Welcome To The Melt Down

It would figure that throughout this entire week of subzero temperatures that it would end with a huge snow storm. Well I got roughly six inches of snow yesterday. It was pretty. I had wanted to do some errands, but that didn't happen since the snow managed to barricade my car. So I was a little surprised today to go out in 60 degree weather.

Since it's supposed to go down to the 20s tonight (and stay there for the next few days), I'm going to take a guess that my car will be covered in a thick sheet of ice tomorrow. I think this is punishment for having such a mild summer.

The worst part about all of this is trying to get my car out of my parking lot (hey there is only so much I can stand to stay inside on the weekend). My parking lot is uncovered and doesn't always get plowed as quickly as I need it. This particular morning wasn't too bad since it got so warm, but there are other days when it just doesn't seem like I should have put in the effort to get out of bed.

So how does someone dig their car out of a snow pile when they live south of the Mason Dixon line? (Yes techinqually Maryland is south of the Mason Dixon line, I was shocked by this news as well). Here are some tips for those of us who aren't used to more than a few inches of snow at a time.

1) Buy a snow/ice scrapper - I wasn't sure I needed one until it took me twenty minutes to defrost my car one November morning. I was late to work. It helps to speed up getting the ice and snow off my car without getting my hands soaked.

2) Get the spray stuff that gets rid of ice - I haven't done this yet, but it definatly helps you save on gas and time.

3) Have a small shovel handy - the plow that comes through my parking lot likes to leave a small mountain of snow and ice in front of my car. Thus even after clearing all the snow and ice off my car, I still might not be able to leave. Having a small shovel gets that pile out of the way.

4) Salt - And not table salt, salt you buy at a hardware store. It will help the ice melt a little faster and make the walk from your door to your car easier (I've already fallen twice this year). Just don't put the salt directly on your car.

5) Kitty Litter - Yeah I didn't beleive this one either, but it apparently works. Since some people might not have had the opportunity to go out and get salt, kitty litter makes for a great substitute. It allows  for some traction under the tires. So cat owners rejoice, you will have a much easier time getting to work.

These are just some of the methods I have used to dig my car out. There are more ways to free an ice entrapped car and its good information to know. So far these methods I know work. And hopefully the drive is safe once the car hits the road.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share, or comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys are amused by my misadventures. Until next week.

Welcome To The Convention

Artists at Katsucon creating a chalk mural of Legend of Zelda.

I know, it's not Sunday. It's Monday. Happy Presidents day from the US. I like this holiday better than Valentines Day because I get the day off. Yahoo! Three day weekend!

Which was really helpful since I went to an anime convention this weekend. I was at Katsucon. It was a lot of fun. One of my friends told me a ton of things that I had to do and what to expect and how awesome the whole weekend would be. He was right. He was also right about how much food and parking were going to be.

I had to work on Friday, so I got to the convention in the mid evening. It was crazy crowded. I initially stood in line to get my badge for twenty minutes before my friend told me to get food first. The line would die down. He was again right. I was also glad I registered for the conference instead of buying my ticket there. The line was huge for people just walking in.

That first night I was too tired to really do anything. I made up for that on Saturday and Sunday. I basically passed out on Sunday after everything was finished. I think my two favorite panels I went to were the "Attack on Titan" voice actors panel and the Samurai sword demonstration. My friend and I got to the Samurai sword too late to participate, but it was still cool to see.

So after all of the craziness, my next question is will I go again next year?

Answer: it depends.

It's not that I don't want to go next year. If things were different I would 100% say yes, I will go again next year. As it stands, I'm not sure how easy it will be for me to go. I'm currently in the process of moving and travel might be hard and expensive.

However if I am able to go back at least I'll be a little smarter about going than I was this year. Yeah, I made a few errors while attending that probably cost me a lot more than they needed to be.

1) Parking - parking was very expensive at the hotel where the convention was, like over 50% higher than it was across the street (and that was with a small discount). Next year I am either going to carpool or remember to park across the street. I wasn't too upset though, since the wind was terrible and it was incredibly cold.

2) Lodging - I stayed at my parent's house. It was about 20 miles away from the convention center. It was less expensive than staying at the hotel. However there were benefits to staying at the hotel the convention was at. Mainly that I could take a nap in the middle of the afternoon and go to some of the later events instead of going home so I wasn't driving when I was super tired. Also the wind was scary bad while driving and it was supposed to snow (thankfully it didn't), so it might have been hard to drive. Next year I might get a hotel room. The trick will be to find some friends to stay with me and getting a room before the hotel is overbooked.

3) Food - it was expensive and the wait to eat in one of the restaurants in the hotel was forever. Next year I might try to bring my own food or at least an empty water bottle.

4) Meeting up with people - the convention was huge. I somehow managed to find two of my friends (one had my phone number, the other I had to find). Next year I get everyone's phone number and make sure they have mine. That way we will definitely see each other.

5) Cosplay (or dressing up as a favorite character for those who don't know what cosplay is) - I didn't really cosplay this year. I did dress up and I could "claim" to be cosplaying, but I didn't do anything special. My biggest challenge is my hair. I don't own any wigs so it's difficult to style my hair to be similar to a character. Next year I might plan a little better and buy a wig and work on getting the right set up for a cosplay. I just have to decide who I want to be.

6) Crowds - There is no way around them. Getting there early got me around some of the mass of people, but to get into some of the more popular events there were lines. I almost didn't get into two panels because the rooms were too small for the number of people who wanted to attend. Next year I'll get to the events in the smaller rooms earlier. The events in larger rooms didn't really have this problem.

And those are the things I learned from attending my first big convention. I say big because compared to Bronycon this was huge (though Comic con is still the largest I know about).  I had a lot of fun and would love to attend again next year.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Let me know if you guys have any ideas for a post. After all, I'm still wandering around Wonderland.

Welcome To Doubt

Sometimes, despite how confident I might feel, I keep thinking that what I am doing or about to do is the wrong thing. It whispers at the back of my mind. It keeps me tossing and turning at night. It will leave me paralyzed to the point where I will miss out on whatever it is I'm making a decision on.

It kind of sounds like when I'm worrying about something. In fact I would say that doubt and worry are very similar feelings under the right circumstances.

It's a times like these I need to talk to someone. I have a few people I talk to (and a few people who talk to me). Sometimes these people will say things I don't want to hear. They are most likely right, but that doesn't mean I want to hear it. Sometimes I say things they don't want to hear. It's a vicious (and quite possibly necessary) cycle.

The best way to beat doubt is to weigh the pros and cons (and hope the pros win). I tend to look at the worst case scenario and build a plan to counter act it. If I can't come up with a counter plan, then I walk away. If the worst case scenario doesn't seem that bad, I throw caution to the wind and jump right in (hopefully feet first).

From my own personal experience, they only way to beat doubt is to not dwell on it. I find something else to focus on (like writing a blog about all the crazy things that happen to me) or work on minimizing any damages that could result in a worst case scenario. Anyway you slice it, I'm doing something productive with my time.

So here are my top five ways to stop doubting myself:

1) Write - doesn't really matter what. It could just be what has me doubting myself or something else completely unrelated. Just write it out and maybe I'll solve one of my problems.

2) Talk it out - doesn't matter with who. Heck I don't care if someone talks to their lamp (though that might raise a few eyebrows). Talking helps...and so does listening.

3) Exercise - Wanna know what makes me feel good (other than eating my weight in mac and cheese)? Running around like a maniac! It helps clear my head and let me think. It also helps with the long office days where I'm stuck in an office chair for eight hours straight.

4) Go out with friends/family/significant others - humans are social creatures and even introverts need to get out once in a blue moon. Going out with a group of people can help relieve stress which will also help stop me from worrying and doubting myself. So turn off Netflix and go out on the town

5) Do something unexpected - I often doubt my abilities. I'd say everyone does, but I can't speak for everyone. One of my favorite ways to get myself out of a self doubting funk is to spontaneously do something. If I can tell myself that I did something unexpected then I can tell myself that I can do anything.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To Sudden Change

It's never when you expect it...

I have heard the saying that "change is good". I don't know how true it is, but I've always thought of change as something that was different. Not necessarily good, not necessarily bad, just different. And, though I hate admitting it, I also don't like really like change. It throws me off.

Don't get me wrong. I think change is fun every once and a while. Small changes allow for new experiences and  great memories (most of the time). It's when there are a lot of big changes that things start to make my eye twitch.

Over the past few weeks there have been some major changes at my office. Major changes as in my company is closing this office location and wants to move me to a several hours north into a new state completely. This is like running at full speed and then suddenly hitting a brick wall. It's a shock to your systems that forces you to suddenly stop and take a look at what's around you.

Technically I knew this was coming. It had been likely to happen for a while. Thankfully I'm not loosing my job. I'd be freaking out right now if I was, but it's still a very big change. And this is a lot different then when I first moved to start this job.

It's a big change. There are a lot of things I have to think about. How will I move all of my stuff? Where will I live? How / Will I have to find a new roommate? Will I fit in at this new office? I have a lot of questions that need to be answered and some of them won't be until I go up there.

I'm taking all of this one step at a time. Hopefully I'll have more answers when it does come time to pack up my stuff. Until then I'm going back to doing research on my future home. Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me as well. If you guys have questions let me know. Thank you for reading.