ah... ah... choo

Spring has arrived and brought my allergy problems with it. Red, itchy eyes. Itchy nose. Sneezing. Trust me. I am one attractive person right now :) I've been taking over-the-counter medicines, but they don't seem terribly effective. Shouldn't a 24-hour pill last more than, say, 3 hours?

Since the OTC drugs don't seem to be doing their job, I made a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and just watch, tomorrow my allergies will behave themselves just because I'm finally going in for this.

I'm not sure what I'm allergic to, but you would be sneezing too if you were here especially considering the number of allergens in the area.

brr...

Somewhere between one o'clock this afternoon and five o'clock this evening a decided drop in temperature occurred, bringing with it that biting cold feel of winter.

beautiful

green water

Evidently someone deposited something in the little stream that runs under my street near the park. I would imagine that it's not something that belongs in the stream. All I know is that, that is the most unnatural color of green that I've ever seen in water, and this is definitely neither Chicago nor St. Patrick's Day.

my weekend, or, what to do with 13 lbs. of strawberries

This past Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed to go strawberry picking. For only $1.29 a pound, you too can go pick your own strawberries. Among other things, the Valley seems big on pick-your-own farms. Apples in the fall. Peaches and strawberries in the spring. It's really kind of neat.

I think I got a little carried away because when I went to pay, my pickings weighed in at 13 pounds. Oops! It's a good thing I only grabbed one flat to fill. I had considered filling 2.


So this weekend I basically did 3 things: I picked strawberries, I washed and hulled strawberries, and I made things out of strawberries. I am so glad I didn't pick any more berries than I did.



Those of you living within driving distance may be receiving some strawberry freezer jam in the near future since I made 3 batches. Those of you who aren't nearby... well, maybe I'll find a way to bring some with me when I make my road trip through Indiana to South Dakota in late July.

sweet!

I just received the following e-mail at work:

"Governor Kaine granted eight hours of special recognition leave in honor of the Virginia visit of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, II and His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. All full-time classified and 12-month faculty at James Madison University may take this special recognition leave between May 3, 2007 and June 30, 2007. The leave must be used in the full eight-hour increment."

Well, I guess, if you twisted my arm, I might be willing to take an extra 8 hours of leave. If you insist...

I love it! Who knew that HRM's visit would work out in my favor :)

This is just one of many cool (and totally random) perks of working for a university. You all should be so lucky ;)

senseless

By now I'm sure you've all heard about the shootings at Virginia Tech, which is about 2 hours from here. I don't personally know anyone who worked or went to school there, but I have colleagues who have children who are students there or know someone who goes or works there.

Events like this make the country a very small place. Even though this happened at a university in rural Virginia, it could have happened anywhere, in any state, at any university.

It's violence, and it's senseless. There was no reason for those professors and students to die today, yet at the same time, I have to believe that all things happen for a reason, even the senseless, violent things like this shooting. It's just sad and heartbreaking.

Keep the families and friends of those who didn't survive in your prayers, and pray for a quick recovery for those who were injured this morning.

ingleesh

As I walked into Target today, I vaguely noticed 2 women speaking to each other in Spanish on the sidewalk in front of the store. What I noticed more was a local man, who looked a little scruffy around the edges. He kept repeating something as he walked past the women towards the store entrance.

Man: I kent unneerstan wat yur seein' (I can't understand what you're saying).

When he entered the store, he joined up with an equally scruffy-looking woman, who I can only assume is his wife or girlfriend. As soon as he was by her side, he commented, "Eef theer gowin' tuh leeve een thees cuntree, thay ot tuh lurn the languig" (If they're going to live in this country, they ought to learn the language).

Personally, I'm more offended by his misuse of English than their use of Spanish. I would imagine that their Spanish is exponentially better than his English, and that they know a fair amount of English whereas I would be shocked if he knew a single word of Spanish. Why would these 2 women, whose native language is Spanish, speak any other language to each other?

I have tremendous respect for people who are brave/adventurous/driven enough to move to a country where they don't speak the language. Imagine how vulnerable you'd have to let yourself be to take a risk like that. It is not their Spanish that offends me but his ignorance.

virginia is for ... litter?

I'm no tree hugger. I don't "hate the earth" or anything like that, but I'm probably not as environmentally conscious as I could be. I could, for example, quit being so lazy and start recycling. One thing I never do, however, is litter. I think that's one thing that I did learn from an early age: if it isn't biodegradable (like an apple core) don't throw it out the car window, wait until you can put it in a trash can.

I think that not all Virginians learned that lesson. I few months ago I was driving up to DC and noticed that every quarter of a mile there was a big trash bag (we're talking the 30-gallon bags) full of trash on each side of the road. Evidently the state (or commonwealth as they call it) has the convicts go out periodically and clean up the litter along the interstate highways.

On stretches of the interstate where the convicts haven't done clean up there is litter everywhere. I can't even imagine how many people would have to toss trash out of their car windows for that much trash to accumulate. It's just gross.

What really grosses me out is my campus. For the most part, it's a gorgeous campus. Very scenic. Manicured lawns. Old campus buildings. A stream and pond.

Most of campus is pretty clean, but there always seems to be a ton of litter in the stream that leads to the pond. When I park in the parking garage (or parking deck as the locals say), I cross a bridge over the stream, where I either enjoy the view or am sickened by the litter. It all really depends on the day.

Yesterday was a bad litter day...

keeping my fingers crossed

I was hoping, really hoping, for a late start today. No such luck. There was no ice as predicted, so classes were held as usual. However, they're closing the university at 4 p.m. this afternoon because of the weather, which gives me hope for a snow day (or at least a late start) tomorrow :)

for the kids in the country

Background: I'm sitting in the waiting room at the Dodge dealership waiting for the shuttle to come and take me to work. The customer service agent who is handling my car walks up to me.

CS: Ma'am, I don't mean to offend you, but can I ask you a question.
M: Sure.
CS: You've got South Dakota tags on your vehicle.
M: Yeah... (at this point I'm a little nervous that he might be about to lecture me about not having gotten my Virginia tags yet)
CS: Well, why would you ever leave a beautiful, beautiful place like that, to move to a crowded place like this?

I've been meaning to post. Really, I have. I think about posting when I'm not at work, but I haven't had my internet connection set up at my apartment yet. By the time I'm at my computer again at work, whatever I'd intended to post doesn't seem very interesting anymore.

Today was strike two for me with the DMV. I have my Virginia drivers license now, but I keep striking out with the title & registration. Lessons from today's trip to the DMV:

1. I cannot title my car here until I have the actual title in my hands. This means that will have to wait until I finish paying off my car in 4 months.

2. They not only need proof of my dad's address (as co-owner of my vehicle), but they also need his signature. Why they couldn't have told me they needed his signature last time I was in there, I'll never know. I'm sure that next time there will be something else that I'm required to have that they somehow neglected to tell me. Oh well, I don't really want Virginia plates that badly.

3. Everyone assumes that because I have a co-owner on my vehicle that, that person is my husband. Umm... no... he's my father. Did you see a ring that resembled a wedding or engagement ring anywhere on either of my hands? The answer would be no.

Sorry, the DMV makes me particularly cranky.

cannons face north

Having said that I never wanted to live in the South, people have been quick to assure me that Virginia isn't really the South. While the people here don't have the heavy, stereotypical Southern accent or drink sweet tea & eat grits, this is still a Southern state. I think this is most evident in the locals' stance on the Civil War. Take this conversation a man from New Jersey had with a native Virginian.

Virginian: You know, the war, it ain't over yet.
New Jersey: Which war would that be?
V: The War of Northern Aggression, of course.
NJ: Really...
V: You know, when General Lee surrendered the Virginian army, he only surrendered the army of Northern Virginia...

It all seems a little surreal to me that there are actually people who are still hung up on the outcome of the Civil War, I'm sorry, I mean the War of Northern Aggression. Who calls it that anyway?

The highways & towns are littered with signs directing all those who pass by to historic events from the Civil War. There are informational signs all over the place as well as signs pointing the way to some house/barn/field where Robert E. Lee/Stonewall Jackson/Turner Ashby fought some battle/led troops/won or lost some major or minor battle. Just the other day, there was an article in the local paper about "endangered battlefields." I guess some local Civil War battle site is in danger because there's talk of widening I-81. People, it's just a field of death. Why is that worth preserving?

The thing that really gets me though, is that all of the cannons - whether at government/civic buildings or at historic monuments - still face north.

Now, why don't you go ahead and tell me again how this isn't really the South...

fun with the virginia dmv

Along with being a big fan of taxation, the state of Virginia seems to have gone out of its way to make registering new vehicles at the DMV as difficult as humanly possible. I could enter the state & become a resident, having all sorts of infectious diseases and no one would blink an eye, but the state requires that I show excessive documentation showing that my car is in tip-top shape. To become a resident, here's the list of things the Old Dominion requires of me:

1. Apply for a Virginia driver's license
2. Obtain a state vehicle inspection sticker
3. Meet Virginia's emissions inspection standards (only applies for certain counties)
4. Meet Virginia's vehicle insurance standards
5. Title my vehicle in Virginia
6. Register my vehicle & acquire license plates
7. Obtain sticker or decal from my locality

Now this may seem like a pretty standard list of things to do when moving to a new state, but in order to do these things, I must first prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am who I say I am, that I am a new Virginia resident, that I am gainfully employed, that my car legally belongs to me, and that my car is properly insured. To do this, I need the following:

1. Proof of identity - requires 2 forms of identification; however, if these 2 are issued by the same government body, then additional id will be required.
2. Proof of legal presence - must have my full legal name & date of birth printed on them (like my birth certificate & passport).
3. Proof of Virginia residency - must present at least 1 document to prove that I live here.
4. Proof of Social Security number
5. Proof of name change (if applicable)

They're very strict about this documentation issue. The Harrisonburg city site even suggests taking more than the required amount of documentation just in case. Titling my vehicle takes even more documentation. This requires proof of address, my previous title, my current out-of-state registration, and proof of the purchase price. Ugh.

The other thing that drives me nuts are the fees. In addition to the normal fees for getting my drivers license ($20 for 5 years), registering my vehicle ($29.50), and getting my license plates, I have to pay for the state inspection ($15) and a vehicle sales & use tax of 3% of the purchase price (a minimum of $35). The thing that blows my mind is that they're going to have me pay a sales tax on a car I purchased 4 1/2 years ago in another state. Completely ridiculous.

the "big snowstorm"

If you've paid any attention to the news, you probably heard about the big snowstorm that hit the east coast this weekend. Now further up the coast, near New York & Boston, I would definitely say that it was a big snowstorm, a nor'easter as they call them. Down here in Virginia, however, we got a mere 5 inches as opposed to the almost 27 inches that fell in the Big Apple.

On Saturday, the day Virginia got all of its snow, I drove to Kentucky. Now several people from work were a bit concerned about my plan to brave the winter weather. Things like "didn't you hear there's going to be a big snowstorm this weekend?" and "Hope you are rethinking your drive to Kantucky tomorrow! Snow snow snow!" (The misspelling of Kentucky is quoted from an e-mail).

Just because easterners & southerners - whatever these Virginians are - are scared of a little snow, doesn't mean that I have to be.

Anyway, the roads were fine for the most part. The last stretch between the Virginia/West Virginia border & Harrisonburg was a bit dicey. For a while the passing lane was completely covered by a few inches of snow & the driving lane only had tire tracks clear. It was slow going for a while. At times there we long lines of semis & cars & trucks crawling along at 35 mph on the Interstate, but better that than stopping & having to pay for a hotel 30 miles from home.

The snow here in Harrisonburg was absolutely beautiful. About 5 inches of thick, fluffy snow had covered the ground by the time I got back. It was that perfect type of snow. It's the type of snow that just begged you to make a snow angel or to build a snow pa and snow boy.

if you needed a reason to visit

You should know that Virginia is for lovers. Lovers of what is kind of open to interpretation, but I guess the slogan has been great for boosting the tourism industry in the past 30 years.