My Life as a Cartoon

Occasionally, I run across various comic strips that don't just speak to me, they scream. Here are a few that I find very familiar:

(Remove the "significant other" & just picture me talking to myself)

That one's just so darn funny because it's true!

Change of Plans

After some thought, I have decided not to go on the trip mentioned in my last post. Not right now, anyway, I'm going to save it for a warmer time, maybe this summer. Instead . . .

I'm going to Wisconsin!

I've taken two extra days off work, and am going to go visit some friends from school. I'm leaving Friday, 3/10 to drive to Milwaukee. I'll spend Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night with my dear friend M (mentioned here), and hopefully catch up with JK as well. There has been talk of visiting the Milwaukee Zoo, and the basic catching-up that occurs when you haven't seen folks in awhile.

Sunday, 3/12, I may very well drive up to the frozen Northwoods to visit some friends who are still attending my alma mater. I can stay there Sunday night, visit a few professors Monday morning, then head back south. Stay Monday night at some random hotel, then back home to good ol' STL on Tuesday.

THAT, my friends, is the new plan!

Birthday Holiday

In 17 days, I will be 24. That's right, March 11th is my birthday, and through the luck of scheduling, I actually have a 3-day weekend. I've been pondering what to do for said occasion. Skydiving? Nah -- too much cost for too little time. Day at the spa? Nay, I've done that before. A weekend cruise? Ummm...no, for various reasons including but not limited to price, time constraints, and having no one to go with. However, I think I've come up with something good.

I think I shall take a weekend trip away from it all. Here is my plan:

Friday, March 10th -- Leave home & enjoy a nice 5-hour drive to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. That's right, I said Arkansas. Check into semi-posh hotel. It's a Best Western, but it has extra perks & an on-site restaurant! Get somewhat comfy, then head for a horseback ride with dinner. Back to the hotel to shower & do not much of anything.

Saturday, March 11th -- Enjoy a leisurely breakfast, then head to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge to see big cats. Take lots of pictures, hang out there till I'm tired, then head back to town to find somewhere to eat. Meander along the main streets. Eat dinner somewhere fancy & spend a bit too much. I may visit this, tee hee, but will NOT be going here, lest my scientific background and addiction to FACTS get me in trouble.

Sunday, March 12th -- don't get up too early, have breakfast, do any last-minute shopping for stuff I saw the day before, then head home. 5 hours of rocking out in the car, just me & my CD collection.

If you get bored, check out the attractions here & let me know if there's anything you think I should look into.

Trip to the Zoo

Thanks to R for pointing me to the Slideroll website! All of the pics were taken by yours truly, so here goes -- take a trip with me to the Saint Louis Zoo!

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

Bonus points to anyone who can name all of the animals featured (and "penguin" and "camel" are not enough information!)

Two Million for $2 Million

Visit the website for the Saint Louis Zoo's Two Million for $2 Million Campaign.

From the website:
"The Saint Louis Zoo, along with 209 accredited zoos and aquariums across the nation, is seeking two million signatures to ask Congress to increase their wildlife conservation support to $2 million in 2006.

This petition asks Congress for $2 million to annually fund conservation and research programs for the Multinational Species Conservation Fund, a highly successful wildlife conservation program run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with a proven record of success over the past 14 years. The programs have succeeded in maintaining or increasing key populations of some wild animals facing enormous survival challenges: elephants in Asia and Africa; rhinos in southern Africa, Indonesia and India; tigers in Russia; marine turtles in the Caribbean and southeast Asia; and great apes in east and central Africa.

Each of these species faces grave threats to their survival in the wild, and they need our help to protect them. Our goal is to increase the funding from Congress to $2 million annually for each of these species.

Help us send a message to Congress that you care about these imperiled species and want to help protect them in the wild. Please take a moment to “sign” this petition asking for at least $2 million for each of the wildlife species covered under the Multinational Species Conservation Funds. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums intend to deliver two million signatures to Congress on March 7, 2006"

Make a difference!

Alive & Kickin' . . .

An update on a variety of things that are happening:

My Jenny Craig Quest continues, I'm now down 35.6 lbs! That leaves me 8.6 lbs to my goal weight, whoo hoo!

I had a job interview yesterday. It's in the same company, but with a different department. My boss suggested it, because it would provide a lot more opportunities for advancement than my current position does. Cross your fingers!

I have had five dates with the same guy. #6 is tomorrow. That's all I'm saying about that.

This may be the coolest thing I've heard or read in a month: ‘Lost World’ of wildlife found in Indonesia. Rock on! Now let's work to protect it so we have time to figure out what all is there!

I had my midterm in my first MBA class last night. 72 questions of the T/F, Multiple Choice, and Matchig variety, plus fewer than 10 short answer. I finished i 25 minutes, and that's WITH re-reading everything to double-check. We'll see how I did next week.

I didn't know that Darwin's birthday is Sunday. Happy birthday, Chuck!

Thing that most ticked me off this week: KSDK Channel 5 did an I-Team investigation on what they called "a dark secret at the Saint Louis Zoo." Ready for the secret? THIRTY YEARS AGO, we had chimpanzee shows. Was it acceptable then? yes, and lots of places did it. Is it morally reprehensible in today's world? heck yeah! The news "investigation" says this:

It's a past the Zoo President admits to, but doesn't like to acknowledge.

Here's just a part of what Zoo Pres. Dr. Bonner said:

"Wound up in animal testing?" "Yeah, exactly so," says Dr. Bonner. "How did that happen?" "Well, again going back historically, at a time when that was acceptable they were placing animals and really, probably not many from St. Louis. . . . Fault and responsibility are two different things, should we do everything we can to remedy that, even though it's not our fault, yes we should,"

To me, that sounds less like a lack of acknowledgment and more like a "we're doing what we can, even though our hands are legally tied in some areas," what more do they want?

The reporter spent a long time talking about this "dark secret" that's not really a secret, and then covers his tail by saying

"By the late 1980's, most zoos adopted strict guidelines set forth by the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan. Members, like the St. Louis Zoo, must abide by the plan's breeding and transfer recommendations, ensuring the chimpanzee's future.

Steve Ross from the Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo is the coordinator for that program. He tells me, no chimpanzee today could ever be sold to a medical testing facility. He also says the St. Louis Zoo is held with the highest regard when it comes to caring for chimps."

Any mention of our new, state-of-the-art, multimillion dollar Fragile Forest Exhibit? Noooooooo!
Good Grief.

Okay, I'm done.

Adios!

Don't Bury Me Yet!

Okay, okay, I suck. It's been . . . lemme count here .. January 10th . . . 30 days hath September . . . carry the one . . . 22 days since my last real post. Good grief! Here's an update:

*Back to school! I started my first MBA class on the 12th -- 8 weeks of Managerial Accounting, whoo hoo! It's not bad, keeps me busy and out of trouble with stuff that only care about because the professor tells me to care about it. Midterm is next week, joy!

*After a few weeks of worrying, it's been established that I am NOT dying. I had to have an extremely UN-FUN test done to see if I had cervical cancer or some such thing, but I do not. As of last week, I was PROBABLY not dying; as of yesterday I am DEFINITELY not dying. Yay!

*The Jenny Craig quest continues -- after 2-3 weeks of not-much-progress, my meeting yesterday showed a 2.2lb drop from the previous week, for a total of 34.4 lbs!

*The winter overnights at the Zoo are kicking back into gear, I've had two so far. This past Saturday, I got called in to work an overnight, I was there from 5pm Saturday to 10:30am Sunday -- I had just enough time to drive home, shower, change, & head back to the zoo because I'd already made plans to spend the day at the zoo with a friend. For those of you wondering, that means that between 5pm Sat & 5pm Sun, I spent 22 hours at the zoo -- for at least 17 of those, I was on my feet. Sunday, I was asleep by 6pm.

Gotta run, homework calls, love ya bunches!