Love & Loathe — 10/07/10

Loathe:

* Driving in the rain. First rains of the seasons fell this week and all the yahoos in the world were on the freeway at the same time I was. Ugh. Also nice to think that I was someone else’s yahoo, right? It was one of those weeks when I remembered with fondness those mornings of unemployment, listening to rain fall on the roof and having nothing on the agenda but to curl up with my cat and read a book with a soft blanket around my shoulders and give thanks that I wasn’t on the freeways.

* When our field sales people come in the office. They sit in the cubicles next to me, and they clearly are not used to living in cubicleville. They play music loudly on their computers, use their speakerphones when making calls, yell (truly, they yell) across at each other and are just generally oblivious to everyone outside of their happy, boisterous sales bubble. But hey, at least I don’t have to try and focus on writing the company newsletter while listening to all their noise. Yay for small miracles.

* When my bosses travel which, truth be told, they do quite often. My life is so much more hectic when they’re out of the office, which is the opposite of the way most people think it would be.

Love:

* Number nerd alert — 10/10/10 is coming up — I love synchronized dates like that.

* Search engine hits. The “search hits” area telling me what people searched for to land on my blog is on the front page of my admin area, so I can’t help but see it. Tonight I opened my admin area to respond to comments and saw that someone had searched for “swim cap blow job.” That just set me off to giggling and I couldn’t seem to stop. Whew. So if that was you, thank you, I needed that.

* My signature scents. During the summer, depending on my mood and the weather, I switch around on my shower gel and lotion scents — I love doing that. But during the fall and winter seasons, I generally find that I revert back to my “signature” scents of Night Blooming Jasmine and Camille. If only for a moment when I use them, or get a whiff of them, they make me feel safe and content. I’ll take whatever moments like those that I can get!

* My plumeria plant in my back yard. It has yielded so many beautiful bouquets of flowers this summer, and it just keeps blooming. Even now, it’s blooming.

* Each of you. Thank you for being supportive and true friends through the rough spots — life is not easy, but there are times when friendships and love can act as a balm to chafed emotions. You guys are the best emotional Chapstick EVER!

One Last Thing:

Earlier this year, my sister-in-law declared that she was going to do a Summer of No Pants. You can read about it here: LINK I was inspired! Summer of No Pants — how creative!

So I quietly made my own declaration. I would have a Summer of No Top! I decided I wasn’t going to put the top up on my car all summer long — hey, it’s California and convertibles should have their top down!

I mean, I did have my top down when I drove places, but … well, let me explain.

See, when I bought my Miata in March of 2002, I installed a 4-point roll bar and had the boot (the leather cover that goes over the folded down top and window) modified so it would fit around the roll bar. Yet, after the money I spent on that, I had only used the boot a couple of times over those 8 years of ownership. Putting the boot on is a commitment of snaps and straps, stretching here and tucking there. It looks nice and protects the folded down top when driving somewhere, but it’s time consuming to take the boot off and put it on every single time I raise and lower the top. So, I had taken to just lowering the top when I drove somewhere and raising the top every time I parked. Which causes lots of wear and tear and sun damage to my top.

Part of my strategy of the Summer of No Top was to order what is called a “cockpit cover.” It’s like a mini car cover that covers the windshield, seating area and deck, secured by four straps that reach into the wheel wells. My goal was to use it as a temporary top when parked, and then the boot cover would protect my top when driving. My other option was a tonneau cover, but that was a lot more expensive.

I was a bit concerned about the security of my belongings, so I made sure to lock the glove box and center box, and take anything of value inside with me. The exceptions to the Summer of No Top was if it were raining (not misting, but truly raining), or if I parked in an unsafe area.

I’m here to report, I successfully completed the Summer of No Top — the top only went up 2 times over the last three months due to rain — and I absolutely loved every second of it.

Summer of No Top — Epic Success!