Sunday, August 30, 2009

Some Random Bits of Whatever


Once in a while, I just have to unload the stuff that's been in my mental inbox. This is one of those posts.

Do you pay much attention to where you step when you get out of the shower? I've made a habit of stepping out of the shower as far away from the toilet as I can get. I don't know, maybe I should get a professional to diagnose some of my quirks -however, this not knowing has its perks. That rhymed -unintentional. Wow. Rhyming and two movie quotes in just two short sentences. I'm spoiling you guys!

My roommate shares a shower with me, and the position of hte shower curtain after his shower would seem to suggest he plops his freshly-showered feet right next to our lovely porcelain seat. Now, I can't really pass judgement on a person for this; the towel racks in the small bathroom are, in fact, hanging right above the toilet (who decided on that anyhow? What if the towel slips off??? ...just sayin').

When I step out of the shower, I reach across to the towel rack and grab my towel and dry off before stepping out onto the floor nearest the door. It seems like that spot's gotta be a great deal cleaner than the other end -especially in a guys' bathroom. So I shudder and cringe when, each morning, I find that the shower curtain is opened to that very spot.

I also make sure to spread the shower curtain out after I'm done. You know -to let it dry. And to hide the shampoo. From thieves.

I'm exceedingly attentive to all these things.

So there's that. Now that I'm out of the shower, let's talk deodorant. Last week, I was out of town. I went down to Provo to do some geochemistry lab work at BYU.

It was such an incredible trip, full of amazing learning experiences and new lab equipment. Anyhow, I thought I'd remembered to bring everything (including my wallet full of DVDs) but soon realized that I'd neglected to grab a stick of ...pit-stick. I wasn't about to do without it in a close-proximity setting like a laboratory.


It's only fair to be considerate to others. So, I determined to purchase a travel-size stick of deode (I call it that for short. It sounds like "geode" so that makes it cool). At the local Walmart, the only pit-stick option was "AXE dry" -an anti-perspirant. I typically don't use anti-perspirant. Ever. But this was only 98 cents, and it was calling to me with that cool shiny black AXE label with electric blue letters. (They really have figured out how to catch a guy's interest. I mean, especially with the spiky-haired black rubber-ducky they include with your purchase of body wash. Anyway...) So I bought the stuff, and used it.

Yuck.

It felt like I had rubbed an old dried-out glue stick under my arm. I guess I expected something that stops you from sweating to feel more .....natural. My deodorant never gives me that feeling. It's always "slick as a whistle". On it goes; swipe-swipe-swipe, and I'm smellin' like a champion old-spice gent. 'Tis not the case with anti-perspirant, as I have come to find through sad experience. Even when I showered later, I tried to scrub that feeling off -AND IT WOULDN'T COME OFF! Some might call that a quality product. I call it original sin. So I used the stick for the next three days, and then said goodbye to that mess and tossed it in the trash. What? I'm not wasting! It's not like I could donate it to D.I. or anything. Yeah. Let's not even think about that one too long. Next subject.

My friend Michael will be moving in with me tomorrow. Not "Billy" Michael. He already lives here. This one is Michael Kidd. He's from Nampa, Idaho, a suburb of Boise. We have some crazy similarities. His Dad is Gaylen. Mine is Gale. His middle name is Clark. So is mine. He's got the same model of Acer laptop as I do. It has the same quirky issues. He has the same Samsonite camera case. I could go on, but I'm sensing some boredom. Anyhow, I thought I'd alert you all to the fact that there will be two Michaels living with me (no, not the craft store, ladies). I've considered calling them "Billy" and "the Kidd". I think that would work.

Well, the inbox is now a bit cleaner. That always helps me sleep a little easier at night. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go make sure our shower curtain isn't open.

6 comments:

Rebekah Wood said...

I enjoyed that lab room though I wish it had a window. The tubes behind you, isn't that "Ivan" or did they tear down his name? And I see the fire's burning...gosh that was exciting to watch. I'll admit I didn't quite warm up to the measuring but I liked pellets and watching the making of fused discs.

Alicia said...

You are the master of movie quotes!! I love this post. I love your unloading posts. Now I have to go check my deode to see if it's an anit-perspirant or not. Did I spell "perspirant" right?

Steve said...

Pec! Yeah, that's Ivan. His name label is still up. We had a lot to say about the most wrongly-named "Fluxy". Bro. Moore agreed. A machine that melts rock dust into glass should bear a name like "Vulcan" or "Trogdor -the burninator". "Fluxy" sounds like the machine should be (as Bro. Moore stated) "covered in Pink glitter and My Little Ponies".
We're considering drafting a proposal to change that name. ;)
I actually did all the measuring for the pressed pellets and the fused discs. Maybe its the meticulous attention to detail OCD side of me, but I liked it!
So as I rolled out of bed at 9:30 this morning, I thought of all those folks leaving on the 210 trip today ...and I was slightly jealous.
Alicia -thank you, by jingo. And yes, that's the correct spelling. I had to really think it through each time I typed it.

Alona said...

Thanks for the laugh, Steven! You're great! :)

Stormis said...

I love reading your blog. It makes me happy! :)

Cat said...

Hey Steven, I share your feelings about a clean bathroom floor. I loved living with my roommates but non of them shared my feelings about germs in the bathroom. I do have a clean floor fetish. It is not unusual for me to vacuum everyday. I love walking in my bathroom & seeing a clean, dry floor. You'll notice in my master bathroom, the toilet is on the opposite side of the room from the shower. That was on purpose.