Perils of working at home

Thor would sleep on the document I'm trying to work on. I guess that's what's called an occupational hazard. I just hope he's not drooling on it.

Whenever I'm at my Dad's place, I try to run as many errands for him as possible. I have the car. I have the time. And it's certainly not a big deal at all. One of the things that he usually sends me for is rice. Big ol' 20lb bags of rice. And there are usually 2 bags. Most of the time, his wife comes with me. But if there's nothing else to buy, there's really no point. How hard could it be to pick up a couple of bags of rice?

So, right before I leave to meet MS, her mom, TC and PC for dim sum, my Dad's wife hands me money and asks me to buy these bags of rice:
Now, I'm Chinese. That's pretty obvious. But I'm only a little more Chinese than General Tso's Chicken - created by Chinese people, looks Chinese, has a Chinese flavor, but definitely Americanized for public consumption. I speak what I call "Restaurant Chinese," which is enough to order food, pay the bill and generally fool the waitstaff up until the point they ask me a real question. And I certainly don't read Chinese (except for numbers and recognizing my last name).

PC and I are in the store trying to match characters and obviously not making any headway, when MS takes the list from my hand and says we're going to ask someone. Right. Yeah, well, when we asked for help, I realized just how sorry a person I was since I wasn't even close to choosing the correct bags. At least now I will have forever embedded in my memory the type of rice my Dad and his wife prefer. I'm only slightly afraid that next time she's going to give me an entire shopping list in Chinese and say, "Go."

(BTW, did you notice the 11 o'clock dollars? Yeah, me too.)

So, something's going on with Blogger right now where I can't put titles on the entries, so bear with me if it all seems a little odd right now.

(don't ask about the plate, because trust me, I have no idea either)

This past weekend in NY was all about friends and family. I went up to attend Dennis and Karen's baby shower. They are expecting little Darrien in about a month now and Karen definitely has the pregnant lady shuffle going on (terribly cute on her, by the way).

This is their first baby, and I always get all excited about buying baby stuff. I just like baby stuff - it's all cute and soft and fun, and really I want to play with everything. I bought a whole bunch of stuff off their registry at Target. Wrapped it up all nice and pretty.

I'm on my way up to NY, about an hour out of DC, having just gotten on the Harbor Tunnel Thruway (I895, for those who care). I was thinking that I should move the chocolates I have from the trunk into the car so they don't melt. Then I thought to myself, "What did I do with those chocolates? I don't remember putting them in the car." Then I remembered that I put them in the bag with one of the baby shower gifts... which was sitting on the dining room table. FUCK.

I frantically call up Turg and explain that the bags are on the table. He says to turn around. Well, turning around was not an option as far as I was concerned for two reasons: (1) I895 has NO EXITS until you pass through the tunnel, which, at that point, was another 15 minutes away, and (2) I was already an hour out, plus the extra 15 minutes before I could even consider turing around, which would add another 2 1/2 hours onto my trip. He was kind enough to suggest meeting me in Baltimore with the gift. And as I'm going through the tunnel, I'm thinking of all the possible places he could meet me. I settle on Towson, since there is a Petsmart there and I could get out of the car with Thor for a little while. Then I realized there was a Target in the same shopping center, and I could possibly rebuy the gifts. Which brought me to the fact that there's a Target near home in Brooklyn, and I could do the same there when I arrived in NY. Which is exactly what I did. *whew*

Of course, being the person that I am, I bought exactly the same stuff (with the exception of a couple of things they didn't have, and which will be sent to the parents to be), and wrapped it exactly the same, as if anyone besides me would know that the gift bag was different. But, then again, I am the one who was going to NY for a baby shower and forgot the gift on the dining table, so what does that say about me?

Pressure... pushing down on me, pushing down on me...

I have an unusual skill that I wish I didn't have. It's not a skill actually, more than just a physical perception. I am, or rather, my sinuses act as a barometer. A guage of air pressure. Specifically, that rise in air pressure that usually preceeds a thunderstorm.

What happens? Generally this dull pain begins right between my eyes which then increases as time passes until such point that it either rains or the weather front passes, thereby releaving the air pressure.

It's summer in the Mid-Atlantic, which means thunderstorms all the time. It also means that I am absolutely miserable nearly every afternoon. And I've searched for other reasons over the years, like lack of caffiene and such, but none of these explanations correlate to the headaches other than the weather.

At this very moment... my head feels like it's going to explode. Make. It. Stop.

Self-promotion... well not self, per se but...

I'VE BEEN PROMOTED!!!!!

Whew. I was seriously nervous about it for a while now, thinking that it wasn't going to happen. Now I need to celebrate. So, I'm looking for suggestions on what fabulous thing I can treat myself with. To quote MS, "you have to let yourself WANT something first. let's start there. (sheesh)" Yeah, I'm usually not too good at that.

Graphic tastes

I want to thank Turg's buddy Weazel for the creation of a number of new banners for this blog. They are really fun and very me. I'll probably rotate them depending on my mood, since I like them all.

Pain in my butt

For years now, I have been dealing with a pain in my butt. I am not speaking of a person, but a literal pain in my butt. I have had butt and back pain for years which began in grad school during my tae kwon do training. It began as something minor, and progressed into something chronic. Pain in my lower back, butt and tingling in my foot, far worse in the right leg than the left, but there in both. I now have a name for this condition: piriformis syndrome.


It sucks. And it had been getting better for a while over the years - I stopped doing tae kwon do, stretched more, strengthened my back and core, did everything I was supposed to. Then I started working at a desk job, which apparently aggravates this condition. Great. The long drives to NYC don't help either, apparently.

I've recently started going to physical therapy for this... and I thought I was making progress. Things were feeling looser and freer. That was until Friday. I have no idea what I did between Wednesday morning (my previous PT session) and Friday morning. All I know is that when I sat down in the car, I felt pins and needles along my leg and bottom of my right foot. GAH! My right lower back has also been slowly tightening over the weekend. It's never a good sign when the first thing I say to my physical therapist is, "I have no idea what I did, but..." Yeah.

According to my physical therapist, I have "classic" piriformis syndrome. Pretty much textbook case. Which, I suppose, is good. No one wants to have an undiagnosable condition that takes years to figure out. No one wants to have a condition named after them. But after years of having it, I just wish it would go away.

In case anyone was worried if I took the cheese comment seriously at all...

Here I am in all of my fabulousness at the reception Saturday night...

And here's one of me and Turg, just cuz we're cute...

I like cheese, alright? Get off my back... (or things one should never say to a woman at a wedding reception)

This weekend was filled with much joy and laughter because of Crazy and SweetPea's wedding. At the rehearsal dinner Friday night, Turg gave Crazy this book as a gag:

The book was passed around and around at the rehearsal dinner, the reception and the day-after party. Big hit. Women all knew it was a fantasy (it's porn afterall) and (most of) the men found humor in it, particularly since they knew just how far fetched a lot of the stuff in it was... like, "Have another piece of cake. I don't like you looking so thin." See, fantasy.

Which brings me to the things that one should never say to a woman at a wedding reception (or any gathering with food, for that matter). Let me just say, like MS, I don't eat like a girl. I eat well, and healthily, but definitely not like a girl. I'll eat a steak over chicken anyday. I can outeat almost anyone at sushi or a crabhouse. And I love cheese - lots of cheese.

All of the following statements were made by one guy, my friend Lisa's husband, Gary, with whom I play softball (Lisa happens to play and is the manager of this team).

• (after spreading some brie on bread) "Is that sanctioned by team management? Should you be eating all those CARBS and FAT?"
• (after getting my plate from the dinner buffet) "Did you leave any food out there?"
• (general comment at the end of the evening) "I'm just looking out of the team. I don't want all this food to slow you down."

He kept looking to others for help. Crazy's brother just repeated, "Put the shovel DOWN!" But Gary wouldn't, and continued digging himself deeper all evening. In reality, I know he was just kidding. But, seriously now, who says this shit, even in jest?

Weddings on trampolines

Crazy and SweetPea's wedding was a wonderous, all-weekend affair. Both of them have great, fun-loving families, who love to drink and laugh. It made for great times. Particularly the Bride and Groom on the trampoline. What more is there to say really?

Crazy and SweetPea are getting married Saturday

Yay!

The piles are going to attack soon

So, since I am taking a couple of days off to help in the final preparations for Crazy and SweetPea's wedding, I essentially have been jamming to get as much done as possible. I don't like leaving loose ends when I'm away, even if it's only for a couple of days. I'd been doing rather well, and was feeling quite proud of myself for it. Of course, nothing is ever that easy, nor does life ever let you get off with a free pass.

For those who have never been in my office at work, I have a system. It's the "Post-It" system of easily knowing when things are due. Neat piles on shelves with little Post-it notes telling me when and to whom things are due. Team-lead documents on one shelf, consult documents on another, and on my desk, only the document on which I am currently working and any related references.

My piles were shrinking before I went to the Motherland this past weekend. That is, until right before I left. Documents started coming in. Coming in great teetering piles. More due in the next 2 weeks than I had at the beginning of last week. There are piles encroaching on my desk, and it makes me anxious. My preference is to have anything due in the next week finished before I take the day off, because I am a hand-raiser in that way... far too type A than I am usually willing to admit. I like having things done early. But for this, I can't. There is just no way. Just. No. Way. And I hate that feeling.

I think I may implode.

I know I'm still like this sometimes, but I'm glad all of you people have brought me back to normal... sorta.

Existing at the edge of consciousness

I barely slept last night... Rather, I did sleep, but it was sleep that was at the very edge of consciousness. You know, that type of sleep when you are keenly aware of all the sounds that are occurring, but it's not enough to wake you up. The type of sleep where you're not dreaming but it's not deep sleep. JS didn't sleep last night either... and I'm not terribly sure who kept whom awake.

It is taking every ounce of concentration I have right now to not fall asleep at my desk.

Not really sure what this means... but it sounds good

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I want to ride my bicycle...

I am on a quest to get back into shape. I let this winter hit me a little too hard and allowed myself far too much laziness. By the way I feel, I would never know that 9 months ago, I was fully trained for a 1/2 marathon. What is it they say? "It's hard to get into shape and easy to get out of shape." Apparently too easy.

So, I have resolved to bike to work on Fridays this summer (barring rain or the need to wear a suit), since Fridays are casual dress days. Today was day one. Let me first say, I don't live that far away from work. But the road to work is a little... scary. There is no bike lane. There are many busses. And in the morning there are A LOT of large construction and cement trucks on the road because of the quarry nearby. So, like the wussy-pants that I am, I ride my bike on the sidewalk until such point that I can get off the main road - yes, like a 3rd grader.

As I approach the first major intersection (I'm on the sidewalk, now), I notice a lot of movement of very small objects. As I get closer, I see that there are a lot of flies hovering near the corner. Closer... closer... GAH!!! THERE'S A DEAD DEER ON THE SIDEWALK!!! (likely from one of those large construction trucks hitting it) Not exactly what I was hoping to see that early in the morning.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. I now have a bike sitting in the middle of my office with passers by poking their heads in saying, "Hey. There's a bike. Did you ride it in today?" Masters of the obvious, I tell ya.

You ever had one of those nights when you wake up at 3am and your head is buzzing with all of the things that you need to do ...

and it's hard to fall back asleep? I had one of those this weekend. Man, I hate those.

The thing about mental health days

I'm not going to work today. Just called in that fact. I'm fully showered, dressed, have my makeup on and everything. I was in the middle of making my lunch. But I cannot will myself out the front door for work. There are so many other things I would rather be doing today - reading, sleeping, laundry. That's right, laundry is more important than being at work today.

I don't have any meetings today, besides the weekly, extremely useless, branch meeting. I don't have anything of my own due today, and I am ahead on my consultation work... well, mostly. Nothing on my calendar besides a softball game, which I'm still planning to go to, by the way. I fully aware that nothing will get accomplished at work today. And considering that the next two weeks are the quarterly time reporting survey (where we literally have to report the amount of time we're spending on particular kinds of work) and that "blogging," "sleeping," and "daydreaming" are not catergories I can choose, I, therefore, choose to remain home.

Me, but not me...

This was my second attempt. I didn't like the one I made yesterday, so I won't post it. I like MS's interpretation as well... although, I wonder about the straitjacket...

Well... people always said I was cheesy

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

And thus far I have no enemies.

Totally juvenile

But I have to mention this. Every time I come into the building at work, I have to pass through a metal detector and put my stuff through the x-ray machine. This is something I noticed today, only because the monitor for the x-ray faced me as I picked up my stuff:

The image of a banana passed though an x-ray machine in my lunchbag is really funny.


I warned you that it was juvenile.

Hot or not?

I just finished this article and felt it would be so incredibly unfair to not share. What happens when you realize you are part of an "inter-facial" relationship? When you and the one you're with are not in the same "hotness" category? When you look at a couple with a hot girl and a dorky guy and think, "he must be loaded" - (Donald Trump anyone?).


I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is all superficial. But we all think it at one time or another. And, let's face it, this shit's just funny.

Stuck in a moment...

I've been in better moods. It's one of those times where pretty much everything is off. Unmotivated. Tired. Busy. Moody. Not enough hours in the day... yet the days feel like they drag on forever.

I think it's time to refocus on the little things that make me happy. I've let life get in the way of living for a little too long, I think. Time to get out of this rut!

And now a random word...

"The tips at the end of shoelaces are called 'aglets'. Their true purpose is sinister."

Thanks Mishines for reminding me just how great this quote is.

Hot Potato (the final word)

Well, I knew it was coming. Here is the final report emailed to everyone in the building about the "event" yesterday:

To: 9200 ----- Occupants
From: ---- Health and Safety Office

Subject: Emergency Evacuation at 9200, April 23, 2007

On Monday, April 23, 2007 fire alarms sounded in response to a "smoke event" from a microwave oven on the second floor. This alarm triggered a call to the alarm monitoring company and in turn Montgomery County Fire and Rescue was dispatched.

According to the alternate Occupant Emergency Coordinator, all emergency evacuation procedures were followed and "there was a good evacuation with all floors reporting in". It was reported that security did not immediately unlock two of the three glass doors at the main entrance at the building. It is unclear why these doors were locked at all during normal business hours. --- security has been notified and we have requested that all three doors remain unlocked while the security guards are on duty.

After a review of the situation, the --- Safety Office feels that the current evacuation plan worked as intended and would like to thank all occupants for their cooperation.

If you have any questions, please contact the --- Safety Office at 301-***-****.

A "smoke event." That just seems so... dull.

Hot Potato (one more thing)

... I forgot to mention one more detail. When the 3 firetrucks showed up, the firemen actually got out, dressed in full gear, with oxygen tank and all, and made their way into the building to check for the source of the alarm. The weren't exactly rushing. It was more like they were on a Sunday stroll... if you consider wearing all that gear on an 80 degree day to check out a smoking tater tot a Sunday stroll.

Hot Potato (or how to evacuate a building)

So, today I am responsible for, literally, clearing out the building. Who knew that tater tots + microwave = 3 firetrucks? Seriously.

What happened? I was just heating up part of my lunch (the aforementioned tater tots). Our microwave in the office, well, it sucks. The tots were in for maybe 45 seconds when they started to smoke. Took them out, peeked in the container. Then the alarms started going off. And the alarms are LOUD.

Co-workers standing outside on this beautiful spring day either were congratulating me or just laughing it up. When the third fire engine showed up, I started to get a little sheepish... But only a little.

Down and up

I'm been in a, shall we say, grumpy mood these days. It's the weather. No, seriously, it is. Spring and fall are my favorite seasons of the year. The parts of the year that are most colourful and vibrant, for their own reasons. Spring is the time everything comes out of hibernation, including myself. Well, this spring has been far from normal.

Besides late season snow storms and the slightly more than usual April showers, it's been downright cold and unsunny. I think I must run on chlorophyll, because the first (and really only) reaction I have when I wake up and the sun isn't out, is to pull the covers back over my head and hide. This morning was the first really sunny morning in a long time, and I pretty much jumped out of bed. It's still cold, but I'm working at home and all the blinds are open.

I'd been so wholly unmotivated recently that I'm a bit taken aback as to how much this sunny morning has affected me so far. I think this picture of Thor sums up how I've been feeling as of late:

Happy Easter Casserole!

Sometime last year, there was some discussion among a few of us about "Caucasian Culinary Curiosities" aka "White People Food". You know, food that us, well, ethnic people, weren't exposed to during our childhood. For example, I had never eaten a casserole until well into adulthood. And I certainly had never made one.

That is... until now. As a part of my birthday gift, as a joke, Crazy (a very proudly self-proclaimed "Mid-western white person") gave me the Campbell's Casserole & One-Dish Recipe Cards book. Probably one of the funniest gifts I ever got. Well, she and Sweet Pea invited us over for Easter dinner, and I insisted that I should make the green bean casserole*.

Here is the casserole before the oven:


And ready to serve:


It was surprisingly quite tasty!

*Note: This casserole falls under two different "white people" food categories - "casserole" and "food wet with Campbell's cream soup."

Max Sandwich

So, it's been nearly a year to the day since I introduced everyone to Max. And nearly a year to the day, JS and Max got into an accident.

The DC commute is evil. I call the DC Beltway "Satan's Circle" because of how evil it is. Stop-and-go traffic is the absolute norm. And is usually rapid-go followed quickly by rapid-stop. That's what happened last night.

JS was nearly home - driving up I270, the home stretch. His "go" had come to a quick stop in front of him. And while he and Max were able to stop, the car behind him wasn't. The impact sent him from a dead stop into the car in front of him. Max sandwich.

JS is fine. He has a headache that hasn't yet gone away and his neck is stiff (we're going to the doctor later, just to be sure he's okay). And while Max is not smooshed, he's a little... crooked. The front is quite a bit cockeyed, so much so that the driver's side front door has to be forced open. There are very precise indentations of the bolts from the other car's license plate holder on the rear bumper and his plate (the bumper seems to have taken the impact well, but we don't yet know if there's anything going on underneath). And Max is leaking.

Of the three cars involved in the accident, Max got the worst of it (double impact) and was the only one not able to drive away.

So, we're serious about ordering some

Who wants one?

Oh Joy, Oh Rapture!

Down here in Maryland, there is a very large population of Christians, particularly the kind that CawfeeGuy likes to refer to as "Crazy Christers." How do I know? When driving around, I observe many a car with those fishies (which, by the way, I'm particularly fond of the Darwin parody. There are also the stupid bumper stickers which say "Warning: In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned" or something to that effect. For those who don't know what the Rapture is, it's the idea that when the judgement comes, the believers will be taken to Heaven, body and soul.

Anyway, JS and I were chatting yesterday while he was sitting in particularly bad traffic. Or rather, what was supposed to have been bad traffic according to the radio, but it was, in fact, eerily quiet. So, the obvious question was, where the f*uck is everyone? OH MY GOD, the RAPTURE occurred! Well, we were joking that's what happened. Then JS came up with this for a bumper sticker:

I hope this Rapture thing happens soon.
My commute would be so much easier!

Maybe we should get that one made.

There are so many things which disturb me about this...

But one of the things that disturbs me the most is the fact that the doctor made her diagnosis of ADHD and bipolar based mainly on the mother's description of the child's behaviour and behaviour "briefly observed" during office visits.

I could go on a tirade about the fact that people are over-medicating their children. I could go on and on about the fact that the majority of the psychotropic medications out there were never tested on children and that the long term effects of taking such powerful drugs are not known. I could go on and on about how temper tantrums and misbehaviour are part of childhood.

We live in a fast paced world and it's hard to keep up. It's always been hard to keep up with children, and life does not make it any easier these days. But parents are supposed to protect their children. Not give them a pill to keep them quiet when it's inconvenient.

It's easy to say that the parents were not well educated and didn't know any better. But judging from the fact that the mother kept going back for more and more pills... I personally believe there is no doubt she knew what she was doing.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

A couple of months ago, I was invited to give a talk to future biomedical engineers at Hopkins. The talk is for a class called "BME in the Real World" and happens to be tomorrow. I was told I can pretty much talk about whatever it is I wanted, so long as it has to do with how I ended up where I am.

Well, as I was putting together my presentation, it got me thinking about it all. When I was really young, I wanted to be a teacher, because that's the only thing I ever saw women doing back then. My Mom made clothes for a living, and I didn't see myself doing that. As I got older, I wanted to be a doctor - a radiologist to be exact. I knew even then that I would not have a good bedside manner. Then I wanted to cure the common cold, then cancer. Then I went to engineering school for no other reason at the time other than I was really good at math and physics. Then I wanted to go to grad school - partially because I wanted to hold off getting a real job and partially because I didn't feel like I was finished learning yet.

When I entered grad school, I had dreams of finishing in 5 years, doing a post-doc and becoming a professor. Doing great research. Having my name published and becoming a world renowned expert at ... well, something. Then getting the Ph.D. became a means to an end. I no longer wanted to do great research and learned, through my TA experience, that I really do love teaching (hey, we're back to wanting to teach again). That was truly the most satisfying part of my grad school life - watching students learn. But I no longer wanted to jump through the rest of the hoops to get there - it was too unsatisfying, too scary and too depressing.


So I am here. And I love my job and get great satisfaction from it. I have yet to be bored with anything that I do. There are annoyances, as with everything. And there are days I don't want to come. But, for the most part, I like it here. And I will probably continue to like it until I no longer have anything to learn.

A long time ago, I figured out that I am happiest so long as I am learning. If I ever get to the point where I feel I have nothing more to learn, I know I need a change. I knew it was time to wrap up my Ph.D. when I hit that point. I have not yet hit that point here. I'm not sure I will anytime soon. Which is good, I suppose, cuz I like it here.

Happy Birthday MS!

Another year of absolute fabulousness past. Many, many, MANY more to come!

It's a man's world... but does it have to be?

Every once in a while I read an article about the state of women in leadership and I get depressed about how much further we need to go. Whether it's women in high level positions in business, university, professorships, whatever. A few months ago, there was an article in the NY Times which talks about the fact that, even though the female undergraduate population in sciences and engineering are increasing, the number of tenured female professors has remained stagnant. The general frustration that women scientists and engineers feel in trying to get ahead - having to work harder, prove themselves more, but skirting the edge of being called a bitch for being too ambitious.

Today, a new survey shows that men and women still prefer being bossed by a male versus female. The survey found "a bonanza of stereotypes among those polled, with many using the optional comment section to label women 'moody,' 'bitchy,' 'gossipy' and 'emotional.' The most popular term for woman, used 347 times, was "catty.'" I find these descriptors interesting, since when you ask about males who are not fit to lead the words that usually come up are "unprofessional," "unproductive" and the like. At least in my experience.

I do admit that when a male colleague is being whiny or annoying, I usually say he is "acting like a girl." Maybe I should put that away. The funny thing is, at my job, all the way up the chain of command to the Office Director, the managers are all female, save one. And that one, well, he's not what I would call much of a leader in comparison to the others.

It's hard. I happen to be in a career path where, as a female, I have always been the minority. Yet I work in a place where a great majority of the managers are female. What does that say? It's all still progressing. The majority of people surveyed had no preference of male or female. And there is still hope despite the closing comment of the article:

“As liberated as I consider myself to be, I think I’d have a problem taking orders from a woman.”

I need a Hiro...

There are very few shows that I watch on TV. It's pretty obvious that Grey's Anatomy is one of them. One show I haven't talked about is Heroes. CawfeeGuy posted about it a while back.


Tonight, there was a hell of a cliffhanger. A lot of shit was revealed, a whole bunch of answers and a whole shit load more questions. How far into the future did Hiro and Ando teleport? How is Linderman tied into it all? Does he run the "Company?" Is he opposed to them? How much does Peter and Nathan's Mother actually know? Will Mohindar die, or at least quit his whining? Can they all, in fact, save the world?

And there are 6 weeks before another new episodes. SIX FREAKIN' WEEKS. Sorry. Didn't mean to shout.

You spin me right round, baby, right round

So, MS recently posted about all the annoying, over-dramatic histrionics by Meredith on Grey's Anatomy recently. Well, apparently, the "all about me" attitude exists in real life too.


Recently it was announce that Grey's would be spinning off a show centered around Addision Montgomery. Whether or not it would work, we'll have to see. But Addision is such a great character, I have mixed feelings about whether she should stay on the show or have her own. Apparently, the cast of Grey's is none too happy. Particularly Ellen Pompeo, the impossibly skinny actress who plays the impossibly whiny Meredith. I specifically find this funny:

The source adds that “Grey’s” star Ellen Pompeo “seemed particularly peeved because she felt that, as the star, she should have been consulted.”

I never really considered her the "star" of the show. I know the show is called Grey's Anatomy, but the show has such a strong ensemble cast that, depending on the storyline or episode, any one of them could be the "star." I guess I just find all the other characters just so much more interesting.

Gung Hay Fat Choi!

What a difference an hour makes

Previously, I've talked about how lucky I am to be at a job where I can basically make my own hours. It's great. I've been here for nearly two years now, my contract is about to get renewed (all the papers were signed by management, now I need to sign whenever I get them), and I really wouldn't change anything.

I generally get in about 8:30 - 9:00am and leave about 6:00pm or thereabouts everyday. Today I got in at 7:30am, since I have somewhere I need to be at 4:00pm. I didn't think it was a big deal. There was a time, way back when I started that I got in at 7:30am every single day (I was still in grad student mode) and it never bothered me. I was perfectly competent and capable from the time I got in. Today, I'm here and I'm totally useless.

At some point over the past year or so, I discovered I really like sleeping in. Not much, mind you, but just enough that I would get in about an hour later. God, I never realized how much of a difference that hour makes. I am, right now, quite literally falling asleep at my desk. What sucks is that I was asleep by 10:30pm last night, so it's not like I didn't get enough sleep. This sucks.

I'm going on a search for caffiene now... Maybe I'll have more when I'm actually awake. Then again, probably not.

I don't need to prove how big mine is because I don't have one!

So, I've apparently been drawn into a pissing contest. Over the stupidest thing. And I certainly didn't start it and have no intention of continuing it. But I've been drawn into it nonetheless.

Here's the deal. We're migrating email servers, and because of this, everyone has been told to reduce their mailboxes to below 200mb. With some of these people, this will be impossible, but that's not where I'm going. Anyway, during our Division meeting yesterday, we were chatting about ways of reducing, saving, downsizing, etc. At a certain point, MBE (the director) looks for Patsy (he's supposed to be our IT point of contact), and asks a couple of questions. Then she looks to me (who has been an unofficial point of contact for several specific people in the Division, including MBE) and asks me a few questions about setting up local folders and whatnot (something I did for her a long time ago). After a little bit of conversation, she asks me to research the problem further and to have a chat with our office IT person and get back to the Division. Now, during the entire time of our conversation, Patsy is sitting behind MBE kind of grumbling to himself - I'm guessing he was upset that I was asked to do something he technically was in charge of.

Anyway, I shoot off an email to the IT manager for the office and await a response. Before I get a chance to talk to the IT manager, Patsy has sent an email to the Division on the subject about which I was asked to research. No sooner had I read his email (and was laughing my ass off since it was clear what he was trying to do), did I get an email from the IT manager to come have a chat. To make a long story short, everything that Patsy had just advised everyone to do, the IT manager said was not advised (unless there was no choice) for a variety of reasons. As a result, I had to send an amendment to his email, explaining everything I had just spoken to our IT manager about.

I had a feeling that it would not end there. And I was right. When I got in this morning, there was another email in my inbox from Patsy. All I could do was laugh. It basically gave everyone advice about reducing their mailbox size (which I had briefly outlined in my email) and a reiteration of what the IT manager had stated and what I had already sent in the previous email:

"Having said all of that, local folders are still okay, but it should be stressed not to move then entire contents of your email over to it. If you’re close to 200MB, you could set up a local folder and move some info into it for items that you may not want lost during email migration, etc., but please refrain from moving too much. As J------ stressed, IT folks are worried that users will back up their entire inbox onto a local folder.." (J----- is the IT manager)

The reason why I find this hilarious is that everything that was in his email was already in mine, but written in a tone which made it seem like it was either new or insightful because he wrote it. The other reason is because, when I amended Patsy's email with the correct information, I responded to it, keeping the original copy attached so that people would know what I was referring to. His email this morning had all other previous responses deleted.

I have no intention of continuing this idiocy. I didn't realize I was dealing with a 5 year old. I thought this kind of shit stopped in junior high. Why is it necessary for a 28 year old man to jump up and down, waving his hands screaming, "Look at me! I can do it better!!"?

Wedding dress follies

Before anyone goes nuts - no I am not engaged. However, Crazy and SweetPea are. So Nancy and I went dress shopping with Crazy today. She's very low maintenance, so it's really come to no surprise that she's found her dress and ordered it. What's funny is how the decision on the dress came to be.

After trying on 2 dresses (the second of which we thought would be the one), she came out in a beautiful, sparkly number, which Crazy admittedly said looked much better out than in the dressing room. Anyway, we were trying to decide between the sparkly one and the second dress. Well, in the store was another bride with her family. The grandpa asked if we wanted a male opinion. We said yes. He very bluntly said that when she came out in the sparkly dress, "That turned me on!" At which point we all start laughing. He went on to describe why he liked it: it's about the placement of said sparkles - not too much througout the dress, but enough in the right places. He then leans over to Nancy and me and says, "In the end all men are titty men."

No shit.

Exercise in futility

Okay, so last year, I decided that, you know, in order to torture myself, I would start running. Not only just running, but running a half-marathon. And, in the end, I was really happy I did it. It was a lot of fun, despite the chronic knee pain incurred.

I always said that I would not live my life avoiding the things I hate or fear. So, today began the new quest (not that I've given up running - I need to work up to it again because of my knee). Swimming, which is supposed to be better for the knee. And it is apparently worse for everything else...

Let me explain. I am a BAD swimmer. It's very simple. I did not grow up with ready access to a pool. I probably didn't even really learn how to swim until I was about 10. I never learned how to breathe properly, blow bubbles, anything. People keep telling me that blowing bubbles is simple. Not so much for me. Anytime I've tried, my immediate inclination is to breathe in, and then there's me flailing and coughing up water. So, for me "swimming" is pretty much bobbing around in the water under the hot sunshine of summer, immediately followed by sunning poolside.

Today, Crazy and Sweetpea invited me to go to the community pool with them and the kids. Should be fun. Crazy and Sweetpea have decided that they are going to do a sprint distance triathalon (not me, thank you very much), so they are swim training. While I'm not doing the triathalon, I do want to at least try to become a better swimmer.

Today, it was all about trying not to sink. My head bobbing atop the surface of the water while, beneath, my legs slowly finding their way to the pool bottom (the lap pool is only 3-5 feet deep). By lap number 3, halfway across the pool, my feet will have found the pool bottom and I need to stand up and kick off again. I made it back and forth across the pool 10 times (I won't actually call them laps since that would be an insult to actual swimmers). By the end of 20 minutes, I wanted to die - my head felt like it was about to explode and my legs felt like they were 300 pounds. Now my shoulder and arms are beginning to ache. I know that I'm going to be paying for this tomorrow morning. And, again, as with the running, I want to go back for more pain.

There seriously must me something wrong with me.

I'm so freakin' tired

Okay. So I couldn't drag my ass out of bed until almost 8:30 this morning. And I'm about ready to fall asleep at my desk, and it's not even 11 o'clock (forget the fact that I got in at 9:45). This sucks. I see an unproductive day ahead of me.

Things one should never overhear while eating lunch

"No, I didn't drink yellow coffee... oh, wait. There was that time I drank my own urine..."

Get (red)

So, I wanted a new cell phone since my old one was dying and I wanted a new toy. I was debating with JS over what phone I should buy... particularly because I really don't use all the web stuff and all. But, in the end, JS bought me a phone I really love - for more reasons than just because it's new and shiny (which is usually reason enough).


I got the Motorola (red) Razr. I'd never been a huge fan of Motorola products. This one, however, is attached to a good cause. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the (red) project. It's the project started by Bono and Bobby Shriver in support of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Part of the proceeds of every (red) product sale goes to The Global Fund.

The fact that it's a (red) product made me more apt to buy it. I think that's going to be the case in the near future for a lot of things. I'm probably going to get the (red) Bluetooth headset to use with this phone. The whole point of the (red) project is to allow people to help contribute to The Global Fund through buying products they already use. Well, it's definitely worked on me.

... and not so fresh

Well... I spent the majority of yesterday at home in the fetal position. Why? Because I spent the previous night praying to the porcelain god. Was I drunk? Was I hung-over? God I wish I was. Unfortunately, neither was the case. I had a bug in my tummy. One that came roaring in at about 2am the night before and finally ceased at about 10am. I never realized that my body could be in so much pain all at once.

At the very least, I can be thankful that nothing began until after the drive back from MS's place, or JS would not have been a happy camper in the car (nor I, as a matter of fact). I'm much better today, but not 100%. I'm feeling rather... empty. I know. TMI.

Starting the New Year fresh

There are certain times when a conversation is so funny, that there is no other way to describe it except to just give a transcript. So, here is the "Happy New Year" conversation I had with my Dad at approximately 12:02am on New Year's Day:

N'il: Happy New Year!
Dad: Happy New Year, how are you?
N: Good. Were you asleep?
D: No, I was watching TV.
N: Good. How are you feeling?
D: Not bad. Not bad.
N: Well, that's good.
D: I just moved my bowels.
N: Really?! Well, that's good. You're starting the New Year off fresh.
D: Yeah, I moved them 4 times today. I did just before you called.
N: Well, that's really great Dad. As I said, you're starting the year fresh.
D: Yes, well...
N: I'll give you a call later this week, okay?
D: Okay. Have a good night.
N: Good night, Dad.

I guess when you're nearly 81, there are some things which are just much more exciting than watching the ball drop.

So, I took the week off

And this is what happens when I am left to my own devices when I have literally nothing else to do...


I received this puzzle for my birthday from Jay and Ang. I opened it yesterday thinking, "Well, I'll get the border done and work on it the rest of the week." I've never finished a puzzle by myself before (okay, JS placed one piece of this one). And things were going so well... well, I got a bit OCD and NEEDED to finish it. I started at around 3pm. I finished at about 1am.

The puzzle is 1026 pieces... and it's the history of chocolate.

Well, somebody's got a case of the Mondays

Yeah... that's today. I really feel that way. I am dealing with a Lumburgh at the moment. In my office. I have a document that just keeps getting sent back for "just one more thing." I have buy-in from all the people that matter that my document should not be approved - from the management above my Lumburgh. I have the emails to prove it. But I need to document it in the review - so that the people, who already approved it, know that I already talked to them. How does that make any sense? Really?

And on top of that, the Idiot is in charge this week. This is going to be a long week...

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

I have two favorite Christmas movies: A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. I look forward to seeing these movies every year. J was lovely enought to give me Charlie Brown in my stocking last year and I got the soundtrack last year as well. It's a classic story about the true meaning of Christmas.

A Christmas Story, on the other hand, is a riot. All the things about winter and the holidays that can and do suck, well, it's in there. But told from such a unique perspective. Anyways, there are some people who take being a fan too far, but in a good way. For those who really want to, you can go visit the actual Christmas Story house, both outside and now inside. What some people will do to live out a dream.

It's a "people suck" kind of day

... and I've decided that, rather than impose my obviously bad mood on people, I am hiding in my hole (in other words, locked in my office). Why is it a "people suck" kind of day? Who knows. I woke up feeling like this. But everyone is getting on my nerves, and I just can't deal.

Can I go home and take a nap now?

Big dog, Little dog

I introduced Jay and Ang's fuzzy baby not too long ago. Well, at Thanksgiving, Thor met his little cousin dog, who isn't so little anymore. Hauser is almost twice as big as Thor. He certainly is twice as tall. But anyone who has met Thor knows that Thor believes he is much bigger than he actually is, and acts that way, much to the humour of everyone else.

Well, the cousin dog meeting went as well as we could have hoped. They liked each other. They played and played. They chased. I think what was most amusing to me is that for much of the time, Thor was doing most of the chasing - pretty nimble for a dog with such short legs. And I'm always amused when the little dog chases the big dog. That shit's just funny. Equally funny was when Hauser went into stalker mode with Thor staring at Hauser coming at him with the look of "You know I can see you..."

After a while, because Thor is Thor, he got tired and didn't want to play anymore. And Hauser, because he lost his playmate to tiredness, he did what every precocious puppy does when they're big enough - he wanted our attention, particularly where there was food.

In the end, I was so happy that the puppies got along (yes, Thor is still my puppy). And hopefully the fun will continue the more times they get together.

Wireless life

I work at home once a week. The problem with working where I do is that security is tight. So until recently (read: tonight), in order to connect to work, I had to use dial-up. That's right. Now, we've had broadband for a long while, so it seems silly for me to have to use dial-up. So, let me explain.

Our apartment is completely wireless. There is the cable modem, the router and all sorts of wireless cards for various devices. There were practical reasons for this arrangement. Mostly, because of the way the apartment is laid out, running wires to the loft would be too much work and far too unsightly. So, we chose to be wireless.

The major issue with this arrangement is that my work computer, for reasons of security, was freed of its wireless card before I received it. That's right. My work computer came with a wireless card and it was removed before I received it. Only recently, within the past couple of months, has the agency allowed wireless access for home use. Once I heard that - I jumped on it and got my card re-installed. Great, simple, right?

Wrong. The encryption used by the agency is WPA, which, until recently (read: last week), was not supported by TiVo. So until all of the software was updated, etc., the choice was TiVo or work computer. Well... the TiVos won. Anyhoo, that's not a problem anymore since the software has been upgraded to support WPA encryption (well, on one of them... the other one is having issues).

So, what's the point? Well, now that everything has been set up and updated, I not only have broadband access with my work computer, but on top of that it's wireless. This makes me a very happy camper. No more waiting forever (and I do mean FOREVER) for email to load into Outlook. And I am no longer tethered to my desk.

This will make working at home even more enjoyable from now on. No more screaming at the dial-up anymore!

Odd Priorities

Election day was yesterday. Obviously this was a very important election for a number of reasons. Whether one believes it was a referendum on the current administration, on the Iraq war or whatever, it was very clear that the people in this country wanted a change. So the fact that the headlines on major news sites, like CNN.com were splashed with news of election results, surprises, upsets and possible recounts is no surprise.


I mean, it's the day after come very contentious politicking. So, when I scolled down the CNN page to read the other top headlines, I was amused when I saw this in the list:


I just love that in this country, Britney Spear's divorce is considered a top headline just below a story about a suicide bomber.

But, as you can tell... I clicked on the Britney article first. What does that say about me?

Extreme grocery shopping

Okay, so JS and I have discovered a really cool grocery shopping experience. I know what you're thinking: "Cool grocery shopping experience? What the hell is she on??" Let me explain. There is a new grocery store in our area called Bloom. The concept of this store (yes, this store was built on a concept) is to design a grocery store based on customer suggestions. So what you end with is a grocery store that is actually quite logically designed: The prepared foods are right by the front door so you don't have to go all the way to the back to get grab-and-go meal. The non-foods are relegated to the far end of the store so you get to that point last (which is good for someone like me who generally skips those isles in favor of Target). A map of the store on the grocery cart so if you forget something you're not like,"what isle was that in?" and run up and down isles looking for crap. And price scanners everywhere (because you never know when something is in the wrong place on a shelf).

Okay, I know, where's the cool part? Well, the cool part comes in the form of hand scanners. You know, like the ones they use when they stock? You scan a customer card (like a bonus card type thing), pick up a scanner, pick up a rack of bags, and you're off. Scan and bag as you go along, all the while keeping a tally of the final total. When you're done, you scan that you're done, go to a self-checkout, scan the customer card and everything you just scanned appears magically on the screen. Pay and leave. No surprise gigantic total at the end. No argument over price since you found out when you scanned. Totally awesome.


I know I'm totally geeky. But you have to understand, I'm one of those people who likes the self-checkout because it's generally faster, and I don't have to deal with a crabby checkout person. This whole, everything-is-scanned-as-I-go-along-and-all-I-have-to-do-is-pay thing is very very cool to me.

And I like using the scanner. But that's the geeky part.

I have nothing witty to say

I'm very tired. These past couple of weeks have been stressful. And I think I need a nap.

It says "For Adults Only"

But it's being sold at a toy store. Well, not a toy store, but in the toy isle of the store (a store which seems to be similar to Target or Wal-Mart) and in the toy section of their website. A pole, for pole dancing. That's the equivalent of seeing this type of thing in the toy section of the Target website or in the stores. Who was the brilliant person who thought that this was a good idea?

Trying to keep the piles from tumbling on me

The piles around me keep growing, both at home and at work. I'm not overwhelmed yet, but it's getting there. This is the busy time of year around work - companies try to get their submissions in before the end of the year and all, so we end up with a flood. In addition to my regular work, I volunteered to be in charge for this week and next. Not a big deal as a whole, and a good learning experience. I guess the one thing I didn't count on was how many meetings I would have to attend. And all the documentation for the meetings just add to the already growing piles.

It's been a stressful few weeks, ever since coming back from PR. JS has not been well, and it's taking a toll on both of us, particularly him. The most stressful part is that we don't really know what's wrong, and, because he had needed to take some heavy pain medication, it pretty much means he checks out every night. Neither of us are fond of this situation. And this is pretty much the reasons why the piles are growing at home - we did something like 8 loads of laundry last weekend.

So, moving forward, trying to keep things from getting out of hand. Trying to keep the piles from falling on me.

It's so freakin' cold I have to blog about it

Yeah, it's cold. Two-and-a-half weeks ago, MS, TC and I were sunning ourselves in PR. When I got back, it was a little cold and then it got warm again. Yesterday was a relatively warm day. Today it's cold. And not just a little cold. The HOLY SHIT IT'S FREAKIN' COLD! kind of cold. Dropped nearly 40 degrees overnight cold. That's right 40 degrees. It reached 70 degrees yesterday and the low when we woke up this morning was in the 30's.

And I am sitting in my office, where I've been freezing my butt off all day because they seem to have forgotten to turn up the heat.

Are you done yet? Are you done yet? How about now?

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, we had 2 new hires in our division, both in my branch. I have the pleasure of being assigned to mentor our new microbiologist (MB) - you know, get her acclimated, make sure she knows how things are generally done and where to get good ice cream sundaes. You know, the important things. Our new engineer (EN) is being mentored by the idiot Patsy someone else.

As I work at home on Wednesday, I got a flurry of emails from MB asking me to check over her review, which she is frantically trying to get finished because EN keeps asking her if she's done. I was having a hard time understanding this since MB told me that she had until the end of the month to finish it - at least that's what the request sheet said. Apparently, EN's mentor told him, more or less, that it would be good if the document was finished and a letter sent out by Friday (day after tomorrow) since the document has been in house for *GASP* 15 days already.

First of all, for the type of document it is, 15 days is way early. Second, I have no idea why EN's mentor is rushing since he has shown himself incapable of keeping track of his own timelines. But most importantly, how is anyone supposed to work when there is someone in your doorway every 5 minuntes asking, "Are you done yet? How much longer? When do you think it will be done? How about now? Now? What about now?"

MB emailed and called me and asked whether this was the way things usually are. Whether this breathing down the neck was normal. She's new, obviously she doesn't know. I reassured her that it's not always like that, and the fact that her due date was moved from the end of the month to the end of this week was unacceptable. More unacceptable was the annoyance.

It became very clear that this was a sore point for me, particularly because it appeared that EN's mentor was the source of the problem. I have a major problem when there is a lack of respect of a person's workload and timelines. If the person in charge of the document screwed up a due date, it's his own damn fault. Ask to see if something can be done to expedite, then leave to allow work to get done. Really.

No. But really. The lizard DID attack me...

Well, perhaps not attack, per se. Here's the story. MS, TC and I were sitting on a beautiful beach on Palomino Island at the El Conquistador Resort in PR. Under the shade of a mini-hut, umbrella type thing. I was reading and half-falling asleep and thoroughly relaxing. Then I feel this tickly feeling on my leg. I look down expecting to shoo away a fly or something. But no. I look down and there is a 6 or 8 inch lizard on leaning on my legs with it's front feet. Let's just say that at this point I made the most ridiculous, undulating scream to the effect of: WHAA-AA-AAH! One of those comedic, sitcom-like moments. Needless to say that the lizard quickly jumped off and ran away, likely quietly screaming about the crazy, loud chick. We had a good laugh after that.

At that point, there was really no falling back asleep, as we had all been jolted awake and I was hysterical laughing. So we went to lunch, which I lost later in the afternoon - but that's a different story entirely.

The lizard below is not the offending lizard, but one we saw roaming around while eating lunch:

Why I love Callie

Don't mind her. It's just the whole doctor thing... you know, 4 years of high school, 4 years of college, 4 years of med school. By the end we're in our mid 20's and have no idea. We're all social retards... It's high school, only with scalpels. We're 17. And I'm the girl sitting in the back of the classroom eating her hair.

Jon Stewart on...

J and I spent the evening at Merriweather Post Pavilion for an evening with Jon Stewart. I love Jon Stewart. We had the opportunity to see him a couple of years ago in Baltimore (he likes coming to Baltimore for some reason) and it was the best comedy show I had ever been to. He is hilarious and smart.

Last time around, I couldn't remember how he got from talking about the war on terror to ending the show talking about his dog puking. The transitions were that smooth. It also made it very difficult to remember anything about the show except the puking dog. So this time, I made an effort to try to remember other parts of the show - because I knew if he ended with his dog puking again (and he did, and it was just as funny as the first time), that I would not remember anything else if I wasn't taking mental notes.

So, here is Jon Stewart on...

... the president:

The president isn't stupid. I believe the president thinks we are stupid. Look at the way he speaks to us - "I make decisions. I'm a decision maker." That's his formula - I A B. I am B A. "As president, I protect the people. I'm a people protector."

... getting AIDS:

Senator Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, actually got up on the Senate floor and said that there may be a chance that you can catch AIDS from tears. From tears. The ONLY way you can catch AIDS from tears is if the tears are coming from your cock.

... being a moderate:

The problem with being a moderate is that you can't motivate us to get out and shout our agenda... That's what the people on the extremes do. Think about it, getting all the moderates our there to shout out, "Hey! Lets all be reasonable!"

... science:

There are scientists out there experimenting with cloning. They are cloning to try to make humans... to make humans.*pause* There are 6 billion humans on the planet. Fucking is working.

I believe that the world will come to an end because of scientists. Don't get me wrong, I like science. But on Long Island, there is a particle accelerator, at Brookhaven National Labs. They are accelerating and colliding particles together because they think they know how the big bang occurred... and they're trying to recreate it. Think about that for a moment. They are going to collide these particles together and they are hoping they will make anti-matter... which will gobble everything up. The very last words uttered before the end of the world will be, "Hey. It worked!"

... homosexuality:

I mean, the "radical gay agenda." The radical agenda: they want to get married, join the army, be in the Boy Scouts. I don't understand why people are so up in arms about gay marriage. I mean, I would understand if they wanted to make it manditory - someone telling me, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to marry a dude." Really, let people be who they are. The head can be swayed, the heart can be tugged, but the dick wants what it wants - it's irrefutable.

... his dog:

I realized that my dog has no short term memory... I believe this is what goes on in his head: BLEAGH (throws up)... Ugh, I feel awful... *turns to see vomit* Oh! Food!

... recovering from 9/11

There was a time when we all believed that we would not see light again... that there would not be a time when we would laugh again. But we move on. And slowly, we are able to laugh and smile again. Something happened for me about 3 weeks after 9/11. I was walking out on my apartment, and there was a homeless man there. I looked at him. And he was jerking off. And at that moment, I thought, "Things are getting back to normal."

I'm so tired I can't even smile

But I had a great time.

Things I just don't expect to hear when I'm calling a consultant at work

"Sweetie, mommy is on the phone with FDA. You're going to have to get off the computer now."

What the &%@#*&?

When we drove into Virgina Beach, I had noticed these odd signs everywhere and wondered what they were...


Walking to dinner we noted them again. No cursing? Really? Is that what it actually means? After walking a bit more, we found the list of rules:


I love that this town feels the need to set an ordinance for proper bahaviour in public. It's very amusing actually. While walking to dinner, we heard quite a few people cursing, and wondered if we were allowed to send the thought police after them...

13.1 miles = 2:34:13

Virgina Beach was a great time. After fearing that Ernesto may wash out the weekend, it all turned out to be beautiful. It was a good omen when we were in the home stretch of the drive down, crossing the bridge-tunnel thing, that the sun broke through and clouds dispursed. Beautiful.

JS and I arrived at the hotel, where Crazy, SweetPea and SP were waiting. After picking up race packets and taking a nap, we went to dinner to celebrate and carb load for the race. Dinner, carb load, stopped at an arcade to partake of skee ball, Ms. Pac Man, air hockey and shoot 'em up saloon. It's the great joy of winning tickets to turn in for absolutely useless objects (we got 1 large and 2 small superballs, by the way). Great times and fun memories of childhood. After all this fun, we turned in early as gun time was at 7am.

Let me just say that waking up at 5am sucks. No matter what the reason. When the reason is to run a whole lot... makes it much harder. But we were there with a purpose. No crapping out now. Gun time was at 7am, which meant that the elite runners took off at that point. We of the slow corral did not even make it up to the start line until nearly 25 minutes later. Which also meant we knew that, at the point where the course loops back at miles 2 and 8 over the bridge, we would be seeing the leaders heading back before we even made it over the bridge.


It's quite humbling to see that, actually. And at the same quite cool.

My knee began to bother me at mile 2.5. Really, I was hoping that my body would coorperate on race day, and in all of my training, the distance I had been running before my knee began to annoy me had increased. Now it decides to be a bother. I ran through it. It really hurt at points and I walked a lot more of the race than I had hoped. But I kept going. There was nothing that was going to keep me from finishing, even if I had to crawl.

The course passed by the hotel at which we were staying at two points - in front on Atlantic Ave. and behind on the Boardwalk. JS and SP had made signs, and I was really looking forward to seeing the cheering squad. After having lost her earlier in the race, Crazy found me and we passed the hotel at Atlantic at the same time. No cheering squad. I was sad. But we figured that we had estimated the time we would be passing by wrong, since we didn't anticipate the long delay after gun time. Maybe they thought they missed us.

Coming around on the Boardwalk, I was searching for them again. From a distance I saw the signs hung up on the hotel room balcony. I hear my name. YAY! Cheering squad. Quick sweaty kiss and I was off to the finish, which was about 1.5 miles from that point. God, I think that was the longest mile I have ever run. But coming in, seeing the finish line in the distance approaching, I got a burst of energy and crossed the finish strong.

Afterward, well, not so much. It took forever to find each other at the end and even longer to make our way back to the hotel. But after getting off the shuttle bus, we turned the corner to the hotel and saw this on our room door:


That was probably the best thing ever. Made us all laugh out loud.

The rest of the day, I was pretty much useless. After that much stress, my metabolism was all screwed up. And I had a headache that just would not go away. I felt awful about it. I pretty much fell asleep in my lamb chops at dinner.

We're home. I'm achy. I'm sunburnt. My knee feels much better after some heat therapy. I have the personal satisfaction of accomplishing something I've never done before. I have a cool medal to show for my pains.


And I ask myself, would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

The end is near...

The end of summer that is. Okay, on the calendar, summer doesn't officially end until September 22nd or something (I can never remember). But for all intents and purposes, everyone equates the end of summer with Labour Day (just like the beginning is Memorial Day). And what better way to celebrate this last weekend of summer than a whole lot of rain from what is left of Hurricane Ernesto (aside: I find it amusing that while Ernesto, a hurricane with a pretty fun name, but little punch, is churning in the Atlantic, John, common name, much bigger punch, is slamming the Pacific. But that's just me, I like hurricane watching.)

My other end of the summer activity for the weekend is the long awaited half-marathon. Yes, it is finally here. And for all of you who made fun of me this past weekend for not running in the rain - the storm will be well past Virginia Beach by gun time. So, after a year of waiting and training, the race is finally here, and I actually feel prepared. We'll see how I feel Sunday afternoon when I'm done.

Mostly I'm kind of disappointed that the summer went by so quickly. I had so many plans that didn't work out for one reason or another. JS and I were supposed to go to the museum once a month in DC - that didn't work out. Life seemed to get in the way of living for a while, which is never a good thing.

But I have so much to look forward to this fall. Next weekend is the American Chemical Society's conference in San Francisco. Yes, I know, thrilling, right? But it's San Francisco, so I'm happy - as is JS because he's coming with me. Then it's PR at the end of the month with MS and TC. I'm sure there are going to be other fun things to do before the end of the year.

There is a mistique about summer though. It's the time of fun and free time, even though we are still working everyday. The weather I prefer is autumn. But I guess I will never be out of the kid mindset that summer is the fun time and the rest of the year is filler.