Taking a Deep Breath (Or Not)

Eight months here, and I think my assimilation is going swimmingly*, but there are two things I've noticed.  One is totally out of my control, and one is something I should probably work on.

First (and this is the annoying one), far more people here smoke than I'm used to.  I'm not sure why this is, but I haven't worked in the same office as a smoker in 10+ years, and now I'm working** with at least three of them.  (It doesn't really affect or bother me, but I do worry when I hear them coughing so badly since these ladies are my friends.)  Perhaps it's the change in geography, perhaps it's the change in work environment, but it's very, very noticeable to me.  It hadn't occurred to me before we moved that South Carolina was a tobacco-growing state***, but it turns out that tobacco is one of the state's top 5 crops, which explains why so many restaurants around the area still have smoking sections.  Disappointing, but I would imagine it's still far better than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

So that's annoying, but there's not much I can do about it.  The second thing I've noticed, on the other had, is entirely my problem, and probably something I need to work on before I offend or bruise somebody.  People down here take life at a more leisurely pace.  They walk more slowly and talk more slowly, and I don't do either of those very well.  Not that I'm one of those mile-a-minute, driven, Type-A personalities (far from, as anyone who's ever worked for me can attest to), but I don't like to waste time****, and I do like to get where I'm going and get my point across with as much efficiency as possible†.  However, down here, there's no reason to be so, well, pushy efficient.  I need to learn to slow down a bit, or I risk being rude (by inadvertently trampling people on sidewalks) and/or unintelligible††.  Keeping up (or down) with the people around me here makes me feel like I'm moving at a glacial pace, but, really, what is my hurry? 

Taking a deep breath to slow down may have to be metaphorical for a while, however.  Between the smokers and the bright chartreuse oak pollen††† that's exploded all over EVERYTHING these past few weeks (which is a far greater problem than the smokers, incidentally), breathing is best aided by Sudafed and Claritin at the moment.  Ah, the joys of the very first allergy season in a new home...



* I may have heard myself pronounce "hat" with two syllables last weekend.  Maybe.

** No, I didn't get a paying job, I'm still at my volunteer gig (and still loving it).

*** For the record, southeastern Pennsylvania produces a fair amount of the stuff, but much of it is grown by the Amish for use in cigars.

**** Unless it's on my schedule.  Then I can be a superb time-waster.

† Librarians are consummate multi-taskers, and if there's ever been a day in my working life when I had fewer than 20 completely different areas competing for my attention, I don't remember it.  Spare time doesn't exist at work.  Which is why I'm so good at relaxing when I'm not there.

†† This was brought home to me by three separate phone conversations where I had to slow my speech down by at least 50% or so before the person on the other end could understand me.  Embarrassing.  And I don't think the problem was my accent.

††† These (sniff) must be evil mutant oak trees (cough).  Our oaks up North don't do (achoo) this; they stand there quietly and produce acorns the way they're supposed to (ow).

An Especially Springy Spring

Happy Spring, everyone!

Remember how I said, ages ago, how much I love spring?  It's my favorite season: the first flowers, the barest hint of green or pink on the trees and shrubs, the barest hint of warmth in the air, after months of cold and grey and waiting for some relief...  Well, spring has arrived*, and I must say that it's not exactly the same down here. 

Very pretty, shrub.  But a little exuberant for March 6, don't you think?

Granted, this year, much of the country didn't really have the sort of winter that makes you beg for relief, but we really didn't here in the South.  As a matter of fact, I think it only got below freezing a handful of times**, so I'm missing that glorious anticipation that comes after a season of nasty weather.

Up North, our spring flowers are paced out somewhat slowly - first the snowdrops, then the crocuses, then the daffodils, and then the tulips and forsythias, all coming roughly after week-long intervals or so.  Then, the flowering trees start up, the leaves begin on shrubs and other short things, and pollen starts falling off the trees and turning all the cars yellow.  Here, the time frame seems to be much more compact, with the flowering stages following each other in days, rather than weeks.  Also, there don't seem to be any snowdrops or crocuses around here, so we went straight for the daffodils.  Not a problem, since daffodils are lovely, but they started blooming in middle of February, a full two months before I'm used to seeing them.  I still haven't seen any tulips or forsythias, but many of the flowering trees in the neighborhood are either going at full throttle or completely finished, and pollen of some variety (oak, we think) is already making people miserable.

Either those are baby leaves, or that's ALL pollen.  Sniffle.

And the weirdest, most un-spring-like part of this is that it's really hard to get excited about those first, barely-warm breezes when a.) we never really had many cold breezes, and b.) it's 85° F out already, and has been since the beginning of the month.  When we lived in northwest Pennsylvania, our neighbors strictly instructed us not to plant anything in the ground until Memorial Day weekend (and they were right), but here it is barely halfway through March, and I'm in a t-shirt (and, last Sunday, shorts).  We'll see what this means for temperatures this summer, but many of my friends are sounding rather un-optimistic about being able to go outside in July without spontaneously combusting.  I'm a tad concerned.

So, it looks as though I can either have my beautiful, beloved spring, or I can not have my much-hated winter.  I'll let you know which situation I prefer if I make through this summer without my brains boiling away.


* Or so I assume.  We didn't actually seem to have winter this year, so I'm not entirely sure we're allowed to have spring yet.  So what season is it?

** Which makes me just a little bit sad.  I have some fabulous winter clothing, and I may never get to use it again.  Sigh^.

^ This is not to say that I'd like to return to winters like we had last year in Boston.  After 11 feet of snow, I'd be happy to never have to drive in the stuff again.  But if it had just gotten cold enough to bring out my really cute hats...

"Never Tell Me the Odds."

Yes, I know it's been many, many days since I posted here, and I'm sorry.  A combination of leading a quiet, dull life (a Good Thing), The Cajun being on the road (a Boring Thing), and both of us being sick (a Bad Thing) means that my motivation levels have been a little... limp*.

But, no more!  The most recent trip that The Cajun took was to a conference/trade show in Las Vegas, and, since this was his second trip there in a month, I stamped my little feet and demanded to be taken along**.  This was my first time there (and The Cajun's second), and I didn't know exactly what to expect, but thought I could guess: a combination of Disneyland and New Orleans.  And I was right!  The theming of the resorts is very similar to Disney, it's even tackier than the area immediately surrounding Disneyland in Anaheim, and tourists wander around doing really stupid things and making questionable wardrobe decisions just the way they do in New Orleans.  The humidity is lower, though***.

And the food is AMAZING.  Expensive (some of it), but amazing.  We had wonderful meals at Charlie Palmer's Steakhouse, Mesa Grill, Mon Ami Gabi, Casa Don Juan (a Mexican place off-Strip where our friends took us), and, best of all, a dim sum place that just opened in the Rio.  We ate ourselves silly on dumplings for $25.  Total.  I shall dream about their baked pork buns.

Now, I'm sure that many of you have been to Las Vegas already, so I'm not going to bore you with the details of our trip, save to say that we spent much of our time just wandering up and down the Strip and in and out of the casinos.  As I mentioned before, we ate far too much wonderful food, and, yes, we gambled.  We even came out ahead!****  Instead, I shall share a few pictures and general observations.

This is Fremont Street.  They have a zipline running down the center.

It turns out (OK, I already knew this) that there are regular people living in Las Vegas, carrying on regular lives that have nothing to do with gambling or casinos or bungee jumping off the Stratosphere.  We happen to be friends with two of them, and they took us to dinner in a part of the city where the normal human beings hang out, and then to Fremont Street, where the abnormal people hang out.  So bright, so loud, so weird, and some of the best people watching anywhere in the world.

Something feels... not quite right here.

To someone who grew up just 60 miles from New York City, the New York, New York casino is rather disturbing, and not just because you can see the Eiffel Tower while you're walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It's clean†, well-lit, and completely devoid of hotdog carts, pretzel salesmen, and pigeons.  Also, there is a roller coaster running through the middle of it, which I assure you does not occur in the real Greenwich Village.

So... this isn't really Paris?  You're sure?

I have been told by those who know that this is not actually what Paris looks like.  I'm hoping when I get there that the weather will be equally good, and that the food will be even better (which will be a feat; Mon Ami Gabi is a really tasty place).  Perhaps there won't be as many giant balloons, though.  Or palm trees.  Or slot machines.

The Trevi Fountain, kinda.

This is actually a reasonable facsimile of Rome's Trevi Fountain, but without the crowds (seriously), the pigeons, and the really annoying guys selling flowers.  'Course, the original doesn't have a sign for the Forum Shops over the top, but the original doesn't have such good shopping nearby, either.  And, as much as I love Rome, this fake version is much, much cleaner.

The famous dancing fountains at the Bellagio. 

The one thing that everybody told me I MUST do while in Vegas was to go see the dancing fountains at the Bellagio.  They were right.  Just fascinating.

Just your average hotel lobby.

Probably my favorite hotel/casino to wander through was the Venetian, which is so over the top that it's easy to forget where you are.  The lobby and hotel area are simply beautiful, the selection of restaurants is superb (this is where Emeril, Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, and Thomas Keller all hang out), and then there's the shopping.  I'm not usually much of a shopper, but that's because most malls don't have a canal running through them!

Where else can you catch a gondola next to the Godiva store?

First, the stores are really great for window-shopping (and, alas, only window-shopping, at least until we start winning more than $5 at a time), and second, there are gondoliers singing and ferrying people up and down the Grand Canal that runs through the middle.  Truly bizarre and cheesy and fun to watch.  I spent several hours walking around here.  I haven't been to the real Venice yet, either, but have it on good authority from my parents that it's easier to get lost in the original city, but that the Vegas version smells much less mildewy.


So there you are, some few highlights from our trip.  I'll try to be a bit more loquacious from now on, and finish up some of the draft blog posts I've been hanging onto for months.  Now, to finish fighting that head cold that I thought I ditched in Vegas.  Wretched thing apparently followed me home after all.



* Also, The Cajun's brother gave us a computer game for Christmas; it's my first MMPORG, and it is diabolically addictive.  So in addition to a lack of motivation, I've also been wasting too much time killing Sith and Imperial baddies.

** Hey, I paid for my keep.  I helped put the booth together, take it apart afterwards, and even manned womanned the booth for five minutes while the guys grabbed lunch AND talked to a potential customer long enough for the guys to come back and exchange information with him.  I may not work for the company, but I know an awful lot about UsefulProduct™ for a layperson.

*** In fact, the lack of humidity, oddly enough, was the worst part of the trip for me.  It's VERY easy to get uncomfortably dehydrated out there, and my skin has some issues that are severely aggravated by dryness.  It was nice to get home to my own lotion and humidifier.

**** In all honesty, I must admit that "ahead" in this case amounts to $4.  Each of us put $1 in a slot machine, I eventually lost mine, and he won $5.  High rollers we are not, and, yes, that was the grand total of our gambling on this trip.

† Except for the level of cigarette smoke, which seems to be about the same.  Bleah.