Joan's randomness: September 2008 Archives

My personal favorite of the reader responses was this one that my sister-in-law Adriane got:

"Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious." William Feather (1908 - 1976)

Now THAT's definitely something I can agree with.

You might have noticed several of our blogs getting a facelift recently. I am really liking the new look, though it'll take a little getting used to!

Mostly, I like that I can use slightly bigger pictures :)

Meanwhile, at 10 a.m. today I go to get my hair done. There will be a new color (there always is), but I am seriously considering getting several inches chopped off.

I'll be sure to post some pictures of whatever I decide to do! Any requests?

Turns out the York Newspaper Co. is far and away the most popular choice for a place to hunker down during a zombie uprising.

My good friend Dan had a really great idea:

To the press room! You can gain the the higher ground if you scale that metal monster and create an outer perimeter by using a forklift to maneuver the newsprint rolls around it like a palisade.

Ellen, who is the assistant for our facilities manager, clued us in to a little-known (well, till now) secret about the press room - there's actually a room ABOVE it, accessible only through the lockable elevator and a locked (metal) stairwell door - no windows!

Now, Hubby had another good idea. (He's not a fan of the whole YNC plan.)

He pointed us right across the street - to Gander Mountain! Only one small entrance in the front... no windows... probably a loading dock in the back, but those are lockable metal doors at worst.

And, holy cow, what a cache of survival supplies there - meals ready to eat, weapons, camping gear, clothes, running water facilities...

He makes a good point! I could live there...

Yesterday's big news was that Lifetime Brands, the owner of the Pfaltzgraff brand, is closing all its remaining outlet stores, as well as a distribution center in West Manchester Township.

I'm a huge outlet shopper, so this comes as a hard hit. In fact, one of my favorite ways to get Christmas gifts for my (admittedly large) family had always been to attend the Pfaltzgraff tent sale at the Expo Center and buy a dozen salad bowl sets/knife blocks/glass pitchers/door decorations and give one to each branch of the family.

I don't think they've had the tent sale in the last couple of years, but I had fallen back on outlet shopping to achieve the same goals... it was a staple of visiting the Rockvale Square and Rehoboth outlets on vacation, too.

We'll miss you, Pfaltzgraff outlets!

This is just a shout-out to my friend and former employee Marie Elena, who is starting a new job today - in TV news, no less!

We miss you already! Keep us posted on how you like the world of broadcast.

(And don't shoot me for putting your picture on my blog!)

Remember how I said I had so much stuff happening on the 27th?

Now I got invited to one of those Premier Designs jewelry parties by my neighbor and friend Chris. And I have a huge weakness for jewelry!

Guess I'll fit that in!

Actual conversation from a recent night at work, between hubby and I and a couple of the other editors:

Would the newspaper company building (below) be a good place to hole up during a zombie uprising?

Pluses: Most of the building has few accessible windows. There are vending machines, running water and bathrooms. Various parts of the building are able to be shut off and are only accesible through fairly heavy doors, using a keycard.

Minuses: The mailroom, where the paper is assembled and put onto trucks. Think about it. Any room designed for easy access by tractor-trailers is also easy access for the undead. Also, the lunchroom, where the vending machines are, has a glass door and a wall of windows to the outside. And, in general, there's not a place of "higher ground" where we could go as a last resort.

Hubby maintains our house would be safer. I don't know... too many windows. Plus, it's just not that big. I'm afraid I'd get claustrophobic. I ended up voting to stay at the ol' newspaper company.

You wonder that we get a newspaper and news Web site produced, don't you?

Those of you who know me know that I'm not exactly your social butterfly. I have few hobbies outside of work and my family, and I can count my really good friends on two hands (that goes down to one hand if you exclude really good friends who are coworkers/relatives).

So it's kind of a surprise that I've got three different things going on during a coming Saturday, the 27th, all of which I really want to fit in.

First, my friend (and former employee!) Megan invited me to her Pampered Chef party starting at 1 p.m.

Then, my best friend (and Creative Memories consultant) invited me to a scrapbooking workshop, which will run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (I plan to do this after the Pampered Chef party.)

Finally, we placed our first grocery order through Angel Food (more on this in a future post), and that needs to be picked up between 9 a.m. and noon (so I'll be going there first, then taking my low-cost, high-quality groceries home and putting them away before the other two events.)

Chances I will forget and go the wrong place, or in the wrong order? About 75 percent!

As if the wet basement weren't bad enough, of course it was rainy late last week and over the weekend. So, in honor of it being the Monday after all that rain, I thought I'd show you how I spent Friday morning.

I ended up going up to Pinchot Park in a steady drizzle, sitting in my car overlooking the lake and reading a book for a while, then getting out and going wandering around, both in silence and listening to my iPod, for about an hour.

It really wasn't a bad way to spend a morning. Because of the weather, the park was almost empty. And I've been in a kind of blue mood lately, and it helped to take the time to be "alone with my thoughts," as it were.

See, don't I look pensive and introspective? :-)

Yet another fun thing I found on the internet and thought I'd share. How it works:

Go to this page. Refresh until you find a total of five quotes that apply to you, then post them on your blog.

Here are my five.

1. "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." ~Friedrich Nietzsche

2. "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~Douglas Adams

3. "I dwell in possibility." ~Emily Dickinson

4. "Do or do not. There is no try." ~Yoda

5. "Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. " ~Raymond Lindquist

Even if you don't have a blog, try to find at least one you like and post it as a comment for me. I am really interested to see what other people come up with.

Was just going through some folders on the computer and found this photo I really like from a Revs game earlier this spring.

Not only is it a cool photo... but check out the great web site promotion for the newspaper...

No, don't run away from this blog. It's a Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote.

But - while Monty Python and the Holy Grail IS the best movie ever, and while I'd love to talk about it ad nauseum - what I really want to do is draw your attention to my continued running (OK, jogging) exploits, in which (a) I can now run a mile straight without stopping, which I honestly had NEVER done before and (b) I've decided I need a concrete goal.

So what's the big-picture goal, now that it's not "get a mile without keeling over?"

Glad you asked.

Well, I ended up NOT going Tuesday to have my top two wisdom teeth out.

I spent the money to build an ark instead.

Why, you ask?

Last Thursday, a group of us from the newspaper company took part in the United Way "Day of Caring," where instead of just providing cash donations to the United Way, you provide community service too.

Our project: Helping with the gardens and trails at Nixon Park. Our small group was me; my boss, Randy; and our office's executive assistant, Donna.

Now, Donna thought she'd signed up for mulching. Unfortunately, we got "trail maintenance" instead. The good news? It meant I got to use a scythe. The bad news? Pretty hard work. Lots of bugs. Many things with thorns. Did I mention the bugs?

It was all going well until Donna thought she got bit or stung by something as she lifted her head through some leafy branches.

Well, guess what we found on the underside of one leaf?

It's York Fair time again! I'm hoping to head out soon - although, horror of horrors, I might not be able to eat as much fair food as I normally would.

Why? I'm having my top two wisdom teeth out on Tuesday - yuck!!

Anyway, take a look at our staffwide fair blog for the latest from York's big event, and check out our submit-your-own-fair-photo gallery.

Oh, and wish me luck on the teeth - I'm afraid I'll need it.

Well, not exactly. Although I do think that's a big phrase locally, to "pitch a fit."

No, I'm referring to a note I got a while ago from Roy Flinchbaugh of York, responding to my post on using "pitch" to mean "throw away."

Roy writes:

This Grand Canyon might not be in York County, but at least it's in Pennsylvania!

Joan, Joan. Shame on you for taking the word of a Baltimore guy about the word "pitch." It is no more York County than the Grand Canyon. My Random House Unabridged Dictionary lists "pitch" meaning "throw or toss" in both transitive and intransitive verb forms. So to "pitch something" meaning to "throw something away" is perfectly acceptable English. Perhaps that is not what is spoken in Baltimore.

And again, in my defense, I must say that when I call something a Yorkism, I in no way mean that it's only done here. I mean that it's done by a lot of the people here - it's something from the great pool of language that all of us Yorkers have all gone down to drink from.

(Anyone get that reference? Maybe some of the folks from our Book Buzz blog would...)

As if the window candles didn't spark enough debate on local house-decorating customs, what about this one?

I'm referring, of course, to the idea of putting a huge metal star on your house.

My roommate (for another few days at least - an early goodbye to you, Tina!) mentioned these to me. It's funny; this is another thing that I didn't realize was special to this region. Tina's from California, and she says the metal stars are definitely an area concept here.

Hubby, for what it's worth, hates these. In an almost irrational way. I don't mind them, but we're not much for the rustic style of decor, so I probably wouldn't use one. Anyone have one? Is it really something out of a rural Northeast tradition?

Just a quick update to let you all know - you know, all five of you :) - that I am still running/walking and playing tennis every Tuesday and Thursday evening!

My big claim to fame is that I measured the area where my friend Dan and I are running/walking, and one "lap" is almost exactly one mile. Last week, we made it around 8 times in a bit under two and a half hours - that's not real fast, but that's OK with me. I made it 8 miles!!! Holy cow.

I am not quite at the point yet where I can jog/run/sprint a whole lap. I can get about three-quarters of one but then I need to walk. But, I'm slowly improving, and that's what I'm focusing on. Wish me luck!

This is Buffy.

Buffy is our Assistant Managing Editor for Features and Niche in the newsroom. She is immensely smart, immensely organized, and basically everything I want to be if I ever start acting like a grown-up.

Buffy, however, is known around the office for being, well, a little... unusual. She carries four calendars around. She has a certain number of sharpened pencils at her desk at all times. And she has those air fresheners on timers that deliver a nice puff of scented air every so often at her house.

I say this not to mock Buffy, because I appreciate all these things and the glorious order of them.

But when Buffy told me her story about window candles, I admit, even I was a little amazed.