Saturday, March 24, 2007

How much of the world have you seen?

According to this TravBuddy map, I've seen 15% of the countries on the planet. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out, I've only been to airports in India, Japan, Slovakia, and the Philippines, but I was on the ground and out of the planes, so I'm counting those babies!) Kinda cool to see it charted out.

In other news, I did not win that "Best DC Blog By a DC Blogger" poll. But mucho, mucho thanks to all your fine folks who voted for me - I really appreciate it. I thought I would do more writing on this long, long weekend off, but instead, I'm semi-obsessed with Things Domestic. I keep rearranging furniture over and over and over again. I'm sure the guy downstairs hates me. And speaking of hate, I finally called the police about the incessant barking of the poor dog next door. Those freaky people leave that critter out 24/7 and ignore it. It's a tiny dog, and it's desperate for attention, poor thing. It's been quiet, though, since the cops came by. That, ladies and gentlemen is a miracle.

And, speaking of the MoCo police, I was pulled over today on Rockville Pike. Believe it or not, I'm glad to have been stopped. Turns out three of my four brake lights are out. Holy crow! The officer gave me a repair document - not a ticket - and I have ten days to get the lights fixed or my registration is suspended. I thanked the cop - I seriously appreciated knowing. Considering the amount of time I'm in stop and go traffic on my way to work, having functioning brake lights is pretty damn important. Now, I have to figure out if Madame Klutz can replace these guys on her own or if I have to take it to a garage to have it done. Don't laugh - I just look at tools and injure myself.

Today I managed to batter myself pretty darn well with my horribly half-assed attempt to put doors on two IKEA bookshelves. I was trying to rid myself of Bad Furniture Karma. These are, you see, the bookshelves I was putting together when my eye problem first appeared, on July 3rd last year. I literally stopped working with those shelves and had left the doors propped up against the wall since then. Stupid? Yes. But sometimes stress makes us do dumb stuff. Long story short - I attempted to affix the doors to the shelves. I halfway succeeded. They halfway fell off. And, just a few minutes ago, they completely fell off. Looks like I need a friend to come by and help me.

And I may need a friend to help with the lights on my car, too, if it doesn't require the assist of a real mechanic. Not sure I can swing the cost of a mechanic this month. But I can always make dinner for a friend. :)

Oh, god. I used a smiley in a blog entry.

Christ. I think that's a capital crime, isn't it?

Hanging my head in shame,

Yours from the barking-dog-free zone,

Merujo

7 comments:

Loracs said...

If I wasn't living on the left coast, I'd be your girl for the Ikea stuff. Over the last 5 years I have put together 6 big bookcases, 1 small book case, 2 bedside stands, 1 dresser, 2 desks and 1 entertainment center. And tomorrow I will be putting together a bar stool - easy peasy after all the other items.

And, while I'm no grease monkey, I'd take a shot at the tail lights too. It's been years since I've done it and I think I had to go buy a weird 5 or 6 star shaped screw driver to do it. It is a good thing the cop pulled you over, it drives me crazy when I get behind a driver without brake lights. So far (knock on wood) I’ve been luck enough to figure it out BEFORE I rear end them.

First, a fur covered fish and now a “smiley” face – GOOD GOD Merujo, what next? Pictures of babies dressed as grownups posed in famous tableaus? Baby Marilyn standing over the street vent, Baby Stanley in a torn t-shirt, beating his chest and yelling “Stella”, Babies Lucy and Ethel stuffing candy in their mouths, Baby J Jonah Jameson, fist raised in anger as Baby Spiderman swings out of the window . . . I could go on, but too much of this sweet cuteness might spike my blood sugar.

Bill said...

Cool travel map thingy! I love the graphic representation, but doesn't the percentage make you mad? I mean after so MUCH travel you would think it would be higher. I did mine and it felt like taking a quiz and only getting 20%... :-P

Yep, I just put an emoticon in your blog comments. You might be starting a trend, Merujo!

Heather Meadows said...

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Hmm. The silence of the dog disturbs me. It seems like lately I tend to assume the worst though. Comes from working in news I suppose.

On a side note, I would love to see baby Jameson shaking his fist at baby Spider-Man. That would be awesome.

Janet Kincaid said...

M: Give me a call. I've become an Ikea expert. Plus, I had to repair a brake light on my car a few years ago and may have the right tool for that, so I might be able to help with that, too.

Claire said...

If I were in your neck of the woods, I'd take a stab at your brake lights. The only part that can be hard (not real hard, but knuckle-scraping territory) is opening the assembly/getting your trunk lining out of the way. Your manual should outline the process for you... Changing the actual bulbs is pretty simple. Best not to get finger grease on the glass (may reduce bulb's life), so a clean rag can prove handy. Good luck!

Chuck said...

I'll fill that out sometime soon. Now that I work for an airline that actually has decent travel benefits, I hope to add to the foreign countries list within the next couple of years.

BTW, depending upon the car, brake lights often only take a screwdriver to repair.

gonzomantis said...

Our family enjoys travel. I've been only on 3 continents so far, but I hope to add more.

My brother is an avid US county collector. Check this: http://www.extramilerclub.org/