More pics! PAGE 2
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| Still freezing, Mom. |
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| no flash |
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| with flash |
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Icecastle
Disclaimer: These pics were taken with my phone, in low light, and it was freezing so it was a chore to keep my hands still. Some of them aren't perfect, since I wanted to capture the colors so didn't use flash on some of them. Deal with it.
Saturday Megan and I went on a bit of an adventure, venturing far north into the wilds of New Hampshire to the mystical land of Lincoln. (No, not the president, Lincoln, NH). We went to see the recently opened man-made "Icecastle" there, because apparently we enjoy long drives and freezing our butts off. It was still worth it.
After waiting through amazing traffic, and an amazing line (outside, in 1F degree weather), we were finally able to walk around inside this thing. Here's their website, with probably prettier pics than I could ever take: Icecastles
If anyone decides to go, they should make sure they leave early enough for crazy traffic as you get closer, wear layers and lots of warm stuffs, including gloves that will be highly ineffective as you take them off every 30 seconds to take pics, until you suddenly realize you have no feeling in any of your fingers, and expect the McDonald's across the way to be a bunch of wankers who don't order enough buns or chicken nuggets for the sudden influx of tourists.
We finally parked, and started the trek to the line to get into the Icecastle. (click on any pic to embiggen)
Then we waited in line for about 20 minutes in the snow, looking at the outside.
They had a guy juggling fire near the front of the line, we all wished he'd come closer so we could try to warm up using his torches! We finally made our way into the Icecastle. They did a really good job of lighting everything from the inside, rather than spotlights that would detract from the beauty. They had even made a slide for little kids, little crawl holes they could crawl from one section to another, and little areas you could go into that were off shoots of the main walk through area.
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| The first thing you see when entering |
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| Megan checking her pics, note: I told her to bring gloves, and she ignored me |
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| with flash |
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| without flash |
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| people for scale |
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| no people |
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| close up |
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| "I'm freeezing" |
Friday, November 28, 2014
It's That Time Again! Gingerbread Village
As per our annual tradition at Thanksgiving, Megan and I embarked on making some form of gingerbread.. something again this year. As you may recall, last year we made the gingerbread train which ended up being a train wreck. (Ha! See what I did there?) This year we made a tiny gingerbread village.
\
Random comments you may have overheard if watching us make these:
-"You put your finger in the penis!" "Crap! Quick hand me that pen!"
-"Don't put your fingers in the vagina! I'm going to tell everyone my mom put her fingers in my gingerbread vagina. Call Child Protective Services!"
-"This is a FACE." "It looks like testicles." "If I was trying to make testicles, I'd have moved the gumdrop down closer to the purple balls! They're not even close!" "It's an old guy."
-"We are so weird." "I know, isn't it great?"
Thus wraps another wonderful Thanksgiving tradition! Just remember.. normal is boring.
First, the cutting up/breaking apart of the various house pieces!
This year I got smart and scored the breaks *before* trying to break them apart, and there were no broken pieces. Woot! Next came the assembly:
Yes, those are the house walls on top of the roof. What.. did you think this was a totally NORMAL gingerbread village? You obviously don't know us very well.
We let them set up for about an hour, and came back to decorate:
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| Megan: That looks like... Me: It's a FACE Megan: suuuure it is |
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| Happy Portal to Hell |
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| Why does the back always look better? |
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| The radiation made this roof all wonky |
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| The only "normal" house. Be afraid. |
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| Poptart! Megan smoothed the frosting out by licking it. |
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| Other side, it looks like a poptart too. |
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| "It's a vagina. With Teeth. You know, like the movie. |
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| Me: umm.. I guess that's a way to pick it up. |
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| WE'RE TWELVE. |
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| No, really, totally twelve. |
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| NO, it's not "Walfy". Meg's nickname online. |
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| It's a tent..er..house..thing. |
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| The village! |
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| The village now with more flash. |
Random comments you may have overheard if watching us make these:
-"You put your finger in the penis!" "Crap! Quick hand me that pen!"
-"Don't put your fingers in the vagina! I'm going to tell everyone my mom put her fingers in my gingerbread vagina. Call Child Protective Services!"
-"This is a FACE." "It looks like testicles." "If I was trying to make testicles, I'd have moved the gumdrop down closer to the purple balls! They're not even close!" "It's an old guy."
-"We are so weird." "I know, isn't it great?"
Thus wraps another wonderful Thanksgiving tradition! Just remember.. normal is boring.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
phoning it in, literally
So tonight's post will be brief, and pointless. I'm currently unable to get to my computer and I in no way want to move. Instead I shall watch tv, and use my phone to post this quick snippet, and be utterly content.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Laundromats
I've been rather unlucky with my home appliances lately. First, my washing machine decided to break, the sensor that told it when it was full broke, so it didn't stop filling, and overflowed all over my kitchen floor (and flooded my landlord downstairs.. oops). My landlords are totally awesome and not only called and setup a service appointment to get it fixed, they also took the load that was in it and spun it out in their washer so I could then throw it in my dryer!
Less than a month later, the heating element in my dryer seems to have fried. In doing laundry the last couple of weeks, it has just seemed to take forever for each load to dry. Things came to a culmination a few days ago when I realized a single load was taking over 3 hours to dry, and even then, it wasn't *really* dry. Another service call is in the works to get it fixed.
In the meantime, I think I'll hit up the local laundromat to do a couple loads of laundry to catch up til the dryer is fixed. I guess I can wash the loads at home, then haul them over and just use the dryers there. A temporary fix til things get resolved. I *could* take them to a friend's house, but.. then I wouldn't get to go to the laundromat.
I have always loved the laundromat. I know we used to go sometimes when I was a kid, because I remember getting pushed around in the clothes carts they have by either siblings or parent. I love everything about the laundromat. I love the weird plastic chairs that all laundromats seem to have bought from the same store. I love the smell; that hot, dry clothes smell the dryers generate. I love the variety of machines, and figuring out how to use each type. I love fitting the quarters into the slots and jamming the mechanism in so that it eats the quarters with a satisfying KACHUNK! If you wait long enough, and have enough dirty clothes, you can become the Laundromat Czar by taking up ALL the washing machines with your running loads, and sit back and smugly watch people come in only to have their hopes dashed in searching for an empty machine. Then it's the transferring of loads from washers to dryers, trying to snag sequential ones so your loads are all grouped. And then it's fun to watch all the dryers going, and try to desperately keep up as they stop one by one, in folding as fast as you can on the handy table, and emptying out enough carts to hold all the loads ready to fold. It's also fun to watch the other people in the laundromat.. see what they're folding, help an overloaded mother with kids bring stuff in or out. There's also the joy of just having EVERYTHING washed and done all at once, and it will be folded when you get home (no, I don't bag up dried clothes, they get folded and put in baskets to bring home) so they're easy to put away and then you're just DONE with laundry and caught up.
I'm not particularly happy that my dryer isn't working right now. I'd much rather be able to just throw a load in and do other stuff around the house and just keep cycling laundry through. It's a lot cheaper than pumping quarters into laundromat machines, and hauling stuff in and out of the house and up/down stairs. But I can't deny a part of me is looking forward to going to the laundromat.
Less than a month later, the heating element in my dryer seems to have fried. In doing laundry the last couple of weeks, it has just seemed to take forever for each load to dry. Things came to a culmination a few days ago when I realized a single load was taking over 3 hours to dry, and even then, it wasn't *really* dry. Another service call is in the works to get it fixed.
In the meantime, I think I'll hit up the local laundromat to do a couple loads of laundry to catch up til the dryer is fixed. I guess I can wash the loads at home, then haul them over and just use the dryers there. A temporary fix til things get resolved. I *could* take them to a friend's house, but.. then I wouldn't get to go to the laundromat.
I have always loved the laundromat. I know we used to go sometimes when I was a kid, because I remember getting pushed around in the clothes carts they have by either siblings or parent. I love everything about the laundromat. I love the weird plastic chairs that all laundromats seem to have bought from the same store. I love the smell; that hot, dry clothes smell the dryers generate. I love the variety of machines, and figuring out how to use each type. I love fitting the quarters into the slots and jamming the mechanism in so that it eats the quarters with a satisfying KACHUNK! If you wait long enough, and have enough dirty clothes, you can become the Laundromat Czar by taking up ALL the washing machines with your running loads, and sit back and smugly watch people come in only to have their hopes dashed in searching for an empty machine. Then it's the transferring of loads from washers to dryers, trying to snag sequential ones so your loads are all grouped. And then it's fun to watch all the dryers going, and try to desperately keep up as they stop one by one, in folding as fast as you can on the handy table, and emptying out enough carts to hold all the loads ready to fold. It's also fun to watch the other people in the laundromat.. see what they're folding, help an overloaded mother with kids bring stuff in or out. There's also the joy of just having EVERYTHING washed and done all at once, and it will be folded when you get home (no, I don't bag up dried clothes, they get folded and put in baskets to bring home) so they're easy to put away and then you're just DONE with laundry and caught up.
I'm not particularly happy that my dryer isn't working right now. I'd much rather be able to just throw a load in and do other stuff around the house and just keep cycling laundry through. It's a lot cheaper than pumping quarters into laundromat machines, and hauling stuff in and out of the house and up/down stairs. But I can't deny a part of me is looking forward to going to the laundromat.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Impatient
So we've been planning this get together, my friends and I, for a year now. Since the last time we all converged, actually. We're going to hang out, watch movies, play board & card games, go sight-seeing, and hopefully go to PAX East, which is a game convention here locally. I've been checking various places every day to see when ticket sales are announced. These tickets are in high demand, and they sell out very quickly. Also, you have to call in or be online and be in queue almost immediately to even be able to have a chance to buy them. Needless to say it's a bit nerve-wracking not knowing when they are going on sale. When we went to PAX Prime in Seattle, I was in the queue the minute they went on sale, and it took probably 40 minutes to get to my turn to buy tickets, and by then the 4-day passes were all sold out and I had to buy individual days (which is more expensive). Still totally worth it, but I'd like to try to get 3-day passes this time around if we can.
A couple days ago, the PAX Boston website updated, so instead of showing last year's information, it changed to "SOON". AAH! What if I'm at work when they go on sale? What if I'm busy playing the new World of Warcraft expansion that comes out next week, and I miss it?? I absolutely cannot wait to see my friends with all of us together again, it's going to be so awesome. Make time go faster!
A couple days ago, the PAX Boston website updated, so instead of showing last year's information, it changed to "SOON". AAH! What if I'm at work when they go on sale? What if I'm busy playing the new World of Warcraft expansion that comes out next week, and I miss it?? I absolutely cannot wait to see my friends with all of us together again, it's going to be so awesome. Make time go faster!
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Fall Leaves
Fall is my favorite time of year, it gets chilly enough for sweaters and snuggling, the changing leaf colors, the smell of wood smoke as people start using their fireplaces and OMG PUMPKIN SPICE!!!1!!!11 (ok, that was scarcastic. pumpkin spice.. ew.)
All of the leaves changing this Fall have been absolutely glorious to behold, both in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I've never been a fan of being stuck in traffic, but all the trees on both sides along the way with their fiery reds and oranges have made it so I didn't mind in the least. I love walking through a forest in the Fall, the crackle of the crunchy leaves that have already fallen, the occasional thunk! of acorns falling, and oh my God the SMELL. Fall leaves smell heavenly. The house I live in is surrounded by large maples, honey locusts and crab apple trees. Every day when I get home now I walk through swirling brightly colored leaves, I was SO bummed when my landlord raked them up the other day (luckily the trees thwarted his efforts by dumping a whole bunch more everywhere again).
Where I work is a big office building, with lots of towering maple and oak trees in the parking area. During the summer months, I enjoyed snagging a parking spot underneath a large oak tree, since when I'd come out of work in late afternoon, my van would be in shade and therefore cooler. I quickly realized when Fall arrived that I needed to start parking away from the trees, to avoid the pelt of falling acorns on my car. The leaves have changed to spectacular yellow and oranges, and quite a few have fallen and are all over the center grassy area around which the parking spaces are situated. I always park on the far side of this area, so I always cut through it to get to the front doors (not because I'm trying to save time, but because I like walking through grass). Today when I got to work, they had a team of yardwork guys out there with handheld leafblowers, larger push leave blowers, and an even bigger aparatus that looks like a weird cage on wheels. They lined up starting at the far edge of the grassy (now covered with fallen leaves) area, and between them all systematically blew almost every single leaf into one big pile. It was awesome to watch. There was something absolutely satisfying to see them being so thorough, carefully backtracking and getting every possible leaf so that the green grass once again emerged as the pile of leaves grew on one side. Midway through the process, I had to get out of my car and walk into the building. They were working on the other side of the oval, which meant I got to happily crunch through a fairly good sized pile of leaves they had started to gather on my side. *GLEE* As I walked into my building, I saw them start to use the cage machine, which was used as I suspected to gather up the pile of leaves for removal.
Once I got into my office, I peeked out of our breakroom window on the 2nd floor at their progress. There was a massive pile of leaves on one side that they were slowly gathering. If I hadn't had to start work I would have run down and asked them to let me jump in it a couple times. It was still a great way to start the day.
Leaf blowers! Don't you just want to be the one doing this?!
All of the leaves changing this Fall have been absolutely glorious to behold, both in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. I've never been a fan of being stuck in traffic, but all the trees on both sides along the way with their fiery reds and oranges have made it so I didn't mind in the least. I love walking through a forest in the Fall, the crackle of the crunchy leaves that have already fallen, the occasional thunk! of acorns falling, and oh my God the SMELL. Fall leaves smell heavenly. The house I live in is surrounded by large maples, honey locusts and crab apple trees. Every day when I get home now I walk through swirling brightly colored leaves, I was SO bummed when my landlord raked them up the other day (luckily the trees thwarted his efforts by dumping a whole bunch more everywhere again).
Where I work is a big office building, with lots of towering maple and oak trees in the parking area. During the summer months, I enjoyed snagging a parking spot underneath a large oak tree, since when I'd come out of work in late afternoon, my van would be in shade and therefore cooler. I quickly realized when Fall arrived that I needed to start parking away from the trees, to avoid the pelt of falling acorns on my car. The leaves have changed to spectacular yellow and oranges, and quite a few have fallen and are all over the center grassy area around which the parking spaces are situated. I always park on the far side of this area, so I always cut through it to get to the front doors (not because I'm trying to save time, but because I like walking through grass). Today when I got to work, they had a team of yardwork guys out there with handheld leafblowers, larger push leave blowers, and an even bigger aparatus that looks like a weird cage on wheels. They lined up starting at the far edge of the grassy (now covered with fallen leaves) area, and between them all systematically blew almost every single leaf into one big pile. It was awesome to watch. There was something absolutely satisfying to see them being so thorough, carefully backtracking and getting every possible leaf so that the green grass once again emerged as the pile of leaves grew on one side. Midway through the process, I had to get out of my car and walk into the building. They were working on the other side of the oval, which meant I got to happily crunch through a fairly good sized pile of leaves they had started to gather on my side. *GLEE* As I walked into my building, I saw them start to use the cage machine, which was used as I suspected to gather up the pile of leaves for removal.
Once I got into my office, I peeked out of our breakroom window on the 2nd floor at their progress. There was a massive pile of leaves on one side that they were slowly gathering. If I hadn't had to start work I would have run down and asked them to let me jump in it a couple times. It was still a great way to start the day.
Leaf blowers! Don't you just want to be the one doing this?!
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