20 years...

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, I admonish you all to reflect on what happened and remember how precious life is and how blessed we are.

This is a picture of the "Elephant's Foot," a small portion of the fuel that still lies entombed within the sarcophagus. It looks glassy because the fuel mixed with and melted the sand that was used inside the reactor.



http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/afterword.html

Thief!

This little fella is a thief!

Well, not this exact same squirrel. A different one. But he looked like this!

A couple days ago, I sat in horror (and pure amusement... I must be honest) as I watched a squirrel steal a shirt off the neighbor's balcony. The shirt was hanging on a wire hanger on the back of a chair. He would try to stuff the whole thing in his mouth, as squirrels do when they transport things, and he'd get quite a bit in there before he'd hit his limit and spit it out. Then he'd run to the edge of the balcony and look around to see if anyone was watching. He looked totally guilty. After about 10 minutes, he managed to squeeze the shirt through the top slit in the chair, and miraculously, the hanger un-hung itself. So he pulled the whole thing across the balcony, down the tree, and across the yard to his secret lair. Every few feet he'd repeat the shoving-it-in-his-mouth and looking-around-for-onlookers procedure. Hilarity! I want a pet squirrel. I can teach him to steal clothing!

Quarter of a century...

For those of you fortunate enough to know The Samples...
They came to Portland on my birthday! It was my fourth show, and in my opinion, the best I've seen. Sean was fantastic. Thank you to James, for rocking out with me and knowing the words (he's been listening to them without me! Now he knows oodles!); and thank you Kadra, for appreciating both the music AND the fact that I know Jacques the sound guy; and for Bryce, for rushing out all the way to Lola's after Skye's concert. After the show, Sean wrote me a happy birthday note on the back of the set list that James had swiped, and he took a picture of us together to email to me later.

Thank you, Kadra, for the delightful sock puppet book! Oh, what fun times I've had at work this week. Mr. Crumplesandwich is my friend!

Bad moods and passwords

I love my friends and I love their adventures and I love their minds!

Does it seem to anyone else that people are having a harder and harder time empathizing with others? And I don't mean just understanding their feelings... I mean just simply stopping and thinking for just a second where the other person is coming from. This rant is coming from a recent string of beratings I've been the recipient of, due to the credit union enforcing security measures that actually have always been in place. Please, consider the following dialogue:

Credit Union Member: "Hi, I'd like to make a deposit and get cash back." (Member stands there, failing to produce anything that resembles an account number, an ID, or something that can be deposited.)
Audrey: "Okay." (I think it's funny to stand there, just like them, until they produce something that can be of any use to me. Maybe I shouldn't do it, but I'm sick of them expecting me to read their minds... So I wait.)
(Member gets debit card out. I swipe it, pulling up their account.
Member: "I'd like to deposit this check (produces it, miraculously) and get three hundred back in cash."
Audrey: "I notice there's a message on your account (that the MEMBER puts there, not us) to ask you for your password for transactions."
Member, getting irritated: "But I'm making a DEPOSIT. I don't need to give you my password."
Audrey: "The message doesn't specify, so I'm assuming the password is for all transactions."
Member: "But I'm making a DEPOSIT."
Audrey: "I still need the password."
Member: "This is rediculous. Why do I need to give you my password?"
Audrey: "If you'd like me to take the message off, I can do that, but I'd need to see your ID. I'm just following your instructions you put on your account. I'd be glad to change it if you want."
Member: "No, I want it on there. Don't do anything with it."
Audrey: "Okay, I won't change it."
(We both stand there for a minute. Apparently he's forgotten I need the password.)
Audrey: "So, I'll deposit this check and get you $300 cash. What's your password?" (I say this with renewed cheerfulness; perhaps he'll forget the previous conversation.)
Member, rolling his eyes and sighing, gives me his password. Apparently he forgot that he WAS getting cash back, and that maybe the deposit didn't cancel it out or something. But really, it took 3 minutes to argue about giving me the password, and one second to actually SAY it. Are people TRYING to be difficult?
Marjene, the lead teller (who coincidentally attended high school with James), made a good point: they should make a sitcom about us. Sure, a show about a CREDIT UNION doesn't sound too exciting, but let me tell you, we see the most ignorant/hilarious stuff every day. People try to convince you to do stupid stuff. Like when checks aren't made out to the account holder, and they say, "This person told me it was okay to deposit their check into my account." Oh, okay, I'll take your word for it! Would you like the 2 grand in cash or in your checking account? Or when people get super annoyed when I ask to see ID when they're withdrawing from their account. Um, okay, so I guess you don't CARE if anyone else takes your money? Sweet! I'm rich! Oftentimes we laugh out loud when people leave. Is this mean?

*sigh* My wish is that people, especially rich people, because they're the most entitled, would step behind the counter and do my job for one day. ...and grab an apron and be a server for a day, or pump gas for just an hour. Why don't people treat others with respect? Is everybody in a really bad mood or something?