sadeyed woman from the northlands

So, I really don't fit in here tonight. Most nights the railstation is a wierd/strange/interesting mixture of people. Mnay of them locals and regulars. Tonight has brought out all the people who can no longer stand sweating in their houses/apartments. Much like me, however, my little quite corner has been taken over by loud drunks. Now I realize that I am a loud drunk; but as Matt pointed out; these are drunk men. The kind of men I don't like. Or as Matt said "men". I think that they have stopped trying to get my attention. I do stand out being the only one at a bar typing away on a laptop; hey their the ones that installed wifi. At least I stopped working on my lecture and planning the labs for my TA's. Wow, now they are talking about strip clubs. One of them is here with his girl and her MOM!! I swear. The girlfriend (?) just complained that her man use to treat her like a stripper. Oh crap! There are so many other open tables why oh why did they have to sit next to me. No way! Drunk shaved bald biker is dancing to "ain't that a shame" (Don't know the artist). Thank god he stopped. Drunk 50 year old white man dancing to "seduce" his girl is making me rethink being here. Usually the crowd is a cool mix of bikers, locals, artists, roughnecks, bluecollar workers and youngins the retired; and many different races/ethnicities. Poor whites are winning tonight. As an ex (?) poor white I'm uncomfortable. I see that I'm not the only one noticing the 'table" next to me. Sly looks are being shot in the direction of the undoubtable loudest table. Oh wow. Now they are trying to figure out how they will get another round. I'm not kidding. They are talking so loud we could take up a collection for them. 20 bucks is money to burn. Ok, they just paid in change; I've been there, but making a loud joke to the waitress might be tacky. I have to stop with the racist jokes. OH HELL NO!!! The white dude just said something about hanging with the NEGROES! Buster had to leave after that comment. Didn't say anything just got up and left. Is it worse that their is a dark haired, dark skinned young man sitting at their table? The Negro comments seemed to be directed at him. I'd assume this young guy is Black. White dude thinks he's something cause he went to a school that has a High population of African-American students. White dude "was" a racist. Must end this..... no good can come of this entry. No good at all. Plus I'm bound to get caught. Oh crap. A drug deal is going down right in front of me. They think I can't hear or see them. I must really seem innocent to these people. Oh, now they are discussing going to another corner. Have I been caught? Or are they rightly paranoid? What are they selling? Things are getting crazy. Should I mention that this is the bar that had two windows smashed out because of bar fights? Now May be the time to play the blend in card. I think a laptop gives people the wrong impression. Or maybe the right impression. Either way I need a new impression. But, without the laptop these guys that are swarming are going to close in. I guess I'll pull out the textbook or maybe the newspaper. Later.

Posted by Maureen Clark at 4:45 AM | Permalink

First I'm a bad North Dakotan since i don't even know how to spell Laura Ingles.... But I've always hated Litte House on the Praire. Maybe, it's cause my mom always forced it on me or maybe it's because I knew what it was like to live on the praire and wanted to spend my time dreaming about getting out. Sadly I'm now back and hours away from the home of laura. sigh. Life is strange. But the rant about Ms. Ingles comes from the fact that a small leak in a copper pipe has left me mostly without water. If I need water I have to turn the main water valve on and then turn it back off so that Matt's office doesn't become a swamp. So I now have jugs and bottles of water around the house so that I don't have to make the trip to the basement quite as often. I could, of course, call a plumber; but Matt is the one who "fixed" the pipe in the first place. He's on tour right now with Ryan Adams and gets back the 5th or 6th; I'm not sure just yet. SO I'm waiting for him to come back and fix the mess. I tell people I'm lazy, but they point out that I run up and down the stairs for water. The truth is I'm cheap. Stubborn. And I don't like strangers. but you likely knew all that.

In fact I'd rather spend the money on other, better things. If Matt can fix the pipe then I can be here (the local bar) drinking and having dinner. Which is a much better use of money. Especially today. The high was 102, and the low will be 84 (somewhere around 4 this morning it might be 84). Which wouldn't really matter except the airconditioners we have keep the house at a temperate 79-84. I've been sweating so long that my skin is staring to rot. So, I left the hot house to come to the nicely air conditioned bar; which has cider and since it is Sunday the bar is the only place to get alchohol. Ahhh.. Minnesota blue laws; how i love them.
So, In addition to not having water; I also have NO HOT WATER!! AT all. Once again this is probably a situation I could fix myself. I think it would just take lighting the pilot light; but what's the point if I have to do that every time I turn the water on? So far cold showers aren't that bad. Luckily you can't see my hair. Cold water doesn't seem to rinse the shampoo or conditioner out. I've thought about leaving a bucket of water out in the sun to rinse my hair. Hey, I am a North Dakota girl; I can rough it. Is heating water by the sun going too far? I'd boil it on the stove; but I've got animals to think about. At 84 and some ungodly humidity level I really don't need to add to the moisture in the air. (If you were at the wedding you know what kind of weather I'm talking about)

Well, our local bar is a great place to keep up on neighborhood news. It's really better than the local news; which tonight warned about blackouts and energy shortages here in Minneapolis. Sadly the warinings are coming true. The bar is staring to fill up because the power has gone out north of my house.

I've set up camp in my office. It has the only airconditioner that seems to work. I actually got some sleep last night. Wow, I'm really showing my roots. At this point I'd sleep outside if it was cooler.

Ahhhhh................I've finally cooled off. I've been here for 2 hours. I came in pouring sweat. I went through three napkins: gross.

Posted by Maureen Clark at 4:21 AM | Permalink