Sounding Like Sarah

I went out to the Gilruth today at 2:30 after I got off work (how cool is that!) to try out the new equipment/rooms/etc. As Becca says, it's pretty great. About the only complaint I have is that I couldn't figure out how to get the key to fit in the locker.

I used the elliptical machine which I've never done seriously before. You know, other than getting on Nick's and making the pedals go backwards. I was on there for 45 minutes, and I was happy to see that I'm not in as bad of shape as I could be. I did the "cardio" program for half an hour where it made me maintain the estimated 80% of max heart rate for my age, weight, blah, blah. I was pleasantly suprised to consistently want to push a little harder than it was telling me to. Apparently I'm very comfortable at 80% of max heart rate. Then I tried out the hill program for fifteen minutes, which I liked a lot.

Now, I can see why Sarah's gotten into putting stats for all her runs on her blog. It was very mesmerising watching the numbers count up. So, for Sarah...

Time: 45 min
Max Heart Rate: 168
Miles: 3.05
Average Speed: 4 mph (I was only going like 3.2 mph on the hill program)

In the Bad Place

It is way to Goddamn early.

And I already have problems to contend with.

And tomorrow will be earlier.

Grrrrr

Lost

I hate not having my laptop. Not only do I have to get Gavin off the computer to use it, but I can't watch TV at the same time. And that's not saying anything about trying to configure a new computer to do what I want it to do. So far tonight I have...

Deep-6'd the "XP look and feel" from my profile.

Installed software for my Palm so that I won't lose everything when it randomly resets.

Made a start on configuring Windows Media player for me.

Halfheartedly tried to calculate my 2005 taxes. (Side note: Three years of doing taxes with a house has done what a lifetime of hearing fiscal conservatives could not - made me think flat tax is a good idea. What the hell? It's almost worth it giving the IRS the $23000 dollars from the first cut at what I owe to not have to deal with it anymore.)

I want my laptop back. Unfortunately, I think the chance of getting it back with data intact is just a bit less likely than me inventing warp drive during the down time in my sim tomorrow.

P.S. I feel obliged to mention that Gavin has actually been very thoughtful with letting me use the computer. I mean, he usually asks me if I want to use it like 15 minutes before I usually go to bed, but he's trying.

Birth Control in Shoes

I left work a bit early yesterday, anticipating that I have sims the rest of the week. On my way home, I decided to go to Academy to buy a swim cap. While I was in there, I decided to go look at the shoes and see if anything was on sale. This was a good idea, because I got some new softball cleats, which I rather needed. That's not the point of this story, though.

It was about 4:30 in the afternoon. The entire shoe section was full of parents and kids. And whining. Every kid I passed was whining to his/her mom/dad about how the shoes weren't the right color, or felt bumpy, or "I really need them NOW". One dad was very fustratedly trying to get his son to say something other than "it's bumpy". (Turns out that bump was the arch of the shoe!) Another mom was fighting with her daughter about the color of her socks, of all things, and the girl was just blubbering in the most annoyingly whiney voice...

I swear, 5 minutes in Shoes is enough to set a girl's biological clock back months. OK, maybe weeks. Of course, for me the alarm started ringing 2 years ago, so a couple weeks isn't going to matter much.

Total Recall

Sarah posted this picture of the view from the 60th floor of a downtown building on her photoblog today. When I saw it, it immediately and vividly reminded me of a dream I had months and months ago, and didn't recall until this moment.

In my dream, I was back in college living in the dorm. Only there must have been some sort of war or something because the last couple floors were totally bombed out. And the dorm was much taller than it is in real life. In order to get to my room, I had to ride a teeny-tiny extremely fast but rickety elevator with NO WALLS which at one point went into the bombed out area that HAD NO WALLS and where it was very windy. So basically, it was like huddling on a small platform that moved very fast up the side of this huge building with wind trying to blow me off to my death.

It was scary. My subconscious is weird.

In the Doghouse

Thank GOD that my week at work isn't going to be as busy as last week. It's not even 11am yet, and I already have time to breathe. Don't get me wrong, I like being busy at work. Last week was a bit over the top, though. It was like "OK, hit the ground running on Tuesday because this is going to be a busy week and it's only four days long. Saturday."

I took Zoya to PetsMart yesterday. I usually don't take the dogs to doggie stores because I am usually just stopping by on my way home from work. Even if I do go on the weekend, I am usually combining the trip with other errands. And then there's the which dog question, because handling two large dogs in a store with that many distractions is a recipe for disaster. Anyway, she was very good. She trotted along beside me, only pulled on the leash a bit, and didn't get in any scuffles, which I can't say was true for all the dogs in the store. It was fun. I didn't get a doghouse, which was my main goal, but I did get them new beds for the bedroom - the old ones are sad and nasty.

Of course, when I got home Roxy was mad at me. I tried to bribe her back to love with a peanut butter flavored bone, but it took her about 5 hours and the interesting tasting legs that resulted from 45 minutes on the stepper for her to forgive me.

The Equivalent of a Stroke for My Computer

My laptop is very, very sick - again. As it turns out, the M5XXX series of eMachines laptops has a problem with overheating. Once it starts, it effectively renders your laptop unusable in all but the most controlled of conditions. This problem manifested itself for the first time on Tuesday.

The bad news: Laptop hosed.

The good news: I called eMachines and though they at first tried to tell me that there was nothing they could do because my laptop is out of warranty, after a gentle "I heard this happens to a lot of laptops, and I was wondering if there was a recall..." from me, they agreed to "fix" it.

The bad news: I don't think they can fix the problem permanently because it's a design issue. And they wouldn't promise that they won't wipe my hard drive as a matter of course.

The good news: I was able to use a combination of ice packs and fans to operate the laptop enough to back up all my stuff.

The bad news: I will probably be without a laptop for about a month, if past experience is any indicator.

So, I'm so-so with the state of my computing life right now. I am having to sit upstairs at Gavin's desktop to write this. :(

Tyler State Park

We took advantage of the nice January weather this weekend to go on a short camping trip. We went to Tyler State Park, which is just north of I-20 east of Dallas. The park is pretty nice. It has tons of hiking/mountain biking trails. There's a two-mile loop around the lake, which we did the first afternoon. We actually did it twice, because the full moon was really bright and we decided to do it again at night. This decision was partially motivated by having nothing to do after dinner with no campfire due to the burn ban. Then on Sunday we did ~8 miles on the bike trails in the woods.

Photos will be posted on the photoblog over the next couple of days.

Not Much

Haven't written in a while... Don't have much to say.

Work's busy. Home's fine. Enjoying the TiVo.

Roxy came back from the kennel with the runs and really, really bad gas. I mean REALLY bad. Last night, she woke Gavin up by farting. He thought she was pooping on the carpet. So he jumps out of bed to put her outside, which wakes me up. After which, I can't ignore the horrific smell that is filling out bedroom. I had to hide my face under the covers until it went away. Although maybe I should thank Gavin. If I hadn't woken up, who knows what awful dream I might have had about getting skunked or worse.

I got to take a lesson in a simulator this morning at work. That's always fun. I know I say this every time, but it will be sad if the next vehicle doesn't have mechanical switches in the cockpit. There's something so satisfying about pushing a switch that goes "click" when it seats. I'm going to have to figure out how to finagle myself more flying time in the simulator. It's SO fun.

Alphabet Soup

Since I just spent a week getting reacquainted with my niece, you have to suffer through a couple cute baby stories until I exhaust my supply. Caroline has a refrigerator magnet set with the letters of the alphabet. It sings the alphabet song, and so does she - sort of.

Magnet Set: "A, B, C, D..."

Caroline: "Aaayyyyeeee..."

Magnet Set: "E, F, G..."

Caroline: (softly) "Geeeee..."

Magnet Set: "H, I, J, K..."

Caroline: "Ya, ya, ee, ah..."

Magnet Set: "L-M-N-O..."

Caroline: (perfectly pitched) "P!!"

Magnet Set: "Q, R, S, T, U, V..."

Caroline: (Silent as she watches all the adults glowing over how well she knows P.)

Magnet Set: "W, X..."

Caroline: "Sex"

Magnet Set: "Y, Z..."

Caroline: "See"


She's going to be president one day.

First Day Back

I'm pretty tired today, due to getting home at 1AM from picking Sarah up at the airport. Her flight was about 4 hours late due to weather in Atlanta. This feeling of tiredness is compounded by the fact that my husband just walked into my office and informed me that one of his crowns came off, he has to go home to reattach it with temporary cement, and he isn't coming back because he doesn't feel like it.

Must be nice.

Houston is warm. Like record warm. The high is supposed to top 80 deg for the third day in a row today. That's three days of record January temps. Doesn't feel like the coldest month of the year.

Becca made an offhanded comment a couple weeks ago about not wanting to wait until March to go skiing. That idea has taken hold in my brain. Can you say, last minute deals for MLK weekend?