Trade the PC hat for a trucker's cap!

I was invited to go to a hockey game this evening - our local minor league team, the Manchester Monarchs. I like hockey well enough, so sure, I'm in.

Yesterday, I found out that this won't be just any night of hockey. It's mullet night!

Here's the official promo:

Mar 7, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Mullet Night: Redneck Edition
It’s back! “Mullet Night: Redneck Edition” will be filled with Redneck activities, music, on-ice entertainment as well as the distribution of 3,500 mullet trucker hats and Redneck teeth, courtesy of Sanel Auto Parts! So dust off your old mullet wigs, throw on your best hunting gear and join us for another unforgettable Mullet Night with the Monarchs.

Not just mullet night - but mullet night, redneck edition. Heavens.

What are redneck activities?

I'm bringing a camera, and a zoom lens.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

I was duped by the weather report yesterday. It was predicted to be cold, windy, and rainy for most of the day. Looking out the window, all of that was true. Not in the mood to gear up for a windy, chilly run, I opted to head to the gym and run on a treadmill.

I don’t love running on a treadmill, but it does the job when necessary.

Anyways, after chatting with the cute membership girl who initially signed me up for the place, I headed over to my usual spot to get on the belt and jog for a bit. I tend to go to the same area as a) there is the option of not having a television screen in front of you, and b) I have certain objects along the warehouse-like ceiling that I generally stare at while I visualize being outside. I am a creature of habit.

About 2.5 miles into the run, the strangest thing happened – I started to overheat. Not just get sweaty, but more akin to an internal kiln being lit. It seemed like the air wasn’t moving around me (perhaps in that part of the gym it doesn’t really), and my internal temperature rose by a couple of degrees. I stepped off to the sides of the moving belt for a minute to slowly wave my arms (I’m sure this looked quite odd) and create some sort of faux breeze, and then resumed. A mile later I had to do it again.

Of course, once I went through this self-cooling behavior a couple of times, I started to second guess myself on what was happening. Was I tricking myself into thinking that I was overheating, so I could cease with the day’s run? Should I really have gone outside despite the rain?

Stupid brain – it doesn’t really like to shut off. It just spins and spins.

I had this conversation with myself for a while (which, I should add, also included me cheering myself on and thinking about my longer-term goals), until I hit my stated goal of five tread-miles and moved on to the stretching portion of the workout.

After taking a cold shower to shut off the kiln, I got dressed and headed outside. Where it was totally beautiful and sunny. Almost like a perfect fall day. Damn.

T minus 5 days

Hi.

I am technically supposed to be working, but it’s my last week at this job and I don’t have a heck of a lot to do. I am past the point of trying to look busy. Or caring if I don’t. I’m closer to the feeling of, “what are they going to do, fire me?” which gives me plenty of time to do things like write a little blog entry, or take care of administrative items on the home front.

On an semi-related note, I have been here at my desk for hours and spoken with no one. I’ve gotten emails from people who are two desks away, but no spoken words. It’s totally weird how little they talk to each other some days.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I made a commitment to run this year’s Reach the Beach relay. I took advantage of this non-busy work time to organize and register my team. We’ll soon be paid up (which is the point at which you are really, really registered), and then I can start to turn my focus from logistics to the actual training.

The race isn’t until September, which is long enough away from now that I feel like I have some luxury of time to set out a plan and ramp up to actually following it. While I have been fairly consistent with my running/strengthening, this is just the excuse I need to take it up a notch. First step in that is getting organized. Rather than just, “I think I’ll go for a run,” I need to start thinking about some sort of schedule and more attention paid to what I put into my body. Which roughly translates as how can I still answer my sweet tooth and maintain proper nutrition on the whole.

I also wouldn’t mind taking my mile time down a bit, and I know that’s entirely possible if I put in the effort.

Yesterday I went on a little cross training adventure, heading over to the Boston Rock Gym with a climbing-enthusiast friend of mine. If he could climb his way to the office and repel home, I’m sure he would. My climbing skills are novice to say least, and while I was technically belay certified at a college gym, I liken that to learning to SCUBA dive in a resort pool – it just isn’t the same.

After practicing my figure 8 knots for a while and learning some climb-related lingo at said enthusiast’s house, off we went to the gym. I passed my test with semi-flying colors (perhaps walking colors is more appropriate) and we proceeded to pick our way through some of the various climbs offered all along the walls.

Was it a superfuntastic time? Mostly. Being nervous that I would screw up and let him drop 30 feet to the ground below (or have him land on top of me) made it a little harder to focus on the fun aspect. And man, does it give a workout to the fingers and wrists… Owie.

I am also new enough to the sport that I can’t help but be periodically distracted by the way the harnesses, um, exaggerate certain parts of the anatomy. Not to mention highlighting any extra cellulite on the thigh area. If that’s not a reminder to get thy ass to the gym/hit the roads, I don’t know what is.

Still, today I am proud of the soreness throughout my arms, as it’s a sign of the effort exerted yesterday.

Tonight I’ll focus on the lower half. Given this is my last week of commuting to Cambridge regularly, I’m trying to head out on the Minuteman Path frequently. It is (was?) a nice perk of this office location. Four miles is the minimum I’ll aim for, and, pending weather, it’ll hopefully be more like six.

Later!

Music makes the people come together

My iPod was totally feeling me this morning. After listening to a podcast or two, I shifted over to shuffling songs, and this is what it produced:

S.O.S – The Breeders
Paranoid Android - Radiohead
Rudi, a Message to You – The Specials
Steady as She Goes – The Raconteurs
Violently Happy - Bjork
Phantom Bride - Erasure
Shame on You – The Indigo Girls
Nth Degree - Morningwood

Not a skipper in the bunch, and som that I hadn't heard in a while. I even let the last song play out as I sat in the parking lot of my office building, savoring the last few moments of “me” time before heading inside for the bulk of the day.

I have been using the shuffle option more recently, partially in response to a recent loss of all of my playlists and rankings. We switched over to being a Mac household (hello, mini!) and I had to convert the iPod over to a Mac-format. The net result of this was losing all the work I’d put in to organizing my music.

As a side note, while the loss of playlists/rankings was initially maddening, I’ve come to look at is as a way to listen to my music collection with a new ear. Re-rank, etc. I’ve even gotten P into the game, sharing with her my selective approach to assigning the number of stars (between 1 and 5, with 1 meaning they are removed at next sync, 2 meaning they can stay on the iPod, 3 meaning I like them, 4 meaning I like them more and wouldn’t mind if they were on the “I don’t know what to play but people are coming over” playlist, and 5 meaning they are truly, truly great. I rarely grant a 5).

I don’t know how others approach or arrange their music, but I am particular in this regard. When I relied on my CD collection, it was organized alphabetically by artist, minus soundtracks/collections which were placed in a separate section (generally the lower right hand corner of the rack). If a new CD was acquired, everything was shifted to accommodate. If a CD was selected to play, its jewel case would be placed, cocked open and standing, on top of the player so I know what’s in there. Everything was always put away.

It was the same when I relied on cassettes, although that was harder given mixes and the less-than-optimal storage options. This was usually a series of 60 cassette “briefcases,” each laden with stickers from all the bands/activities I thought were cool. I still have one of these cases out of nostalgia, and a couple of cassettes (the soundtracks to Pretty in Pink and Footloose) live on our desk in the home office as happy little memories. Has my youth has become kitsch?

What can I say? Everyone has their “thing,” and mine is that I am particular about how music is treated. It treats me well, and I return the favor.

Back to the middle and around again

Things I've learned about having a long commute: it isn't very good for finding the time to blog.

It also isn't very good for the environment, but I knew that part already.

After four and a half months of a new job, I'm leaving. This has been a whole new experience for me, and I think it's been a good one. In short, I like the people I work with, but the job itself isn't a good fit. So when the opportunity arose to return to my former employer in a new capacity, I went for it.

Two weeks left at the current post. They are going to both fly and drag on at the same time...

Honestly, I really should avoid talking about "what I do" with anyone. I think it's just confusing to try and follow me; even I'm bored by it at times. I've become rather adept at avoiding the question, responding with witty retorts or diversions. For now, I'll continue with that approach, at least until it feels more settled. And as far as the resume is concerned, this job will have never existed.

Instead, I'm focusing on things like my commitment to head up a team for Reach the Beach this year. I've wanted to do this race for years, and finally committed myself to doing it. It isn't until September, but having that goal really helps me to shift from my normal run-for-sanity routine to something that feels more like training. I.e., pushing myself to be a little faster, go a little farther, dig a little deeper.

I know most of the people on my team, and am very excited. Great group of people, all in it for fun (with a dash of competitive spirit). I tried to cherry pick friends who have the capacity to make the best of any given situation, knowing that we'll all be smelly and tired at some point during the race. And when those situations arise, you can either become cranky, or laugh it off.

I do not want cranky. I do not respond well to cranky. Not this Cranky, because I do like him... the other, more generic kind.

As team captain, I see myself as a bit of a cheerleader, and can't bring myself to say things like, "No whining allowed!" At least, not directly. I'll say it - and have said it - in other ways. I also need to keep thinking of nice ways to encourage the slower runner to pick it up a bit. I doubt we'll run out of time given the full makeup of the team (that would totally suck), but there's always that little part of my brain that can't help but worry.

So, once again, I am in transition. New job, new commute, new training plan. All of this is good news to me!

Our cats, in a nutshell

Below are the actual notes left by the cat sitter during out recent trip to Fort Lauderdale. I think it captures each of the cats' personalities quite nicely...

"Day 1:
Hi! Both Abner and Ari were all over me and following me everywhere. Ramona just ate then she would run off when I got too close. We had fun with the toys then a good rub down for Abner and Ari. We had a very nice visit."

This one in particular sums them up:

"Day 2:
Hi! Fresh new snow this morning! Ari went on the porch for a bit then just ran around like a little crazy cat. Ramona ran for food, I told her it’s ok to save some for later. Abner is his usual sweet self; lots of hugs and kisses to offer. We had a very nice visit."

Over the next two days she experiences one of Ari's little knock-everything-off-the-table-one-by-one sessions:

"Day 3:
Hi! Looks like the kitties let in all the strays, to get out of the storm. Mail and other little things were all over the floor. Ari had all kinds of things to say. We had a very nice visit."

This one is a little more about the sitter than the cats, but she still takes the time to mention the party the cats hosted:

"Day 4:
Hi! Kitties had another party last night, there were things all over the floor. There was a red truck parked in front of the white house across from your driveway, when I went to park I hit it … Besides that, the kids and I had a nice visit. "

My favorite part of the below note: "like it was her last meal...." That's our girl.

"Day 5:
Hi! The kids were great! Ari always had something to day. I love that Abner lets me give him hugs and kisses now. They played tag with each other with the laser. Ramona just kept eating like it’s her last meal. We had wonderful visits!"

From winter to fall

Took my first digger of the season this morning. Not so gracefully, but with a bit of style, IMHO.

I was out on the Minuteman Trail, as per usual, and had an internal commentary going about how well I had handles any icy stretch. My approach is a semi-prance step, lifting the legs a little higher to accentuate the up down motion, and minimizing the back and forth movement. Wait - that makes it sound like I am hopping, or a police horse... Trust me, it works for me.

Anyhow, I was plodding along and heard a bicyclist coming from behind. I went to step towards the edge of the path to get out of his way, and caught my toe on a tall chunk of ice. That's when the slo-mo part of the fall began. It seemed that I had all kinds of time to think through how I'd fall, or perhaps I just recalled memories of my skateboard days when falling was fairly common. In any case, I pulled my best Boris Becker impression and rolled in a tidy ball, protecting the hands and chin.

The bike guy stopped and asked if I was ok, which was nice of him. I don't even think I made eye contact thanks to my temporarily injured pride. My hope is that from the outside it looked as if I pitched forward, dove into a somersault, and then rolled back on to my feet. It went that smoothly.

Luckily, my legs were sort of numb from the cold by that point, so I hardly felt anything. Wrist and palms were a little sore, but that's it. Within seconds, I was on my way again.

I am sure it won't be the only slip and slide of the season!