Sunday, June 27, 2010

Nothing Much

So, I feel like I should blog something, so that you all don't have to see the 'sick' blog all the millions of times per day you access my page wondering if there is something new and exciting to read. I will mention that I'm still sick. Not in a way that is effecting my daily life, but my throat and sinuses are still all wacky. This disease is non ending.

I will also mention that I am endlessly saving this current blog I'm writing, because for some reason my browser - the trusty firefox that has NEVER let me down - is now crashing every 10 minutes or so. Friends keep suggesting I move over to the man - Chrome (I am sure Google now qualifies as 'the man') - but it seems my operating system is 'too old' for such nonsense. So currently I'm just crashing.

So really, I want to blog but I have nothing much to say. I could tell you about how I have gotten really into watching the World Cup, even going to a bar and drinking beer BEFORE noon yesterday to watch the US go down.

I can show you a picture of the fancy collar we bought for Otto in Georgetown right after the game. (One is more likely to spend a stupid amount of money on a dog collar after two beers. You'd think a collar made out of a recycled belt would be cheaper than the others, not more pricey!)

It's made from an old belt and very cool.

I could share this insanely cute picture of Otto, for those of you who never sign onto Facebook and missed it.

Could there be a creature any cuter??

I do realize that none of this is very exciting, but it's all I've got right now. Better than sick I guess.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Sick!

A week ago Wednesday I got sick. It was a rather strange ailment. It stuck in my throat and involved lots of voice loss, lozenge sucking and tea drinking. But otherwise, I was fine. I did crossfit, went to work and engaged in normal life activities. Then, a week later, right when I was ready to be well again, I got really sick. And again, strange. I woke up and went to work like normal and felt okay. Then I spent the entire day alternating between feeling good and feeling feverish and nauseated. I didn't want to eat. I NEVER don't want to eat, but yesterday the thought of food just made me sick. Then sometime yesterday afternoon I became exhausted. About three I hauled myself home from work (not on my bike) and decided I was officially sick.

Unfortunately, it's one thing to be sick and quite another to convince the animals that you're sick. When I arrived home at 3.30 they were psyched! Play time!! I collapsed on the bed and they quickly joined. As I tried to nap, both animals were staring at me, one whining incessantly and the other purring. Until finally, I crawled out of bed and walked the damn dog. Fed both the dog and cat. Found a bone to entertain the dog. And once again, finally collapsed into bed where I proceeded to sleep/feel like hell and whine a lot to myself for the next 12 hours until I once again dragged myself out of bed to feed and walk the dog.

I seem to be mostly better now. But yesterday, I think I had a strange new combination of strep throat, mono, flu, and brain tumor. Well, maybe sinus infection, but probably brain tumor. Perhaps even cancer of the throat. Strange how all those could clear up so quickly.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Brain Explosion

So I have three separate job responsibilities at work. This is usually okay. But, occasionally, all three jobs start firing at once, leaving me hopping from task to task and subject to subject -- multi tasking to an extreme degree. I have heard recently that we aren't as good at multi tasking as we think we are. That, actually, we aren't capable of multi tasking. So if, for example, you're on the phone and looking at your email, you don't actually hear a word the person says while you're reading the email message. You're not actually capable of that. You might be able to read and then move right back to the conversation and (if the conversation is like many I am a part of ) not miss anything, but for a second or two, you will not hear what is being said. I've also heard that multi tasking can actually be damaging to the brain. That this process of jumping back and forth, causes small seizure like episodes in the brain. (Ack)

But even knowing this, the allure of multi tasking is great, particularly when the emails and phone calls are flying thick and fast. (Not to mention the personal emails and facebook updates that might need to be checked out.)

So, today I spent my day producing seizures in my brain and throwing the adrenaline filter a little too high. Starting right now, however, I am officially turning off my brain - dog walk, followed by the new episode of the bachelorette, followed by sleep!!! Now, if I could just make tomorrow disappear.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Bianchi Love


As I've mentioned, I commute to work daily via my bike. It's a SLOW SLOG. There is absolutely nothing sexy or bad ass about it. I have a Specialized Allez Pro that I bought in 1989. It's a nice solid steel road bike that does the job, in that nice solid steel road bike kind of a way. It is frequently very dirty. And doesn't get much love of the tune up variety. It gets rained on in the winter. Well, really it gets rained on in the fall, spring and summer as well. Sometimes I get really excited and clean it and I'm pretty good about changing brake pads. But, otherwise, I just expect it to do the job without any feedback or inspiration from me.

This works well, except every couple years it goes through a complete meltdown and insists on many hundreds of dollars in new parts and equipment. It's been working on meltdown for a few months now and finally I had to suck it up and take it to the shop. And unfortunately, it's so far gone they wouldn't even tune it up without some major investments.......

In the meantime, I pulled out the Bianchi. Way back in the day, when I was cool and rode fast and could razzle and dazzle everyone with my biker legs, I raced bikes. Not only did I race, but one season (well my only season) I won this ultra slick Bianchi frame. I don't ride it much any more and I forget how much I love it. I get on the Bianchi and I'm suddenly fast and powerful and a sexy biker chick again. It's super stiff, extra ultra light, and lightening fast! Watch out south end commuters, no more passing me!