Return from the dead

You probably can't imagine just how thrilled I was when I woke up this morning and realized that I had not had to make any midnight maybe-gonna-puke dashes.  Aw, yeah!  Kicking this virus to the curb!  Except for the part where my whole abdomen hurts, and eating is kind of painful, and also I need a nap.

I tried making plain old noodle soup for lunch, and that hurt despite its innocuousness.  So, not as recovered as I had hoped.  But I was able telecommute for most of the day, and dinner (two french rolls, a little bit of soft cheese, and a little bit of pear) felt okay.  Maybe tomorrow I can get back to normal.

Except that tomorrow I have a dental appointment.  Not sure if it will involve anesthetic, but if it does then lunch is probably a bust.

After several days of eating between nothing and very little, I have some food cravings building up.  I think JD and I are going to have a Five Guys blowout (i.e. the same meal I always get - a little burger, and half an order of fries) later this week.

I haven't heard anything about coworkers being struck down, so perhaps I did not pass it on to them.  One can hope.

nothing to see here

Today:  Please see yesterday.

So pleased with my ability to eat grits

My day got an early start when I jerked awake at 3:30 with the distinct impression that I was about to puke.  I jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom, and... nada.  A lot of saliva and dry heaving.  Huh.

I still felt pretty nauseated, so I stood and waited.  I figure my technicolor yawn would be along any time.  The thing is, I was totally bareass.  And we turn the heat down at night.  Before long I noticed that it was COLD and I was not going to be able to just stand there all night, debating my puking status.

I got back into the warm bed for a few minutes, then ran back into the bathroom.  I realized that if this kept up (and it showed every sign of doing so) then I would not be the only one awake.  So after returning to the bedroom, I fished around in my sock drawer in the dark, found my warmest pair of socks, grabbed my robe, and headed downstairs.

All the animals were thrilled!  Somebody up in the morning means they all get fed.  The many pre-dawn runs that JD ran this year have trained them that morning is not necessarily after the sun comes up.  So, I fed all of them and then retired to the recliner to wait out my stomach.  First I took an acid reducer and a gas reducer to try to calm the unhappiness in the tum.  They only barely stayed down.

I read some, trying to distract myself.  It worked pretty well.  I was surprised to check the time and find it was already 6:30.  The lack of sleep started to hit me pretty hard, so I went back upstairs and checked into the guest room.  Propped up on pillows, with a cat behind my knees, I zonked out.

At nearly noon, I woke up again.  And ran for the bathroom again. Wow, that had already gotten old.  I contemplated returning to sleep, but in my dreams I had killed someone and I was A) still feeling pretty bad about it, and B) still worried about getting caught.  Sleepy logic is bad logic.  Instead I decided to rejoin the living.  I meandered around the house with some water, taking the occasional sip.  After a few hours I felt up to trying a water cracker.

And so, my day progressed.  I'm proud to announce that I'm up to tea with honey, and grits.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to eat fruit.  Or vegetables.

All my officemates?  I'm sorry, but this seems to be reasonably contagious.  Looks like a four day incubation period.

And that walk I was planning today?  Not so much, if you don't count the sprinting to the bathroom thing.

Insert title here

Another morning sleeping until I was ready to get up.  So nice.  It would appear that I wake up refreshed after nine hours.  Sadly, nine hours of sleep cannot always be arranged.  But mostly, I think it can.

At lunch today I got a table for 10.  I had 8 rsvps, and a couple of extra usually show up.  Instead, we had 4.  Man, I hate taking up multiple tables at a restaurant and then not using them.  But, that's the sort of thing that happens.  The indeterminate number of people who will show up for a meal is why the field of restaurant math was started in the first place.

I'm not going to describe my whole meal for you, but I will say that they had tapioca pearl dumplings with purple taro paste, and they were fantastic.

The weather was spectacular this morning - crisp air, clear blue skies, and wowza leaves.  By the time I got out for my walk after lunch, it was cloudy.  You really need sun to bring out the best in a fall afternoon.  Still, I was enjoying it until my back spoke up.  It's still pissed off about the reverse triangle poses on Wednesday.  I cut my walk short and went back to the office, hoping that it will feel better tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to going for a hike in the snow, if the spine holds out.  (It is supposed to snow tomorrow, FYI.  Just an inch.  Or a foot.  It's kind of hard to tell right now.)   My first crisp, cold, crunchy walk of the season.  Love it.  There is something clean about walking on new snow.  The woods look different, sound different, smell different.  The third snowy walk is just tedious, with the slipping and sliding. But the first one?  Pure magic.

I'm also looking forward to my next backpacking trip, in two weeks.  DeLee caught a bug and I don't know if she's going to be up to it, but I'm going either way.  (Assuming they aren't calling for three days of 42 degrees and rain.  I'm dumb, but I'm not THAT dumb.)  I went ahead and ordered the Zpacks Exo backpack that I've been pondering, and there's a chance they'll get it to me in time.  A long weekend's hike should tell me if I love it or hate it.  If they don't get it to me in time, well.. I still have Old Faithful.   I'm also looking forward to trying out my 15 degree bag.  I got it after a nasty cold night's sleep last winter, but then it got warm out.  I've still not had a chance to use it.  Oh, I hope it's cozy!

My awesome app which I bet three or four people would totally want

Last night I turned off my alarm, determined to sleep until I was ready to get up.  And, as a happy result, I awoke refreshed.  Yay for plenty of sleep!  It does a body good.

My back, however, was cranky from yoga last night.  No more reverse triangle position for me.  Bad, bad, bad.  Today I wore a back brace and took advil.  By the evening it felt a little better, but I'll be moving gingerly for a while.

At work I fixed most of the remaining problems from yesterday.  Also, due my horrible memory, I unjustly emailed somebody in all caps to yell at them about doing things without telling me.  He replied with a quote of the email conversation we'd had about the topic.  A very detailed conversation.  So I immediately replied with an apology, but A) my memory is definitely getting worse, and B) I regret all capping.  Nobody deserves uppercase email.

My officemate Joe gifted me with some glitter dust he just happened to have (Joe has one of everything in the universe, somewhere.  The only problem is finding it.) and so I am ready for Halloween.  Sparkly vampires, ahoy!  It's genius.  All I have to do is sparkle.  I can wear jeans and a tshirt!  Of course, I will undoubtedly leave vampire dust on everything I touch all day.  A small price to pay for a Halloween costume.

At the chiropractor's this evening (for a previously but fortuitously scheduled visit) I heard the doc talking to the guy in the cubicle next to me about his bruising.  Which he got JOUSTING!  At Rennfest!  While he was waiting to get taped up I monopolized his attention, asking all sorts of questions.  (It turns out that he is friends with Barchan - somebody I've known off and on for twenty years.  If you have jousted in Maryland, you've either met Barchan or you've met somebody who knows him.  )  It was very interesting to hear him talk about his experience with horses and jousting.  I liked him a lot - enough that if I were not married I would have checked his hand for a wedding ring.  But I am, and I didn't.  Instead I just had a few minutes of fascinating conversation.  I love running into horse people and chatting like that.

On the way home, I saw a white fawn eating grass along the highway.  There are at least twenty foot high walls along this eight to ten lane highway.  There's no way he could have jumped.  He must have walked the mile or two there from some stream crossing.  I worried that he would try to cross the road.  He might have a better chance of escaping ensquishment because he's easier to see, but deer don't have a good record when it comes to traffic safety.  I felt a little sad, thinking he was probably going to get killed.  Even if he survives the traffic, it's hunting season and he's eminently visible.  Poor guy.

This evening seems to be that rare creature, the quiet night at home.  JD is watching vintage 70's television via Netflix.  I had brief thoughts of going to the library to return books, but I believe I'll settle in with a novel and enjoy the downtime.

Oh!  Oh!  I had an idea!  I'm almost afraid to tell you.  On the one hand, my idea would involve a lot of hard work, and probably very little payback.  But on the other hand it's AWESOME.  Okay I'll tell you but if you steal my idea you have to give me a copy of the result for free.  Deal?  Deal.

So, my idea is for an app.  An AT app.  For nerdy hikers like me.  Instead of constantly fishing out bits of paper and trying to figure out where I am in relation to everything, my phone could keep track of it!  It could have all the locations of the shelters, road crossings, parking, french fry stands, laundromats.. and GPS could pinpoint things, assuming you get a good signal.  You could tie it in with journal writing and photo albums.  It could tell you how many feet of elevation change there are between you and some arbitrary destination down the trail.  It could tie in weather forecasts!  It could automatically mail your mom with your camping location for the night.  Oh, a hiking app sounds wonderful to me.  I bet it would have TENS of users.  Minimum.    So, what, figure a couple thousand hours of development for forty bucks back out of iTunes app store sales?  Totally worth it.

You go to heck, Wednesday. You go to heck and you die.

Eff you very much, Wednesday.  You go eff yourself.  You go to heck.  You go to heck and you die.

So I guess you're wondering how my day was?

My day started with going into the tiny room that is filled with computers and some kind of undoubtedly toxic grainy black dust.  My job was to change the IP addresses of all the computers while somebody else put in a new switch.  I lost track of how many people popped into the room to attempt cheerful conversation with me while I was struggling to A) get any effing thing to work, and B) not punch their larynx into a fine paste against their spine.  For future reference?  When I'm trying to fix things is a really bad time to talk to me.  I can think hard or I can talk.  I can't do both at once.  And when I need to think hard and you make me talk?  It stresses me out.

When I stress out is when the bad things happen.

Every one of the machines had something different going on.  One had a keyboard in Finnish.  The keys were in the wrong places, and some of the keys had four symbols on them.  I could only get two symbols to work for any given key.  Then, when I finally managed to type in  my name and password?  IT SWITCHED KEYBOARDS.  It thought I was now using an American English keyboard.  It didn't say anything to me about it.. it just assumed the letters were on different keys.

The one to its left had a wireless mouse and keyboard, and the batteries in the mouse had died.  Also, it had no real GUI interface.  It came up with a blue screen and a mouse pointer.  That's it.

The next two were basically okay, but although they are supposed to be identical, one thought its mouse was right handed, and one thought its mouse was left handed.

The one on the end had a black screen.  I had to power cycle it to get it to come up with anything I could see.

I spent three hours in that room, just changing IP addresses.  The guy who had ordered the change stopped by to tell me he hadn't realized it was such a big deal just to change some IP addresses.  REALLY?  WHEN IT HAD TO BE SCHEDULED SO FAR IN ADVANCE, AND GOT DELAYED OVER AND OVER BECAUSE OF ISSUES?  Oh, he's so lucky he still has that larynx.

Also, while I was doing all this, somebody came in with a sticky note with a password on it.  Right then, while I was busy and getting crankier by the moment, is when somebody decided was a good time to hand me system administration duties on another computer.. which also needed its address changed.

Once I finally got back to my office, I spent the entire rest of the day trying to iron out problems resulting from the addresses changing.  Which meant finding the two small typos in any one of several dozen files, checking and doublechecking firewall rules on each computer and the network based firewall, and wondering why the machine that was running at 1 gig on the old switch was now running at 100 megabytes, half duplex, on the new switch.  And of course having many, many collisions.  As it turns out?  Solaris 9, specifically with the particular network interface this machine has?  Doesn't really do network configuration like any other version of Solaris, or unix that I'm familiar with.  Which doesn't explain why it wasn't working, but DOES explain why it took me nearly an hour to verify that it was running at 100hd.  And, it explains why when I tried to fix it based on the mode average of all the advice I found on google, the machine took itself right the hell offline.

Not that it matters.  Not that it was talking to something OUT IN SPACE, OR ANYTHING.

Oh, right.  Crap.

I'm reupping for five this time. My titre's pretty high.

I think the time for term marriage is long overdue in this society.  Many people are afraid to get married because the divorce rate is so high - why bother when the odds are so bad? Divorce is economically bad for pretty much everyone but a few trophy ex-wives.  With term marriage, you could re-up or you could separate (peacefully or otherwise) at the end of your contract.  I suppose you could divorce, as well, but there would be less incentive when you know that your term will end if you wait it out.

I propose that we work it like vaccination.  The first time, one year.  Second time, one year.  Third time, if it seems like it's taking, three years.

There would be no stigma and no economic disaster as from divorce, because you plan the end right from the beginning.  It makes a lot of sense.  Instead of fighting and tears and pointed fingers, you dress up and have a going away party.  "It's been great!  Call me!"

The problem, of course, is that people don't get married because they're sensible.  In some societies, people get married because their parents are sensible, and I hear that works out pretty well.  But when you choose your own partner, you're not usually thinking with your brain.

Still, I think term marriage would work really well for our society.  Shoot, term dating could too.   Not that I remember much about dating, at this point.

They all tried to convince me to give them second breakfast, too

Hoo boy I am scatterbrained this evening.  I hope my autopilot is good because I'm going to the airport to pick up JD in a few hours.  I've been to the airport a bunch of times.  Maybe the car knows the way.

This morning started about an hour too early.  All of the animals decided that I had to get up before dawn.  I don't know how they knew it was Monday.  Normally, JD would be here on a weekday morning and he'd get up at 4:30 or some equally horrendous hour, so they would be fed in the dark.  On the weekends, they don't seem to mind me sleeping in until 7:30.  How do they know?  (Perhaps they're listening to the traffic outside?)

Somehow, when I was a kid, my cat Scooper would wake me up at 4:32 every morning to be let out.  On the dot.  A)  Why was she watching the clock like that?  B) HOW was she watching the clock like that?  C) Was it her boyfriend she was meeting? D) Were the neighborhood squirrels on the same schedule?

To wake me up this morning was a three part effort.  Andy delved under the bedroom door, grabbing the alarm clock's cord.  The movement of the cord and the alarm clock annoys me intensely, as the clock is right next to my head.  Olli, Dori, and Nazca paced the hallway, howled, and stood up with their feet on the bedroom door.  Inside the bedroom, Beauty started whining, then pacing the bed, then nudging me with her cold wet nose.

I tried the moron's method, which involved yelling "SHUT UP" and rolling over in bed.  This method accomplishes nothing other than venting my irritation.

After several repetitions of all of the above, I gave in to the inevitable.  As soon as I turned on the light, Beauty bounded over to give me a cheerful beagle morning greeting.  When I opened the bedroom door, Olli fell inward as he had been supporting himself on it.  I was very tempted to kick a few cats out of my way, but they're all pointy and I was barefoot.

It's sad how much difference that one hour of missed sleep makes to me.  It makes the difference between needing to write a note to remember to get things at the grocery, and needing to write a note so you don't forget the thing you need to do in thirty seconds.  Unfortunately, thirty seconds is longer than it takes me to find my pen and my sticky pad and write a whole note, so I forgot a lot today.

Renaissance Festival, 2011

Today was our annual visit to the Renaissance Festival.  I took fifty pictures, only forty nine of which I will force you to see.

We were sad that Liza and DeLee couldn't make it, but a good time was nevertheless had by those of us drinking cream stout.

Windy with a green knight and his squire

I don't know how many years this guy has been doing this.. but it's as many as I can remember

The Doctor!

A shoplifter

The faire gets more costumey every year

... Catwoman?  and kitten?

A green mohawk with a green outfit

Windy

No comment

Just random people, plus Korn

What do you think?  Little house on the Prairie?

We saw a lot of steampunk

Windy learning to play the psaltery

A man in black

A lady in a really, really orange dress

Kinda makes me feel Halloweeny

Girly skulls!

the mad hatter?

A dark elf.  I think.

Tara and Windy outside the Dragon Inn

Windy and my goofy but sun-protective hat

What was a lady this fine doing at the Dragon Inn?

I don't even know

I thought JD was the one moving the pillows all over the sofa, but the dog is at it too.  I like the trail of chewies leading to the sofa.

Yay! Also, I have a Twilight magazine to read.

Okay, today was a really great day.  I'm hoping for a twofer - tomorrow could be really great too.

Pluto got his mani-pedi.  Steve says that a lot of horses' feet got pretty bad this trimming cycle.  I'm thinking it's the wet weather.  Whatever the reason, Stinker is now trimmed up, and our next appointment will be a little early just in case.

I talked to Steve some about his back problems, looking for more insight into my own.  He has very similar disk issues.  He went to some cutting edge (hee) guy, and his surgery took half an hour.  That's crazy!  And he walked out of there the same day!  He knows somebody else who went to the same place who got a jointed titanium disk replacement.  Hmmmm.  Maybe things are looking up in the sucky back treatment area.

Horses:  Just as bad as people at keeping their eyes open for the camera

I don't know why I thought a picture of Pluto's tack would be helpful

After farriery, I tacked Pluto up and rode him briefly.  More briefly than I planned, because I decided to ride in two point (i.e., all my weight in the stirrups, not on my butt.)  After not very long, my back cramped up.  It wasn't zingy, which makes me think it was just weak muscles.  Assuming I don't notice any repercussions, I'm going to try to work in (very) short stretches of two point every ride, to try to build that area up.

Typically, on a weekend, I'll ride, then get lunch, then nap.  So I installed the Chipotle app on my phone, ordered lunch from the farm, and picked it up on the way home.  Awesome!  I cut right to the front of the line and was out of there in seconds.  Only problem was, after lunch I couldn't nap.  I tried.  I was warm and cozy and comfy, but I couldn't get to sleep.  How aggravating is that?

The dog couldn't sleep either

I eventually gave up and meandered downstairs.  Somehow I happened upon something that I've been dreaming of:  a backpack made with an ultralight packbag, but framing that looks like it will transfer weight from the shoulders to the hips.

The Zpacks Exo

It seems to be pretty new.  I haven't been able to find reviews of it carrying a full load.  But it's looking like maybe a good option.

The problem with Zpacks is I could pretty much spend all my money there, plus some I don't have.  Their Solo or Solo Plus Hexamid tent is looking attractive as well.  I'm waiting to see how the Canadian Geese like theirs.

This evening I went out to Chanan's for dinner.  JD's in trouble now.  When I got there, alone, they tried to seat me without my having paid first.  They just assumed he was coming in behind me.  "He pays, right?"  I had to repeat that there was just one tonight.  And that I was paying.  "So where's your husband?"  I told them he was at Walt Disney World. "He went without you?!"  Yup.  This isn't a problem for me, but JD going without me?  And not paying for my dinner?  Apparently it's Just Not Right.

Also, my fortune was ominous.

Somebody please help me step away from the refrigerator

Oh good lord.  I'm pretty sure I just undid the effects of all the dieting of the week.  This is what happens when I'm home alone.

I remembered, just in time, that I was up an hour so I could leave early today.  I got home mid afternoon.  What to do?  I remembered that there was a Fat Tire in the fridge.  Mmmmm tasty beer.  I opened the fridge, and I noticed the bacon.  Mmmm tasty bacon.  So I had a beer and a slice of turkey bacon.

The problem is that after the beer my inhibitions were lowered.

After that, I had a little bag of Doritos.  And another beer (vanilla porter, this time).  Uh oh.

I think I ate a slice of pizza.  And a couple of slices of pickles.  And then, virtuously, some sliced up .. um.. what are those things called? That are crunchy?  Celery.  Yeah.  Celery.

Then I decided it would be good if I left the vicinity of the kitchen.

I went and watched a documentary about Herman Mudgett, AKA HH Holmes, America's first serial killer.  A cheerful film, appropriate to the season.

Then, unfortunately, I wandered toward the back of the house again.  I got some lemon lime seltzer water out of the fridge.  And some lemon sorbet.  And then a blueberry pancake.

I'm going to have to go to bed early or there isn't going to be any food left when JD gets home.

I was thinking that the weekend would be a brief reintroduction to bachelor life, but when I lived alone?  I never had this much food in the house.  It is hard to make a pig of yourself with a box of Cheerios, some spoiled milk, and a half full bottle of ketchup.  But when your everloving husband has left most of a pizza, two quarts of blueberry pancakes, several liquid quarts of beer, and I don't know what else but the fridge is full?  It is easy to make a pig of yourself.

Wish me luck on eating healthy tomorrow.  But save your breath on Sunday, because I'm going to the Renaissance Festival.  I'm going to wear a wench outfit (without the stupid squeezy bodice, but don't worry, I'll be covered).  I'm going to drink beer and leer at men in tights.  And there is a very good chance that I'm going to eat something on a stick.

I hardly bit anyone, today

Went to work today.  Snapped at, and then apologized to, coworkers who totally did not deserve snappage.  Spent some quiet time in the freezer (aka server room) and managed to rein in my temper somewhat.  This evening I'm feeling a bit more sane.

The Canadian Gander suggested I spend some time planning a trip.  (He's a hiker too.)  It's a good suggestion.  So with no further ado, some winter trip planning.  In this case I'm less concerned with where I go than what I'll take.  My gear is lightweight or ultralight for the most part.  That doesn't seem to translate well to cold weather, based on how miserably cold I've felt.  I do all right while I'm moving.  At night, though, the cold feet and cold butt are just awful.  I need more and heavier gear.

I'm really not looking forward to how heavy that pack is going to be.

Some specifics to add or swap:

15 degree Montbell U.L. Super Spiral, swapped for 30 degree bag

66" or 72" Big Agnes Insulated Air Core pad, swapped for 72" NeoAir (Or take the NeoAir AND a foam pad)

Added long underwear bottom (Smartwool?)
Second added long underwear bottom of some type

My upper half is pretty good with what I already have - wicking shirt, stretch fleece top, down jacket, windbreaker or raincoat

Maybe some mittens in addition to my fleece gloves?

Swap white gas stove for alcohol stove, maybe?

Add hot water bottles.

Add balaclava

And I think that's it for now.  At the rate the weather is changing, I'm going to need some of it for my Veteran's Day trip.

Look how much calmer I am already.  Trip planning is good.

One more day of work and smacking machines around, and then it'll finally be the weekend.  I'm looking forward to getting Pluto's feet trimmed (he went from looking perfect to looking awful in one week), riding with Tara, and hanging out at the Renaissance Festival.  Given that I'm an Old Married Lady now, I can look but not touch.  I'll have to egg on my single friends so I can voyeuristically enjoy the male offerings.  I tend to applaud any man in tights I happen to see.

Some scenes from my day:

This was all green last week

Thank goodness we have places to get outside and walk around so I can see prettiness

Thumbnail sketch of life at a science facility.  Donuts on left, giant shiny tank of gas (maybe nitrogen?) to right, infinite hallway directly ahead.

Days off don't always happen on schedule.

I went to bed early last night.  When the alarm went off this morning, I turned it off and went back to sleep.

An hour later, I got up.  Since my clothes were already laid out, I put them on.  Downstairs, I made a bowl of cereal for myself and sat down in front of the computer.  I opened up my work email.  I realized that I was still felt like crying whenever I thought about work.  I took the day off.

Today I read for a while, then napped, then ate a late lunch.  I got a call from a friend, and we're going to meet later for a drink (a non-alcoholic drink) and maybe a pastry.  And then I'm going to yoga.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to work tomorrow, though.

Sometimes being in a safe, quiet place is what I need.  A place where I can squeeze cats (gently) and think about nothing.  Home is a healing place.

What you really have to watch out for is when I *stop* yelling

I'm a mess today.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  I had my fourth migraine in five days.  I'm totally emotionally off kilter.  I was so furious today that I knew if I tried to talk I would start crying.  (If you're not an angry cryer, you can not imagine how frustrating this is.  And how much angrier it makes me.)  I picked up my stuff and drove home.  Didn't say a word to anybody.  Later I emailed them that I would be telecommuting the rest of the day, which I did.  Of course, the machine I was working on got weird and refused to come back up when I rebooted it.  This did not improve my mood.

First person to ask if I'm pregnant gets a vicious boot to the head.

The details of why I'm angry are unimportant.  It's stuff that normally would not phase me.  Or, if it did, would occasion a particularly sarcastic comment.  Not a total meltdown.

I have on occasion gotten off kilter, and I'm always flummoxed about how to get back to my nicely balanced center.  It's like my shell has gotten thin.  And maybe cracked a little.  Once I get to that state, pretty much anything will set me off again.  Which is also frustrating.

I need to go for a nice long walk in the woods.  However, that is not happening any time soon.

I'm going to go read a lot and hope that whatever has my psyche in an uproar goes back to sleep.

They should have a nice porter at the cafeteria

Today would have been a perfectly nice day if it hadn't involved work.

I once again had to explain to a coworker that I have responsibilities in addition to leaping up when he beckons.

I spent far too much time standing in front of a monitor in a loud and cold room, watching things progress v.e.r.y s.l.o.w.l.y.

Despite repeated attempts I STILL don't think I have managed to convince people that when you postpone somebody else's work and then reschedule it, you need to make sure that the people actually doing the work are available. If I were the guy whose work got rescheduled without checking with me, or indeed acknowledging my existence, I would be pretty pissed off.  As it is I'm having sympathy pissiness.

I'm pretty sure there isn't enough beer at work.  Beer would make everything more tolerable.  There would be more mistakes, but nobody would care.

Perfectly ordinary, perfectly beautiful

Good GRAVY I love fall days like this.  The leaves are turning, the sun is bright, the sky is quite blue, and it's warm enough to be in shirtsleeves if you're active.

Fall doesn't last long enough.  Fall and spring never do.  They're the best times, and the shortest.  I suppose that makes them all the more sweet.

My day has been awesome.  Not just because of how beautiful it is outside, although it didn't hurt.  I slept in, ate apple pancakes that JD had made, and then went out to ride my horse.  And this time I actually rode him.  I covered up as much as I could, wore sunscreen, and used my giant goofy looking Equivisor.  I'm pretty sure I escaped without sunburn.  I kept forgetting my head effectively projected out several more inches, so I bonked Pluto on the forehead multiple times while nodding or bending down.  He didn't appear to mind.

His feet, which were perfect last week, now look as if they've been through a wood chipper.  They were good enough for riding at the walk, though, and since that's all I'm doing they were good enough.  I've texted the farrier to see when he can get out.

Pluto and I worked on side pass today.  He so, so didn't get it.  I hopped off and worked with him on the ground.  With me pushing him, he could do it.  I expect we'll work it out under saddle.  I'm using the voice cues "left" and "right".  Soon I shall find out if Pluto can tell his left from his right.  Right now, when I ask for sidepass he does this line dancing maneuver where he goes forward, back, and side to side.  He may have "Achy Breaky Heart" playing in his head.

I was grateful that he has finally grown a brain when I dropped a ziplock back while riding him.  It drifted past his head and landed on the ground in front of him.  He grew several inches taller but did not otherwise react.  When I was sure he wasn't going to bolt, I dismounted to get the bag back.  First, though, I fed him a cookie from it.  He decided the bag probably wasn't evil.

On the walk back, I made him stop and back up several times.  This accomplished two goals.  One:  work on his backing up skills, which have never been spectacular.  Two:  remind him that I am the one in charge while we walk back to the field.  He's very well behaved in the arena these days, but not so much on the walk home.  Given that my options have changed from "dressage queen" to "gentle walk work and ground training" I am much more focused on his ground behavior than I used to be.  I hope to someday (maybe someday soon!) have a horse worthy of showing off for his skills in hand.

I love the ray of light shining down on him

Between the ears shot, shortly before the ziplock bag attacked

This afternoon is dedicated to domestic activities.  Throwing things away, doing laundry, and generally sorting things out.  It's not as fun as playing the with horse, but still rewarding.  I hope to find some sofa and book time later on.  :)

My husband rocks like a Lazyboy recliner

Last night JD and I headed out to a party at DeLee's.  I haven't been to a DeLee party in a really long time.  Years, I think.  She was throwing it with her housemates, and it was fairly spectacular.  There was a live band (the Boozehounds) and a ton of great food.  The house is really well set up for parties, with an enormous deck.  When I say enormous, I mean it was larger than the house I lived in from 1997-1999.

Before we went I was utterly exhausted, so I crawled in to bed for some shuteye.  And that didn't work so JD and I stopped for dinner, where I had real coke.  Caffeine and sugar pretty much rock when it comes to reviving zombies.  By the end of dinner I felt mostly human.  Also mostly full, which was a bummer.  It meant I couldn't eat the yummy food at the party.  I did eventually make room for a something or other rangoon, and a tiny "pig in a blanket".  I was sad that I couldn't sample the rest.

The Boozehounds were fun.  I hadn't heard live music in quite a long time.  Sitting on the lawn with JD's arm around me, it felt romantic and date-like.  It was very happy-making.

In the morning JD went off to run a half marathon.  He had eaten a metric ton of food the evening before, so he was well fueled.  The half marathon, at 13.1 miles, was about 3 miles longer than he had ever run before.  But between the mass quantities he had consumed, and the extra rest he got earlier in the week (his training schedule had him doing only two short runs) he felt pretty good.  He was actually able to move out on the last mile and a bit when he realized he was almost done and he still had good energy. He passed people.  At the end of the race he kicked it up a notch and passed people.

I am so proud of him.  For somebody who hates running, he sure has gotten good at it.  This was his first race ever.  A half marathon!  No measly 5k races for my beloved, he jumped right in to the longer distance.  This, after only starting to run a little over a year ago.

He got a crabby medal for finishing.  I felt a crab was especially appropriate given how cranky running occasionally makes him.  Also note that the medal says "scratch 13.1 miles off the bucket list" around the edge.

I had thought about maybe going hiking today, but it was both brilliantly sunny and windy with strong gusts.  The sun is not my friend yet, and I can't use my umbrella in strong wind.  So while JD was off being athletic, I did this:

Also?  I had coffee.  And a book.

But at least I ate well:

Oh yogurt and strawberries, how I love thee.

I had a chance to go through the pictures my parents had sent me from their trip to Alaska earlier this year.  There is a lot of impressive scenery and interesting pictures of wildlife, towns, and mining stuff.  But what grabbed me the most was some really nice photos of my folks.  I'm thinking of getting glossy photo paper so I can print some out and frame them.

Aw, Dad.

Love the wind-blown look.  I hope this is me in a few decades.

They clean up nice, too.

In the evening, I interrupted JD's snacking to say that I wanted to eat dinner.  He was grabbing some chips at half time during a college football game.  He decided that he could watch the replay afterward (sadly, it turned out later that he was wrong about that assumption), and we went off to investigate Yanny's in Camp Springs.  Yanny's took over the spot that Regina Pizzeria inhabited for lo those many years.  Regina's held a special place in my heart.  Yanny's has a lot to live up to.

Yanny's is sort of an Italian/Greek/Korean place.  They had a pretty impressive seafood buffet set up.  JD opted for that, which included a variety of appetizers, salad, and pizza.  I'm pretty sure he ate an entire pizza, plus an assortment of other items.

I coveted the dessert.  JD didn't get any so I couldn't try it.  But it looked delicious.

I was not yet ready to eat pizza on the grave of Regina's.  I ordered a Korean BBQ Box.  Which is a bento box, but with Korean food in it.

The bulgogi was spectacular

I asked if they had any porter beers.  First answer was no, but when they went back and checked the fridge:

Evo Lucky 7 porter:  new to me, and good

So, all things considered, today has been a pretty excellent day.

I never thought I'd feel better off than a doctor

I had reason to read this blog recently.  The blog itself is aged - over six years old.  But the content is still applicable.  The blog addresses 10 reasons why one should not go to medical school.  (It lists one reason in support of medical school, down at the bottom.)

I've never considered medical school.  Okay, that's a lie.  I've never seriously medical school.  I'm pretty sure I don't have the patience, money, or strength of will to spend that amount of time in class anymore.  I do periodically think that I would like to practice some form of medicine.  I like helping people, and I think I'm bright enough to get through medical school.  But generally it seems like a lot of work, and apparently I'm lazy.

As it turns out, laziness is not the primary reason not to go to medical school.

Reading the blog made me feel grateful.  I have a lowly bachelor's degree.  My degree is in physics.  That and 50 cents will not even get you a cup of coffee.  You need at least a master's just to do most lab work, and you need a PhD for jobs in which you actually think about science.  I don't use my physics degree in my job, although having a bachelor's degree is a requirement.

I exited college without very much debt.  I did have a little.  I put my last semester on my credit card, and the occasional pizza and car repair.  I paid off my credit cards after acquiring gainful employment and have never let them get high again.  My only debt is my mortgage.  If I had become a doctor,  I might not yet have paid off my debts.  Going by the aforementioned blog, I would be tired all the time, not have any friends or a husband, be likely to get sued, and not be doing all the good I thought I might.  Plus super high premiums for insurance against the being sued part.

I have lots of friends, I have plenty of free time, I have a beloved husband, and a very low chance that somebody will sue me because I tried to help them.  Life is very good in nerd land.

I swear I didn't put the hole in this one

When I left you last night, I was worried about oversleeping in the morning.  No worries, as it turns out.  My subconscious stayed keyed up so that I actually woke up about an hour early.  I tried to return to sleep but ended up just annoying the dog, who wanted me to quit playing possum and get up so she could beg for second breakfast.

All the preparation I made the night before to streamline my morning?  Not really so necessary.  Nor was the coffee, although it was tasty.

My day did have several stressors, although they weren't the ones I was expecting.  First, one of our developers occasionally forgets that I have a job other than waiting for him to request an action of me.  Also, he forgets that I don't know how to do every thing on every OS.  I know!  Shocking.  But true.  Today was one of those memory lapse days.

Second, I was wearing a new pair of pants today.  Recently, but not recently enough, purchased.  I only took them out of their plastic shipping bag last night.  They fit really nicely, and were overall very pleasing..  until I discovered the large rent on the back of my left thigh.  Unfortunately, I didn't discover it until mid afternoon, which means I was walking around as if I didn't have a chunk of my thigh peaking out, all morning.  And it's a bit too late to return them now.  Fortunately, I have a lot of pants-repair experience.  I promise not to use super glue OR Hello Kitty duct tape this time.

I had a fairly important meeting to go to in the late afternoon.  (i.e. I had important people to moon, apparently.)  By then, I was all stressed.  I decided it was a Xanax sort of afternoon.  However, my Xanax was missing.  I searched.  I have many, many empty ziplocs on my desk (as I've been bringing my vitamins to work all month because I can't take them at the same time as my antibiotics) and they were all empty.  My coworker, sensitive to my plight, said "I don't have Xanax, but I do have... THIS."  THIS was an individual size packet of strawberry Pop Rocks.

I don't care how old you are, Pop Rocks are still awesome.

I am old and I hunger

My diet went to hell in a handbasket this evening.  I was doing really well during the day.  Oatmeal for breakfast, dentistry instead of a midmorning snack, JD's special super healthy lasagna (with chicken, low fat cheese,  lots of veggies,and whole wheat pasta), yogurt and strawberries.

Then it got dark, and rained, and I had a discomfiting doctor's visit [1], and I felt all achy and yucky.

Came home, ate the little bit of ice cream left in the pint.  Then a piece of turkey bacon.  Then some thin crust pizza.  Then a microwaved apple.  And now I'm on to the hot chocolate.  Also, please note that I'm not at yoga.

I have to be at a meeting tomorrow that starts at the same time I've been dragging myself out of bed in the morning.  I'm still on antibiotics for Lyme, and although I'm feeling pretty good, I do still find myself needing more sleep.  I hope that eases up when I finish the round of doxycycline.  But what it means for me right now is that I need to get to sleep as early as I can tonight, and tomorrow morning is probably going to suck anyway.

Also, there's a 90% chance it will still be raining.

Skeered, mom.  Let's hide under covers.

[1] Oh, the doctor's visit?  I met with a new doctor at my ob/gyn practice.  I mean, he's not new himself, I've just never seen him before.  I was there to ask about Essure.  It's permanent contraception - rather than having your "tubes tied" you plug them up, and scar tissue forms around the plugs, and then your eggs can't get out to be fertilized.  Yay!  The website makes it seem like a no-brainer.

However, the doc did not give me warm fuzzies.  First, he wants me to take birth control pills prior to the surgery to thin my uterine lining so he can actually find the opening to the fallopian tubes.  If I were comfortable with taking birth control pills, I would just take them and not need another option.  My previous experience has been bad.

Second, this practice does not perform the procedure in the office. They use a surgical center an hour's drive away.

Third, this doctor insists on anesthesia.  I don't react particularly well to general anesthesia.  Not having it was one of the benefits of a non-surgical approach that I was looking forward to.  With anesthesia I'd have to have somebody drive me to the surgical center and drive me home afterward.

Fourth, several months after the procedure you have to have your uterus filled with dye, and then  have an x-ray taken.  This doesn't sound like fun either.  And if the x-ray shows that the Essure didn't work?  It's all for nothing.  And you still have to be really careful about birth control, because you're now at much higher risk for ectopic pregnancy.

Not to mention the "you MIGHT have a reaction to the nickel that will be in your body for the rest of your life.  It's not hugely likely."  Gosh, my ears hated cheap nickel earring posts.  I wonder how my fallopian tubes feel about nickel springs?

Fifth, and this part was not actually problematic for me, he won't even consider doing it while I'm being treated for Lyme disease.  The problematic part is "when are you considered healed up from Lyme disease?"  Either this coming Saturday, or in six months, or never depending on whom you ask.

Sixth, he pointed out that you get a lot less use out of permanent contraception by getting it at 41 compared to 35.  Implied:  "Just wait for menopause!"  Also:  "Old.  You're Old."

I hereby declare all the excitement to be over

I got nothing going on over here.  The well has run dry.  My life is boring, in a nice safe way.

See?  Even this cat is boring.

I think I've pretty much milked this year of its excitement.  Now for the long, slow, sleepy slide into winter.

We don't have exciting winters here.  Mostly we have cold rain.  It doesn't make for much in the way of outdoor activities.  The few times it snows, we do have some panicky french toast emergency buying. (With the shortages of milk, bread, eggs at the market, I have to assume that's what's happening.  Personally I make chili.)  And we shovel until every part of us hurts.  Actually last year we had to also shovel the roof, and that was exciting in a "gosh, I hope I don't fall to my death" sort of way.  Someday I plan to move into a house with gutters within jumping distance of the ground, as opposed to our current vertigo-inducing roof heights.

It would appear that I'm hoping for cold rain.

I bought snowshoes with the intention of using them in our newly snowy climate, but I think 2009-2010 was more of a fluke than a climate.  Not that I mind.  Snowshoeing was hard.  It looks so easy on tv, doesn't it?  It's not though.  (However, it was the only way to get around the house to check the gutters when we had several feet of snow, so that was nice.  Otherwise the snow came up to my middle.)

There was a Miata behind me.  Normally, it's a lot shorter than I am.

The advent of cooler weather (not that you could tell by today's temperature, but what the heck) usually leads to me pulling out all my maps and planning hiking trips.  However, I already know what I want to do next year, I think.  I want to thruhike Shenandoah.  I had such a good time last weekend that I want to go back and do the whole thing.  Vera and DeLee are both interested, so it should be a good time.  I've already hiked the whole thing before and therefore have no real planning to do.  Plus I don't want to go until October when it's fabulous out.  I might be forced to plan ANOTHER hike, somewhere that requires the use of maps and maildrops.

Mmmm, maildrops.

In which I have adventures with DeLee

I was busy backpacking this weekend.  I just spent a while writing trailjournals entries, so I'm just going to point you at them and some pictures and leave it at that.

Pictures of Shenandoah

Trailjournals entries for Saturday and Sunday

The Black Turtleneck Club

As you undoubtedly know (how could you miss it?) Steve Jobs died recently.  Yesterday I was talking with the scanning team at work, and they mentioned that they were going to wear black turtlenecks and jeans to work on Friday as a tribute to Steve, who as far as we can tell wore that outfit as a uniform.  I thought it was a fine idea and decided to follow suit.  Or turtleneck.

Our door also wore a black turtleneck

You will have to take my word for the jeans

The day passed unremarkably (although I did have a very fine lunch date with my husband.)  This evening I had to pack for the weekend.  My camping gear was once again spread hither and yon.  I never did find my sports tape.  Instead I jaunted quickly to the grocery store and picked up a new roll.  I will undoubtedly find the old roll within two days.  However, if I had not gone to the store, the old roll would have remained hidden forever.

After searching the living room, sunroom, dining room, kitchen, guest room, both bathrooms, and JD's car, I finally reassembled my gear.  I think.  If not, I think I at least have enough to survive on.  Probably.  It's two days in Shenandoah, it's not like I need that much.

It was a good thing that I ended up looking everywhere, because I had totally forgotten about my new pole tips.  They are needed because my old, beaten down pole tips were no longer pointy enough to stay in their grommets inside my tent.  As a result, every little jostle brought the tent down on my head.  Not very fun.

See what I mean?  Maine.  Maine did that.

I weighed the pack, and it's about 26 lb.  That's a lot for a low mileage overnight trip.  I have some extra materials in there to help me remain unsunburnt.  The other hikers will no doubt poke fun at my parasol, but if that's what it takes to get me out in the woods, that's what I'll do.  Ditto for the long sleeves and long pants while it's 70 degrees out.  

I'm sleepy and going to bed now, but I was reminded this evening of something very funny that I once read.  It's in many places on the internet.  This is the first link to it I found.  Read, enjoy, and try not to snort your beverage.

Dogs in Elk

Do not stare into laser beam with one remaining eye

Before activation

After activation

Cats are dangerous, man.  Do not screw with them.  They will shoot you with fricking laser beams.  And don't try to take away their cigarettes.

I barely escaped with my life this morning.  Fricking lasers.

I came upon two relevant sentences today as I was searching my email.  I wrote them in 2003 in response to a coworker's message:

"While I like to shoot others, I respond poorly to being shot."

Pretty much sums up my feelings about violence.  But it does make me wonder exactly what was going on in our office.

This evening I bopped on out to see Pluto.  My back was being a little hinky and he wasn't being very helpful with standing by the new mounting block, so instead of riding I worked on ground tying and leading.  And on him not being a jerk.  (I had to get all up in his face after he bit me on my left lady lump.  Ow.)  It was fairly rewarding despite the not riding part.  It reminded me a lot of when I was teaching Playboy to heel, during the year that his back was healing from a bad fall.  Pluto's settled down enough to be able to pay attention, and he's cooperative enough to learn things that I actually want him to learn.  Probably also some things I don't want him to learn, but them's the breaks.

Tara confessed to being a bit nervous on Timber.  I think there was something in the air.  It was beautiful, though.  The moon was only a little past half full but intensely bright.  The air was still plenty warm, and the horses were galloping around in their pastures.  Walking around with a friend and our horses in the dark is a unique pleasure.  The darkness enhances all the smells and sounds.  Walking Pluto down to the arena, I was brought back to my earliest experiences leading horses in the dark.  I walked with a horse clip clopping beside me, and in the air the smells of dying leaves, freshly cut grass, and horse manure.  (Horse people like the smell of horse manure.  )  It reminded me of being a teenager in college, taking Oatmeal or Rollin out to the paddock after feeding.  In college, handling the horses was the simplest and most soul satisfying thing I did.  When I was doling out grain, leading a horse to his field, or cleaning a stall, I was at my most relaxed.  Being occupied with a definite physical task with a beginning and an end, and the reward of a horse nuzzle, was so much nicer than puzzling through physics problems or writing papers on the development of the steam engine.

When you use your brain a lot, (such as when you are in college), physical activity is the best way I know of to rest.  I guess if you don't use your brain a lot, you're free to sit on your butt.