Cereal

Since moving to Silver Spring, my greatest expense has not been the heating bill (my first instinct), parking, or water.  Surprisingly, it has been cereal!  As you can clearly see below, at points in time we have so much that we remove the bags from the boxes just to get them all to fit on the refrigerator. 

 

Now, anyone who knows us, will know who the cereal fiend is in the relationship, but it's fair to say that I am not immune to the call of a good bowl every once in a while, or a 2fer on my favorite versions.  The fact is, it is not the actual cereal that calls to us, as much as it is the idea that finally we have a place to put it.  Our very own cereal shrine to adorn with as much cereal as physics allows.

In many ways, I am thankful that it is cereal that we hoard as opposed to cars or shoes or dvds (wait..... never mind that last one, that's another post).  Cereal is never gonna break the bank and I never have to worry about regularity.  I know once kids enter the equation I'll be lucky if I ever even see the cereal.  Come to think of it, I see now why old people like bran and shredded wheat, it is probably all they could keep for themselves.  So for now, don't be surprised to see the perpetual empty bowl (or bowls) resting in the Rivera sink.

With that, here is Camden singing Rhianna (he's not really upside down).

Sure Enough.....

So the lady in front of me on the bus today was amazing.

The roads in Montgomery and PG counties are out of control.  I don't think they have done work on them since the Reagan administration and I swear that in some parts I have seen hell in the bottom of a couple of the potholes.  Needless to say, bus seats are not the best shock absorbers and sleeping on the bus is out of the question.

Or so I thought.

This lady sits down in front of me and leans her head on the window and falls asleep.  Now I'm  interested.  I know whats coming.  Just after the Taco Bell, but right before the Don Pollo, there is the grand daddy pothole.  Like god stuck a finger in the ground just to watch people texting and driving hit their faces on their steering wheels.

Now this lady, to make matters worse, is slowly sliding down the window until her head is resting on the aluminum edge window sill.  I can't believe she is even asleep first of all, with all of the crazies that I see getting off and on everyday, and second, I have to imagine that she is not new to the area and this probably isn't her first trip on the merry-go-round. 

Ok, here is comes........ BAM.  Seriously, I heard her head smack the side of the bus.  I'm thinking brain damage.  She sits up and decides to lean her forehead on the metal bar in front of her and go back to sleep.  Amazing.

These are the type of people I feel sorry for.  This lady could have made a killing with a circus back in the day, traveling the world, screaming fans paying nickels and dimes for a peak at the incredible unbreakable melon.  Instead, she is relegated to some crappy double shift somewhere that makes her so tired that bouncing her face off Plexiglas is better than staying awake for 15 more minutes.

My Anniversary Day

Today is my wife and my's first anniversary.  I should definitely say how much I love her and how much she inspires me to start writing down some of my thoughts.  I guess my first post should just describe a little about where I am in my life.

In December I packed up all my stuff and stuck it to the pioneers by moving back east.  All those years playing Oregon trail made me realize all the pain and hardship they went through and how in two days I reversed all of their hard work.  Take it pioneers.  I now live in Silver Spring, MD which was almost Mall of America II but I guess that it didn't pan out.  I started as a postdoctoral researcher at UMD and so far so good.

Our apartment is new and beautiful and I love being married in our own place.  Most importantly, our place has shuffle board which if I ever make friends, will be awesome.

I have a fish named Cheese Ball and he lives in a vase because he will probably die soon and I wanted him to prove his worth before spending $10 on a fish bowl.  Don't worry, it is a big vase.  We got him for Persian New Year which is my new favorite holiday because it is two days before our anniversary, so I will never forget!

I am an uncle to Camden and my sister takes a lot of pictures and videos of him for me to post later.  It's nice since I am so far away.  Hah, my typing skills just made me type "fart".

I ride the bus to work every day and every day I see something jaw dropping.  The bus is a sick sociological experiment to me.  A bunch of people from different ethnic groups and socioeconomic backgrounds packed into a sardine can and hoping that a set of headphones will keep the drunk guy in the corner from talking to you while avoiding the seats with pee on them.  I love it.

So that is my life.  Bus Work Bus Home.  Sounds mundane, but thanks to the ridiculousness of others (and my own), my life is never boring.