Ugh.

Coworkers are dumb. Good thing I have Friday and Monday off.

... and another one bites the dust.

The medallion was found early this morning after clue #11 was released at midnight. Not to say Molly and I didn't put in a good fight, last night's frigid -13* before wind chill put a close to our hunt. We had the park nailed down after clue #10, but had no idea where, in the HUGE park, to find it. Clue #11 would have pointed us directly to the fallen tree under which the medallion was hidden, but it was just too damn cold to try.

Next year.

Medallion Hunt 2008

Every January St Paul puts on a Winter Carnival. Along with the Winter Carnival comes a Medallion Hunt. Early winter, or sometime or another, the St Paul newspaper hides a hockey puck-esque medallion in a park in Ramsey County. For 12 days of the Winter Carnival, the newspaper prints a new clue as to the location of said medallion. Not only would we have the pride of finding the medallion, but the booty is quite nice.

This afternoon Molly and I, along with her dog Rinna, set off to two different parks to see if we could spot the medallion. Park #1 was a bust -- or at least we think it was a bust. We got out, walked around a little bit, but weren't to impressed with out surroundings. Molly wasn't 100% sure about this park and my research pointed elsewhere, so we hopped back into the car and headed to Park #2.

Now, Molly didn't believe Park #2 existed. She couldn't locate it in her sweet streets and maps book but all my research told me we had to go. We did find it (my directions were right on!) but didn't get out of my car, as Park #2 was quite small. We decided to head back to Molly's for some lunch and more researching. After some pizza and wings, we decided our clues and research pointed to Park #2. Since we didn't get out the first time, we decided to go back.

We pulled into the parking lot and joined one other car. What we thought was probably other medallion hunters turned out to be what we figured were two kids getting it on! It was pretty funny -- and we felt a little wrong for being there -- but we saw the guy on top of the girl undo his pants and rip his shirt off. At first we thought they'd stop when they heard the obnoxious beep when I lock my car, but they kept on keeping on... it was quite funny. Poor kids probably had to go to the park and have sex in their car to hide it from their parents.

So we left the kids to their business and started our search. Our research hasn't quite pinpointed the exact location of the medallion, so we were there to scope out the area and if luck had it our way, we'd find the medallion. Well, we walked around, Rinna grabbing every stick in site. We can across a tree with some weird trunk and decided to get a little closer. I always tend to dig around through the crap... so I got down on my knees and started messing through the leaves and twigs at the bottom of the tree. I saw something. It looked black and had a knob or something at the end. We decided it was coming out... what if it was the medallion?! I kicked it a little and then went for the grab. I pulled it out and Molly and I both jumped. We thought I had pulled out a dead bird from the trunk of this tree. Turns out it was just Easy the Robin, a beanie baby, super glued to this pipe thing. We figure we may have come across a geo-cashing item, but who knows. What we do know is this bird-on-a-pipe is not the medallion.

We hunted around the park a little longer, watched our lovers drive away, spotted some fellow medallion hunters, and decided to call it a day. Probably one of the more exciting medallion hunting days. Nathan and Jack would have had more fun today than when we dragged them with us last year in the -20* weather, especially with my sweet find! Sorry boys.

With tomorrow's clue comes another night of hunting -- maybe tomorrow will be our night. Or, as the last four years have come to pass, maybe we're at the completely wrong park.

Tomorrow will be clue 9 of 12. Stay tuned for the Medallion Hunt 2008 outcome soon...

Pen cap utensils?!

Seriously -- pen cap utensils?! There is nothing I can really say about these other than that I need them:

Is it me?

So tonight someone I haven't talked to in at least a year sent me a note asking if a mutual friend is ok. She was worried about him for one reason or another and took it upon herself to check in with ME to see if HE is ok.

A different friend of mine's now ex-boyfriend used to do the same thing (in fact, he literally just sent me a text message to see if I had talked to her today). If he couldn't get a hold of her, he would try me. See if I had talked to her that day, if I knew where she was, or why she was not answering her phone, responding to a text...

Is it me? Do I scream "Call Me To Find Your Friends"?! I think not. Believe it or not, I do not spend my days sitting around tracking where everyone is at every moment. Hell, at times I don't know where I am. I love you all, I really do. And I'm not mad about it... I'm really not. Yes, it's sweet everyone knows I care about my friends and great they know I'd do anything for them, but honestly, I don't know why she's not answering her phone and I don't know why his friends are ignoring him. And then when you do ask me, I start to worry...

Coolest home theatre ever!

I am pretty sure I MUST have one of these theatres in my house. I mean, how awesome would it be to watch movies in the BAT CAVE!!
Think about it -- a big screen, the dark ambiance, total seclusion, and room for all your friends:
It will go perfectly will the Bat-Suit and Bat-Mobile the boys owe me!

Things to love about Minnesota in the winter...

When I ran to the store this morning, my car calculated the outdoor temperature at -18* BEFORE the windchill.

Brr!

Friday morning, 8:00, and already a whipping.

I love how I get chewed out for a job I didn't even know was going on... and it wasn't even by the one we all would expect it from.

I'm a writer. I write. If a designer is waiting for copy from me, it would be nice for them to tell me. I thought said designer was working on a template of the new packaging, not actually waiting for the revised copy to do the actual product in question. No. Usually they do a template, I send it to the factory, and they do it. I guess that is not this case this time. It just would have been nice to know.

So this morning when asked if the packaging got sent and I said not to my knowledge, I looked like an ass who didn't do her job. Which, for the record, was not the case. I revised the copy, as asked, sent it off to the translator, and even to the factory to update the current packaging. I was NEVER told the designer here in the office needed it. So when I left for the day, I was under the impression my job was done. I guess not.

Next time, please tell me exactly what you need and I'll do it.

Ugh.

I Heart Apple

So last night when I got home from work, I was putzing around on my mac, as I usually do (not that I don't sit at a computer all day -- it's just not the same as my precious mac). As I removed my fingers from the keyboard, my wrist caught something sharp. Much to my dismay, I looked down at the chassis of my beloved, and low and behold, there was a crack. I panicked (on the inside, of course) and then immediately made an appointment with the Genius Bar at the Apple Store.

After work today, I took my baby to the doctor. Why do I love Apple? Because even though my computer is no longer under warranty, they replaced the bottom chassis for free. Not only that, but they replaced the top chassis that was starting to turn reddish-pink as the bottom once did (all covered under a cosmetic recall, that also expired since my warranty ran out).

So -- for what I thought was going to cost me a small fortune to get fixed was free! And -- they did it in an hour, so I didn't even have to part with my mac overnight.

Point in case: Apple rules.

Cheese and Crackers...

There’s really nothing like it, cheese and crackers. My cousin and I fell to the depths of cheese and crackers when we were little… we’d go through a tub of cheese and a roll of crackers almost every night when we’d spend time together. We’d sit in the kitchen with our crackers and spreadable cheese, turn on the classic Nick-at-Nite shows, Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Dick van Dyke, and go to town. It was amazing… and delicious.

Now, years later, I sit at my desk with a wedge of Laughing Cow’s light garlic and herb cheese and a roll of wheat crackers and am reminded just how scrumptious this little snack is.

No, I will not go through an entire tub of cheese and roll of crackers in one sitting on my own, not that I couldn’t, but one small wedge and a small handful of crackers never hurt anyone…

Cavity-free!

After boycotting the dentist for a good 3 years, I am proud to announce I went today and came back CAVITY-FREE!