Dots: The Best Candy in the World!

Just when you thought your morning commute was comfortably boring...
Okay. I haven't been at work even an hour yet but i still feel somewhat itchy and uncomfortable. I'm suspicious of my own clothes. "What the crap are you talking about??" you ask? I'm sorry to tell you this, but I have another bug story. With a completely unrelated story wrapped inside it like one of those Combo pretzel snacks that I love so much. Anyway, I digress. Alright, the first part of the story contains no bugs but is weird just the same and I saw it on my commute so i thought i'd throw it in there. Care if you will. If you don't...what better do you have to do?
As usual, I'm cruising down I-40 at speeds close to 80 mph, uninterrupted until I reach the I-40/Beltline split (aka:exit 301). Well, actually, traffic was backed up to about 306. I was mildly annoyed as I was running about five minutes behind my usual commute time already. So anyway, I'm sitting there enjoying being leered at by these complete idiots in a construction pickup next to me(there are three of 'em crammed in the cab). Anyone who knows me will know how annoying this is to me. ticks me off quite a bit, actually. As if being stuck in traffic isn't bad enough but being gawked at by a truckful of moronic dinguses (Matt's word) in the vehicle next to you the entire time, just adds to the pleasure of the experience. Weird...I jsut had deja vu. Anyway again. I cranked the music up and kept my eyes straight ahead. We crawled forward at about six mph for several miles, stopping frequently along the way to enjoy the roadside view. I was thinking there must be some kind of wreck or something up ahead to cause this kind of back-up. Well...when we actually got up to the scene of whatever had happened, there was a highway patrol car on the right hand shoulder of the road, pulled over behind what looked like one of those navy-blue under-cover-cop Crown Victorias. what I found strange was that the Crown Victoria was completely covered in pine branches and green pine needles. completely covered. One of the back tail lights was busted out and i'm pretty sure the windshield was cracked. After passing this spectacle, of course, traffic picked up and I arrived at work, a whopping fifteen minutes late. guess i'll be here till five-fifteen today to appease my conscience. But yeah, if there's anyone out there who saw this and can enlighten me as to what happened, I'd appreciate it. I'm guessing either this guy got caught outside in some REEEALLY bad weather last night when the thunderstorms came through (really cool, by the way) or he's going above and beyond the call of duty to stay as "under cover" as an under-cover-cop Crown Victoria can to catch those crazy speeders on I-40....ridiculously so. Somebody buy this guy some doughnuts. Or some counseling for living through a storm experience like that.

So the commute continued.

I was driving along completely fine, flying toward cary at about 70mph all the way past NC State. It slowed down a bit and then I got on US 1 to complete the last five minutes or so of my drive to work. I'm almost there, what could go wrong, right? This is where the bug comes in. I think he waited until i relaxed a bit, having almost reached work, but also in heavy traffic, to come out and crawl up my arm. I felt something on my left arm and looked down, seeing what looked like one of those gigantic black ants. I can't be completely sure because I was trying to keep my eyes on the road. Well, what can a girl do in a situation like that? I started swatting at it and myself frantically, trying to kill it and only succeeding in knocking it onto my lap. I continued to swat but it disappeared and I had no idea where it went. Not a comfortable situation to find oneself in. Now about three minutes of my commute remained, including the world's longest stop light. I pulled into the parking lot at my office building as quickly as humanly possible, got out of the car, and proceeded to jump up and down maniacally, brushing my arms, legs, butt, and back with my hands as hard as i could go. I never said a word, but I was thinking "Get it off!! Get it off!!! Where is it??" Much to the amusement, I'm sure, of anyone watching from their office. No sign of the bug. Not in my seat, not on my clothes, not anywhere. My guess is it's lurking in my car waiting for me to attempt the drive to lunch when it will attack again.
Bugs are all well and good...until they invade your personal space.

Sadly, people, that's about all the update on life as I know it that I can give you at this time. Oh! Well except that my good and long-lost friend Shay will be coming down to NC next week and I can't wait to see her!! I'm going to drag her out somewhere to do something (not sure yet what)but whatever we do, I'm going to be so excited to see her that I'll probably annoy the poo out of her and make it impossible for her to enjoy herself anyway. Hopefully not. No, Shay, you can't back out now.
Still loving the job (and the regular paycheck), still loving my wonderful boyfriend and just-as-wonderful family. No, i've not moved out yet and yes, I'm still completely happy there.
Now for some shout-outs as I have nothing exciting going on in my life right this second and these folks do: A big "Woot woot!" to Craig, my best friend in college and now my brother-in-law, who just got a big fatty new job that's shaping up to rock completely. Another "Woot" to Jeffrey, who not only got a job offer last week for after he graduates in December, but also got a raise. Come on, people! You're eclipsing my First-Real-Adult-Job accomplishment! Also, I'm really, really glad Timmy and Laura made it home safe and sound from London, where they were on a train when the second bombing attempt was made. Where's my miniature red phone booth, hippie?! (just kidding)
And last, but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!to my friend Derrick who turns 25 today! We've spent over ten years tolerating each other's company in small doses but he always makes me laugh. usually at myself. He's not very funny. So happy birthday, D. and may this year be filled with good stuff.

Don't forget to stop and smell your local Subway employee.