Make-up: High school I did, but nothing major. College I didn’t wear any (make up, that is!). And for a while in college, my typical outfit was jeans, flannel shirt, and my brown leather hiking boots with red shoe laces (b/c I saw a J Crew catalog that had hiking boots with red shoe laces that I loved, and so I tried to do a low-budget version of that – which resulted as me being known around campus as the “girl with the red shoe laces”). I was so crunchy that Will actually had to ask me to dress like a girl every once in a while.
So, since living in Texas, I now dress like a girl on a regular basis and wear makeup. MAC, Too Faced, or Urban Decay, to be specific. And I like girly things now too*. I didn’t realize how girly I am until coming out to MA for work this week. Especially at that women’s lunch thingy yesterday. I think I was the ONLY one in the room (of about 40) wearing both mascara and eyeshadow. And not beige boring eyeshadow – PURPLE SHIMMERY eyeshadow! And don’t even get me started on how many people are in dire need of an eyebrow waxing or plucking hairs out of facial moles (I was just in a meeting with a lady who had to have at least 5 black ½” hairs growing out of a mole in her cheek – eee! Don’t most people want to take care of things like that?)
And in this lunch meeting yesterday, I was the ONLY person to be wearing high heels (stylish black leather boots w/heels).
And now, I’m here, after observing how crunchy these people are, and I’m wondering if they’re referring to me as “that girl from the Houston office with the heels and a LOT of makeup?” eeks! That’s Texas exemplified! Not that I’m going to go to work tomorrow w/out makeup (scary!) but damn, Texas has really girlified me. Damn.
*yeah, so I really do have a serious addiction to Lush. To the point where I’m now having packages shipped to my office b/c I don’t want Will to realize just how much I’ve purchased. Since Feb – I’ve placed 6 (!!) orders. But to my credit – with every order, I got at least $10 of free stuff (sometimes upwards of $60 in freebies). In fact, I have one box containing 10 freebies and 1 L of shower gel in my office under my desk waiting for me to get back and take it home and I should have one more box delivered to the house Friday. And then I go and lurk on the Lush web forum and see a posting about a party at the Lush store in Boston and how if you RSVP, you’ll get a FREE goodie bag! Free! Goodies! How can I say no?!?! And if the store won’t take my 2-for-1 promo code (I don’t have paper coupons) for some lotion (that I’m getting for my friend for her b’day next month – but I’ll keep the free one, even though I just ordered 2 for myself and got them last week…..) then I’ll most likely place ANOTHER order for that lotion online. I. have. a. problem! But at least I smell good!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Monday night in Boston
I was very lame last night after work. Went to the grocery store for snacks. Then I took the world's worst pilates class at the gym at the hotel (its actually a health club for people who aren't guests). It was this older (50's maybe?) lady who popped in a Prince CD, and instead of providing directions or telling what to focus on, she mouthed the lyrics of the Prince songs. And I don't particularly care for Prince, so this feature wasn't appreciated to me. And peppy musich during pilates? Anyways, it was horrible on many levels. At some point during the "workout" she went into cat pose (you're on your hands and knees with your back arched or flat). Now, most instructors face sideways to the class so you can see how they're positioned and doing the moves. This lady was "facing" us ass first. So, I got to look at her bony tight-fitting yoga pant covered ass - complete with wear marks where her ass-bones are. Lovely! And you couldn't see what the hell poses she was doing. Another fun series of poses was where you are lying on your back, then lift your feet/legs straight up in the air above your head and do random (to me) leg movements while in that position. Which really, what purpose does this serve except to put a lot of pressure on your neck as your entire body weight presses down on it. I left halfway into it b/c I was getting nothing out of it and her poses was really random and awful.
I then ate dinner at the hotel bar/lounge. Had a Concord Pale Ale (eh) and listened to some lady bitch about how she was a "high powered executive" in Orange County, CA and got a DUI and lost her license b/c the cops in OC are on the hunt for DUI offenders to raise the tax base. Or some crap like that. It was annoying but funny at the same time.
See - LAME! Tonight should be better. My friend from back home that now lives in Baltimore is in Boston for work so we're having dinner/drinks tonight! Woo!
Musings from Bawston
Work sent me to the Boston area for the week to help out with my OKC project (only with our Boston engineering staff). I’ve never been to MA before, so this is a nice little adventure for me. It got off to a bad start – Delta and the black hole of Atlanta (yes I know, I should have expected this) lost my luggage. Or rather severely delayed its arrival. I blamed this, of course, on the fact that I was one state over from my friend who always loses her luggage (unless she’s going on a trip with me). Hey, I passed on my freak magnet-ism to her. She lost my luggage. Ok?
Hotel is ok – its some local conference/inn kinda place. Found a pool to swim at. There haven’t been any sightings of freaky people swimming in street clothes or with full-on snorkel gear, so that’s cool. I’ve had frost on my windshield both mornings, which makes me happy.
So, today at lunch, there was an organized “Women’s Leadership [Something or other]” meeting. I suppose some people have realized that there’s not a whole lot of women in upper management company wide and some women at HQ have decided to have monthly meetings about women’s issues. And since this was going on during my visit, I got to sit in. They did talk about some interesting things. Such as how most women have a hard time saying “I want” when it comes to career objectives (like I want this project/role/promotion). And many women don’t get the recognition they deserve b/c they don’t have an advocate. So there was talk of a mentoring network, monthly meetings for this group, etc etc. It was actually not as cheesy as it sounds. And you know, they had really good points. I really would love to have a mentor and someone to be my role model. I think I would work a lot harder and have a much better attitude at work if I had a mentor. And if I worked in this office, that would definitely be possible. But I don’t – with the exception of one Sr Mgr (who is clueless and I really don’t consider her a role model in anything except panicking or ass-kissing) I am the most senior female technical person in our office. And besides me, we have 4 other technical women – all of which are younger than me. And I’ve asked for a mentor and was told by my supervisor that I wouldn’t get any one person as a mentor, that everyone on staff could be my mentor. Which I suppose is true to an extent, except for the fact that I work with a bunch of anti-social freaks who wouldn’t know how to mentor a hole in the wall. And the lady I’m working here in MA with made some comment on how Houston is a hot-bed of opportunity. And here I am getting ready to quit that hot-bed. I suppose that if I stick around another year, things would be better (maybe?). And I wish that maybe I’d met these people a year ago instead of a day ago – because then maybe my situation would be different. I really get along with these people and they make me feel like I’m smart and capable and valuable. Unlike my Houston coworkers. But that’s why I’m looking at moving on – to a place that’s going out of their way to hire me and make me feel like an asset.
Anyways, some interesting things came out of that lunch. A lot of companies out there are trying to grow. And lets face it, half of the work force out there is comprised of women. And most companies in my line of business are mostly men. And one of the things my generation specifically takes into account when shopping for a job is how many women work at the company and what positions are they in. Its something I definitely look for – and have yet to find. To the point where if I find a place that has a LOT of women, I think it’s a freakish place and want to run. But if companies want to grow, they have to at least put front a “women friendly” face. But I can’t help but think to myself that these women friendly places are weaker next to their tougher more manly counterparts. Like where I am now in MA, someone put their Avon catalog in the women’s bathroom. Avon! Blech! At my Houston office, we’re lucky if the bathroom works!
Hotel is ok – its some local conference/inn kinda place. Found a pool to swim at. There haven’t been any sightings of freaky people swimming in street clothes or with full-on snorkel gear, so that’s cool. I’ve had frost on my windshield both mornings, which makes me happy.
So, today at lunch, there was an organized “Women’s Leadership [Something or other]” meeting. I suppose some people have realized that there’s not a whole lot of women in upper management company wide and some women at HQ have decided to have monthly meetings about women’s issues. And since this was going on during my visit, I got to sit in. They did talk about some interesting things. Such as how most women have a hard time saying “I want” when it comes to career objectives (like I want this project/role/promotion). And many women don’t get the recognition they deserve b/c they don’t have an advocate. So there was talk of a mentoring network, monthly meetings for this group, etc etc. It was actually not as cheesy as it sounds. And you know, they had really good points. I really would love to have a mentor and someone to be my role model. I think I would work a lot harder and have a much better attitude at work if I had a mentor. And if I worked in this office, that would definitely be possible. But I don’t – with the exception of one Sr Mgr (who is clueless and I really don’t consider her a role model in anything except panicking or ass-kissing) I am the most senior female technical person in our office. And besides me, we have 4 other technical women – all of which are younger than me. And I’ve asked for a mentor and was told by my supervisor that I wouldn’t get any one person as a mentor, that everyone on staff could be my mentor. Which I suppose is true to an extent, except for the fact that I work with a bunch of anti-social freaks who wouldn’t know how to mentor a hole in the wall. And the lady I’m working here in MA with made some comment on how Houston is a hot-bed of opportunity. And here I am getting ready to quit that hot-bed. I suppose that if I stick around another year, things would be better (maybe?). And I wish that maybe I’d met these people a year ago instead of a day ago – because then maybe my situation would be different. I really get along with these people and they make me feel like I’m smart and capable and valuable. Unlike my Houston coworkers. But that’s why I’m looking at moving on – to a place that’s going out of their way to hire me and make me feel like an asset.
Anyways, some interesting things came out of that lunch. A lot of companies out there are trying to grow. And lets face it, half of the work force out there is comprised of women. And most companies in my line of business are mostly men. And one of the things my generation specifically takes into account when shopping for a job is how many women work at the company and what positions are they in. Its something I definitely look for – and have yet to find. To the point where if I find a place that has a LOT of women, I think it’s a freakish place and want to run. But if companies want to grow, they have to at least put front a “women friendly” face. But I can’t help but think to myself that these women friendly places are weaker next to their tougher more manly counterparts. Like where I am now in MA, someone put their Avon catalog in the women’s bathroom. Avon! Blech! At my Houston office, we’re lucky if the bathroom works!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
TAR, Season 9, Episodes 3 and 4
Because I didn't manage to blog about this last week. And also: I hate non-elimination episodes!
Episode 3
And I really don't remember much about last week's episode (or last week, for that matter, damn St Patricks day.....), so here's the high/low-lights.
They're in Brazil, and then they all hop on the same plane to go to Russia - home of vodka and people that smoke a lot (according to MoJo). Then they do some stuff that's not very exciting and then they meet up with Phil in Red Square, and Phil does not eliminate them. See? Three sentences for one whole hour!
If 3T Was on the Show
Roadblock - ok, this is a no brainer, as I am the swimmer of the team. And we really, really don't need Will in a speedo on Nat'l tv thankyouverymuch. And we would have selected the bus washing detour, b/c all those damn dolls would lead to an on-camera session of "Watch Erin be a huge bitch and watch Will just stand there." Not so much fun.
Commentary
My main gripe is having people who are NOT GOOD SWIMMERS do a SWIMMING roadblock. Idiots. And its not like they even had to swim all that much (although, I'll admit that the high dive would have freaked me out too).
Teams that annoyed me
Team Nipple Ring and all this hookup crap needs to shut up or die. Fran and Barry are officially on my "dead to me" list for all the bemoaning about how they're soooo veerrryyy unnnfoooootunate and theeeey'reee goinnnng to looooosssseeee". So shut up and come in last already. Just quit bitching on my tv, please
Episode 4
Still not a whole lot of action. And yet, more people annoyed me. Lovely! This episode was the "Product Placement" portion of our season - Travelocity gnome and Mercedes. I think the Mercedes wall o' doom would have been much cooler if they'd have to actually drive it themselves, though. So, they're in Russia and have to fly back to Germany. And that's about it. Oh, and the teams were instructed to bring their gnome with them to the mat - but only a few teams did this..... I think there should have been a time penalty involved... Not to mention making the teams learn and perform the dance correctly. But I digress.....
If 3T Was on the Show
Gnome hunt... really do we care? This was so lame that I don't care. So, rock-paper-scissors. Loser has to find the gnome. And Bottles vs Dancing for the Detour.... I'd say bottles. Will was convinced the glass was really sugar, but I don't know.... But I also know that Will has NO dance skill what-so-ever past the "circle slow dance", so it really would be less painful for me if he bashed a bottle over my head repeatedly than to watch him try to slap his legs and hop around with some semblance of coordination and grace.
Team Commentary
I liked the hippies until this episode. Then (as Miss Alli from TWOP pointed out), it seems like every time they're on camera, they feel the need to do or say something wacky. Every time! Can't they just stand there and be normal? And wear underwear? I really think they spent time pre-race coming up with their little wacky sayings and doings just to use on the show. Its annoying.
I should just put the TV on mute each time Team Nipple Ring is on, they are *that* idiotic. I can't even see their schtick working.
Loved the random drunk guy Lake and Michelle picked up. Go Germany! Beer! Woo!
Inability to find and use a map: see Desiree and Wanda. And doing so twice.
Stupidity for not getting and using a map, and then following someone who also doesn't have/use a map, who gets lost once, and then STILL follows the once-already-lost team again and gets lost a SECOND time at the exact spot: see the Pink Girls. Dumb.
And that's about it - not much else noteworthy happened....
Episode 3
And I really don't remember much about last week's episode (or last week, for that matter, damn St Patricks day.....), so here's the high/low-lights.
They're in Brazil, and then they all hop on the same plane to go to Russia - home of vodka and people that smoke a lot (according to MoJo). Then they do some stuff that's not very exciting and then they meet up with Phil in Red Square, and Phil does not eliminate them. See? Three sentences for one whole hour!
If 3T Was on the Show
Roadblock - ok, this is a no brainer, as I am the swimmer of the team. And we really, really don't need Will in a speedo on Nat'l tv thankyouverymuch. And we would have selected the bus washing detour, b/c all those damn dolls would lead to an on-camera session of "Watch Erin be a huge bitch and watch Will just stand there." Not so much fun.
Commentary
My main gripe is having people who are NOT GOOD SWIMMERS do a SWIMMING roadblock. Idiots. And its not like they even had to swim all that much (although, I'll admit that the high dive would have freaked me out too).
Teams that annoyed me
Team Nipple Ring and all this hookup crap needs to shut up or die. Fran and Barry are officially on my "dead to me" list for all the bemoaning about how they're soooo veerrryyy unnnfoooootunate and theeeey'reee goinnnng to looooosssseeee". So shut up and come in last already. Just quit bitching on my tv, please
Episode 4
Still not a whole lot of action. And yet, more people annoyed me. Lovely! This episode was the "Product Placement" portion of our season - Travelocity gnome and Mercedes. I think the Mercedes wall o' doom would have been much cooler if they'd have to actually drive it themselves, though. So, they're in Russia and have to fly back to Germany. And that's about it. Oh, and the teams were instructed to bring their gnome with them to the mat - but only a few teams did this..... I think there should have been a time penalty involved... Not to mention making the teams learn and perform the dance correctly. But I digress.....
If 3T Was on the Show
Gnome hunt... really do we care? This was so lame that I don't care. So, rock-paper-scissors. Loser has to find the gnome. And Bottles vs Dancing for the Detour.... I'd say bottles. Will was convinced the glass was really sugar, but I don't know.... But I also know that Will has NO dance skill what-so-ever past the "circle slow dance", so it really would be less painful for me if he bashed a bottle over my head repeatedly than to watch him try to slap his legs and hop around with some semblance of coordination and grace.
Team Commentary
I liked the hippies until this episode. Then (as Miss Alli from TWOP pointed out), it seems like every time they're on camera, they feel the need to do or say something wacky. Every time! Can't they just stand there and be normal? And wear underwear? I really think they spent time pre-race coming up with their little wacky sayings and doings just to use on the show. Its annoying.
I should just put the TV on mute each time Team Nipple Ring is on, they are *that* idiotic. I can't even see their schtick working.
Loved the random drunk guy Lake and Michelle picked up. Go Germany! Beer! Woo!
Inability to find and use a map: see Desiree and Wanda. And doing so twice.
Stupidity for not getting and using a map, and then following someone who also doesn't have/use a map, who gets lost once, and then STILL follows the once-already-lost team again and gets lost a SECOND time at the exact spot: see the Pink Girls. Dumb.
And that's about it - not much else noteworthy happened....
Sunday, March 12, 2006
March Madness Meet Results
Here's my latest results, along with my entry seed times*
Event Seed Time Actual Time
100 breaststroke 1:44 1:38.08
100 backstroke 1:27 1:27.63
100 IM 1:36 1:31.68
200 free 3:10** 2:51.86 (!!)
100 free 1:23*** 1:18.48
*Keep in mind that I was never that fast of a swimmer.
** First entry in this event since high school. This time was based on swimming 200's on a fast pace, then taking 5 add'l seconds off for it to be "challenging".
*** Fastest time for me in Masters using proper technique. My "improper" technique time was 1:19 in Dec 2004. Since fixing my technique, I've consistently been 5-8 seconds slower.
I am so amazingly happy with myself. First of all, this was a short meet. We're talking like 10 heats of the 50 free and the rest of the events were more like 4 heats tops. Then I entered fairly long events (ie no 50's) and had 2-3 events to rest up before I had to swim again (equates to 15-20 minutes). Not much time to rest. And honestly, for the 200 I really wasn't even going all that fast. I was so tired and my hypoglycemia was kicking in - my only goal was to get a time down. Imagine my suprise when I looked at my time. Craziness! I really thought I'd be hard pressed to make 3:10 - the day before I was working hard to swim this on a 3:30. And my splits were so good - 41.27; 42.98; 44.42; 43.91. Very consistent. Sure I need to work on negative splitting that, but I'll take consistency any day! And finally, after swimming 4 events, to cut 5 seconds off my 100 free using "proper" technique.... So awesome. Yay me!
Event Seed Time Actual Time
100 breaststroke 1:44 1:38.08
100 backstroke 1:27 1:27.63
100 IM 1:36 1:31.68
200 free 3:10** 2:51.86 (!!)
100 free 1:23*** 1:18.48
*Keep in mind that I was never that fast of a swimmer.
** First entry in this event since high school. This time was based on swimming 200's on a fast pace, then taking 5 add'l seconds off for it to be "challenging".
*** Fastest time for me in Masters using proper technique. My "improper" technique time was 1:19 in Dec 2004. Since fixing my technique, I've consistently been 5-8 seconds slower.
I am so amazingly happy with myself. First of all, this was a short meet. We're talking like 10 heats of the 50 free and the rest of the events were more like 4 heats tops. Then I entered fairly long events (ie no 50's) and had 2-3 events to rest up before I had to swim again (equates to 15-20 minutes). Not much time to rest. And honestly, for the 200 I really wasn't even going all that fast. I was so tired and my hypoglycemia was kicking in - my only goal was to get a time down. Imagine my suprise when I looked at my time. Craziness! I really thought I'd be hard pressed to make 3:10 - the day before I was working hard to swim this on a 3:30. And my splits were so good - 41.27; 42.98; 44.42; 43.91. Very consistent. Sure I need to work on negative splitting that, but I'll take consistency any day! And finally, after swimming 4 events, to cut 5 seconds off my 100 free using "proper" technique.... So awesome. Yay me!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Case study: why suburban mothers in Texas should never become costume designers
I soooo wish my husband's camera phone worked better to capture this image properly.
Got free tickets to see the Houston Rockets last night. Ridiculously good seats - 9th row behind the visitors bench.
The half-time entertainment:
(again, apologizing for the craptastic picture quality...)
Got free tickets to see the Houston Rockets last night. Ridiculously good seats - 9th row behind the visitors bench.
The half-time entertainment:
(again, apologizing for the craptastic picture quality...)
What you see in this very blurry picture is some high school dance troupe doing some sort of african interpretive dance. As they walked out, all four of us had a "the hell?" moment then broke out in giggles. These poor girls. Their costumes were easily the most horrific thing I've seen for something like this. Even Santino wouldn't have come close. I felt really, really bad for them.
The costumes consisted of a black leotard, but with the mid-section as black mesh. Then it had a bias skirt in fake tiger print and a big floofy collar and headbands made of brown feathers and gold sequins. And one ankle band of feathers, and perhaps wrist bands of feathers too. Fake tiger print AND feathers? Pick and animal and stick with it please. Unless you're trying to depict what a tiger looks like while he's eating a bird covered in sequins.
The dance moves were pretty funny too. Plenty of unflattering poses, and a couple where the girls paired up, and one girl had to hold another girl in an unflattering way then crawl overhere (it was complicated and bizarre and very hard to describe.)
This ranks as really one of the most bizarre halftime performances I've witnessed. Just really, really strange.... and funny!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Random updates
Sooo....updates on me.
Turned 30 on Monday. Day really didn't go all that well. It wasn't that I was upset over turning 30. I just was hoping to have a good day, and well, it wasn't a good day. At all.
Swift kitty ate something in my b'day flowers and has been acting really mopey and quiet since Monday night. She's eating (but not her usual voracious inhaltion of food) and not puking, so I'm not worried enough to call the vet, but its enough to make me still worry.
Have a swim meet this Saturday. Entered myself in some pretty ambitious events.... 100 breast, 100 back 100 IM, 200 free, and 100 free. And there's only 2-3 events separating my events, and I don't expect this to be a big meet, so I probably won't get much rest. I figure I can deck-scratch if need be. This is kind-of a test-run for events for Nationals in May. eeps!
Swim practice is pretty good lately. I have this tempo trainer gizmo that I stick under my cap and it beeps at me on a time interval that I set. It basically serves as a cue for my stroke timing. I got it to help me coordinate my kick, core rotation, and stroke for the 6 beat rotation freestyle technique. Back in January, I talked to the coach about getting faster, and he suggested I use the tempo trainer on a regular basis to train myself into swimming faster. The idea is that with each practice, I bump the tempo a hair faster. So I'll be going faster, but only fractionally, so it won't really feel like I'm putting a ton of effort into actually going faster. Then over time, say weeks of bumping the time interval faster, I'll actually be going noticably faster. I started this in Mid-Jan, and 1.5 months later, I've cut ~3-5 seconds off of my medium paced 50 free.
A swim friend is trying to recruit me to do the swim leg of the Austin Danskin Trathalon. Open water (which I've never done before...) but its only a 1/2 mile. Couldn't be all that painful. So, we'll see. Apparently, someone is trying to put together "relays" for this, but they're really short on swimmers. And seeing as how I have no business running ever again, this would be a good way for me to experience triathalons.
Work is still eh. At least I'm busy. And the current opinon of me is postive around here, so I guess that will do for now.
Having my b'day party this weekend. Nothing too crazy (I hope). We made 2 batches of homebrew - a scotch ale and a vanilla stout and kegged it (5 gal each). Should be fun. Will post pictures and stories if there's anything fun to report.
Turned 30 on Monday. Day really didn't go all that well. It wasn't that I was upset over turning 30. I just was hoping to have a good day, and well, it wasn't a good day. At all.
Swift kitty ate something in my b'day flowers and has been acting really mopey and quiet since Monday night. She's eating (but not her usual voracious inhaltion of food) and not puking, so I'm not worried enough to call the vet, but its enough to make me still worry.
Have a swim meet this Saturday. Entered myself in some pretty ambitious events.... 100 breast, 100 back 100 IM, 200 free, and 100 free. And there's only 2-3 events separating my events, and I don't expect this to be a big meet, so I probably won't get much rest. I figure I can deck-scratch if need be. This is kind-of a test-run for events for Nationals in May. eeps!
Swim practice is pretty good lately. I have this tempo trainer gizmo that I stick under my cap and it beeps at me on a time interval that I set. It basically serves as a cue for my stroke timing. I got it to help me coordinate my kick, core rotation, and stroke for the 6 beat rotation freestyle technique. Back in January, I talked to the coach about getting faster, and he suggested I use the tempo trainer on a regular basis to train myself into swimming faster. The idea is that with each practice, I bump the tempo a hair faster. So I'll be going faster, but only fractionally, so it won't really feel like I'm putting a ton of effort into actually going faster. Then over time, say weeks of bumping the time interval faster, I'll actually be going noticably faster. I started this in Mid-Jan, and 1.5 months later, I've cut ~3-5 seconds off of my medium paced 50 free.
A swim friend is trying to recruit me to do the swim leg of the Austin Danskin Trathalon. Open water (which I've never done before...) but its only a 1/2 mile. Couldn't be all that painful. So, we'll see. Apparently, someone is trying to put together "relays" for this, but they're really short on swimmers. And seeing as how I have no business running ever again, this would be a good way for me to experience triathalons.
Work is still eh. At least I'm busy. And the current opinon of me is postive around here, so I guess that will do for now.
Having my b'day party this weekend. Nothing too crazy (I hope). We made 2 batches of homebrew - a scotch ale and a vanilla stout and kegged it (5 gal each). Should be fun. Will post pictures and stories if there's anything fun to report.
TAR, Season 9, Episode 2
Episode 1 recap
So, for this episode, we're still in Brazil. Not a whole lot of excitement this episode, but there is some character development, and the fatal driving of a non-automatic-transmission vehicle.
So, we've got some taxis to a bus terminal, to bunching (I'm pretty irritated b/c we had senate primary results blocking out the starting times for all the teams. I *need* to see how spread out the teams are. And I really don't want to know if Tom Delay was selected to run for senate.) Then a boring bus ride. Then VW beetles! But I have to wonder - are these the same as the old-styled beetles that are produced as "new" in Mexico, or are these really 30 yr old hunks of rusting metal. For everyone's sake (and the fact that the seats looked slightly newer) I'm hoping they were newer than 1971.
If 3T was on the show
We would so rock this leg with the VW beetles, as I have 6 years experience driving one. A 1971 beetle, bright yellow, that most of the time only ran on 3 cylinders. One road trip I made, from Gillette, WY (summer job at a coal mine) back to college (Butte, MT) was sheer hell. Mountain bike on top of the car, creating massive drag. Two very vocal and inadequately tranquilized kitties in the front seat. 3 of 4 cylinders functional. Top speed of 50 mph. And complete this experience with a kitty accident of the liquid variety which required me to stop at a gas station around Billings to wash Swift off. Fun! Oh, and 10 hrs of this for ~400 miles. Not cool. Anyways, the race! First of all, I had to laugh at the "hippies" physically walking their VW backwards. Doncha know that for all VWs, to shift it into reverse, you have to push the stickshift vertically down and then shift back to reverse? Silly guys. And those ladies abusing the hell out of their clutch. Its not like VWs are particularly hard to shift.
And as we saw team members climb into the backseat, Will mentioned that he hoped that none of their feet punctured the floor of the vehicle. The floor of mine was so badly rusted that when Will sat in the back of mine (he was being nice and letting my roommate sit up front) his foot went all they way thru the floor of my car. Think Flintstones style. And it was winter, and in Butte, they don't plow the side streets, so you end up basically driving your car in 2 parallel ice ruts the whole winter. And the hole (with scrap metal bent outwards from the car) was in the center of the car, so the entire winter, I had to listen to rusted metal scraping against ice ruts. Yeah, I hate that car and don't really miss it. Why my mom wanted to keep it and restore it is beyond me.
Road Block - ethane or climbing. 3T's choice was decided by me. My knee is still tweaky from training for our backpacking trip in 2004 (I had cartlidge tear or something horrible and while my knee didn't require surgery or hurt, it grinds horribly when I do stairs, but it is getting better, so there's hope). Seeing as how those stupid climber things involve much leg/knee action, and combine that with the fact that in elementary school I could never manage to climb that damn rope to the required height, I chose the sugar cane/ethane option.
Team commentary
Well, my opinions of the other teams pretty much held from Episode 1. Team Nipple Ring are bigger idiots that I thought they were. Glamazons need to go away. The pink girls seem to be ok. Older couple needs to suck it up and start playing. Team Nerd Love is still adoreable. Basically status quo.
I was very satisfied with the ending. I did not like the meltdown between the sisters and how they basically gave up. Considering how many thousands of people applied for the show and would kill to be on it, I think its tremendously rude to just go and give up b/c you can't manage to drive a standard transmission VW beetle in Brazil. Go home, you suck.
So, for this episode, we're still in Brazil. Not a whole lot of excitement this episode, but there is some character development, and the fatal driving of a non-automatic-transmission vehicle.
So, we've got some taxis to a bus terminal, to bunching (I'm pretty irritated b/c we had senate primary results blocking out the starting times for all the teams. I *need* to see how spread out the teams are. And I really don't want to know if Tom Delay was selected to run for senate.) Then a boring bus ride. Then VW beetles! But I have to wonder - are these the same as the old-styled beetles that are produced as "new" in Mexico, or are these really 30 yr old hunks of rusting metal. For everyone's sake (and the fact that the seats looked slightly newer) I'm hoping they were newer than 1971.
If 3T was on the show
We would so rock this leg with the VW beetles, as I have 6 years experience driving one. A 1971 beetle, bright yellow, that most of the time only ran on 3 cylinders. One road trip I made, from Gillette, WY (summer job at a coal mine) back to college (Butte, MT) was sheer hell. Mountain bike on top of the car, creating massive drag. Two very vocal and inadequately tranquilized kitties in the front seat. 3 of 4 cylinders functional. Top speed of 50 mph. And complete this experience with a kitty accident of the liquid variety which required me to stop at a gas station around Billings to wash Swift off. Fun! Oh, and 10 hrs of this for ~400 miles. Not cool. Anyways, the race! First of all, I had to laugh at the "hippies" physically walking their VW backwards. Doncha know that for all VWs, to shift it into reverse, you have to push the stickshift vertically down and then shift back to reverse? Silly guys. And those ladies abusing the hell out of their clutch. Its not like VWs are particularly hard to shift.
And as we saw team members climb into the backseat, Will mentioned that he hoped that none of their feet punctured the floor of the vehicle. The floor of mine was so badly rusted that when Will sat in the back of mine (he was being nice and letting my roommate sit up front) his foot went all they way thru the floor of my car. Think Flintstones style. And it was winter, and in Butte, they don't plow the side streets, so you end up basically driving your car in 2 parallel ice ruts the whole winter. And the hole (with scrap metal bent outwards from the car) was in the center of the car, so the entire winter, I had to listen to rusted metal scraping against ice ruts. Yeah, I hate that car and don't really miss it. Why my mom wanted to keep it and restore it is beyond me.
Road Block - ethane or climbing. 3T's choice was decided by me. My knee is still tweaky from training for our backpacking trip in 2004 (I had cartlidge tear or something horrible and while my knee didn't require surgery or hurt, it grinds horribly when I do stairs, but it is getting better, so there's hope). Seeing as how those stupid climber things involve much leg/knee action, and combine that with the fact that in elementary school I could never manage to climb that damn rope to the required height, I chose the sugar cane/ethane option.
Team commentary
Well, my opinions of the other teams pretty much held from Episode 1. Team Nipple Ring are bigger idiots that I thought they were. Glamazons need to go away. The pink girls seem to be ok. Older couple needs to suck it up and start playing. Team Nerd Love is still adoreable. Basically status quo.
I was very satisfied with the ending. I did not like the meltdown between the sisters and how they basically gave up. Considering how many thousands of people applied for the show and would kill to be on it, I think its tremendously rude to just go and give up b/c you can't manage to drive a standard transmission VW beetle in Brazil. Go home, you suck.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
TAR, Season 9, Episode 1
Looks promising, with the glaring exception that producers elected not to include myself and Will in the cast (from here on out we will be known as Team Trailer Trash* [3T for short]). I’m going to attempt to do my own version of a recap of the show each week. Don’t plan on me recapping the episode event by event, like TWOP does. But rather, I’ll just comment on how, if 3T was on the show, which choices we would have made on the detours/roadblocks, and commentary on my love/hate for any or all teams (and Phil) on the show.
If Team Trailer Trash were on the show
Yay, DENVER and what’s more RED ROCKS!!! Wooooo! Needless to say, 3T would have rocked this initial part of the show, as I’m very familiar with the area and the airport. We would have avoided at all costs taking the Continental flight, because I hate Continental.
Brazil! Now, if 3T would have made the show, we would have invested in some Spanish lessons. So, please play along and pretend that we speak Spanish, which should help a tiny bit, even though Brazil’s language is Portuguese. (In hindsight, 4 yrs of latin in high school wasn’t the most practical idea. But my main reasons for taking it were a)it looked good on transcripts b)the teacher was cool and the class was a cakewalk b/c of her and c)the retreat every spring to Estes Park where I would ditch most of the scheduled activities and go hiking with hot mountain boys from other schools. Now though, latin doesn’t do me a whole hell of a lot of good.)
Roadblock: re-build a motorcycle or ride a helicopter to some building (or as I call it – “chopper or chopper?” Will didn’t think this was all that clever….). Now, at this point in the show, we pause it, and discuss the merits of each task and figure out which one we would chose. Now, being that we are both engineers and Will is somewhat of an engine repair enthusiast, we decided to choose the motorcycle option. However, after seeing how cool the helicopter ride was, I know I would regret that decision…. But I would hope that we’d perform better than the other teams in rebuilding the motorcycle.
General commentary on each team
Lake & Michelle – well, lets just say that this is one dental practitioner I would never visit. Could you imagine, sitting in the chair as Michelle works on you, and Lake yelling all the time? And you just having to sit there with your mouth open, feeling very uncomfortable?
Dani & Danielle – really don’t have much of an opinion on these 2. They lost major points with their matching pink outfits, although they seemed to accept the fact that getting dirty was a component of the motorcycle detour. They did win points by thinking the Frat Boys were tools, though, so there is hope for them.
BY & Tyler – first thing out of Will’s mouth (Cartman Voice) “Goddamn Hippies” (from the South Park “Die Hippy, Die” episode [we have this permanently saved on our TiVo, its that funny]). Apart from the hippyness, they did make me laugh a few times and generally have their game on.
Ray & Yolanda – no real opinion here about these two. I suspect they will be headed for dating-disaster by the end of the show though, as they are the typecast “long distance dating” couple. I was impressed by the restraint Ray showed for not beating the hell out of the guys commenting on Yolanda’s mechanical prowess.
John & Scott – the typecast gay guys, although supposedly they are “life long friends” friends, rather than a couple. Sadly, they didn’t have the chops to stick around. I did find them mildly amusing and I would have rather preferred the Houston Frosties to be Philiminated instead.
Dave & Lori – ok, say it with me now! Neeerrrrddds! Until reading their bio on CBS, I loved them. Perhaps I should have ignored the bio just now. Musician and Pizza Hut asst mgr? Oh good lord. But I guess there aren’t too many opportunities for high falutin’ jobs in Manhattan….Kansas. Anyways, last night, they were my top team in terms of like-ability. Just love that nerd love.
Eric & Jeremy – annnnd here are the “pretty boys” typecast team. But really, they’re not all that pretty. Or really all that fun to listen to. And they have nipple rings. Enough said.
Fran & Barry – ok, on the show last night, they were listed as being from Littleton, CO (woo! Go Littleton!), but the CBS bio says they’re from Silverthorne…… Hmmm. Anyways, based on the Littleton connection, I loved them right away (and no, I did not know them). But then the roadblock on the bridge lost major points….. Please perform better so I can like you again. K?
Lisa & Joni – wow, reality tv producers sure know how to pick winners from Houston, don’t they? Ok, so Joyce and Uchenna were great. But lets see…. The girls from the Bachelor, Brandy (with her red weave fro’), that Cat woman chickie, and Cassandra from America’s Next Top Model were all equally horrible. And this made me think, if 3T did make it on the show, I guess we’d be “from Houston” which I am just not prepared to actually have “Erin” and “from Houston” in the same sentence. So, based on this alone, I suppose its good 3T was not selected for the cast. Anyways, Lisa and Joni…. Yeah, don’t like them. One bit. The yelling, the spazzing, the Jesus prayers, the makeup. All horrible. Wish they’d been Philimated instead of John & Scott.
Team MoJo – ok, they’re growing on me. I for one like the t-shirts. I thought they were cute. Mo did lose points by crying in the lobby of DIA over not catching the first flight, though. But overall, they’re not too annoying so far.
Wanda & Desiree – at first, I found them annoying. But they really played well, mainly due to Wanda’s knowledge of Portuguese. To date, I feel pretty neutral about them.
“Baby” count. Will and I refer to TAR as the “baby, how bout we watch that ‘baby show’ baby?” Because it seems that there is no other term of endearment allowed on the show. And sure enough, as they left the parking lot of Red Rocks, I heard my first “baby”. Although, later on, I did hear a “sweetie”, and it was nice to hear something else for a change. Will claims if 3T was on, he’d be dropping the nicknames of “muffin” or “pumpkin” on me. And I told him that if he were to do that, I would basically ignore him the entire team and hit on some of the hottie single guys in the race instead.
Overally, TAR 9 shows significant improvement over the suckfest that was the family edition. I look forward to seeing how this season progresses.
*Long story from college. Will's nickname was "Third Wheel (Will) Trailer", given to him by his advisor - how nice of him! He soon became known as "trailer", which then went screaming downhill into "Trailer Trash".
If Team Trailer Trash were on the show
Yay, DENVER and what’s more RED ROCKS!!! Wooooo! Needless to say, 3T would have rocked this initial part of the show, as I’m very familiar with the area and the airport. We would have avoided at all costs taking the Continental flight, because I hate Continental.
Brazil! Now, if 3T would have made the show, we would have invested in some Spanish lessons. So, please play along and pretend that we speak Spanish, which should help a tiny bit, even though Brazil’s language is Portuguese. (In hindsight, 4 yrs of latin in high school wasn’t the most practical idea. But my main reasons for taking it were a)it looked good on transcripts b)the teacher was cool and the class was a cakewalk b/c of her and c)the retreat every spring to Estes Park where I would ditch most of the scheduled activities and go hiking with hot mountain boys from other schools. Now though, latin doesn’t do me a whole hell of a lot of good.)
Roadblock: re-build a motorcycle or ride a helicopter to some building (or as I call it – “chopper or chopper?” Will didn’t think this was all that clever….). Now, at this point in the show, we pause it, and discuss the merits of each task and figure out which one we would chose. Now, being that we are both engineers and Will is somewhat of an engine repair enthusiast, we decided to choose the motorcycle option. However, after seeing how cool the helicopter ride was, I know I would regret that decision…. But I would hope that we’d perform better than the other teams in rebuilding the motorcycle.
General commentary on each team
Lake & Michelle – well, lets just say that this is one dental practitioner I would never visit. Could you imagine, sitting in the chair as Michelle works on you, and Lake yelling all the time? And you just having to sit there with your mouth open, feeling very uncomfortable?
Dani & Danielle – really don’t have much of an opinion on these 2. They lost major points with their matching pink outfits, although they seemed to accept the fact that getting dirty was a component of the motorcycle detour. They did win points by thinking the Frat Boys were tools, though, so there is hope for them.
BY & Tyler – first thing out of Will’s mouth (Cartman Voice) “Goddamn Hippies” (from the South Park “Die Hippy, Die” episode [we have this permanently saved on our TiVo, its that funny]). Apart from the hippyness, they did make me laugh a few times and generally have their game on.
Ray & Yolanda – no real opinion here about these two. I suspect they will be headed for dating-disaster by the end of the show though, as they are the typecast “long distance dating” couple. I was impressed by the restraint Ray showed for not beating the hell out of the guys commenting on Yolanda’s mechanical prowess.
John & Scott – the typecast gay guys, although supposedly they are “life long friends” friends, rather than a couple. Sadly, they didn’t have the chops to stick around. I did find them mildly amusing and I would have rather preferred the Houston Frosties to be Philiminated instead.
Dave & Lori – ok, say it with me now! Neeerrrrddds! Until reading their bio on CBS, I loved them. Perhaps I should have ignored the bio just now. Musician and Pizza Hut asst mgr? Oh good lord. But I guess there aren’t too many opportunities for high falutin’ jobs in Manhattan….Kansas. Anyways, last night, they were my top team in terms of like-ability. Just love that nerd love.
Eric & Jeremy – annnnd here are the “pretty boys” typecast team. But really, they’re not all that pretty. Or really all that fun to listen to. And they have nipple rings. Enough said.
Fran & Barry – ok, on the show last night, they were listed as being from Littleton, CO (woo! Go Littleton!), but the CBS bio says they’re from Silverthorne…… Hmmm. Anyways, based on the Littleton connection, I loved them right away (and no, I did not know them). But then the roadblock on the bridge lost major points….. Please perform better so I can like you again. K?
Lisa & Joni – wow, reality tv producers sure know how to pick winners from Houston, don’t they? Ok, so Joyce and Uchenna were great. But lets see…. The girls from the Bachelor, Brandy (with her red weave fro’), that Cat woman chickie, and Cassandra from America’s Next Top Model were all equally horrible. And this made me think, if 3T did make it on the show, I guess we’d be “from Houston” which I am just not prepared to actually have “Erin” and “from Houston” in the same sentence. So, based on this alone, I suppose its good 3T was not selected for the cast. Anyways, Lisa and Joni…. Yeah, don’t like them. One bit. The yelling, the spazzing, the Jesus prayers, the makeup. All horrible. Wish they’d been Philimated instead of John & Scott.
Team MoJo – ok, they’re growing on me. I for one like the t-shirts. I thought they were cute. Mo did lose points by crying in the lobby of DIA over not catching the first flight, though. But overall, they’re not too annoying so far.
Wanda & Desiree – at first, I found them annoying. But they really played well, mainly due to Wanda’s knowledge of Portuguese. To date, I feel pretty neutral about them.
“Baby” count. Will and I refer to TAR as the “baby, how bout we watch that ‘baby show’ baby?” Because it seems that there is no other term of endearment allowed on the show. And sure enough, as they left the parking lot of Red Rocks, I heard my first “baby”. Although, later on, I did hear a “sweetie”, and it was nice to hear something else for a change. Will claims if 3T was on, he’d be dropping the nicknames of “muffin” or “pumpkin” on me. And I told him that if he were to do that, I would basically ignore him the entire team and hit on some of the hottie single guys in the race instead.
Overally, TAR 9 shows significant improvement over the suckfest that was the family edition. I look forward to seeing how this season progresses.
*Long story from college. Will's nickname was "Third Wheel (Will) Trailer", given to him by his advisor - how nice of him! He soon became known as "trailer", which then went screaming downhill into "Trailer Trash".
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The last days of twentysomething
I came upon an alarming revelation yesterday as I was emailing a friend of mine. He and I have been trying to get together for a beer for a while. Attempted to get together last night, but he was too busy (me, I’m never busy unless I have social activities double-booked). So he suggested next Monday. Which made me look at the calendar. Epps! I will be 30 next Monday*! I should be out living it up this week, my last few days as a 20-something. But true to usual Erin fashion, I’m not. And Will is out racing all weekend, so I won’t even be living it up this weekend. Sucky!
What’s worse is that my birthday falls on a Monday. I’m pretty tempted to just take the day off (ensuring I have a good day). Or maybe just go to swim practice, work a half day, then leave at lunch…..
Then do I need to sit back and reflect on my 20’s, develop a plan for my 30’s? I’m not really the type to do resolutions at new years, so I doubt that doing this now is going to help me out. Besides, I have no idea what I’m doing next week normally, much less being able to plan out an entire decade. Maybe this should be a list of “things to look forward to in the next year”.
1 – must. get. new. job.
2 – camping in March at Big Bend Nat’l park, and not being too sick to do anything active (like last time we went)
3 – swimming at the USMS nationals event in Florida next May.
4 – hopefully taking the much-talked-about-and-little-acted-upon trip to New Zealand’s South Island over Thanksgiving.
See, lots of fun stuff! 30 is the new 20! or something like that.....
*sending me presents is completely optional
What’s worse is that my birthday falls on a Monday. I’m pretty tempted to just take the day off (ensuring I have a good day). Or maybe just go to swim practice, work a half day, then leave at lunch…..
Then do I need to sit back and reflect on my 20’s, develop a plan for my 30’s? I’m not really the type to do resolutions at new years, so I doubt that doing this now is going to help me out. Besides, I have no idea what I’m doing next week normally, much less being able to plan out an entire decade. Maybe this should be a list of “things to look forward to in the next year”.
1 – must. get. new. job.
2 – camping in March at Big Bend Nat’l park, and not being too sick to do anything active (like last time we went)
3 – swimming at the USMS nationals event in Florida next May.
4 – hopefully taking the much-talked-about-and-little-acted-upon trip to New Zealand’s South Island over Thanksgiving.
See, lots of fun stuff! 30 is the new 20! or something like that.....
*sending me presents is completely optional
Friday, February 24, 2006
Critters and Lush
Found out what the "critter" in the bottom of the pool was.... turns out it was a huge rolled up Ace bandage. Which we all decided was still pretty icky. But not as icky as a bloated dead rat, I guess.
Got my Lush package last night. And well, um, its on the stinky side. Love my Snow Fairy shower gel - with its glitter and candy smell. Mmmmm.... My dusting powder scent is growing on me - its jasmine and vertivert. I don't think it smells that strong, but my swim team ppl did. My soft couer massage bar has potential, but it does smell really, really sweet. My Love Bug, well, lets just say I have it in a ziplock baggie and I can still smell the thing. It does have lovely golden sparkles. I just don't know about the scent. I'm hoping that it mellows out when I wear it. My freebies have potential. Two bubble bath bars, one in my Candy Fluff scent, and one is supposedly lavender (but all I could make out by that point was the stinky Love Bug). So we'll see if I like what I got. I'm thinking I will, its just a bit different than what I was expecting...
Got my Lush package last night. And well, um, its on the stinky side. Love my Snow Fairy shower gel - with its glitter and candy smell. Mmmmm.... My dusting powder scent is growing on me - its jasmine and vertivert. I don't think it smells that strong, but my swim team ppl did. My soft couer massage bar has potential, but it does smell really, really sweet. My Love Bug, well, lets just say I have it in a ziplock baggie and I can still smell the thing. It does have lovely golden sparkles. I just don't know about the scent. I'm hoping that it mellows out when I wear it. My freebies have potential. Two bubble bath bars, one in my Candy Fluff scent, and one is supposedly lavender (but all I could make out by that point was the stinky Love Bug). So we'll see if I like what I got. I'm thinking I will, its just a bit different than what I was expecting...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I am *dying* with anticipation
Hopefully when I get home from work today, I will finally have my package of goodies I ordered from lush waiting for me. I truly am a tad bit too excited. My friend got me the Rock Star soap, Candy Fluff dusting powder, and Melting Marshmallow Moments as a present last year. Love this stuff. But for some reason, never had the courage to order some on my own. Partially b/c its expensive - partially b/c there is so much to choose from and its overwhelming. And hard to pick things when you read what the ingredients are and you have no idea what they smell like. Such as neroli. What exactly is neroli?
For my first (of I'm sure many, many orders), I purchased 2 massage bars (one with glitter! the other with honey and chocolate!), another scented dusting powder, and a shower gel (pink! with glitter! that smells like my beloved Candy Fluff). And part of a promo deal, I get two mystery freebies. Combine the mystery freebies with the exceptionally long delivery time (15 days since I ordered.... which sadly is std since its handmade and comes from Vancouver), and I simply am dying for my order.
For my first (of I'm sure many, many orders), I purchased 2 massage bars (one with glitter! the other with honey and chocolate!), another scented dusting powder, and a shower gel (pink! with glitter! that smells like my beloved Candy Fluff). And part of a promo deal, I get two mystery freebies. Combine the mystery freebies with the exceptionally long delivery time (15 days since I ordered.... which sadly is std since its handmade and comes from Vancouver), and I simply am dying for my order.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
A statement you never want to hear during swim practice
From a swimmer in the fast lane (the opposite side of the pool from where I swim):
"Coach, there's a dead critter at the bottom of the pool. Can you hand me a flipper so I can remove it?"
Um, ewwwww. I'm so glad I own my own flippers so there's no chance of that dead-critter-retrieval-tool ever touching my feet. I don't even want to go there about the whole swimming in a pool with a dead critter thing. Or what kind of critter it was. Ew.
"Coach, there's a dead critter at the bottom of the pool. Can you hand me a flipper so I can remove it?"
Um, ewwwww. I'm so glad I own my own flippers so there's no chance of that dead-critter-retrieval-tool ever touching my feet. I don't even want to go there about the whole swimming in a pool with a dead critter thing. Or what kind of critter it was. Ew.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Beer chug swim relay results
First of all, I have three mystery bruises on the side of my left leg that really hurt. And my abs were sore for 2 days from doing those starts. Had to get my whining in first. Swam 8 events. Sounds bad, but it was really only 1x100, 2x50 and a bunch of 25s. Started with 100 back, which turns out, I haven’t swam since July 1994. Woo! I’d swam 50 back in meets in the past year, but not 100s. Turns out, I beat my estimated time (1:27 actual), so I was happy. Swam 50 breast, improved on that time. The rest were 25s or fun relays, so the times really don’t matter. Plus, they’re relay times, so they’re “off” by a few seconds anyways. FYI, I am one of those anal engineer types who has a spreadsheet tracking every event that I’ve swam since returning to swimming, complete with meters/yards conversions. I’ll try to post times next time I swim in a meet (mid-March maybe).
I did two “fun” relays. And by fun, I think it was more fun to watch from the sidelines than to participate.
First up, the sweatpants relay. As in you swim while wearing sweatpants. Then have to get out of the pool, strip, and have the next person put the wet sweatpants on. So dude jumps out of the water and strips the sweats off. I sit on the blocks and have two teammate guys in speedos wrestle with the ginormous wet sweatpants and my feet. My feet didn’t want to cooperate. Then I dive in. First thing that happens is the sweats fall down past my ass. So, I pull them up and swim the best I can while wearing XXL sweat pants. Get to the shallow end. The guys on that end YANK me outof the water by the shoulders and flop me sideways on the deck, then proceed to de-pants me. You know, that’s every girl’s dream, to be de-pantsed on deck by a bunch of balding men in speedos. I figured it was best just to lay there like a dead fish and let them have their way with me and the sweat pants.
Second fun relay – the much anticipated beer relay. Complete with Budweiser! Fortunately for me, I only had to consume half a can of the vile stuff. But man, just the smell reminds me of the time I was at a frat party in Missoula where there was 1” of beer on the basement floor. Ew. Anyways. Deal is, you have to chug your beer then sprint a 25. This old lady on my team kept telling me how to chug my beer. As if this would be a problem. If anything, when I am faced with having to consume crappy beer, the only option is to chug it, so you don’t really taste it. Besides, Bud is basically water, so its not like it was a big deal. So, I chugged, spilling a good portion of it down my face and on the deck (sooo glad I don’t swim at this pool normally or have to clean up – can you imagine the smell?). Then I sprint my 25 free. Let me just say that chugging icky beer then sprinting is really not the best thing for my stomach. I just felt ICKY after that.
I did two “fun” relays. And by fun, I think it was more fun to watch from the sidelines than to participate.
First up, the sweatpants relay. As in you swim while wearing sweatpants. Then have to get out of the pool, strip, and have the next person put the wet sweatpants on. So dude jumps out of the water and strips the sweats off. I sit on the blocks and have two teammate guys in speedos wrestle with the ginormous wet sweatpants and my feet. My feet didn’t want to cooperate. Then I dive in. First thing that happens is the sweats fall down past my ass. So, I pull them up and swim the best I can while wearing XXL sweat pants. Get to the shallow end. The guys on that end YANK me outof the water by the shoulders and flop me sideways on the deck, then proceed to de-pants me. You know, that’s every girl’s dream, to be de-pantsed on deck by a bunch of balding men in speedos. I figured it was best just to lay there like a dead fish and let them have their way with me and the sweat pants.
Second fun relay – the much anticipated beer relay. Complete with Budweiser! Fortunately for me, I only had to consume half a can of the vile stuff. But man, just the smell reminds me of the time I was at a frat party in Missoula where there was 1” of beer on the basement floor. Ew. Anyways. Deal is, you have to chug your beer then sprint a 25. This old lady on my team kept telling me how to chug my beer. As if this would be a problem. If anything, when I am faced with having to consume crappy beer, the only option is to chug it, so you don’t really taste it. Besides, Bud is basically water, so its not like it was a big deal. So, I chugged, spilling a good portion of it down my face and on the deck (sooo glad I don’t swim at this pool normally or have to clean up – can you imagine the smell?). Then I sprint my 25 free. Let me just say that chugging icky beer then sprinting is really not the best thing for my stomach. I just felt ICKY after that.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Wherin I do my impression of a flopping beached whale
Relay meet is tomorrow. So, we spent half of practice doing relay starts. Pretty entertaining really, as one of my friends hasn’t done a start off the blocks in oh, 25 yrs. I’m certain we were a graceful bunch. Confirmation is from all the red marks on my upper thighs (regular start) and back (backstroke start) from my body smacking the water. And all the bruises I’m sure I will have tomorrow from me scraping my shin as I climbed out of the pool (I hate using the ladder) and on my arm from when I smacked my arm against the block as I was not-so-gracefully climbing out of the pool.
Hey, at least my goggles stayed on!
Hey, at least my goggles stayed on!
The Shayla ate my baby
There is something you must know about my husband. He can take any real life event and turn it into a Seinfeld episode, complete with a quote from the show.
So last night we went to the friendly neighborhood pub for the regular Thursday Subaru happy hour. (And on a side note, I was going to post a pic of my newly painted fingernails, inspired by Aarwenn, but well, it was either take a pic of my nails or drink $3 Boddingtons. Sorry blog-world, the Boddington’s won. And now every finger is chipped from swim practice, which serves as a reminder of WHY I normally don’t paint my fingernails.). We sit down and notice that our waitress isn’t completely there. I nicknamed here GED, as I’m sure that’s about as far as she got. Nice girl, but not really there. It was her 4th day on the job. And we knew that she was new a)b/c we’re there every Thurs (and sometimes more often) and we know all the waitstaff and b)she introduced herself (Shayla) and shook each of our hands and asked for our names. Which really was odd. Who shakes hands after receiving a beer order? So after introductions and she walks off, Will comes up with (in his best Elaine-Australian voice) “The Shayla ate my baybey.” Which nearly caused me to shoot beer out my nose. The Shayla thing continued on as we ended up with ~12 ppl at our table and each time someone would order, she would be missing either her notepad or a pen. We’re still not sure how that happens, as she had one of those pocket-apron deals on. And if I was new, I’d be sure to have about 5 of each stashed in those pockets. It just became a running joke and became quite amusing. But I’m sure its one of those things where you had to be there to actually find it funny.
So last night we went to the friendly neighborhood pub for the regular Thursday Subaru happy hour. (And on a side note, I was going to post a pic of my newly painted fingernails, inspired by Aarwenn, but well, it was either take a pic of my nails or drink $3 Boddingtons. Sorry blog-world, the Boddington’s won. And now every finger is chipped from swim practice, which serves as a reminder of WHY I normally don’t paint my fingernails.). We sit down and notice that our waitress isn’t completely there. I nicknamed here GED, as I’m sure that’s about as far as she got. Nice girl, but not really there. It was her 4th day on the job. And we knew that she was new a)b/c we’re there every Thurs (and sometimes more often) and we know all the waitstaff and b)she introduced herself (Shayla) and shook each of our hands and asked for our names. Which really was odd. Who shakes hands after receiving a beer order? So after introductions and she walks off, Will comes up with (in his best Elaine-Australian voice) “The Shayla ate my baybey.” Which nearly caused me to shoot beer out my nose. The Shayla thing continued on as we ended up with ~12 ppl at our table and each time someone would order, she would be missing either her notepad or a pen. We’re still not sure how that happens, as she had one of those pocket-apron deals on. And if I was new, I’d be sure to have about 5 of each stashed in those pockets. It just became a running joke and became quite amusing. But I’m sure its one of those things where you had to be there to actually find it funny.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Random mumblings for a Wednesday
Spent most of last week in Oklahoma City for a job. Actually had a splendid time. The client and site people were really nice to me. Actually treated me with respect and didn’t question my every move. I got to relax, have fun, and feel confident in my skills. This week I’m back in the office and its back to the usual crap. Fun fun! Makes me wish I was in the field more often.
Swimming was crazy amounts of hard Monday and Tuesday. Mainly I think b/c Sunday was simply not enough rest for my poor arms. So, I’m taking today and Thurs off. Then hit practice on Friday, and my meet on Saturday. And being that I have OCD about swimming, its killing me that Coach refuses to tell me what I’m swimming. Absolutely killing me. It’s a relay meet and no individual leg is over 100 yds. So, for the entry sheet, he asked for our split times and for us to tell him which events were ok to swim and which events fit into the category “no way in hell”. Well, I told him that everything EXCEPT 100 fly was fair game. Fly is my nemesis. They made me swim it my Sr year in HS and it was agonizing and humiliating. But since a lot of the other schools couldn’t place 3 ppl in that event, it was an easy way for me to get points for my team, even if I did come in last out of 4 or 5 swimmers. Anyways, I fully believe that fly aided in the destruction of my shoulders. I guess destruction is not the right word, as they’re mostly functional now. But at the time, not being able to lift your arms over your head b/c the tendonitis had calcified seemed like “destruction”. So, from then on out – 100 fly is evil. Somehow, though, in my skewed head, 50 fly seems ok. Go figure! So last week, I “attempted” to swim 50 fly with flippers. It was horrible. Of course, part of the reason for it being horrible was that I did it at the end of a 75 minute workout. But still, all I can think of is humiliation and pain and horror. I also told coach that 3 to 5 events would be ok. And I listed times for 100’s of everything, including the IM. So, in my warped mind, I’m swimming 50 fly, 100 IM, and 100 breast, in addition to a few other things. All back-to-back of course. Which makes me hyperventilate! Coach claims that he refuses to tell ppl their events prior to the meet b/c he’s had a good history of people whining about what the got stuck with or simply drop out, which makes his job that much harder on the day of the meet. Good point, but it still doesn’t do much for my OCD.
A funny from Will. He is thinking ahead this year (points are deserved here) and has made reservations for dinner on Feb 12th. The 12th b/c I have to fly back to OKC on the 14th. So, per his email, I am telling my IIF’s. To quoth him, “I deserve positive points for thinking ahead!!! Write them down and tell ALL of your web buddies. I have to keep my status as most desirable but un-obtainable web buddy husband!” So, you have been informed. And I’m thinking of referring to him from now on as “MDBUOWBH”. Damn, that’s a mouthful.
And I seem to have no motivation to do things. Work… home stuff. Even jewelry. No idea why. Must get over this soon though, b/c its annoying.
And speaking of work stuff, I should actually work on well, work. Instead of blogging. Even though this is way more interesting and fun.
Swimming was crazy amounts of hard Monday and Tuesday. Mainly I think b/c Sunday was simply not enough rest for my poor arms. So, I’m taking today and Thurs off. Then hit practice on Friday, and my meet on Saturday. And being that I have OCD about swimming, its killing me that Coach refuses to tell me what I’m swimming. Absolutely killing me. It’s a relay meet and no individual leg is over 100 yds. So, for the entry sheet, he asked for our split times and for us to tell him which events were ok to swim and which events fit into the category “no way in hell”. Well, I told him that everything EXCEPT 100 fly was fair game. Fly is my nemesis. They made me swim it my Sr year in HS and it was agonizing and humiliating. But since a lot of the other schools couldn’t place 3 ppl in that event, it was an easy way for me to get points for my team, even if I did come in last out of 4 or 5 swimmers. Anyways, I fully believe that fly aided in the destruction of my shoulders. I guess destruction is not the right word, as they’re mostly functional now. But at the time, not being able to lift your arms over your head b/c the tendonitis had calcified seemed like “destruction”. So, from then on out – 100 fly is evil. Somehow, though, in my skewed head, 50 fly seems ok. Go figure! So last week, I “attempted” to swim 50 fly with flippers. It was horrible. Of course, part of the reason for it being horrible was that I did it at the end of a 75 minute workout. But still, all I can think of is humiliation and pain and horror. I also told coach that 3 to 5 events would be ok. And I listed times for 100’s of everything, including the IM. So, in my warped mind, I’m swimming 50 fly, 100 IM, and 100 breast, in addition to a few other things. All back-to-back of course. Which makes me hyperventilate! Coach claims that he refuses to tell ppl their events prior to the meet b/c he’s had a good history of people whining about what the got stuck with or simply drop out, which makes his job that much harder on the day of the meet. Good point, but it still doesn’t do much for my OCD.
A funny from Will. He is thinking ahead this year (points are deserved here) and has made reservations for dinner on Feb 12th. The 12th b/c I have to fly back to OKC on the 14th. So, per his email, I am telling my IIF’s. To quoth him, “I deserve positive points for thinking ahead!!! Write them down and tell ALL of your web buddies. I have to keep my status as most desirable but un-obtainable web buddy husband!” So, you have been informed. And I’m thinking of referring to him from now on as “MDBUOWBH”. Damn, that’s a mouthful.
And I seem to have no motivation to do things. Work… home stuff. Even jewelry. No idea why. Must get over this soon though, b/c its annoying.
And speaking of work stuff, I should actually work on well, work. Instead of blogging. Even though this is way more interesting and fun.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Postal swim results
The swim challenge wasn't in our usual pool at the High School (which has been repaired but it needs a few days to flush out all the algae that I'm certain has took up residence in the past 2 weeks). So, we met at this outdoor pool - in January. Which was trippy since I still associate January with cold, but hey, this is Texas. Its warm here. Actually, once I got warm, swimming outside was nice. It was nice to look at the clouds and the trees while I swam.
Anyways, I met my goal of 3,000 yds in 60 minutes. I actually swam 3385 yds, w/out pain or losing focus or being horribly bored. Yay! My arms are beginning to be sore now, though, so I'm very happy I planned ahead and scheduled a massage tomorrow :)
Thanks for all the good luck wishes :)
Next week I have a relay meet - should be fun. Events include a beer chug relay (while you swim). I'll report back in a week with results. :)
Anyways, I met my goal of 3,000 yds in 60 minutes. I actually swam 3385 yds, w/out pain or losing focus or being horribly bored. Yay! My arms are beginning to be sore now, though, so I'm very happy I planned ahead and scheduled a massage tomorrow :)
Thanks for all the good luck wishes :)
Next week I have a relay meet - should be fun. Events include a beer chug relay (while you swim). I'll report back in a week with results. :)
I need this swimsuit
Now, I won't look as good as the model, but I still think "Rock Star" is highly appropriate for me :)
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Small adventures in Oklahoma
So, I'm in Oklahoma City for work. The place I'm at had a h-u-g-e fire a few months ago, and as a result, the landscape looks quite martian, with the red dirt poking thru the charred remains of grass and trees. The after affects of the fire are pretty cool. I mean, the entire site smells like a campfire, which makes me happy. And the trees! This place is loaded with cedar trees. And as it turns out, when cedar trees burn, they EXPLODE from the inside out, resulting in this tree I took a few too many photos of.
Far away shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Closer shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Another angle:
Another crazy feature left over from the fire were these crazy little balls scattered all over the ground. I asked the plant guy what they were, and he said they were some sort of vine fruit, and during the fire, the vines burned but the fruit stayed. I thought they were really interesting as well...
So, this has been my week at work thus far. Sure beats being trapped in my office!
Far away shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Closer shot of Cedar Explosion Tree: Another angle: Another crazy feature left over from the fire were these crazy little balls scattered all over the ground. I asked the plant guy what they were, and he said they were some sort of vine fruit, and during the fire, the vines burned but the fruit stayed. I thought they were really interesting as well...So, this has been my week at work thus far. Sure beats being trapped in my office!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)