When It Rains, It Pours

We've had a very rainy week here in Santa Barbara. A lot of rain around here is a whole 5" in a day. Wow. Although I've heard many people say that we 'needed' the rain, I am slow to believe them. The rain just drains back into the ocean, doesn't it? Apparently I was mistaken, for this city does not seem to have functioning storm drain. So what happens when water falls from the sky? The water level just goes up. After just a couple of days of rain, everything is flooded. Roads have been closed and sand bags are lining all the stores and homes to keep water from coming in. I find it kind of amusing and ridiculous that every has so much problem with water. We were amazed living in Georgia how ill equipped people were to handle winter weather-- i.e. snow, but having major problems with rain? If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure it rains at least once a year. Come on people!

Our apartment only mildly flooded (the floor is damp against the outside wall) but that only pales to the flooding in the bathroom. Apparently when this building was constructed the decided that having the drainage pipe from the toilet go straight down, then take a 90' turn so that it runs sideways was a good idea. So it got clogged and started gushing sewage everywhere. We had a plumber come in who simply removed the toilet to discover the plumbing malady. So, we've been forbidden from flushing much of anything down the toilet (use only a few squares of paper!) and we should be fine. Our neighbors are having similar problems. One visited today to borrow our freshly fixed bathroom and we got to chat about how awful the plumbing is.

Charles gave me permission to buy a new camera since mine has been giving me so many issues. So I'm upgrading from 3.2 Megapixels to 7.1 (and in pink!!) I ordered it through best buy. That's where we got the TV, and ever since that purchase they have been sending lots of coupons, so I got a pretty sweet deal. Plus, I mean, it's pink. You don't get much better then that.

Last week was customer appreciation week at the bank. So each day we wore coordinating colors (all red, then blue, then white) and had free coffee and cookies. Since it was also rainy, we didn't really have that many customers come in, so the tellers drank most of the coffee and polished off the cookies. Oh well. They were yummy :-)

Tire Fix and Hair Color

Well, I had some excitement after work of Friday. I finished counting out soon after the bank closed and left, only to find that the car had a flat tire. So, I went back in the bank to see if anyone could help change the tire. I figured if push came to shove I could do it myself-- but I didn't want to get dirty and it was already dark outside. So Steve volunteered, "I know how to change a tire, however, I can't since I have a broken arm." So he supplied the know how and Carlos supplied the man power, and we were able to put the spare on the wheel. I was so grateful for their help, and got home only an hour late.

Saturday morning we brought the car to a tire shop to get the tire fixed. It had a nail in it and was an easy fix-- so they didn't charge us which was pretty cool. Charles jokes that by working at the bank, it seems like I'm a celebrity since a lot of people recognize me when we're out. I think that might have been a factor in our free tire fix.

I had a baking bonanza on Saturday. I wanted to make scones, and got pretty creative with the ingredients. I tried using wheat flour, and upped the baking powder. They still didn't rise at all. Oh well. They taste pretty good. I like the cherry chocolate ones I made. Chocolate makes everything better.

After doing a little research on the net, I decided to dye my hair, by myself. Well, I did have a little help from Charles to make sure I hit every strand. I got dye all over my skin and the bathroom-- but cleaned it all up is time so it didn't stain. Well, most of it. I wanted to do a semi permanent dye that would wash out if I did a really bad job. So I got a box in black, read the directions nine times, and gave it a go. I'm pretty happy with the results-- I might try and maintain this color-- it's very cool. I'll see what everyone at the bank thinks. They also have some pretty rad colors (like blue and purple) that are super temporary, but i don't think they'd like that at work :-D

In the meantime, both Charles and I have Monday off for MLK day. I'm not sure what we'll do. Maybe get some R&R. I love having days off.

The Swing of Things

I always thought all those Hollywood fad diets were reserved for silly celebrities who were already thin, but needed to lose 3 pounds to be even more thin. However, it appears that diet stupidity has travelled out of celeb-ville. So, with the new year, many of the other tellers have adapted some pretty odd diets. There is the so called 'detox' diet. I'm fairly sure that this does nothing to try and detoxify your system, since all you do is drink water and maple syrup for 3 days. Two of my coworkers tried this and aimed at extended the 3 days all the way out to 10. In the end, they barely made it through the minimum 3. I'd imagine 'detoxing' would be something more like shoving down loads of fibers and carbs, but what do I know? There have been a few Atkins-like diets that include few carbs or none what-so-ever. Basically, the branch has become a diet guilt-fest. Even the slender guys are on diets. I've seen one of my coworkers only eat almonds the past couple weeks.

Of course Charles and I are trying to follow a healthier lifestyle as we hale in the new year. Although I've had limited success so far, I'm very proud of Charles; he's lost 10 pounds so far. It really helps that we're doing this together. We've found a new love of vegetables-- although my stomach is still adjusting to the changes.

Justin promised that if I balanced over the next couple of weeks I could get a raise, but my manager James went ahead and pushed it through, so I should be getting an extra dollar an hour on my next paycheck. He said they're very pleased that I stepped up to the plate and took over the merchant position, and have been performing very well recently. So now I get paid much more then any of my coworkers :-D but I won't let them know that.

Inevitably after Adi left we would need a new teller, so apparently two have been hired to take her place. Many customers comment on the constant turn over at the branch, and now that I've been there for a while I see what they mean. Tellers are constantly coming and going, leaving for school, working part time only while in school, or transferring branches to be near friends or family. Although, I don't plan on working at the bank forever. If I'm accepted at UCSB for next fall I plan on cutting back hours if not totally quitting. But that's still a while off.

Promotion, perhaps a Raise

Charles is back in class. Looks like he'll have a pretty busy quarter. He's been taking qualifying exams the past couple of days, so hopefully that will be the last time he has to take these tests. If he passes all of them then he can have his masters by the end of Spring. Then he can teach his own class-- that would be pretty cool.

Adi is moving in with her boyfriend who lives in Fresno. So, I will be promoted to merchant teller. So, I'm asking for a raise. Justin says if I keep balancing my cash drawer everyday, then I should expect a raise. Very cool. I wouldn't mind extra money :-)

The kitten is doing well, too. She's been getting bigger-- mostly around. Oh well. She's very loving and wants to spend all of her time with us. She insists on sleeping on us, snuggling with us, playing with us, and following us around whenever we're home. She also loves licking us, similar to a dog. She'll come up to me and lick my face and nose and chin. It's cute / odd.

My new hobby is anaglyph imaging. Those are those 3D images using the red/blue colored glasses. I bought a pair on the net and have figured out how to make 3D images using my camera. So I've done images of the view out of our apartment, the living room and random objects. I think they're pretty cool.

New Year

Well, all the Christmas stuff is put away and life is somewhat back to normal. Putting the tree away was fairly easy. I just turned it upside down and the branches folded up and the tree fit right back in its box. However, storing away the tree and other decorations was a different matter. Our small place doesn't have much room for extra stuff. So, if we never buy more seasonal stuff, we should be in good shape.

The kitten, #1, is adjusting to life with us fairly well. She hasn't ruined the furniture yet, although she does enjoy using us to exercise her claws, especially in the middle of the night when we're sleeping. So we've learned to lock her out of the bedroom at night while she's learning to use the scratching box. Overall, she's pretty mellow.

Well Charles and I have made only a few resolutions for the new year. He's trying to lose weight, and I figure eating healthy myself couldn't hurt.

I've turned in all the parts of my application for UCSB, so now we play the waiting game to see if I get in. I'm pretty sure I'll get accepted, but we'll see.