home
archive
next
Momentary Thought
Michael called us Monday night - he has walking pneumonia but refuses to see a doctor because they may delay his training. He sounds like hell. And it looks like he won't have any leave between his combat training and his MOS.
High/Low
High: Got our truck Monday night!
Low: This ridiculousness going on at work.
Current Obsession
Finances. Our new truck payment is rather bigger than our old one, but it's a purchase, and it's ours, and some day we won't have a car payment.
Grin Source
My friend AB sent me the *loveliest* e-mail, about how she appreciates the friendship she has with Calvin and I. Out of the blue. She's such a sweetheart.
Singing
Always saying little girl
don’t step into the club.
Well I’m just tryin’ to find out why
cause dancing’s what I love.
Britney Spears - "Slave 4 U"
A Year Ago
More or less
Some words on how I write.
Storyteller
Bio
Dramatis Personnae
Who I Read
Recipes
I was in a meeting when someone came in and said "They've evacuated one of the buildings, and nobody in our building is allowed out." We all sat around and blinked at each other, and then someone made a joke about somebody not double-bagging their cocaine, somebody else said something about dropping a powdered donut, and we went back to talking about technical goo.
When I got back to my desk everyone was milling around and asking questions. Security guards were posted at the exits and turning people away who wanted to go by. They were declining to offer any information, and the rumors started from one person finding some kind of powder at their desk, to the entire second and third floors of one of the buildings being infested with a dusting of powder.
I called Calvin and told him I might be late, if they didn't start letting people leave by 5:00. I went to one of the windows and looked toward the front of the buildings, and sure enough, a half-dozen fire trucks, police cruisers, and hazmat vans crowded around the main entrance. Company ERT members (AcronymCo employees with emergency training) scurried back and forth, and firefighters were gowning up in their hazmat suits and oxygen tanks.
I stood there for a few minutes, chatting with other co-workers who came to watch the display. Nobody knew what was going on. The security guards weren't saying anything, our managers didn't know anything, and no announcement came over the PA system. Some people were anxious, some people were disgusted, but everyone was annoyed at the lack of information.
They kept the people in the affected building quarantined, but allowed the folks in the rest of the buildings to leave. Soon after I got home, the news announced the "Anthrax Scare At AcronymCo" was a false alarm, and the substance that caused all the fuss was a "food product".
Somebody's powdered donut, it seems.
The various Arizona fire departments have responded to over 40 anthrax-related false alarms in the past three days. Various concourses of the airport have been shut down twice for anthrax, and twice for people who have gotten through the security checkpoints. People are afraid to check their mail - AcronymCo has put in place new mail policies that limit the amount of mail we can send and receive on campus.
I doubt I have to comment on how sick the state of the world has become. I for one am supremely frustrated. I want to move back to Maine - at least there the biggest threat is getting a limb chopped off in a freak farming machinery accident.
********************
In other news, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are three of them:
Mine. All mine.
Well, *ours*, of course. It's just that I'll be the one to drive it the most because Calvin has a work truck. The thing's a monster, and we have to *climb* into it. Calvin says he's going to get those bar thingies to put on the sides to step on. Yeah, I'm all savvy with the truck talk, ain't I?
Decals are fun. We can do stuff to this truck, because we bought it instead of doing another lease. We have visions of new wheels and tires, and a cage to put in the bed for the dogs (no more vomiting on the upholstery!). Plus we want to get one of those tent things that attaches over the bed of the truck. Instant camping!