Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, in Austin, Texas ~ Part 2

Journal Day 2

Today was rather interesting.  We went to the Circuit of the Americas.  It’s a new race track for Formula 1 racing among others.  I am not a race fan, but my brother is.  He really enjoyed the view from the observation tower.  I have a rather irrational fear of heights, but I went up to the top anyway. I did get quite a few pictures (coming later to Facebook).  I will admit that the track looked really good.  There were all sorts of curves and different elevations.  

The guide was a young guy named Cameron.  My guess is that he was the son of one of the other guides.  He was rather knowledgeable about racing and the track in general.  He said that the track was built in under a year and had a price tag of $400-500 million dollars.  That seems like a lot to me, but then I know nothing about that sort of thing.  Cameron stated that this track is the best in the world according to many of the racers who have raced there.

There is an amphitheater at the base of the observation tower.  The red bars that come off of it serve several purposes.  The first one is to give stability to the tower itself.  During concerts there are different colored LEDs that can be set to the rhythm of the music or just glow steadily.  The bars are also a representation of a race car’s lights racing on a track at night.  

The tower itself is rather tall.  I forget how tall, but there are 420 steps.  Thankfully, an elevator was installed as well.  During races people can buy passes to go to the top to observe the race for ten minutes or so.  It isn’t limited to V.I.P.s which is really nice. During the last race several thousand people went up to the observation tower.  At the top part of the floor is made of glass that one can see down to the bottom.  I wasn’t thrilled about that, but I attribute that to the fear of heights.  Actually, I was getting dizzy and at one point I thought I would throw up over the side.  I could feel the building swaying in the wind.  Not a fun feeling for sure!  I did get several pictures from the top of the tower. The track is impressive and also massive.

Afterward we went home for lunch and I took a nap for a bit. I didn’t get very much sleep last night. I never seem to sleep very well.  I toss and turn all night long.  I’m not quite sure why that is, but I know at home it has a lot to do with the mattress I sleep on.  When I lived in Boise, my sleeping issues had a lot to do with the small twin size bed I slept on.  I am sleeping on a twin sized bed here, but it seems to be a bit longer as my feet don’t hit the footboard.  

Mom and I went grocery shopping after lunch.  I would really hate to be the one to count the grocery store we went to.  It was some place called H-E-B.  Needless to say we don’t have them in Reno.  The closest I could compare it to would be is Harmon’s in Salt Lake City only not as nice.  They had food tasting stations which reminded me of a Costco.  They also had a huge health and beauty section which reminded me of Walgreen’s.  

When we got home, I took a nap.  After a nap we went to the County Line, which is a barbeque place.  There will actually be a full review on my review blog, but suffice it to say that the food was good, but they lacked several key dishes that my mom and I thought should be there…like mashed potatoes and a green salad.  Perhaps that isn’t standard or traditional BBQ food, but it sure would have been nice.  I’m not a fan of potato salad or coleslaw. 

Mom had done a search of karaoke bars in the area in case I wanted to go singing.  After dinner we stopped by one to see what it was like.  She is not a fan of smoky bars which is not surprising although her disgust for cigarettes goes a little overboard in my opinion.   Texas has yet to outlaw smoking in bars so of course any karaoke bar we went to would be smoky.  If I had my own car I would have totally gone even though she offered the use of the truck for my brother and me.  

I decided against going because heaven forbid I come home smelling like cigarette smoke.  She even told me that if I did go that I would have to get undressed in the garage and put my clothes directly in to the washing machine.  Yeah.  Not really worth all that trouble just to go singing. I’ll save that for when I’m at home, on my own time.  In all honesty, the bar wasn’t even THAT smoky.  Believe me; I’ve been in much worse.

The rest of the week looks like it is going to be rather busy.  We are doing a lot of baking on Tuesday and riding on the metro tomorrow to downtown. I might even get to visit with an old coworker of mine from my days at Peterbilt.  That should be fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.  He moved here before I left Peterbilt.  He plays in a band; in fact, the entire band moved their families down to Austin to play music.  It seemed strange at the time, but from what I can tell, they are doing well.  He plays extremely well.  I asked him about shows he might be doing this week, but the only one was in Houston which is about three hours away.

My stepdad and brother are playing video games again and I’m not a fan so I’m left to my computer.  I am SO glad that I brought it with me otherwise I might be totally bored.  I brought a few books to read.  I haven’t really touched them yet. I read one page of the Brad Thor novel that I brought.  My mom and I don’t have very much in common.  Not like she and my sister do, but we both like to read.  I believe we are going to find a bookstore tomorrow.  I turned her onto the Thor novels.  She read the first one.  I hope she looks for the second one if we go to the bookstore tomorrow.  It’s a used place, so hopefully they have a copy or two.  I am missing some books out of the collection although I don’t remember which ones. I really need to make a list in case I get the chance to look.  

So far this trip is going well.

Depression and Black Roses

It's near the end of my second class in my return to college.  Though I'm finding the class challenging enough, I do wonder sometimes if I am worthy of the high grades that I am getting.  I read back on some of my papers, and even though there are no errors, I wonder.  I am the most critical of my work, as I believe we all are.  I don't even really like for people to read what I write here, but it is a great outlet, and if the truth be told, I want to be heard, even by the anonymous masses.

I've been super depressed as of late.  I don't know if it is the lack of human companionship in my life, stress of school, lack of personal path, spiritual path, or just life in general that is causing it.  I'm willing to bet that it is all of the above.  I haven't really dated much since I got to Idaho.  There were a few attempts that failed miserably and I attribute that to not being ready to be in the dating pool again.

I think I'm ready now, though.  Well, are any of us ever really ready for something like that? hahaha..  We put ourselves out there for others' scrutiny.  We take the chance on being rejected. No one likes to be rejected for whatever reason.  An ex's roommate once told me that the reason the ex left me was because I wasn't pretty enough to be with.  Damage to the ego much?  I may not be pretty, but what I lack in looks, I make up for in other areas. Like personality. I have plenty of that.

I was planting flowers in my garden the other day and someone asked me what my favorite flower is.  Wild black roses, I told him.  Needless to say that I won't be planting any of those in my garden anytime soon, but I looked back at that and realized that they are rare, just like me.  There is only one of me on the planet.  Just like there is only one of you.  We are each our own rare flower which cannot be replaced.  How we are cultivated, raised, and accepted is a huge part of how we turn out.  Do we wither away? Or do we thrive and bloom?

I feel as though I have been withering away slowly over the last eight months. Probably longer than that, but it is really the last several months that I have had to take a look at and ponder about. What I do know is that I am on the right goal path as far as school goes.  I have a goal for after graduation, and it will probably end me up somewhere other than Idaho, which is fine with me. I don't really have any ties here anyway.  At least, they are not strong enough to keep me here. My mother called me a gypsy for a reason.

There really isn't much else going on in my life right now. I go singing as often as I can.  I think I've gotten better, although I would really like to take lessons so that I can get better.  Too bad they are so expensive.  I knew I should have taken choir in high school instead of band! hahaha...

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Human Decency, or the Lack Thereof

Good morning, Faithful Readers.

I am so livid. Why you ask?  Me? Who feels nothing half the time?

It all started when I decided to go out last night to sing karaoke.  I knew I should have just stayed home.  Oh well, that was my first mistake.  My second mistake was not looking at the card that was given me when I left the second bar I was at.  The first one I was only at for as long as it took for the bartender to tell me that I had to spend a minimum of ten bucks just to use my card.  That was AFTER he already made my Midori Sour.  I took my card and left him with the drink.  I didn't even have that much money on my card.  I don't even drink that much, but I know how important it is to buy stuff at the establishment you are going to.  That's how they stay in business.

So, I went to the second bar.  A really crappy song selection for karaoke if I do say so myself, and their staff isn't that friendly.  I ordered a pineapple juice and when I gave my card to the bartender I told him to just keep it open because the juice was only one dollar and I know that it cost money for them every time they swipe the cards that come through.  I only ended up staying long enough for one juice.

I went to the bar to get my card and the bartender just threw me the card and said not to worry about it.  Sucks for him because I was going to tip him a few buck for the trouble of pouring my juice.  I left in a hurry.

This morning I went to purchase water, as I do most mornings, and upon paying, I noticed that my pin number wasn't working.  Strange.  I tried it three times, then the clerk tried to run it as credit.  It came back declined.  I looked at the card... It wasn't mine.  (Like you knew that wasn't coming.)  Ok, so the crappy bartender at the second bar gave me the wrong card number.  No problem.  I could always call later on in the day to see if the bar still had my card and I could return this card.  You know, like a decent human being would.

I get to work today and check my account.  Apparently, I'm the only decent human being in this town.  The jerk who got MY card ran up $1800 work of paypal charges.  Not even MY Paypal account.  It looks as though they have added my card to their paypal account or something.  So much for human decency.  This really sucks because if I don't get those charges reversed before Tuesday, my check will hit and I will still have a negative balance on my account.  *sigh*

Thankfully, my bank is open on Saturdays, but not until 9am.  It is currently 7:35am here as I write this.  Be sure that I will drop whatever I am doing and call them at 9am sharp to get this straightened out.  I don't care if I have to go to whomever is the top dog in my bank's company.  Those charges WILL get reversed and my card canceled.  It will suck to be me for the next few days without my card to access my account, but as long as everything gets taken care of in a timely manner I will be ok.

I think I have learned two very good lessons with this.  NEVER go out on a Friday night when I know I have to be up the next morning.  And, ALWAYS check the name on the card that is given back to me.  I don't know why I didn't think about that before I left the bar.  Chalk that up to sheer stupidity.  I guess I am too trusting.  I don't think that I'll use my card at any bar ever again.  I'll always take cash with me.  There are just too many shady people out there, and I am WAY too trusting, I guess.

Be sure that I will keep you all up to date on the progress of this little mishap in the life of me.  I am just very glad that I have nothing coming out of my account automatically, like bills or whatnot.  I do have rent, car insurance and my phone to pay with this upcoming check.  Goddess, I hope that I get everything straightened out before Tuesday.

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