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

Other than the Comcast situation, things are pretty good here. Training is going apace, I have a plan for my swimming (the weakest of the three legs for me). I’m a tad apprehensive about getting up to the right volume of long rides given my volunteer duties with NTP, but I think I’ll be there for Eagleman. I’m already up to it for Columbia, and I expect that race will go fairly well, all things considered.

We’ve passed two candidates up to the next and final round of interviews for the other fiscal law position at work. Hopefully the interviews will get scheduled soon and we can get him or her on board in short order. Took us longer to get the reference checks done simply because of the nature of scheduling at work the week before last.

Along the same lines, I’m trying to get a better handle on my work load so I can know what things should and can get passed along to the new person. There are several ‘what if’ projects I’d like to start laying out as well, getting reference materials together to make it easier for myself and others to find things related to our budget and the organizational structure of the BGA.

Hosted my friend Rob this weekend, up from Richmond. Mostly I let him wander on his own as I had club and cable stuff to deal with, but we did get to spend some good time together, which was fun. I’m afraid such events will become more scarce as August approaches and I become pickier about my training and recovery needs.

Signed up for a running clinic next month with the folks who established the style of running I’ve been trying to do. Should be interesting to get some feedback from them on how I’m doing with their stuff. I suspect I’m going to be told to turn my legs over faster, but that’s fine and doable. More worried that I’m just completely off on what they were aiming for, but that remains to be seen.

Started another pair of socks yesterday, and I got yarn and a pattern from a club on Friday to knit a pair of fingerless gloves (‘texting gloves’ as they were called). Fun and interesting pattern, and great yarn for it. Looking forward to making those, but want to get the socks done first, or at least well started since those can be a Metro project where the gloves are a bit too complex for traveling.

Biked up for errands this morning (dentist, picking up glasses, etc.), and there was a serious amount of stupid on the trail in Rock Creek. No helmet, helmet on but unbuckled (doesn’t do much good if it flies off your head when you fly off the bike…), people running on the left side of the trail, etc. Most annoying. Kinda makes you want to get “Trail Rules” signs like they have on other trails in the area.

Why is it that you say “I’m a triathlete” and suddenly you become all intimidating to some people?

I really, really wanted aero bars on my single speed bike this morning while down around East Potomac Park. File under “you know you’re a triathlete if…” you want aero bars on all your bikes. The instinct to get down on the bars while on a straight, flat stretch was pretty strong. Good sign that training on the tri bike is going well. Or at least has become second nature.

No A/C yet in the building, so while I wait for the cable guy to come by and slap a cablecard into the new TiVo it’s kinda warm. We’ll have it in two weeks once they transition the system over from heat, and I’m semi-okay with this because the new general manager here at the cult co-op is having his guys come by and do a comprehensive sweep and check of all the convectors in each individual unit to ensure they’re working, clean, lubed, etc. First time it’s been described that way (past just the usual “we’re changing the filters”), so I’m okay with delaying to ensure all the equipment is working at peak efficiency, or at least at a better clip than the norm. Having vacuumed off my own units, I have seen how nasty they can get, so I can only imagine what some of them look like. It’s nice to have a proactive manager for once; he’s been big on getting in to do preventative maintenance, which is much appreciated here.

Had plans with a friend to do some gaming, but he got called in to do more on a research project he’s leading at school, so no go there. A nap sounds like a good alternative. With the lack of A/C and temps in the 90s the past few days sleep has been elusive. Lots of tossing and turning and odd dreams, including some disturbingly vivid erotic ones. Waking up at 2 am with an almost painfully raging hard-on from one of those is not conducive to a lot of rest.

I’ve been indulging a crush, which has been fun. I feel like I can begin dating again, that I’m ready for that, with the result that I’ve been keeping my eyes open and my flirt meter at “medium high”. But I also feel like I’m looking more with an eye to finding something more than just casual. As always, nothing is set in stone, but we’ll see where the path leads.

The first weekend of spring was absolutely glorious here in DC. Despite my normal thing that Sundays are supposed to be my one, true “rest” day from exercise during the week I managed to bike across town and back twice, and over to the Hill once. Grabbed brunch with friends this morning up in Dupont, stretched it to an almost two hour affair, until the sun came round the building and started to hit us. The Hill trip was to pick up new tires for the tri bike, which is off the trainer, hopefully for the season, and needed new ones to make up for the wear from using the trainer all winter. I’ll keep the old tires for next winter.

Five gazillion people were on and around the Mall both trips up to Dupont, and in the afternoon coming back from brunch. “When marches/causes collide” could have been the caption. One of the many reasons I love living here, you never know what stuff folks are going to be in town protesting or praising.

Biked back up to Dupont for a last minute dinner/drinks (club soda for moi) thing with my friend M who is vaguely trying to hook me up with another cute friend of his, P. This was the second time we’d met, and P seems a little bit shy, but was generous with a hug both when I got there and when he left, so we’ll see.

In between bike trips I managed to take care of bills, update the financial software, sort mail, and vacuum, but not a lot else. Gotta say, I’m quite happy I picked up a little Dyson 24 from Woot last month, it’s been a peach, and has cleaned a hell of a lot better than my old vacuum did. I’m trying to keep the dust population down this year, hoping that will help with ye olde allergies, and this sucker has been very good for that. The sole complaints I had with it are that there’s no place on the unit to store the extra little non-carpeted-floor attachment that came with it (no biggie, I just toss it in a bucket I keep in the same hall closet), and that the cord is too short to get the entire apartment from one plug (it’s a small apartment), which has been remedied by use of an extension cord I had lying around. It gets under the bed easily with the little floor attachment, and it’s small enough to carry around when I’m using said attachment around the hardwood floors. Definitely a good purchase.

Goal for the week is to complete recovery from the race and prep the schedule for the next two to three races. Really happy with how the season has started, and hope it continues in the same vein.

It’s dark at 4 am when you get up for a race. I had to wear my glasses to bike over to the race this morning, since it started at 7, which was about 15 minutes before the sun came up. Switched to the sunglasses even in the dark because I knew I’d want them on the course, but not for biking over.

Nice, cool morning. Bike ride over was easy, though it took me a bit to find bike parking. I was the only one on the actual rack near the finish line – most people just locked up to street signs. Changed into running stuff, ran into club folks who were volunteering, club folks who were running, and other friends and coworkers who were running as well while we waited inside. Seeded myself back according to the time I thought I’d do. Interestingly, they assigned us to “corrals” according to our speed, but then didn’t put numbers out for the corrals, just the expected times. Ooookay.

They threw the professionals out on the course and then began the slow crawl toward the starting line. Once we got going I did pretty well pacing myself at just under 10 minute miles (and the results show my 10k split was at an average page of 9:55 min miles). The last half was a bit slower as we hit hills and I tired out some, but the 2:15:03 finish time was perfectly fine by me. As the first race of the season I wasn’t looking to break any personal records, just to get out and do the distance before the tri season got started. The course itself was good, the right level of challenge for an early race, though it was a tad quiet since a good chunk went through downtown’s business district and some sleepy neighborhoods. Adams Morgan was nice and cheery, with a good crowd, and there were good pockets of cheering here and there as well through North Cap and the Hill. I had fun giving high fives to a bunch of little kids along the race course where I spotted them in time. In any case the kids cheering always brought on a good smile.

Mile 11 seemed to be the missing mile for a lot of people, as in we hit 11 and then the next thing you knew, you were hitting the marker for 12 and thinking, “where did that last mile go?” At least 2-3 other people I talked to had the same experience. The last couple miles were challenging, and I was thanking my lucky stars I was just doing the half as it was starting to warm up as we came into the finish chute. I’m nicely sore this afternoon after a short nap and some goofing off on the PS3, post-race, but not injured and feeling pretty good. A good way to start the season, and I look forward to the rest of it.

February just sucked gorilla butt.

Since I haven’t posted since mid-February here, there have been a number of changes, with the usual ‘things in threes’ as well. On top of the death of my grandfather, Mike and I broke things off, and I finally discovered what the third casualty was. In the mess in the middle of the month my office and I completely lost the invite to the GAO annual one-day update on the state of appropriations law over the past year. On Friday I found out it had happened the day before. Understand, this is the one bit of professional development I get to do each year which is actually relevant to what I do at work (as opposed to the annual CLE requirements & courses for the bar, which are a complete waste of my time), and I haven’t missed one since they started doing them until this year. So, yeah, February sucked gorilla butt.

March has been better. I’m on track to do okay in the half marathon next weekend, and by extension the 10 miler next month. I’m getting a good base built for the IM, setting the stage for that little challenge at the end of August. To keep myself on track there I’ve actually stopped drinking. I’ve found that when I do drink, even just a single drink, I tend to drag badly the next day, which prevents me from training (and puts me in a foul mood). The IM is too important to me to let a preventable thing stand in the way, so I’m not letting it. I’ve gone out a time or two to bars with friends now, and it’s actually not been bad not drinking.

Works’ been crazier this month than last, and we’re starting to run against political pressures on spending. Thankfully my office advertised for another fiscal law specialist, which closed Friday, so we’ll start setting up interviews for the next week or two. I hope the process goes quickly, I definitely need the help, and soon.

It’s been a heck of a week here. With the snowmageddon, followed by the 3rd blizzard of the season just a couple of days later, I was off work for the majority of the week, and actually chomping at the bit to get back just so I could socialize with people again. Not to say I didn’t see my neighbors on occasion, but it’s not like we spend a ton of time hanging out. Finally got back to work Friday morning only to leave early after getting the news that my grandfather passed away that morning (probably while I was trudging through snow to try to get to work). I’m headed down here in a bit for the funeral, if I can ever get myself moving this morning. I will enjoy getting to see all of my cousins, at least.

In better news, I managed to pay off a student loan last month (the one with the highest interest rate) and just yesterday scheduled a pay off payment for a credit card which should hit that account tomorrow. It’s a card I keep low and try to pay off monthly anyway (I put a couple of recurring bills on ‘autopay’ on it), but I’d gotten a small balance there with an unexpected expense or two, so now that’ll be back to normal. Used the federal tax return to kill that off and rejiggered the budget to put the extra cash I was using to pay it down (less the regular bills) over to paying off the next card. That second one should get paid off by the end of this year at the current pace (9 months?), freeing that cash up for other debt. I know, “been there, done this” with the cards & student loans, but with my mortgage having been sold to an idiot of a company (not to name names, but they go by the initials “Green Tree Servicing”), I want the other things gone so I can do things like fix up the apartment here and have it in a more sellable position, as well as more comfortable/livable in general.

The snow has been limiting on being able to get out and run, so I’m feeling a bit behind on my training for the half in March, but I think I can get some good running in while down at the parentals’ place this week and get back on track.

I keep finding good excuses not to get to the pool. That will have to stop soon. Maybe next week. However, the bike and run workouts are going well, and for the most part are happening as planned, which I take as a good sign here in the beginning of training. Getting back into the groove of training can be the hardest part of the training season for me, so I’m liking that I’m getting into the right schedule for it. 8 mile run planned for the morning tomorrow, so crashing here soon to be rested for it.

Today was one of those “OMG, none of the non-lawyers at the BGA can write their way out of a paper bag!” days. Statutory citations I’ll give a very, very wide pass on (since, well, that’s my job to provide and correct them), but basic sentence structure (subject-verb-object), not so much. Things like that make my brain hurt. And there was a lot of it today, as there was yesterday. It’s all a wee bit frustrating, and virtual red ink (track changes) just isn’t as satisfying as whipping out a real red pen and leaving a trail of bloody words strewn across a physical page. Oh, and the next office that asks me where a package is, when the package came in at 7 pm on Friday, at the same time that same office dumped another, 200 page, time-sensitive document on me, I will have them killed. Slowly. With a real red pen. Preferably fountain, with poisonous ink.

The business of every day life continues apace. Laundry was done. The cult’s co-op’s new management team was fussed at over missing notices about impending pest control measures. Talked with Mike. The usual stuff, which is a good thing.

My new mortgage servicing company has made a fine festuche of the escrow statement on my PMI as I moved over to them. Sent them a doc on 12/10/09 to have them correct the error (they somehow assumed I wasn’t going to pay the PMI that was on the bill for December and January, despite never being late with a payment?!?!). Called today because the February bill shows an increase (which was threatened in the incorrect escrow statement) to collect the “missing” PMI. They did indeed get my letter via fax on the 10th, but no one ever bothered to send it to the escrow department to have the thing fixed. Oy. So, step one was having that happen today, and I’ll call to bug them in a week. In the meantime I have to pay the bill with the extra $17 and change on it and then deal later with getting that somehow credited to a future bill or to principle. Right. It’s not a ton of money, but frankly I don’t want to pay them a penny more than I owe them. I have little faith in this new company so far, though the reps I’ve spoken to in the two months I’ve had them have been fairly pleasant to deal with.

Oh, and my favorite part of dealing with them? For the first time since about my third mortgage payment back in 2006 I’m paying my mortgage via check. Why? Because they want to charge me to make the payment online, in an amount that adds about 1% to the bill. No thanks, I’ll happily pay the USPS to deliver it instead. Dingbats.

And there’s some question why people dislike financial institutions?

Anyway. Other than that, training is going okay. My foot began to bother me a little at the end of last week, but several nights of sleeping in the brace has staved off the ever-possible plantar fasciitis. Went absolutely nuts in making soup last week, so I have gobs of the stuff in freezer bags now for easy meals later (whip up some fresh rice and heat up the soup, voila, homemade meal in no time). Curried split pea soup and African bean soup (also slightly curried, but with peanut butter in the broth – yum). Mood is much elevated thanks to regular exercise again.

Mike is looking at condos in Beantown these days. It’s been fun to watch the excitement and apprehension that goes along with that process. In a lot of ways I wish I were up there to look at places with him and watch the possibilities unfold. I did have to admit to him that I was a bit apprehensive when he first said that he was going to buy rather than rent when he moved this spring (it does make the long-distance aspect of the relationship a bit more, well, lasting for the near future), but spitting it out and talking about it with him released that anxiety. Yes, we’ll be traveling back and forth for a while to come, but I think he’s worth it.

Work has been hellacious as we move toward budget hearing time with the President’s budget coming out on Monday. Today was spent going over mind-numbing anticipatory questions and answers (the programs guessing what the Hill is going to ask us, and then answering said questions). On the one hand it’s a good picture of the overall direction of the BGA. On the other, it’s tedious and time-consuming, and one gets tired of correcting grammar and statutory reference mistakes. Eh, as long as they keep paying me. Though I do look forward to getting the ad out on the street for the other appropriations attorney position we’re supposed to be putting out. Soon. I hope. (Help!)

NTP is in full start-up mode. The newbies register on Wednesday and then the fun begins. I have two docs to edit up this week, and then we’re good to get started.

Been thinking a lot about decorating, again. Mainly paint and some minor things around the apartment. It’s been 4 years-ish since I moved in and I’ve not painted a thing. Whoops. I did come up with an idea for the color (though not the exact shade) for the bedroom this afternoon. Looked around when I got home and I think it’ll work. Not saying much past that, but I’m hopeful. Need to find someplace to do some framing for me, too (oooh, and there’s an idea for the front hall. Hmmm…). Anyway, it’s a slow process (re: 4 years, no paint), but is good to get some more concrete ideas. Oh, and cleaning out of closets will happen shortly. Lots to do, lots to do.

Sat down tonight and laid out a rough outline of the next three months of workouts. The run workouts are pretty set, given the next two races (half marathon in March, 10 mile run in April), the swim & bike ones are just a rough draft. And of course it’s all subject to change as life happens and as I refine my needs in this early part of the training season.

So the planned race schedule for this year’s season is:

• March 20, National Half-Marathon
• April 11, Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run (comped entry! yay!)
• May 23, Columbia Triathlon (Olympic)
• June 13, Eagleman Triathlon (Half Iron)
• July (??), Total 200 (bike ride)
• August 29, Ironman Louisville

Ambitious, but doable. I’m registered for all of them now save the charity ride in July, which doesn’t even have a date posted yet. I’ve heard it’s a good confidence booster for the IM distance, as well as a good experience to show you can do an event of that length (time-wise) and nail down your nutrition. The only real worry right now is the 1/2 marathon that’s first up. Running has been a bit difficult with the cold weather, so the base is a little off, but with some knuckling down, I’ll be there and have fun with it.

I am most decidedly not a fan of cold weather, not that this is a revelation for anyone who’s known me or read what I’ve written online over the past decade. Being stuck inside, not being able to run or bike outdoors, all makes for a grumpy Moose. This weekend ended up being a wash as far as most activities go, though I did manage to get on the bike in the trainer both days an get some decent exercise in. For the most part I just vegetated and didn’t seem to do a lot past playing a lot on my DS. It’s weekends like this that make me question the decision to live on SW; it’s so much more socially isolated down here, despite the convenience to work and training. Though when I sit down and think it over I honestly wonder if I’d be any better at getting out if I lived any closer to folks. Certainly I’d have less of an excuse not to venture out, but would that be enough to motivate me to do so? I’d like to think I would, but I can’t know that at the moment.

That said, I’m getting the hell out now because I can’t take the apartment and the lack of human contact any more. So, off to JR’s for me thus evening and meeting a friend or friends for dinner. I may not like going outside in cold weather, but I can’t ignore the need to get out of my little shell, so wrestle with winter I will.