Lyric-cull

The trick is to keep breathing

2010-02-28T16:55:00.004-05:00

Well all the time ya spend trying to get back what's been took from ya, more is going out the door. After a while you just have to try to get a tourniquet on it.

Lately, I'm not the only one
I say, never trust anyone

Jump in the line

2010-02-24T23:11:00.001-05:00

During my normal drive to work, I pass by a fenced park, that is about a block in size. The main feature of this park is a large mango tree, which is centered on the block. Under the tree is a lawn.

This morning as I drove past the park, one addition to the scene occurred. The tree still shaded the square park and it's green wire fence. An early mist softened the air. The morning sun, softly lit things through the light cloud layer. The addition: perched atop the fence, in a row, were 4 ducks. Standing there, on the fence, all facing the street.

Alas, I had no camera take a picture of this, but in some respects, it's better that I didn't.

Shake, shake shake, Senora
Shake your body line
Work, work, work, Senora
Work it all the time

Ooh, just a little bit dangerous

2010-02-23T21:49:00.004-05:00

When I arrived at the pool tonight to swim, all the lanes were filled. So I determined that I would need to share a lane, and set about identifying which of the several single-swimmer lanes to ask.

After scoping things out (in all my near-sighted wonderness) I went up to a gentleman as he stopped on the wall, and the following conversation ensured....

Me: "Is it alright if I share the lane with you?"
Swimmer in water (SIW): Yes.
Me: Cool. Do you want to split the lane or circle or something else?
SIW: Well, actually, I'm doing backstroke right now, and I won't really know where I will be.
Me: Oh, ok. Well, so do you want to pick a side and-
SIW: I don't know where I'll be; I kinda go all over the place when doing backstroke.
Me: That's alright: I can keep an eye out for you. So should I take this side-
SIW: I kinda go all over the place, and can't really stay straight.
Me: It should be ok, should I just take-
SIW: I just don't really stay on any one side.
Swimmer in the neighboring lane: You can get in here.

Now, as his responses progressed, I began to wonder why the gentleman initially said that it was ok for me to share the lane: with each subsequent answer if became further apparent that it was not alright.

Get out of my way, get out of my sight
I won't be walking on thin ice to get through the night

Fading like a flower?

2010-02-15T21:49:00.003-05:00

I am just back from a meet this weekend in Clearwater. Overall, things went well. My main goal for things was just to get a status on where I am and to start getting used to racing again--which I think happened. I was not really looking to try to race too hard, and in the case of the 400 IM, I was checking if I could finish it (my fly is in mid-revamping at the moment).

The result? Well, I was able to come back well in all my races, particularly the 2 backstrokes, where I came back on people in the back half (and even-split-ed the 100 to boot). I continue to be perplexed that I went out faster in my 500 than in my 200 free; but I am also just happy that I was under 2:00 in the 200 free and sub-55 in the 100 free.

In any case, times from the weekend:

100 free: 53.48 (25.86/27.62)
200 free: 1:57.72 (59.09/58.63)
500 free: 5:03.58 (58.34/1:01.44/1:01.96/1:02.23/59.61)
100 back: 57.21 (28.55/28.66)
200 back: 2:04.50 (1:01.84/1:02.66)
100 fly: 56.45 (26.62/29.83)
400 IM: 4:38.05 (1:03.50/1:12.26/1:18.10/1:04.09)

(I'm not completely remembering the event order, save that the 400 IM was the last event on Saturday, and the 500 the first on Sunday.)

I will try, I just need a little time

Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile

2010-02-07T19:23:00.008-05:00

A large portion of my January was spent reading these four books by Russian author Sergey Lukyanenko.

I had read the first book (Night Watch) a few months ago, but decide to re-read it when I finished my previous book just before the holidays (and figuring that I would get the remaining 3 books in the series for Christmas).

My getting three sequels (Day Watch, Twilight Watch, and Last Watch) almost ran afoul of the Kindle I also got; but instead I now have the 3 books running afoul of using my Kindle.

In any case, if you are looking for a good, semi-fantasy book series, I recommend these. And now I go to read... something else (I've not quite figured out what just yet).

The precious moments are all lost to the tide
They're swept away, nothing is as it seems
The feeling of belonging to your dreams

Another day, just breathe

2010-02-01T02:01:00.003-05:00

The past weekend went rather well. Highlighting it were two things:

1. I made it to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art to see a Norman Rockwell exhibit there. The exhibit is in its second-to-last weekend, but wasn't too crowded (thankfully). Among the items in the exhibit were many of his paintings--including No Swimming [pictured at right] as well as Lincoln for the Defense--and a wall with the 300+ covers Rockwell did for the Saturday Evening Post.

2. A field trip to Fuddruckers.
I had been under the impression that all the Fuddruckers within driving distance of where I live had closed. However this is not the case. There were two locations that have closed: one less than a mile from my condo closed just before I moved to Lauderdale; and the next nearest location (about a 10 miles away) closed about a year-and-a-half later. So for the past 2 years or so, I thought there weren't any in South Florida. However, while in Pittsburgh in January, I found out two locations are still present in Miami-Dade County. And after a semi-indirect trip to it (taking about 2 hours), my friend and I found the closer one in Pembroke Pines (it took about 30 minutes to get back from it).

So all-in-all a good weekend. The weather was even nice: sunny and not cold.

Another day, just believe

Strange highs and strange lows

2010-01-28T22:10:00.001-05:00

2010 has been a bit strange so far (Happy New Year, by the way).

The weather here in South Florida went from hot (those 90s in early December) to cold (we had a week of 40's at night, and 60s during the day--I even had to use my heater at home). It was so cold, a local Masters meet got postponed a week because the water was too cold (the pool's heater couldn't keep up with the dropped air temp). The delay worked out well for me as it moved the meet from the MLK weekend, when I was out of town in Pittsburgh (where it was unusually "warm": in the 40s and not snowing for the first time in 2 weeks).

Because the meet was moved (to last weekend), I was able to go for a day. I even managed to swim a 1000 and did ok (10:49). I actually went to help with running of the meet, and decided to swim the 1000 kinda on the spur-of-the-moment. As such, I decided to not warm-up for the race--a decision partially swayed by the fact that for the past couple years warming-up has seemed to hurt rather than help. But in a change, last weekend's swim really felt like it could've used a warm-up (which is a good thing in the overall scheme, but meant it the swim didn't feel so hot).

Anyways, post that 1000, my swimming training has actually picked up a bit this weekend. My yardage had been flirting with 5000 for most of the month, but this week I bumped it up to 5,500 and, surprisingly, started feeling a bit better in the water.

Hopefully this will mean good things for February....

There'll be days, when I stray
I may appear to be completely out of reach
I give in, to sin
Because I like to practice what I preach

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

2009-12-25T12:25:00.002-05:00

[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

2009-12-17T22:47:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-10T21:30:00.006-05:00

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

2009-12-06T00:06:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-03T22:00:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-11-29T20:58:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-11-25T21:56:00.006-05:00

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

2009-11-19T23:19:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-17T23:26:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-15T21:09:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-05T23:05:00.007-05:00

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.

2009-11-02T20:28:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-31T21:26:00.007-04:00

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)

2009-10-29T22:29:00.001-04:00

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?

2009-10-24T23:11:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-19T22:15:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-10-15T07:57:00.007-04:00

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?

2009-10-13T22:13:00.001-04:00

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...

2009-10-10T17:55:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-07T22:07:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-04T22:04:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-02T16:04:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-27T21:27:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-20T21:20:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-13T21:13:00.008-04:00

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...

2009-09-06T22:15:00.010-04:00

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

2009-08-30T21:49:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-27T17:25:00.003-04:00

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)

2009-08-26T23:11:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-24T20:24:00.001-04:00

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

2009-08-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

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'

2009-08-07T19:09:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-25T19:25:00.001-04:00

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

2009-07-19T11:11:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-16T22:10:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-07-05T02:22:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-04T22:54:00.006-04:00

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

2009-06-30T22:31:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-06-28T22:20:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-06-25T22:10:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-06-22T23:11:00.001-04:00

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

2009-06-18T20:48:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-15T21:52:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-10T21:28:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-07T22:10:00.001-04:00

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

2009-06-04T21:30:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-01T20:38:00.003-04:00

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

And I feel, so much depends on the weather

2009-05-29T18:30:00.002-04:00

The rains, they come early this year....

Even though hurricane season does not officially start until June 1, apparently, the rains that typically come with it have already arrived this week (and I think last week too). We had our daily, afternoon rain shower blow throw every day this week, and today was no exception.

These daily storms are rather pesky to me, as I try to swim in the afternoon and the majority of pools around here are outdoors and close when there is lightning (and sometimes just thunder) in the area. So, the rain tends to vex me, particularly when it stays after 5 p.m. (The storms usually blow in just after noon, and stay a few hours.)

Today was particularly vexing, as it was not really raining at work, but as I drove closer and closer to the pool, the rain got worse and worse. It was even to the point that as I got closer, lightning started to happen.

So, when I was about a mile away from the pool, and after a flash of lightning, I turned toward home instead assuming the pool was going to be closed for the remainder of the day (30 minutes from the last lightning flash, and given that the storm didn't seem to be dissipating yet, there was likely to be a few more flashes).

Hopefully, I'll have better luck tomorrow with getting in to swim. Have a good weekend....

Where ya going to tomorrow?
Where ya going with that mask I found?
And I feel, and I feel, when the dogs begin to smell her
Will she smell alone?

And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse; Drop another line like a coda with a curse

2009-05-25T11:11:00.003-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

Today is the first day this month that I won't be working and I'll be in Florida... which should hopefully lead to some generalized recovering. Though I may try to go see a movie (Angels & Demons, perhaps).

But in any case: have a good day.

I want something else, to get me through this
Semi-charmed kind of life; baby, baby
I want something else,
I'm not listening when you say good-bye

If you'd have been there, if you'd have seen it...

2009-05-22T11:11:00.002-04:00

Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte - 1884

At the moment, I am in Chicago, IL for work. During a break yesterday afternoon I managed to get over to the Art Institute Chicago for an hour or so (during their extended, free--thanks to Target--evening hours on Thursday) and got to see one of my favorite paintings for the first time in person: Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte (pictured above).

I also saw Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day at the Institute, as well as 6 of Monet's Haystack/Wheatstack series and models Daniel French made for the Abraham Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial (did you know there's an American flag drapped around the back of the chair?).

However there was much more to see than I had time for, for example:

Picasso's The Old Guitarist,
Hopper's Nighthawks,
Woods' American Gothic, and
one of the prints of Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa (the exhibit area was closed while I was there).

But next time, next time....

And on the way he found Ruth
Gladys
Rosemary
and Irving

Get up and go

2009-05-20T10:30:00.004-04:00

I'm about to get on a plane for Chicago, but a brief quote from The Three Musketeers (before I finish it--I'm almost done) before I do so:

....Athos believed that everyone should be left to his own free will. He never gave advice but when it was asked, and even then he required to be asked twice.
"People, in general", he said, "only ask advice not to follow it; or it they do follow it, it is for the sake of having someone to blame for having given it."
--Ch.34 of The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

If you're so tired of moving slow, go...

Who can explain it, who can you tell you why; Fools give you reasons, wise men never try...

2009-05-17T13:45:00.006-04:00

Once again I am at an airport; today in Charleston, West Virginia's Yeager Airport (CRW). And similar to my departure last week from FAT (Fresno), once again a Louisiana college sports team of about 20 individuals is waiting along with me. Today, I sit with the Tulane baseball team, who apparently have just finished a tripleheader with Marshall University (and are also, it appears on the flight before mine at my gate). Last week at the airport I waited with the Louisiana Tech softball team, who were apparently in Fresno for the WAC Conference Tournament. (And I'll just point out, that during my stay in Fresno, the Sierra College baseball team was at my hotel for a few nights.)

Now, the interesting thing I noted about these two teams: the women (softball) were dressed in sweats and t-shirts, the men (baseball) in coat & ties. All members of the Louisiana Tech team had some element/logo on them, tying them together and identifying their school; and while the Tulane team's suits greatly decreased their logos, a few still have bags or a tie with the school's name present--still enough to discern they are together (besides, a group of twenty 18-21 year-old males all wearing suits is somewhat of an anomaly). To both team's credit, neither party had/has baseball caps on, which given the indoor nature of the gate-waiting environment would be somewhat out of place (though about half the baseball players do have sunglasses propped on their head, even though the sky is fully overcast and the sun not bright--we are also indoors).

Actually, when I first ran into the softball team (they were blocking the check-in desk), I was somewhat surprised that they were dressed "down", so to speak; and not even wearing something uniform (not an actual uniform, mind you, just a similar guidelined outfit: like khakis and a school/team shirt). In my own personal experience, my college coach required that the team wear coat & tie when we traveled; which I presume was to aid/assist in an elevated view of the group as we traveled. (The requirements, by the way, did not extend to recommendation/restrictions on the ties, and led to some very cool, non-conservative variants--my personal favorite was a Cat-in-the-Hat tie, which I now bemoan not really having a place/opportunity to wear.)

So, I was surprised these young ladies were not dressed better. When I saw them, I was not quite sure whether this was because:

softball tends to be more relaxed than swimming (I'm not even sure that's possible);
women's athletes dress codes when traveling vary from men's (perhaps to present to society that "here are women's athlete's and it's ok for them to be here"); and/or
maybe society has decayed so much in the decade since I was a college, that to get current young adult athletes to dress up for travel is just beyond the scope of things.

Now, some of these reasons were partially abated when I saw portions/most of the 60+ member Washington University in St Louis track & field team, scurrying through the Charlotte airport to make their flight. As I kept passing 2-3 members of the team, scattered in their race to the gate like a marathon field, I kept seeing school t-shirts and sweat pants. To their credit, the shirts they did have on were fairly uniform, enough so that each was wearing a school shirt; but all-in-all it did look somewhat like they'd come fairly straight from the track to the airport.

But back to Fresno: I'm still somewhat perplexed as to the reason for the women's dress in leaving California. But as in both instances, I myself was dressed down as well, I will not judge too harshly. Then again: I wasn't traveling in a group, representing my institution of higher learning....

However, I would like to send my kudos to the Tulane coaches and team for their appearance: I think better of your institution and team because of it. As for the LA Tech team, might I recommend having at least a light dress code? Say jeans/khakis with a team shirt? Or if the team wears sweats, that they all wear the same sweats?

Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger
You may see a stranger across a crowded room
And somehow you know, you'll know even then
That somewhere you'll see her, again and again

Funnyman, listening, to the world turn in on itself

2009-05-15T11:11:00.003-04:00

Greetings from the Charlotte airport. I am on my to Charleston, West Virginia at the moment, for a clinic this weekend for work. This is my third trip in as many weeks, and I currently have my longest layover so far: 2+ hours here in North Carolina (fun, fun, fun--but at least it's around lunchtime, so I'll be able to grab some food). Now if only I can find a vacant rocker to sit in....

My morning has been rather uneventful, with only a few minor things of note happening while I awaited my flight in Fort Lauderdale:

A gentleman dropped his $10 breakfast (of eggs, bacon and potatoes--the expensive one, though I think all the option were overpriced) as he was sitting down to try to eat it. (The pesky clear-plastic lid on his to-go container broke free of the base, and slipped out of his hand. And what didn't fall out when it fell, proceeded to escape when he attempted to pick it up off the floor.)
The staff at a neighboring gate with a flight headed to Las Vegas made an announcement that the passengers there were headed out on a 5-hour flight, and that it might be a good idea to grab some food in the terminal to take with them on the plane. (This partially because there would be a limited amount of food available for purchase on the plane.)
A woman in her mid-40s who fell asleep so soundly that her light snoring (or loud breathing, depending on how one wants to call it) didn't wake her. (Some airline reps kindly woke her up for the flight--although the rep did need to try to do so two times, about 5 minutes apart....)

All in all, not terribly exciting, I know, but I will break off at this point, as there are people to watch, a rocker appears to be opening and I must pounce!, and I may try to read some more of The Three Musketeers (you hear that Danielle--how are you keeping up?). Hasta... (oh, and I may be in a KT Tunstall junkie phase...)

Funnyman, got a plan, to be something wonderful
Funnyman, listening, to the world turn in on itself
Tuning in, to a brand new universe
Funnyman, could never be, anything else

How did we wind up this way? Watching our mouths for the words that we say

2009-05-11T05:11:00.005-04:00

I am back from the 2009 USMS Short Course Nationals, which were this past weekend in Fresno, California. The meet went about as well as I could expect, given that my training the past month and a half or so has been rather non-existent (swimming once per week not really ideal). However, my event sign-up strategy seemed to work out alright (I entered the meet in the middle of the aforementioned non-training spree, so I tried to pick things I could be ready for).

Anyways, times from the meet:

Thursday (5/7):

1000 free--10:37.18 (5:13/5:24)
1650 free--18:08.79 (5:21/5:33/5:36; 10:54 at 1000)--I'm not sure how much swimming the 1000 a few hours earlier, or the lunch I had between the 2 events, really played... but it was interesting.

Friday (5/8):

50 fly--24.92
200 free--1:58.41 (27.11/29.83/30.79/30.68; 56.94/1:01.47)
100 back--59.92
50 free (relay)--23.83

Saturday (5/9): Yosemite!

Sunday (5/10):
I needed to fly back to FL, which took most of the day, so I only entered the first event so I could get to the airport after it....

500 free--5:02.36 (Out faster at the 100 (56.82) and 200 (1:57.76) than what I went in the 200....)

All in all, not completely terrible, though not quite on par with last year's meet... will need to do some things differently moving forward.

Well your clothes never wear as well the next day
And your hair never falls in quite the same way
But you never seem to run out of things to say...

Swim to the ocean floor

2009-05-09T21:50:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Fresno, California.

Today, I played hookie from the 2009 US Masters Nationals (that are here in Fresno, starting Thursday and going through tomorrow/Sunday), and dragged my dad and sister up the road an hour or so to go to Yosemite National Park. (The picture at left is near the entrance to Yosemite Valley, with El Capitan on the left and Half Dome in the center.)

Actually, it wasn't so much hookie, as a way to spend a day with my dad and sister, who I've not seen in about a year (I also didn't enter any events today at the meet).

The drive was actually kinda cool: starting out with some vineyards on the outskirts of Fresno before gradually working it's way up in elevation through some open fields and then into the mountains in Sierra National Forest. (Elevation on the drive topped out over 6,000 feet above sea level; though the valley floor--pictured at right with Yosemite Falls in the background--is around 4,000 feet.)

We even went through a town called Fish Camp--which made me think of a few Aggie friends of mine.

And all-in-all, we had a good time, and the weather was particularly nice (not too hot, nor cold; with the sun out all day, and only a few clouds in the sky). The trip even has caused me to want to return at some later point and hike around the park--definitively a place where I felt it would be good to get off the beaten path. (Pictured at left is one of the more beaten paths: a paved bicycle path on approach to the base of Half Dome.)

I'm gonna carry this train off the track
I'm gonna swim to the ocean floor

Yo sueño que me sueñas en color

2009-05-05T23:11:00.002-04:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo

In honor of this day, an article on Dr Pepper. (Someone found a ledger from the Old Corner Drug Store that created/founded Dr Pepper, which includes a list of various elixirs from the store, including one that uses Dr Pepper....)

(Its prevalence in Wytheville also helped... and the fact that I leave tomorrow for Fresno, California.)

Yo quiero que me quieras como soy
Yo quiero que me quieras porque si
Un palacio en el espacio, solo para tí
Yo sueño que me sueñas en color
Viviendo y desviviendote por mi
Para tí todo mi amor
Todo mi amor

I love this record baby, but I can't see straight anymore

2009-05-03T11:11:00.004-04:00

Greetings from Wytheville, Virginia--near the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western part of the state (not to be confused with West Virginia, where I'll be in 2 weeks). I'm here this weekend for a clinic here in Wytheville (pronounced with-ville); selected for its general remoteness.

The town, however, is somewhat surprisingly accessible due its location at the crossroads of Interstate 77 and Interstate 81. That crossing also means there's a stretch of the freeway where one is running north and the other south--on the same part of the road, and in the same direction of the road (apparently called a "wrong-way concurrency").

In any case, I snapped the pictures on the left here this morning in the parking lot of where the clinic is--not a terrible view to have to see daily (particularly with the mist/fog rolling in, and the hill overlooking the valley that it's situated on).

But I must prep to return to Florida: a scenic drive to Roanoke to get to the airport and then flying back south. Oh, and the Lady GaGa song today, due to the fact that during the hour drive from Roanoke to Wytheville, Lady GaGa's 3 (different) songs played--so it seemed fitting to pick one for here. Hasta....

What's going on on the floor?
I love this record baby, but I can't see straight anymore
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?
I can't remember but it's alright, a-alright
Just dance

A noun's a special kind of word, It's any name you ever heard

2009-04-28T23:11:00.000-04:00

Person: my mom
Place: the northwest side of San Antonio (on the outskirts)
Thing: an elementary school
(i.e. My mom had an elementary school named after her today. :)

A noun's a special kind of word
It's any name you ever heard
I find it quite interesting
A noun's a person, place, or thing

...keep talking happy talk; Talk about things you like to do

2009-04-26T12:34:00.004-04:00

Today, I'm recovering from swimming the Swim Miami 5K yesterday. My final time was about 1 hour 14 minutes, which I think is about the pace I held last year when I swam the 10K at the same event. However, given that I've been making 1 practice per week for the past month and half-- other than the 4 I made this past week--it's fairly good.

So today I'm just recovering. I did think about swimming, but going from 1 practice a week, to swimming 6+ days in a row, didn't sound like such a great plan. So, instead, there's 5 days, with a break today. Hopefully, I'll make it to the pool this week as well... at least until I head to western Virginia at the end of the week for work.

You've got to have a dream
If you don't have a dream
How you going to have a dream come dream?

What chain reaction, what cause and effect Makes you turn around, makes you try to explain

2009-04-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

It's Earth Day!

If you knew that you would be alone
Knowing right, being wrong
Would you change?
Would you change?

Learn to say good-bye; I yearn to say goodbye

2009-04-19T23:11:00.004-04:00

My return flight from Nebraska back to Florida today thankfully went much smoother than my flight up. My flights were on time and I made all my connections (although I didn't have any time to dilly-dally around in either Minneapolis or Atlanta).

I even managed to grab some dinner and arrive home by 8:30 p.m., with some time to take off the flat tire on my car and put on the spare.... (I'll hopefully get the tire fixed tomorrow.)

There's nothing left to lose
There's no more heart to bruise
There's no greater power
Than the power of goodbye

And she'll have fun, fun, fun, 'till her daddy takes the T-Bird away

2009-04-17T10:45:00.001-04:00

Flying is such fun, sometimes. A general descriptive timeline of yesterday, to demonstrate:

9:00 a.m.: Arrive at airport; notice that my flight is already delayed 20 minutes, now departing at 11:30 instead of 11:10. Not overly concerned, figuring we can make up time in the air. Even if that doesn't happen, my 60-minute layover has just been turned to 40 minutes--which should still be enough time to get from my arrival gate to my departure gate.
11:10 a.m.: Plane I am to get on arrives, and starts de-boarding the passengers it has. Departure time is delayed (again) to 11:45 (35 minutes late). Some concern begins to form about making second flight.
11:45 a.m.: Plane boarded, but can't leave gate due to construction that's started behind the plane.
12:10'ish: Plane finally leaves.
2:05 p.m.: Connecting flights to Minneapolis departs Atlanta.
2:07 p.m.: Flight from Fort Lauderdale lands in Atlanta (i.e. I landed in Atlanta 2 minutes after my connecting flight left).
2:30 p.m.: Disembark plane, and head to service desk to get re-booking information. Now on a 6:30 flight to Minneapolis, with connection to Lincoln. Now arriving in Lincoln at 11 p.m., instead of 7 p.m. Not terribly excited about new 4-hour layover in Atlanta, but go with it: at least I'm getting to Lincoln that day.
6:00 p.m. (Eastern time): Board flight to Minneapolis, after having eaten and watched Rachel Getting Married. Get suddenly tired once on plane and end up sleeping most of the flight.
8:00 p.m. (Central time): Arrive Minneapolis, and suddenly very tired. Takes 30-40 minutes to walk from one end of airport to the other to get from one gate to the next (Terminal F to Terminal A--way fun), but did get to see Snoopy [pictured] along the way (Charles Schultz is from St. Paul).
9:45 p.m.: Flight leaves Minneapolis for Lincoln.
11:10 p.m.: Arrive Lincoln, and rather tired. Wonder if my bag has already arrived. (i.e. Did my bag take the 10 a.m. flight out of FtL to ATL and make the 2 p.m. flight to MN?--it actually didn't, which somewhat surprises me.)
midnight: arrive in hotel room, after being tired for the last 3 hours. Get ready for bed, and suddenly can't sleep.

Ahhh, the fun....

And we'll have fun, fun, fun
Now that daddy took the T-Bird away
(Fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away)

As I peer through the window of lost time

2009-04-16T10:10:00.003-04:00

Greetings again from the Fort Lauderdale aeropuerto. Today, I am headed to Lincoln, Nebraska (via Atlanta then Minneapolis), as the YMCA Masters Nationals get underway at the pool. And again, I await my flight out of FLL.

Unusually, I have a later morning departure today. This created a minor problem in that I couldn't find a ride to the airport. However, the later time allowed me to test out an alternate way to the airport (from bumming a ride from a ride, driving myself--and paying $15/day to park--and parking, or grabbing a cab--$20): taking the bus ($1.25 per bus). And the bus ride went alright.

So last night, and with the help of Google Transit, I plotted out my ride. The local bus system has a route (Bus 1) which runs from the Central Terminal in downtown FtL to Aventura Mall down in Miami-Dade County. I was given 2 options:

walk 1/2 a mile and catch a bus that would take me to the terminal, and then I'd transfer to Bus 1; or
walk 1.3 miles to the terminal, and catch the bus from there.

I opted to walk directly to the terminal, and go from there. So, I woke up this morning, got dressed and showered, and walked out the door just before 8 a.m., toting my luggage (which luckily wasn't too heavy; the temperature was also slightly cool, which helped as well). It took me about 30 minutes to get to the terminal, with stops for milk and bagels on the way. I got to the terminal maybe 5 minutes before the 8:30 bus arrived, which I got on and which got me to the airport 25 minutes later (slightly early).

All-in-all, not too terrible, though managing the long walk with a heavier bag probably wouldn't be fun...

But in any case, I now sit at the airport, awaiting my delayed flight... (and I'm hoping the delay won't screw up my connection in Atlanta).

Reflections of, the way life used to be
Reflections of, the love you took from me

Elle ecoute la java, mais elle ne la danse pas

2009-04-12T14:50:00.006-04:00

Happy
Easter

Elle écoute la java
Mais elle ne la danse pas
Elle ne regarde même pas la piste
Et ses yeux amoureux
Suivent le jeu nerveux

Nobody calling on the phone, 'Cept for the Pope, maybe, in Rome

2009-04-11T23:11:00.002-04:00

I found this article online today:
No strength in numbers for America's uninsured

It's about the fact that the number of people in the USA without health insurance has increased to a sizable percentage of the population (it's more than AARP-->gasp), and despite this, doesn't have a PAC (basically). The article also mentions that politicians are reluctant to move toward helping insure those of us who aren't because of a lack of political benefit it will generate.

As one of the uninsured, here's a few points I'd like to make:

If I had the money to fund a PAC, I'd probably spend the money on insurance. I don't, and therefore can't/don't fund either. (After paying my monthly bills, I've got about $300 left over for food and gas for the month--and whatever other "fun"/"life" things happen. My co-pay for my work's heath insurance would eat $200 of that.)
I would most likely be loyal to those Congressmen who did make affordable insurance available to me. However, this would be more so because I think it's the right thing to do (and less so because I see them as doing something for me). Of course, my past history doesn't bode well for my loyalty being of any value: in most of my past cases, it's not been my representatives who have led (or participated in) the charge on the things I care about--typically its people from elsewhere (the last time I wrote to my Congressional reps, one had the completely opposite view of mine on the issue at hand... which was fine. It's ok for them to have it--that's part of the beauty of our country. I still don't like the fact, and I think I may have been more amazed by the attempt to convert me to their thinking that I received in response.).
As for the insurance for all bill, I also don't think it's incredibly likely that it will be done--the other side does have a very strong PAC (the funding of which might help explain why insurance payments are so much...).

It's things like this that make me ponder whether/not I should run for Congress, myself (the thought tends to pass through my head rather rapidly). But for now, I think I'll get to watching some more Joan of Arcadia, and hope for my continued good/decent health (After returning the season 1 DVDs to the library, I checked out season 2. I'm pondering doing a marathon watching for tomorrow.)

Have a good Easter weekend.

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home?

Roman candles that burn in the night, you are a shining light

2009-04-08T19:01:00.005-04:00

My week has been pretty much the 2009 YMCA Short Course Nationals (which ends tomorrow) and watching season 1 of Joan of Arcadia (before I need to return it on Saturday), with a shortened jaunt into the office between. Not terribly exciting, really.

The only other thing I'll mention is that I found 2 articles this week both stating that you can save money (and energy) by turning things off, like:

-computers: don't leave them on overnight (and now I can't find the site that it was on...)
light bulbs:
-incandescent: whenever you leave the room
-compact fluorescent: if it'll be off for at least 15 minutes
(the longer time is due to decreasing bulb life by turning it off and on; not the power actually used)
-office fluorescent: off for 5 minutes

related articles from Mythbusters and the U.S. Department of Energy

You are a force, you are a constant source
Yeah, you are a shining light
Incandescent into the darkest night
Yeah, you are shining light

My life, would suck, without you...

2009-04-04T16:44:00.002-04:00

I am faced with a weekend with not a lot to do. Nice, but a little unfamiliar.

Granted, a friend of mine will be in town tomorrow evening, and I'll be heading to dinner with her. But otherwise, nada.

Then again, maybe I should just veg this weekend, and prepare for the upcoming week (Y Nationals are in town, and I'll be at the pool for work for those all week).

Guess I will see how things play out...

Being with you
Is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn't miss you
But I can't let you go, oh yeah

To see life as fun and take it if we can

2009-04-02T20:30:00.001-04:00

For whatever strange reason, today I entered next month's U.S. Masters Nationals in Fresno, California. I say that, as I've not really been in the water swimming, other than once a week or so, since the end of February. So the fact that I've signed up for a meet, on the other side of the country, seems a bit strange. But, it also gives me a great ~~excuse~~ reason to have a month-long crash training program. I even already have my plane ticket (which wasn't too terribly priced).

Though I still get perplexed by the fact that the meet will at Clovis North High School, which is actually in Frenso and not Clovis.... oh well.

Understand what I've become
It wasn't my design
And people everywhere think
Something better than I am

But what I know now, it's not always a happy ending

2009-03-30T23:11:00.003-04:00

The Horns, they put up a valiant effort and good fight; but, alas, twas not enough.

After leading for most of this weekend's NCAA Men's Division I Swimming & Diving Championships, the Texas men's swimming & diving team (those aforementioned "Horns") finished second at NCAAs on Saturday. Final team standings:
1. Auburn--526
2. Texas--487
3. Stanford--460.5
4. California--350 (the Cal women won the women's meet last weekend)
5. Florida--324

But, in relation to the meet I'm less perplexed/dismayed by the Horns finishing second, than I am by the relays. Texas set American Records in 4 of the 5 relays, with the only relay not broken being one held by the Texas club team that had 3 event World Record Holders on it at the time. The fact that 2 of these relays finished 4th (200 Free-1:15.90) and 5th (200 Medley-1:23.97) is what is baffling to me... (the 2nd place finishing 400 F.R.--2:47.02--less so, and the winning 800 F.R.--6:10.16--even less).

The records, themselves, don't phase me so much (thanks you suits); the places, however (which are due to at least one non-USA swimmer being on each relay ahead of them) do.

But hey, look at me, I don't feel like cryin', no-woah

And who said, love is a game?
And who said, love can be gambled, gambled away? Yeah

Saturday night's alright for fighting

2009-03-28T13:55:00.004-04:00

Earth Hour is an initiative of the World Wildlife Fund to help raise awareness of global warming (but it also sees a good way to notice ambient light pollution, as well). You can do your part/participate simply by turning off unnecessary lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. tonight (your local time).

An article on what's already happened today around the globe (e.g. since it's already been tonight in Sydney, Australia).

Saturday night's alright for fighting

Get a little action in

It's the pattern of my life

2009-03-24T23:11:00.003-04:00

I will rant a bit....

One of my peeves are people who leave email signatures intact, when their purpose/function is not needed. For example, the co-worker (in the office down the hall) who lets you know (with every email) the address and phone number of the office you're both in. This I've learned to deal with. I tune it out (ignore it) in much the same way I tune out, say, the plethora of "important information" envelopes I receive from credit card companies (and on a side note, cc guys, you're at/near the point where I will stop paying attention to anything you send me, including bills, so if you want to get paid: quit sending junk mail to me!).

Anyways, back to the signatures. My co-workers do it, and I just try to make sure I stay aware of when I use my signature and what it says, in hopes that the delivery will be effective too.

The actual catalyst for today's post is related to this. Recently, I've been getting emails from an address that is supposed to be one of my neighbors (and given that two of my other neighbors may very shortly go into default on their condos, you might be able to imagine that I've gotten a few emails from my other neighbors). Anyways, the signature on one of the emails is a name I don't know. It may be her boyfriend/fiance/husband, or someone other rather person. I don't know.

The fun/scary part, is that she appears too... unable to remove the signature from the emails. Or maybe I've just been emailing the wrong person (who understands everything going on).

In any case, people, don't get so lazy that you can't delete a signature from an email for people that don't need to get it.

It's the pattern of my life
When you care and you cannot feel
And you know that it's for real

Too much is not enough

2009-03-20T11:11:00.004-04:00

And now a definition from my trusty Mac Dictionary:

con•vo•lu•ted
adjective
(esp. of an argument, story or sentence) extremely complex and difficult to follow

As in: The 11-pages of instructions were so convoluted that it made it difficult to know what to actually do.

Don't check; just balance on the fence
Don't answer; don't ask
Don't try and make sense

Turn my head with talk of summertime

2009-03-18T22:05:00.007-04:00

So, shortly after I got home last night from the Panthers hockey game, it started raining here in Fort Lauderdale (say around 11 p.m.). And it was not a light rain, in fact it was quite heavy.

Now an interesting aspect about the rain that I've experienced here in South Florida is that it has never really been consistent. Sure, during the summer it will rain daily for 30-60 minutes in the early-mid afternoon, and on occasion a day will have a few waves of rain. But those rains are usually fairly light, and pass through.

The bizarre thing about today's rain is that it's now 10 p.m., and it's still raining and hasn't really stopped since last night at 11 when it started. It's also been fairly heavy all day. Adding to this is the fact that it's not really rained here since September/October sometime....

In other random-news, over the weekend, swimming federations in Chad and Djibouti became members of FINA. This prompted me to wonder if the latter is supposed to be pronounced "Did ya booty", as if one where asking about some cool new dance craze one might do. Strangely enough, Wikipedia's entry on the country (linked above) has pronunciations in Arabic and Somali, which while they may be the official languages of the country and therefore the official way to say the country name, doesn't really help me too much (given my grand lack of knowledge of the 2 languages).

So I looked the country up in my trusty dictionary, only to be dismayed to see that there, the "d" was not only not pronounced, but the "ji" apparently is really a ji sound (rather than ja), and so the country's name is "ji-boo-tee". Not nearly as fun--pesky silent d! Course it does help that the capital city is also named Djibouti, so one could be from or in Djibouti, Djibouti (Did ya booty, ji booty).

Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

2009-03-17T22:04:00.006-04:00

Work is keeping me a tad busy at the moment, so just a short note to say:

Happy
St. Patrick's
Day!

And to mention that I went to my 1st NHL game tonight, which was fine. I did not fallen in love with hockey, nor did the Panthers win against the Capitols. But I did have a good time. The fact that I went to the game with a visiting Canadian, who is a hockey fan, helped things out (as did his amazement that one could get 2 seats for $30--course, he lives in a town where the NHL team sells-out every night, so the half-empty seating for the game also was a surprise... but it does help explain the cheap ticket price).

Backbeat, the word is on the street
That the fire in your heart is out.
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt

Set adrift on memory bliss

2009-03-09T23:11:00.003-04:00

I survived the meet this weekend, which for the most part went smoothly--I just ended up helping out for almost the entire weekend to help make sure it did. I don't mind so much that I did; it just would've been nice to hang out with people on my team more. The meet ended on 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (after started at 9:30 a.m.), and ran at a fairly good pace.

The only semi-qualm I ended up having was that because I was helping with the timing, I didn't get to warm up for any of my events. But then again, as I seem to have been swimming better while not warming up (á la Meira, for those in the know), it wasn't too bad.

As for times, results for the meet have ~~yet to~~ been posted online. When they do, I'll update the items below, but until then, here's what I vaguely recollect that I did.

Friday (03/06/09) night
-200 free (r.l.o.): 1:58.38 (57.27/1:01.11)
(the other event on Friday was the mile, and as the meet started at 4 p.m., I would not have been able to make my heat for it)

Saturday
-400 IM--4:29.48 (1:00.40/1:09.02/1:17.68/1:02.38)
-50 free (r.s.)--23.86
-200 free--1:56.87 (56.97/59.90)
-100 fly--57.25 (27.09/30.16)
-100 back (r.l.o.)--57.55 (28.03/29.52)

Sunday
-50 fly (r.s.)--24.72
-100 free--53.38 (26.08/27.30)
-200 back--2:12.17 (1:06.10/1:06.67)
-100 free (r.s.)--51.93 (25.39/26.64)

Then you know I can't remember a damn thing
I think its one of those déjà vu things
Or a dream that's trying to tell me something
Or will I ever stop thinking about it
I don't know, I doubt it

Three is a magic number, yes it is

2009-03-06T23:11:00.003-05:00

At work today I received an (unsolicited) email from a company that provides membership software. After a cursory glance at the content, I determined it as a copy of the same, exact email that I had received the day before from the same, unknown person.

As I thought this pattern indicative of a potential trend, and because I'm not in need of membership software at the moment, I responded to today's email with:

"If you are going to email me daily, please remove me from you distribution list. Thank you.
-Matt"

I thought this nice and to-the-point, and also allowed an opening to not only state that the emails wouldn't be daily but also to ask why I would comment as such. So I was somewhat surprised with the response I received:

"Matt
You had a spelling error below -- "please remove me from you distribution list" -- but I will remove you from our distribution list. Continued success to you in the future.
Regards,"
and the person's standard email signature.

Now, granted, in a given day I tend to make a lot of these typos, which I blame on the current work pace I attempt to keep in-office (thought it's not to say I am not trying to get not have them). However, I was quite surprised that this "Account Executive" (aka salesman) responded as he did.... Call me crazy.

But then again, today I also sat through two cycles of the stoplight nearest my office without it turning green, before I turned right to u-turn my way through the intersection, so maybe it was just today.

In other news, a Masters meet kicked off today and which ended rather late tonight (9:40). It continues tomorrow and Sunday, and hopefully will run smoothly... we shall see.

3-6-9
Twelve, fifteen, eighteen
Twenty-one, twenty-four, twenty-seven
Thirty

It's a comedy of errors you see

2009-03-04T22:10:00.001-05:00

So... last week a rare and wondrous thing happened: I paid off one of my credit cards. (woo-hoo!!!!)

Today, I got a notice from said card that my new statement was ready. I logged into my account, and I owe $1.48--a bank fee.

Now, it's not a lot, and I don't mind paying it so much. What I do mind is that I paid the freaking card off! And I even attempted to overpay the card, so I could cover what I thought would be the charge that would come (this is not the first time that this has happened to me). But I couldn't overpay: it wouldn't let me.

Anyways, before I went to pay tonight, I called the card company to make sure that I wouldn't get another statement again next month, this time saying I owed $0.01. I ended up speaking to a gentleman with an Indian accent, who was apparently in a room with a compatriot nearby (who was on the phone with someone else). I then went on good behavior and did not ask if he'd seen Slumdog Millionaire.

Instead, I inadvertantly got a credit on my account for the fee... almost right after I'd authorized the payment from my bank of the funds. So, I will probably now have a credit on the account. Ahh the fun.

Do you miss me, Miss Misery
Like you say you do

It winds, from Chicago to L.A. Over 2 thousand miles all the way

2009-03-01T15:01:00.011-05:00

I did not get my kicks on Route 66 this weekend, as I was not 'motoring' to the West. Rather, I was on Route 49 and Route 61 (and apparently went through the rather famous intersection of the two). Route 49 traversed me across Eastern Arkansas and Old Man River (i.e. the Mississippi River) into Mississippi and to US-61. Route 61 took me down through Mississippi Delta country--the birthplace of Blues music--and to Cleveland, MS where the wedding I was headed to occurred. Oh, and I did get to the church on time [from yesterday's post], just not without working batteries in my camera (so, alas, no pictures of the ceremony nor reception).

So a timeline of yesterday:

Saturday 2/28.
6 a.m. (Eastern) : My flight departs Fort Lauderdale and I proceed to sleep all the way to Memphis.

7:50 a.m. (Central): Arrive Memphis airport. Grab some breakfast, and proceed to watch an episode of Torchwood (Season 2) in the hour before my flight boards.

9:30 a.m.: Board flight to Little Rock. Schedule departure time: 10:00 a.m.

10:50 a.m.: Flight actually leaves for Little Rock (50 minutes late), following a paperwork delay that kept us from departing (and also had me bemoaning the fact that I hadn't gotten my laptop out to watch a second episode of Torchwood...).

11:20 a.m.: Arrive Little Rock, only 20 minutes late (apparently there was a lot of "buffer" time for the flight--scheduled to take 53 minutes, with a flight time of 29 minutes).

11:40 a.m.: Given a bright yellow Chevy Cobalt coupe [pictured at right] from the rental car people, and get on the road for my projected 3-hour drive to Cleveland.

Noon: Get on to Interstate 40 and start heading back toward Memphis. (4 hours until the wedding)

1 p.m.: Leave I-40 for Route 49 at Brinkley, AR. In town, see a Magnolia tree in full bloom in a house yard off on the side of the road. Note to try to snap a picture of it on the way back (today) when I have time. Unfortunately, due to either overnight snow/cold or the time of day, the buds are closed and less of a spectacle than the day before (but I still grabbed the shot anyways). (3 hours until the wedding)

1:30 p.m.: Pass through Marvell, AR, and have a surprisingly strong cell signal which continues the rest of way. Made further strange by the lack of cell signal I had while on the "big" road (I-40). Ponder whether I'll really be in Cleveland by 3 in order to make the 4 p.m. wedding.

2:00 p.m.: An obnoxious bright yellow arc is formed, as the Cobalt and I traverse The River, entering the State of Mississippi. Approximately 60 miles to Cleveland. (2 hours until the wedding)

2:20(ish) p.m.: Pass a sign reading "Alligator Right Lane" (sister of the one pictured above), and think it strange that there's a sign to let people know there's an animal in the right lane.... (Alligator, MS is a town in the Delta region.)

3:01 p.m.: Arrive Cleveland, MS! Check into Econolodge. (1 hour until the wedding)

3:15 p.m.: Emerge from shower and start to get dress for the wedding. Bummed (slightly) that no iron is present in room, but given the time remaining figure I don't really have time to iron my clothes (which aren't really wrinkled) let alone wait whilst one is brought to my room.

3:30 p.m.: Leave hotel for church. Follow most-excellent directions provided by the bride, and go straight to the church (passing Delta State University in the process, and not inadvertantly driving to the wrong church which neighbors where I'm supposed to head). (3o minutes until the wedding)

3:45 p.m.: Arrive at church, say hello to mother-of-the-bride and get introduced to the bride's father. Sit down in the chapel, and begin to see if I can find anyone I know. A few minutes later, "Mama" finds me and escorts me to see the bride (at the bride's request--she looks great).

4:00 p.m.: Wedding starts, exactly on time. Church is completely full, including people standing in the back. The wedding includes my discovery that the batteries in my camera are dead (I bought a replacement pair this morning before leaving town), and an Irish (Catholic) Priest, who says "y'all" at one point during the ceremony. (Yes, that's right: an Irish Catholic priest, saying a colloquial "y'all" in his Irish-accented English).

4:50 p.m. (or so): Ceremony ends. A mad-dash/drive to the nearby Cleveland Country Club ensues as people move on to the reception.

5:20 p.m.: First dance happens, with the band's volume equaled by the din created by 200+ people chatting all around. It is right around this point that I realize I know 2 people there: the bride and her mom (and possibly 1 other person).

5:40 p.m. (or so): Cakes (wedding and groom's) have been cut (and notice Vanessa--this is way, way, way, way, way before midnight ;-). Enjoying myself and viewing the Southern spectacle going on around me. Southern hospitality shines as some "swimming" people come up and introduce themselves to me: I begin to suspect the bride's family has asked them to come say hello so that I might be able to talk to some folks (though I am having a good time just "observing", and don't mind just hanging out and watching).

7:00 p.m.: I head out from the reception, and back to the hotel to prep for today's return (but not before the bride and her sorority sisters have done some sorority chant thing on the dancefloor). Reception continues until 9 p.m. I leave wake-up call for 9 a.m.

As for this morning, I ended up waking up and getting on the road early (and, regretfully missing a brunch with the newlyweds later in the morning). But it was a good thing I did get on the road early, as there was a light snow overnight (maybe an inch) and it also gave me time to grab some photos on the way (like the one at right of one of the bright green fields I passed on the way back).

The drive back went smoothly and was quite nice. The only troublesome thing that occurred happened on the back third of the drive, on I-40, when accumulated snow kept falling off of semi-trucks and into the road in front of me.

I ended up arriving at the airport around 12:40 p.m., way early for my 4:30 flight. But then I had time to write this, another post from an airport (as well as grab some lunch). And now my flight has been delayed to 6 p.m... hopefully, I'll make my connection back to Fort Lauderdale.

If you, ever plan to motor West
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best
Get your kicks, on Route 66

But get me to the church on time

2009-02-28T05:05:00.004-05:00

I once again have an early morning call at the airport. Actually, this morning I'm so early (5:05 a.m.) that there's really not that many people here. And strangely enough, I'm at the same gate that I was at at Christmas time, when a zillion cruise passengers were leaving (a lot less crowded is a good thing).

My early departure today is due to the fact that I'm trying to make a wedding at 4 p.m. today in Cleveland, Mississippi. I'm flying to Memphis and then Little Rock, arriving at the Arkansas capital around 11 a.m. Then there's a 3-hour drive to Cleveland... which means I'll probably arrive into town with just barely enough time to get dressed and get to the church.

Hopefully, I'll make it ok.... and I hope to sleep for most of the two flights. And tomorrow's return should be easier: I have a few more hours to get back to Little Rock for the return flight. My plane preps to boards, hasta....

~~I'm~~ My friend's getting married in ~~the morning~~ this afternoon
Ding, dong the bells are going to chime

Kinda faded but I feel alright

2009-02-24T20:39:00.004-05:00

Another Mardi Gras is upon me... and beginning tomorrow I will attempt to give up my morning stop at 7-Eleven. The big change will most likely be the decreased caffeine consumption, as I won't be grabbing a large Dr Pepper each morning. Hopefully I won't be too tire, nor have too many headaches from it.

Maybe I'll be able to distract myself by further disecting the winners from Sunday night's Academy Awards (Kate won! and did Penélope Cruz--who may have been robbed for Volver a few years ago). And I've also got Torchwood to watch... which reminds me, I should get to watching that. Adieu....

I'm kinda faded but I feel alright
Thinking about making my move tonight

I'm trouble y'all, I disturb my entire town

2009-02-22T18:36:00.003-05:00

So I spent most of this weekend, swimming at the 2009 edition of Fort Lauderdale Masters Challenge.

Well, more correctly, I spent most of my weekend at the pool for the Masters Challenge: I swam just 3 events and a relay over the 3 days, so I really didn't swim the whole time I was there. But I was at the pool for a lot of it. Times from the meet:

Friday
1000 free: 10:37.42

Saturday
50 free (relay): 24.63
500 free: 5:03.92

Sunday
1,650 free: 17:19.67 (my 1000 split was 10:30.24...)

Faster than a few weeks ago at the Plantation meet in the 500 and 1000, and slower than last year's Challenge.

And with that, I will leave you to watch the Torchwood Season 1 DVDs I have checked out from the library... (yeah, the Oscars are on, but my lack of receiving t.v. stations puts a damper on me watching them... but I do look forward to digesting things tomorrow).

I got trouble
Yeah trouble now
I'm trouble y'all
I got trouble in my town

Calls to mind the silver screen, and all its sad goodbyes

2009-02-15T12:34:00.002-05:00

What is going on with movie ticket prices? Yesterday, I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which I quite liked.

I went to see the near-3 hour movie at a matinee showing... and paid $7.50. $7.50! I remember the night price being $6.25 a few years ago... course the night price here is $9.25 (it just went up last month from $8.75, which was also outrageous). The other day, I contemplated whether I should work at one of the theaters to a concession stand worker, to which she responded that they only made minimum wage. I pointed out that making minimum wage, and not having to pay $9 to see a movie would be more than ok.

And while on the topic of movie prices, what's even worse: some of the theaters here are going to 1 matinee a day. Apparently, gone are the days that matinees went to 6 p.m. everyday. Now, it's 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 4 p.m. on Friday-Sunday.

I hope the theaters don't wonder if attendance is down....

To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is the horror you'll find

Black cat gonna cross my path; no reason to run and hide

2009-02-13T23:11:00.002-05:00

Today is the first of 2 consecutive months with Friday the 13^th's this year (a cool little function of 28 being divisible by 7--i.e. there's exactly 4 full weeks in a 28-day February...). I spent part of today arranging travel to Cleveland, Mississippi (it's in the center of the picture at right).

I'm heading to Cleveland, MS later this month for a friend's wedding. When I went to book my flight there (after finding out it was a 16-hour drive from FtL), I initially tried to fly right into Cleveland--hoping that would work. So I typed in "Cleveland, Mississippi", hit enter, and Travelocity brought up a whole bunch of flight options... to Cleveland, Ohio.

After checking with my friend, I then started investigating flights to Jackson, Memphis and Greenville (which is only like 20 miles from Cleveland). Through some bizarreness, flying up Saturday and back Sunday ended up cheaper than flying up Friday night (not sure why). Likewise, Jackson proved much cheaper (about $150) as the fly-in city, compared to Memphis ($330) or Greenville ($630).

Alas, there was a slight snag with the Jackson flight: the 2 return options were either:

Jackson-->Memphis-->Houston-->Fort Lauderdale
Jackson-->Houston-->Memphis-->Fort Lauderdale

(and both were leaving around noon, and getting into FtL around 11:30 p.m.--the fun)

As I was pondering whether I really wanted to take a tour-de-airports, I thought: maybe I could just fly into Jackson and out of Memphis... which I could do for twice the price (makes sense, right? Fly less, and pay more...). I also didn't understand why the reservation didn't just park me in Houston/Memphis for longer, and wait for the later FtL flight at that airport (but that may have had to do with some default settings about how long on can be laid-over in an airport). In any case, I decided to go with one of the ~~tours~~ flights, only to have it be gone by the time I went to book. The fare then jumped up to $250, at which point I noticed that Little Rock appears to about the same distance....

So, I'm now flying into Little Rock (via Memphis) and back. I would really prefer to just fly in and out of Memphis, but if the airlines want me to fly more to pay less, so be it: I can be a willing captive for a bit longer. I just don't completely understand it.

You got a bad, bad reputation
Gonna hang down your head and cry
You got bad, bad luck

Take a chance, you just might grow

2009-02-10T23:11:00.003-05:00

Much to the amusement of my sister, a few months ago I planted some redwood seeds (sequoia sempervirens, to be exact) and set them a-growing in my office.

At one point, I had about 8 or 9 sprouts growing, but at various stages, and mostly shortly after my being out of town, some have died off. This was mostly due to a lack of water while away (redwoods need a bunch of water).

At the moment, 4 sprouts remain--3 of which are pictured at left (the 4^th is in the farthest container in the shot--on the upper right side--but in the part of the container not in the picture).

In any case I wanted to share a picture. Hopefully some of these guys will make it to a repotting stage.

Naturally I'm worried if I do it alone
Who really cares 'cause it's your life
You never know, it could be great
...
What you waiting, what you waiting, what you waiting, what you waiting, what you waiting for?

It's just a thought, only a thought

2009-02-07T00:34:00.004-05:00

So recently, a few of my friends have "tagged" me with at "25 things about me" note on Facebook (it might be a crossed-over survey from MySpace). Of late I've been rather delinquent on keeping up with my FB stuff, so I've not actually been able to peruse the notes my friends have tagged me to, nor have I been able to write my own in response.

I went to start my list the other day, and thought to include the top-25 songs on my iTunes. But I soon realized there was probably too much encapsulated in my iTunes top-25 for it to be 1 of a list of 25. So instead, it's going here. I will preface (Mom: envision a dash between the "e" and "f" ;-) ) it with a few notes:

a few songs in the list (still) benefit from their longer history on my computer (e.g. the fact that those 2 KT Tunstall songs).
#2 should probably be #1, but I've got 3 versions of it (live audio, live video, and the original audio) dividing its total.
and I'm surprised by some of my 5-star songs that aren't anywhere near being in the top ("One" by U2, "Circle" by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians).

But enough commentary: time to let the list speak....

The top-25 songs in my iTunes (play # as of 2/7/09):

#1--I Don't Feel Like Dancing Scissor Sisters (111)
You think I could muster up a little soft-shoe gentle sway, but I don't feel like dancin', no sir no dancin' today

#2--Nobody Knows Me [live] Madonna (100)
It's no fun, but the damage is done...

#3--Holiday in My Head Smash Mouth (93)
Do you believe everything that you read, everything that you see on the set?

#4--Restless Alison Krauss & Union Station (88)
There's a restless feeling in my bones, and I know that at times it just won't go away

#5--Time Sarah McLachlan (87)
Time, here, all but means nothing, just shadows that move cross the wall

#6--Red Red Red Fiona Apple (82)
But all I can see is red, red, red, red now... what am I gonna do

#7--Life for Rent Dido (82)
[I didn't know I'd not used this yet!--sweet, I'll use it here :) ]

#8--Black Horse and the Cherry Tree KT Tunstall (80)
With a big black horse & a cherry tree...

#9--Poster Girl Backstreet Boys (78)
I'm falling in love with the right-now poster girl

#10--Land of Canaan Indigo Girls (78)
Well the meaning's changed, for what it's worth, it's just a senseless game...

#11--Standing Still Jewel (77)
Or am I standing still, with the scenery flying by

#12--Minority Green Day (76)
I want to be the minority, I don't need your authority, down with the moral majority

#13--Just One of Those Things Diana Krall (74)
It was just, one of those things; just one of those crazy flings

#14--Suddenly I See KT Tunstall (72)
Suddenly I see, this is what I want to be

#15--Nothing Left to Lose Mat Kearney (71)
Come on and we'll sing... like we were free... push the pedal down, watch the around, fly by us

#16--L.A. Song Beth Hart (70)
Man I'm gonna get outta this town

#17--Left of Center Suzanne Vega (70)
If you want me, you can find me, left of center off of the strip

#18--Bleed Like Me Garbage (69)
Definitely a song here because it's one that's been in my iTunes the longest.... There are other songs by Garbage that I'd prefer to be here. I'm actually perplexed by this one. Not that I don't like the song, but I'm still perplexed.

#19--What You Waiting For? Gwen Stefani (69)
Take a chance, you just might grow

#20--Trouble P!nk (68)
I'm trouble y'all, I disturb my entire town

#21--Si voy a Perdete Gloria Estefan (67)
Si voy a perderte ya

#22--Fotografía Juanes & Nelly Furtado (66)
En la distancia te puedo ver, cuando tus fotos me siento a ver

#23--Imitation of Life REM (66)
C'mon, c'mon, no one can see you try

#24--Foolish Games Jewel (64)
You took your coat off, and stood in the rain; you're always crazy like that

#25--Always on Your Side Sheryl Crow (63)
My yesterdays are all boxed up and neatly put away, but every now and then you come to mind

And tied with #25 at 63 plays are:
-Over My Head (Cable Car) -- The Fray
-Time -- Hootie & the Blowfish
-Is It Any Wonder? -- Keane

But if my life... is for rent
And I don't, learn, to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
'Cause nothing I have... is truly mine

Here's a quarter, call someone who cares

2009-02-06T19:07:00.001-05:00

Last night I finalized my 2008 Federal taxes and sent them in, and I'll be getting a nice amount back as a refund, which is cool. And I'm way happy about the hybrid car credit I got, which helped to considerably increase my return.

I'm a little dismayed, however, by 3 things of late... all aimed at helping to revive parts of the sagging U.S. economy. All of which I just miss out on, 2 of which apparently because I was ahead of some trend.

1. There's (now) a first-time home buyer's credit that went in effect for purchases beginning in April 2008. Apparently, I was a year-and-a-half ahead of this, as that's when I bought my place. So strike 1 (I think it's more of a government loan with no interest, though...).
2. Congress is contemplating a new car purchase credit for this year (2009). But I just bought my new car last year (strike 2).
3. And Congress is rumored to be looking at encouraging a mortgage rate decrease. Of course, if this is anything like the previous drops in the past year or so, it won't do me any good. I'm not in a position to refinance my loan to get a better rate (low/negative equity in my home, combined with the ~~depressed~~ re-adjusted local market, make me a no qualifier or that I just have to pay the amount in fees that the dropped rate would save me). And what's even worse: I'm trying to do the right thing: not be in trouble with my bills, staying current/on-time in my payments, etc. Yet, no reward/pay-off for me for my good, appropriate behavior... (which is a bummer).

Life sucks as an adult, sometimes... but I just try to laugh about it, and be ok that I can make my payments, and balance the debt I have and not worry too much about the retirement I'm not really saving for or the insurance I don't have, et al. One day it'll get better--that's my hope for change.

Call someone who'll listen and might give a damn
Maybe one of your sorted affairs
But don't you come 'round here handin' me none of your lines
Here's a quarter, call someone who cares

If you're gonna do it, do it right

2009-02-04T22:10:00.003-05:00

Call me good

I saw The Reader while in Columbus: it was good (once I got past the minor/adult affair that's a key point to the plot).
I got upgraded to First Class for the second half of my return flight home, allowing me to finish watching The Last of the Mohicans on my plugged-in laptop (the were power plugs in the seat).
The Year of the Ox stamps I order were waiting for me when I returned home (that's it pictured).
Tonight I found a really good reason to love the car I did get (rather than the one I didn't): because I bought a hybrid (and the type of hybrid I got) I get a $1,050 tax credit, which appears to be boosting my tax return from a $400 refund to a $1400 refund. And I'm paying half as much money for gas as I was and its better for the environment (so all that and a bag of chips).
After 3 months, I finally finished reading The Secret Agent over the weekend.
I found a cool version of Josh Joplin singing I Am Not the Only Cowboy, live in Atlanta on YouTube....

Call me bad

I am now back in Florida, and the cold weather appears to have followed me, somewhat. The low tonight for there area is in the high 30's: quite cold for here (particularly when exiting the water in an outdoor pool).
I completely missed getting a free Grand Slam at Denny's (I read about it shortly after the 2 p.m. end time yesterday).
Last month, I put a request in with my local library to check-out a DVD. I was put on a waiting list due to all copies being checked out at the time. Well, turns out, my turn for checking it out came... and went over the weekend. Apparently, the library has a 5-day holding period before it goes to the next person. My 5 days were Jan.28-Feb.2 (basically while I was gone in Ohio).

Call me anything...

I heard Wham!'s I'm Your Man while driving the other day... which got me bouncing a wee bit in my car as well as go the song stuck in my head. (The song itself, made me smile, so I guess that's a good thing, no? And looking it up on YouTube is making me bummed that I missed seeing George Michael in concert when he was here last year... particularly since the entire audience seems to be singing along.... :-/ )

I don't need you to care
I don't need you to understand
All I want is for you to be there
And when I'm turned on, if you want me
I'm your man

If it makes you happy...

2009-02-02T05:15:00.007-05:00

I find myself again at the airport terribly earlier in the morning. Instead of Fort Lauderdale, however, I await in Columbus for my flight back.

Yesterday went alright. There was a House marathon on t.v. to keep me occupied while I avoided watching the Super Bowl and was packing up. And the snow began to melt in earnest yesterday, leading some stream-like flows in through the yet melted ice/snow, like that at left.

It also led to some exposed earth patches and clear sidewalks, and I feared would lead to ice on the roads this morning. However, I appear to have missed the ice... or maybe my driving to the airport at 4 a.m. was before the ice could form--like the ice didn't want to be up and about that early, either.

And did someone say groundhog?

If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad

You see I got a four-leaf clover

2009-01-31T18:50:00.006-05:00

Greetings from snowy Columbus, Ohio. Things here are cold and white, as evident in the picture at right from just outside my hotel room. But, as luck would have it, I apparently arrived the day after the really bad weather, which was Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Columbus got around 2 feet of snow--the remnants are what is pictured. The weather was such that the Ohio State University, where I've been this weekend, canceled classes on Wednesday. It was the first time in 20 years that classes have been canceled due to weather.

Things on the whole go well, and I'm actually not too cold (other than a brief stint this morning when my hands got chilled through my gloves...). I'm chalking up my warmth to the lined, suede coat I brought with me (it's so heavy, it broke the hanger it was on). But otherwise, not much to report.

I will mention that while landing I noticed a novelty (for me, at least): there was a cloud layer in the area, blocking the view of the ground with its white fluffiness. As the plane went through the layer, I kept waiting to see a green/brown/colorful earth emerge below; only to be met with a snow-blanketed whiteness of the ground below. There was really no contrast between the clouds and the ground. Probably not such a big deal to those "in the snow", but it was novel for me.

See, I have been thinking it over
It's all just a little too much
You see I have got a four-leaf clover
It's gotta bring a little luck

I started on a journey, about a year ago; To a little town called Morrow in the State of Ohio

2009-01-29T06:36:00.004-05:00

This morning again finds me in the Fort Lauderdale airport, awaiting a flight. Today, I am headed to Columbus, Ohio, for a clinic this weekend at the Ohio State University.

And due to yesterday's snow that fell on Ohio (and other parts of the Midwest), odds are I will not be making a random trek out to Morrow, Ohio: roughly 80 miles southwest of Columbus. (Morrow's actually closer to Cincinnati--only about 30 miles.)

Actually, I'm just hoping I don't freeze while in OH: the temperature range for this weekend is supposed to be 7° - 37°.... Fun, fun, fun. Course, I will be saved because I found my snow hat and remembered a (very) heavy coat that I have (and have yet to really get to wear--there being no real need for it here in South Florida).

But my flight boards: hasta...

"The train today to Morrow leaves today at 8:35
At half-past ten tomorrow is the time it should arrive
So if from here to Morrow is a fourteen hour jump
Can you go today to Morrow and get back today, you chump?"

Tonight the Super Trouper lights are gonna find me

2009-01-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

The Year of the Ox returns!

It also happens to be Australia Day, as well... but the Chinese New Year is just so much cooler, this year at least, as I'm actually an Ox myself (appropriately enough, I'm a water ox, apparently).

Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one

You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

2009-01-24T01:24:00.002-05:00

So the Oscar nominations came out this week... and I've only seen 1 of the Best Picture nominees. One!

But now I feel compelled to see some of the other nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (long... but Cate's in it, at least, and I liked Tender is the Night)
Frost/Nixon (not sure if I'll get to this)
Milk (wouldn't mind seeing it...)
The Reader (Kate's in this, as is Ralph--2 of my faves--but I was wary when it was out and I don't know if it's now playing locally)
Slumdog Millionaire (the one I've seen, twice--it was good)

Guess I really should check out Reader and Button: they're also up for cinematography (and I tend to be a cinematography junkie).

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone
So ya got to please yourself