What?!!? A New Blog Post?

It turns out that being unemployed makes for really poor blogging material.  There's only so much to say about Law & Order and how much I hate grocery shopping.

The two subjects of today's blog post are:
1. Dogs
2. Hourly work

1. Dogs
Since this past Sunday, I have been the long-term dog sitter of a 7 year-old black pug named Rocky.  Ben is out of town until tomorrow night, and I have to say that having a small creature waddle behind me every time I walk somewhere in the house is bizarre.  Growing up, my family had a yellow lab named Peyton whose daytime necessities sometimes fell under my responsibility, and I have found myself walking alongside a Rottweiler from time to time, but I was very surprised to find out that pugs are not at all like labs or Rottweilers.  First of all, pugs are small.  It's really hard to make eye contact with a pug, even for a person as short as me.  A walk around the block is considered long for Rocky, and I find myself walking in circles while I wait for him to cross a single square of sidewalk.  Second, pugs make weird noises.  While I've already grown used to the constant growl/gurgle that Rocky makes when he's excited (i.e. always), I have to say I prefer either silence or a good loud bark to get my attention.  I woke up in the process of falling asleep last night because I couldn't hear Rocky snoring and freaked out because I thought he stopped breathing.  To summarize my experience so far, Rocky is a very silly dog who has opened my mind to just how different dog breeds can be.  As soon as I find my camera, I will (maybe) upload pictures of my new roommate.

2. New Job

Finally, I got a job as an EMT, mostly transferring patients from one place to another.  Aside from the new-job uncertainties such as "Where is the nuclear medicine department of this hospital that's under construction?" and "What if a patient spits on me?,"  I am loving it.  First of all, I get paid by the hour.  While obviously more money would make life a little more comfortable than less money, I am relieved to be relieved of a salaried job.  One thing I learned about research and long-term projects in the past couple of years is that the faster you complete assigned tasks, the more work that is assigned to you.  I don't think I will get tired of getting paid for overtime in the near future, and it's nice to just sit around and drink a cup of coffee during free time, when it exists.  Other perks of my current job include proximity to my house, time off for family vacations, the ability to wear (tasteful colors of) nail polish, and really nice coworkers.

Mothers' Day

Based on my minimal observation of internet spellings, I am still unclear if it is Mother's Day or Mothers' Day, but I think it makes more sense to celebrate plural mothers.  For example, I spent my Mothers' Day with many mothers whose efforts and dedication were celebrated.

Erin and I trekked via her car to San Leandro, CA where we dined on some delicious Philipino cuisine prepared by my grandma.  I even saw Grandma eat something, a rare occurrence when she has a crowd gathered at her home.  After we stuffed ourselves with rice, lumpia, and chicken adobo, Grandma kindly reminded us that the Warriors/Spurs game had begun.  We spend a few hours on the edge of our seats, watching a fantastic game of basketball and looking up Tim Duncan trivia.  We called Mom at halftime, discovering that she was also watching the game in Charlotte with some more of the Sayson family.

Auntie Lyric and Auntie Kim came over and we ate some cookies during the second half of the game, where the Warriors won in overtime (what a nailbiter, am I right?).  Unfortunately the extra-long game left us with not enough time to sing some karaoke, but there's always the promise of our next visit.  The family will have to wait for my rendition of "If I Had a Hammer."

After the game, Samantha, Robby, Grandma and I played a riveting game of Spoons, which I lost gracefully, and drank some coffee before heading back to our respective homes.  Erin and I stopped in Vacaville for a viewing of The Great Gatsby and then went back to Davis full of leftovers, coffee, and thoughts of the American Dream.  Safe to say it was a successful Mothers' Day.  I hope all the mothers out there enjoyed it as much as me.  I'd like to subtitle this Mothers' Day as "Thank-God-I'm-Not-A-Mother" Day, because I do not believe I could live up to the standards of mothering I have observed by my family over the years, at least not at this juncture in my life.  While working as a science teacher to thousands of field-tripping elementary students, I am having a great time, but oh, so, happy to send these kids home at the end of the day!

Deja vu

Someone told me the other day that my regular occurrences of deja vu mean that I have a good memory.  I think it means that I have a really good memory of things that don't matter.  Example: Law & Order guest stars. Counter-example: I can never remember where I parked my car or where I put my keys or cell phone.

Today I just got back from a trip up to Very-Northern-California to plant some alfalfa, take some data, and talk wild rice.  Select members of my blog readership may be thinking, "But Corey, I thought you no longer worked with that company/project/group of crops."  Those members would be correct.  However, circumstances happened to give me the opportunity to revisit my stomping grounds one last time (at least, I hope that was the last time).

My brunch review for this week is for the Blackberry Patch diner in Burney, California.  After a productive early-morning meeting/brainstorm session, Tami (my temporary cohort) and I drove through Burney and stopped for some coffee and food.  I was disappointed with my first sip of coffee, but my general love of coffee and slight exhaustion led to an acceptance and perhaps satisfaction with all three cups.  I ordered bacon and scrambled eggs with hash browns and sourdough toast.  Diner toast is my favorite toast.  I cannot, in good conscience, put as much butter on my toast as diners tend to put on toast.  But it is so delicious.  I ate everything.  Also, when in the history of a bacon and eggs meal has a restaurant given anyone 5 complete, non-stingy pieces of bacon?  Answer: today, April 26, 2013, in Burney, CA.  Blackberry Patch also got bonus points for having both classic and green Tabasco sauce on every table.

My California State EMT card came in the mail today.  It's super official looking.  Maybe now someone will hire me.  Until then, I am content as a temp part-time science teacher/permanent part-time viewer of L&O.  Sorry for the lack of pictures.  I never ever remember to bring a camera anywhere.  But here's a picture of the dog that greets me when I pull into work everyday.  His name is Willow.

Mac's Speed Shop

Oops, I haven't written a blog post in an eternity.  Lots of changes since November, including a Christmas in Charlotte with family and friends, an EMT-B certification, many nail painting events, moving on from one job and getting another.  I'm now an instructor/farm helper at a farm near Sacramento that serves as a field trip destination for K-6 graders, teaching science to kids via hands-on experiments in the great outdoors.

In late March, Ben and I met the rest of my family in Charlotte for a great friend's wedding.  On Easter, we went to brunch at Mac's Speed Shop in Uptown Charlotte.  A must-visit every time we want barbeque in Charlotte, Mac's was thoroughly enjoyed by Mom, Dad, Samantha, Robby, Ben, and myself.  We had a variety of food and beverage, including Cheerwine, $4 Bloody Marys, pulled pork, chicken, brisket, veggie burgers, and sides (with hush puppies of course).

Candid Photo from December 2012 at Mac's

The chicken and the red beans with rice were my favorites, and we had a great post-Easter church meal that led several members of the family to nap after we got home.  For dinner, Ben, Mom, and I made some black bean veggie burgers with magical healing powers, and some oven fries that were perfectly cooked.  Our short stay in Charlotte was cram-packed with good food and fun activities such as watching tv, talking about tv, going to a wedding, record shopping, making jokes about name pronunciation, and word games.  Also I started reading a fantastic book about the 1845 expedition towards the Arctic aboard the HMS Terror.