3 posts tagged “texas”

Lovin'

• Spent the weekend with Noelle! We had a lovely time. She got us a killer deal on a room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, so we spent the evening wishing we had such high-thread-count sheets. We wandered around SF on Saturday -- brunch, Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge. The next day we puttered around Rocklin, looking in some of the home goods stores there (I bought a new lamp! I love lamp!), and then came back to my house and laughed our faces off while watching Eddie Izzard (cake or death?) and Jim Gaffigan (hoooot poooocket).
• Day after tomorrow I'll be in Texas to visit Jen! I am really looking forward to seeing her and to having four days where I don't have to think about work! I can't wait.
• Dinner last night with my friend Ava who I haven't seen in ages. Turns out we both moved to the same part of town. Hope to see her around more!
• Leftovers from when Noelle was here -- sausage pasta yesterday and stir fry today! Delicioso.

Loathin'

• I am running out of time to do things! I have about a thousand things I need to get done...and about eight free minutes between now and March. And all I really want to do is sleep.
• My car window is broken. I'm praying that it just came off its track and that it can be fixed fairly inexpensively.
• I need my big 80,000 mile service for my car. It ain't gonna come cheap, especially because the poor car is shuddering when I accelerate. Or when I use the AC (*dig* at all my friends who don't live in California). I think something needs to be flushed out. It used to run so smoothly!
• Trying to finish my book club book before tomorrow night. I still have 200 pages. Not sure if that's going to happen!
• My parents are still in Australia, which is good for them, but not so fun for me. I'm having to cook my own dinner. *horrors*
• While I get to see Jen, that also necessitates that I get on an airplane on Thursday. At 6:50am. Boo.

• My book club has selected You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe as its January selection. Seriously, book club? Seriously? The thing is 700+ pages! I think this should count double toward my 2009 Reading Challenge, don't you think? Just kidding. (Sort of.)
• I joined a gym. I just can't get my butt outside in the cold (and I'm in California! It's not even cold by most people's standards) to run, so I found a pretty good deal at my local gym. It's month-to-month with no contracts, no sign-up fee, and it's $15 less a month than normal. Thought I'd give it a shot at least until it warms up and I can get back outside, running and playing tennis.
• The guy who signed me up for the gym (at the Sacramento Home and Garden Show of all places) lives in my condo community. I don't know my neighbors. That makes me sad. Part of me wants to organize a neighborhood potluck. But I'm scared.
• I just cleaned out my purse and found nine post-its with various cryptic notes, such as:
• Bryan Young UP278 IZ - Alone in IZ world
• 4210 1/3 VIO 4152 1/5 RED
• Get wet densities Mike F&F
• Karrie #08434463 IVRII330846 TY/RJ 36" --> 19"
• Call Georgia re: cabs ask Hoge?
• Same height finish pulls latteral width? 45"
• Press check 9:30 1099 forms w/ envels, ask Nash re: lights
• In an effort to be more socially aware and to focus less on myself and more on those who suffer, I'd like to find a list of companies that ignore human rights violations (I know that Coca-Cola, Nestle, and others have overlooked sweatshop conditions and other violations) so I can make sure I am spending my money responsibly with other non-offending companies. Does anyone know of such a list? I can't seem to find one.
• I'm going to Texas at the end of the month to visit Jen. Jealous, aren't you? 

The License Plate Game

My mother and I have officially half-finished the License Plate Game.

What is the License Plate Game, you ask?

Basically, we're searching for numbers on license plates in numerical order. We started with 000, then 001, then 002, and so on. 000 also counts as a "wild card," so if you're looking for 256 and you see a 000, you can move on to 257. Note that if you live or work by a 000 that you see often, you can only use it the first time. And the first 99 numbers have to start with 00 or 0 (008, 088, etc.).

We blame it on her friend Neal for introducing us to this game. It is good, however, for mother-daughter relations because we call each other or text almost daily. Not that my mother and I have ever had relational problems. My mom rocks.

California plates are the best for this game, which is helpful since I live there (and have a 40-minute commute each way). Car plates have this pattern: 1ABC234. The three-digit number is what we're looking at. Trucks have this pattern: 1A23456. On trucks, we just look at the final three numbers, 456. Which stinks when the first three number (234) are a 000 or the number we're looking for!

Anyway, we hit 500 this week.

We've been playing this entirely pointless game for just over a year now. We've learned the following things about license plates in the process:

1. People who don't have license plates on the front of their cars are evil.

2. People who have vanity plates are evil.

3. Texas license plates are useless.

4. Canada is good for 000s.

5. 888 looks like 000 from far away.

6. Compared to other people we know who are playing, my mom and I are VERY good at this game.

In other license plate news (there is only such a thing when you stare at plates as much as my mother and I do), California car plates have officially rolled over to begin with a 6. We've been beginning with 5 since 2002, so it's fun to see something new!

The Game

Every time I talk about the License Plate Game (or any game, for that matter), I lose The Game, which was taught to me by Julia. Darn her.  

The Game is the game of all games. It has three main rules:

1. If you think about The Game, you've lost The Game. This is the main rule.

2. If you think about The Game, and thus, lose The Game, you must tell someone you've lost The Game (whether that be verbally, by email, by blog, by text, by carrier pigeon, etc.). If the person doesn't know about The Game, you must indoctrinate tell them about it, like I am doing so now.

3. After you lose The Game and tell someone, they do not lose The Game. There is a thirty-minute grace period after one person loses The Game for the involved parties to talk about The Game and forget it before The Game begins again.

If you're reading this post more than a half-hour after I've posted it, you've just lost The Game. Sorry. Tell someone about it.

You are now officially playing The Game for life. You may forget about it and never remember that you're playing. That means you're very good at The Game. But the second you realize how good you are at The Game, you've lost The Game.

I am not very good at The Game.