A List o' Mixed Emotions

Things that sometimes (or sometimes often) make me cranky:

1.       Internet being out for no apparent reason. Do I need to spend more time staring at a computer screen? No. But do I want to pay my bills/reserve a library book/buy some new workout music on iTunes? Yes.

2.       Calibri being the new default font for windows. I know . . . “new” is apparently a relative term, but . . .  more and more I find myself unhappy with this default. Or maybe just that not enough people care to change it to something more palatable. You know who you are.

3.       The stoplight that stays green for 3.7 seconds. You know the one – you barely have time to get into the intersection, let alone across the street before it turns red. And the cross street that has at least 5 minutes of green to move traffic along.

4.       The bastards who have had 5 minutes of a green light, and then run the yellow/red, which then takes 3 of your 3.7 seconds of your own green light. This happens way too often at the Midvale and University Avenue intersection. I need some kind of transportation engineer to fix this muy pronto.

5.       Things that waste my time, especially when I’m busy and really want to be efficient. And having no control over these things, and just needing to suck-it-up-buttercup.

6.       Finally writing a blog post and not being able to post it because there is an “internet outage in the area.” Boo.

Addition as of 6/23 – (post actually written on 6/22).

7.       Shoddy cell phone reception. This is not helpful. Ever. Like when you’re trying to have any kind of phone reception. Especially when you’re trying to get your internet connection working. Argh. Thank goodness the human being I was finally able to talk with was patient with this nonsense.

And because I like to end on a high note . . .

Things that make me happy:

1.       A good phone date – while they never seem to happen enough, it’s always great to catch up on the phone with a friend or sibling and have a good-old-conversation. Unfortunately, the list seems to be too long and out of control with people I’d like to schedule with.

2.       Working with really great people – my boss and staff are pretty damn amazing. I heart them a lot.

3.       Gerbera daisies.

4.       A really great book. Even when the content is not uplifting. I just finished Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. It was fantastic. And shocking. And depressing. All at the same time. A real eye-opener into what some residents of New Orleans experienced (and still struggle with) during and post-Katrina. Highly recommend it. [It also happens to be the ACUHO-I Book Club/ common reading experience for our upcoming conference – I hope my colleagues who are attending have taken the opportunity to read this!]

5.       Big, fat, juicy blueberries. Especially when they are combined with some Cheerios or Rice Chex – my favorite summer dinner!

6.       Finally getting it together and joining a gym. And actually going with my new gym-buddy!

7.       Vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries. Yum!

8.       A working internet connection. Now to just get to all those things I wanted to do yesterday . . .