A Grammatical Update

You might remember my rant about using the wrong verb with collective nouns. I did some reading on this topic and have an answer that I don't like but can understand. If you're talking about the group doing something as a whole, you treat them as a singular entity. "The band is performing at 8:00." If you're talking about the individuals in the group doing something independently, then the collective noun is treated as plural. "The band are traveling from their hometowns to L.A." I would get around ever using this by adding "the members of" or something to make it obviously plural... "The members of the band are traveling from their hometowns to L.A."

That's my lesson for the day. Class dismissed!

Five more workdays

Five more days of work before some time off. We're heading to Moab, UT, with some friends from the Xterra club for a week. I took next Friday off so I'd have plenty of time to pack and prepare. We leave first thing on Saturday. I'm looking forward to an exciting Cinco De Mayo somewhere in Utah Saturday night after spending all day driving. Ha! Seriously, I love the scenery in that part of the country, and with the new truck, I'll actually want and get to drive some of the trails. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for some nice thunderstorms. They aren't so common here in the PNW, and I miss 'em.

Fakers

I don't understand why people fake washing their hands after using the restroom. I notice this quite frequently at work, and frankly, it grosses me out. So there I am in a stall, when someone else exits another stall, turns on the water for a mere 2 seconds, doesn't pump any soap out of the dispenser, maybe grabs a paper towel or two, and then leaves. It's OBVIOUS that they haven't really washed their hands, and I can only assume that they wouldn't even fake it if they were in there alone. Why is it so hard to spend an extra 20 seconds and actually wash your hands? I don't get it. These people are the reason I'm rather fanatic about washing my hands, using paper towels to open the bathroom door, and pumping Purell after touching common surfaces. Nasty.

Black holes in your home (and the reverse!)

I went on a bit of a rampage this weekend. I combed through my closet in search of clothes that I don't wear anymore. I kept a couple pairs of jeans that are just a bit too big, and identified a bunch of stuff that I'll donate, sell on ebay, or trade at the next clothing exchange. Amazingly, a few things I haven't been able to find in months turned up--they jumped out of the "black hole." Even more amazing is the lack of additional space that I actually created even though I removed bags of stuff from the closet--the reverse black hole. That reverse black hole was even more evident in the guest room, where I sorted through the drawers of stuff I had in the closet, along with the rest of the closet contents and junk under the bed. Again, even though I removed huge bags of stuff along with some bigger items like heaters, a down comforter, and extra clothing racks, there seems to be less room than before. How can this be? I think the "black hole" gnomes who steal one sock from each of my pairs and all my ponytail holders and barettes have some power to warp the space-time continuum and make it impossible to actually declutter my house. I just don't understand it.

Cats who love hair

Our cat Manga is a huge fan of my hair when it's wet--especially after I use my peppermint conditioner. She'll comb her claws through my hair and lick it and rub all over my head. It's bizarre. Even more bizarre is Miji's similar behavior lately. But her love is Marc's hair. She started with licking the spot on the back of his head where the hair all goes in different directions. Now she paws at his head and bites his hair and scalp--almost like she's trying to attack him! It's freaking hilarious and completely unexplainable. I took some video on our camera... now I'll have to see if we can get it posted online. Check back later...

Update: Marc doesn't want the video posted online. Party pooper. Next time you come visit, ask and we'll see if we can get Miji to perform for you.

Back on the trail

We had a fun time last weekend! We headed up to Tahuya with our Xterra club for some trail riding. Not counting driving in the dunes a few weeks ago, this is the first time in over five years that I've driven offroad. It rocked. Marc and I hadn't been to Tahuya before, so it was also a good opportunity to see a new area.

Nothing too exciting has happened lately. Our niece Sarah Grace is turning 5 next week, so I went shopping. This is a little girl who asked for paper for Christmas. I don't entirely understand why. I think she likes to draw...? Anyway, I got her one of those cool Spirograph things (I love finding toys that I loved when I was a kid), and some paper--construction, doodling. I also found some cute stickers with her name on them. What kid doesn't like having something with their name on it?