(no subject)
Things I learned on the AT:
1. I should not go backpacking too soon before Britt's wedding this summer. I think insect bites clash with purple dresses.
1b. You should probably go ahead and wear that bug repellent, even though it's May and there aren't that many mosquitoes.
2. Whoever blazed the Rampao-Dunderberg Trail was a sadistic bastard.
3. In addition to mice and other small animals living in the shelters--which is why I bring a tent--some of the tent sites have fleas. I don't think I brought any home with me. I hope.
4. Dan's mind has been twisted by the marketing efforts of the bottled spring water companies. When we camped at Hemlock Springs, he was expecting something much grander and was disappointed by the wee bitty trickle.
5. When my tent's manufacturer glued the main seams of the rainfly but neglected to stitch one of them, they actually neglected to stitch both of them.
5b. An emergency thermal blanket works pretty well to patch a split rainfly
6. When the forecast for the day says thunderstorms, even if you haven't seen any signs of thunderstorms yet and think they passed you by, you should not be tempted by that nice flat low spot as a place to pitch your tent. Stick with the slightly less flat high ground.
6b. My down sleeping bag can, in fact, get a little wet and still retain its downiness.
In non-listy news... My coworkers (and some of Dan's) got together on Tuesday to drink beer and wish me well. One person, who doesn't usually come out with the rest of us, convinced everyone to rent a karaoke room for an hour after the beer. Karaoke with this group was pretty sweet. One guy was bullied into singing "My Humps" even though he'd never heard the song before, but he was a good sport and did his best and I busted a gut laughing. I really don't remember the last time I laughed that hard. I was bullied into singing "Paper Planes," which I did know, and when I gamely attempted the accent there was more gut-busting. So the lesson there is, be a good sport about amusing and embarrassing things, and people will like you and only tease you a little tiny bit foreverafter about the fact that you sang "My Humps."
Last night Dan and I went to dinner at a cafe/bar next to Inwood Park. We didn't realize it, but it was trivia night. So we sat at the bar due to lack of tables. I had a salmon-cucumber wrap with ginger-lime dressing which tasted just like eating a gigantic sushi roll. It was fucking delicious. And we tried our hands at a few rounds of trivia. We didn't do very well. But it was fun, and the bartender was awesome, and so was the hard cider. And Dan tried some sort of oyster stout, which I swear tasted like the stuff that you use to numb canker sores. But in a good way? It wasn't bitter, which is my only criteria for a good beer at this point in my palette's development.
Today, I'll be doing some laundry and then packing said laundry. And, of course, the whole flying across the country thing. Saturday is Britt's bachelorette party. I was on the phone with her earlier and confessed that an evil part of me wanted to tell her drama-slinging friend (who is also really, really afraid of absolutely everything) that the hotel is haunted. (It really is, supposedly. If you believe in that sort of thing.) I asked if that made me a bad person. Britt's response: "haha, I already told her." I love my sister.
1. I should not go backpacking too soon before Britt's wedding this summer. I think insect bites clash with purple dresses.
1b. You should probably go ahead and wear that bug repellent, even though it's May and there aren't that many mosquitoes.
2. Whoever blazed the Rampao-Dunderberg Trail was a sadistic bastard.
3. In addition to mice and other small animals living in the shelters--which is why I bring a tent--some of the tent sites have fleas. I don't think I brought any home with me. I hope.
4. Dan's mind has been twisted by the marketing efforts of the bottled spring water companies. When we camped at Hemlock Springs, he was expecting something much grander and was disappointed by the wee bitty trickle.
5. When my tent's manufacturer glued the main seams of the rainfly but neglected to stitch one of them, they actually neglected to stitch both of them.
5b. An emergency thermal blanket works pretty well to patch a split rainfly
6. When the forecast for the day says thunderstorms, even if you haven't seen any signs of thunderstorms yet and think they passed you by, you should not be tempted by that nice flat low spot as a place to pitch your tent. Stick with the slightly less flat high ground.
6b. My down sleeping bag can, in fact, get a little wet and still retain its downiness.
In non-listy news... My coworkers (and some of Dan's) got together on Tuesday to drink beer and wish me well. One person, who doesn't usually come out with the rest of us, convinced everyone to rent a karaoke room for an hour after the beer. Karaoke with this group was pretty sweet. One guy was bullied into singing "My Humps" even though he'd never heard the song before, but he was a good sport and did his best and I busted a gut laughing. I really don't remember the last time I laughed that hard. I was bullied into singing "Paper Planes," which I did know, and when I gamely attempted the accent there was more gut-busting. So the lesson there is, be a good sport about amusing and embarrassing things, and people will like you and only tease you a little tiny bit foreverafter about the fact that you sang "My Humps."
Last night Dan and I went to dinner at a cafe/bar next to Inwood Park. We didn't realize it, but it was trivia night. So we sat at the bar due to lack of tables. I had a salmon-cucumber wrap with ginger-lime dressing which tasted just like eating a gigantic sushi roll. It was fucking delicious. And we tried our hands at a few rounds of trivia. We didn't do very well. But it was fun, and the bartender was awesome, and so was the hard cider. And Dan tried some sort of oyster stout, which I swear tasted like the stuff that you use to numb canker sores. But in a good way? It wasn't bitter, which is my only criteria for a good beer at this point in my palette's development.
Today, I'll be doing some laundry and then packing said laundry. And, of course, the whole flying across the country thing. Saturday is Britt's bachelorette party. I was on the phone with her earlier and confessed that an evil part of me wanted to tell her drama-slinging friend (who is also really, really afraid of absolutely everything) that the hotel is haunted. (It really is, supposedly. If you believe in that sort of thing.) I asked if that made me a bad person. Britt's response: "haha, I already told her." I love my sister.