Metro Rail Rain, vacuum patterns, and my in-laws

Metro Rail Rain, vacuum patterns, and my in-laws

I could hardly belive that it was raining as hard as it was when i left work today. Luckily i left a little earlier than usual so i could make it over to the metro office in the medical center and purchase a cash value card. By the way, buy this card once and it seemingly allows you unlimited rides on the rail without ever having to justify its monetary value. I had always wondered about this, especially after i saw several people flash them to the metro cops checking tickets recently.

"So, i can use this to ride the rail?"

"yes."

"do i have to insert it in the machine for a ticket?"

"no"

"so all i have to do is flash it to the metro cop if they happen to check it?"

"yep"

so conceivably you could carry around an empty cash value card and ride the lite rail all day with nothing to worry about, unless of course, they start carrying around little card swipers.

I made it to the train just before it and a torrent of rain swept over the entire medical center. It was crazy. It was like driving through a laser wash. A stiff wind came along with it and blowing sheets of rain along the left side (*ding!* - a la izquierda) of the train. Oh, and if you've even wondered about those little green circle lights on the door as you exit, they REALLY DO OPEN THE DOORS.

"If you need to get off, please press the green button to open the doors. I'm not going to open all the doors so all of you get wet." The 'exiters' (4 people total) didn't really get the point. They all got up and each one pressed the button on one of the four doors. All four doors opened and in came the rain, like a swarm of bees.

The next group all dutifully assembled around one door and left. The door quickly shut behind them. The rain was coming down too hard to get out at my stop, so i figured i would take the train to the end of the line and hit it on the way back, giving the rain some time to pass over downtown.

I always imagined that at the end of the line, the train made a large circle and came back around. I was disappointed - very disappointed - that the driver merely stopped and moved from what was now the back of the train to the front. What a let down.

but my gamble paid off; the rain was just a sprinkle when i got off at main street square.

I got home to a home full of dead fleas! yes! Of course, i know that this really isn't the case, and that there is still plenty to do in my fight against this enemy.

I vacuumed the entire carpeted portion of my house - every corner and crack and crevice to pick up as many of the dead little carcasses, pupae and larva as i could. This will go on until i can get the back yard treated, which won't be until the rain ends: sometime next week.

My favorite thing about vacuuming is the vacuum pattern. I wish i had taken a photo. Tomorrow look for this.

The in-laws are leaving for chicago tomorrow, so they were dropped off by mike and maru so carol can take them to the airport tomorrow afternoon. I was just finishing up the vacuuming as they arrived. Dropping off turned into a full evening visit with dinner, margaritas, and a ritual blessing of our home by carol's parents. (FLASHBACK: they also married us kneeling at their bedside when we told them we were living together.)

Once the blessing was done, which involved a series of prayers in spanish recited in each and every room of the house (including the garage, but excluding the shed outside); carol's father blessing the house with the baby's left over holy water from his baptism with a lettuce leaf; and the burning of our wedding candle; i was able to finish up something i had been meaning to do since this weekend. I put up curtains in our bedroom.

With this, the night concluded (for me, at least) and i retired to my office, lay on the floor absent of fleas and wrote out a monster post.