Today, I saw that snow was in the forecast but only saw dampness when I left my apartment to fail at donating blood (because of Thailand). It was cold out though, so when I sat with an almost delirious Angela (who had succeeded in donating) in a cab as we passed Union Square I said, “Wow, I didn’t realize it actually snow snowed.”

As we sat in traffic and watched the many plows waiting to take away forkfuls of filthy snow it became very clear that the snow was entirely out of place. After joking that it’d be funny if a movie required muddy slush, the cabbie finally piped up and told us that it was fake, or brought in, rather, for filming. So that’s how movies and TV continue to deceive people about winter.

We should have instantly noticed something was amiss when there were three plows in one section of Union Square; NYC doesn’t respond to snow that quickly!

Last night it went from taking a test to my dad helping me cheat to complete a letter to my CEO quoting my CEO to turning it in and being chastised by the teacher who went on to ask if I was going to visit before breaking out in song and sounding like Kristin Chenowith to me being on the Glee set watching a performance. There was also an extended “scene” of me working very hard to clean my dorm room and organize my weird belongings.

But the detail. Oh god this dream lasted so long and included everything. If only I could live edit the dreams. That would actually be pretty cool.

The funny thing is after two failed attempts to go to Totto Ramen this week, I patiently waited 1.5 hours today for this:

I’m pretty sure I used up all my patience on delicious ramen. Afterwards, all I was doing was trying to be a good daughter and decided around Broadway and 50th St. that it’d be a good idea to walk to the Apple store on 5th to pick up an iPhone 4S for my mom. The day before New Year’s Eve is not a good time to be in that area. Barricades were being set up for the ball drop, hoards of tourists were slowly meandering the streets with no sense of urgency and made me wanna do what this other asshole was doing, physically pushing people out of the way as he stormed towards open sidewalk spaces.

Seriously, it’s the worst part of town. And going up 5th Avenue was an equally poor decision. That nine block walk was treacherous and I nearly screamed when I reached the store and realized there was a line outside just to get in.

I guess the good news is is that the unlocked iPhone was actually in stock, making me glad I took the chance to go there without calling ahead. Now the question is…do I keep the one that’s to ship in 1-2 weeks, or wait until the next version is out?

Let’s compare the day after Christmas last year:

And Christmas Eve this year:

Granted, last year there was a delightful blizzard, but still, the fact that my container garden still has some life left in it right now is a testament to the lack of cold thus far. Note: the rain boots from last year became this year’s swiss chard planters.

And for some reason, things just don’t seem that festive this year. I went to Rockefeller Center when Jackie came to visit and the tree wasn’t lit. Apparently, they turn the lights off at 11:30pm. Lame. Jackie was expecting snow too during her visit – I guess that makes all those holiday movies set in snowy NYC liars. But the lack of snow makes this Santa Con remnant even funnier:

I’m not complaining that it’s not freezing as shit out, because I’d rather it be 30 degrees than 10, but a little snow and a chance to go sledding in Prospect Park would be nice. Not being confused about how to dress would be nice. And not waking up sweaty because I already changed to my down comforter during the freak Halloween blizzard would be nice.

2) Who knew that my Black Friday “adventure” would be spent at PepBoys today? Apparently in desperate need of tires, I went in, ordered 3 tires to get the 4th free, and picked up a jump starter booster while I was at it. Fifteen dollars after rebate is way better than $45/call once my last AAA call is used. I then meandered through the madness of Target and Best Buy to remind myself why I hate shopping and got a call from PepBoys telling me they could not install the tires because the key to my wheel locks could not be found. Why I even have wheel locks is beyond me – it was an option I was not allowed to decline when buying the Red Dragon. After calling three Toyotas and getting nowhere, I was forced to give up the idea of cheap tires on a car I never even drive anyway because I didn’t feel like spending $50 to have the wheel locks drilled off. Not yet at least.

3) I hate Time Warner Cable. I hate them so much that I spent two hours researching which wireless router I should buy just so I don’t have to pay TWC $6/month for wireless internet. I still haven’t figured it out yet because I don’t know how long I’ll need my own router. It used to be free, but their deceitful billing practices now have me paying an extra $40/month. I barely even watch TV so the idea of shelling out $200/month, even if split, for cable and internet is pretty maddening.

4) The hot water started running out on Tuesday. I realized it was out out on Wednesday and phoned it in. Didn’t feel like being a dick about it on Thanksgiving, so I did nothing. At 8:45 his morning I was woken up by management telling me someone would be by to check it. At 3:15 I called back to follow up. At 5:40 I called the emergency line and was told 30-45 minutes. At 7:20 I called back and was told another 30 minutes. At 8pm, nearly 12 hours after the first call, I was told there was a faulty piece. I desperately sought showering options. At 8:20 I was told the pilot had been lit and to wait 20-30 minutes. I waited 40 because I wanted my first hot shower since Monday. I got ice water.

I’m not big on celebrations and holidays, so it’s worth noting that Thanksgiving is one of the events I actually enjoy since it involves food without God and aging. So I’ll admit I had a moment of depression and self-pity before I went ahead and decided I would just treat it like any other day where I’m cooped up all by myself. I’m a fatty so I definitely had enough food to create a feast, but I held back and made an assortment of farts:

Roasted brussels sprouts and potatoes and some quinoa I made in the rice cooker along with some hardboiled eggs. The meal was classily served in a takeout container that had a small amount of leftover pineapple fried rice from the previous night, when Lesley and I both decided ordering two entrees for myself was a good idea.

And then I sat down to enjoy a hearty meal without excess while finishing off “Band of Brothers” which I started immediately after “The Pacific”, both of which made me thankful that I don’t know what war is. Too bad the second to last episode involved the US military discovering a concentration camp – super downer.

At the end of the day, it’s a good thing Canada didn’t happen because the tread on my tires are pretty much gone so tomorrow, I will be Black Fridaying at PepBoys and getting a new set of wheels that I’ll barely use.

Update: Went outside to capture Fall for Lesley’s Californian children and most of those beautiful colors, in a matter of days, have become brown, dried leaves. Le sigh.

This might be “Gigalos” inspired.

A year has come and gone since I moved to New York and it’s time to bid farewell to the old and keep replacing with the new. Adios Netflix and its damn price hikes. No more failing to update my queue only to have random DVDs (like this one) show up in the mail to remind me of the past. Hello Amazon Prime?

In August the weather cooled and I happily said bye to the worst of summer. I survived, thanks in part to some emergency dresses and having an office to freeze in all day. But I complained. A lot.

In July I went to a party, talked about people peeing in a closet, and got a date out of it. Still got the charm. The guy? Kind of a creep – kthxbye!

In June I bid adieu to ten inches of raggedy hair and Pantene Great Lengths will be happy to hear three inches have already grown back. Gross.

In May I took the last thing that tied me to California and drove it across the country with Adam. The red dragon, after a ticket and a tow, now has New York plates.

In April, I tried to get over my apprehension of going to things alone and went to my first Meetup (Fail! Didn’t meet up with anyone and climbed by myself. Sad.) and joined a kickball team. The latter led to me playing beer pong and flip cup for the first time ever. And then I got super sick. Mental note: avoid activities that lure Greek life types.

January through March was a wintery blur. Life sort of kicked up again when daylight started lasting longer. But, I did go to Taiwan for Chinese New Year and the 18+ hour flight was a reminder that “home” really isn’t California anymore now that my parents aren’t there.

And now, there’s roughly two more weeks until winter. At least, after eight months of putting it off, I finally took five minutes to fix my site and now I can live blog while hibernating. The bears will thank me for it later.