Sasha's Day

Crap. The alarm's going off. Now she's going to start moving around, and I'm going to have to change my spot. Wait, she's going back to sleep for a few more minutes. Fine, be late to work. See if I care. I can out-sleep you any day.

Oh, that was a good stretch. Now that she's gotten up, I'm just going to scoot over into the warm spot she left. No need to let it cool down. Wait, it sounds like she's pouring fresh food into my bowl. Why does she make me get down to eat breakfast? Would it not be just as easy to pour that food up here where I already am? Now I have to climb all the way down the stairs and go eat out of a bowl like a dog. Do I look like a dog? 

I do love to drink out of my water bowl, though. This new waterfall thing is just like the bathroom sink I used to be able to drink out of. Better even, since it's at my height. As long as she keeps it full, we'll be fine. I wish I could figure out how to drink out of it without getting water all over my mouth. Let me just shake my head a few times and get the water onto the walls and off my whiskers. There, that's better.

She's not moving fast enough. I'd better go sit by the door so she remembers where it is. I don't understand why it takes her so long to get ready. I just lick my coat a few times and call it done.

Thank goodness. Finally, I can go back to bed. Wait, I forgot I don't have to wait for late morning before any light comes through the window. Now that we're in Florida, there's light all the time. There's that perfect spot on the floor next to the bed where the light is coming in directly from the window. I think I'll just stop here for a while before getting back up into bed.

Ugh. I hate that climb up onto the bed. At least now I have my choice of spots. I don't know why she stays up here a the top of the bed and doesn't even cover her head with all these sheets and blankets. I'm climbing way down underneath the comforter to the end of the bed. I just need to make sure I make a noticeable lump so she can find me when she gets home.

Geez, she's loud. What do you mean, where am I? Where am I almost EVERY day? Right here under the comforter. I'll just wiggle a little bit and let her know I heard her, but I'm not sure I'm coming out yet. Well, okay, I guess I'm a little lonely. I'll just go greet her. But I'm going to be just as loud as she is. I still don't know why she asks me how my day was. Do you really think one day in my life looks any different from another? I'm just going to yell a little louder and see if she'll get out the Fancy Feast. Maybe if I look pointedly at the pantry long enough, she'll get a clue. 

Okay, she's either not terribly bright, or she's deliberately ignoring me. I want my egg carton full of Fancy Feast! Alright, I'm pulling out the big guns. Let me just climb up into her lap and see how fast she runs for the Fancy Feast. Oh, even better, she's got the laptop out. I'll just snuggle up on the laptop. She'll get so irritated that she'll get me that Fancy Feast before the next commercial is out. Ha! I knew it would work. At least I've gotten faster at this than I used to be. I finally figured out that all I have to do is flip- the egg carton over, and all the Fancy Feast pieces are on the floor. Crack for cats. Meow.

What now? She's coming at me with that plastic syringe again to stick in my mouth. Is this really necessary? It's so humiliating. And it tastes bad. I'm only letting her get away with it because of the Fancy Feast.

Are we ever going to go back to bed? I think I'll just curl up on my head next to her on the couch. Then I won't miss it when it's time to get up. Look, and here are some socks I can sit on. One more thing that can smell a little more like me.

What happened? It's dark. Did she go to bed without me? How did that happen? Let me just make a quick stop at the potty before I climb back up there. I'd better scratch a few more times just to be sure there's plenty of dust in the air and no one can smell anything. Litter dust is so much better. 

Oh, good, she's on her back. Let me just knead a little and push everything around to make the softest sleeping spot on her tummy. There we go. Backside up by her face, looking straight out to the end of the bed. Perfect. What a lovely day.

Drive-Through Window

All restaurants are drive-through if you try hard enough --unknown

One of the many tasks that must be undertaken when relocating is to renew your driver's license. Sadly, they do not care that the man who took your last driver's license photo got you to laugh at just the right moment so that your current picture has you smiling, your head tilted slightly, your eyes open. Or that you were having a good hair day. Or that you finally remembered to put on lipstick before stepping in front of the camera. Nor do they care that you have not entirely detached from your old locale and would just as soon keep one last remnant of the address you had for thirteen years. They also do not care that you have a million and one other things to be doing during their convenient hours of 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Just so you know. No, your new state requires you to go through it all again, and then they charge you $56.50 for the privilege. Even though you have a perfectly good license already that's hardly ever been used and practically right out of the shrinkrap.

So yesterday I put on my big girl panties and hauled myself over to the tax assessor's office to take care of this dreaded task, made even more daunting by the fact that it was a hot Florida afternoon, and my office is already a little on the warm side. The good news is that I only had to walk two blocks. Florida DMV, or at least Alachua County, has an agreement with the tax assessor's office to provide driver's license and car registration services, and much to my (albeit reluctant) satisfaction, the county administration building is just up the street from my work. Even better, I walked in to find that there was no line. At least this would be over with quickly. Or so I thought. That will teach me to think so much.

Let me stop here a moment to say that the folks at the Alachua County Tax Assessor's office are fabulous and offered excellent customer service. I truly went in expecting to find staff who didn't particularly want to be there and would be as cranky as the day was hot. I was delighted to find that this was one of the few times in my life when I was proven wrong. The events that followed are no reflection on the staff's efforts to assist me. I don't think.

I had not yet reached the check in desk when I was greeted by a cheery woman who appeared unnaturally tall. Being as short as I am, this is not an unusual occurrence, so I quickly dismissed it as unimportant. I might have stood on my toes slightly. "Welcome to Florida!" she clapped when she heard I had just moved her from out-of-state. I thought I was the only one who clapped when excited. Nevertheless, she seemed genuinely pleased that I was there, and I was feeling a bit like company come to call. She sent me over to a nearby counter where another clerk called out "Come on over!" I was starting to wonder if I should have brought a covered dish.

As I handed over my current license, a customer at the next station gathered her things and prepared to make her way to the exit, pausing to speak to my clerk. "Thank you so much, Holly, you were very helpful," she called on her way out. The clerk gave her a big grin, waved, and responded that she was glad to help. She continued waving until the woman was out of sight, then she leaned towards me conspiratorially.

"I don't know where she got that, 'cause my name's not Holly," she confided. 

This was fine by me. I didn't care what her name was as long as we got this done with minimal fuss and muss and a picture that wouldn't force me to accidentally lose my new license and need to have the whole thing done again with a new hairdo. Funny, this woman seemed rather tall, too. Do they just grow them big here in Florida?

I rustled my bag of paperwork and documents and said I hoped I had everything she'd need. "Oh, don't worry, we'll get you set in a jiffy," she assured me. The smile fell from her face a bit when she looked at my current license, which she was now holding in her hand. "Well, not too long, anyway," she amended. Florida has quite the complex system for getting driver's licenses and car registrations, made more difficult by the fact that, evidently, the folks in here Florida don't trust the folks up in North Carolina. They won't accept my NC license as valid ID. Ironic considering there's great discussion in Raleigh at the moment about just what kind of identification is necessary to vote. In any case, this necessitated my bringing my social security card, birth certificate, and several pieces of mail to prove that I am now living in their hot, dry, flat state. As though I would want a Florida driver's license for any other reason. I held my breath as she thumbed through my mail, finally putting it down on the counter and beginning to type.

I pulled out my wallet and laid my fingers on my debit card, expecting to be asked to cough up some funds for this little piece of plastic any minute. The request didn't come. Instead, after watching the person at the next counter explain that she's not responsible for the crack across the center of her license which is now preventing anyone from seeing the expiration date, I began drumming my fingers. It was warm in there, but then, I've found it to be warm about anywhere I go now that I'm in Florida. I knew things were not going well when my clerk, AKA Holly, leaned forward with her chin in her hand and stared at her computer screen. 

"Well, Hon," she sighed, "why don't you go ahead and take your vision test. We can do that while we wait."

Wait? Wait for what? Not wanting to slow the process down any further, I moved over to the machine that looked like binoculars on some kind of game station and read off the requested line. I was feeling rather proud until AKA Holly asked me to read the next smallest line. I blinked a couple of times but tried to sound more confident than I was as I rattled off the next row. Congratulations, I was told, I have 20/20 vision with my glasses. Well, of course I do, I thought. I paid a lot of money for that vision. And quite stylish vision, at that.

Holly continued to stare at her computer screen, but now she was making faces. Hoping to move things along somehow, I brightly asked "So, it doesn't like me, huh?" She smiled at me and apologized, saying that her computer was stuck in some way. At least we couldn't blame it on my picture, since we hadn't taken one yet.

It was when Holly called her colleague Nicole over (and I'm pretty sure Nicole was really her name) that I realized these folks were standing on a stage. That's what I needed in my life. A stage to stand on wherever I went. Holly and Nicole poked at the computer for a while before Nicole said "You're going to have to call Tallahassee." That sounded ominous.  Holly apologized again and went off to make her phone call.

Nicole and I chatted a bit before I asked if she knew where a Coke machine was. This was clearly going to require caffeine. "You want a Coke," she asked. "I"ll get you one." I began politely refusing, but I'll only protest a free Coke for so long, so eventually, I graciously accepted. Minutes later, Holly had returned, and I had a Coke in hand, though I was beginning to think that Coke was going to be my lunch. 

Holly was finally able to bring up a completed record for me. She began squinting at my current driver's license, then turned to squint at the computer screen. "Shoot. Tallahassee misspelled your middle name." Resisting the urge to say that a city can't spell or misspell anything, and that I highly doubted everyone in the city of Tallahassee had made this mistake, I took a bigger swig of Coke. "They spelled your middle name Genne--what in the world is that?" I silently asked the same question, since my middle name is Jeane. But I was glad for them to call me anything they wanted at this point.

Holly suggested we go ahead and take the picture, and since I was up for anything that would move this along, I moved over to the blue screen. Beginning to smile, Holly and I quickly realized that the purse of a woman standing nearby was blocking the camera. Ever helpful, Nicole gently tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked if she could move her purse. I suggested she could switch places with me if she liked, but no one else seemed to think this was a good idea. As it turns out, Holly is a pretty good photographer, and so a few minutes later, we had a decent snapshot that met with my approval. It still wasn't as good as my last one.

I finished my Coke as Holly went off to battle Tallahassee again and get my middle name changed. By now, my feet and back hurt a little, my lunch period was over, and I could only hope no one got too close to me lest they be able to tell I was sweating to beat the band. Holly returned, a big grin on he face, and reported that everything seemed to be in place. Her computer was still moving slowly, so I began doing leg lifts to occupy myself why she sent the license information to the printer. I was already sweating. I may as well burn a few calories while I'm at it. Finally, she held up her hands in a big victory sign and said "Alright, off to the printer! You're ready!" 

"Woo hoo!" I agreed, trying to look more enthusiastic than I felt. I was a not just a bit tired and cranky at this point, especially considering I didn't even want the thing, but the staff was so nice and trying so hard to get me out of there that it was hard to be upset. At least, that's what I thought until Holly turned to the central printer only to find that the top was off and a maintenance man covered in grease was standing nearby, scratching his head. I looked away. This was not going to be pretty, and I didn't want to see this train wreck.

The train wreck must have been a fairly small, quiet one in which Holly had a serious conversation with the maintenance man because a few minutes later, she was handing me my new license and asking me for my debit card. By this time, I was happy to fork over $56.50. Holly and Nicole thanked me several times for my patience, Holly adding that she'd see me next week when I came back to get my car registered.

I have to go back?

Technology: Friend or Foe?

It seems to be quite de rigueur to frown upon those who spend a great deal of time with technology. Studies indicate that "screen time" is bad for us. Considering how many screens we use on a daily basis, this should probably have me concerned. Computers, phones, iPods and MP3 players, games, video conversations, webinars, television and movies, and general online access to tasks formerly accomplished in other ways make it seem as though it would be impossible to avoid screen time to some extent.Statistics indicate that few of us are without televisions, phones, computers, or Netflix subscriptions. Two years ago, a major study indicated that 76% of all people in the US had a computer. But multiple sources are encouraging us to turn away from our devices. Go outside, get some fresh air. Exercise. Read (these sources seemingly having forgotten that much online work IS reading). Walk a dog (no one has indicated that it necessarily has to be your own dog). 

It's hard to imagine putting away my phone, computer, TV, or iPod, though I've done it before. Right now, these are my lifeline. I'm in a new city, geographically separated from those with whom I'm used to communicating on a regular basis. Having these devices at my fingertips has made the transition so much easier. Twenty or thirty years ago, when you moved away, you had to rely on letters and phone calls (and expensive ones, at that) to keep in touch. You had to change your bank accounts. You had to have a newspaper mailed if you wanted to keep up with news of your former home. You had to become familiar with new local television shows and radio stations. Drive around with a torn paper map and hope you remembered how to get to the grocery store. Have pictures of your new surroundings and activities printed and mailed. 

My technology has changed all those things completely. I not only can talk with friends and family as much as I want without much cost, I can see them in their pajamas on my computer screen while we chat. I'm emailing with friends so much that the distance between us seems minimal. I didn't have to make difficult decisions about what music to bring with me, because almost all my music is on my cute little pink iPod, and I can rock out to the same tunes I always have. I didn't have to change credit unions because I can do almost all my banking online, and so paying bills will continue to work the same way. (Oh, joy.) The navigation system on my phone has gotten me anywhere I wanted to go in my new city (turns out, I didn't need it to help me find Target...I have a personal radar for that). My Netflix subscription is easily portable, so I can continue my obsession with The Good Wife with nary an interruption. And, thanks to my parents, I now have a larger TV on which to watch it.  So the idea of not checking in on my computer, turning on the TV, or recharging my phone seem a little impossible at the moment.

I've rolled my eyes a bit when I hear people say things like "he's always on his computer." What does that mean? I don't understand.  Since you can do an incredibly number of things on your computer,  I can't see how that says much. I could be paying bills, watching a movie, emailing a friend, working from home, buying my hair conditioner at Amazon, clipping coupons for an upcoming trip to the grocery store, or making reservations. If I'm on my phone, I might be talking to someone, but I might be getting directions, checking the movie theater schedule, updating my calendar, taking or posting pictures, tracking calorie or exercise intake (okay, unlikely, but possible), or getting a weather report. I use my computer and phone to keep any variety of accounts up to date, get information before calling or visiting somewhere, and just take care of personal business. I've used my Netflix subscription for everything from movies and TV shows to documentaries about Antarctica and fitness program videos. I finished listening to the same audio books I began back in Chapel Hill. It seems a little unfair to view all of these as mindless entertainment.

That said, as comforting as I'm finding technology at the moment, I'll acknowledge that variety in life is not a bad thing. When some statistic or report indicates that you shouldn't spend all your time in front of a screen, well, isn't it true that you shouldn't spend all your time doing pretty much anything? Reading can be both entertainment and a learning tool, and you'll never find me not reading something, but should I spend ALL my time in front of a book (in any format?). Not that I haven't tried. Regular exercise is vital, but should you spend eight hours per day at the gym? Marriage is a special institution involving commitment to a single person, but does that mean you should never spend time alone or with other people? I love my cat, and probably vice versa, but if I stay home too long, I can practically hear her ask if I don't have somewhere else to be. Travel offers opportunities for developing new understandings of the world and other cultures, but it sure does feel good to go home, doesn't it? (In fairness, that might just be me.) Should you spend every weekend in front of a ball game? Or at the beach? Or with your grandmother? Or working on your house? Or in front of the computer? Some balance is in order here.

Twice, I've shut off my TV for a month, partially just to prove I could do it, but also to demonstrate that there were other things I enjoy doing. I'm in a new place, a perfect chance to start some new habits. I don't think I'll be turning off the TV, computer, or phone anytime soon. I'm extremely grateful to have these for keeping friends and family close and for making the transition from the familiar to the not-so-familiar a little easier. And I'm okay with some heavy technology use for a while. The trick will be to turn to other things as well. My new city has lots of activities and experiences to offer. I might see an ad about these offerings on TV. I can learn more about it on my computer. And my phone will help get me to it.