so how about those chinese gymnasts?

you cannot tell me those girls are all sixteen. i just can't believe it. i refuse to believe it. it's absurd. they are absolutely tiny. this isn't really a new issue but jesus, it's more than apparent these are young children performing all these insane feats. i was watching the team finals last night and they're really, really good at what they do. but they should not be put under such stress to perform so well so young. she looks the youngest and smallest. however, it's going to be difficult to prove considering the international olympic committee seems to want to distance themselves from the issue as much as possible. figures. it was disappointing to watch us lose last night but i think overall this olympics has gone well for the united states. from the few bits and pieces i've watched, i've noticed we have swimming boy wonder michael phelps, who seems to be dominating just about everyone (i recently realized he's about my age, ridiculous)... our diving team seems like it could use a bit of a pick me up ... we seem to be decent in water polo ... the georgia-russian conflict should be settled by their shooting teams, which seem to be getting along a lot better (ironically) than the two nations themselves ... and i still have yet to see handball but it sounds like a pretty neat sport.

anywho, being back in new hampshire has been incredibly surreal. i mean, i come and visit plenty but it's always weird to go travelling about and see all the places you grew up. i went to a birthday party tonight for the mother of a friend of mine, and there were lots of people from the community who recognized me whom i haven't seen in years. it's weird to attempt to assimilate yourself time and again back into the community where you spent many of your formative years. but i think it'll be for the better ... already the job hunt may be promising, and it's nice to be home, although frustrating to not have all my things.

i do miss connecticut. on the way up the other day i was thinking about what exactly it is in connecticut i'll miss.

- i'll miss having amenities close to me! oh man, now gone are the days of 24 hour diners and supermarkets less than five minutes away and movie theatres and concert halls and malls and everything else. i got spoiled when it came to that.
- i'll miss my friends, obviously. i met so many wonderful people and became much closer with the few i already knew. and of course, seth is still there, which makes me incredibly upset from time to time ... but we've done long distance before and hopefully we can make it work again.
- i'm going to miss highways. we have a lot of roads here where you can just drive and drive and never end up anywhere, but a lot of them are small, or through the woods, and you always have to worry about hitting the random errant moose or deer. on the highway i always felt so free. it helps that i love to drive, and that i probably was a racecar driver in a past life - i loved just driving without thinking, weaving in and out of the lanes and never having to worry about stopping.
- i'll miss my freedom. the problem with moving back home is that you're instantly having to worry about what you do, who you're with, how late you're out, how you speak to who you live with, etcetera. as much as i know my mother won't really mind what i do, i'm really going to miss not having to answer to anybody, and to come and go on my own terms without questions.

one example of awesome: so the jerk that broke into my car last week in new britain broke my trunk lock. i was able to somehow unlock it to load things into the car for the move, including my mother's dining room table (i drive a station wagon, FYI), but then once it was locked, was unable to open it again in new hampshire. turns out it was all jammed up and the latch was stuck. after two days of fighting with it, i took it today up to the local subaru dealership. not only did they fix the trunk without busting the tailgate hatch like they thought they were going to have to, they did it quickly, without any damage to the car, and they didn't charge me a cent. considering i now need a new lock, i think i'll be going back to them. not only were they courteous, kind, and outgoing, but the fact that they could have charged me 100 bucks for labor and didn't was pretty cool of them. if you're up in northern new hampshire, check out profile subaru in conway - can't recommend them enough, and i've heard from others they're amazing to work with.

i've noticed being back up north how nice people can be. i guess "nice" isn't the best word - more courteous than anything. people hold doors for you, say "please" and "thank you", don't yell at you, don't drive ridiculously, take the time to learn about you, and are just genuinely good people. don't get me wrong, i did find a few of those in connecticut, and many of them are now my friends. but more often than not i'd just run into many situations where people either wanted nothing to do with me in a customer service setting, or were just plain rude or insulting. goes to show what a difference city and country living makes, i guess.