Speaking of Aurora...

Last night, I was on the road for exactly four and a half hours...which, if you ask me, is way too many. But the most amazing part of the horrible drive was the faint hues of the Aurora Borealis...the Northern Lights.

Now, I have never, up until this point, seen the Northern Lights, so it took me a while to figure out what I was even seeing. At first I thought it was the moon shining ridiculously brightly over a long horizon of clouds. But that seemed strange since it was more like the entire north eastern horizon was glowing. And as I precariously drove down Highway 81 toward Platteville, I noticed that the glow was changing, growing, moving. Then it hit me...and my foot hit the brakes.

After nearly causing a few accidents, I pulled off the road to a gravel road, parked and got out. There I stood, in the middle of nowhere just staring at the sky. What a sight it was. It wasn't that bright or clear, but still...amazing.

So, if you're in a clear area tonight, be sure to look up that the north eastern sky and maybe you too can experience the wonder.

Subway Gets Ugly

This week, I have experienced the worst Subway ever. Seriously. Last night, I went to said Subway to get some dinner circa 9:00 pm. I entered to the sight of a very wide-like butt sticking up just over the cash register and a muffled voice saying, "Um...hi." (She was apparently picking up something off the floor...or possibly licking the floor...not really sure.)

I thought to myself, "Sweet. This is the local moron stop. Service should be great."
"We...um...don't have any bread."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, out of bread."
"Like for a few minutes?"
"Well, it could be at least an hour...possibly all night."

Wow. Can someone please explain how a sub shop, whose livelihood seems to be dependent on the amount of bread they sell, runs out of that one primary and essencial product? But, giving them the benefit of the doubt (perhaps it was a managerial oversight or an incredibly good sales night) I decided to go back tonight. I made a fairly major mistake however. I asked a few questions. Apparently, that was against the rules at this Subway.

I first asked if they perhaps carried any parmesan-oregano bread. Most Subways have stopped carrying this bread, but sometimes I ask just to be sure.

"Um...do you mean the Italian herb and cheese?"
"No, but that will work fine. Do you carry spinach?"
"Subway doesn't do spinach."

Ok, so at this point, I'm still doing alright. I mean, I am feeling a bit sorry for the person on the other side of the counter who was not the brightest crayon in the box. But I'm still pretty satisfied, that is, until the lady wouldn't put the peppercorn-garlic sauce on my sub. One little spit of a squirt, and then it was "This is all we have of this sauce," followed by a blank stare.

That was about all I could handle. I quickly finished my order and got the heck out of there. Could someone please notify management? Seriously.

Favorite Part

My favorite part of today: getting my chin cracked open with a remote control...thanks Megan.

Ok, so it wasn't my favorite part, but it did really happen...and it really did hurt. And all over a Simpson's episode.

The Norovirus Made Me Do It

So, this morning, I was driving from Eau Claire to Bloomer, about a 35 minute drive. On my way, I'm listening to I-94, the all holiday radio station. The DJ began the news with the following story:

"The town of Bloomer continues to battle its epidemic of the norovirus. Bloomer Hospital is currently admitting new patients, but the assisted living facility will only be admitting patients with the norovirus symptoms which include vomiting, diareah, and high fever...."

Sweet. Bloomer...where I'm going. A terrible virus in epidemic proportions which is keeping kids out of school and knocking out the old person population quicker than usual....and I'm headed into the hot zone: the K-12 school building.

So far, I feel darn good...I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.