The Horrible Horribleness of Being

Someone did it. Someone cast a level 12 spell of Abominable Bad Luck on me. Probably the caster also used empower spell too. Was it you? If so, I will kill you.

Today, I tried to go to Canada. I tried really, really hard. I had driven down to Eugene the day before, as my flight was out of Eugene (Bridget and I are to head there after our Canadian Christmas adventure). I got to the airport nice and early today - at 4:40 am, for my 6:07 flight. I counted myself lucky when I got to the airport and they said my plane would be taking off; The night before, Eugene got a nice layer of freezing rain, which was still on many of the roads. BUT, the plane would be taking off! Yay!

I waited in the very long line, and finally made it to the front. I stepped up to the counter, and they asked for my passport. I said, "I don't have it, but I have my green card." They said "Sorry sir, but we need your passport." "Well, I have my green card..." I explained "...my passport is in Seattle". Then they said "Sir, we need your passport..."

Similar exchanges occurred for the next 10 minutes. Finally, I lost. I had forgotten about the new regulations that require everyone traveling internationally to show a passport or provide proof of citizenship. Apparently my green card isn't enough - even though it is a more secure, harder to obtain, and harder to fake piece of ID than a passport. I *needed* my passport to go back to the homeland, which was in Seattle.

After nearly surrendering my mind into the dark oblivion of madness, I called Bridget. Keep in mind, it's 5:15 am. She provided some groggy but much needed reassurance that everything would be OK. Bridget's Mom then provided some more cognizant help, being an early riser (Bridget did not inherit this skill). I put some thoughts into motion, added more and more elements to them, and came up with a planful solution to my woes. I changed my flight to leave from Seattle tomorrow, took a cab to the train station, and bought a one-way ticket to Seattle. Although this trip was excruciatingly long (7 hours), I eventually made it to Seattle.

With some help from my Dad and Steff, I got a hotel near the airport, where I write this from. It may seem strange to stay at a hotel instead of my own house, but the airport is so far away from the city, and Seattle might get snow tonight, so this is my way of surely getting to the airport in the event of inclement weather. With the luck I have been having, this may be necessary.

What is the lesson here? Is it to remember my passport? Maybe, but probably not. I actually did think about bringing my passport, but then I thought "Nah, I don't need it - my green card will do." So, is the lesson then to try to be smarter? Maybe, but people often tell me I'm smart, so can that really be it? No... what then? The only lesson left is: "You are doomed, so please don't try so hard."

Here's another way of thinking about my recent and coming life:

Day 1: get up at a reasonable hour, spend all day traveling by car
Day 2: get up at 4:15, travel all day by train
Day 3: get up at 3:45, travel all day by plane

But it will hopefully all end up meaning I will get to see my family and friends that I miss so much, visit my beloved country of birth, and spend 2 weeks with my sweet wife. If this can happen, it will be worth it.

Right now I am watching Scary Movie 3 on TV, which has turned out to be pretty funny. Maybe it is because I am semi-delirious. This could be due to the lack of sleep and travel, or it could be due to the Papa John's pizza and chocolate pastries I just ate. On the train, however, I watched something really, really horrible. A movie so bad, it would make your blood curdle. It was called "I Hate Valentine's Day". It starred people I don't know or care about. As you might be able to guess from the title, this movie is a romantic comedy. As a genre, these movies are bad enough, but this movie is despicable and should be banned. I think people who would say they love romantic comedies should watch this movie to know just how bad they can get.

The characters in this movie are so unrealistic they are almost hallucinogenic. The plot is so transparent it will pulverize your mind into feebleness. No events in this movie could have ever taken place in real life. This is the worst honest movie that has ever been made. If you think you have seen worse, you are wrong. What's that? You have seen worse? No, surely not. No, really, you can't have - this movie IS the worst! No, there is nothing worse! NO! SHUT UP!

Ya ya ya, so at this point I am just babbling, trying to make this the longest blog post ever. I think this will somehow make up for my lack of blogging lately. But it won't, because it's all just garbage.

There are good things that happen in my life, I just haven't blogged about them lately. Here are two notable ones: 1) I completed half of an infant study this term, and 2) Greg Toller had a baby! His name is Oscar, and I am going to see him soon. That is proof that life is wonderful, even when you are plagued by the spells of a Dark Mage.

Next post I promise I will post a picture of some form. Goodbye.