Veintinueve

A good friend of mine once compared women to spaghetti and men to waffles. Women, she said, are always thinking something. There is never a time when their minds are empty. Men, she continued, are capable of not thinking about anything, as exemplified by the squares in the waffle that don’t end up with syrup.

Several days ago, I was doing my dishes around 1 AM (you know, about the time your fine motor skills quit working) and I broke my coffee maker. There are only a few pieces that go into the filter-containing-apparatus, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to get it back together. I went to sleep somewhat frustrated and thought, “I’ll tackle this in the morning.”

Well, Morning Kris didn’t know how to fix it either. Thus began a week of far-too-costly-campus-brewed coffee.

Last night, I went to sleep again thinking about my coffee maker. (Is that sad?)

And—I kid you not—I dreamed how to fix it. Subconscious Kris managed to correctly assemble the pieces. I woke up and was like, “Oh, duh!” and promptly went into my kitchen, fixed it, and brewed coffee.

I am not joking when I say my mind does not rest.

Veintiocho

Had you asked me prior to today whether I thought restrictions on the sale of alcohol were a good idea, I would have probably said yes. However, having experienced the enforcement of a blue law at Safeway this morning, my answer has changed. Allow me to explain.

No one remembered the elements for communion this morning. We brought in the equipment, started getting things set up, and realized we had no bread or wine. Problematic, you might say. I don't know how to set up sound equipment very well anyways, so I volunteered to make a quick run to buy some pita bread and wine. (Keep in mind that the wine we use is alcohol free.)

I drove like a maniac to the store, ran in, spent a few minutes frantically looking for the wine, grabbed some pita bread, and made a quick break for the self-check-out. I scanned the bottle of wine (which, again, is ALCOHOL FREE), and the screen said "Item is not for sale". I didn't understand. The item had to be for sale--it was in the aisle and it had a bar code! Safeway associates had helped me locate said bottle! It was clearly for sale!

The cashier who was supervising the self check-out came over and informed me that they can't sell alcohol until 10 am. It was 9:15. "But it's alcohol free!" I protested. "And church starts at 10:30!" She grabbed the bottle of wine, turned on her heel, and walked away. I was stunned.

How is there not an exception to the blue laws for items that clearly say ALCOHOL REMOVED on the label? How did that get through the system??

I do find it ironic that the laws that were originally implemented for religious reasons were somewhat of a hindrance to church today.

Veintesiete

Some things never change.

It has just occurred to me that perhaps practices between generations are more consistent than we think.

Styles don't really change, they just sort of rotate. Who ever thought platforms would be in style more than once? Thank you, Spice Girls.

Music is always changing, but it seems like just as a new genre is created, another classic rock band gets their second wind.

You get the point.

Now, Homecoming weekend brings a lot of alumni to the U of A campus. Our school is quite old, thus so are some of our alumni. Two elderly ladies stopped by the dorm tonight to take a look at their former residence hall. Amidst the reminiscing, they told me about how they once went to Mexico and bought a bag that was just the right size and shape to hide a six pack of beer, and that's how they smuggled alcohol into the building.

Ahh, college life. It's funny to think that the things teens and twenty-somethings attempt to do today have already been successfully accomplished by their grandparents.