I love Atlantans

Swell had the brilliant idea to weasel out of our cell phone contract by indicating that we were moving to a place that had no cell phone coverage.

We're not entirely unhappy with Sprint but would love to get out so that we could really weigh our options (particularly with phone availability - Sprint has the worst selection of phones in the world). We refuse to pay the cancellation fee so I thought I'd head over to a Sprint store during my overly slow work day, and ask if we could, in fact, get out of our contract without the exorbitant cancellation fee. I'd read that they are willing to forgive the fees if you can prove you are moving to a location without coverage.

Worker Welcome to Sprint. How can I help you?
Me Well, believe it or not my wife and I are moving to Nome, Alaska.
Worker Where's that?

Ok. Now I'm not the smartest person in the world. My intellect, unlike my stunning good looks, would probably fall smack dab in the middle of the intellect bell curve. Average at best.

That said, I know where Alaska is. I might not have been able to point to Nome on a map without a hint or two but if someone said I'm moving to Nome, Alaska I wouldn't say "where's that?". I had hoped that anyone in this country would have a vague idea where Nome, Alaska was.

The worker's response begged the question, did they not know where Alaska was? Did they know that Alaska was, in fact, part of the US?

Me - dazed and confused Ummmm... well... it's about as far north as you can get in the United States.
Worker - doubtful as to the veracity of my geographical knowledge and future habitat Yeah, let me check on that.

I tell 'ya the education system needs a good overhaul down here.

Any Americans who care to chime in. What cell service do you use and is it worth getting?

Cheers!

I'm gonna try out saying Cheers now. I don't know why. I just feel like doing it. By the way we applied for positions starting January '08... in New Zealand. They may or may not have openings at that time but have asked for two referees from us. Where can I find a referee? Do I just approach them after a hockey game or what?

Silly Girl Getting Ready

Silly Girls Wii-ing. (Long exposure with attempt to show movement. Kinda worked)

Now that's what I'm talking about

Hi Headhunter woman,

During SwellandSheepie's 3 week visit, we have schedule a village trip 2/25-2/29. They will travel together on one of our smaller airlines to two remote eskimo villages. 1 village is Wales, AK and one village is Shishmaref, AK. They will travel with the optician here and she will orientate them to the clinic and be there the entire time with them.

They will all stay in the village clinic overnight. It is safe there and there will be separate sleeping areas for Pearce's and the optician. However, if they have sleeping bags, they may want to bring them. Most clinics are equipped with cots.

I am writing to make sure they are up for the trip. We will pay for the airfare, etc. The lodging is taken care of and they can enjoy the experience.

Please let me know if there are any problems with this. Wales does not have "running" water. There is water and there is a local store, but no actual running water. There are showers available.

I think they will love it. The other two weeks will be spent in Nome. We have an annual diabetes clinic 2/19-2/22. The entire week will be used to see our diabetic patients. We usually have about 70 patients come to town for this clinic, so that week may be busy.

(emphasis mine)

Bad Days

I've had some bad days as an optometrist. Some really bad days.

Patients yelling.

Staff glaring.

Patients glaring.

Staff yelling.

Busy.

Slow.

Confused.

Saturday was one of those days. But I don't know why. It wasn't particularly busy (20 patients for full exams, five or so for miscellaneous junk). I didn't get yelled at or about. I received very few glares. It was just a difficult day made worse by a complete lack of desire to be here.

We don't like it here Sam I am.

Not a bit.

Not a little.

Not a lot.

Not at all.

It is time to move on. From Saturday at 7pm to Monday at 5 pm we are relatively happy people but as the fact that we have to return to work on Tuesday begins to sink in early Monday evenings the dread starts.

From Swell's long drive and staff that hate her to my just hating working at a mall and seeing walk-in after walk-in our work weeks are killing us.

Why can't work be fun? We went to school for a long time. We demand fun.

Instead we get no fun.

We hope that Nome is fun.

They were supposed to have purchased our tickets at the end of last week. We approved the flights and they were supposed to buy them.

I hope they did.

If they didn't...

We've given our notice here and are ready to go.

We hope to be challenged professionally.

We hope to learn optometry.

We hope to learn about others.

We hope to experience Alaska.

We hope our plane doesn't crash.

Swell's Ma is coming to visit this weekend. Every couple of weeks her schedule works out in such a way that she has four or five days off in a row. She can fly cheap so she is coming to see us. While cleaning for her arrival I came to the conclusion that somehow we have too much stuff. We have so much stuff we don't have enough room for it.

Now remember that a lot of it isn't our stuff. It is stuff for Romania. Swell has a dream. Her dream is to fill four suitcases of stuff for others and take our clothes and the like as carry ons. In the meantime the stuff multiplies, much like the stereotypical rabbit, and accumulates in our rather small condo.

We trip over stuff.

We sit on stuff.

We push stuff aside to clear but a little room to walk.

I exaggerate of course, but suffice it to say there is Romania stuff on top of stuff we need to part with.

Thats one good part of moving.

Purging.

I'm semi-proud of us for purging much of our optometry school notes. They are now in a landfill somewhere near Nablus.

I'm semi-proud that we purged clothing upon our return 6 months ago. They are now in a Goodwill somewhere (or in someone else's closet).

We now need to do some more purging. If we're going to sell our place it can't look like its bursting at the seams. We have too many sheets and blankets.

We have too much Christmas stuff.

I have too many books and CDs.

The time to start purging nears.

And then packing to move...

I hate packing.

I'd rather work here than pack.

Interesting observation

When it is 9 am in Atlanta it is 5 am in Nome.

This morning at 9 am Atlanta time the temperature in Atlanta was 21F/-6C (with wind chill 7F/-14C).

In Nome at 5 am this morning the temperature was 31F/-1C (With wind chill 19F/-7C).

Strange, no?

Pictures from our second winter storm this week!

As I sit here waiting for Swell to pick me up after another hard day's work the metro-Atlanta region holds it's collective breath.

Children are on the verge of tears.

Women are shivering.

Men are prepping.

The mayor is on alert.

Principals are manning the phones.

TV stations are preparing for round the clock coverage.

It is snowing.

A lot.

A veritable blizzard.

A southern blizzard but a blizzard none-the-less. White flaky moisture is falling from the sky. A snow day is in the making. Shovels need to be sharpened. Scarves need to be tied. Snow needs to start sticking 'cause nobody wants to work tomorrow. If there is a dusting of snow in the morning work, school, and life will be temporarily halted.

It just might happen.

Snow days are still an enigma to me. Why should a little snow stand in the way of living life? You can walk in snow. You can drive in snow. You can work in snow.

I guess I should say I can walk, drive and work in snow. The rest of the city? Apparently not.

Swell has a long drive ahead of her and if people drive in the snow like they do in the rain here I won't see her until tomorrow. Although I can't see her I am sure she's blue.

Not from the cold but from holding her breath. She would be over the moon ecstatic to not work tomorrow. Thursdays are her most dreaded days. She really struggles at the location she works at tomorrow. Suffice it to say that her Thursday location is not a fun work environment.

Her Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday work place is a soap opera. Her ADD/Tourette's/OCD/Druggie co-worker has at long last been fired. His replacement. A know-nothing know-it-all who thinks she actually has a say in how the store runs. A manager who has nobody to manage. A new comer to the wonderful world that is optics but has been left to run an optical store. I'm sure if Swell ever becomes un-lazy she can tell you stories.

We've been busy the last week or so buying stuff for Alaska... but we're not entirely sure if Alaska is happening. We're sure. The company that was hired to find us is sure. The hospital where we'll be working? We have yet to receive word that our tickets were purchased although Swell found some tickets for a song a week ago.

We've each purchased boots. We each got a few more sweaters. Swell got socks, 4 coats, mittens among other things.

We're looking forward to going...

...if we get to go.


As an aside. I was sitting next to a real catch the other day before work. Any of you single ladies out there might want to give me permission to pass on your info to him. I'll probably see him tomorrow!

This guy was talking on the phone to a woman he obviously has not met and is speaking to for the first time. I think that he got her contact info from some type of online dating site.

He says, and I quote: "I have booty calls on speed dial so thats not why I'm talking to you."

Surprisingly he is not hung up on. The conversation continues with him asking "Where are you from?"

Following her response I hear the following:

"New Orleans! I'm in New Orleans right now!"

We were of course in downtown Atlanta.

Winner!!!

An Update is in Order

Well I guess it's been long enough without a real update. Might as well say whats going on in our lives.

We left to go to Alberta for Christmas early on December 23. Upon arriving at the airport we were curtly told that we were being taken off of the Chicago leg of our flight and put on a flight through Denver. This was to delay our arrival in Edmonton by 2 hours.

Upon arriving in Denver we were told that our airplane had not yet arrived and our flight would be delayed until they were good and ready to send us to Edmonton. Surprisingly this was only an hour delay. We arrived in Edmonton 3 hours late upset that we purposefully spent more money on our flights to avoid getting into town in the later afternoon.

Oh well. We were there and it was Christmas.

We stopped to finish up some shopping on our way to my parent's house. (We didn't really do much in terms of gifts this year. We really just got people a few trinkets from our travels and then framed some photos we've taken over the last year. Inexpensive and homemadeish gifts.)

We spent the next few days doing Christmas the way only my family can.

Loud.

Overdone.

Messy.

Gouty.

But so much fun.

It was great to be with my family again. We've been lucky this year having seen quite a bit of both sides of our family.

After Christmas it was time to head back home to Atlanta. We took a red eye arriving in Atlanta around 11 am. I was 45 minutes late for work (supposed to be there at noon but our flight was delayed out of Chicago so I didn't get there until 12:45. Oh well.)

Swell and I both worked the day we returned. We were exhausted for the next few days and have just found the time and energy to unpack and clean our house. We received lots of neat things from family from books and clothes, to Wii's and DVDs to money and souvenirs. It was a great week at home.

Since returning to Atlanta we've been working and growing to despise it here even more. Swell has gone off the deep end at work. Everyday I am required to hear story after story of what a terrible place it is.

I've had enough.

I told her that no matter what she wasn't allowed to work there past mid-February.

Luckily we officially have other work beginning mid-February. On Feb. 13th or 14th we'll be flying out of ATL to head to Nome, Alaska. We will work for three weeks and then fly to Portland, OR to visit Swell's Parents. After the amazing time we will have there we will fly out of Portland to visit Gilda in Maui.

Its a sacrifice for us but its our turn to visit. It will be tough to spend 11 days in Maui but its what we do for friends.

We're good people.

The best people.

But now I have to get into swimsuit shape. Haven't had a Dr. Pepper all year and we're eating at home more than ever before. Saves money and its better for us.

Following that visit its back to Portland for a couple of days and then we'll fly back to the ATL and have our nephew Cami come and visit for a week. Following that we'll be dirt poor and need to do two things 1) Get our place fixed up to sell and 2) Head back to Nome to work some more.

We'll be in Nome for three weeks and then off until sometime in June. After the June trip it's my sister's wedding (!?) and then off to Romania with my other sisters.

We've got a lot planned. Here's hoping we can sell our place to at least save some money, if not make some money.

We were considering going to South Africa in March but we're not now. Also considering going to a conference in London in April but I don't think we'll do that either. Too expensive.

So I've given notice at both my jobs. Easy to give notice when you're an independent contractor.

Me Hey employer. I'm not available after mid-February anymore. Nice working with you.
Employer Ok. We'll miss you.

Swell hasn't quit yet but is looking forward to doing it.

Well she wants me to do it for her... via email... because she's a scaredy cat. Doesn't like to disappoint people.

Ironically it doesn't seem to phase her that by not quitting she'll disappoint me.

We're very excited that Swell didn't get sick this Christmas. We think its because we traveled a lot less than usual and didn't go out into the wild and crazy malls.

We're also very excited to go to Nome and see what that is all about.

One of these days we're going to have to settle down.

But not until Summer 2008 is over...


at the earliest.

Ignore this post unless you're family

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JDL and PA!

Hope you both have a great day and an even better year.

RIP

Destiny,
I liked it when you sat on my lap. You were too big to sit on my lap! Swell liked it when you tackled her last Christmas. She thought you were going to stop before you got to her but you ran her right over!



RIP the best big dog we ever did know. It wasn't nice of you to leave us without warning but we'll always remember you fondly.







Sorry JDL

01/01/08

Happy New Year

and if I hear one more person say Happy New Years I will scream.

My first day of 2008 will be spent working. Yippee!

p.s. For God's sake Dick Clark, just retire already.