Live, baby, live, now that the day is over...

Tonight's sunset, just post practice...

Live, baby, live, now that the day is over
I gotta new sensation,
Mmm-hmm, perfect moments
That's so impossible to refuse

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign

About 4 months ago, I put a box baking soda in both my fridge and my freezer, in an effort to quell the smell in them (mostly the fridge part). This has worked; however, one of the two has also become somewhat of a science experiment, as the pictures at right (from today) attest (the box in the freezer is Dr. Jekyll; the fridge is Mr. Hyde).

As near as I can tell, the crystalline growth on the outside of the box is the baking soda (or some reactant of it). My guess at the cause is an on-going accumulation of water in the fridge. The water may be present due to some cracked door seals, although this may not be the only cause.

After some research, and due to our disposable U.S. culture, I found out that it would cost more to repair the existing issues (somewhere in the $400-$500 range was the estimate) than to buy a new fridge. Consequently, today I went in search for a new fridge.

My search ended at Sears, where I found the Kenmore at left, fitting the dimensions of my old one (and looking highly similar). Even better was that Sears was having a 1-day sale today, and all Kenmore appliances were 20% off. So the normally $480 fridge was $384. Course, after taxes, a delivery/pick-up fee, and a 3-year service plan, the total cost was actually $620; but would it really be an authentic major purchase if a substantial part of the cost where put on the product? Of course not.

So I now have until Tuesday to prepare for my new fridge's delivery. Just enough time (hopefully) to eat what remains in the old and make a path for the movement in and out. I should start doing so now... and watch some more Arrested Development.

I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign
No one's gonna drag you up
To get into the light where you belong
But where do you belong?

You might as well be walkin' on the sun

Boca?

One of my friends (Laura) has decided to move to Boca Raton. Yep, she's moving to Boca... and coincidently, she's moving close to one of my Masters teammates that lives up there.

Now, the funny/strange part: in my mind, Boca is far away. It's like 20 miles away, which isn't crazy far, but it's still a separate, away entity. It doesn't help that it's in a different county than Fort Lauderdale's Broward; nor that all those cities are between FtL and Boca. And it really doesn't help that Laura told me (initially) that she was moving to be closer to work in Sunrise (west and just slightly north of FtL) and next thing I know, she's moving to Boca (currently she lives in western Oakland Park--off one of lakes above the "ud" in Lauderdale Lakes on the map above).

Now, Laura and Vanessa (the Masters swimmer who lives there) both swear it's not that far away. In fact, Vanessa heard a "far" innuendo in my voice when I initially mentioned Laura was moving there, and proceeded to defend its closeness right away. Ironically, though, I caught her the other night inferring how far it is: she doesn't want to come "all the way down here" on Sunday for a going away party...

But it is what it is: Laura's moving up there, and, lucky me, the move has been scheduled for a weekend I'll be in town. (Presuming something doesn't get scheduled onto it... )

Mr. Wizard can't perform no god-like hocus-pocus
So don't sit back, kick back
And watch the world get bushwhacked
News at 10 your neighborhood is under attack

Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend...

I have been sucked into Facebook, and have rapidly been overwhelmed... but hopefully, I get things under control soon (but who knows).

My return from Minneapolis on Monday went well. I got caught in the beginning of rush hour traffic into the city, sometime near crossing the Mississippi River, but made it to the airport in a timely manner to wait out boarding my flight.

Since my return to Ft.L, I've just been trying to catch up on stuff: work, house-related items, email... nothing too terribly exciting really. But, I've got another Arrested Development DVD to watch from NetFlix, so that should keep me entertain, presuming I don't fall asleep watching it.

So before that happens, I'll sign off for tonight... hasta.


Hey, hey; you, you
I know that you like me
No way, no way
No it's not a secret

It's not a second, but 7 seconds away

It's Earth Day... :)

And semi-fittingly, the hotel here in Minneapolis has gone from being overrun by club volleyball players to being overrun by FFA members (I have a feeling they are going to be more rowdy that the volleyball girls).


It's not a second
But 7 seconds away
Just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting

Sign o' the times mess with your mind

Prom comes to Minneapolis...

As I was strolling through the Roseville Mall, after picking up a (RED) shirt at the Gap--INSPI(RED) actually--I came across a line of teenage boys (pictured at right) awaiting entrance to the local tuxedo rental store. Upon asking nearby, I found out that prom season is here. The prom aspect was confirm tonight, when I was out at dinner and saw several groups of high schoolers dressed up--included one girl in a peach version of the dress Glenda-the-Good Witch of the North wears in the Wizard of Oz (tho, the teens fleeting presence in my sight prevented me snapping a picture, regretfully).

And other than prom season, things in Minnesota are rather uneventful for me. The clinic seemed to go well, and tomorrow I teach a class. I got the chance to see Fracture last night, the new Anthony Hopkins/Ryan Gosling movie, and enjoyed it. Oh, and I'm staying in the Presidential Suite, which here is more meeting room than bedroom (i.e. it's one large room with a pull-out sofa bed, a kitchen, a shower-only bathroom, and a large meeting table...). The most striking thing of the weekend thus far, actually, has been me hearing about the shooting/whatever at NASA in Houston, and my response of 'what in the world is going on here in the u.s. that we're unraveling so...'.

So, a quirky trip. I did get to eat at Fuddrucker's Thursday night, which helps... and I'm about halfway through The Partner after today (maybe I'll finish tonight...).


You turn on the telly and every other story
Is tellin' you somebody died

Go West... in the open air

Well, actually go Northwest: I fly them up to Minneapolis today for a clinic there this weekend. But the Pet Shop Boys cover of the Village People's Go West is what's stuck in my head, and it's probably as close as I'll get, song-wise.

The other songs stuck in my brain at the moment, thanks to a $10 bill I had in my wallet most of the week, is the SchoolHouse Rock! ditty "We the People" about the U.S. Constitution. That song is actually the reason I know the Preamble.


Researching the Preamble lead me to find out that there's actually now 11 Amendments to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights: I-X and XXVII. (There are 12 "Articles" in the Bill of Rights, the last 10 of which were apparently ratified initially, creating the first 10 Amendments. Article 2, which deals with compensation for Congressmen, was ratified as the 27th Amendment in 1992--I hadn't realized I was alive for/old enough to remember an Amendment be ratified (and don't remember it). Not that it really directly impacts me. And "Article the First" probably won't be ratified: it has to do with how the representation in the House should be determine, and I believe we're way past its 50,000 person estimation.)

Anyways, enough with the history lesson for today: I've a plane to catch. Hasta...


We the people [of the United States]
In order to form a more perfect union
Establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general Welfare, and
Secure the blessings of Liberty
To ourselves and our Posterity
Do ordain
And establish this Constitution
For the
United States of
America...

Just wait 'til tomorrow, I guess that's what they all say, just before they fall apart

Microsoft is out to kill trees... that's how I view it.

Why is it that on a Windows machine, you can cancel a print job and still have the unwanted items printed? That it takes turning the printer off to get rid of the job; possibly even having to turn off the computer?

Today, I'd printed an email. I thought it was one page, and only really needed the information on the first page. Turns out the email was 4 pages long, and my printer wanted to print all four. Conveniently, I only had one piece of paper in the printer, so after page 1 printed (and my printer had a series of convulsion trying to find new paper) I canceled the rest of the print job. The print job even--shockingly--disappeared from my print queue in a timely manner, and didn't take 6 deletes to get rid of... so I thought.

About a minute later, I went to print something else, and put some more paper in. My printer gets all fired up, and starts printing, and what should come out first: pages 2-4 of the CANCELED print job--quite annoying. It then printed what I wanted.

On a lighter note, the ducks above were outside the office when I departed today...

You may think that I'm out of hand
That I'm naïve, I'll understand
On this occasion it's not true
Look at me, I'm not you

It's murder on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove

I returned to Fort Lauderdale late last night: just after 11. And the worse part of the weekend happened to be the flight home. The clinic went smoothly--even on Friday--and, in some respects I was able to recharge during it (there was a good amount of down time, where I was basically just waiting for people to get out of meetings). There were some interesting problems with the hotel (room placement, room reservations quirks, and things being left by the hotel staff that shouldn't've been--like food trays and boxes shipped to the hotel), but those were managed.

The problems with my return flight started with my arrival at the airport. I waited for 30 minutes in line at the "eTicket/Baggage" line to check-in my bag on my eTicket, and right before it was my turn at the electronic kiosk--I'm always amazed by the people who take very long periods at the computer screens--I found out I could've just gone to "Bag Drop" on the other side of security, where I would've waited probably 5 minutes. Luckily, I had time.

Security went smoothly, though I almost forgot I had an unopened soda in my carry-on. I found my gate ok, but only grabbed a snack to eat: I had about 30 minutes before my flight was supposed to board. Then as I'm sitting at the gate, the flight gets delayed due to mechanical trouble. The delay turned out to only be about 30 minutes, and we got a new plane, but I could've eaten! But rather randomly, I ended up sitting next to the head coach of the team I swim on: he was flying through Houston on his way back to FtL.

As we are getting on the plane, I noticed (for the second time) a rather tall gentleman on our flight. Earlier I'd mistaken him for a basketball player, but as I was getting my boarding pass scanned, he was at the ticket counter with his tennis rackets speaking with the gate crew. From their conversation, I gleamed that he's 6'10" (I told you he was tall), and from some research upon arriving home, I deduced that it was Ivo Karlović, (after confusing him with some third player who I thought was Goran Ivanišević, but who I confused Goran with). In any case, Karlović was returning home from having just won the U.S. Clay Court ATP stop in Houston yesterday.

Of course this discovery was late at night, post staying awake the whole flight because a rather obnoxiously-loud two-year boy old cried (out) in the row in front me most of the flight. Thankfully, I didn't have my heart set on sleeping, or it really would've irked me. It also helped that Ivo was seated across the aisle from me, in the exit row: I made me thankful to be in the exit row, myself, and that he was as well (and partially made up for the short, elderly couple seated in the exit row as well...).

And on that note, as I got to bed late last night (and had 45+ unread messages in my Inbox), I will head to bed now. Oh, did I mention that it was cold here? I'm thinking the weather is preparing me for my trip to Minneapolis later this week.

Oh, I know I know I know I know I know I know I know
About your kind
And so and so and so and so and so and so and so
I'll just have to play

I've got some ocean front property in Arizona...

I awoke to the sunrise today, out my window overlooking IAH.
(I'm at Houston's Intercontinental Airport for a coaches clinic this weekend).
(I know, I know: not as cool as "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico"...)

Hopefully, this Friday the 13^th will go well.


I've got some ocean front property in Air-e-zo-na
From my front porch you can see the sea
I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
If you'll by that I'll throw the Golden Gate in free...

Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you; I think I can remember your name

Long course has returned! And with it, I managed to make it to the pool on Monday morning. Course, the rest of yesterday disappeared somewhere (I'm still not sure where it went). Work just kinda happened. And I didn't make it this morning (which given the warmth of water tonight might've been a good thing).

All of which wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't leaving for Houston tomorrow for the rest of the week (for work stuff), and I still need to finalize preparations for what will happen there. Not to mention, I probably won't get in the agua while there.

Added onto the current craziness is that my mom and step-dad are in town for a visit (it's good to see them), and the past weekend condo meeting (which actually went alright Sunday afternoon). And to bore most of you completely, yesterday's practices (both lcm, and encoded, just for the fun of it):

a.m.=3.8 (on own, next to Masters group, practice time=60 min)
100 s-k-p-s
4x100 @ 1:25
4x50 k @ 1:00
1500 fr-->mod/ez (t≈20:00)
200 bk-k
200 bk-p
800 bk (t≈12:00)
100 ez

p.m.=2.9 (practice time=80 minutes)
400 fr-br-k
4x100 fr @ 1:30
4x50 k @ 1:00
(Masters group practice starts here)
200 s - 200 p
200 k - 200 IM
4x25 build (yes, stopping in the middle)
200 bk @ 3:30 (t=237) -- 50 e
2x200 bk @ 3:15 (234s) -- 50 e
3x200 fr @ 3:00 (226, 222, 223)
200 warm down


Hello, I'm sorry I lost myself
I think I thought you were someone else

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey

Four sum tyme, eye have wonted two right uh phonetic-baste post. Now that I.M., I.M. knot sir-tan of wot two sei, other then:

Hoppy E-stir
(oar Hoppy Pass-O-ver)

A-sta...

If the words seem queer, and funny to you ear
A little jumbled and jivey, sing
"Mares eat oats, and does eat oats
And little lambs eat ivy."

(This post really isn't going to translate well.)

Is it getting better, or do you feel the same? Will it make it easier on you now, you've got someone to blame

Due to a rather pesky, emergency condo association meeting, I managed to miss yet another swim practice this week: today's.

The meeting was scheduled earlier this week for 9 a.m. today, which is right when practice starts--so I figured I was going to miss it. Then last night a few of my neighbors mentioned they would prefer a different time later today, and so launched an attempt to move the meeting. This lead to 2 voicemails (they're only 5 of us in the association), and I went to bed last night without a call-back.

I woke at 8:00 a.m., like I would if I were to go swim, and went to see if I had any calls: 1 of 2 (and it wasn't ok to move). 9 a.m. rolls around, and no one's really about. Turns out respondent 5 emailed his response: it was ok to move the meeting but he couldn't make it this afternoon. This lead to 20 minutes of calling/talking, and the meeting moving to tomorrow afternoon (with 1 person still not able to there in person, but hopefully they'll be able to call in). So, I ended up not swimming so I could talk to people on the phone: fun. And we haven't even gotten to the actual topic of the meeting (an special assessment to pay), which should make tomorrow's Easter Sunday meeting more funner (and as the Assoc. President, I get to mediate... joyous).

As for other news, this Easter/Passover weekend...

• the mailman just stopped by for the third time today (not sure what's up with that);
• apparently Knut, a polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo, has his own blog (there's supposedly an English version there somewhere, but I only see the German);
• a congenital disease may have contributed to the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud; and
• it seems wrong to me that these people can only live under a bridge (If they've served their time, let them re-enter society and try to conform. If you think they've not paid enough for their crime, then either keep them in jail longer or get the help they need! I don't think our society should be treating them like lepers, nor make it even more impossible for them to try to reform.)

One life with each other: sisters, brothers
One life, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One (lone)

I had difficulty picking which part of the lyric to today's song, U2's One, to use, for both the subject and endcap. But I did want to use it (and I heard the version with Mary J. Blige at breakfast today).

You come out at night, that's when the energy comes

This week's score: Bed-3, Pool-1

I have continued to be a miserable failure in the battle of my bed vs. the pool. After Tuesday morning's success, I've not escaped the clutches of my sheets to get to the pool for a 6-7 a.m. swim. Which has been particularly sucky this week, since we've not had night practice because of Y-Nationals. Consequently, I've not swum since Tuesday morning.

I guess I'm an evening person, since I'm having such difficulty waking up in the morning; but then again, I'm not terribly good at staying awake at night either--at least when I want to. Then again, I randomly go to bed at 10 one night, 1 the next, then 11, etc. (yes, on the hour, every time...)

On the good side for practice at least, today was the last day of the Y meet, and the Masters schedule returns to normal tomorrow.

I still would like to figure out a way to get myself up and to the pool in the morning consistently.... Hopefully, one day (soon) it'll just become second nature... I'll keep waiting for that.


'Cause you're working, building a mystery
Holding on, and holding it in
Yeah you're working, building a mystery
And choosing so carefully

People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

First, I will start by saying that last night (while volunteering at Y-Nationals at the pool), I saw a very full moon rise, starting with peaking out of the fronds of a palm--picturesque. Sadly, it was way too far away to be effectively captured by my cell-phone cam, so, suffer with today's pic instead. It's probably just as well: yesterday was the Moon's weekly day; today is for Tyr (I like that his rune looks like an up arrow).

Alright, now the fun stuff:

• The other day at work I took a call from a gentleman who had just moved to Whakatane, New Zealand, which is on the North Island's north shore, on the Bay of Plenty. The reason for it earning merit here is that, apparently, the "Wh" is pronounced like a "Ph", making the proper saying of the town's name... interesting.
• Similarly--in a close-but-no-cigar kind of way--is the last name of the National Technical Director of the French Swimming Federation, Claude Fauquet (in French the "t" is silent... luckily; Court says it's pronounced foe-kay).
• Heard on the radio: 1-in-5 people send text messages while driving. This radio contest question was answered by a salesman from an auto insurance company, which makes sense that he would know the answer.
• This week's score (so far): bed-1, pool-1 (I hit snooze on Monday, and swam this morning).
  

And I will end with the fact that I've been avoiding reading commentary on the recently completed aquatics Worlds provided by Nikki Dryden on SwimNews.com (getting way technical, I know), mostly because they've irked me. Ms. Dryden isn't happy about the gender inequity she found at the Worlds (utilizing what appears to be a not very thorough examination) and even went as far as to make this final comment:

The last comment I will make on this quest for quantity over quality is the absurdity of recognizing countries that the IOC does not recognize. In order to pump up the number of countries participating, FINA has allowed 5 countries to participate in the pool events that the IOC does not recognize. So what exactly is the development objective of inviting athletes from countries that will never get to compete in the Olympics?

available here for viewing

Part of the point she seems to be missing is that sometimes participation is the thing. And, in the case of those 5 countries, maybe they're swimming at Worlds so they can be at the Olympics one day? I'm fairly certain that the IOC will not recognize a country until after it has participated in Olympic sports internationally, at events like Worlds.

And I will stop there before I go ranting away... hasta

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it's said and done, we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry

I asked her if she wanted 2 dance and she said all she wanted was a good man, wanted to know if I thought I was qualified

Today is April Fools' Day... or as the French apparently call it (according to my calendar): poissons d'avril (the fish of April).

The biggest event news of the weekend was that I cleaned for two hours today after running (for all of 15 minutes). I did see 3 movies this weekend: Blades of Glory, Meet the Robinsons (at 11:00 a.m. this morning--amazingly I was up in time), and Ocean's Twelve (on DVD). I even managed to get a $30 parking ticket while seeing Blades (and luckily didn't get towed): apparently they really do only want cars over 6'8" in the spots they've marked for "tall cars"--it just makes me wonder if they also ticketed all the SUVs that parked in the compact car spaces.... I also wonder about if people who are 6'8" or taller are exempt (maybe I'll call and ask).

Now the pressing question is whether/not I'll swim in the morning this week. We don't have an evening practice option, because the Y-Nationals are going on at the pool (pesky). So, I will either be swimming from 6-7 a.m. Monday-Thursday, or not at all until Friday (it's Good Friday, which actually makes today Palm Sunday, I guess).

Anyways, I will let off here, and possibly try to squeeze one more movie in this weekend. Btw, Meet the Robinsons was good: and interestingly a Disney animated movie (not a Disney/Pixar movie...).

It was only last June when her old man ran away
She couldn't stop crying 'cause she knew he was gone 2 stay
10:35 on a lonely Friday night
She was standin' by the bar, hmm
She was lookin' alright, yeah