Random Observations

Some observations about Albany:

1. The road conditions. They are terrible! At first I thought maybe it was Jason's tacoma, after all you are bound to bounce around a little more in a truck. I was wrong. You bounce around more because there are gaping potholes lining the streets. If you attempt to swerve out of the line of fire you will invariably just hit another one. Do they ever get fixed? As near as I can tell, no. I have never lived anywhere the streets are this bad ...

2. Crazy drivers. Ok, maybe I am just sensitive because I have not been driving consistently for the last five years. And I am willing to concede that I am not the best driver myself. But I don't understand this mentality that you can stop anywhere in the middle of the road, in non-stop traffic on a one lane street, and as long as you put your hazard lights on this is somehow o.k. Can't you pull over to the side of the street where there is an empty parking spot? I guess that would be too much trouble. I have been driving on my way home only to find the street blocked by a huge commercial truck (the kind that carry small cars on the back) taking up a lane and a half in a two lane road. No way around. No way back. Hazards blinking ...

3. Spare any change? For how small of a population Albany contains, 95,000 or so, I am simply amazed how many people will stop me to ask for money on a daily basis. Sometimes twice. I walk almost everywhere and am getting so that I can see them coming from a mile away. I usually really don't have any change on me, and am not particularly comfortable with handing it out on the street, but still feel a sense of guilt at turning away. But come on, is the best person to ask really the girl in sweats walking her dog to the park?

4. Dunkin' Donuts. Something that people on the west coast might not realize is the prevalance of Dunkin' Donuts out east. They are everywhere. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there are more per square mile than Starbucks back home (unless you live in Seattle). And people here love their D'D coffee! I had to seek out the only Starbucks in town - located in a B&N of course - because I can't drink the weak brown lattes that come out of their "ready-made" machines. There happens to be a Dunkin' Donuts about 100 ft. from my apartment. Nobody will ever know the willpower that keeps me away from that place. Growing up some of my fondest memories involve donuts (lots of donuts, boxes of donuts my grandpa used to bring home for us when we visited). I amaze even myself ...

5. The wind. It never stops. I feel like I am back in Denali ... Jason has to keep cancelling his flight school because it is too windy. I came home yesterday and all the flowers I had planted over the weekend were gone. Yup, just stems. And what horrible thing was responsible for this? 20+ mph winds. I am sure when it is 90 degrees and humid as hell I will be grateful for all this wind, but right now when it is 50 degrees and raining and I have 10 blocks to walk to work I am not so thrilled. Too bad I already broke my umbrella one of the windstorms ...

6. (In case anyone thinks I do not like it here) Dog park. Washington park has an amazing dog park area where on any given afternoon there will be at least 10 other dogs for Riley to play with. There are so many adorable puppies this time of year, australian shepherds, golden retrievers, great danes, and even an irish wolfhound. People who truly love dogs. It is a great way to socialize him and meet people myself. It is funny that everyone knows each others dog's name but few people actually introduce themselves. Unfortunately Riley is one of the only dogs that still cannot be trusted off leash ...