Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
weather

we’re not in kansas anymore

Or are we? I was about ready to head for the storm cellar today. We got hit with two major thunderstorms–one this morning and one this afternoon. When this morning’s storm rolled in, I thought it was the end of the world. It was that dark. I had to shut my work pc down for about 15 minutes because I didn’t want it to get fried.

Then, this afternoon, another one rolled in. Brian and Jake were heading out for a bicycle ride and I checked the weather only to find that another storm was going to arrive in a few minutes. So I went to tell them and I returned to see all of the office pcs in various stages of reboot. I guess the power must’ve flickered when I was away. I called it a sign and called it a day–it was just about quitting time anyway.

The garden/yard is a little worse for the wear from these storms. Everything is tipping over. One of my tomato plants is broken in half. Our one (newer) tree in the front was just about uprooted–I need to take care of that tonight (somehow). I was planning on planting a fall crop in my garden this year. The beginning of August is the time to do that, but the weather just has not been cooperating, so the crop has not been planted.

We would’ve had one fatality from the storm had it not been for Brian’s quick work. This morning I went downstairs to grab a snack and noticed there was a bird stuck in the bird feeder! The bird feeder has been empty for a few days so this bird must’ve crawled under the glass partition while looking for something to eat. Due to all of the rain we’ve been getting, the top of the bird feeder was stuck shut, so Brian had to break one of the parts in order to get it to open. I guess that’s another item he can add to his “to do” list–fix the bird feeder. Though I think this little incident will probably work in the bird’s favor–I bet Brian doesn’t let the feeder get empty again.

celebrations

anniversary party

My godparents (who also happen to be relatives) were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary today with a party at their home. So, we headed out to Alexandria, PA (near Huntingdon) for the occasion. They have a really nice property on the Juniata river and a fantastic house. Anyway, the party was held outside and there were quite a few people there. We had a nice time and they seemed genuinely happy that we came, so I’m glad we were able to do so.

movies

the last kiss

**Spoiler Alert** We didn’t like this one. It was a story about a guy who cheated on his pregnant girlfriend. She takes him back for some reason I can’t figure out. There were a bunch of other bad relationships showcased in the film as well. All in all, one unpleasant movie. After Zach Braff’s wonderful Garden State, I was expecting a little more. Of course, unlike that movie, he neither directed nor wrote this one. Maybe he should think about doing that again in the next movie he stars in because otherwise, I’ll probably pass on it.

motorcycles

licensed to maim

I did it–I passed the riding test and got my motorcycle license today. I cut it pretty close, but there was a reason for that. On the last run of our last practice exercise, I dumped the bike. We were doing emergency stops and my front brake locked up on the wet pavement and down we went. The bike was ok. I was ok (except for my bruised ego and a few bruises that appeared on my legs after the adrenaline wore off). Life went on. I could’ve easily gone home at that point. I was so worried about passing the test that dropping the bike hadn’t even occurred to me. Anyway, the test was next, and I figured I didn’t have anything else to lose so I stuck it out. What’s the worst that could happen? Drop the bike? Nope–already covered that.

Dropping the bike made me the pariah of the group. No one would look at me or talk to me after it happened (better safe than sorry–these sorts of things could be contagious). We had a little break while the instructors were setting up for the test. I went to my car to get a drink of water. When I returned to the group, someone finally summoned up the courage to speak to me and they asked me if I got hurt. I made some smart ass comment, everyone laughed, and that was the end of that. I do feel that I will be remembered well by this group of people, though it’s not for anything I’d want to be remembered for.

So, the test was next. I didn’t figure I had a chance in hell of passing. Prior to today, I thought I’d do ok on it. I knew I was going to flub the figure eight. Luckily, or unluckily, that was first. I wasn’t even close to staying inside the box, but I didn’t put my foot down or stall like some of the others did, so it wasn’t a total loss. Next was the swerve test. I did fine on this. Then came the dreaded emergency stop. I messed it up somewhat, but that was to be expected given the circumstances. Last was the two curve test. I got dinged a few points on this one, but nothing major.

While I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped, I blame that on my earlier indiscretion. The stress of the test did a number of most of the people, from what I noticed. A lot of them were messing things up that they did perfectly in the practice runs. I think everyone passed except one woman who had never ridden prior to this class. I don’t feel I could’ve passed the class without some practice riding first so you can’t take that away from her. She did perfect figure eights, though–go figure.

They say there are two kinds of bikers–those who drop their bikes and those who will. I was hoping to fall into the latter category, but, like my instructor said today “at least you got that out of your system.”