likely, that lady just continued to spend without any other consequence.

maybe i'm totally wrong. and maybe my complaint makes me a complete and utter bitch. but whatever.

either way. i'm totally off subject and thought i'd blog about the fitness plan to keep me motivated to keep it up! so stay tuned for random posts about it.

the search for a new place blows

this post is going to seem extremely trivial, coming as it does after the Isis & Phoenix Barfuss Rigid Spine post. let me apologize now.

i want to take this opportunity to complain about searching for a new place to live. i loathe the search. it may be that i am extra picky. i have lived in a wide variety of apartments and know what i want and what will suit me. but since the home break in and subsequent car theft and recent car stereo theft, i have to add the parking situation (e.g., is it off street? is there a garage? etc.) to the list of questions and requirements for a place.

but it seems that most places with garages are not so fond of letting me keep my gordo gato (we all know he's going wherever i go). others tout the availability of off-street parking which basically means a small parking area that is easily accessible and not necessarily secured but is just not on the street.

so safety is the most important aspect of the new place. next is the kitchen counter/cabinet space. I have yet to figure out why it is that most rentals are lacking in these vital (to those of us who pretend to cook) components. i've seen pictures of places that have great counter space but they are either located in an area of town that i don't want to live or (once again) are discriminating against me (not really.. i understand why some landlords don't want to allow pets) for being a pet owner.

what to do? what to do?

to date, i've looked at 5-8 places and not one of them gave me the 'aha!' moment i've been searching for. i have another two (at least) to go and check out today. one w/ garage and one w/out but w/ gated access. both are located near nice parks and allow the gato.

maybe i need to tone down my requirements. i mean do i really need ass loads of kitchen counter space? food storage? a place other then the bathroom for the kitty's litter box? a nice storage area for my bike and other sentimental stuff? i would LOVE to find a great 2 bd place where i could eventually put a small desk for my computer (instead of sitting on le bed) and use for storage of above stuff and winter-ish clothes.

i guess having the rest of the month to look gives me some space but i'm not to sure that i want to do the 'hey it's july 31st and i'm moving out of my current place and into the new place and then have to go back and clean the old place' all in the same day. if you'll remember, such things are a HUGE pain in the ass.

ok. rant over.

i'll keep you posted on the search results!

have you called me recently

... and wondered to yourself

"self how is it that Al's message seems to be directed at ME? I mean, it says my name on it, or something personal to me. How in the hell is she doing it? Is she just that freaking cool?"

Of course I'm that freaking cool. I can't believe you would ever suggest anything different. I'm almost appalled enough to change your personal message greeting to something else. Don't tempt me buddy. I'll do it. I'm not ascared, you know.

If you haven't called and heard your personal greeting, well then, let me take this opportunity to say that you should call.

and you should look at youmail.com

a staggaring admission...

ok, so as i'm sitting here thinking about writing this blog i am seriously thinking about NOT writing this blog. all of which might be insanely obvious from the title that i've so eloquently (or stupidly...) chosen for this post.
in fact, the more i write about not wanting to write about the subject that was my original intent, the more i am able to talk myself out of the admission.

does any of that make sense?
does it really matter, in the whole scheme of things?
i wonder how long i can continue to spew bullshit and write about absolutely nothing to get me out of admitting anything. i'm sure we could devise some sort of scientific experiment about it and come up with a pretty good estimate. /sigh, more stalling

here goes (/stomach turns... /breathing is shallow... it is an admission you know)

i, al, am in like.

hold back your gasps of surprise and astonishment!
it's possible that i can admit this to you, dear readers. AND, if you'll be so kind as to remember back to one of my posts written near the beginning of the year, i met this guy via internet dating. /gasps! /clutches chest /regains composure to finish writing

and to think that i thought internet dating was all a fluke. but it kindof is because all of the guys in this area (NM) who responded to me were NOT anything special. or really anything at all. no sir, instead the NM guys were impressed that a girl likes to put down a few beers and do something other than paste on clothing that is 6 sizes too small and try to make up for their obesity by applying a whole freaking tube of mascara per day.

instead, i meet a great guy (i hope you're smiling about this t.) who lives in the vicinity of denver. who'da thunk it? not me and you can quote me on that.
but i'm not going to complain because i happen to be in like with said guy and am of the opinion that living 5 hours apart is a good thing. more talk, still maintain enough alone time (for both al and el gato), and such.

so there it is! i've admitted it (no calls please) and will deal with whatever consequences occur from it. hopefully it at least gets t. to purchase me a beer or two. i think that's a good compromise, don't you?

here goes

it has been pointed out to me (repeatedly! thanks t.) that i have been a total slacker lately when it comes to this blog and possibly my friends. you would tell me if i was being a sucky friend, right? the blog thing, well, let's just chalk it up to working my ant bit, itchy, red ass off.

it has also been pointed out to me that over this little (or big since i've been out here for almost a month) job many things have happened that i should blog about for various reasons. but mostly because they're hilarious and i alluded to them in my last blog from good ole' grants.

first- the bullfrog (a co-worker) and i decided to go and check out some calderas after it had been raining all week. the bullfrog just had to see the big lava tubes. so we went one day after work. we got off a bit early at 1630! so we get going on this dirt (ok, it was mostly silt and clay... the soft stuff) road in the rental truck and it's pretty slippery. but i can handle the driving, right? i grew up driving through snowy and icy canyons and such. so we almost got stuck in a small ditch meant to funnel water off of the road. but we pulled ourselves out of it and decided to keep going. really, what's a little sign that says 'Road May Be Impassible When Wet' got on a couple o' scientists? NADA!
Wrong! we managed to get ourselves supremely stuck in another ditch. only this time the ditch was full and we had 2 wheel covered to the rims.
did i mention that it's almost 1800 and the sun is beginning to wane?
also, did i mention that we took my rental instead of the bullfrog's?
so we dug (with my hard hat) and covered the bottom of the ditch with scoria. we put a tarp down to try to get traction. oh, and my truck only has 2 wheel drive (let's not get started on that... when i decide tis time to call AAA to get them out for a tow. wouldn't you know it! no cell-y service!
so we bitch about it and then decide that we'd better empty the truck of expensive shit (meaning we'd have to carry it out on foot) and get someone to help in the morning.
but lady luck was on our side (finally) and an old rancher with tire chains was coming along at just that moment and pulled us out! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
following day... the bullfrog says
" stand back here and look at our trucks. what's different?"
me: hm... your's is silver and mine used to be white but is currently ass brown?
me: no wait...
me: i don't know. what?
the bullfrog: my truck is 4-wheel drive.
me: (laughing my ass off) ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
t bf: nope. i just noticed that. pretty funny isn't it?
me: eff yeah it is. but let's still not talk about this for awhile.
the bf: right-o

good times in grants.. more later.
also- i got bit on the ass the other day by a red ant! luckily NOT a fire ant, just a plain ole' red ant. so it just itches like a son of a bitch and i have a large red bump.
good times

hello and hi, from beautiful (ahem) Grants, NM

yeah, so i just read the jess post asking me to fill in when both those ladies were in a rut.

oops!

let the record show that i, too, have been a huge slacker with the blogging. but, let the record show that i currently finished day 8 (w/ 10-11 hr days) of straight work. the up side? only 2 days left in this shift.

then what? you ask...

i get a 4 day weekend

and then back to work for another 10 day shift (same hours).

normally this whole thing wouldn't be all that horrible but i'm not even at home. even that wouldn't be bad if i was somewhere hip or cool or had something to do.

it doesn't. i'm in grants, new mexico.

a quick example of how bad this place is (fyi- this is probably the only time i'll ever lament being in a town with no starbucks- and YES you read that right). first-- there's only one coffee shop and it's only open from thursday through sunday (for those of you who know me, you'll realize how painful this is for me... seriously, i'm DYING). second--we have eaten dinner at a different place every night (remember I'm on day 8) and we've exhausted all of our possibilites (minus the fast food joints). third-- there are only 2 stop lights. fourth-- the best restaurant in town is located in our Best Western hotel.

on the upside-- my hotel room has cable! you know what that means? i've been watching NBA playoffs like a fiend. presently i'm watching our beloved Utah Jazz lose to the SA Spurs (damn and blast!).

there will be other stories to come about the joys of my work days and other idiotic things later but for now... it's bed time. the alarm is set for 0545. and you know the worst thing about that? i've been waking up PRIOR to the alarm going off. what a bunch o' shit!

To Go Or Not To Go...

is the big question on which i polled my best pallies this weekend after a lengthy conversation with t.

be prepared... for those of you who are faint of heart, or do not take well to topics related to bodily functions, PLEASE STOP READING NOW! I MEAN IT!

Ok, now for the disclaimer.
I take absolutely no responsibility for the feelings/emotions/rage/anger/disgust provoked by this post.

the question is...
do you, on a regular basis, urinate in the shower?

from the conversations i've recently had, stemming from the original t. conversation, this is something that most of us have done at least once, and for various reasons.
however, it seems that for guys, who have the utmost ability to aim at and ensure direct drain stream, it is a most common occurrence.

for women though, this doesn't seem to be the case, and for various reasons. it seems as though women are less likely to urinate in the shower because of the leg factor (ya'll know exactly to what i'm speaking) and possibly the fact that we're the ones who actually clean the shower/tub and so want to keep it as clean as possible from the get go. or maybe we're repressed.

i'm not yet entirely sure. methinks i would have to do a large poll of the voting public within the u.s. to come up with some real numbers. and that opens up a whole new can o' worms.

picture it... your phone rings... you answer it... a girl asks if you're a registered voter... and then proceeds to ask whether or not you use your shower as a toilet, on occasion, or often.

how would you react?

anyway. now that the question has been raised, i'm a curious as the next tom, jess, or bridge as to how the general populace feels about the question. feel free to pipe in, eh.

having an Al week

which according to StickEE, is now a statement that can be used to indicate that during the week, everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

now, i'm aware that I am the Al that is being spoke of in this statement and yet I still have Al weeks. this week, is one of those weeks
let's start with the beginning

Monday- started out fabulously. t (from colorado springs) helped make coffee and send me on my merry way before heading home. went to work, day filled with sampling. during said sampling (oh, lo about mid-day), i stepped off the tailgate of the truck and..
HOLY SHIT!!! DID THE CROTCH OF MY PANTS JUST RIP????!!!!
sho nuf! and i'm working with 3 guys (who, btw, were laughing their asses off, as they should be) who give me loads of shit and then hand over the pipe tape so i can take care of the situation. lesson--- purchase boxers and wear them when doing field work

Tuesday- still sampling. forget a very important piece of shipping information on samples. this means that the field lead in the office gets some guff and then, very nicely, reminds me to pull my shit together and not to forget such things

Wednesday- still sampling. leave my work bag in the car while i head up to the office to load up our equipment. WAIT! HOLD THE PHONE! WHERE ARE MY CAR KEYS?! NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! locked my keys in the car, along with the work bag (which has my phone, my with phone, my drivers license, etc). the new guy and i attempt to unlock the door. luckily for me i have AAA, so i sent new guy (also known as fng) to start the day while i waited to be saved by the knight in the white truck
while sampling, get a call from field lead. seems as though i'd effed up something else on tuesday. great effing day, tuesday is. mine are NOT monumental or phenomenal unlike the tuesdays that other people are privy to have.

Today (that's Thursday)- drop my car at the mechanic's (tail lights now fixed) and hop on the bike. put bike on bus and head to office. bus has horrible shocks and coffee spills all over my pants. realize, while in office, that it also spilled all over my white shirt. AWESOME! office day at work. no effing up just data entry and talk radio. set up for a long bike ride home (kind of like the fleetwood mac song "take the long way home"). less than 1/2 way through my ride, back tire is flat, flat, flat. good thing bikers are nice and one stops to pump up the tire. it maintains enough air for me to make the short jaunt to REI to purchase new tube.
good thing guy stopped. and REI was close. i was >15 miles from home. that would have been a long walk.

main lesson for week- pull head out of ass

anywho- if ever YOUR week goes as mine usually do, please feel free to call it an Al week and then tell me about it. i like to know i'm not the only one who has such shitty weeks, every now and again

these are not the droids you're looking for

or are they?

we all know the answer. they ARE the droids you're looking for! when are those damn clones going to clue in on obi-wan's ass-kicking jedi mind trick?
i watch the movie and wonder this to myself (or aloud because no one's here but the gordo gato). then i realize what a geek i am.

i just wanted to point this out for j who mentions her geekiness. we all got it babe. some o' us are just geekier than others.

for example:
i go for a hike last week and we're sitting atop a small mountain (ok, it's not really a mountain, per se, but is the eroded portion of part of a mountain range) discussing something or other and i get asked a question about some piece of plant life in our general vicinity.

i have absolutely no idea what the plant is but i can tell you what minerals are present in the rock (potassium feldspar being the most obvious because it's pink and the crystals are HUGE, in this particular rock. the sandia granite, if your still curious) and what exactly this tells you about how fast the rock cooled as it formed and whether it cooled at depth or near the surface (at depth, if you must know... geez nosy)

stickEE likes to tell me that i'm the only one who considers myself a geek when i talk about rocks and such but i have a sneaky suspicion that she's lying to me to make me feel better about spending the last bulk of my life in a classroom.

really, all i had to do was pick up a subscription to GSAToday or Physics Today and lay them nonchalantly on my end table or otherwise in plain sight and people would flock to my supposed intelligence with fury and vigor.

who knew?

also, this post is absolute nonsense but since i haven't posted in a long while, i'm out of touch and so this is what you get

(you are reaching a sad realization, confirm or deny?
confirm...)

i aim to please

when it comes to many things but posting a picture of my gordo gato per request from a reader is easy to do
and doesn't require much effort on my part
so kind reader
here's a pic of my pimped out gato
i'm not sure how he feels about the plant but i decided that i didn't care
if i'm going to feed him
and love him
and generally pay all sorts of attention to him,
he'll deal with it!
why do we get so attached to our animals? after hearing all the fuss about the tainted pet food, i've been thinking that i would be quite a mess if something ever happened to Ruido.
and then i realize that cats live FOREVER, get it FOR-EVER and unlike kids, you can't kick them out after 18 years! meaning i have to deal with this shit for a long, long while. i'm not sure i thought the whole gato adoption through fully. kindof like an impulse purchase
with a life. damnit
stupid feelings
ok. here's the pic.
Al out.

it was snowing in colorado springs

yep. you read that correctly. i'm in colorado springs (not to be confused with colorado city), CO and it's snowing. has been all weekend. well, that's not entirely true. yesterday was more of a freezing rain. but we went on a great hike anyway. cold and wet and frozen hair, OH MY!



luckily this morning we're inside watching the snow (except i really want breakfast) from this really great loft that t. (not to be confused with T- female) has. and i'm beginning to wonder how fun the drive back home to albuquerque is going to be.

beee-ridge and jess go to wendover for adult fun and gambling and drinking. i go to colorado springs for the CS Beer Tour, hosted by t.

(note: previous portion of the blog written in colorado springs, CO)

all in all, a fun filled, snow-filled, coffee-filled, beer-filled, food-filled weekend. can't beat that with a stick... or you could but it wouldn't be that fun.

even the drive was mostly nice. excepting that split second when someone almost slid into me. easily forgotten with enough of the aforementioned things.

now, back to reality and my cat. who wasn't as hungry as i thought he would be. you see, he'd gotten into the bag o' cat food and eaten to his little heart's content. one of the many reasons he's a fatty. poor guy. and poor al when he decides he needs to stand on my boobs. 16 lbs is a lot of weight and associated pressure on the breasts. oh well. if only they had a 'navy seals exercise class' for cats! if any of you reading this know of one, you let me know, eh.

sheesh. i feel totally loved...

so i'm reading up on the latest entries in this here blog when i spy the new recipe of the month. hmmmm. what is it? i wonder.
Parmesan cheese... noodles cooked til tender..
why it's lasagna of course. WHAT!!!! /does a double take.
LASAGNA!
what happened to the split pea with curry soup recipe i sent to jess a few weeks ago to be the recipe of the month (this is where i start to feel totally used and taken for granted by the other writers). so, i don't know anything about writing code and i sure don't want to run the risk of effing up our set-up (which i LOVE btw)

but i can't submit a recipe. is it because it's meatless? no, i included instructions for the rest of the world. is it because it's too long? maybe
or maybe jess just really likes to cook italian foods. example. feb- spaghetti, april-lasagna.
see where i'm headed with this.

all i'm saying is that just cuz i'm not witch'all in logan doesn't mean i can't submit a recipe.
/stomps off pouting

how it feels to be 30!

much better than it feels to be 31! haha (that's what you get Beee-ridge for telling me i smell like a monkey. i shaved a few months ago, you know!)

but i'm not getting a kick ass party with friends and french themes (j- were you wearing you're little french maid outfit?) and wine and cheese. instead, i'm getting a few beers with a few colleagues. honestly, i think it feels better to be able to give my mom shit about having 2 kids that are 30. she really hates that

otherwise, now the day is here and it's official, i don't feel any different. sure, i've been dreading it for awhile and going back and forth with the emotional wrenching. i think the anticipation was the bitch of the whole thing. that, and that i'm spending it alone. /sigh or mostly alone. i do have my gato and beers w/colleagues, which rocks, but as i write i find i would really, really like to be headed to dinner with j, beee-ridge and stickEE (my gato can't cook all that well). guess, ultimately, it's my fault for moving away so eff me.

hey, it's not often you can say 'eff me' in such context so i'm taking this moment to do so. take that!

anyway-
thanks to all for the cards and text messages (ho bag usage and all) and wonderful birthday wishes. after all, it's just an excuse to talk to people isn't it?

ps- bring it on 40!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL!!!

First of all... I hope you didn't get arrested in Vegas!

Second of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! (woo)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! (woo)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR AL L L L! (insert another woo in here for anyone who is drunk)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

...

YOU LIVE IN A ZOO.

YOU STINK LIKE A MONKEY...

AND YOU DRESS LIKE ONE TOO!

Just because I love ya! I really do not think you stink like a monkey. Maybe an EVIL monkey, but not just a regular monkey.

I hope your bday is GREAT!

**edit** by jess

hopefully, you aren't as hairy as a monkey today!

al is the big 3-0 today. Thirty is OLD!!!!!!

the ides of march... a little late...

well here it is.

my photo for the week. ------->

doesn't it look JUST LIKE ME??

xoxo
~jess










<----- this is al. she isn't feeling any words today. so just enjoy her pic. want more SPC?? click the link, i dare you!!!

this, that and the other

~due to the unique nature of our blog, make sure you scroll to see all three pics...

Ayight bitches! You asked for it, now you've got it! This biotch has been pimped! Not quite as cool as if they had pimped my 1986 rusted out Honda Prelude but this comes in an extra close second. In fact, it's still in review, the finish is that close.

I had a great time making this picture. I really think things like this bring out my lame-ass, half-assed creative side. Mostly because it means I get to make fun of myself in the process and hopefully make others laugh.

And, this website ROCKED! My only complaint is that there weren't more options to play with. How cool would it have been to have a royal purple pimp suit with an ivory topped cane?! Man, that really woulda made this picture grand.

Either way. Also, a quick note on Jess and Bridge's pics... I love them! We're AWESOME, if I do say so myself. Oh, wait. I just did!


i think this speaks for itself. yep, that's me backside. if you click on the picture, it gets bigger and you can read the credits...

This is Bridge talking now... If you haven't learned by now by reading this blog... I am a geek. A REAL GEEK. If I still lived at home with my mommy and daddy I would totally OWN that storm trooper costume. I could get a real one for around $1000, and yes I did a price check. Unfortunately I get to buy my son super hero costumes. Not my own. /sigh This particular storm trooper costume was voice equipped. When you talked it really sounded like a storm trooper talking. George Lucas hires these guys to do all his events. I want one BAD.

Here I am digging a deeper hole for myself. Um... yeah.

**edit** more self portrait challenge here.