I don't want a lot for Christmas...

[Seasons] Greetings from San Antonio, and Merry Christmas.

Christmas Day, while being spent with the family, does provide me with some downtime: post-present unwrapping, and talking to my dad and sister in California (after they'd patiently waited for us to open presents after them--my sister tends to rise very early on Christmas morn; so our 10:00 a.m. or so start time here to open things threw her off). But just a brief bit o' time away from things to post here.

As an update to the gift-finding fiasco that this year turned out to be: I managed to find/buy a few presents, though a few of them will be delivered in January. My lack of present finding continued through my departure from Florida, which while helpful in that I didn't need to truck them on the plane here to SA, my one day here prior today didn't leave much time to really find much. But it did go better than previously: I at least found things, though I still need to track down some things, particularly for my Dad....

But I do get to see my family, and a few friends, which is good. Happy Holidays.


I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day

Tengo una mañana constante

Spurred by a surge of reading during my trip to Ohio last week (killing time on flights, and staying out of the cold), I have finished Don Quixote: woo-hoo!

The problem now is what to start now? I don't want it to be anything too heavy, to have a change-of-pace as well as allow for the likelihood of being done in time for Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas, my present searching goes terribly. Earlier this week I looking for some gifts. I spent about 2 hours at the mall, and found nothing to give. Not even a belated gift for my stepdad's birthday which was last week.

Pesky pre-Thanksgiving switch-over of radio stations to Christmas music still has me bummed. It even almost stopped me from buying a plane ticket home for the holiday. But I do have that; leaving a week from today. Leaving me a week to get presents....


Tengo una mañana constante
y una acuerla esperando
verte pintado de azul

Up on an airplane

Greetings from Columbus, Ohio, where I am at for work through the weekend.

The weather I heard earlier reported that the low here tonight would be 11 °F. Shortly after this, it was also mentioned that Miami had a record high of 91°, making me all the more glad I am here for the high in the mid-20s. (I miss cold weather, actually; and it's strange to me to have to have my air condition on in December.)

It reminded me of what happened yesterday book-ending my flight up here:

• At 8 a.m. in Fort Lauderdale, I sweated as I walked in pants and a polo shirt to catch the bus. (I did get "glove" service from an elementary school crossing guard: she held her gloved hands up in the air, holding off the early morning traffic as they stopped to let me cross)
• My flight into Columbus was on a smaller plane, so when we landed we were too low to warrant a jetway to our door. As we disembarked from the plane, it was to the outside and a brief walk into the terminal. It was probably around 27° out (I could see my breathe), and I willed myself to be warm ("I am warm, I am warm" being the mantra) as I thought about my jacket being packed in my checked bag....

There was also a pair of Navajo code-talkers on my flight out of Florida, just a few rows ahead of me (which was also cool).


I never should have read my horoscope
Or that fortune on the bubble gum strip
Saying, "What you think won't happen, will."
Great thing to read before a trip

Things that make you go hmmm

Sometime last month, I received a rather strange catalog in the mail: the Holiday catalog from Heifer International.

I had never heard of the company before, but like most pieces of junk mail, I brought it inside and left it to sit on the floor for a bit. A few days later, in glancing around, I recognized that there was a picture of a sheep on the cover. Given my liking of throwing sheep on Facebook, I decided to flip through the catalog.

To my surprise, the catalog was to buy animals to give to other parts of the world. Sheeps, goats, pigs, chicks, and even heifers, were available for purchase--among other things.

This just perplexed me. Not only because I wonder how/where they got my mailing address, but that there's even an organization that exists to do such a thing.


It's those things that make you go hmmm
Things that make you go hmmm, yeah

There can be no, hat like thee

I continue to make my way through Don Quixote. As such, a quote from the Second Part....

"Be quiet Señor," replied Sancho, "for by my faith, if I start asking and answering, I won't finish until tomorrow. As for asking fool questions and giving nonsensical answers, I don't need to go around asking my neighbors for help."

"You have said more, Sancho, than you realize," said Don Quixote, "for there are some who exhaust themselves learning and investigating things that once learned and investigated, do not matter in the slightest to the understanding or the memory."

-Don Quixote, Second Part, Chapter XXII (p.601)

Golden helmet of Mambrino
There can be no hat like thee

(and a rather interesting find: the song in Korean)

Money talks, money talks; Dirty cash I want you, dirty cash I need you, oh...

I should be preparing to return to work tomorrow, but I'm just not yet ready for that.

I have returned from my Thanksgiving weekend refreshed, but far from really ready for it to be over. Alas, the weekend can't be extended neither for the good time had, nor to hear the remainder of the Radio 1 countdown still to air on the satellite radio in my friend's car.

One of the pleasant things to come from this weekend: I have finally tracked down a long-lost song of mine, Dirty Cash by Stevie V. I had a vague recollection of the song, and occasionally the chorus of the song would float through my head. And due to the lack of being able to either locate the song itself, a reference to it, or someone else who knew what I was talking about; I had begun to think the song really didn't exist--that I'd dreamt it up or something. 'Course, the fact that I thought the song was called "Money Talks" did nothing really to help me to find it.

What did assist me in finally tracking in down, however, is a song currently on the British charts (by the interestingly named Dizzee Rascal) that samples the song and borrows its name. This led me to find it.

Having found it iTunes even makes worthwhile hearing Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA every time we were in the car this weekend....

Money talks, money talks
Dirty cash I want you
Dirty cash I need you, oh

I'm already gone...

I have made it to Thanksgiving break this week, after a rather crazy 3-days at work. It really feel like I was pushed to do a 5-day-week's-worth of work in this week's 3--not the least stressful things ever.

But that is now done, and I'm prep'ing to spend the 4-day weekend relaxing. A friend and I are headed over to Florida's Gulf Coast for a trip to Busch Gardens on Friday. Not really anything else planned for the weekend, so we're just kinda going from there. Should hopefully be restful.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.


I want you to know
That it doesn't matter
Where we take this road

Keep away from a runaround Sue

In the mail Tuesday, I received from citi a notice that they're raising the interest rate on one of my cards to 23%--up from 18%. I was a tad shocked at this, not only because the 18% APR was bad, but also that they were raising it. (It really doesn't help that I have a balance on the card in question that I'm trying to pay down, as well.)

So, after this fun news, yesterday via email citi sends me an email boasting of the great built-in benefits this card (now?) comes with. Unfortunately, a decent APR is not one of those benefits; nor is the ability to invest savings money at anything close to said 23%....

To top it off, today, citi sent me a survey where one of the questions asked was along the lines of "what one thing would you like to see not currently associated with your card?" I said a 7% APR--I wonder if I'll get it....

I should of known it from the very start
This girl'll leave you with a broken heart
A-listing people, what I'm telling you
A-keep away from a runaround Sue

Why do you keep coming a-round, playing with my heart

A local radio station has switched over to its Christmas music format already; I heard it while at lunch today. It is a over a week before Thanksgiving. This is disgusting.

Now the "appropriate" term for the station isn't "Christmas", rather it's a "Holiday" formatted station. 'Course this allows them to justify that, as Thanksgiving is a "holiday", it's ok for them to overrun it with the holiday after it.... I'm surprised the countdown to Christmas hasn't started on their station; although maybe it has, and I've just not heard it since I'm now purposely not listening to the station. Nothing gets me out of the "holiday" spirit faster than entities (like stores) who try to start the Christmas season as early as possible to maximize sales to we, the consumers. They are also the ones who stop the holiday season abruptly on December 26: 12 days before Little Christmas. The radio stations will do it too. Actually, I'm surprised the radio stations even make it through December 25 playing Christmas songs....

So, hello radio stations: it's now 9 days till Thanksgiving! (stop making it be 38 shopping days to Christmas). And likewise to the grocery store that switched out--for All Saints Day on Nov.1--the Halloween candy for Christmas items on the shelves right when you walk in; or the mall store that already was piping in Christmas music on during the Halloween night trick-or-treat event in the mall.

But back to the radio station: I feel compelled to call into the station and request a Thanksgiving song... and let them figure out what that is. Or maybe I'll request Auld Lang Syne (maybe I can get them to skip right over December all together).


Set me free, why don't you baby
Let me free, why don't you baby
'Cause you don't really love me
You just keep me hangin' on

I light my torch and wave it for the new moon on Monday

I spent today doing laundry and reading.... Well, at least until I finished reading Night Watch (I then transitioned to cleaning) and then until I ran out of laundry soap. And as I'm attempting to not spend any money today, I'm deterring myself from going to the store to buy some more detergent. (Oh darn it, I'll have to stop doing laundry--the heartache!; I'm crestfallen.)

Night Watch has an interesting notion in it, about how people commonly "damn" things, with things like "dammit". An underlying theme in the book (and presumably the series of books to which Night Watch is the first) is a battle between light and dark. (Currently is a stalemate truce, where the light side occupies the day, the dark the night. The night watch is the light's squad for watching/monitoring the dark side; their is also a corresponding day watch that monitors the light during the day.)

The book frames commonly uttered "dammit"s and the like as sending an actual dark curse onto the person/object/whatever to which it has been directed. So instead of proliferating further darkness in the world by using those words, the night watch members are taught to replace those curses with things like "light and darkness". It lead me to the notion of wishing salvation, or intelligence or patience, on people... (just seems interesting).

Also interesting:

• there is a new moon tomorrow night, which is a Monday;
• the movie based on the second Twilight book, New Moon, comes out later this week as well.

I said it again, but could I please rephrase it
Maybe I can catch a ride
I couldn't really put it much plainer
But I'll wait 'til you decide

Little bird, little bird, in the cinnamon tree

I have finished Book 1 of Don Quixote--woo hoo! Still only halfway through the 900 pages of the book; but at least I'm halfway.

Actually, I finished Book 1 while in South Carolina over the weekend, and have even read a wee bit into Book 2. But I am pondering reading a "break book" before really getting into DQ Book 2 (if only to assist in my not getting Man of La Mancha songs stuck in my head--such as today's subject).

Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch is the book in question... and I will leave now to start it.

Hasta.


I have waited too long, without a song
Little bird, little bird, please fly, please go
Little bird, little bird, and tell her so
Little bird, little bird

Music of the night

Remember, remember, the fifth on November...

Greetings from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (well, actually North Myrtle Beach) where I am for some work stuff this weekend. And in what may be becoming a tradition for me on Guy Fawkes Night, I have just finished watching V for Vendetta. Watching the moving has calmed me somewhat from the craziness I had upon my arrival here.

My flight up today went rather smoothly, but getting from the airport to the hotel was interesting. I knew prior to leaving that I would need to find a ride to the hotel from the airport. Prior to my arrival at MYR, I thought that meant I would grab a cab. However, faced with at $50 fare to the hotel--and the shock of it being that much--I decided to check into renting a car, instead. I ended up finding and renting a car as it was on par to a taxi to the hotel and back (I do need to get back to the airport on Sunday).

I then proceeded to drive towards the hotel. About 20 minutes into the drive, and halfway there, the road I was on completely blocked off--all 5 lines of traffic. A fire engine was blocking traffic from my north-bound direction and police cars about a block away covered the south-bound lanes. With no parking lots to cut through to get around (and several cars attempting to do so in the one parking lot nearby), nor any parallel streets, I was at a loss as to what to do. In a unfamiliar city, at night, and the one route I knew would get me near where I needed to head, shut down. (And strangely, there was nothing in the road... rather the police seemed focused on things adjacent to the road.)

Thankfully, I had snagged a map at the rental car desk and from that I found an alternative route (which only require a wee bit of backtracking to get to). And so a few hours after my flight's arrival, I walked into my hotel under an unusual red, mostly-full, moon, the full moon being just 3 days ago on Monday.

At the front desk of the hotel I found my reservation didn't start until the next night (the hotel adjusted my reservations); and it was then that I remembered a few things I'd completely blanked on and left back at home.... (After a minor worry attack and having watch the aforementioned movie, I'm now planning to resolve said things mañana--particularly since it was too late tonight upon my arrival to really do anything about them).

Hopefully the weekend will go better.


Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright.

Did you see the moonrise tonight? It was amazing.

With the full moon and the enlargement distortion that happens near the horizon, it looked huge. The (fairly rare) cloud-free South Florida skies made it even easier to see here. And the fact that twilight/dusk had just started added a purplish hue to the sky....

Making it even better for me: I just happened to catch it. It wasn't even planned to be spotted: it was just there to catch me be surprise on my drive over to the pool post work. It was nice.

It's hugeness stayed for about 10-20 minutes, and then the moon gradually shrunk back to normal size. Though still a very bright full moon tonight.


Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a roving
By the light of the moon.

And no one's gonna save you

A Halloween driving experience...

It is Halloween night, a little bit after 8:00. Darkness has fallen--which has not yet stopped trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. I have just made a quick stop at home; hurried due to the lack of candy in my place and the proximity of a group of 5-7 kids rushing to an across-the-street neighbor with a couple of escorting parents trailing behind.

I am driving down the 6-lane road near my house, headed back to a nearby mall to redeem a $10-off coupon on a shirt I found about an hour earlier (i.e. I'd gone home to get the coupon so I could head back to the store and have it applied to the purchase). My car is in the right-most of the three lanes of traffic, approaching a red light where three cars are already waiting in the lane I'm currently in. As I'm a good distance from the back of the closest car, as well as the intersection itself, I decide to move to the middle lane. I apply my turn signal and move over.

As I get a bit closer to the light, and have just come up next to the first of the cars, I spot two gentlemen (using that term lightly) jaywalking across the street. Now the fun: as I pass, one (and possible both) begin to yell at me to watch out for them. They are not in the lane of traffic I'm in--they are actually just entering the lane to the left of where I am. The front man is actually dark-skinned and wearing all black clothing; while the second is in dark (blue?) jeans and a white t-shirt--the latter is much easier to see than his buddy who is doing a good job blending into the night. They are also about 100 feet away from a crosswalk (at the light I've come to a stop at).

I have passed by them fine, and with a good clearance distance. They did need to pause their illicit street crossing, but they have made it to the sidewalk. And both have already flipped "the bird" at me, which I catch in my rearview mirror while sitting at the light. Also, before I leave the light, I hear the guy in the white t-shirt continuing to berate me from the sidewalk where they are walking forward toward (tah-dah!) the crosswalk.

The light changes to green and I get to drive off and leave them behind, before I'm compelled to teach them about how not to be a jaywalking idiot....

Was this a trick? Or a treat?


Cause it's a thriller
Thriller night
An no one's gonna save you
From the beast about to strike

Come Mr. DJ, song 'pon de replay; (Mr. DJ won't you turn the music up)

Following up on my calls from last Friday, I called Wells Fargo today to check and see if the payment I put in the mail last Wednesday (11/21) had been received. It has not. This has me a little concerned: it should not take more than a week for mail to get to Los Angeles from here in Fort Lauderdale.

In talking to the WF rep on the phone, he somewhat indicated that the payment may have been received in L.A. and then forwarded to South Carolina.... Now, I sent the payment in the self-addressed envelope included with my paperwork, which had an address in L.A. I am a bit concerned about this, as the letter accompanying this already-addressed envelope says to mail payments to an address in South Carolina.

So--based on today's call--apparently the envelope didn't have the correct address on it; rather the address in South Carolina listed in the paperwork is the right one. Ah fun.


In other news, my nights this week have been rather occupied:

• Monday night had a staff meeting (after hours: oh joy);
• Tuesday was dinner for a friend who's about to move to South Africa;
• last night (Wednesday) I was supposed to go see the new Michael Jackson movie This Is It, but plans fell through. Instead, I ended up watching the Russian movie Day Watch (which I enjoyed--it's actually the sequel to Night Watch, which I watched over the weekend and very much enjoyed).
• tonight, I ended up working late, then called WF, and have just purchased the book Night Watch (upon which the aforementioned movies are based). The cool part about my book purchase: I paid $4.23 for the $15 book, via a combination of a 40% off coupon and a $5 reward (thank you Borders Rewards).
• tomorrow night is when my trip to see This Is It has been rescheduled.

So, all-in-all, a busy week of nights.


Let the bass in the speakers, run through your sneakers
Move both your feet, and rock to the beat

How long has this been going on?

Ever wonder if the right hand talks to the left hand at some larger corporations? I had an incident today which made me think they weren't talking to each other at Wells Fargo.

Yesterday while eating my lunch, I got a call. As I was eating I didn't answer it, nor did they leave a message. However, once I'd finished eating, I called the number back: it was a collections call from WF. They called because the last payment I made on my mortgage was $300/so less than my normal monthly payment; and as such, my file was entering into loss mitigation.

Why did I pay $300 less? Because I'm in the trial period for my Making Home Affordable qualifying, and the paperwork for that says to pay the amount listed. This is what I've done. Unfortunately, I am the one that got to tell this part of WF that I'm in said-program, and that yes, there was a reason the payment was less.

After work, I decided to call one of the two numbers I have for WF related to my refinancing--the collection call didn't come from one of these two. The rep on the phone said I should pay the missing amount; that it would not effect my qualifying. He also suggested doing a check over the phone, rather than mailing in my check--the two payments options I have. I then asked him why I couldn't pay online, to which he responded that the system is not set up this way (which is strange, since to date, I've paid all my payments through my bank online, and isn't a check by phone basically the same thing?--but I'm following instructions of the paperwork). In any case, as I wasn't able to scope my bank account records while on the phone as I wasn't home--and I'm not terribly fond of paying over the phone in the manner--I declined to do a check over the phone then and postponed it to after I could get home and check on things (I also didn't have my checking account # handy).

So later last night, after I got home, I found my paperwork related to the MHA program. It says:

"If the trial period payments are made in amounts different from the amount stated your loan may not be modified." (their underlining)

So, I called the other WF number I have, to check on whether/not I should pay--and potentially do the phone pay for both the October & November differentials (as I sent in Nov's payment earlier in the week). The rep on the phone this time told me to not pay the missing amount... ahh, the fun.

So, I've decided to not pay the difference--per the mailed instructions I've received. And I'll check back next week sometime to see if they've gotten the new payment.


Kiss me once, then once more
What a dunce I was before
What a break, for heaven's sake
How long has this been going on?

I am I, Don Quixote, the Lord of La Mancha

The great achievement is to lose one's reason for no reason...

from Book 1, Chapter XXV of Don Quixote
(translation by Edith Grossman)

The above is a quote from Don Quixote, which I read yesterday on my flight back from Grand Rapids. The sentences around it are:
"Therein lies the virtue," responded Don Quixote, "and the excellence of my enterprise, for a knight errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for no reason. The great achievement is to lose one's reason for no reason, and to let my lady know that if I can do this without cause, what should I not do if there were cause?

A different translation--by Charles Jarvis--of the same passage is:
"There lies the point," answered Don Quixote, "and in this consists the refinement of my plan. A knight-errant who runs mad with just cause deserves no thanks; but to do so without reason is the point--giving my lady to understand what I should perform in the wet if I do this in the dry.

I like the former better....


I am I, Don Quixote, the Lord of La Mancha
My destiny calls and I go
And the wild winds of fortune, shall carry me onward
Oh whithersoever they blow

When I grow up...

A brief post today, of a recent Mother Goose & Grimm strip, as I head to GRR for a clinic in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, this weekend (I'm looking forward to cold weather). Enjoy.


When I grow up I'll be stable
When I grow up I'll turn the tables

We all laugh and we cry, don't we?

FREE DRAMA

the banner says. Centered, and in big, all-caps lettering on the sign's top line. Black lettering on grayish-white plastic.

Well, actually, it's

FREE DRAMA | FREE DRAMA

as there are two signs next to each other, draped across the curving form of a hot-air-balloon-shaped inflatable, the same height and yellow as a school bus. It was just blown-up about two blocks down the road from my office, tethered against natural breezes and the traffic-induced drafts from the 5-lane road off which it sits.

Both signs' second and third lines match:

FREE DRAMA

SUNDAY – THURSDAY
(and two times)

Friday and Saturday are free of "Free Drama": a welcomed 2-day break--although not completely effective amidst all the other drama that seems to enact itself on a daily basis in South Florida. The two days off appear well timed for the church on whose property the balloon sits.

But the question remains: is the church's message a philosophical statement, or simply just an ad for a play?


Just one psychological drama after another
You are guilty, and how you ever entered into this life
God only knows, the infinite complexities of love

Vous asseoir à ma table...

I'm in a local sandwich shop. It's after I've ordered my food but before it has arrived, and I'm sitting at a table reading Don Quixote while awaiting my sandwich. The table I'm at is the closest to the cash register where one orders, and has 4 individual seats at it--3 of which are empty.

I am in the midst of reading my book, looking down at it, when I hear a nearby chair move. I look up to find that a woman has sat down at the table I'm at--my table--across from me--not directly across, but across and over. She has not said hello, nor does she even talk or acknowledge I'm there. I presume she has chosen the seat as it's the closest to the register, and the group she's come in with (what looks like her 3 daughters and a granddaughter) are at the register ordering. The daughters also order for her.

Now, there is another table equally close to the register as the one "we" are now sitting at, that no one is at. It is piled high with recently delivered Frito-Lay boxes, making eating at it impossible (and likewise seeing around it). But, like the table I'm at, there are empty chairs at it--4 actually: one more than mine. As my interloper's silence continues, I wonder why she has not chosen one of those chairs, if all she wants to do is sit (and not stand while ordering). Why the social order/protocol breech of sitting at a table where someone is that you don't know? Particularly when all the other tables in the place are empty?

The strangeness continues as one of the daughters and the granddaughter sit down at the table behind me. This is further compounded when the first part of their (to-go) order arrives, and the other two daughters take seats at the table behind me, leaving grandma with me and in our silence.

The situation continues until the other half of their order arrives, and they leave... with grandma getting up without so much as a goodbye and with her leaving the chair pushed out from the table where she had moved it to sit down.


Allez venez Milord
Vous asseoir à ma table

It seems like everywhere I go The more I see the less I know

Things that have come to my attention this week since my return:

• Michael Franti & Spearhead's Say Hey (I Love You), the video for which was filmed/is set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Coincidentally, Rio was elected to host the 2016 Olympics on Friday. Interestingly the IOC mentioned wanting to recognize South America, even though for IOC-sport related purpose, South America is part of "the Americas" (and not a separately-recognized entity from North America). (The IOC also picked last week to relaunch its website, moving everything from where it could be found to someplace "easier" to find it... course one now has to find it again. As I haven't located the announcement on its website, no link is here.)
• and an interesting observation/quote:
  

  "To think, in non-Olympic years, swimming is normally as visible to the American public as Pluto."
  (FINA--the international federation that oversees swimming--decided to re-post the USA Today article that had this.)
  

Which reminds me, TIME had an article on Rio a week/so ago about the city's 2016 bid (entitled "Can Brazil's Rio Handle the 2016 Summer Olympics?"), connecting it to its 2007 hosting of the Pan American Games....


I say hey... I'll be goin' today
But I'll be back from around the way

Let me hear you sing once more, like you did before; Sing a new song Chiquitita

ABBA's Chiquitita was stuck in my head (or, rather, 2 lines of it) as I awaited my delayed departure from the Houston airport today. This caused me to listen to it a few times while awaiting the flight and reading my current book, Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog. (Though the two quotes below are actually from the parts I read after getting on the plane and while seated in the exit row on said delayed flight back to Fort Lauderdale.)

First, a haiku (with it's syllable count presumably lost when translated from the original French into English) from the book:

Who presumes
To make honey
Without sharing the bee's fate?

Second, a passage (from p.192):

....And secondly, a teenager who pretends to be an adult is still a teenager. If you imagine that getting high at a party and sleeping around is going to propel you into a state of full adulthood, that's like thinking that dressing up as an Indian is going to make you an Indian. And thirdly, it's a really weird way of looking at life to want to become an adult by imitating everything that is most catastrophic about adulthood...

And with that, and the fact that my plane came in an hour late and I've only got a wee bit more to read in the book, I will leave you for tonight.


Chiquitita, you and I know...
How the heartaches come and they go, and the scars they're leaving...
You'll be dancing once again, and the pain will end...

I have a dream, a song to sing

Greetings from San Antonio, where I am now after a very early wake-up and flight this morning (and thank you Heidi for the 5 a.m. ride to the airport). I am back in SA so quickly after my visit just a month ago, due to one of my friend's getting married tomorrow. As an added bonus, it appears I also will get to drag take my mom to see the musical Mamma Mia!, which happens to be in town this week.

This should help get out of my head the musical's "book-end" song (at the beginning and end), I Have a Dream, which has been stuck there since a friend of mine used the line in an email the other day. That, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech. But I must get ready for dinner at Pappasito's... and then on to the theater!


If you see the wonder, of a fairy tale
You can take the future, even if you fail

Loneliness, is a place that I know well

I have been abandoned.

Wells Fargo has not called me. In days!

After calling me daily, for two weeks straight, they have suddenly stopped calling. I feel like I've been dumped.

There wasn't even a tapering off. One day, they called twice; the next: none! Not once. Nada. And it's been like 4 days now. Not one message awaiting me when I turn my phone on. Not one unexpected ring from a becoming-more-and-more-familiar number.

I don't know what I did. Sure, I sent in my paperwork the other day, but that couldn't've been it. They were calling me daily, sometimes twice a day; and just leaving a "hello, how are you today, please call us back" message. I, likewise, spoke to them every-other-day for two weeks, and when we spoke they were just calling to leave me a message it seemed. Sure, I never did get to speak to "Jessica" who kept calling me (something about her being a machine). But the nice representative on the phone would ask if I had any questions about the program. See if I didn't understand something somewhere. And they didn't really seem to mind that I didn't have any questions and that I already knew/had heard the message they were providing: they still kept calling. Just to say hello.

I hope I haven't done something wrong. Maybe I should ignore there initial recommendation and start calling them every day. Maybe it's my turn to call daily or twice a day (to those two different numbers). Then they'll call me back every-other-day.

I'll call tomorrow and check.

;)


Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time, my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong

Starting to feel just a little abused, like a coffee machine in an office

After a very early morning wake-up call (3:40), to catch a direct flight back from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale, I am back in South Florida. And thanks to my early return, I've had a wee bit of time to get some quality vegging resting in today. The Convention I was at went rather well. It was the 13th time I've been to it, although the first time for me to go to the Masters portion (rather than the USA Swimming part). This meant that I got to wear a nice (thankfully little) yellow sticker that said "Help Me, I'm New" on it.

But that sticker wasn't so bad. Actually, the peskiest part of the week came courtesy of Wells Fargo, who called me daily, leaving me a message to call them back. On some days, I even got called twice: from two different numbers. Hours after I would get the original call (the meetings started at 8 a.m. and went to 8 p.m.), I would typically get to listen to the message. I would then call back to find that there was not really a message, per se; they were just wanting to check to see if I had received the paperwork sent me. Did I have any questions? Did I want to send my next mortgage payment in 4 weeks early and before my paycheck, along with the rest of the paperwork?

At one point, I explained that I was out-of-town and couldn't send everything in until I got back (and told them when I would return), in hopes that this would stop them from calling. Alas, it did not work: the calls continue. They even called me tonight, after I spoke with them earlier today....

And the kicker: when I first applied for the program, I called in to check if they'd received my paperwork. While on the phone, I ask, "How often should I call?", even--jokingly--asking if I should call-in daily. They responded no, once a week would be fine. Maybe they were taking into account that they would call me everyday?


I’ve been devoting myself to you Monday to Monday and Friday to Friday
Not getting enough retribution or decent incentives to keep me at it
I’m starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office

And when he plays boogie-woogie bugle, he was busy as a bzzzy bee

Greetings from bzzzziness....

I have spent the last week living/working in a hotel near my house, for my work's annual (week-long) clinic. So, in spite of only being a 5-20 minute drive away (large variance due to drawbridge which lies in route), I have not seen my place since early on Labor Day--other than a short jaunt home on Tuesday evening to pick up my Home Affordable paperwork.

Yes, I did manage to escape the hotel briefly on Tuesday night, and jaunt home (with a drawbridge break and everything) to pick up the UPS envelope on my doorstep. Picked up and returned to the hotel all before it could rain. 'Course, my return was followed by me being so busy the rest of the week that I have not had time yet to read said paperwork (but from the brief glimpse I gave it, I can't really do anything with it until I get paid mid-month--I have to send in a mortgage paper with the documents).

I didn't even have time to acknowledge 09/09/09 on Wednesday (I was buzzing 'round for most of it).

As for that over-nighted paperwork, I will most likely not have a chance to read it for another week, as I leave Wednesday morning for Chicago and the 2009 USAS Convention (I'm headed to the Masters part).

bzzz bzzz


He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up, and he was gone with the draft
He's in the Army now, a-blowin' Reveille
He's the boogie-woogie bugle boy of Company B

I should be so lucky; lucky, lucky, lucky...

Ahh... so recently, two of the five units in my condo association have gone into foreclosure. One, in the hopes that it can be refinanced (although I'm not entirely sure that's the only reason--this owner moved out to save money...); the other, well, he just wants to be gone from the property (and unfortunately, that unit's half the property). Neither has been paying their Association dues, either, and consequently, at least one other members of the Association wants to hire a lawyer to help recoup said losses (particularly since the dues are based on the percentage of the property owned...). I'd be way for this, except, I'm not sure where the money's going to come from to hire said lawyer (i.e. read "Special Assessment" to those of us still paying our Association dues). And to top it off, not enough Association members have opined about what to do... but oh the fun awaiting for that third person to chime in.

This, in some respects, has spurred me to finally apply for the Federal Marking Home Affordable program. I had initially inquired months ago about it, only to be told that I did qualify but my bank was not ready yet for me to apply. But I did remember to check back a few weeks ago, and they are now ready (as am I) and the paperwork was sent in last week.

As luck would have it, I found out Friday that crucial, time-sensitive paperwork is to be sent to my house for a Tuesday delivery. Now, normally, this would be fine, except next week; which is one of the few weeks of the year where I won't be home for the whole week: I move into a hotel on tomorrow morning and stay until a week from today. Now, granted, that hotel won't be terribly far away, as this year's event is here in Fort Lauderdale, but I really don't know if I'll have time to escape the hotel to get back to pick up the awaiting paperwork. Ahh, the fun. (And, bonus points if you deduced that I'm getting to work on Labor Day.)

But it could be worse: I could be out of town instead of in-town, with no hope of getting the paperwork and it most likely getting soaked during some completely normal, South Florida summer afternoon thunderstorm....


I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky...

Come join the party, it's a celebration

I am back in Fort Lauderdale after a rather busy trip back home to San Antonio. The main purpose of my going was to attend the retirement party for my club (swimming) coach. I had missed a similar fête this past Memorial Day weekend for my high school coach, as I was working in Chicago the day of the event. However, for this one, I was able to secure a day off from work (Friday), despite our main annual event being just over a week away. The actual party was great: I got to see so many people that I have not seen in many years. It was good to get caught up, and hopefully, reconnected (although Facebook is a great help here as well).

I noticed two rather perplexing things this weekend:

• At the party, I arrived and ended up parked in one location for the just over two hours I was there, as people came over to chat. It was quite nice, but to those on the other side of the backyard, I am sorry I did not make it over to y'all.
  
  
• The other perplexing thing that I noticed this trip has to do with the flights. Have y'all noticed that while online and on your boarding pass, the exit row is called "Exit Row"; but in the announcements at the start of the flight, the row is identified as "If you are sitting in a row designated by a sign stating 'No Children in this Row'...." This baffles me. While this demarcation is present on the window of the aisles involved, it's only on the window. It's not on the back of each seat in the row, nor is the window sign that big. It really can't be seen from the aisle, unlike the large "Exit" signs on the doors, nor probably any seat other than the window seat. How would someone not in said row know if they were or were not in an actual "No Children" row?

So, I am perplexed. But I did have a good time at the party.


Think about it, doesn't matter, and if
It makes you feel good then I say do it
I don't know what you're waiting for

And just tell me why nothing is good enough

I sit at the airport, awaiting a flight to San Antonio, via Houston. And while I recover from a rather rapid jaunt from the office to the airport--so that I could catch this flight (luckily traffic was light both on the road and in the security line)--a brief comment. As I mentioned earlier this week, the September issue of Wired has an article about wanting to update craigslists with "useful" features that in my mind would only serve to bog it down. (That author also seemed perplexed as to how the site was so popular without any of those "useful" features.)

Rather ironically, following the craiglslist article in the same issue is one entitled:
The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine
which, in addition to fitting right-up-the-alley part of my boss's philosophy, seems to explain why craigslist works and is successful.

Maybe the author of the second article should speak to the first. And perhaps the Wired editor is having some fun with juxtaposition....


So don't tell me why he's never been good to you
Don't tell me why he's never been there for you
Don't you know that why is simply not good enough

You say goodbye and I say hello (hello, hello)

So tonight I went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate my birthday.

As I opened the door to the restaurant, one of my friends was exiting. Upon seeing her, I said hello, to which she responded goodbye (and then explained that she needed to run back to her car and feed the parking meter of the space it was in, and that she would return).

You say yes, I say no
You say stop, and I say say go, go go
You say goodbye, and I say hello

Say, say, say, what you want

So the new edition of Wired arrived in my mailbox the other day (it's pictured at right). The cover article is entitled, Why Craigslist is Such a Mess. In it, the author expounds on all that is wrong with craigslist, mostly stemming from the fact the Craig (the man who's list it is) refuses to adopt any web tech from after 1999. Because of this the site is "lacking": it has none of the bells and whistle the author apparently likes. This lack, and the fact that the site is one of the most popular online, perplexes the author. He believes the site would be better if updated with modern net gadgets.

To this I say: sometimes more is just more. It is not, in fact, better. Perhaps craiglist is such a success because it is simple. Perhaps it really is not that hard to navigate, once you have looked at it. Perhaps it succeeds because it does not have all those bells and whistles that most of the time are unnecessary and just add flash to a page. (Perhaps there's a reason for why that program is called Flash.) Perhaps the craigslist site succeeds because it doesn't take time to load, because it does not have a bunch of junk to load. (No, it just allows you to sell your junk.)

Perhaps craigslist succeeds just because it has a best of page....

And while I'm tangentially referring to webdesign, I will mention that perhaps certain websites will re-format their stories so that the text occupies more than 1/6th of their page and the structure/ads occupy less than the 5/6th's they currently do (and I won't even start on auto-loading of video clips and ads).

Say, say, say what you want
But don't leave me with no direction

Now it's guitars, Cadillacs; hill-billy music

So, the executive committee (it's actually called the "Executive Board") of the International Olympic Committee (aka IOC) met this week, doing prep work for the meeting of the whole IOC at the beginning of October. At the meeting, the Board considered alterations to the sports for the 2012 Olympics, as well as reviewed 7 possible sports to fill 2 slots for the 2016 Games.

Now, on the former--the changes to the 2012 "programme" as it's called (and not spelled "program", instead in what I presume is British English)--the Board:

• swapped out some events in canoe/kayak and modern pentathlon;
• denied expansions to swimming, wrestling and cycling (because the Summer Olympics are almost too big for a host to manage, so the IOC is trying to make sure the size stays manageable);
• held a bait out to tennis (if you make sure those really, really cool/popular people--i.e. the top ranked players on the professional circuit--come to the party, then you can add mix-doubles--never mind if said cool people don't actually care about said party and that their mere presence might diminish said party); and...
• approved the addition of women's events to boxing. Yes, boxing. (This is part of the IOC's ongoing efforts to have equal numbers of men and women at the Olympics.)
  

And as if watching women box seems strange to you, be prepared: the same group has recommended that rugby-7s and golf be added for the 2016 Games (and yes, women's rugby as well as men's). Golf seems to be being added so that a cool kid (Tiger Woods) can get an Olympic medal (with the hope being that subsequently some of Tiger's coolness will rub off on the Olympics). As for the 7s, I'm not quite sure as to why it was selected over the likes of baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, and squash. My guess is that:

• baseball and softball were doomed by the fact that they are considered 2 separate sports and they are each one gender (as proposed), so with the addition of golf (we really have to let Tiger get a medal), the Board didn't feel ok adding one (which would've most likely been softball--women's numbers are still lower--rather than the seemingly more popular baseball) and not the other (nor deal with the storm that that one-side addition might have caused). That both have already been in the Games and have been taken out can't have helped either.
• karate--though no doubt different--appears too similar to the included taekwondo (and if the Olympics have come to symbolize peace, should there really be more fighting sports involved?).
• roller sports also appear to be victims of a similarity to another sport: the winter's ice skating (and roller has just as many variants as those on ice--both artistic and speed oriented, although the speed races where what were proposed for addition, including a marathon....). Seeking out a diversified field of sports gets hard when one opts for variants-on-a-theme.
• squash appears to be a victim of a lack of development (it is the newest recognized sport of the seven, as well).

7s brings another team event in (those are better, no?--the American audience has difficulty understanding individual sports and works much better with team events? If one even assumes that the IOC really case that disproportionately about the USA audience...).

In any case, golf and rugby are what have been recommended. One wonders (and I somewhat hope) that a mutiny of sorts will occur in Copenhagen in early October, and one of the other sports will move from the 5 to the 2 and bump one of the 2 to into the 5. Alas, my hoping may be all for not: I've seen indications that the general IOC membership will only get to vote to accept the Board's 2 recommended choices, and not even get to the other 5 that are to be left behind....

My general recommendation to the IOC: re-find your identity and don't do it by seeking out new sports. You had one. I know you used to have one, because that's what I strove for. You probably still have it. Realized that it has value--if you don't, it makes it really difficult for anyone else to? I don't think the way to find your identity is to invite the cool kids to the party, rather it is to be secure enough who you are that you are cool, as are values you present/represents. Go forward from there. It is a harder, higher, road to take, perhaps; but isn't it supposed to be about the non-easy path? About being swifter, higher and faster....


Yeah my guitars Cadillacs, hill-billy music
Is the only thing that keeps me hanging on

Verb! That's what's happenin'

In honor of today's date, if one takes a more continental approach to date formation, today is the 7th of August 2009 or:

07/08/09

(in the USA that was a month ago, on July 8th)

So, in honor of this, a (childish) joke:

Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7?

A: Because 7 8 9.

(Playing on the fact that eight and ate are homophones....)


I get my thing in action (Verb!)
That's what's happenin'

Staring at a maple leaf, leaning on the mother tree; I said to myself we all lost touch

I read something that scared me today: the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is holding national championships for 7-13 year-olds. As if parents here in the USA weren't obsessed enough about their (young) children trying to be hyper good....

In sadder news: one of my former coaches, Flip Darr, passed away earlier this month.

Oh, and swimming at the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy begins tomorrow....


Oh chariot, your golden waves
Are walking down, upon this face
Oh chariot, I'm singing out loud
To guide me, give me your strength

Friday night arrives without a suitcase, Sunday morning creeping like a nun

I survived a long-course 200 fly yesterday.

Well, actually, I survived that 200 fly, swimming a few other events, and a hurried post-work drive on Friday to a meet in Plantation on Friday evening and yesterday. The meet went alright, or at least better than the rather dismal expectations I had for it (being out of the water for basically the month of May contributed to that, and that I didn't have any music playing in my head). But given that I wasn't too sure about even swimming in the meet, it went alright. Time wise, things were... I guess interesting. Yeah, interesting...

Friday
-800 free--9:42.37 (4:49/4:52)--I was actually out faster at the 100 and 200 here (1:08.36 and 2:21.19), than I was in the 400 on Saturday (1:08.57 and 2:21.21 there)

Saturday
-200 free--2:13.90 (1:05.72/1:08.18)
-200 back--2:35.50
-100 back--1:10.47
-200 fly--2:33.37 (1:13.89/1:19.89)
-400 free--4:42.92 (1:08.6/1:12.6/1:12.6/1:09) --I was able to come back on the last 100 :)

So, interesting. The whole, out-faster-in-the-800 than the 400, is confusion (yes, as opposed to confusing, which it is also). But on the plus side, I did get to see an old high school teammate of mine for the first time in about 15 years; which was nice. Now, hopefully, this will help with motivation to train....


Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet

Traffic jam, when you're already late

On my way home today, I decided to take one of my normal alternate routes home. This route allows me to go straight through the last stoplight I face en route, rather than having to turn left at the light. Normally, this tends to be a less frustrating and more efficient route. Save tonight.

Without any kind of warning--either prior to today nor on the approach--the intersection was completely closed tonight. Now, this was strange, as the cross street is a fairly major street in the area; and the closure had it completely shut down. Not sure what happened, but no detours were marked nor was traffic being directed elsewhere.

So, I did a partial u-turn and then turned on a parallel running street to get around the intersection and hopefully through it. This put me behind a rather frustrating driver, who stopped at each cross-street we passed (whether/not they had a stop sign or a car waiting to cross the intersection) to find out that they were all blocked. After 5-6 intersections in this fashion, I decided to back-track to my original route to get home (figuring it would be much more likely to maintain my sanity by not continuing remain behind the wayward driver).

And rather ironically: it was my original route--that I deviated from--that ended up being the faster. Course, I arrived home to find that the landscapers at the building had decimated the plants on the property, pruning off about half their mass. Which subsequently led to a rather strained and unhappy-customer call to said landscapers... ah such fun.


Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face

Just beat it...

It is a wee bit too late (2 a.m.) for me to be awake. But thanks to a group of random people (thugs? hoodlums?) that are lighting fireworks off about half a block outside my door, I'm not. The fun part--other than them launching their rockets into the trees of where I live? I don't think they live in this neighborhood, as there's a white van double-parked in the street nearby, and what appear to be two look-outs off to the side of the main grouping of 4-5 guys lighting the fireworks.

I think I'll go yell at them to go away....

But you want to be bad
Just beat it (beat it)
Beat it (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated...

I don't want to be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately

Happy 4th of July 2009

Didn't do much today, however, at one point I was out-and-about at Home Depot (getting some re-potting supplies). While there, I saw someone else wearing the same American flag shirt that I had on. Not terribly unusual, really, except that this is the first time in 10+ years of owning said shirt that I've ever seen another one....


All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind
I'm tired of looking 'round rooms
Wondering what I've got to do, or who I'm supposed to be
I don't want to be anything other than me

One fine day

Yesterday afternoon, the weather was just bad; completely overcast, with not a break in the clouds anywhere. Not really any heavy rain, but no thin clouds, slightly bluer clouds either. And just enough lightning to discourage me from going to the pool.

Today, however, the sky was just partly cloudy, and the rain was held at bay. And while a dark set of clouds did roll by (and drop some rain) while I was in the water, I managed to get my whole 5200 in... although I was the only person in the water for the last 20 minutes or so (people seemed to get out because of the rain, which lasted maybe a minute and was done).


Shoo-be do-be do-be do-be do-wop-bop
Shoo-be do-be do-be do-be do-wop-bop

Blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah...

I tired to swim today. I wasn't particularly motivated to do so, being tired from being at the pool 5:30-8:30 Friday night, and all day yesterday and today (7 a.m.-8:30 p.m., more or less); and also being tired from an apparent lack of sleep. The fact that I got in 4500 long course yesterday didn't contribute much either. Or the rather general pesky stress helping at the meet entails for me (due to what I tend to do at meets).

But what really screwed things up--and completely thwarted my initiative that did get me to put my suit in my car this morning and got me to walk out to said car and get it and get into it--was the lightning that happened over the pool a 300 into my swim. That the storm stayed in place overhead for the next hour really dampened this as well. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.


Blame it on the rain, that was fallin' fallin'
Blame it on the stars, that shine at night
Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain, yeah yeah

Que sera, sera; what ever will be, will be...

I nearly walked in on a bank robbery today.

On occasion for work, I have to make deposits at a local branch. My drive to the bank branch today was mostly normal: heavy traffic, got to stop at 6 of the 7 stoplights, which just allowed more time for me to hope that the air condition would catch up with the cooked air in my car from the 90° day. As I was on the started passing the beginning of the strip center the bank is in, a police car with its siren on passed by me and turned into the parking lot entrance before the one I wanted. I did not think much of this, as there are about 20 stores in the strip center where I was headed.

I turned into the next entrance and as I was parking noticed how vacant the parking area near the bank seemed. As I walked up to the door, I also noticed two things: 1) that the bank was pretty empty, and 2) a piece of paper had been taped up to the door. One the paper it said (more or less): 'This branch temporarily closed due to an emergency. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and ask that you either try back later or visit our neighboring branch at... (and gave an address).' So after doing a double-take to note where the alternative location was, I headed back to my car, deposit still in-hand.

On the walk back, an unmarked police car slowly crept through the side of the parking lot I was parked on; which I took to be the car that had turned into the parking lot before me on my way in (just cruising around). As I opened the door to my car, I turned back toward the street and noticed a second unmarked police car parking on the street just outside the entrance I'd come in. Now just a bit intrigued but also not really wanting to stick around, I rather normally (read calmly) pulled my car out of its space and proceeded to drive around the corner that the bank is on, to make my way out of the strip-center parking lot. As I got around the corner, I noticed a third, unmarked police car (most likely the first one I saw), parked on the other side of the bank and completing a triangular watch position on the bank. The 3 cars, combined with my glimpse through the bank's windows of a solitary figure standing in the lobby and not appearing to be dressed like a bank employee, started to solidify that I'd nearly walked in on a robbery in progress....

Somehow, I don't think my helping out at the International Age Group meet this weekend (tonight, tomorrow night and all day Saturday & Sunday) will live up to this excitement, but I'll wait and see. Hasta.

addendum: I was able to confirm today (Tue.6/30) that it was a robbery.

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

The world makes its rotation...

The summer solstice was yesterday, and I completely missed my chance at having some kind of pagan celebration for it. Drat. Course, it was Father's Day as well, and I did manage to call my Dad, so that was good.

As for today, in a rather strange occurrence (perhaps marking the change from days getting longer to them getting shorter?), I managed to leave work on time for the first time in months. That had me finishing swimming and home relatively early (7:15), so much so that I managed to get some laundry going tonight and to watch The Man Who Knew to Much. (Did you know that 'Que Sera Sera' is from there? Well, actually, in the film it's called "Whatever Will Be, Will Be". Doris Day sings it fairly early in the movie, in some probable Hitchcocking foreshadowing....)


Gotta get my message
Stop spending all our precious time
Because before you know it
We'll be down to our last dime

There are no explanations
For why I feel the way I do
The world makes its rotations...

Clock strikes upon the hour, and the sun begins to fade

It is quite easy to tell how long one is stopped at a red light when a song starts on your iPod as you pull up to the stoplight.

This happened to me tonight. As I pulled up to a turn about a block away from the pool, my iPod finished playing Linkin Park's Breaking the Habit and moved on to Whitney Houston's I Learned from the Best. I then proceeded to sit in the left turn lane waiting for a green light until 4:19 into the song....

(And hearing the latter song reminds me of how she worked through a performance of it to find the end note...)


...Spinning through the town
Sooner or later, the fever ends
And I wind up feeling down

Eres sirena; Oigo tu canto y me ahogo en tu cadera

There is nothing quite like having a free weekend in which one does basically nothing, after not having a weekend to do such for over a month or so. That was this past weekend.

On Friday night, I went down to Miami Beach (for the first time) to have dinner that with a friend in town (and also met up with another friend who've I've not seen in about 20 years--which was good).


I spent Saturday editing on Wikipedia (basically putting the top-8 swimming finishers on their from the 2003 Pan American Games--incredible excitement)--and didn't even swim due to the pool being closed for a meet.


And Sunday I swam, saw Terminator Salvation (good--particularly as I don't think I've recall seeing the 3rd Terminator movie), watched the end of True Blood Season 1 (on DVD) and saw The Hangover (funny).

All-in-all, rather occupied, but not terribly productive. It was a good change of pace.


Eres el mar
Eres el mar

So you want, to be free; To live your life, the way you wanna be

It managed to start storming as I got to the pool on both Monday and yesterday this week.

Monday, as I pulled into a parking space at the pool the wind picked up. I walked over to the entrance gate, and the pool was on a lightning "break". As the storm didn't appear to be clearing, I decided to head back home; only to have a heavy rain start falling before I could even get back to my car. That rain continued for about the next 10 minutes of my drive home--fun.

Yesterday was similar, with the lightning clapping right as I got to the gate. Although I was luckier today: weather was clear and I got my whole 4200 yards in. Hopefully the weather will hold up the rest of this week....


Jaded hearts, heal with time
Shoot that love, so we can stop the bleeding

All the boys think she's a spy; She's got Bette Davis eyes

Well, thanks in-part to a 3-hour nap yesterday afternoon, I have managed to survive 3 drives up to Boca this weekend. There was one yesterday and one today for a meet I'm helping out with up at FAU, and a second one today to see Night at the Museum 2. (And to think I went months and months without going once--granted I was out of town pretty much every weekend last month.)

Strangely enough, I am currently much more entertained by the 8th-grade-level books I've been reading (the Percy Jackson series mentioned in the last post), than I was by the 8th-grade-level movie I saw tonight (not that Museum 2 was bad, just not, I guess, what I really was in the mood for).

In any case, I've a few more chapters to go in The Last Olympian (which is apparently Hestia, in case you're wondering whom the title referents), so I will get to that. Hasta....


And she'll tease you, she'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo's standoff sighs
She's got Bette Davis eyes

You shouldn't have to jump for joy

The weather cooperated much better on Tuesday and yesterday, so much so that I felt compelled to not swim tonight (after swimming both the past two nights)--despite the clear skies. I talked myself into the notion that the weather will be fine tomorrow, and that I could instead come home and read some more of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series I'm in the middle of. And while I know they are written for 8th graders, there are written by someone from my hometown of San Antonio (plus the 8-grade level makes them a quick read for me).

These are five books in the series. I read the first (The Lightning Thief) on Sunday; the second (The Sea of Monsters) on Monday; took a break on Tuesday night (reading through most of the night instead of sleeping is not the best thing); and the third (The Titan's Curse) on last night. Although, now that I think about it, I should probably attempt to get to bed earlier tonight... so I guess I'll hold off on starting book #4 (The Battle of the Labyrinth) to help with that.

But hopefully, in breaks of the meet I'm helping with this weekend, I'll get some time to read....


Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you
Come on

They have no shields, no secrets to reveal

Tonight's swimming practice that I did...

100 swim-100 kick-100 pull-100 swim
200 swim
100 kick
- - - - - - - -
30 minute lightning "break"
- - - - - - - -
200 swim
200 kick
200 pull
1250 free, easy & smooth
- - - - -
250 back kick
150 back pull
- - - - -
lightning break #2*

*I'd actually intended to do about 900 more, but when the second lightning-forced break happened for the night, I decided that the 3,000+ yards I had done was enough for the evening (although, hopefully, I'll get through things tomorrow).


Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed