I've been 20 laps in the pool pretty consistently now - and since 18 is a half mile, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm trying to push myself harder through those 20 and get my time down.
I've been very out of sorts today - feeling like one of those video effects where they try to simulate a time distortion and the image lags and then catches up. I've felt like that since I got up this morning - made the drive into work really interesting. I'll get over it soon enough I know, but it's odd.
Kind of a short post today, but I've got a lot of work to get done. later...
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
traffic and cookies
Driving home last evening after getting my hair-cut, I got caught in rain and traffic. And, despite this being Ohio where weird-ass weather should be the norm - everyone freaked out and creeped along the highway at 2 miles per hour. Or they randomly stopped entirely.
The temp gauge in my car started to rise a bit - nothing serious, but just a little bit - and I decided to help things out by turning on the heat. The blast of warm air hit me and with it, since I had vanilla air fresheners in the vents, the smell of baking cookies.
I actually laughed out loud as the silliness of the association - then went back to singing along with the radio and waiting for the traffic to clear and let me go home.
later...
The temp gauge in my car started to rise a bit - nothing serious, but just a little bit - and I decided to help things out by turning on the heat. The blast of warm air hit me and with it, since I had vanilla air fresheners in the vents, the smell of baking cookies.
I actually laughed out loud as the silliness of the association - then went back to singing along with the radio and waiting for the traffic to clear and let me go home.
later...
Monday, June 18, 2007
father's day
I went to visit my parents last weekend for Father's Day and as promised - it's going in the blog.
Friday evening was pretty quiet, but on Saturday we packed a lunch and headed to Columbus. The destination was the Columbus zoo, but we went to a craft store and a bookstore first. The trip to the zoo was a bit round-about and we were all getting pretty hungry - since we planned on eating once we got to the zoo. We arrived at the zoo around 2:30 - only to find a sign saying the zoo would close at 3:00 for a fund-raising party. So, we skipped that and found a park near where we used to live to have our lunch. It was a little silly, but it worked out.
After that, we headed back to their place and Dad wanted to take a different route instead of the main one - a slightly more scenic drive that ended up being "road closed". Which forced us back onto the main route anyway.
On Sunday we gave my dad a drop-spreader and a back-pack sprayer. The sprayer was not well assembled and my brother-in-law and I got it fixed - with some timely help from my sister. So, we suited her up like a ghost buster for some testing and she pretty much hosed everyone. And since it had a 25 foot range, there was really no running from here.
While this was going on - dad was grilling. And grill he did. We ended up with a pile of food and pretty much everyone ate until physically uncomfortable - then we had brownies and ice cream.
After that, I got rolled out to my car and headed home.
Today, I put those calories to good use and swam really fast today. 20 laps, record time, and a very tired geek after lunch.
That's about it for now - time to get back to work...
Friday evening was pretty quiet, but on Saturday we packed a lunch and headed to Columbus. The destination was the Columbus zoo, but we went to a craft store and a bookstore first. The trip to the zoo was a bit round-about and we were all getting pretty hungry - since we planned on eating once we got to the zoo. We arrived at the zoo around 2:30 - only to find a sign saying the zoo would close at 3:00 for a fund-raising party. So, we skipped that and found a park near where we used to live to have our lunch. It was a little silly, but it worked out.
After that, we headed back to their place and Dad wanted to take a different route instead of the main one - a slightly more scenic drive that ended up being "road closed". Which forced us back onto the main route anyway.
On Sunday we gave my dad a drop-spreader and a back-pack sprayer. The sprayer was not well assembled and my brother-in-law and I got it fixed - with some timely help from my sister. So, we suited her up like a ghost buster for some testing and she pretty much hosed everyone. And since it had a 25 foot range, there was really no running from here.
While this was going on - dad was grilling. And grill he did. We ended up with a pile of food and pretty much everyone ate until physically uncomfortable - then we had brownies and ice cream.
After that, I got rolled out to my car and headed home.
Today, I put those calories to good use and swam really fast today. 20 laps, record time, and a very tired geek after lunch.
That's about it for now - time to get back to work...
Friday, June 15, 2007
off-roading, swimming stroke, cold
The driveway to my apartment is still blocked off, so I'm still "off-roading it" to get to my garage and back out again. The grass is still doing okay for now, but I'm really hoping they pull the tape down soon. Really surprised they are making us wait this long - and I suspect it really isn't necessary since they already did the cutting the day before yesterday.
I went to lunch with some co-workers yesterday and we were talking about our various exercise routines. A couple of them got the conversation started since they were in the Zip-off weight loss challenge. One of them asked me about the name of a particular swimming stroke and I explained what I knew about it. I told them I did a modified breast stoke that adds a scissors kick.
And then things got slightly inappropriate.
One of them asked if there was a name for the stroke I did and suggested that it be called: the "serpette stroke". Someone else said that sounded kinda dirty. I replied that, "I only do that one when I'm in the pool by myself,"
Someone else added, "and you're near the filter, right?"
Well, I said it was inappropriate, didn't I?
Anyway, they were impressed that I could a 1/2 mile and we moved the conversation to less murky waters.
Other news..I seemed to have come down with a minor head cold. Took some Alkeseltzer (sp?) last night - which is an indication of how bad I was feeling because most of the time I would rather just be sick than take that foul-tasting swill. It was a little better this time around since I mixed it with cran-raspberry juice. Made for some really odd foam - but it tasted a little better. I'm better today, must have been able to fight it off last night.
Got a meeting filled day ahead of me - looks like I need to get to it. later...
I went to lunch with some co-workers yesterday and we were talking about our various exercise routines. A couple of them got the conversation started since they were in the Zip-off weight loss challenge. One of them asked me about the name of a particular swimming stroke and I explained what I knew about it. I told them I did a modified breast stoke that adds a scissors kick.
And then things got slightly inappropriate.
One of them asked if there was a name for the stroke I did and suggested that it be called: the "serpette stroke". Someone else said that sounded kinda dirty. I replied that, "I only do that one when I'm in the pool by myself,"
Someone else added, "and you're near the filter, right?"
Well, I said it was inappropriate, didn't I?
Anyway, they were impressed that I could a 1/2 mile and we moved the conversation to less murky waters.
Other news..I seemed to have come down with a minor head cold. Took some Alkeseltzer (sp?) last night - which is an indication of how bad I was feeling because most of the time I would rather just be sick than take that foul-tasting swill. It was a little better this time around since I mixed it with cran-raspberry juice. Made for some really odd foam - but it tasted a little better. I'm better today, must have been able to fight it off last night.
Got a meeting filled day ahead of me - looks like I need to get to it. later...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
driveway, swim
Quick entry - since it's almost time to go home.
1. The driveway at my apartment is, indeed, closed. So, yesterday when I came home from work I had to drive across the lawns to get to my garage. And this morning I had to cross the lawns again to get out to the road. As predicted, I was annoyed. If this keeps, I'll see if my sister wants to swap vehicles so that I can use her jeep for my off-roading adventures.
2. Swam 1/2 mile again today. The pool was very busy - I think there was a swim class going on at the shallow end.
Time to spend a few more minutes looking like I'm working, then I'm headed out.
later...
1. The driveway at my apartment is, indeed, closed. So, yesterday when I came home from work I had to drive across the lawns to get to my garage. And this morning I had to cross the lawns again to get out to the road. As predicted, I was annoyed. If this keeps, I'll see if my sister wants to swap vehicles so that I can use her jeep for my off-roading adventures.
2. Swam 1/2 mile again today. The pool was very busy - I think there was a swim class going on at the shallow end.
Time to spend a few more minutes looking like I'm working, then I'm headed out.
later...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
belt, driveway, blood drive
Bought a new belt recently - the old one, while reversable, was in bad shape. And I've lost a bit of weight, so it made sense to get a new one. Took me a while to find one I liked, but when I did, I thought it was broken. There was no metal bit that rotates and and gets inserted in the hole of the leather. Instead, there's a short post on the opposite side that the leather locks into. It's a little odd, but it works well and it remarkably quiet. Not that I really need a "stealth" belt in the normal course of my day or night - but still interesting.
The landlord is finally getting the driveway fixed - we'd had a section near the road that was gravel instead of concrete because they were doing work on the drainage ditch. It's now going to be replaced with concrete. Along with the next door neighbors. Take note of that little factoid, it will be important later. We've been told that it will take FIVE days before it's drivable - which seems excessive to me. And it's been suggested that we park over on a side street, where we are almost certain to be hit - or to carefully drive across the grass to get to our garage. Remember when I said the next door neighbors were having theirs done too? Yep - we have to drive across essentially three lawns to get to our garage - and no shortcuts since the ditch is impassible.
The work was supposed to start today and I'm prepared to be annoyed. In fact, I think I'm already getting warmed up for my annoyance when I get home.
In other news, I went and gave blood last night. I had an appointment, and I was a few minutes early - and it went faster than I've ever had. The only thing that slowed us down was the computer and the printer - everything else was quick and very efficient. They had a movie going, which was loud and distracting, but otherwise it was pretty standard - though very quick like I said.
And then afterwards - I got tired. So very tired. I had gone swimming yesterday at lunchtime - not sure if that was a factor or not. In any case, I was sluggish the rest of the evening and went to bed early and slept very soundly.
That's about it for now...later...
The landlord is finally getting the driveway fixed - we'd had a section near the road that was gravel instead of concrete because they were doing work on the drainage ditch. It's now going to be replaced with concrete. Along with the next door neighbors. Take note of that little factoid, it will be important later. We've been told that it will take FIVE days before it's drivable - which seems excessive to me. And it's been suggested that we park over on a side street, where we are almost certain to be hit - or to carefully drive across the grass to get to our garage. Remember when I said the next door neighbors were having theirs done too? Yep - we have to drive across essentially three lawns to get to our garage - and no shortcuts since the ditch is impassible.
The work was supposed to start today and I'm prepared to be annoyed. In fact, I think I'm already getting warmed up for my annoyance when I get home.
In other news, I went and gave blood last night. I had an appointment, and I was a few minutes early - and it went faster than I've ever had. The only thing that slowed us down was the computer and the printer - everything else was quick and very efficient. They had a movie going, which was loud and distracting, but otherwise it was pretty standard - though very quick like I said.
And then afterwards - I got tired. So very tired. I had gone swimming yesterday at lunchtime - not sure if that was a factor or not. In any case, I was sluggish the rest of the evening and went to bed early and slept very soundly.
That's about it for now...later...
Sunday, June 10, 2007
babies, swimming, another loss, more crazy people
Two posts on the same day? Well, I've got time and a lot to say - and this one is a bit more like my usual posts. Random stuff and my thoughts on the world around me. Here we go...
We got pictures of the new babies that our friends had though their surrogate - they look, as most babies do, adorable. I'm thinking about making an origami mobile for them - maybe something with fish since their new dad likes fish and aquariums quite a bit.
On Friday, I hit the still very cold and surprisingly busy pool for a swim - and made it to a 1/2 mile. I've done this once before - but not during my regular lunch time. I was pretty tired when I finished up, but I made it through. And then I had to face a cold shower since the facility was, once again, without hot water. Irksome - and itchy since I couldn't get the chlorine off of me during my brief rinse off.
One of my co-workers got some bad news this past week - one of his his good friends died suddenly. The service, and tribute concert for the former musician, was yesterday. My co-worker and I talked about this a bit - he hasn't experienced much death and I don't know if anything I said did any good. I'm hoping the service and the concert helps him deal with things a bit.
I've found myself dealing with more crazy people recently - and for a while I almost started to get used to them. I was, for a short while, finding myself on their wavelength - i.e. they almost started to make sense. Thankfully, I'm back on track and I'm annoyed by them again. So much so that I wanted to have a rubber stamp made with the word "CRAZY" on it. I could then walk around and label people on their foreheads as a warning to others. Sort of like a mission - though I suspect I would quickly run out of ink.
I guess that's it for now... I'll try to update more frequently...
We got pictures of the new babies that our friends had though their surrogate - they look, as most babies do, adorable. I'm thinking about making an origami mobile for them - maybe something with fish since their new dad likes fish and aquariums quite a bit.
On Friday, I hit the still very cold and surprisingly busy pool for a swim - and made it to a 1/2 mile. I've done this once before - but not during my regular lunch time. I was pretty tired when I finished up, but I made it through. And then I had to face a cold shower since the facility was, once again, without hot water. Irksome - and itchy since I couldn't get the chlorine off of me during my brief rinse off.
One of my co-workers got some bad news this past week - one of his his good friends died suddenly. The service, and tribute concert for the former musician, was yesterday. My co-worker and I talked about this a bit - he hasn't experienced much death and I don't know if anything I said did any good. I'm hoping the service and the concert helps him deal with things a bit.
I've found myself dealing with more crazy people recently - and for a while I almost started to get used to them. I was, for a short while, finding myself on their wavelength - i.e. they almost started to make sense. Thankfully, I'm back on track and I'm annoyed by them again. So much so that I wanted to have a rubber stamp made with the word "CRAZY" on it. I could then walk around and label people on their foreheads as a warning to others. Sort of like a mission - though I suspect I would quickly run out of ink.
I guess that's it for now... I'll try to update more frequently...
life, death, and atoms
I haven't blogged in a while. There, I said it. A lot has been happening, but it was too much to try and put into text. It always ends up as a summary and some essential element gets lost.
So, this wave of things began a few weeks ago, when my room-mate found out that his dad had taken some bad falls and was in the hospital. He got checked out and they found that he had cancer in his lungs and it had spread to his brain. The prognosis wasn't good and he started to fade fast.
At the same time, two of our friends told from Columbus were expected twins though a surrogate that lived near us. As it got closer to the time for the delivery, we invited them to stay with us so they wouldn't have to make the long drive.
My room-mate is still recovering from his nose surgery at this point and I'm pretty much doing just what I do - stay out of the way and try to help everyone. It works, mostly.
The babies came first - a few false alarms and then the new parents went to the hospital for the c-section. With the four of them headed back to Columbus, we could focus on my room-mate's dad.
The poor guy was hurting, he stopped eating, and then swiftly faded mentally. His family decided to take him home and just before Memorial day weekend, he finally stopped fighting and let go. It was swift, as these things go, but it also took forever.
My room-mate was there when his dad passed away and I headed there as well not long after, with my new suit and some origami flowers, for the funeral.
The visitation hit me the hardest - just couldn't seem to wrap my head around the idea that his great story-teller had no more stories to tell. At least, none that we could hear.
One of my last projects at work before I left for that weekend was to work on a commencement speech for the university president. My small task it to take the word doc format and turn it into a web page. Most of these don't mean much to me - but this time the speech really struck me and I ended up buying the book it referenced that evening and reading it over the weekend.
The speech is here - but the section that really hit me (and it hit my room-mate as well when I shared it with him) is as follows:
My room-mate wanted me to read this at the service - but due to some massive internal strife among his siblings, I didn't get the chance.
And that part, the conflicts they are having, is the saddest bit of all. So much anger, resentment, and petty squabbling - it was terrible to watch. At a time when the family should be pulling together in their grief, they are tearing themselves apart.
I tried to stay out of it - quietly reciting the mantra of my #1 rule - "Don't (mess) with crazy people,". And I relegated myself to the "reaching of things high up" and "lifting of things that are heavy" rolls - the real problems were not things that I could fix.
So, we wrapping things up with a service on a beautiful sun-shining day. And I went back to my life - wondering about my own atoms and what they'll be when I'm gone.
...
So, this wave of things began a few weeks ago, when my room-mate found out that his dad had taken some bad falls and was in the hospital. He got checked out and they found that he had cancer in his lungs and it had spread to his brain. The prognosis wasn't good and he started to fade fast.
At the same time, two of our friends told from Columbus were expected twins though a surrogate that lived near us. As it got closer to the time for the delivery, we invited them to stay with us so they wouldn't have to make the long drive.
My room-mate is still recovering from his nose surgery at this point and I'm pretty much doing just what I do - stay out of the way and try to help everyone. It works, mostly.
The babies came first - a few false alarms and then the new parents went to the hospital for the c-section. With the four of them headed back to Columbus, we could focus on my room-mate's dad.
The poor guy was hurting, he stopped eating, and then swiftly faded mentally. His family decided to take him home and just before Memorial day weekend, he finally stopped fighting and let go. It was swift, as these things go, but it also took forever.
My room-mate was there when his dad passed away and I headed there as well not long after, with my new suit and some origami flowers, for the funeral.
The visitation hit me the hardest - just couldn't seem to wrap my head around the idea that his great story-teller had no more stories to tell. At least, none that we could hear.
One of my last projects at work before I left for that weekend was to work on a commencement speech for the university president. My small task it to take the word doc format and turn it into a web page. Most of these don't mean much to me - but this time the speech really struck me and I ended up buying the book it referenced that evening and reading it over the weekend.
The speech is here - but the section that really hit me (and it hit my room-mate as well when I shared it with him) is as follows:
"The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting – fleeting indeed. Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000 hours. And when that modest milestone flashes past, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons unknown your atoms will shut you down, silently disassemble, and go off to be other things. And that's it for you."
(Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, 2003)
My room-mate wanted me to read this at the service - but due to some massive internal strife among his siblings, I didn't get the chance.
And that part, the conflicts they are having, is the saddest bit of all. So much anger, resentment, and petty squabbling - it was terrible to watch. At a time when the family should be pulling together in their grief, they are tearing themselves apart.
I tried to stay out of it - quietly reciting the mantra of my #1 rule - "Don't (mess) with crazy people,". And I relegated myself to the "reaching of things high up" and "lifting of things that are heavy" rolls - the real problems were not things that I could fix.
So, we wrapping things up with a service on a beautiful sun-shining day. And I went back to my life - wondering about my own atoms and what they'll be when I'm gone.
...
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