Highway Robbery

So that gas that I paid $1.99 for yesterday (see yesterday's blog). Today, it's $1.89. I was robbed!!!

I'm confused

If you haven't noticed. This weekend seems to be a tough one for my brain. There are currently two issues plaguing me and I thought I'd share.

1. I just paid $1.99 per gallon for gas. How is this possible? I keep hearing it's the reduction in demand?!??! Okay, I will accept some reduction in demand, but enough for gas to be 60% lower in price than it was 2 months ago. I just don't believe that. There has to be something else going on. Equal perplexing are the price of groceries (I just paid $65 for a very small bag ). Perhaps those are going to start going down now that gas is inexplicably $1.99 per gallon. Or how about the fact that my company's stock - which was at $60 per share a couple years ago, is now less than $7 per share. We are still profitable (a bit less perhaps) but still $7 per share for a profitable company? To state the obvious, something is completely out of whack with our economy.

2. And perhaps something completely out of whack with my brain. This is the second mystery of the weekend (after the phone call). So I got home from my grocery/gas buying spree and found the house filled with smoke. I walked into the kitchen to discover that the burner under my kettle was on. Now, this morning I walked the dog and then returned home only to grab my grocery bag and water bottles and head out to the store. I would not have turned on the burner. Daisy jumps on the stove, but it was a front burner with a kettle on it. I don't see how she could have gotten the angle right to turn on the burner. She would have to jump right into the kettle to hit the knob. Plus, she would have to turn it all the way down to light the burner. It's more likely she would have just jarred it and gas would have leaked into the house.

God, I hope this blog isn't the harbinger of some type of early dementia.........

Losing my mind

So the question for the day is, am I losing my mind? So I picked up my phone and hit a button that shows all the calls I have made and received. On 11/20 my phone is telling me that I called someone named Todd with a 415 area code. I CALLED HIM. Not only that, but he is in my contact list, him and his 415 area code.

Who the hell is Todd? How could I have called someone named Todd two days ago and have zero memory of the event. The only Todd I can think that I know is Todd Davis and I am not sure I have his phone number and I really don't think it could be a 415 area code phone. And if I put him in my contact list it would be as Todd Davis, duh.

So, am I losing my mind. Or is it possible that there is some spam phone calling place that not only calls you to sell you something terrible, but adds the phone number to your address book and makes it look like you called the person instead of them calling you. That's not possible right?

So I guess at 6.30 on Thursday night I called some guy named Todd in San Francisco........ Hmmmmmm. Any one have any clues to this mystery? Todd are you reading this?

(PS I just tried to call the number and some guy answered the phone and said 'this is Todd' and I was too scared to say anything. I probably need to call back.)

Days Off

Taking a weekday off work for no reason is truly one of the best things ever! And happens to be what I am doing today. It started with a hair appointment. My new 'stylist' (fancy, huh?) is terribly popular. So three weeks ago when I tried to make an appointment for Sunday she was booked and I had to make it for a Wednesday. Me being me (and employed in a loss reduction area) I was feeling guilty about taking some time off work just to get my hair done (for some reason my work doesn't let us take 1/2 day vacations when we're on salary). Anyhow, then it turned out that since we are not selling anything right now we need to take all our vacation days for the year. So I am on my 'Wednesday, for absolutely no reason' vacation! And it rocks.

I know everyone is dying to hear how I have spent my day. It started with a little sleeping in. At my house, that's 7. The animals just do not understand why anyone would want to continue sleeping when it's light outside (forget the fact that they actually sleep all day). Then I had a little breakfast and took the dog for a walk before I headed downtown for my hair appointment. Yes, I look fabulously beautiful!

After the hair appointment I decided to go jean shopping. Yes, jean shopping sucks, but when you're not eating wheat, sugar ,or dairy it is oh so much easier - see previous blog. The real issue is whether or not the jeans will fit properly when I start eating like a normal person again. I got straight leg jeans. I went back to straight leg jeans a couple years ago when they became popular again and I think I'm back to stay. I played around with the bootleg/wide leg thing for a while when it was popular in the late 1990s early 2000s. But, I think straight let is the way to go. Though I was informed today that the newest game in jeans are 'boyfriend' jeans. These jeans are a bit baggy, rolled up, and come with their own holes and fraying. The idea of course is that they are the jeans that you borrow from your boyfriend on weekends when you're kicking back at home. They are actually super comfy, and for the first time in forever the style is actually on the bigger as opposed to skin tight side. (The ones I tried on were extra cute and had they not been $200 I might now own them). Anyhow, I couldn't decide which jeans to get and bought two pairs. Now I need to try them on about 10,000 times and decide which two very similar jeans are better.

Back to the perfect day. I swung by the store for a few soup makings. Headed home for a little lunch and (much to the dismay of the dog) a nap. Now I'm making soup, trying on jeans, blogging, thinking about dog walking, deciding if I should crossfit at 5 or 6. It's a tough life really. What could be better! I could be at work right now. Yuck! Doing nothing is absolutely underrated and should be undertaken by everyone much more than it is!!!

The Table

So I thought I'd post a final table picture and put the table serial to rest. It's done. It's super cool. I am very happy with it.

The end.

Crossfit Update

So it's been a month and a half or so and maybe it's time for a little crossfit update. I just reviewed my crossfit blog and while I haven't actually achieved (and probably not even tested) any of the goals I have set, I have certainly improved.

When I first started my classes were extraordinarily painful. Painful muscularly. Painful cardiovascularly. And even painful egoly (okay that's probably not a word). I felt like I was working so hard, and really not achieving much. Fortunately, for my ego and various other body parts. The improvement curve has been quick and steady. Now, a month in, I feel like a crossfit expert (I am not actually an expert - far from it, but at least I go to class and feel comfortable and fairly competent. When I first started I felt far from competent.)

A couple crossfit milestones. My first or second class I did a work out that involved doing 5 pull ups, 10 pushups and 15 squats - as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes. I think that time around I did 15 or 16 rounds and I was toast. My upper body (mostly from the push ups) was more sore than it had ever been. When I finished class I could barely wash my hands or hold a glass. Essentially I had no muscular control of my arms. We did the same workout last week. I did 18 rounds, plus one extra set up pulls ups. Yes, I was very sore (yoga the following day was a joke), but I could actually wash my hands when I finished. And I think I did more rounds than anyone else in the class (though I think the most rounds was 21 in a previous class.)

Second milestone. In crossfit there is a workout called Helen. (Most of the crossfit workouts have women's names. I believe the one above is Cindy.) In Helen you run a 400 (once around a track), do 21 kettlebell swings, and then 12 pull ups. You do that three times as fast as you can. The first time i did it, maybe my third class, it took me 11.28 minutes assisted (assisted means I am using a belt to 'reduce my body weight' and assist with my pull ups). YESTERDAY I did it in 9.50 minutes! With the same amount of assistance. Yes, I will congratulate myself for all of you. Now, the goal is to do it under 10 minutes without assistance. THEN I get a t-shirt! First, I need to learn kipping pull ups. Those are so far eluding me to the point I am beginning to lose faith I will ever figure them out. Unfortunately (or fortunately), there are many things that aren't possible without a kipping pull up. So there is no way I can quit.

So there is my current crossfit status. Yippee!!! Don't worry, I'll keep you updated.

Street View

The fleet.

So I don't know if any of you have explored Google 'street view', but if you haven't, you should. It's extra cool. AND Google has just published the Seattle version (I know there is a Chicago version too). Basically Google is driving around the world in a bunch of cars taking pictures of everything. And they they are attaching it to Google maps.

So, go to Google maps. Type in an address. Click 'street view'. At this point you'll get lots of blue boxes and a person. The person is at your address. Double click the person and you'll see your address. You can swing the picture around with your mouse and see a 360 degree view. You can zoom in and essentially see up on a porch. You can click the arrows on the street and drive down the street. It's really crazy.

My house isn't super interesting because they didn't make it all the way down the dead end so it's kind of distant view. My bosses wife was sitting on the porch of their house with their cat when Google zoomed by and she's there, with the cat for the world to see.

I guess there have been some complaints. Some guy was filmed coming out of an adult book store. Some woman was captured in her underwear and so far Google has removed those images. I guess they are somehow obscuring faces and license plates at well.

Google seems to be determined for everything to be downloaded and available on the web. I know they are copying books ,driving the world. I even read something about a person who is trying and experiment where every minute (maybe not by minute) of his life is being captured in pictures to be placed on the web. I am not sure how I feel about all of this. There is such a thing as too much information. But, I think Google 'street view' is pretty cool. And helpful with my job too.

Oh, and for homeowners. Check out Zillow.com.