it’s always strange to see childhood friends get married. you’re well aware that they’re grown up now but part of you can’t help but see them as that same awkward seven year-old girl with the red thick-rimmed glasses you knew all those years ago.
congratulations, cinders :)
i usually try to keep my nose out of politics but i managed to overhear a broadcast of John McCain naming Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as the vice presidential nominee this morning. yikes, what a cheap move! the 2008 presidential race just got a bit more interesting.
*yawn*
last year in Kabul, i bought a tactical vest from a street vendor to keep stuff (blowers, extra filters, etc) easily accessible while in the field. well, i’ve made some modifications to the vest for this year’s trip, mainly reinforced seams, shoulder straps, and a removable velcro HKSAR flag patch to help convince angry people that i’m not Korean which may or may not turn out to be the best $2.00 i’ve ever spent.
i got my yellow fever vaccination today and i’m one step closer to being invincible.
well, i took my car to a shop to get an estimate on the damage for the insurance company. the guy looked at it for half an hour and gave me a printout of the necessary repairs. basically, the driver side B-pillar (which took most of the impact force) needs to be hammered back into shape, the passenger side rear quarter panel needs to be realigned, and three of the four doors need to be totally replaced. even with junkyard parts, the estimated repair cost is a hefty $2,868.77 including $74.97 of sales tax.
it’s a good thing i’m not footing the bill.
you know how most documentaries feature knowledgeable people; the sort that stare off to the side while they chatter away making lots of hand gestures? yikes. well, i’ve been watching this five part documentary on the Wehrmacht (Germany’s armed forces during WWII) and was shocked to see that they invited the world’s bravest historian to talk about the liberation of Aachen, Belgium.
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are you ready for this?
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WOW.
this guy’s got some guts leaving the house like that, eh? i had to pause the documentary and stare at it to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. it’s like a rhinoceros horn, that thing!
i talked to my automotive insurance agent today and gave a statement about the accident. it seems like it’d be a pretty straightforward case with the blame resting squarely on the guy who hit me though i won’t know for sure until the investigation is complete. wish me luck.
i had peanut butter on toast tonight for the first time in 2-3 years. honestly, i don’t know why it’s been so long; i guess it just never occurred to me to buy it again until now. it was good but not as good as i remember peanut butter tasting, though i’m sure buying a cheap generic brand didn’t help. i even put a layer of roasted peanuts on the peanut butter but those were generic, too.
and that’s the highlight of my day.
i was diagnosed with leukemia on August 16th, 2007. and although it would eventually turn out to be a slight misdiagnosis made by an idiot, i’ll always regard it as the day my whole life changed in an instant.
and if you’re wondering why i didn’t write about this last saturday, it’s because i forgot.
so i went to the local post office to ship my passport and visa application to the Afghan Embassy the other day. the plan was to apply tracking and insurance to both the main and return envelopes for a little peace of mind, something i had always done. so i walked up to the counter to meet a disgruntled post office employee and she told me that i couldn’t track or insure the return envelope because–get this–the postage-paid USPS priority mail envelope might not go through a post office on the way back. she said that a courier may pick it up. a courier! would the Afghan Embassy hire a courier to hand-deliver my passport to Chicago from Washington DC? no, but it’d be really nice if they did.
then, after asking her to explain the situation, she snapped at me and said that i should stop wasting everyone’s time. absurd.
