what my work is like

I just want to say that I went to work today. All of the people I work for at this particular job and I want to be clear I'm not talking about the Science Museum has attended this training. I'm just saying...



This is the Dilbert from Sunday 24 September 2006. Want to see more? Here's the Dilbert homepage.

A couple of my favorite pictures

In the interest of having more pictures up, these are some of my favorites from apple picking this year. Incidentally, I have a crisper drawer in my refrigerator full of apples and no idea what to do with them. Anyone with an idea, write me.




Also, here's a fun one of a game we played the other day. Check out the look on my face.

Running

I ran this morning, 3.5 miles as usual.

There are times when I just want to take a day off from running. The thing is, I usually feel much better at work when I've run in the morning. Tomorrow I have to work from 12-7. Ask me how much I can't wait for that. Although I did just look at the Visa bill and it's probably a good thing I'm working.

Killing time

I'm killing time in between class and waiting to talk to another professor.

To answer some of your questions:

Yes, I did run this morning in the rain. It was wet.

Kelly, I got a DVDR about the time that my video tapes were about to overtake my whole shelving system. DVDs are smaller. Also, I knew I needed to get one before fall programs started.

No, I'm not looking forward to taking the bus home in the rain. I want to be back in bed sleeping. Is that wrong?

What else has been going on in my life

I had a presentation in one of my classes. My assignment was to review and summarize an article. Instead, I talked about why the article was wrong. It really was wrong and it just annoyed me. It took all of my strength not to use the phrase "load of crap" while I was speaking. We also played a game to illustrate how physical and mental impairments impact people's ability to work. It went really well which was a relief because I was really nervous. It was hard to get up there and say my opinion instead of summarizing the article which is what a lot of people did. I was really putting myself on the line in a way and that's a big class.

Also, I'm back to running in a t-shirt. I ran 3.5 miles today and still caught the bus. We'll see how I do for tomorrow.

A couple of funny things

I was reading some other blogs today after class.

First blog: Kelly brought up social anxiety and mentioned that I might have something to contribute. I feel your pain, I hate walking in to places alone as well. I haven't considered how that impacts me right now because I'm in places where people know who I am or have at least seen me before. It's making my life easier.

Second blog: I got both of my hospital bills from getting stitches. Three lousy stitches were over $1,200. This is what I should have had Amanda do instead.

Third blog: Since I am an intern and I was one last year as well, this just highlights good use of an intern.

Hi, my name is sleepy

I am soo sleepy. I need to practice a presentation and read for two classes. I wonder how much of that I will accomplish while I'm writing in my blog.

I ran again with the cold legs, 3.5 miles. It's not supposed to get as cold tonight so I should able to run in short sleeves tomorrow.

Lastly, I read this post from Overhead in the Office. I smiled and thought of Kelly.

I think I need more TV shows

Now that I have a DVD burner, I think I need more TV shows in my life. Although, now that Aaron Sorkin in back writing for television, everything is right int he world.

I ran 3.5 miles today. It was very cold. My first day of long sleeve running. One day, I will run in pants. For now though, I prefer to keep my legs as cold as humanly possible.

My new TV show is on tonight

I know, I shouldn't really call it "my new TV show" until I've watched at least once to make sure I like it. Nevertheless, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (flash site, turn down your volume if you're at work) premiers tonight and I'm very excited. I was slowly going through withdraw from The West Wing. I know, most of the people who watched that show are older than me. I'm ahead of my time.

I ran this morning in the cold and the rain. It's funny how my body warms up at about the third mile and the gigantor hill. It's just late enough in the run to not be that helpful. Firefox doesn't like the word "gigantor" it likes "gigantic" and "giganticness" instead. Is it possible to teach Firefox slang? It's just late enough in the run that I need to cool down before I take a shower. Although when winter comes, I think I will be glad to be warm at any point in a run.

Also, Kelly has pictures of apple picking. There are some really good ones this year. They a really large files too. This one is a particular favorite of mine. Thanks Kelly!

I ran farther than I thought I could

Ok, so someone dissed some of the content on this blog. I'm just going to let that go for now. I know that there were no bad intentions.

I ran 6 miles this morning. I know. I was surprised I could run that far too. Just to keep the expectations real, it took me a very very long time to go the whole way. I was happy when I got to the end and wasn't worried about my legs collapsing under me.

We also went apple picking. According to several forecasts it was supposed to be a crappy, rainy, windy day. It was nice and sunny and even kind of warm where we were. Not all of the apples were ripe so we didn't get as many as usual, but I always wind up with too many apples from our apple picking excursions anyways. I am currently lacking the pictures that we took today while apple picking (and I know there are some good ones) but I promised I would post pictures from our very first apple picking experience. Here they are, I love them both.



Someone's getting friendly with Mr. Scarecrow.



It was colder than we were prepared for during our first apple picking trip. This experience taught us to wear warm clothes and go earlier in the year.

A little more about my day

Here's what actually happened today:

I woke up and ran and went to work.
Work with teenagers. That is a good thing. I like them.
Come home. Try unsuccessfully to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Saddened to learn there is no butter in my house. Can that be right?
Try unsuccessfully to make Skyline Chili. I have no explanation for that one.
Talked with someone who invited me over for brunch and then said to me, "this guy is coming who you might like, so you might want to dress cute." What the... My brain is absolutely in overdrive. I'm sure I will show up totally nervous and not cute and act some way other than the way I normally act.
Drive to job number two. The road is closed, there was a detour only that road is also closed and the road I take to get there also has... Get the idea?
Go to job number two. There were no teenagers. It was lonely.
While at job #2, my supervisor comes up to me and says, "How are you on hours? Can you work a few more." My head is saying, "Danger, Will Robinson" and "RUN" at the same time. I said sure.
The first time in six months I was at the aquarium for something other than an overnight, I of course wound up working an overnight that was completely understaffed.

This should also tell you how I'm feeling:

Your Emoticon is Grumpy

Maybe you're having a bad day... or maybe something just upset you. Either way, you're definitely seeing red!

What Emoticon Best Represents You Right Now?

I am soooo sleepy

I wonder how many more times I'll write that this year. Although I was able to wake up a at 6:30 (a whole hour later than normal) today and still run. As always, I ran 3.5 miles. I'm not totally sure about this whole running for the apples thing any more.

I went to one job, now I'm home trying to eat. I put the wrong cheese on my Skyline Chili and it's too salty now. It's not bothering me though. I haven't been truly hungry in a while now. Should I be worried about that?

In a few minutes I have to go to job number two. I need to remember that MN-77 is closed right now and I need to go a different way. Also, I haven't been an aquaguide in about six months so this will be a new experience, or at least one I haven't had in a while. Never a dull moment.

Important information

This post just seemed like important information that some of you, (even those of you who haven't written anything in over a month) would like to have.

I snuck home

I snuck home in the middle of the day. I have to leave soon to go to the doctors and get my stitches taken out. (Glory, hallelujah because they are getting annoying.) I think afterwards, there may be a trip to Chipotle in my future.

I did run this morning, the usual 3.5 miles and still managed to get to the bus on time.

I have to make a poster about my identity or some such nonsense in the very near future. Those of you who know me (and I assume you're the only ones reading this blog most of the time) if you have things, especially pictures, post cards, or other graphic type things that I can use on said poster, please pass them along.

Another random note: Firefox 2 thinks that "snuck" is not a word. Should it be sneaked? Also, Firefox 2 thinks "Chipotle" is not a word. How sad.

Apparently It's My Day Off

I went to bed last night with a caffeine withdraw induced migraine. (Say that five times fast.) When I went to bed I had pretty much decided not to run this morning. So when my alarm went off I was fairly liberal with the snooze. Actually I just reset the alarm for an hour later. Why keep hitting the snooze? About five seconds after I reset the alarm I had pangs of guilty and remorse for not running. We'll see how early I can force myself to wake tomorrow. This whole running and catching the bus thing is hard work.

I'm battling biology

I've had some discomfort for the most of the day due to a regular biological occurrence. I ran the usual 3.5 miles this morning. I am beat. I miss sleep. I have a paper to finish writing and print. Thank goodness it's only 3 pages and it's the first assignment so hopefully I'll get cut a little slack on it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Boo Stitches

I'm really not a fan of the stitches. (Anyone know how to remove stitches at home? Yes, I'm not a favorite at the doctors office.)

Here are a couple of pictures of the stitches:



Here is a picture for those of you who've said I can't be trusted with a digital camera.





I woke up and ran this morning. 3.5 miles as usual. I wonder if one day I'll go farther than that. I'm also toying with the idea of just not doing a run in October and doing one later on either in January or in the spring. Hmmm.

Response to questions

A couple wonderful people have left comments on my blog. An anonymous user taught me a new technical term. Yes, thank you. That must be it.

Also, Kelly asked me how I felt about being single. This one is going to take a while for me to think about and express. The short answer is I am totally open to being in a relationship or meeting someone at the very least.

A while ago a friend of mine who lives in Boston and I were talking. Sarah has been in a relationship for quite sometime and has been living with her boyfriend for maybe a year. I'm not sure. She made the comment to me that I'm lucky I haven't been in a relationship for the past few years because I've grown a lot on my own. She was saying I was lucky to get to know myself as an adult (and I use that term loosely). She was saying that there have been a lot of new experiences in my life lately and I got to just take my time and have them without being anything to anybody else.

Among other things I was lucky to basically loose my mind in Africa as a single person and not have to go through that experience the very first time while in a relationship. Now that I know what it's like, I'm much better able to tell people what I need and why I'm acting the way I am. I'm also able to see how my stuff impacts how I treat other people when I'm going nuts. Another way I think I've grown is that I understand what a relationship is about a lot better than I used to. I'm not going to say too much more about that.

I think about friends I have who've been in relationships for a long time. Obviously most of my friends are also in their twenties and they've been going through the same thing of going to college and picking careers and finding jobs and making "actual" money and paying bills and so on. But some of these people also seem like their relationships are limiting their ability to grow. They act the same around each other as they did when they were 20 and that was nine years ago. I always think of Sarah's words to me when I think of those relationships. I also think about how I acted in many of my old relationships, what I've been able to pick in the mean time, and what I'd do differently now.


So my conversation with Sarah many moons ago keeps coming back to me and helps me feel prepared for a relationship.

That didn't really answer Kelly's question but it's what I wanted to say.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Obviously I didn't run this weekend because my Dad was in town. Saturday we took a long walk from my house around Lake Nokomis. Sunday I meant to run after he left but I slept most of the day instead. (Woops.) I was really tired and had slept on the couch for several days which made my body hurt in ways it really shouldn't.

This morning I went back to the whole 5:30am routine. (This can't be good for me.) It was really cold until about five seconds after I started running. Then I was nice and warm. I did the usual 3.5 miles. I'm sort of thinking about the Run for the Apples and how I haven't really been running 5 miles lately. Let's be honest. I don't get up early enough to fit a 5 mile run in before work and there's no way I'm waking up any earlier. We'll see if I can get back into the long runs on the weekends groove.

I've made a decision

As I've previously mentioned I've been quite puzzled by the whole DVD-R, DVR, combo quandry. I have come to a decision. I'm buying a DVD-R for now. At some point in my future, I will want a new computer. Instead of blowing $350 or $400 now on a DVD-R/DVR combo now, I'll save it and buy a slightly nicer media center computer which can be a DVD-R, DVR, and computer all in one. I've also discovered some nice freeware for turning a windows computer into a media center and this one for Macs and Linux machines. Sadly, I do not have a new enough uhh.. display card. (Yeah, I totally don't know what it's called, but I know I have a 9100 and I need a 9600 or higher.) If anyone knows something like MediaPortal that will work on my happy little computer, let me know.

This is just wrong

In honor of the weekend, I took a couple Blogthing quizzes. This first one while hilarious, is just wrong. Nevertheless, I want everyone to see it.

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

Barbie is not a slut - her legs won't open

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

For the second one, I know I have a habit of mentioning the inaccuracy of these quizzes. (I hold the above bumper stick as an example.) However, this one is fairly dead on except one thing.

Your Love Life Secrets Are

Looking back on your life, you will have a few true loves. I'm thinking of their names right now. They're not who I thought they'd be. You're a little scarred from your past relationships, but who isn't? I hold out my last almost relationship as an example. You expect a lot from your lover - you want the full package. You tend to be very picky. I really am. In fights, you are able to walk away and calm down. You are able to weather the storm. I'd say that was true, I also tend not to fight that much. Getting over a break-up doesn't take long. Easy come, easy go. And here we have our major inaccuracy. I can be bitter for a while, sometimes even when I initiate the break up. I'm not sure where the quiz writers got the idea I don't hold a grudge, although I can see how they could make the mistake.

Your Love Life Secrets, Revealed

waking up early

Waking up early is not so much fun, although I find I use the snooze less when I have company here. I woke up at 5:30am (Yeah, that is early. I said it wasn't that much fun) I ran 3.5 miles. Dad and I went out to Maria's for breakfast, then I went to school and he went to golf. After paying $450 for books (I know, that is a lot for books) I rode the bus home, called my insurance people and the U, and made lunch. I'm putting off going through my syllabi and putting assignments on the calendar.

Here is how I feel when I don't get the proper amount of sleep:

Guess who...

After writing my previous post I found a new way to drive myself nuts: I sliced my finger open. That did the trick. I had to call a very good friend to drive me to the hospital and hold my (other) hand very late at night. When I arrived at said hospital, I found out my student health insurance hadn't been activated for the school year which has already begun. And I got a nurse who didn't know that my index finger and my middle finger are not the same thing.

Obviously, from the no post I didn't run yesterday. I did run this morning, 3.5 miles. It's fun watching the sun rise.

Also, I started the new internship and I really like everyone there. They're all super nice. And I started class today and I'm reserving judgment on that for another day.

Here's what's driving me crazy at the moment

I'm looking into buying a DVD-Recorder. What I'd really like is a machine that can record onto a hard drive or a DVD, but they're really expensive. Added to that two things:

1. I'm supposed to be a poor college student and probably shouldn't spend that much money on anything to do with television.

2. I don't have a cable box. My cable goes straight from the wall into my TV, so if I want to record a television show when I'm not home, the DVR can't just talk to the cable box and ask it to switch to the appropriate channel. (Also, I'm really not getting Tivo, because while $300-$350 for the machine seems expensive but do-able, adding a monthly service fee is too much.)

Let's lay aside item one for now. Item 2: I can get a DVDR/HDD combo with it's own episode programming guide, but the ones that do have programming guides seem to be riddled with so many other problems they're really not worth the asking price.

Surpise option 3 is that I can buy a DVD-R that only records to disks. Here's what I want to know. Assuming that I am using some kind of RW disk, can I record a TV show one week, and come back later and record another show to the same disk without erasing the first show? Seriously, anyone?

While we're on the subject, I would like to take this moment to recommend the reviews on CNet. They've been most informative in telling me what features I will and won't need on a machine, most of which I hadn't even thought of.

It's fun to go back and read old posts

It's fun for me to go back and read old posts. This one is one of my favorites because it's one of the few times I've actually written down the dreams (or something like a dream in this case) I've had.

(Incidentally, I wish I had written down all fo the dream I had this morning. Yes, the one with President Bush because it was one of those with eighty different people from different parts of my life where I started off doing one thing and it changes throughout the dream. It's ok, I'm sure it'll come true eventually and then I'll remember it.)

Anyways, the lady who did the Shamanic Journey workshop (that's a PDF by the way) said that every animal has a meaning. On my little shamanic journey I saw a fish, deer, worms, bats, a bear, a snake, and an elephant. I'm not really sure what to believe out of all of this stuff, but there does seem to be a definite theme across several of these animals. As always, I love bats, the elephant was really cool. As a surprise the snake (who was speaking with Amanda's voice) is my top favorite animal from this little experience.

Running at the crack of dawn

My alarm went off this morning at 5:45am. It scared the living crap out of me. It's funny because I was having a dream and in the dream (which also involved President Bush being the grandparent of some neighbors of mine but we won't go in to that right now) someone was just about to ring the doorbell or be buzzed in or something, and then instead of the buzzer it was my alarm which is loud and unpleasant. I ran 3.5 miles and watched the sun come up while I was running. I'm not really sure what's going to happen Thursday and Friday when I have to get up even earlier so I can run and still be able to catch the bus...

Running in great weather

It's really a great day to run. It's actually been a great couple of weeks for running. According to the news, it's 67* right now. (I'm sitting on my patio in my running clothes and it is a bit chilly.) I woke up this morning and ran 6 miles. I figured I needed the long loop today because my internship and school start tomorrow and I'm not sure how much I'm going to get to run once those things get into full gear. (I'm not really sure how much I'll be able blog either, we'll see.)

I just couldn't resist

Ok, so I've seriously tried to cut down on the amount of crap I post here, but this was just too funny.

What Your Bathroom Habits Say About You

You are a very considerate person, but that doesn't mean you let people walk all over you. Your look is put together, classic, and stylish. You always look fashionable without trying.Well, I try. You are a very outgoing person. You are true to yourself, and you never hold back. This one strikes me as slightly less than accurate somehow. In relationships, you are practical and realistic. You have a romantic side, but you only let it out when it's appropriate.

What Do Your Bathroom Habits Say About You?

Among my accomplishments and discoveries for the day

Among my accomplishments and discoveries for the day:

1. I love that Firefox 2's new beta release has a spell checker in it. That should reduce the number of embarrassing typos in both the blog and emails.

2. I taught said new version of Firefox not to overwrite my tabs when it opens my bookmarks and I figured out how to change the size of the cache since I couldn't do either of those things the normal way. I know, it may not sound like much, but I was really excited.

3. I went over to a friend's house who was out of town and closed her windows for her before the monster rainstorm we had.

4. I got a really cool Christmas gift for a friend. (I'll end the suspense, if you're reading my blog, you don't know them.)

5. I had quite a time shopping at the outlets. I got a new dishwasher safe pan, (Ok, so that's not really all that exciting), and 6 things at Jockey and my total was under $30. (Any lady who's done some personal shopping lately knows that's just ridiculous.) I also found an acceptable sling backpack (that means it only has one strap) at the Nike outlet. When the lady rang it up, my total was less than the price tag. I love it when that happens.

6. I think it's fair to say I went on a huge cleaning jag at home.

7. I took out the trash from said cleaning jag. It doesn't sound like much but it's raining and one of my bags was really heavy. I needed both hands to lift it which made for logistical troubles when I tried to simultaneously lift the bag with both hands and open the lid of the dumpster.

See what happens when I'm left alone for the weekend...

Running update

I love the things I smell when I run. No, not the way I smell. Yeesh. The nice thing about running early Saturday morning is that I know the houses in my neighborhood that make bacon and sausage for breakfast, I know the houses that do their laundry early, and I know the one place that leaves their coffee pot on the burner too long.

Oh, and I ran 3.3 miles today. (I decided I needed a bit of a break after yesterdays 7.5 mile mega-run.)

Why I love Firefox

I'm sitting here playing around with Firefox 2.0 beta 2. I think I may have mentioned how bored I am. Anyways, a bunch of stuff I had downloaded to work with Firefox 1.5 doesn't work with the new version. I was looking for extensions to replace what I lost when I found the Tab Killer extension which "disables tabbed browsing features in Firefox completely." My only question is, "why would you want to do that?"

why I shouldn't be alone with my computer on a Friday night...

This is my last Friday night before school starts. Am I out with... well, anyone? No, I'm sitting at home. In my bored state, I tried a few things...

You Are Lilac

You are a very innocent and pure person. Hee hee. Ethics matter to you. You bet they do... Your friends consider you a great listener, and you often play therapist to your friends. Oh boy. You are good at drawing out truths in conversation, however painful they may be. Non judgmental and patient - people feel like they can tell you anything! (I'm saying.)

What Color Purple Are You?

Then, I remembered this really weird thing I did one time about "What Tarot Card are You?" (If you can explain Tarot cards, let me know. WikiPedia is only good for so much...) I tried a bunch of different ones. Should I question the accuracy of these online quizzes since four quizzes gave me four different results?

Number 1:

Which Tarot Card Are You?

You are the Hermit card. The Hermit has chosen a solitary spiritual path. He (or she) shines light on his inner self and, by this means, gains wisdom. The Hermit's home is the natural world and it is by being in tune with that world that he learns the laws of nature and learn how they operate within himself. His path is a lonely one as he lives in silence and has for companionship only his own internal rhythms. But those crossing his path are touched by his light and wisdom. Though often alone, he manages nevertheless to instruct those who meet him and guides those who chose to follow him on a path towards enlightenment. This doesn't really sound like me at all. Well, the thing about the spiritual path, but I don't think I'm alone as much as this poor hermit is. Image from The Aleister Crowley Tarot deck. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/thoth/ Take this quiz! Number 2: I Am Which tarot card are you? And here's the copied description from said website: Spiritual enlightenment, inner illumination, hidden power. Link between seen and unseen. Balance of positive and negative forces. Receptivity. Unseen guidance. Dude, how did I answer the questions to get this? Number 3: Which Tarot Card are You? You are Strength. You exhibit not only physical strength, but internal as well. You are not flashy, your strength is quiet and reserved. You will persevere through courage, resolve and composure. You are Strength, you will lead others through their darkest hours. Take this quiz! I think this is my favorite one. Sometimes it sounds like me but it also reminds me of one of my parents. Side note to Kelly and Amanda, like how I phrased that to avoid the obvious "your mom" joke? And number 4: You scored as III - The Empress. The Empress is a maternal symbol. She is the mother figure who loves, nurtures and protects. She will protect you, she will always be there when you are in trouble. When you fall over and graze your knee, the Empress will kiss it better. Yet she is not a weak figure. Her compassion is strength. If her children are threatened she will stop at nothing to protect them. If well aspected in a Tarot spread, the Empress can symbolize security, protection and unconditional love. If badly aspected it can represent over-protectiveness, fear of risk taking and refusal to face the real world.

Noteworthy headlines

I was checking out the news on My Yahoo, and read the headline Armed Robber Holds Up Graeter's . If you know me or if you are from the Cincinnati area, you understand that this person is dancing on sacred ground in more ways than one.

I was also checking out my new favorite blog (on the list of blogs maintained by people I don't know) and saw a very funny entry. (All I can say is, who doesn't need "Jesus for Dummies"?) I actually checked the Dummies website. (I don't have to work today, I can spend my time however I choose.) While they don't have that particular book, they do have Christianity for Dummies, The Bible for Dummies, Women in The Bible for Dummies (if you make it through The Bible for Dummies), and Catholicism for Dummies. Maybe those will help.

To return to the subject for a moment read the title, The Bible for Dummies. Does it sound like a book about how "Dummies" should behave in the world or does it sound like a book that explains the concepts of The Bible? I'm just saying...

I can hardly believe

I'm amazed to be sitting here at 11:04am having just run 7.5 miles. (I know, that is a long way) After doing short runs all week so I could go to work on time (ask me why I wanted to do that) I decided that I should just run for a long long time. It did sort of take me forever. It's one of those runs where there's a hill at the end that just saps all my strength.

It was also good practice for trail running. As you'll remember, the Run for the Apples is mostly on a trail. Being a city girl, I'm used to sidewalks and pavement. Running on trails uses a whole other set of muscles that I don't use too often. I know running on concrete is like the worst thing ever but I think my body is more used to that the way my knees and ankles feel running on the grass along side the asphault trail at Lake Nokomis and Minnehaha Parkway. Still, seven miles... seriously.

Why Lake Street, the State Fair, and a bus don't mix

Well, I hit the perfect storm of being on the bus today. It all seemed like it was going to be ok this morning when I got out to the bus stop, realized I forgot my badge and had time to run back and get it wihout missing the bus.

I want to be clear. The ride home killed that joy. It wasn't the bus drivers fault she was actually pretty nice and tried to keep a good sense of humor. The bus I took uses the expressway but gets off the expressway at the same exit as all of the people going to the fair. Then traffic was totally stopped on Marshall Ave. from Snelling Ave. to the river. I have no explanation. A bus ride that's usually fairly quick for how much distance it covers took me about twice as long as it usually does.

I'm happy to be home and planning to not take that route home tomorrow...

Running update

Well, I went to bed last night with every intention of waking up at 6am (yeah, I know, there was the flaw in my plan) and running 6 miles. When the alarm went off at 6am I thought it'd be best to go back to sleep and try waking up again in an hour. This only left me time to run the short loop of 3.5 miles as I have been all week. It's possible I'll run more tomorrow. (Although at the moment I'm not hopeful becuase I'm all but totally off of food.)

really fast

reall fast becaues Cindee says I blog too much, I ran 3.5 miles this morning. Almost had a panick attack, well did actually at lunch but it wasn't too bad. Thank god for Kelly.

Hmph

I'd like to offer these recently scanned photos to Kelly as proof that she's not the only person I can annoy with a camera. It's a rare gift, I'm amazed y'all didn't discover it before now.

There are some warnings we just shouldn't have to give

There are some warnings people shouldn't really need in life. I've always found the one about not using a hairdryer in the shower and not ironing clothes while they are being worn particularly funny. What prompted me to think about funny warnings? Well, it has a lot to do with this story I found on Yahoo.

Here are some other things to think about:

This sign looks like it belongs on the side of the road in Kentucky. I know I seem to crap on Kentucky a lot. (I also think it's just the prettiest place in the world.) However, if you've been out into the boonies, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Now, I ask you....

Short run

This morning I did a short run (because I had to take the bus to work earlier than I would have liked). I ran 3.5 miles in... I have no idea how long. Possibly 40 minutes. I was hauling tail by the end.

As I just mentioned, I took the bus this morning. To all of you who take the bus in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, is Tuesday the day when the entire freaking world has it together enough to get on the bus? Seriously, I'm like 14 blocks from the begining of my bus route, and it's already late by the time it gets to my stop. It's only anxiety provoking because when the bus runs on schedule (like Mondays when apparently no one has it together enough to get on the bus), I have plenty of time to make my connection. However today, when the bus had only travelled two miles and it was already a full five minutes off schedule, it was a close call.

Today was lousy

I'm not even going to mince words. Today was lousy because of a situation at work. I'm powerless to help the person who needs help, but I have to help my co-workers deal with the situation because I've been through this kind of thing before and sort of know how to protect myself emotionally. It's awful.

Other than that, we spent the day at work cleaning. I'm always the one saying, "We don't need that, let's throw it away." It was funny because we're all sort of like that to varrying degrees. Kao always wants to move stuff but not throw it away. There's one person who works there that is on a different page about throwing stuff away, like she keeps everything.

The people who were cleaning were all sort of remarking on that (that we all want stuff thrown away except this one person which makes life difficult) when said packrat walks into the office and started making comments about all the stuff she had been wanting to throw away or get rid of for a while. I did not make eye contact with any of my co-workers for quite some time after she said that. To my credit, I didn't roll my eyes or bite my thumb either.

However, the coup de gras was when Travis walked in and saw all of the boxes of books I was preparing to get rid of (as in donate, I'd never throw books away) and with a little sad face said, "oh, you're getting rid of all these?" I absolutely could have strangled him in the cute way that means, "I love working with you but I busted my butt this morning so back off."

Just because I thought you might be interested

In an attempt to keep my home as clutter free as possible, I try to throw away all the crap I possibly can. (It's really a fight between my sentimentality and the part of me that needs to have everything neat and orderly.) As you can imagine, the computer is my best weapon in said war-on-clutter because it can hold tons and tons of information in an amazaingly small space.

In the lattest battle I had to decide what to do with my very first racing memento, my number from the Milk Run. My options were to either stick the sucker in a scrap book or throw it away and move on. In the end, I opted for surpirse option C: to scan the thing into my computer, post the image on my blog, and then throw away the original.

Where have I heard this before?

This story sounds like something someone else I know has been or will be asked at one point in her life.

walking back something I said earlier

In an earlier post I think I pretty properly dissed Kentucky. Then I was poking around on the internet today and found this funny story which also took place in Louisville, KY. If you haven't had a chance to check this site out before, it's called Overheard in the Office and it's really funny. Seriously, who hasn't worked in an office that had something to contribute to this site?

in the long run

In honor of choosing the next race I run to be a 5 mile race, I decided this morning I should run at least that far. In fact I repeated the route I took on my Tour of Parks and ran just over 6 miles. (6.0359 miles or 9.7159K to be exact.) Now I'm hungry and I badly want a shower and coffee.

Also, Kelly has been away for the weekend and someone who shall remain nameless doesn't write in her blog, so I'm cruising for something to read. Right now I'm finishing up The Second Summer of the Sisterhood which is the sequel to The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. I was inspired to start reading the second book after watching the movie made from the first book. I actually want to re-read the first book becuase I think the movie director took a few liberties with the plot.

And for my next race

After this morning's fun I started looking into races I can run in the fall. I've sort of decided, not sort of, I've actually decided that I'd like to keep running and the thing most likely to keep me running is another race. I found a 5k around Lake Harriet for cancer and a 5k in Minneapolis that starts on Boom Island but the one I'm most intrigued by is the Run for the Apples which is a 5 mile (not 5k) run in White Bear Lake at the end of October.

This morning Amanda let me know she had to take a break from running to deal with the real life issue of simultaneously working and attending school (oh, how I feel her pain). I'm hoping I can convince her and Kelly and Eric (Side note: Would Eric ever run a 5 mile race?) to come and be my cheering squad.

I'm not the slowest person on the earth

This morning I ran in the 2006 Minnesota State Fair Milk Run. I'm pleased to report (even though my normal running pace is such that if I moved any slower I'd be going backwards) that I'm not the slowest person on Earth. I ran an 11:45 mile. Of 720 women, I finished 556 (right behind an old lady in her 60's). Of 93 women in my age bracket, I finished 73rd. The competitor in me wants to do way better in whatever event I run in next, like go much faster. The calmer side of me is totally excited I ran a road race, happy that I went faster than I thought I would, and grateful to Amanda for getting me back into running.

I ran with Amanda and a friend, Amy. I actually wound up running pretty much the whole race with Amy. Having other people to talk to made the up hill portions of the race not so bad.

Check out all the results of the 2006 Milk Run at Apple Raceberry Jam's site.

How fun is this?

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. Yes, they do. I hold Kelly's comments about me and the hair dying incident as proof. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. Oh yeah! You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else. You bet I do. Now, ask me what they are...

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Perhaps I shouldn't run this far every day

I ran a little over 5 miles in 60-70 minutes this morning. I'm begining to think that I shouldn't be running 5 miles every morning. Maybe I should wait until I'm a little stronger to do it every day. As it is my knees and lower back start to protest somewhere along the run. Also, with this route, it's much flatter than my neighborhood running route except at the end when there's a giant hill. All of my run I'm thinking I just need to save enough juice to get up this last hill. It wears my mind out thinking about that hill for the entire run.

Last week I decided that I would take tomorrow off of running in order to save some love for Sunday. A day with no excercise just makes me feel fat and lazy so perhaps I'll take a little walk tomorrow instead. (Not my regular 5-6 mile hike. I like to excercise but let's not go too nuts here.)

More things you should know

More things you should know about me and why we all can't wait for school to start and me not to have so much free time on my hands.

First:

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

25% Yankee

15% Dixie The only reason there's any "Dixie" in there at all is becuase I use the word "y'all" in my sentences.

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern This is only funny becuase I grew up in the Midwest. (Yes, Ohio really is part of the Midwest for those of y'all that don't know.

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Anything called "The Underwear Oracle has got to be good.

What Your Underwear Says About You

You like your underwear to make you feel girlish and pretty. Let's hope you're a chick. You're comfortable in your own skin - and don't care to impress anyone.

The Underwear Oracle

This one is specifically for Kelly and Amanda. I can't wait to hear who your Mom is even though I already know what I call her.

Your Mommy Is Madonna

What You Call Her: Ma What people say about yo momma: Yo momma so hairy Bigfoot is taking her picture!

Who's Your Mommy?

While eating my lunch

While eating my lunch and surfing the internet, I've discovered some things I'd like to share with you.

First, Kelly if you're still looking for that perfect aniversary gift for Eric, I think this page should give you some ideas.

Second, this story makes me feel old and I only graduated college 4 years ago. Wow, four years. What the hell have I been doing all this time? Seriously, I'm only a few years older than these kids and I remember both Germanys and the Soviet Union. Check out number 46. I remember part of that drama at my high school. Let me just say lawyers were called. Number 71 is hillarious and has the added bonus of looking like a headline from The Onion. Also, what's this thing about headphones in the back seat and "Boogers" candy?

Third, all I have to say is that with the amount of Chipotle I eat and Diet Pepsi I drink, there's no way that this can be correct.

You Are 72% Healthy

Your diet is quite healthy, but you don't too crazy with what you eat. You know how to eat what's good for you, but you're also careful not to deprive yourself.

How Healthy Is Your Diet?

I didn't know I could get any slower

I ran 5.6 miles today in lets say 70-80 minutes. I went slower than I do on my usual neighborhood run which means I do have a pace slower than the 12:30 mile I usually run because I wasn't sure how long my new route was going to be. Turns out, not as long as I thought. This morning I got up (late, but how is that different from any other day?) and ran down to Minnehaha Parkway and around Lake Nokomis. It was raining almost the whole time I was running but I did manage to get back home before the thunder started.

Well clearly I need sleep

Here's how I've been entertaining myself the past few minutes.

You Were an Eagle

You are able to rise above the details of life and see the big picture. A spiritual being, you tend to go beyond material concerns.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

This one was a bit of a surprise.

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Extremely Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (100%)Could be because that's where I live. You Are Very Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (71%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Canada (40%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (38%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Africa (25%)I think this question is inaccurate. I'm really fairly well traveled in Africa, just not the places they ask about. You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Asia (21%)Again, I've been to several places in Asia, just not the ones they're asking about. Does Kobe coun't for nothing? You Are Mostly Untraveled in Southern Europe (13%)Can I just express my frustation that Europe gets broken into "Southern", "Eastern", "the United Kingdom", "Western" and freaking "Scandanavia" while Africa is only one category. More importantly, Asia where a bajillion people live is also only one category. You Are Mostly Untraveled in the Western United States (11%) You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%)My missing continent. We're not counting Antartica right now. I'm not sure how I'd ever get there. You Are Untraveled in Eastern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in Latin America (0%)This is flatly untrue. Who can say "Brazil"? Who can say, "Cuba?" You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Western Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%) You Are Untraveled in the United Kingdom (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?

Your Brain is 80% Female, 20% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Now, everyone remember this one.

Your Power Level is: 64%

You're a very powerful person, and you know that all of your power comes from within. Keep on doing what you're doing, and you'll reach your goals.

How Powerful Are You?

Going along with the theme of world domination:

You Should Rule Jupiter

Huge and hot, Jupiter is a quickly turning planet with short days and intense gravity. You are perfect to rule Jupiter, because you are both dominant and kind. You have great strength and confidence, but you never abuse your power. You are always right. Even if you make mistakes, you compensate for them... before anyone knows it. Headstrong and ambitious, you always have a goal in mind. You are optimistic and believe thing things will always work out.

What Planet Should You Rule?

A couple quick things

Here's a couple quick things since I didn't run today (and therefore feel fat and useless) and also because Kelly was at a staff meeting all day and so unable to post to her blog.

This headline was at the top of My Yahoo fitness tips yesterday. Hee hee.

Also, I don't think this comes as a great shock to anyone, but I thought you'd like to know anyways.

You Are 72% Pure

Well, you're not exactly an angel - but you're pretty darn close. But chances are, you have a couple juicy secrets deep in your closet.

How Pure Are You?

A couple pictures I meant to post earlier

These are from the other day at work. (I know you all want to know where you can get one of those fancy orange shirts.)






That Moolate was the biggest thing I've ever eaten.

Fun blog things

A couple of fun blog things happened to me today.

First of all, I have discovered that the readership of my blog has gone above two although given the nature of the comment I'm not sure how long that will last. Welcome to everyone else out there who is reading but too shy to comment.

Second, anyone know why the RSS feed on Kelly's blog never works.

There was going to be a third thing. I have no idea what it was. Perhaps it's time for me to sleep.

For Amanda

I'm posting this for Amanda who asked if I knew the difference between running and jogging. I looked it up, and there are a couple of ideas. Here's one. Here's another. It sounds like semantics to me, but the kinds of semantics that some people take very seriously. We've never had the caving/spelunking or boat/ship debates on this blog, but I assure you, there's a difference. Also, I'm posting this because it's seems relevant to the topic.

I love the stuff that happens in Kentucky

Let me just open by saying, I've literally travelled around the world and Kentucky is the most beautiful place I've ever been. However, Mark Twain once said that Cincinnati is twenty years behind the times. I like to think Kentucky caused the drag.

So, in Louisville, Kentucky (where students are in school in August in an effort to store up snow days because in Kentucky if a cow pees on the road and it freezes the kids will get the day off of school) a history teacher burned two american flags, one in each of two history classes. He did it as an excercise to get kids to think about free speech. The more interesting thing is how it's being reported in the news. Check out story 1, story 2, and story 3. There's also a story with video at CNN available but the link is to a java script command to open a video player and I don't know how to transfer that onto my blog yet maybe one day Kelly will help me.

I'm interested in two things:

1. The first news story was filed before a parent complained. Who told the news?
2. The school board now seems to be all hot and bothered (I wonder if they're up for re-election this year) and is saying the teacher could illustrate his point to students any other way.
   

Now let's just sit for a moment and reflect on the fact that this assigment that was designed to get students to consider free speech and the school board is telling the teacher he shouldn't use a currently legal act of free speech as a teaching tool. Then, for performing said act of free speech, the school board censures the teacher in the news, re-assigns him, starts an investigation, and notifies fire officials who are able to start their own investigation.

If I was a seventh grader in Louisville, Kentucky I would assume that it's really not legal (or smart) to burn an American flag.

Since I don't knit

Since I don't knit, I was thinking maybe I could do this instead. At least if it doesn't work out for me, surely Kellyor Amanda could make one. I'm sure one of them carries a purse more than I do anyways.

The tour of parks

Since I have the day off and was able to sleep in, I went for a really long run this morning. When I say long, I mean I toured a couple parks I don't usually see along my normal route. I ran through Powderhorn Park which I haven't done since I left for the Peace Corps, and two tiny parks on either side of Park Ave between 43rd street and 44th street. They're really cute little parks. All in all, I ran just over 6 miles this morning in about 75-80 minutes (which still makes me the slowest runner on the planet). My knees were kind of hurting by the end. Is that bad?

Also, random question: Does a cat in heat sound roughly the same as a baby crying?

Just a few other things...

Just a few other things you should know about me because I didn't get home from work (no, not that job, the other one) until 11pm and I'm not quite ready to sleep yet.

Your Aura is Blue

Spiritual and calm, you tend to live a quiet but enriching life. You are very giving of yourself. And it's hard for you to let go of relationships. The purpose of your life: showing love to other people Famous blues include: Angelina Jolie, the Dali Lama, Oprah Careers for you to try: Psychic, Peace Corps Volunteer, Counselor

What Color Is Your Aura?

You Communicate With Your Ears

You love conversations, both as a listener and a talker. What people say is important to you, and you're often most affected by words, not actions. You love to hear complements from others. And when you're upset, you often talk to yourself. Music is very important to you. It's difficult to find you without your iPod.

How Do You Communicate?

This one seems a little low to me. As I said before, I doubt the accuracy of some of these tests.

You Are 44% Obsessive

You're somewhat obsessive, especially when it comes to a couple things (like horrifying thoughts or cleanliness). As long as your quirks aren't interrupting your life, it's all good.

How Obsessive Are You?

On Average, You Would Sell Out For

$1,118,111

At What Price Would You Sell Out?

I did actually know this one.

You Are 90% Psychic

You are so very psychic. But you already predicted that, didn't you? You have "the gift" - and you use it daily to connect with others. You're very tapped into the world around you... Just make sure to use your powers for good!

Are You Psychic?

You Are Periwinkle

You're very intuitive and sensitive. You often know other people better than they know themselves. You're also quite optimistic, and you think well of yourself and others. You know your dreams will come true.

What Color Blue Are You?

You Are a White Flower

A white flower tends to represent purity, simple beauty, and modesty. At times, you are dignified like a magnolia. And at other times, you represent great ecstasy, like a white orchid. And more than you wish, you're a little boastful, like a white hydrangea.

What Color Flower Are You?

And my personal favorite although I knew this as well

Your Lucky Underwear is Purple

Dreamy and idealistic, you envision great things for your life. Your lucky purple underwear can make those dreams come true! You're a busy little butterfly. You have the most projects, interests, and friends of anyone you know. You also have a flair for the dramatic. Sometimes too much drama comes in to your life and brings things to a stop. If you want to focus more, and flutter less, put on your purple underpants. They'll help you get the important things done.

What Color Is Your Lucky Underwear?

Now I'm entertained

After taking this quiz and these two quizzes this morning, I'm quite entertained with the quizzes at Blogthings. Here's a couple more:

I don't think this is a suprise to anyone who knows me:

You Are 30% Extrovert, 70% Introvert

You are quite reserved You aren't afraid of social situations... But you very much prefer to go it alone And why not? You're your own best friend!

Are You An Extrovert or An Introvert?

This one was just entertaining.

Your Career Personality: Idealistic, Service-Oriented, and Future-Oriented

Your Ideal Careers: Alternative health practitioner Architect Environmental lawyer Librarian Magazine editor Museum curator Novelist Nutritionist Photo journalist Playwright

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

Against my better judgement

I'm posting this one against my better judgement, only because I think it's a flawed test. I just had to giggle at the first line. The second line made me giggle too.

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

I was playing at Kelly's blog. She had taken these tests so it seemed like the thing to do.

You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

I just don't even know what to think about this one.

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Well now it's even more annoying

Ok. That stupid pedometer is even more annoying now. I re-mapped my route. I ran 4.33 miles or 6.975K this morning, thank you very much. And then I tried, once again to save the picture of the elevation changes in my route. As you can see from my previous post, all 4.3 miles are not in the picture even though when I right-clicked and selected "save image as" I could see the whole thing. When I tried to save the elevation picture the second time, once again it didn't even show three of the four miles even though the entire picture was displayed on my screen as it was saving. Anyone who knows what's up with this, let me know.