FIRE

Waking up at 5am on a Saturday to the sound of fire engines shouldn't have been too surprising as we live only a few blocks from a firehouse. But when the sound didn't fly by our house and instead stopped right outside our door, it got quite interesting. The building right next to us was obviously experiencing some sort of fire as the tenants were all outside on the sidewalk and the firemen were running around, looking like chickens with their heads cut off. We saw firemen climbing ladders, heard windows breaking, and heard mutterings of "second floor, faulty television wiring, candles..." from the people standing below our bedroom window. And that perfect parking space right on our street - not quite the best spot when it's RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BURNING BUILDING. As I watched from my post between venetian blind 10 and 11, I saw four trucks blocking all the cars in the vicinity and the firemen making a point to go around the little Civic. I thought we were in the clear. Then I heard someone say, "Does anybody know who's green car this is? It's going to get damaged...it should be moved." Grrreat. Out goes Adrian into the melee to back the car up a few feet so that the firemen have an easier route to clearing up the damage. Some guy mentions that there might be scratches on the car. Grrreat, Part 2. It was still dark then so we don't know how bad the damage is. I'm hoping "scratches" means a few small scratches. We'll see. It's 7:45am now - we haven't slept since we heard the sirens, they're still blocking us in, and now there's a huge pile of charred debris in front of the car. Hooray, it's Saturday.

Update: We were able to move the car at 8:15am and it doesn't look any more scratched up than it already was. Dirtier, for sure, but that's okay. The poor building is a mess. We feel so sad for all the people whose lives are affected by this fire. There is a Red Cross van parked on our street now. It's good to know that no one was hurt. All we can do is offer our help should it be needed and hope that everything is restored to a semi-normal status soon.

CLOSING THE GAP

Literally. I found out earlier this week that the Gap I'm working at is one of three that will be closing over the next few months. Ours is the first to close - our last day is December 31. I missed the meeting where everyone was told as I was away for the weekend, but I heard that I missed out on lots of emotion and pizza and chocolate. People knew it was bad when they saw the treats - we never get food at our meetings. Anyways, I wasn't too shocked by the news. It's not like it changes my life in any earth-shattering way. I do need to decide what I want to do now. My options include staying with the company and transferring to a new store or going cross-division to Banana Republic or Old Navy or just saying my fond farewells and leaving. I haven't made up my mind one way or the other just yet. I loved the fact that I could walk to this store - commuting isn't going to be as fun, even if it is just downtown. And the people at my store are so great - do I really want to go through having to meet new people when I've only just begun to get to know these peers? Decisions, decisions.

PET PEEVE #107

People who fart on airplanes. I don't care how bad of a stomachache you might get from holding them in, do it. Or, go to the bathroom and let them all out at once. Just don't fart while you're sitting next to me or even sitting in the cabin. Please, stop the madness.

WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

It's nice to live and work in a neighborhood where random people become familiar faces with time. The burrito place that Adrian and I go to is run by a very nice man and his wife, along with some other guys who know us by sight because we go there so often. Imagine my surprise when I saw the owner and his family come into the Gap the other day. I made a point to chat with the husband, even though the most I'd ever talked to him at the taqueria was to place my order with a "Yes, we're back" nod. He was very nice and made a point to say goodbye when he left. Yesterday, we went to the taqueria for the first time since seeing him at the Gap and he totally recognized me and, get this, gave us a discount on our order! How cool is that! Pays to make friends in the neighborhood.

THE COUPLE THAT VOTES TOGETHER...

Tomorrow, Adrian and I will go to somebody's garage on our block and vote together for the first time. This is quite momentous. Adrian has never voted in his life and I have only voted once. We have our sample ballots ready, we've read and discussed all the propositions and voted accordingly (and sometimes differently), and we've decided to write-in "Adrian Liang" for all those sections we have no clue about. How does Representative Liang sound? I can't say how the election will turn out, but I'm proud that we're finally exercising our rights.