Currently | Life Inside the Polar Vortex

Guys, it's COLD. Have you noticed? Because it is. It's really, really cold.

Life inside that light purple is ROUGH. I like to think that living in New York for 18 years prepared me for winter, but it was nothing like this; Long Island can get frigid when it wants to, but rarely did we have temperatures in the teens, let alone anything below that. So waking up, checking my weather app and seeing a big fat goose egg in front of that degree symbol? No. thank. you.

For the benefit of you lucky ducks outside the grips of that stupid lavender splotch, here's what my life currently looks like! (Post format borrowed from here.)

This picture was actually taken this past January, back when working in downtown Colorado Springs was enough of a novelty for me to feel that it was worth taking a picture in the snow. Nowadays I'm all about keeping my hands solidly in my pockets.

READING
My weather app, because on the off chance that the temperature reaches double digits, I want to witness this momentous occasion! (Today and yesterday have actually been solidly in the double digits! 27 is practically balmy when you're used to -2!)

LOVING
Boot socks and fleece-lined leggings. How did I ever survive winters without them?! I only have one pair of each, and I want about 40 more.

LISTENING
To my car struggle to start when it's -4 degrees and I need to go to work. (Poor Buzz. He deserved to live out his old age somewhere warm and dry, like Arizona. But instead he gets me, two winters of sub-zero temperatures and two cross-country road trips.)

THINKING
About how New York better freaking stay relatively warm. I will be there for Thanksgiving in two measly weeks (side note: YAY!), and I could sure use a respite from cold that freezes my nose hairs. Oh, you think I'm kidding.

IMPRESSING
Myself, every time I force myself outside. Seriously. Just going to and from work every day is a moral victory.

WISHING
For NO MORE SNOW. We haven't gotten that much, which means the roads have only been minimally icy, which is just about the only saving grace in this whole situation. I really enjoy not worrying about imminent death on the roads. But it's supposed to snow tonight into tomorrow, so just... ugh, cross your fingers for me.

WEARING
Boot socks and fleece-lined leggings! Hence why I need those 40 more pairs.

WANTING
...Boot socks and fleece-lined leggings. (Are we noticing a pattern here yet, or...?) And a longer coat. And a more extensive wardrobe of scarves and beanies. Oh, and gloves that actually keep my hands warm. And, I mean, warmer weather would be pretty clutch.

NEEDING
My nose to not go numb within 15 seconds of stepping outside. (Dream big!)

ADMITTING
I have no idea how people live in places where weather like this is normal. Hats off to you, Canada. (Actually no, hats on, otherwise your ears might get frostbitten.) Although, this is my second winter in Colorado and both have had polar vortexes... so maybe this IS normal?

FEELING
Like a real grown-up. When I was a kid, I could never understand why my dad grumbled about the cold and the snow and the commute to work. But now that I'm living on my own, with an apartment and a car and a job? I'm grumbling about the cold and the snow and the commute to work. The snow-covered mountains are crazy beautiful, though, so that keeps me from getting TOO bitter! Colorado, you've got some redeeming qualities. :)

And now I'm going to brave the 20-something degrees and intense wind to get my shopping done so I can fully hibernate when it starts snowing later. Stay warm, friends!

Chalk It Up To Experience

If I’ve learned anything in the past year or so, it’s the following:

1. It’s good to know people in high places, and;
2. Volunteering is never as much fun as you think it’s going to be.

Remember that time I nearly froze to death trying to hand out pamphlets for the Pinstripe Bowl? And that time I lost my body weight in sweat picking up like three javelins at a track meet? Well, today was right along those lines.



I worked (or “worked”) my first event for the field experience program today – the Florida Panthers Rookie Camp. The shift started at 8 am, and we had to be there a half an hour before that, and the iceplex is about an hour away. Do the math yet? That means leaving at at LEAST 6:30 am. The guy I got a ride with (who I thought was a girl before I met him, by the way – his name is Rayeez. How was I supposed to know?!) came at 6:15 though, just in case. So I had to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 am.

Wanna know the last time I was up that early? When I hiked Masada at sunrise. But when I woke up this morning, it wasn’t sunrise. Not even close. I was thinking wistfully of sunrise. I didn’t want to turn on a light, so I got dressed and ready by the light of the bathroom and my phone. (This was after a very interesting night, too. I’d been woken up at 2:30 am by my loud, obnoxious, drunken neighbors that I HATE WITH A PASSION getting into a shouting match in the hall, and then at like 4 am by my suitemates being loud in the bathroom. Yay.)

…And, as if on cue, the neighbors are being loud again. Have I mentioned how much I hate them? Because I really, REALLY do.

But anyway, my breakfast was a yogurt that I ate on the way to the iceplex. Rayeez was nice, as is Chloe, the other girl he drove. We got there super early (like, before Dr. Scott, the director of the program), so we sat around being cold in the lobby. We had to dress “business professional,” which would’ve been GREAT to know over the summer (like we were supposed to) so I could’ve bought a jacket to wear. I just had a cardigan, which not only toed the not-quite-business-professional line, but didn’t really keep me warm.

People finally started getting there as 8 got closer, and we got our assignments. Another girl and I were assigned to “TV/Video.” I was afraid they’d make us actually do video things – I’m kind of a print girl, and I was totally unprepared. But just as I psyched myself up and was ready to learn some things, I found out that we’d just be helping out the TV crews that would be there, just for general assistance stuff.

Okay. Cool. I can totally live with that.

Dr. Scott was saying how there’d definitely be media there today, because it was the first official day of the rookie camp, and that TV people are very needy, so we’d definitely be doing things. I was all “YES! LET’S DO STUFF!”

By now it’s after 9, and from the makeshift media room behind the rink I see a guy with a TV camera. The shift manager, Sasha, talks to him to show me what I should be doing; she basically just introduced herself and said to find one of us if he needed anything.

So I’m like ‘cool. I got this.’

Well, in the next few hours one other TV guy shows up. ONE.

ONE.



And he just went straight into the media room, so I didn’t even talk to him. I just loitered awkwardly with some other volunteers for a while. And then I went back into the media room and loitered awkwardly some more, standing up, because I felt like I should be ready to do something should the chance arise.

The chance never did arise, though, and I ended up sitting down next to a girl working on a story. YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT. There were people that got to write stories, while an editor of The Hurricane got to loiter.

Okay, I’m just bitter. I know everyone there was probably perfectly qualified to write good stories, but REALLY? I know Dr. Scott doesn’t know me, but didn’t she read my application? Most of the people working were public relations majors, whereas writing is kind of what I do. And at one point, Sasha was trying to edit the story the girl next to me was writing as it was being written, and she wanted to change a sentence that was perfectly fine. I was like NOOOO, let the former assistant sports editor edit the sports stories, plz!

So, all in all, it was NOT what I expected the day to be. I ended up just hanging around until Reeyaz was done with what he was working on, and then leaving at like 12:30-ish (even though the shift technically ended at 2). But Sasha talked to Dr. Scott about/for me, and hopefully I’ll get to write next Saturday. Today was just a practice day for the team’s rookie prospects, but next week there’ll be the whole Panthers team, plus the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators. That means lots more athletes and lots more cool story opportunities!

I did get something out of the day, though. I haven’t done any actual stories in awhile, being opinion now, and I haven’t done sports in ages either. But being in the media room and around all these athletes and journalists working on stories got me so excited to do it! I’d been kinda thinking that maybe I didn’t miss sports writing that much, but I was itching to get back to it today.

Look at me, finding a silver lining! Since when have I become an optimist? :)

(Since being a pessimist became meaning I’d be depressed all the time. Necessity ftw!)

On a completely unrelated note…

Study abroad. I’M SO FICKLE, it’s ridiculous. I’m now basically set on going to London <3. I really do want to go somewhere new, but the Olympics are going to be there in August. If there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that I could get an internship with LOCOG this spring, I’d be absolutely insane not to jump on that. I’ve already emailed everyone Olympics-related that I know about possibly having a contact over there, and my mom’s found some potential goldmines for me (again! Yaaaay!). The only unfortunate thing is that it’d have to be not for credit, since apparently Queen Mary (my potential future university) doesn’t do internships for credit. So it wouldn’t count towards my major, but DUDE WHO CARES? I’d totally do it for free on my own time anyway!



Basically, this is me asking for favors again. If anyone reading my humble little blog knows anyone that may be able to get me in touch with some Olympics folks in London, please let me know! I would love you forever and ever and ever!

Oh, and I made myself a tumblr. http://you-should-be-writing.tumblr.com/, because when I’m on it I need to be reminding myself that I’m most likely procrastinating and should probably be writing. It’s full of Remus/Tonks, other assorted Harry Potter things, and Castle. I’m doing a blow-by-blow of my camping out experience for the NYC premiere of Deathly Hallows, too, so that’s kinda fun. Yeah. Shameless self-promotion.

I feel like this entry is really garbled and tangent-y (and that’s not even a word), but I woke up at 5:30 this morning, so I’m not quite functioning at 100%.

Bedtime. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

And I Did This For Free?

A week later and the snow is FINALLY melting. But I think it’s saying something that it was 50 degrees on Sunday and we still have a decent amount.

But in my eyes, the LIRR’s reputation has been damaged beyond repair. And I don’t even live on a block that wasn’t plowed until several days after the storm!



Though, uh, this is what the view from my front door was 24 hours after the storm was over. And yes, there is a street out there.

I did make it into the city to do my volunteering on Wednesday, the last of the three street team days. I had to wake up extra early to make sure the trains were running (cue bitter grumbling), because the night before, the website said service would be “near normal,” but the schedule still wasn’t up. Seriously, someone should get fired over this. >.<

After driving to the train station and parking in the snow (narrower streets and four-wheel drive being necessary to get into a parking spot FTW!), I took a 10:40-ish train. I sat across from a couple that probably would’ve been absolutely adorable… if I didn’t have to sit facing them for the entire ride. I had to constantly stare off into the dusty corners of the car to avoid feeling like a creep. But, of course, this could just stem from me being single and maybe a teeny bit jealous of their hand-holding, cookie-buying, ice-skating happiness. (They really were cute, though.)

I got to Penn Station at 11:30-ish and grabbed a quick bagel and orange juice at Au Bon Pain. And by “quick,” I mean “stuffed half in my face and ran.” My team was meeting outside of the Borders in Penn Plaza between 11:45 and noon. I wasn’t really sure what (or who) I was looking for, until I spotted about five people wearing Pinstripe Bowl knit hats. So I headed in that direction, checked in, and got my bag full of fliers. And when I say full, I mean FULL. Seriously, there had to have been five pounds of fliers in that thing.



It was kind of weird at first, since most of us didn’t know anyone, and those that did knew the one other person they came with. I’m always really nervous before I go somewhere/do something where I don’t know anyone. But I have to say, those experiences are some of the most memorable in my life; sleepaway camp, Endurance, college, and Castle Con, to name a few. Absolutely terrifying at first, but they all worked out quite fantastically. It’s fascinating to see what happens when a bunch of strangers are thrown together. It really shouldn’t be terrifying, because everyone else wants to make friends too! So keeping that in mind makes it much easier to open up and be friendly. In the case of Castle Con and volunteering, it’s really interesting to make friends with people of all ages. I don’t really consider myself as having many adult “friends” – there are adults I like and get along with, sure, but during these kinds of things, I’ve made adult friends. It’s cool to see that people of all ages are still basically the same. And I like it when people don’t judge me for being so much younger than they are! :)

So anyway, I started talking to a 20-something guy named Sherman and a 40-or-50-something woman named Debra. They were both really nice, and we ended up splitting off together when we all decided it was time to head out. We thought it would be a good idea to hand out fliers in front of sports bars, so we found a couple just down the block. Debra went inside several and ended up getting rid of ALL her fliers by leaving them with the bartenders for people to take. Smart lady! She left Sherman and I after about an hour and went to do her own thing, and we were stuck for the next three hours trying to get rid of the rest of ours.

Long story short: it was cold. It was long. It was New York City, where people don’t like being solicited on the street. And did I mention it was cold? I wore three pairs of socks, my snow boots, leggings, sweatpants, two long-sleeved shirts, my winter coat, a scarf, gloves, and the Pinstripe Bowl hat they gave us… and I was FROZEN. Froooooooozen. It was a nice day, too! But after four hours standing outside? Not so much. We went into Old Navy and Duane Reade to thaw a few times, but my fingers were still cold to the point of being numb.

I don’t even know how many fliers I handed out. I could probably count them on one hand :P. Seriously, this job is HARD. I’m just not obnoxious enough to be successful at this kind of thing. I didn’t get in anyone’s face and force them to take a flier, so the people that took were actually interested in what I was yelling (which was “Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, tomorrow afternoon! Syracuse and Kansas State!” …over, and over, and over, and over…

But seriously. Never again will I walk past a person handing out fliers on the street without looking at them. It sucks. And I'll try and take fliers when they're shoved at me, because standing in the cold for hours and feeling like you're not getting anything accomplished is brutal.



Eventually, Sherman and I went into some bars and left a stack of fliers each. But, when 3:30 rolled around, we still had gazillions left in our bags. We headed back to Borders to meet up with our team captain again. You can’t even imagine my relief when everyone else pulled handfuls of fliers out of their bags and pockets! At least I wasn’t the only one with a problem doing this job! :)

After that, we were free to go. Well, we were basically free to do whatever we wanted from the get-go, but hey. So I hightailed it into Penn Station and promptly got a peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks… to warm my hands, of course! And maybe because it’s delicious. But just a little bit.

I caught a 4-something train and listened to my boys Street Corner Symphony on the way home. I was completely EXHAUSTED! It didn’t quite hit me until I was actually at home, but I was about to pass out before I even peeled all my layers off. And the bottoms of my pants were soaked from the snow, but I was ready to sleep sitting on the bottom stair in my house with them rolled up around my knees – I was THAT tired.

…Though I think I stayed up until at least midnight anyway. I’m just an idiot when it comes to my sleep schedule sometimes.

I didn’t go to Good Morning America the next morning. There was no way I was catching a 4:09 am train into the city to stand outside for another four hours, this time without the ability to duck into a store to get feeling back into my fingers. Nooooo way. And I didn’t go to the game either, even though all volunteers got a free ticket. If I had more of a vested interest in either of the teams I would’ve, and if I had two tickets so I could take a friend I would’ve… but I didn’t, so I didn’t. I watched from home though, and it was a hell of an evenly matched game!

Overall, I think this was a good experience. I’m not sure if I’ll do it again next year, and I’m so, SO glad I only had to do it once, but the people I met were nice, and it should be a nice line on my resume. And I got a free hat!



...But it's huge and awkward looking on top, so I don't even know if I'll ever wear it again. A free t-shirt would've been sweet, but I guess beggars (and people who work for free) can't be choosers. Oh, and I'd like you to meet my baby and the bane of my existence, Nicky. :) I much prefer him on my shoulder to wreaking havoc on the floor.

Speaking of my resume, how did I forget about more than half the sports teams in the greater NY area when I was thinking about internships? o_O So the Islanders, Rangers, Knicks, Jets, and Giants have been added to the list, as has Madison Square Garden and the WWE. So if anybody knows anybody, let me know! Please and thank you!

And now it’s one in the morning, my post new epic episode of Castle high is basically gone, and I'm out of things to say. Time to quit while I'm ahead, methinks!

Oh, and happy 2011!