in line, game, lunch

I was going a little stir crazy last night after a difficult day at work, so, I headed out to target to pick up a few things - nothing critical, just something to get me out of the apartment for a few. As I was getting ready to check out, I discovered something of a truth:

"There's no such thing as a good line"

As I stood there, patiently waiting my turn, I watched several people attempt to jockey for position. In every case, they ended up in no better position than before.

It's the human element. Unless you are first in line and actually at the register, there's a significant chance that a human will do something to disrupt the flow of the system. Check writing with a non functional pen or missing ID. Spills. Forgotten items or price disputes.

In my opinion, the best way through these is to just pick a line and wait it out.

Now, while I believe there is no such thing as a good line - I've convinced there is such a thing as a bad line.

And yesterday, I was in one.

The woman in front of me had an "aroma". And while I could avoid looking at the mass of flesh on the backs of her upper arms after the initial glance, I could not "un-smell" her. She was trying to make small talk with the cashier while being passive aggressive with the bagger about how he was loading her cart incorrectly - something about the heavy items being actually in the cart as opposed to balanced in the child seat area so that she wouldn't have to lift it out.

I waited quietly. She had to purchase a gift card as well and was chatting with the cashier about how good the orange flavored chocolate was that she was buying.

And then, the problem. She put in the wrong pin number. Completely flustered and helpless she became. It was, clearly, the very end of the world. The cashier had to lean over and walk her through the steps to undo her mistake - all the while she went on and on about how she used the pin from another card.

She looked at me for support, as though expecting I would chime in about a similar incident in my life where I too had entered the wrong pin number.

Instead, I looked through her, then through her very soul and on out the other side. Utterly dismissing her very existence. Because there was no way I was going to get dragged into her life in any way, shape or form.

Pin number correctly entered, she collected her receipt with something akin to reluctance. As she carefully folded it and worked her way through her purse for the correct location to place it, I realized that she was upset that her performance was ending so soon and that the audience - namely me - did not appreciate the show.

When she finally cleared the way and headed for the exit, I moved into position and placed my items on the belt - rotating them so that bar codes were easily accessible. Card swipe, pin entered, receipt gathered, bags collected and out the door. Moments later I was passing her in the parking lot.

Is there a deeper lesson to be learned here? Not really, except that people annoy me. I think even the Buddha would have sworn under his breath.

In other news... I'm still playing through Okami on the second time around. Kicking some butt and finding new areas. I'm going to try and get all of the ultimate weapons this time around.

Finally, I'm a little dressed up today. The team is having a luncheon with the UA president and the boss has asked us to wear the shirts we got for a division-wide award. So, we're all going to be dressed alike and, perhaps, all looking like complete tools. Should be fun - at least lunch is free.

back to work... later...

visit, day one, keyboard

My sister and brother-in-law stopped by for a quick visit and some snacks on their way back from a camping trip. They couldn't stay long, but it was still nice they stopped. I'll see them again this coming weekend.

Today is the first day of classes for the fall. I expect campus will be very busy - I got here early to secure a parking space and I also brought my lunch. It'll settle down soon.

I got a new keyboard over the weekend. It only cost me $10 and it's flexible! I couldn't pass it up.
I'm using it now and it takes a little getting used to. Expect more typos than usual.

I've got a student coming in for an interview in a few minutes - guess I'd better get ready for that.

later...

migraine

It started when I when to the kitchen at work to fix my cup of pre-swim oatmeal.
(note, I've learned from experience that it's not wise to try and chug hot oatmeal)
I had a weird sort of dizziness - like I was going to have an out-of-body experience or something. It wasn't enough to impair my movements - but it was quite weird. I ate my oatmeal and hoped it would pass.

Not long after I got back to my desk - the visual distortion began. Apparently, some people refer to this as an aura - but I've read far too many new-agey books to call it that. To me, an aura should be a series of colors of energy surrounding a person that tell you what they are feeling. I've never been able to see those. What I experience when a migraine is coming on is a visual distortion. Can't really describe it any other way.

I took an ibuprofen - and crossed my fingers. The distortion got worse and then the light sensitivity kicked in, followed shortly by the headache. It started to quickly ramp up and I held out hope that the ibuprofen would kick in and put an end to it. At a suggestion from a friend, I tried a bottle of Pepsi - thinking that the jolt of caffeinee would help since I've pretty much given up on the stuff. It tasted terrible - which was good, in a way. No falling off the wagon for me.

No luck. The next step was nausea and while I'm willing to put up with a lot of at work - nausea is not one of those things.

I wrapped up a couple of tasks - all the while, trying to shield my eyes from the light and with headphones in (no music) to try and dampen the sound. I checked in with the boss and began the drive home. I knew I could endure it, but also that I wouldn't enjoy it.

I finally got home and went to bed - earplugs in, nightmask in place. As close to sensory deprivation I could manage without a tank of salt-water.

But it wasn't enough - the nausea ramped up again and I headed for the bathroom where I tossed my oatmeal and Pepsi.

It was terrible, as it always is to throw up. But it was also a relief. I knew that when this wave passed it would take the nausea with it. And, eventually, I'd be able to sleep and that would take the headache.

But first, I had to stop throwing up. I did that by simply emptying the contents of my stomach. Unfortuantly, the force I employed in doing that caused some damage to my throat and I somehow managed to get some bile up my nose - which, I can tell you, is not pleasant.

So - mouthwash, water, and blowing my nose - then ready to go back to bed and sleep this off.

And it did - mostly. I slept for a few hours and woke up feeling a bit better. Which, is an indication of how much I was hurting - I generally don't nap well. The headache was still lurking - that the best way to describe it. Waiting in my head to strike again. I was careful the rest of the day - keeping my computer time to a minimum and avoiding bright lights and loud noises. I was fearful of coughs and sneezes - any sudden move would cause a flare of pain in my head.

A quiet evening and I went to bed early and slept through the night. This morning - the headache tried to come back. I was up early, but ended up going back to bed for a while. Not sure if I really slept, though I must have based on the time that passed.

I took things easy today and the headache - while still lurking - didn't stop me from running some errands and enjoying a bit of sunshine this afternoon.

So - what have we learned here?

1. The respite I had from these migraines has passed. I've had a few near misses and this has been the first full blown one in a while.

2. I need to head back to the doctor to get my prescription re-filled.

3. I apparently am now having pre-aura auras - the out-of-body feeling seemed like a signal.

4. Throwing up hurts - but it seems like it's also helping again.

5. I hate being sick.

grill, sleep

I don't know how to speak or read Spanish. But, I think I still would have been better off using the Spanish version of the instructions when I put the grill together last night. Or perhaps I should have thrown out the instructions entirely and just winged it. Took me about an hour and a half to do - might have taken half that time if I hadn't had to undo and redo several steps. Finally got it done and we fired it up for the "heat-clean" 15 minutes last evening. It looks good and it's sturdy - I just wish the instructions were clearer.

The cooler evenings have created a slight problem for me - it's too cool to sleep with just a sheet, but not cool enough to sleep with a comforter. After lying in bed for a while, trying to get comfortable, I hit on a solution. So, I headed down to my car and got a fleece blanket out of my trunk. This is part of the emergency kit that my mom put together for me for Christmas one year - but I've gotten other fleece blankets and have keep adding them to my trunk for lack of something better to do with them. So, this extra one was just right weight to keep me just warm enough. I discovered that it wasn't quite long enough - so the next night I added a second fleece to the mix to keep me covered. I slept pretty well last night once I got things configured. Once it gets cold enough, I'll put the fleeces back in the trunk and switch to the comforter.

busy day today - better get back to it.

bucket, grill, game

I had a dream last night that I was in home depot and bought an orange bucket. Unlike the regular orange buckets, this one had wheels and I thought it would they would be useful to repurpose to make a scooter. On closer examination, I realized the bucket was really heavy duty and the wheels were independently swiveling and all terrain. So, instead of making taking the wheels off to use as a scooter, I decided to use it as is - a skateboard bucket. The bucket was wide enough to put both feet in and low enough that I could step in and out.

This all apparently took place in Miami, Florida and I headed out into the streets of the city in my bucket. A few kids in skateboards mocked me, then shut up in astonishment when I skimmed through standing water and then took it off-roading across the grass - not losing any speed with either maneuver. If I pressed my feet against the inside of the bucket I could "hang on" and used this technique to pull off some really impressive stunts.

But I got lost. So, I crusied around town for a bit in my bucket, finally stopping at a senior citizen's complex. A friend of mine was there with her mother - both looking older than they currently are. My friend showed me her report card - she was finally finishing up her degreee and as I went to leave, an old woman slapped me on the ass. My friend said not to be offended since that woman wasn't really 'with it' and tended to smack all men on the ass. In a disturbing twist, I was surpised to see it was my own great-grandmother - looking a little crazed, but remarkably spry for someone that passed away a number of years ago.

I headed out - still in my bucket - and went into the office where I worked. One of my current co-workers - who enjoys roller-blading - was really impressed with my skills and fired up ebay to see if he could find out there. He left the room - and his ebay account open - before I could tell him I bought it home depot. When he got back, I joked that he had just bought a bunch of vintage comics on his account and he laughed so loud that the boss made us get back to work. So, I got out of my bucket, settled into my desk and got to work.

And then I woke up and got ready to really go to work.

The home deport bit was ironic - since in reality I went to Lowe's last night. The grill my room-mate brought from his old place was on it's last legs, so we went to Lowe's figuring that based on the season - we could get a good deal. We did and took it back to the apartment - but it was too late to put together last night. I'll work on it this evening, I think.

I beat the game Okami night before last and started the replay mode last evening. It's essentially starting the game over, except you have all the items you finished the game with. So, I walked into what would have been a serious battle the first time around, pulled out a huge-ass sword, and destroyed all the enemies in about 6 seconds. Kinda took a little of the fun out of things fairly quickly. I plowed through big chunks of the game, but the magic wasn't really there. Maybe a break from this and then a fresh start.

That's it for now - time to get back to work...

body, kitty, band, tv, writing

I helped my room-mate a little on Sunday at his job. Not a big deal, perhaps, but he works at a funeral home. There was a "customer" that needed his attention and he needed a little help with the removal and repositioning of some absorbent padding. I asked if I needed to "glove up" and he said yes - I figured I'd be right in the mix of things. Instead, he did the work and I held the plastic bag for the used padding. A bit of a letdown, actually. Still, I did my part and helped a bit. I didn't save the gloves as a souvenir.

While out driving over the weekend, I saw a woman on a motorcycle with a pink leather jacket and a giant stuffed Hello Kitty strapped to the seat behind her. It was freaky.

I was out on campus today and while walking from one area to another I came across two marching band practices on different fields. I despise walking past a marching because - despite never having been in one - I always feel the almost compulsive urge to match my steps to the beat of the drums. I end up looking like a) a complete mindless tool or b) a complete spazz stumbling at every step to try and not match the rhythm.

The TV was on today at the pool - a giant screen normally used during swimming matches but this time set up to show the Olympics. I was busy with the whole swimming/not drowning thing and didn't see much. It wasn't swimming, which is good since I would have felt really outclassed. And I was already feeling that from the girl in the next lane that swam like a freaking dolphin. And that was before she put on the flippers and started hydro-planing.

I've started transcribing my written beach story into a text file. It'll take me a long time, I think, and longer still to do the editing. In a way, it doesn't really matter. I wrote the story because it was one I wanted to tell. If I get it done and others enjoy it - so much the better. But it's mostly for me.

later...

map, dream

I was just about to go to bed last night when my room-mate approached me with something akin to panic. A couple of weeks ago, I had helped him with a show field map for a car show he's involved with. In the past, we've done this using powerpoint and it was relatively easy for him to modify this once I set it up. This time around, we didn't have access to Powerpoint and I used a scanned image of an old event program and modified it using Fireworks. It's a pretty good program, but there's a learning curve.

Well, he got some additional updates last night that he should have gotten days ago. The clock was ticking and he needed to send the changed map via email last night. He asked if I could show him how to make the changes, but I shook my head and told him it would take far longer that way.

So, I sat down at the computer and he refered to his notes and we made the updates. Despite the troubles we had with the file (even getting the dang thing to save properly was a chore) we got things updated and I finally went to bed. I don't know if he got the email out or not - I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Which surprised me a bit - I was putting forth quite a lot of brain-power on the file updates - figured I would have trouble settling down.

But that only lasted a while. I had a terrible nightmare that woke me up and scared the crap out of me.

I dreamed that I was being hunted through a dark neighborhood by a blood-thirsty serial killer. Seemed like I was running forever, but he finally cornered me and pulled out a wicked looking knife. Somehow, I managed to get the knife away from him and I used it against him. As his lifeless body fell to the ground, a bunch of my friends ran up to me and told me that his family was coming home and that I needed to get out of there. In the dream, I was shocked that such a lunatic would have a family, that he would have spent all that time hunting me when his family was due to arrive home - and that I had just killed somebody's dad and husband and left his body on their front yard. I started running again when I saw the headlights of a mini-van start down the street toward the house - the bloody knife still in my hand.

I woke up then, in a panic that I was now a fugitive and they would think that I was the killer. I finally got myself calmed down and went back to sleep.

Still a little out of it this morning, but I'm here at work and it's time to get back to it.
later...

projects, motorcycle, game

Although I played a lot of video games this weekend, I still managed to find some time to do a couple of projects.

The first involved building stands for the tiki torches in the backyard. Apparently, they were knocked down while we were gone and the tiki fuel spilled out and killed the grass. As designated "builder of shit", my room-mate tasked me with coming up with a solution. I opted for building a small crossbar wooden base with a vertical piece to wire the tiki torch to it - then putting the whole thing in a plastic flower pot and filling it with gravel. I did this for three of them, but didn't have quite enough gravel. A "small bag" is only a few bucks - but the small is still 50 pounds. I'm guessing I'll need 10 pounds at the most - not sure what I'll do with the rest.

The second project involved afixing boards to inside walls of the garage so that we can hang things there. My room-mate had tried this at some point, but the stud-finder he was using was either not working right or he wasn't using it right. I had a more high-tech tool and with a little patience I found the studs and affixed two large boards - then added in the hooks and hung up some stuff. It was a little tricky to do by myself, but I managed.

I also wanted to put some peg boards on the back wall - but the stud-finder sensor concluded that the entire wall was a screaming grid of lethal voltage. So, I didn't drill anything into that wall. I think I know how to get the sensor to be more reliable, but I didn't really want to mess with it.

While I was working on the garage, enjoying the cool afternoon with the door open, a virtual parade of motorcycles cruised up and down the road. One after another, over and over, all afternoon. It's normally a pretty quiet neighborhood and the sound of the engines was really annoying. I considered putting up a sign out front to try and get them to stop and explain what was going on - or hopefully stop doing it. I mean, if it was some really misguided fundraiser for a sick child, I might understand - but it seemed more like a "look at me, I'm cool" kinda thing. I didn't put up the sign, thinking that if I did anger them, I might be able to hold off a couple of bikers with a sword and some attititude but they clearly had me out-numbered. I've been looking online to see if I can figure out what they were doing, but no luck so far. There's apparently some kind of Angels of Hope ride, but that seems to be for next week and it's further south. I also seem to recall something like this last year around this time. If I can figure it out, I'll see if I can suggest an alternate route. Or invest in some spike strips.

The game that occupied much of my attention was Okami and just when I thought I'd beaten it, the whole thing opened up and the adventure got even bigger. It's really cool and I'm having fun exloring the whole world in the game and kicking some serious butt.

That's it for now - back to work.

ocean swimming

While on vacation, I decided that I would ocean swim every day. In the campus pool I can do a mile in about 40 minutes or so. I figured that if I did at least 45 minutes in the ocean, that would be the equivalent of a mile.

Ocean swimming is a lot different than the pool – for one, it’s much more salty. Add in the waves, variable depth, other swimmers, potential for fish and sharks and it’s a pretty intense experience.

I usually started from the beach in front of the condo, then swam down toward the pier – but not all the way to the pier since the fishermen throw the un-needed fish parts over the side and it attracts sharks.

Though I swam the same stretch of water every day, it was always a unique experience. The currents and the tides were always changing and some days were more difficult than others. I got smacked in the face by the tides many times – but eventually found a rhythm that kept me in the clear.

I mostly swam breaststroke, but occasionally ramped it up a notch and switched to butterfly. I’m not very good at that one, but the tossing motion of the waves actually helped. It didn’t do that too long since it tired me out, but it was pretty cool for a while.

So, I figure I did about 12 miles while I was on vacation, not counting the swimming I did in the pool or the “epic fail” of the boogie board.

Not Olympic level, but not too shabby.

beach trip

I got back Thursday from a 2 week trip to Myrtle beach (Surfside) with my room-mate and his extended family. Here are some highlights from the trip:

1. Day one on the beach and two women approached us with free samples of Pringles SnackStix. We accepted a few packages and they went on their way. A few minutes later, another duo approached with more samples. Then a third group, and finally a fourth. When the 5th group came around, we politely declined. Apparently, they were poorly coordinated and didn’t realize that they were hitting the same part of the beach over and over. Or they didn’t care. In any case, we got a pile of snacks.

2. We met up with some of my room-mates somewhat distant cousins at another condo for a cookout and game night. The odds were somewhat stacked against my team as we were playing Scene It and there were limited TV/Movie/Music fans on our side. Fortunately, I do pretty well with the visual puzzles and we held our own. On the last set of questions, my room-mates 8 year old cousin came up with the answer of Jimmy Newtron before anyone else and I followed up with another cartoon based answer – Princess Monokoe. The rest of the group was stunned when they answer came up on the screen. Thank you, somewhat obscure anime.

3. On a separate occasion, we played Scatagories and for the question of “Things you Replace” I suggested Needles. Which seemed quite responsible and clever. For “Things You Shout”, I used - for different rounds – Kneel before Zod! and Spoon! That being the command of Superman’s enemy in Superman 2 and the battle cry of the Tick, respectively. I was denied both times.

4. In the past, I’ve gotten pretty well burned on these trips. This time, thanks to liberal applications of SPF 30 and 45, my pale geek flesh was only moderately tanned.

5. I bought and tried a boogie board. The only way to describe my experience on that is “Epic Fail”

6. I watched a lot of “shark week” on tv in the evenings and a special on the History Channel on corn.

7. While out to dinner one evening, I split an order of calamari, black olives, and cheese. It was disturbing to look at, but quite good.

8. On the last night we were there, there was a massive lightning storm out to sea. It seemed like the lightning kept hitting the same general area with huge strikes and in many cases, the lighting would branch out in cloud to cloud strikes. Really amazing.

9. While we were down in the area, we also went to see Brookgreen Gardens. It has a bunch of really impressive outdoor sculptures and a sprawling garden – really neat to see. They also had a sort of outdoor zoo – my favorite animals were the huge spiders near the horse barn, the three otters in their own creek, and a giant alligator that moved just enough to show us he was the boss.

10. I didn’t do as much reading as I thought I would, but I did a lot of writing on the beach. I worked mainly on a short story – but I’ll need to type it up so that other people can read it.

I also did a lot of swimming – but I’ll go over that in another post. It was a good trip, but it’s also good to be home.