Buffalo

We are in Buffalo! It is nice to be back. We are only here Thurs-Sunday. Fly back to LA on Monday. Happy to be here!

Ants

I keep randomly finding ants in our bathroom. They'll usually be around the sink. I cannot find where they are coming from. Usually it'll be 3 or 4 of those little ants. I will get rid of them, wait a day or two and then there will be some more. Why do they sporadically show up in little groups and then not show up for a day and then show up again? Where are they coming from? I sprayed some Raid into little crevices around there but I've yet to find the source of their entry. Hmm.

Noone can drive.

I'm going to tell you some annoying driving stories. Why? Just because its fun to.
Driving while talking on a cell phone. Everyone does it. If I'm on the freeway and I look in each car at the driver as we pass, I can only go about 2 or 3 cars before I see another person driving and talking on a cell phone. Often, I'll see a car driving extra slow for no reason or they sway in their lane (looking like they're drunk). Sure enough, when I pass them, they are talking on a phone. I think it is really difficult to drive and concentrate on the road while also concentrating on a conversation. Its annoying.
Story number 2: Here's something that happened to me yesterday. I was on a side street coming up to a red light. There was a car in front of me. It slowed down to a complete stop leaving a bunch of room between him and the stop line for the intersection. I pull up and stop behind him to wait for the light to turn green. Suddenly his backup lights came on. I instantly threw my car into reverse and backed up just a little bit to give me a good cushion in case he did back up. Sure enough he did. He either never looked behind him and had no idea I was there or he just didn't care. Turns out he was parallel parking. Ugh. I have no idea why I didn't beep at him. I guess I was more concerned with just getting out of his way.
Another story. I was on a two lane street. (one lane per direction) I had to make a left hand turn but there were cars coming in the other direction. So I stopped in the street with my left blinker on and waited for the cars to pass. The other vehicle behind me starts beeping at me. Annoying. Could he not see that I was waiting for the cars to pass before turning?
How bout one more story. Rob and I were driving on the freeway. We were in the right lane. There was an on-ramp merging on to the freeway and a car was on it about to merge into the lane we were in. We kept up with the flow of traffic and the merging car drove right up along side us. However, his merge lane was ending. He wasn't deciding whether he was gonna speed up to get in front of us or slow down to get behind us. We kept the flow of traffic and couldn't switch lanes to let him in because there was a car on our left. So finally with no more merge lane left and a few inches between us, the car falls back while blaring the horn at us. He held the horn for a good half minute because he was angry that we didn't let him in. That was real annoying because we weren't doing anything wrong at all. He easily could have merged into our lane right behind us. Stupid people.
Drivers are idiots. Ah that was fun.

Update: I just saw on the news that 73% of people talk on cell phones while they drive. 19% text while driving!!! How can you text while driving? I think by next year, CA will put the law into effect where you need a hands free device in order to use the phone while driving.

Stuff

We had a lottery ticket for yesterday's 200,000,000 lottery drawing. I'm sure this is true for many people.....How come when you hold a lottery ticket in your hand, you get this hope like you could really win it. Then you start to imagine what it would be like to win. It is funny because even though you know you won't win, it is fun to know you have a chance even though it is a 1 in 175,711,536 chance. Its just funny how that hope still remains.

Michele is going to San Francisco today for a friend's wedding. Its neat that she'll be in the same state as me. But she obviously can't visit since LA and San Fran are quite a far way away.

Townhome

Rob and I found a townhome in Canyon Country (for rent) which is a pretty decent price. We drove by it last weekend to check it out and will actually go in and see it this weekend.
Positives of moving:
- It has: 2 bed, 2 bath (possibly 2 1/2 bath), two stories (a staircase!), attached 2 car garage with laundry hookups (possibly a workbench according to pictures we've seen), lots of storage in garage and a walk-in closet in the bedroom, a very nice enclosed patio, association with pool/spa.
- It is a pretty atmosphere and much much much quieter than where we are now.
- It is a good district. A bit more family oriented than Burbank. Good schools in case we decide to stay in the area when we have kids someday.
Negatives of moving:
- Rent costs a little bit more
- A commute to work
- Would have to pay electric bill
But with the negatives, they are fairly easily justified. Once Rob gets his raise it'll definately cover the difference in rent. Not to mention, come April, the place we live in now will raise the rent on us anyway. The commute won't be bad for me. Since I start work at 6, I would be on the road at 5:30am and beat all the morning rush hour traffic there and home too. And as for the electric bill, even though it gets really hot there in the summer, we wouldn't really need the air conditioning because even in the hottest month of August, it gets very cool at night. In Dec and Jan, the night temperature averages 36 degrees! It is a desert afterall. So we just open the windows at night which cools off the place for the daytime. We can't do that now because it is so darn loud outside.
So the positives highly outweigh the negatives so far. Sure, it would be nice to be actually owning a place and putting money into a mortgage but unfortunately that isn't an option. We'll see how we like it when we go there on Saturday.

Smile

Almost all my job experience includes some sort of customer service and dealing with people/clients/patients. (I've had 9 jobs since my very first one at Target in high school) During all that time I've learned to smile when dealing with them. It makes it much easier to do and makes the person happier too. Now I talk on the phone all day at work. I find myself smiling when talking to the patients on the phone. Why do I smile all politely when they can't see me? I guess it gives me that "phone voice".

Aww

I drive past a pet store on my way to work. The store is never open yet since it is so early. Inside the window I can see a little white kitten in a cage. He is usually walking around looking all playful. It makes me so sad to see it though. He looks like all he wants to do is have a happy home to play in instead he is wasting those great kitten days in a cage in a store. I hope he gets bought real soon.

Baby

My cousin Becky had her baby boy yesterday. So congrats Becky and Mike! (though she won't see this because I don't think she reads my blog)

There was a moderate earthquake last night. I slept through it. I've only felt one earthquake since living out here so far.

Bug Catcher

Milo is our little bug catcher. Our doors don't have the greatest seal (nor does they need it. It rarely rains and is never cold) so bugs can find their way in if they want. Milo takes good care of them. He has eaten several spiders and a fly recently. He loves it too. It is so great for him. And I like it because I HATE having to get spiders. I just stick Milo there and he takes care of it.