Germs

I am a germ FREAK. I hate germs, I don't even want to think about the fact that everything I touch is covered with germs. But I do, I have to, because I work in a public institution with a population of 35,000 people. When I went to the bathroom today, I noticed that the soap dispenser by the sink I always use (humans are a creature of habit - you can't tell me you don't usually use the same sink everyday) was almost empty. Well, that's not a shock because they usually do the filling at different times of the day. The shock was that all of the other soap dispensers were full. Most of you are probably thinking, "so what?" Well, in my germ-phobe world, this occurance means one of two things: 1) Only the people who use "my" sink use soap. 2) Most people use my sink. Either way, this is a very frightening situation. While it is possible for #1 to be true, it is unlikely. However, the second is definitely possible, especially judging by the amount of water in the sink. (Yes, I'm a little crazy, but a university-wide infection with noroviris, a.k.a. the 48 hours of throwing up/diahrrea bug, will do that to you.) This possibility frightens me greatly for a few reasons. First, most people do not wash long enough (the CDC recommends at least 30 seconds) to get rid of germs like norovirus, so they will still be infected when they turn off the water and touch whatever else they are going to touch. Second, some people don't even use soap, which means that they are touching the faucet and paper towel dispenser with only a little water between them and the spread of massive amounts of germs. Third, all those people using 1 sink hugely increases the number of different diseases I could come into contact with.

By this time, you are probably thinking, "she really is crazy," and, "why doesn't she just use a different sink?" Well if I used a different sink, I wouldn't be able to be frightened, and we all know that if we're not frightened, that's one less thing to write about. Also, I'm human, and therefore a creature of habit. It'll be tough to change my ways. Maybe I'll just keep washing.

Let me talk to you about Frankenstein

I was re-reading some of my old posts and was reminded that I was supposed to tell a Frankenstein story. Now this isn't about a scary monster named Frankenstein, but a scary monster looking for books about Frankenstein. A long time ago in a place far far away (Barnes & Noble Brier Creek), I was working at the information desk. A mom came up with her 2 sons, one about 14 and one about 8. She said "well this little guy would like some books about Frankenstein, and the other one is looking for some Graphic Novels." Since we were closest to the Graphic Novels (adult comic books for those of you who don't know), I took them there first. Well, as we were walking the little boy began circling me and shrieking "Frankenstein! Frankenstein! Frankenstein! (repeatedly)" I looked at the mother, assuming that she would tell her deranged son that the nice lady would get the Frankenstein books soon. This did not happen. In fact, the mother and the brother both acted as if he was walking calmly and quietly. So, since the customer is always right (maybe I was imagining this?), I picked out the Graphic Novels for the older kid and asked him if that was what he wanted. As I did this, the little boy decided to stop circling me (for the time being) and walk up and down the aisle yelling, "Frankenstein! Frankenstein! Frankenstein!" What a thrill. And still no comment from mom or big brother.

Well, once I got the older brother squared away, I said, "now we can look for those Frankenstein books." I walked across the store towards the children's section, and he decided to circle me again. I think you are starting to get the idea, but just in case, he said, "Frankenstein! Frankenstein! Frankenstein!" Fortunately, I knew right where to find the kids' version of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," so I handed it to him. He seemed to be pleased with this, since he smiled as he said "Frankenstein! Frankenstein!" Unfortunatley, his mom wasn't as happy, since the "angel" apparently already had this book and didn't know it. So, back to the drawing board. I went to the computer to search for children's books about Frankenstein. Not surprisingly, there are only a few titles. I heard the boy coming closer to me, so I quickly grabbed the 2 other Frankenstein titles that we had. Again, he seemed pleased, but then the mom said "This isn't what he wants. Don't you have any books with the Frankenstein from the old movies?" I looked at her dumbfounded - Scooby Doo meets Frankenstein was a children's book, but those old Frankenstein movies aren't exactly what I would call material for children. I told her that we didn't have anything like that in the children's department. No one seemed disappointed, and the little boy walked out of the store with his mom, still yelling "Frankenstein! Frankenstein! Frankenstein!" Fortunately, they never came back while I worked there, or I probably would have had to hide.

It's snowing like crazy out there

Well, another North Carolina "snowstorm" is upon us. I think this one might actually accumulate, unlike the last one that was just rain. To be on the safe side, all of the schools in the state have already sent the kids home early, even though when they cancelled most cities didn't even have a flake of snow yet. I'm sure they've already cancelled for tomorrow, since if it snows even a little bit no one knows what to do. I'm convinced that the entire triangle (this includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill - I'm not sure how many people, but definitely a lot) only has as many snowplows as my little Vermont town of 9,000 people. This causes great problems when it snows. Basically, they will wait until it all melts, no matter how long it takes. Schools were closed for 4 days in January when it snowed 2" on a Sunday. Yes the roads were bad for the first few days, but this certainly could have been prevented. I'm not even going to talk about how often they close school based on the possibility of a little snow. Usually it rains...

New Apartment

Here are some pictures of the new place. It's nice, and we should be all moved in by this time next week.