take the weather with you These days, I tell you what. The weather is rough, kids! Rough. I mean man alive is it cold out there or what? What's rough for me--and I tend to be in the minority here--is that it bothers me that it is freezing cold and sunny at the same time. See, in my opinion it would be a lot easier to manage if it were cold and overcast. And if there would be snow, I wouldn't even be talking. That would be the ultimate.
But instead we find ourselves in Rhode Island with bright sunny skies, heavy wind gusts, and temperatures that laugh at the thought of going above the freezing mark. I look out the window and see beautiful sunshine...and then I go outside without my jacket and the instant goosebumps cut through my shirt. What are you gonna do? Pray for Spring, or pray for snow. I tend to lean towards the latter. It would be nice to at least feel like we're in winter, aesthetically speaking.

Anyways. This has been a long week already and it's only Tuesday night. I finally got rid of my car last week. I couldn't manage to sell it so I did wind up donating it. And then Monday happened. Long stry short, I spent Monday morning going back and forth between my office, my apartment, and the police department vehicle recovery unit. It's all Ralph's fault though (isn't it always?) when he called me asking me when he could pick up the vehicle I was donating.
"Didn't you already?" I asked. "Because I parked it on the street, unlockedd with the keys in the glovebox as I was instructed to do by the charity donation place," I continued, as my mind processed my stupidity.

See, I thought it got towed for being on the street overnight (illegal in Providence) and when I found out the cops didn't have it I filed a missing vehicle report, only to find out from the company a few minutes later that they had in fact had someone else pick it up on Friday. By this time I had come home to try and find the number of the company. So I called back up to the police and when cancelling the missing vehicle report I was told a officer would have to see me and the vehicle to complete the report. However the car was on a lot in Bellingham, Massachussettes where it needed to be, so a cop couldn't actaully come and see it.
Thinking quickly, I hung up the phone and rushed back to the police station, where I tracked down the girl who filled out the report and caught her just minutes before she was to enter it into the system. So I convinced her to not enter it into the system and throw the report away, thus saving me the headache of explaining it all to an actual police officer...and driving up to Bellingham in a squad car.
Mixed in there were a few trips back and forth to my apartment to locate certain phone numbers and ID numbers. And 2 1/2 hours later I was back at work. I doubt the staff even missed me.

I was laughing at the absurdity of the situation, and at my own follies. Well you're constantly learning, there's a life lesson for you. And here's another one: when in doubt, always trust intuition. and if you feel like you have to act fast, do so. Often times the only way things can be accomplished are by those who act fast.

Back at the office Monday afternoon I jotted down these quick thoughts into an e-mail to myself:
Providence
car alarms and sirens, car horns echo and diesel engines rattle the walls.
these
are the sounds of the city that I live in.
These are the sounds that have become
second nature to me.

These are the sounds that make me wonder during times of silence:

why is it so quiet?
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I talked to Rob tonight; he turns 25 tomorrow. He told me Michael Bolton was stopping by the base for a concert and that the military sent out a message that attendance was "highly encouraged." Cue laugh track in 3...2...1  ¶ 2/06/2007 09:50:00 PM