An Aside

I have pictures from my trip to AZ which was fantastic. So I will start posting those soon and begin to tell tales, but I thought I would mention quickly how little resolve I have. To do that, I have a short story that is illustrative of my point.

I wanted to get some Starbucks Iced Black Tea this morning. I feel that iced tea is appropriate any time of year because I find iced beverages to be the only ones that are truly "refreshing" and I really like them. I have been told I would not do well in Europe because apparently they never got the memo about ice cubes or air conditioning for that matter. Two things that I can't live without. Well, I can live without them, but it makes me cranky...yes, even more cranky than my baseline level of crankitude.

At any rate, I really wanted a Starbucks Iced Tea, so even though it was only about 3 degrees when I left the house and according to the outdoor sign at the bank about 9 degrees when I got downtown, I thought I could handle it. I have a shirt, sweater, jacket, scarf, hat, gloves, boots and jeans, I'm dressed to go get iced tea. Except that when I got outside I walked about 25 feet and then decided that walking all the way to Starbucks wasn't really worth it. I ended up caving and getting some hot tea from the local (and I'm sure better for you, not as corporate and evil, blah, blah, blah) coffee shop. Seriously, I was out there for about 1 minute before caving on my plan to get iced tea.

All I have to say is that it is such a good thing that I am not trusted with national secrets or information that might be vital for something because I would not stand up to torture. I think I would blurt out everything I know- a la Chunk in Goonies- at the first mention of any sort of torture. I'd like to think that if someone's life was on the line I would be able to stop myself, but if I'm being honest, that's not likely to be the case, I don't like to be uncomfortable. I guess the lesson learned here today is don't trust me with the microfilm. I will let you down every time.

And now I return you to staring at the pretty ring in the picture below. I know that's what I do with my days now. Just sit, stare and sigh contentedly. And repeat.