WARNING: Shameless advertising
I've been getting stopped a lot on the street lately about my unique (read: awesome) shoes. I purchased a pair of Vibram Five Fingers at the beginning of this year.
Now, I'm not a normal girl when it comes to shoes. I wear them out constantly and don't see any point in spending hundreds of dollars for a pair of high heels that I would only wear once in a while and could potentially be ruined by a host of things (like getting chewed up by a dog). $30-$40 is what I like to keep my budget around but in this case, I had to break my rule.
These shoes may seem unorthodox but I use them for everything. Going to the gym? Vibrams. Rafting the river? Vibrams. Walking around campus? Vibrams. They're super light so it makes running easier, washable and flexible just like water shoes, and force the alignment of your toes and feet all while promoting correct foot movement.
To put it simply, Vibrams are the shit.
Mine still are in great condition and these things have been through Hell and back. I've taken them in the river, on the beach, to the gym, on campus, and on road trips. If they get dirty or messy, I just throw them in the washing machine. You heard right, in the washing machine.
And by the way, you don't need socks. That's always a plus. I can't count how many times I've tried to find socks before heading off to the gym.
These are the kind I have, but they come in a variety of styles:
Vibram Five Fingers Komodo Sport LS for Women - Black In Size: 39 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Okay, shameless advertising over.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
"Well I'd like to talk to your manager!"
Disclaimer: This blog entry is merely airing my grievances about what I run into almost every day at work....
Yes, I am a woman. Yes I am 21. I am not however, stupid. If I don't know an answer about one specific product out of the 50,000 products in the store, I am more than capable than finding the answer out. Do not treat me like I am stupid because your question is off the wall and I have not had the opportunity to find it out.
More frequently than I care to admit, customers feel as though they can treat me like I am below them. I have been called stupid, a liar, uninformed, and talked down to (mostly by older men but you'd be surprised how many women look down their nose at me) because I apparently can't know much about anything for a variety of reasons. An innumerable amount of times people ask me a question and then I watch them as they go directly to a man (older or younger) and ask the same exact question. It is hard to believe for some people that I know my way around a tractor, or can lift bark mulch or bricks.
"The customer is always right" has gone so far that it allows people to come in to any store and treat the employee like garbage because the employee has to put up with it - or else "I want to speak to your manager" enters the conversation. Many come in looking for a fight and are just waiting for the employee to say something back so the customer can continue to get the employee in trouble.
While I know there are plenty of employees in any store that can be the north end of a southbound horse, I am privileged to know many at the place that I work that bend over backwards to go above and beyond for the customer. And I'll tell you this much, if something does go wrong, I promise you that it isn't the store or employee that is trying to screw you over.
What about you? What are your experiences with people being rude?
Yes, I am a woman. Yes I am 21. I am not however, stupid. If I don't know an answer about one specific product out of the 50,000 products in the store, I am more than capable than finding the answer out. Do not treat me like I am stupid because your question is off the wall and I have not had the opportunity to find it out.
"The customer is always right" has gone so far that it allows people to come in to any store and treat the employee like garbage because the employee has to put up with it - or else "I want to speak to your manager" enters the conversation. Many come in looking for a fight and are just waiting for the employee to say something back so the customer can continue to get the employee in trouble.
While I know there are plenty of employees in any store that can be the north end of a southbound horse, I am privileged to know many at the place that I work that bend over backwards to go above and beyond for the customer. And I'll tell you this much, if something does go wrong, I promise you that it isn't the store or employee that is trying to screw you over.
What about you? What are your experiences with people being rude?
Thursday, August 16, 2012
"We're going to camp, damnit."
Do you know how hard it is to find a single tent site to camp in for just one night on the Oregon coast in the summer? On top of that, do you know how hard it is to photograph whales on a moving boat from 100 yards away when the whale is being one lazy S.O.B? I do.
Brian Simshauser (the boyfriend) and I decided to get away and take a jaunt up the Oregon coast to Depoe Bay, our northernmost destination. Taking Wednesday evening and most of Thursday, we had the chance to adventure up and down the coastline, taking in the gorgeous sites (when the fog wasn't so thick you could cut it with a steak knife).
Although it was a fantastic trip, it had it's share of, shall we say.... mishaps? Finding a single tent site in any state campground was damn near impossible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to turn my nose up at a motel, but after not being able to camp as much as we wanted on our California trip, we were going to find a campground damnit and pitch a tent. It was the principle of the thing, you know? After passing by at least three campgrounds that were full, I finally pulled into Beverly Beach State Park to just ask the kind gentleman at the registration desk if he knew of any nearby grounds that still had availability. After inquiring and being pointed out on a map the only campground the man knew of that was open, he apparently decided to double check his reservations....
" Oh, wait a minute..." I bat my eyelashes. "...looks like I have one hook-up spot left if you want it."
" Really? Gosh, luck sure seems to be on my side tonight. Thank you so much!"
"No problem at all, that'll be twenty-six dollars, miss. You'll be on lot H12. Oh, and that's one of the nice big ones!"
"Thanks again for everything, have a great night!"
And this is why I'm glad I have boobs.
Back in the car....
I return to the car with the assigned site and hand over the map to Brian.
" And that's why you're the brains of the operation, Sam..."
With a smooth equitable division of the responsibilities, we now have a tent set up and blankets/sleeping bags all unrolled. It's 9:30 pm.
" I'm hungry."
A seafood restaurant that is quaint, has Discovery Channel (with Shark Week to boot?) on the big screen and serves some decent clam chowder that's open 24 hours? Sign me up.
We got back to camp after fetching firewood and spent the better part of an hour trying to harness some sort of heat in order to make s'mores. As Brian was tending to the infernal thing (pun intended), I made us both a s'more. They were delicious, but I'm still on the fence as to whether the five minutes of gooey heaven was worth all the swearing, jumping out of the way of sparks, and thumb carpal tunnel from the lighter.
I woke up the next morning and made a sizable fire within five to ten minutes including time spent searching for smaller sticks to use as kindling. At that point I felt like I should be grunting in success like I imagine the neanderthals did at the first sight of flames. Brian packed up the tent while I did general clean up and sleeping bag duty. I initiated the Simshauser camping rule for the first time: Each person picks up ten pieces of trash from the campsite after all of your personal trash has already been collected. Leave it cleaner than you found it. As I sat down after finding my ten pieces, I noticed Brian looking at me with a small grin on his face. Figuring he must have realized what I was doing, I chastised, "Don't you smile at me".
Do you know how hard it is to photograph a gray whale when the ocean, boat, and whale aren't cooperating? This difficult:
I can see how sailors could mistake whales for sea serpents. Strangely, I didn't hear as many "ooh"s and "aahhh"s as I did "C'mon! Get that tail up! Oh come on you lazy whale!" from the skipper. All things considered, whale watching has definitely been one of the favorite things I have ever done. Scratch that off my bucket list.
I hadn't been to the Sea Lion Caves outside of Florence since I was little so we decided to stop by and take a look. It hadn't changed much from what I remember of it (which I can't say is spectacularly clear) - but I don't remember as many rude German tourists that cut lines, shoved their way through crowds, cut people off, and intruded on multiple peoples' photo ops. I wish I knew German better, I would have told them politely (read: not so politely) that they should take a long walk off a short pier.
On the way home, I apparently fell asleep for quite some minutes and my dignity failed me. My jaw slackened to (what I can only imagine to be) the floor. So there I was, a snoring venus fly trap all the while Brian was trying to contain his laughter.
" (hahahaha) No, Sam. You looked so adorable! (hahahaha) You seriously (hahaha) looked ridiculously cute.(hahaha)"
" If by 'cute' you mean 'stupid' then yeah, I agree."
 |
| This is on Driftwood Beach, and I'm a foot from the water if you'd believe it. |
Although it was a fantastic trip, it had it's share of, shall we say.... mishaps? Finding a single tent site in any state campground was damn near impossible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to turn my nose up at a motel, but after not being able to camp as much as we wanted on our California trip, we were going to find a campground damnit and pitch a tent. It was the principle of the thing, you know? After passing by at least three campgrounds that were full, I finally pulled into Beverly Beach State Park to just ask the kind gentleman at the registration desk if he knew of any nearby grounds that still had availability. After inquiring and being pointed out on a map the only campground the man knew of that was open, he apparently decided to double check his reservations....
" Oh, wait a minute..." I bat my eyelashes. "...looks like I have one hook-up spot left if you want it."
" Really? Gosh, luck sure seems to be on my side tonight. Thank you so much!"
"No problem at all, that'll be twenty-six dollars, miss. You'll be on lot H12. Oh, and that's one of the nice big ones!"
"Thanks again for everything, have a great night!"
And this is why I'm glad I have boobs.
Back in the car....
I return to the car with the assigned site and hand over the map to Brian.
" And that's why you're the brains of the operation, Sam..."
With a smooth equitable division of the responsibilities, we now have a tent set up and blankets/sleeping bags all unrolled. It's 9:30 pm.
" I'm hungry."
A seafood restaurant that is quaint, has Discovery Channel (with Shark Week to boot?) on the big screen and serves some decent clam chowder that's open 24 hours? Sign me up.
We got back to camp after fetching firewood and spent the better part of an hour trying to harness some sort of heat in order to make s'mores. As Brian was tending to the infernal thing (pun intended), I made us both a s'more. They were delicious, but I'm still on the fence as to whether the five minutes of gooey heaven was worth all the swearing, jumping out of the way of sparks, and thumb carpal tunnel from the lighter.
I woke up the next morning and made a sizable fire within five to ten minutes including time spent searching for smaller sticks to use as kindling. At that point I felt like I should be grunting in success like I imagine the neanderthals did at the first sight of flames. Brian packed up the tent while I did general clean up and sleeping bag duty. I initiated the Simshauser camping rule for the first time: Each person picks up ten pieces of trash from the campsite after all of your personal trash has already been collected. Leave it cleaner than you found it. As I sat down after finding my ten pieces, I noticed Brian looking at me with a small grin on his face. Figuring he must have realized what I was doing, I chastised, "Don't you smile at me".
Do you know how hard it is to photograph a gray whale when the ocean, boat, and whale aren't cooperating? This difficult:
 |
| Thar she blows! |
I can see how sailors could mistake whales for sea serpents. Strangely, I didn't hear as many "ooh"s and "aahhh"s as I did "C'mon! Get that tail up! Oh come on you lazy whale!" from the skipper. All things considered, whale watching has definitely been one of the favorite things I have ever done. Scratch that off my bucket list.
I hadn't been to the Sea Lion Caves outside of Florence since I was little so we decided to stop by and take a look. It hadn't changed much from what I remember of it (which I can't say is spectacularly clear) - but I don't remember as many rude German tourists that cut lines, shoved their way through crowds, cut people off, and intruded on multiple peoples' photo ops. I wish I knew German better, I would have told them politely (read: not so politely) that they should take a long walk off a short pier.
 |
| I was hugging the sea lion... |
 |
| ....Brian was molesting it. |
" (hahahaha) No, Sam. You looked so adorable! (hahahaha) You seriously (hahaha) looked ridiculously cute.(hahaha)"
" If by 'cute' you mean 'stupid' then yeah, I agree."
Monday, July 2, 2012
Catch up and Travels
It's been so long since I've written on here, and I have my sister to thank for inspiring me to get back on. So much has happened since my last post. I left France, went back to school, got a job, and am now trying to enjoy my time off during the summer.
My flight out of Paris was of course the only one delayed, but I ended up cutting my flight down to only one connection, which is both good and bad. I managed to get the phone number of some young man that went out of his way to help me with my baggage at the airport (That's always nice isn't it?).
I got a job at Lowe's in Roseburg, which I'm enjoying to the fullest. I love the people I work with and the job allows me to go to school during the week. I've been working there since the end of February, and it's been a blast.
This last term I managed to pull of straight A's; how I managed that, I don't know. I was spending the weekends working, and going to school during the week. It still surprises me that I managed to get all my assignments done.
Summer has now begun and my first trip was to Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Regardless of the reason, I was anxious to travel again and this provided the perfect opportunity. I geocached in 3 more states, and got to revisit Beale Street. My mother, father and I traveled to St. Louis as well (it was either that, or Memphis again). The Gateway Arch gave us a beautiful view of St. Louis just as the sun was setting. The Anheuser-Busch Factory and the St. Louis Zoo were our two main stops. I got to see the famous Budweiser Clydesdales and braved the heat to have a great day at the zoo. In Arkansas, a lake house provided relief from the heat outside as well as water fun. My flight plans there were Portland --> Salt Lake City --> Atlanta --> Little Rock. By the time they lay me in the ground, I'm going to have Salt Lake City's airport down pat. It's where I always end up on a trip. Here are some photos of the adventures down South...
I got a job at Lowe's in Roseburg, which I'm enjoying to the fullest. I love the people I work with and the job allows me to go to school during the week. I've been working there since the end of February, and it's been a blast.
This last term I managed to pull of straight A's; how I managed that, I don't know. I was spending the weekends working, and going to school during the week. It still surprises me that I managed to get all my assignments done.
Summer has now begun and my first trip was to Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Regardless of the reason, I was anxious to travel again and this provided the perfect opportunity. I geocached in 3 more states, and got to revisit Beale Street. My mother, father and I traveled to St. Louis as well (it was either that, or Memphis again). The Gateway Arch gave us a beautiful view of St. Louis just as the sun was setting. The Anheuser-Busch Factory and the St. Louis Zoo were our two main stops. I got to see the famous Budweiser Clydesdales and braved the heat to have a great day at the zoo. In Arkansas, a lake house provided relief from the heat outside as well as water fun. My flight plans there were Portland --> Salt Lake City --> Atlanta --> Little Rock. By the time they lay me in the ground, I'm going to have Salt Lake City's airport down pat. It's where I always end up on a trip. Here are some photos of the adventures down South...
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| Downtown Hardy, Arkansas |
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| Mum and Dad! |
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| Great Aunt Pearly and Great Uncle Luther |
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| Aunt Marlene and Cousin (once removed) David |
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| Meramec Caverns - hiding place of Jesse James |
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| St Louis! |
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| View from atop the Arch |
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| A hippo. Underwater. |
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| Those penguins were splashing everyone! |
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| My mom's favorite |
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| Jake |
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