New Discoveries

Random things I've recently discovered (or recently rediscovered):

• Snuggle smells better than Downy
• Rain still makes me sleepy
• The combination of me being 5' tall, having a 2" vertical, and using an infielder's glove makes it pretty easy to hit a line drive over my head and out of my reach
• Bejeweled is very addictive
• "Unputdownable" -- not a word, but a very good way to describe a good book.  I like it. 

Downtown Pedestrians

Apparently, I'm on a downtown kick, so here's another observation -- people walking around in downtown think they're entitled to cross the street whenever and wherever they want.  I have more than a few friends like this.  They'll start crossing the street without looking to see if a car is coming, or worse, see the car coming and start crossing the street anyways.  I'm really not sure how some of them made it into adulthood.

Now don't get me wrong, I completely understand that pedestrians have the right of way, that I'm supposed to stop and not hit them.  Pedestrians know this too.  However, while it's good that drivers know this, there's a small problem with pedestrians knowing it -- they think they can cross the street whenever and wherever they want! 

When I'm walking around, I always wait for the "WALK" sign, and then verify the cars see me before I step out into the street.  If there's no "WALK" sign, then I assume they don't see me and wait for the cars to pass.  My friends think I'm weird.  What they don't seem to understand is that sometimes drivers don't see you, or even if they do, there's no guarantee they can stop before hitting you. 

I especially love one of my friend's responses to this logic -- "Yeah, but they'll get a ticket if they hit you."  REALLY?!?!?  Do you not understand that that would mean YOU JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR?!?!?  I'd also like to point out that the street we cross to get from the school to the parking lot has no stop lights, so no "WALK/DON'T WALK" signs, and nothing to slow down drivers who are typically going 40 - 45 mph.   

I'm sure you're wondering where this little rant is coming from.  Well, driving through downtown yesterday I twice had people start crossing the street right in front of me.  I almost hit one of them.  Even though my light was green and the "DON'T WALK" sign was on for him, he looked in my direction (where I assume he saw me coming), and started walking across the street dragging a suitcase behind him.....slowly.....

Downtown Parking

I've lived in big cities before, but since moving to Fort Worth, I've spent a lot more time in this downtown than in any other.  And there are some definite differences.  The two biggest things that jump out at me are the number of people actually walking around, and what people will do to avoid paying for parking.  The people walking around are not that big a deal; you just aren't allowed to hit them.  The parking is another story.

Like any other downtown, parking is not cheap, and there's not always a lot of it around when you need it.  There are a few parking garages, but if you're just running in for a minute or two, metered parking makes a lot more sense.  This is where it gets fun. 

For some reason, there seem to be a lot of meter poles missing their meters.  I'm curious at to whether people broke them off, or if the city removed them for repair or replacement.  Either way, these are coveted spots.  Since the time limits are posted on the meters themselves, a missing meter means you can stay there all day for free. 

Another way to score free parking is to use the city buses.  Fort Worth offers free bus service as long as you stay downtown.  These free routes generally start a block or so from downtown, and the surrounding streets are meter-free.  Commuters take advantage, park their cars on the street, and hop on the free buses.  I travel these street daily, and I have to mention that some of these people really need some parallel parking lessons.  And a lot don't seem to realize many of the streets are one way. 

Of course there's always that person who takes free parking just a little too far.  My school is located downtown and has 3 free parking lots for students, faculty, and staff.  The key to that last sentence is for students, faculty, and staff.  This is prominently displayed at each lot entrance, and if you don't have a valid parking permit, you get ticketed.  But if you're late to work and can't find parking, do you really care?  I mean, is a ticket from the school really enforceable?  Apparently not.  The school keeps its students in line by tying unpaid fines to things like registering for classes or graduating, but its not like the school can garnish your paycheck if you refuse to pay.

Faced with not having enough parking once the lots were invaded by downtown commuters, the school took matters into its own hands.  And it found a way of making those tickets enforceable.  Somewhere along the way, the school purchased its very own wheel boots.  You'll still get ticketed for parking in the lots, and you still can't be forced to pay the fine, unless of course you ever want to drive your car again.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I have seen a boots on cars in the school's lots.  And did I mention that the fee is now triple what it was in the pre-boot days?  Those sneaky lawyers.....

Happy Couples

Ever notice how some couples just look like each other?  I'm sitting at a local Starbucks studying for my upcoming finals, and I just can't help but notice how the couple across the room kind of look like each other.  At first glance, they're really nothing alike -- she's got long blond hair, he's got close-cropped jet-black hair; she's dressed rather stylishly, he looks like he's about to go mow the lawn; she's rather petite, he's not.

But look a little closer and you'll see it, and I'm not talking about the matching coffee cups sitting in front of them.  It's not just the matching wedding rings, but the matching cell phones sitting on the table.  They have the same Mac computer and the same laptop bag.  They're both sitting in the same position.  They're even wearing the same sandals, which somehow manage to match both their outfits.  They even have the same worried/bored look on their faces.  Makes me wonder if they're looking at the same website.

Cold Front

This week marks the beginning of finals.  What this means is that law students are stressed, cranky, and just plain tired.  Soon, many will resort to surviving off of coffee and Red Bull, though hopefully not together.

My official finals preparation began yesterday, and I thought I was doing pretty well.  I slept in and got some extra rest.  I worked on two different subjects so I wouldn't get burned out.  I called it quits relatively early.  I even went home and treated myself to homemade brownies.  I didn't feel stressed or cranky or overly tired.  Overall, I thought Day 1 was a big success.  But since a successful day would be boring and I probably wouldn't write about it, obviously I was wrong.

When I got home, I noticed the house was a little chilly.  I adjusted the thermostat and forgot about it.  I had a very late dinner and then some brownies.  About 30 minutes later I noticed that I was still pretty cold, but I figured it was just because of the cold milk I had had with the brownies.  I grabbed a sweatshirt and forgot about it, again.  About an hour later, I decided it was time for bed.  I was still cold, but I figured I was just tired.  I grabbed some warm jammies (including long sleeves), adjusted the thermostat again, and crawled into bed.

I woke up around 4:00 am, freezing cold and shivering.  "Great," I thought.  "I'm getting sick.  Just what I need for finals."  I got up and adjusted the thermostat one more time, put on the sweatshirt I had been wearing earlier, and grabbed an extra blanket.  I crawled back into bed and fell back asleep.  Even with the extra blanket, I woke shivering the following morning.  I got out of bed and checked the thermostat -- it was 15 degrees colder than normal!  I had been turning the temperature control the wrong direction all night!! 

I learned two very important lessons from this experience.  First, don't mess with the thermostat when you're tired.  Second, apparently only so much information can fit into my brain.  When I added the additional law school information, it crowded out some of the already existing knowledge, like how to work a thermostat.  What this means is if you need to know anything about the rules of professional conduct for lawyers, give me a call.  However, if you need help adjusting the temperature in your house, you'll need to call someone else.

Gentlemen

Twice yesterday and once today, I was pleasantly surprised when a man held a door open for me.  I'm not talking about keep-the-door-from-slamming-the-person-behind-you-in-the-face type of holding the door.  I'm talking about actually holding a door open for a woman.  I'm talking about when a man is walking into a building, sees you coming from the other direction, steps back out of the door and holds it open (from the outside) while waiting for you to get there.  I'm talking about when you're about to get to a door when it's suddenly being held open for you by the man who was ten feet behind you only two seconds ago.

I think I noticed because it just doesn't seem to happen as much as it used to.  Are there not as many gentlemen as there used to be?  Do men not do gentlemanly things because they think women will be offended?  Or is it just because I'm surrounded by stressed out students 99% of the time?  Whatever the reason, it just makes me wonder what happened to all the gentlemen of the world?  I miss them.

Tortilla Disaster

I've been craving flour tortillas lately.  If anyone has ever had my mom's flour tortillas, you know that store-bought just won't do.  And since my mom doesn't live anywhere near me, that meant I was going to have to make them myself.  Years ago, my mom gave me a recipe that worked perfectly. Somewhere along the way, I lost that perfect recipe.  I could easily call my mom and ask her for it again.  She's been making these tortillas forever, but since she never measures anything, making it into a recipe isn't the easiest thing for her.  But I called her anyway and she gave me the general proportions.

Like most daughters, I've inherited quite a bit from my mom.  One of these inherited traits is the inability to measure anything before throwing it into a pan or bowl.  Ok, so maybe it's not an inability; it's more like an aversion.  Either way, I didn't measure anything.

I knew almost immediately that something was wrong.  Although the dough looked and felt right, the tortillas didn't seem to be cooking up right.  I assumed it was the stove -- I've always cooked on a gas stove and my place has an electric stove.  I assumed I just had the temperature wrong.  But that wasn't it.  My house just didn't smell like my mom's does when she's making tortillas.  That "home" smell was just missing.  I made a few before tasting one, and it definitely disappointed.  I didn't bother making the rest of the dough.

On the up side, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon and sugar on them and they're not half bad.  They have a pie crust quality to them so I'm sure I can find a few other things to sprinkle on them and enjoy.  Tomorrow I'll try measuring.