Take Your Mark

June 26 was my last day in California. I’ll miss the palm trees, lack of humidity, and relatively small insects. Virginia likes to sport the woods with wild trees growing all over the place as well as flies and ants so big one could assume they’re hold backs from the Mesozoic era. Getting off the plane in DC was rough. The jetway had to be about 90°F and 80% humidity… not so pleasant. I’m glad that was the exception. Days have been hot, but not as bad as my first day here.

The moving guys came and were great about the whole thing. In a few hours, my room was so clean, I almost didn’t recognize it, which is strange, because I’d lived there for 3 years. That’s the longest I’ve ever spent in one place in California. Hope the new guy likes it!

Ok, so maybe I’m not homeless in the traditional sense of the word, but I no longer have a home. The movers came in ad got busy quick. It took them only a few hours to move everything. My flight to DC and NY leaves tomorrow at 8am. I’m all packed and ready to go. Hope things are spetacular there (ie, not raining).

The other day at Nordstroms, I saw a realy cool T-shirt that brought back more than a few memories. Mr. Happy. There was no way that I was going to pay that price. But it’s cool to browse.

It’s all a mess. I’m not kidding. There’s a lot of crap that one (i.e., me) can collect in three years’ time. Argh. Decisions. Decisions. Sweat. Some tears. Lots of expensive boxes. Some tape. Hope this is over soon.

BT Express Auto. They’re supposed to move my car. When I filled out their quote request form, I saw the following section:

I put Jun 25 2008 as my estimated ship date, because I fly out the 26th. Doesn’t that make sense? A few days ago, I called them to make sure that everything is good to go, and found out that I can’t read.

Apparently “Estimated Ship Date” means 

**This vehicle is first available 06/25/08, and will not be picked up prior to that date. The first available pick up date is not a guaranteed date of service unless you have purchased hotshot service.** 

as described in the confirmation email. Hmmm. Interesting. It could take 5-7 days from the 25th for them to start researching which trucks are in the area for them to schedule my car. Then it takes up to 21 days to deliver my car. I fly Jun 26. A month car-less?

And on top of that, they equate “estimated ship date” and “first date available”. Huh? On what planet do those two phrases mean the same thing? They deserve the Douche Bag Award for misrepresenting their service. On the phone, I asked my first available to be set to Monday that week instead and will have Ray take care of it until the bums come to get it. Argh.

When you’re watching your food intake, things like this can seem like a delicious treat, but they are quite literally lethal. Take the Baskin Robbins Heath Shake Large as a case in point. Delicious? Sure looks that way. Nutritious? For a great black bear that is planning on going into hibernation for 6 months, yeah it’s probably okay. For a normal person, not so much.

Caloric intake? 2310 Calories. That’s kilocalories (1000 calories=1 Calorie). There’s no typo there: two thousand three hundred ten calories. Here’s how you make it: Start out with 108 g animal lard, and mix in 266 grams of sugar, add 35 g of meat protein, sprinkle some vitamins A & C, and add a dash of iron.

So, I was curious how many Weight Watchers (R) Points (R) there are in this sucker. I found out, turning to my friend ipointswatcher.com (it looks better on an iPhone), that it has about 55 points. I’m allowed 33 points on WW. So, that one delicious drink will cost me eating for the next two days. Maybe I should learn how to fast!

I just got back from San Francisco. What a city to visit. I’m not sure I’d like to live there, though. Maybe it’s the anything goes mentality.

I think I’m addicted to Jollibee. It’s a Filipino fast food joint that serves amazing spaghetti. It sounds weird, but the sauce is sweet with sausage and beef. Sooo delicious. 

In other culinary news, Fisherman’s Wharf smells like crabs. Everywhere you go, it’s crab cakes, crab chowder, whole crabs, half crabs, crab legs, crab withering on the chef’s table next to you on the sidewalk… The smell overwhelms you until you’re staggering like a drunkard at closing time.

I’m clearly not the clubbing type. Engineer. Swimmer. Middle of the day kind of guy. Loves the Jesus. It struck me kind of crazy that parties started at 11p, drinks stopped flowing at 1:30a, and the parties kept going til 11a. That means the prize DJs don’t come on til 7a and everyone’s sober! Wow! I’m toast at midnight, but I did my best to survive 2a the two times we went clubbing. Not likely to reoccur IMHO.

For as much as SF touts its MUNI, BART, and many other forms of public transit, they’re clearly not all that and a bag of potato chips. It seemed like OCTA, but runs twice as fast. That’s nothing to sneeze at, because if you miss an OCTA bus, you’re stuck there between 40 and 90 minutes. SF was about 20 minute’s wait. I kind of wished that all the forms of transit were unified. BARTs are different than the MUNIs, with different fairs and tickets and everything. I am kind of in love with the MUNI logo, though. It’s so psychedelic. So 1960s. So hard to read.

Union Square was a lot of fun. Sucked all the cash out of my pocket, though. A 5 story Macy’s Men’s store!!! What the heck? I was surprised to find that among all the couture men’s fashion was a lot of athletic clothing. I mean a lot. Like tons.

The random art shows in the park were also entertaining. As were the people watching. Much more wholesome than, say, taking a walk down Folsom Street, which I found quite startling.

All in all, it was a super much fun trip (with a tip of the hat to Ray).

I’m mentally all ready to go. In fact, I wish my start date was Monday. It’s not.

While I’ve been ready to go for some time, it seems to be taking the emotions a little bit longer to catch up. Maybe it’s that I have to discuss the moving details so often that I’m on auto pilot when talking, so that I’m actually considering what those words mean. 

I’ve done well for myself here. I’ve got amazing friends, great roommates, and just a really satisfying life.

Anyway, I’m feeling a little heavy at the moment. It’s going to be a great transition, even if it’s a little tough.

I’ve been doing yoga for several months now. It’s really works you out, but then you also feel relaxed afterward. As an ex-swimmer, a good work out is one that’d have you wondering how you were going to make it to the locker room.

With my several months of yoga, I’d at least expect to get to a point where I’m not ridiculously sore after each work out. Not there yet. After Tuesday’s class, I’m still sore in places I didn’t even know I had! The instructor’s so sweet and cheery when she’s really a slave driver! Here’s a sample of the work out. Be sure to read this out loud in a melodic, soft whisper.

Hello and welcome to yoga. My name is Sebrena and this is my normal class.

Do I have anybody here that’s new to yoga, as in you’ve never done it before? [waits a sec and glances around the room]. Great. I always get newbies in my classes. The only reason that I ask is so I can keep an eye out for ya.

Remember, this is your class. Take it to your level. Throughout our class, I’ll show you modifications to make a pose either more difficult or easier. If you want to challenge yourself with the harder modifications, that’s ok. If you want to make them easier, that’s ok, too. Take it to your level.

If you have one of those squishy mats, I’d highly recommend that you buy a sticky matt from Ross. They’re like 6 bucks. When we get to some moves like down dog and other poses your squishy matt will slip and slide around. Simply step off the matt and do the pose on the ground. 

[music starts] [she speaks groups of sentences in one breath, in time with the music]. Lay back on your mat, feet together, toes flop out, arms next to your side. Close your eyes or find your favorite ceiling tile. Breathe in through your nose, filling your lungs. Breathe out through your nose, emptying your lungs. Remove that crease from your brow. On your next exhale, relax your mouth and jaw, allowing your tongue to fall to the roof of your mouth. On your next exhale, relax your shoulders. Relax your hips, your legs, and toes.

Sounds innocent, right? Then, she proceeds to get all crazy s#!t on us for an hour.

Thank you for coming. I’m really proud of you for staying the entire class! I’ll see you next week. 

Namaste

I think namaste means something like “The divine in me recognizes the divine in you.” Sad, because I feel anything but divine afterwards.

Does this book title make sense to anyone?

ASTM Volume 15.08 Sensory Evaluation; Livestock, Meat, and Poultry Evaluation Systems; Vacuum Cleaners; Security Systems and Equipment; Detention and Correctional Facilities; Food Service Equipment; Homeland Security Applications

I mean what do vacuum cleaners and homeland security applications have in common?