Grayson, Carpets, Ice Cream

Grayson

Yesterday afternoon I read a semi-short book called "Grayson" by Lynne Cox. Cox also has written "Swimming to Antarctica" which I have not read. I don't know how to get a picture of the cover here, so you'll just have to imagine a compact tome with great cover art -- a drawing of a smiling gray whale with his tail flipped and water spouting from the top of his body.

The story is true, and describes the author's experience with a baby gray whale that had become separated from its mother for a few hours one morning off the California coast.

It is interesting that one of the scenes described involves a huge colony of stingrays; the author tells how stingrays are normally docile unless stepped on or placed in danger. So I was surprised when, upon going to work this morning, I was told that Steve Irwin had died due to a stingray 'attack'. I suppose, however, that anything piercing your heart would most likely kill you, regardless of how safe/unsafe it is under normal circumstances.

I really enjoyed the book. Check it out if you get the chance. It'll only take 1-2 hours to read, depending on your speed.
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Carpets

I went in to work last night, on my day off, to be there while the carpet was being cleaned. They started at 10pm when the store closed, and they didn't finish until 3 in the fucking morning. Holy shit. They did a nice job, but it was just 2 guys, and one of them left at about 1 am. I spent the time doing merchandising change-outs and filling up tables and displays. Normally I wouldn't care about the 3am thing, but I had to be back at the store at 8am this morning. So I got about 3.5 hours of sleep, which is not enough. I'm exhausted and will go to bed very early tonight. But hey, the carpets are sans coffee stains, chai stains, chewing gum, food spills, and everything else that gets dropped on them.
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Ice Cream

I am currently enjoying a new ice cream concoction I created. Buy a bag of frozen mixed berries, add 1/3 cup sugar and a few tablespoons of lemon juice. Toss and let seep for 30 minutes or so. Add the juice of the berries to a basic vanilla ice cream recipe and put in the ice cream maker. When it's done, scoop some in a bowl and top off with the now-chilled/not-frozen berries. Deeeeee-licious!