Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Even if it is supposed to snow today, the first full day of Spring, the DC Department of Parks & Recreation made sure my first spring day was complete by weed-whacking their front lawn in sub-freezing temperatures this morning. Nothing like the smell of freshly cut frozen grass to make you feel all warm & fuzzy. Or at least all sniffly.

Today the “G” in “OGC” stands for “Grammar.” I’m reviewing a report that we have to give to our overlords the Congress and it’s just chock full ‘o nuts errors. Semi-colon abuse is the most frequent problem, but there are plenty of others clamoring for the top position.

Oh, and I have seen an occasional snow flake this afternoon, but they’re awfully sparse thus far. I think it’s waiting until the evening rush because, as one co-worker put it, “It’s not a real storm in DC unless it hits at rush hour.”

I started pre-positioning myself to be in the new place with little in the way of entertainment (i.e., no television yet) and bought another game for my DS. Super Princess Peach. It’s so delightfully cheesy, a twist on the classic Super Mario games in which Princess Peach has to save the boys instead of the other way around. Played about 1/2 an hour tonight and it’s very addicting. Not quite as addicting as Animal Crossing: Wild World is, but still fun. Also bought a copy of it to give to my niece for her birthday this weekend.

This is making it all the more tempting to get a gaming console when it finally comes out. But first, of course, the television is needed to run it on. I’m leaning toward a dual use machine, one that’ll be a TV and a computer monitor. I’m going to put my desk in the living room so I don’t spend all of my time in the bedroom, so it makes sense just to have one device for the PC/Mac Desktop and television. I’d like to eventually also get a media PC/Mac to run stuff from, but that’s a while down the road. First get in, get settled, then worry about larger entertainment issues.

I might lose a toenail. I’m not sure yet, but the Little Piggy Who Stayed Home on my right foot got rather testy in the last 5 minutes of my 2 hour run today. Hasn’t turned black or anything, but it’s definitely not happy with me.

After the run I dragged Richard with me to City Lights for some much needed protein (mmm, tofu…). Was pleasant, both the meal and the company, and I enjoyed both immensely.

I supposedly have a closing date now: April 7th. So in not-quite-three weeks I’ll be signing lots of paperwork to send myself into lots of debt (but with the reward of a place to live). I’m looking forward to it (the place to live, not the debt). I will likely hire movers this time, but I think I’m also going to have a “packing party” to get stuff into boxes beforehand. So if you’ve evern wanted to see what bad taste I have/had in clothes, or what my sex toy collection looks like, I’ll welcome any assistance.

Other than that, the cold I had last week is pretty much gone, replaced by the lovely spector of DC allergies. Now I remember why I keep the sudafed around. As I mentioned above, the run went well. Hopefully I’ll be knuckling down a bit more on the training as I’m a little over 2 months out from the race (eeck!). Have to arrange for leave and all that fun stuff soon, too, but I think not until after I get moved.

If you had to have a day off this week, yesterday was the day to do it. It was absolutely glorious here in DC, high in the 80s, nice wind going, just gorgeous. I had the day off for my every 6 months cleaning (“You don’t floss enough, do you…”), which necessitated biking down on the mountain bike, then home again to switch bikes and go on a nice not-quite-2-hour ride on the tri bike. After a second shower, it was off to the grocery store with my bag lady cart to pick up food & sundries (TP!), then a nice, lazy afternoon resting from all the riding and walking.

This was the first time I’d gotten a chance to head out for any extended period of time on the tri bike since I bought it, and I was looking forward to the chance to sit down in the aero bars and see how that felt “in real life” (as opposed to sitting on the trainer). It was surprisingly comfortable, except for my neck. I’m going to have to get a different helmet, without the cute little visor thing on the front, because that had me keeping my head craned up at too strong an angle to see under it, which lead to some neck stiffness about half way through the ride. Oh, and I have to remember to get some fresh sun screen – I have a lovely farmer’s burn on my arms, with a nice sharp line across the biceps. The joys of being paler than pale.

Having just gone to the grocery store I was able to make a lovely, simple dinner of sauteed broccoli over pasta (heat olive oil, throw in cut up broccoli, cook for a while until the broccoli “reduces” down, then throw in chopped garlic, maybe some red pepper flakes, and pine nuts, saute a few minutes, throw in 1/4 cup or less of water, cover, cook 5 minutes or so to steam the broccoli, serve over pasta; add oil as necessary while cooking to ensure you have enough to coat the broccoli and the pasta), some salad and toast. Yum. That was lunch today, too.

This morning, though, the legs were really telling me I had run more than I have been used to (damned time out), and that biking in real life is not the same as the trainer; my quads were especially unhappy with me when I awoke this morning. Thankfully after a nice, slow recovery run this afternoon they’ve calmed down considerably.

Unfortunately as this week goes on, it’s getting colder and colder, reminding us that it’s still winter, officially. Hopefully it won’t be too nasty this weekend (doesn’t look it) so I can get outside and work out more. Winter’s hold is slowly giving way, and it can’t leave soon enough.

Wrote this yesterday, but my site was down, so couldn’t post it.

Spring is here, spring is here, time for skittles and time for beer.

Yes, it’s going to get cooler as the week goes one, but it’s glorious here in DC today. Saw daffodils in bloom while out running, that being the first sign of Spring in the DC parks. The second sign was, of course, the sound of lots of bicycle chains which hadn’t been oiled in months (perhaps years) out and about on the local trails. Most of these riders didn’t know to warn you that they were coming up beside you, but you probably heard their chains grinding from a good several feet away (if not that, then the sound of their wheezing as they rode too quickly, too soon).

Ran this afternoon, after the cold meds kicked in and killed the remaining bit of sniffles, and after a nice, hot, steamy shower to help them along (ah, snot in the shower, yum). The run felt pretty good. I was going sooooo slooooow, trying to keep my heart rate down where it’s supposed to be rather than just going out and running like I usually do. I’m very bad about actually using the HRM as it’s supposed to be used, to slow myself down and actually train the heart without overtaxing it. But since we’re fussing at the newbie triathletes about that, I’m trying to follow my/our own advice. So I was slower than molasses, but it was still a good run. Is so nice now that the calf’s back in action.

Did forget to put Body Glide on my nips, which started to tell me that was a very, very bad idea at the turn-around, but which ultimately calmed down and are fine now. Will have to remember that stuff for the long runs again.

Like a lot of people I seem to have missed the final 30-60 seconds of Battlestar Gallactica on Friday (silly TiVo recording times). Got the gist of it, but what a pain to have to re-record it. Otherwise, that was quite a season ender. Glad they took the premise of the original show and went where they have with it, it’s been good television for the most part.

I suspect the fools who made my veggie burger for yesterday’s lunch used some cheese as a binding agent. Too bad it becomes an un-binding agent once released into my gut. Behold, the Power of Cheese! Wicked little dairy products.

Taking it easy tonight. Nice relaxing dinner with Lawrence, then bed. Off tomorrow for my 6 month dental appointment and running other errands (time to buy more TP, bug my real estate agent about stuff, etc.). Might get in a nice bike ride since it’ll be comfortable out. We’ll see when we get there.

So, it’s no secret that I’m a member of several web sites which cater to more prurient interests (hell, my user name is always the same, and I use clear face pictures, so it’s not like it’s hidden). Many of these sites allow you to a) see who has looked at your profile recently and/or b) see if someone has rated your profile.

Yesterday, while feeding my ego checking those self-same sites, one of the pictures stood out as looking familiar. I puzzled a bit, it wasn’t the best or, I now realize, the most recent picture of him, but then it hit me: I work with this gentleman. Not directly with him, I’ve not addressed any legal issues in his area, but we usually see each other every other week or so in one of the cafeterias in our office building, often enough that I eventually recognized him, despite the more grizzled appearance in his online profile.

Now, this isn’t the first co-worker I’ve seen on such sites, nor the first that I’ve had confirmation of some of the rather naughty things they like to enjoy in private, but it is the first where I only have a casual, passing acquaintance with the gentleman (hell, I don’t think I even know his name in this case). But I’m wondering how to handle this. With the others I’ve known, I knew them well enough to be able to tease them a little bit about it in private, but as I said, I don’t even know this guy’s name, just that he usually orders a grilled cheese sandwich and which office he works in.

So how does one, or does one at all, acknowledge the recognition?

I think I may have short circuited my usual “can’t sleep, the sudafed’ll get me” sleepless night when I catch a cold. Zonked myself out at 9 last night with some melatonin, slept really well until about midnight, then was up, off and on, until around 2ish, then back to some (fitful) sleep until 6 when I got up and hopped on the bike trainer for 45 minutes. Hopefully that was the extent of my sleeplessness and I’ll be able to rest better until this thing is gone. I usually have this one night where I’m too jittery from the sudafed to sleep well, but when the choice is don’t sleep because a) I can’t breathe; or b) I have a stimulant in my system but can breathe, I’ll take B for the block.

The ride on the trainer went well, and I felt better for sweating some (the box of tissues was within arm’s reach, but remained unused, thankfully). Remember, if it’s above the neck, you can exercise moderately.

Work is nuts, as expected. I swear, the sky falls every time I leave. It’s nice to know I’m needed and integral to the team, but you know, a certain degree of anonymity would be nice every now and again.

Home today with an entirely self-inflicted head cold. Work is, I’m sure, going nuts as they always do when I’m out, but so be it. And I wish the meds (sudafed) that get rid of the more obnoxious symptoms weren’t so damned taxing themselves. That and I wish that I didn’t turn into a 4 year old when I get sick.

Partially fortuitous, actually, as I was home when the USPS dropped off a very important and much-anticipated package (gift check from ye olde parental units for ye olde apartment purchase).

Finished reading two books (the last two of the “Death Gate Cycle” by Weiss & Hickman) today. Not like those are tough reads, but they kept me entertained and off the computer (mmm, monster killing…).

Hopefuly sleep tonight won’t be bad – I actually slept pretty darned well last night, just woke up with a head stuffed with snot and without a will to move.

I managed to run for the first time in 3ish weeks today. No pain in the calf, it did fine, albeit at a slow pace. My knees, now, three plus hours afterword, on the other hand, are not so happy with me. Oh well, the knees will get over it. Thankfully the calf seems to be over it, which was a royal pain in the ass.

I also got the docs I needed to review for the cult co-op. Not reading them right at the moment because, well, I’m tired of reading legal docs today. Had to read far too many for work, the mood’s just not there for this. Will read them tomorrow while I do laundry.

Work has been absolutely crazy of late, which is cutting into my social time. Silly employer (yay for Uncle Sugar, but damn he’s demanding).

Sunday’s little incident seems far too long ago. *sigh*

I’m wearing a tie to work today. I hate ties, with a passion. So why the tie? Why, to keep my collar up sufficiently to hide the light hickie I have, of course.

When coming in from dinner last night I got cruised and allowed myself to get picked up inside my apartment building. Nice fuzzy chested latino, my size, nice uncut cock and a penchant for lots of little comments like, “You’re so cute,” and “You’re so sexy,” and “Ay, papi!” He wanted me to stay the night, but I did need some amount of sleep prior to working today, so I politely excused myself and went up to sleep in my own bed. Twas a pleasant diversion after a frustrating weekend without internet access.