A Busy Day

I got a lot done yesterday. Amber had to work from 1AM to 5AM to do some work, so she took the rest of the day off. We went in to Dickinson and had a big itinerary.

1. Cash machine, check!
2. New prescription sunglasses (that I got chewed out for spending too much on but they are fantastic), check!
3. Haircut, check!
4. BBQ lunch at JD's, check!
5. Swimming at the West River Community Center - Well, that did not work out because there were a ridiculous number of kids in the leisure pool (you got a singularly Christian holiday off and you got to go swimming?!) and there were not enough lifeguards, which provoked me to get a refund and chew out the guy at the front desk. Since that part of my day got my heart rate up - "If you advertise that the lap pool is open these posted hours, it had better be open if I come all the way from Medora!" - check!
6. Groceries, check! Wal-Mart is cheaper for anything that comes in a box, bag, or can, but the produce is better at Dan's Supermarket. I think most people like me who realize that end up stopping at both grocery stores while getting the groceries. It's inefficient. I hate Wal-Mart, but I eat too much to afford to get all my groceries at Dan's.
7. Car wash, check! My car had not been washed since August, still had mud from the Going-to-the-Sun Road on it, and was the same color as everyone else's car in North Dakota. I believe the color is called "mud." The Oldsmobile is nice and red and shiny now except for the growing rust areas I have been unable to impede.
8. I found my missing notepad, the NPS "Ten Standard Firefighting Orders" notepad that fits neatly into the uniform pocket. Asked whether I would be "screwed without it," I said, "No, but I would really like to find it, if you know what I mean."

Other items:
9. The loop road is open now, so no more complaining from people! That neither adds nor subtracts from my stress. I don't have to deal with the complaining as much, but instead I get the stress of paperwork and making sure I don't screw up, lest I go to jail.
10. I have seen two flights of sandhill cranes passing over, as I expected. Yippee!
11. Summer seasonal ranger Mary returned, supplanting my neighbor in the apartments. She seemed excited to be back, and immediately headed to Beach to hit all of its cultural hotspots.
12. I didn't write about this before, but I burned the back of my hand against the heating element of my oven. I'm not going to explain exactly how or why. It's getting better now.
13. I got a letter saying I was qualified for some Oregon State Parks job. I didn't realize that by applying for one position there, I was automatically being considered for other jobs! I guess that's OK with me!

Somebody called this morning and asked if Theodore Roosevelt National Park was "close to the Musical." I can't believe how many people come for the Musical first and the park second, third, or not at all. We got free tickets to the Medora Musical last year, to see opening night, which Amber blogged about back then. I would never pay to watch that cheesy show.

I'm nervous that my favorite TV shows, The Office and 30 Rock, are becoming worse and worse by the episode. The Office is unraveling, but still funny. 30 Rock is getting too predictable. NBC also launched a new show called Parks & Recreation, which is in every way The Office applied to a government setting. It hits too close to home to be funny to me. Why did they think this show was anything worth producing? Maybe I should read more books instead.