Outta Here (Remix)

Early morning, just waiting for my ride -- Eric called from Bethlehem buying some Mocha Mike's, so he's maybe 15 minutes away. Living room is mostly clean, new vacuum was bought & used, and I may sucker E-Rock into helping me move that dresser before we leave. Got up early, bought Easton Bakery donuts, use them as a bribe...

In a few minutes it's travel time, then a weekend of Fall foliage racing.

By the way, that woman trapped in her crashed car for a week? She was driving an Element.

Gotta go.

Symbiotic Patriotic Pancreatic Lectrostatic

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 11% BF

 

I love it when a plan comes together: I wanted to be 170 pounds for the VT50, and here I am! My real target was 165 lbs for All-A-Muchy, but that's been canceled so I won't worry about it -- all the baggage I was carrying for All-A-Muchy has been transferred to Vermont anyway, but it's really a different kind of race, apples and oranges. Weight loss may help more in VT though, hillier and less technical. Tough slog, I've been grouchy it seems for weeks. I may carb up tonight and tomorrow for the race, weight gain or no.

 

The Project: Anyway, the bedroom is done, all except the dresser (still in the car) and the computer table, which I will not be straightening. That's a fully functional work area, and it'll be hard enough to keep that room clean, while living in it, as it is. All other surfaces are now cleaned and polished though, and floor is vacuumed but I might have to do that part again -- I think I broke my vacuum. I'm getting a new one on the way home tonight, then the living room is on the agenda, but first I have to prep the bike -- I'm carpooling up to VT with E-Rock, and we're leaving at 8:00 AM tomorrow. There'll be an early stop at Easton Bakery to help the morning drive go more pleasantly.

 

Car Talk: One reason I wanted to carpool up with Eric is because he has a new Honda Element, which I think is one of the ugliest cars around but it's very practical, especially if you like to do stuff -- I'm talking about riding, skiing, car-camping etc. Among my friends this has been the buzz car recently, and there was a whole flock of them at the BASH. Good mileage, 4-wheel drive, lotsa space... a-and since two of the most stylish dudes I know now have one (E-Rock, and Jorge aka "Style Man"), I may be wrong about Teh Ugly. I'll be getting up close and personal with one this weekend, so we'll see.

 

What's Next: My medium-range fitness goals, after the race, are to continue the weight loss down to 165#; transition to "base mode" for a few months -- this may include running, as well as bike commuting; and finally, transition back into strength (as opposed to endurance) workouts at the gym. We'll see. All I'm sayin' is...

Sitrep

Morning weigh-in: 171#, 11% BF

Reading: David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, again. I though I lost it, or lent it to someone, or something; basically it was in the "never to be seen again" category, until I found it while cleaning the kitchen table the other day.

Listening: Gregorian Chants, at least in the car. Don't ask.

Computing: Not much, unless you count idle surfing. I'm thinking of a finger exercise for the winter though, more of that predator-prey modeling.

Went to yoga last night, then hit Which Brew while the laundry dried. Good talk w/ Kirk, also a couple of others. Talking about dogs we have known, made me wish I could have a dog. Tonight is back to cleaning.

Able Archer

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 12% BF

 

Happy Anniversary! On this date in 1983, the world almost ended.

 

Getting There: Bathroom, hallway are now clean, and I started with the bedroom last night. I cleaned up a bunch of junk, threw out a lot of unwearable clothes, and also moved the dresser & bed. It's amazing how much better the space is utilized now, better flow & feng shui; I now also have room to put that other dresser in there, and maybe install that mirror. Tonight is laundry, yoga and garbage, and Friday will be race prep day, but any spare time for the rest of this week will go towards straightening/cleaning the bedroom and living room. I tackle the storage room and laundry room next week.

 

Listening: Total impulse buy -- only nearby ATM was in a record store -- but when I was in the city I picked up Graham Parson's Grievous Angel, as well as Clear Impetuous Morning by Jason & The Scorchers. I guess I got an alt-country bug up my ass from a Wilco CD a friend burned for me, which I didn't really care for, and wanted to see how it was once done for alt-real. CIM rocks, GA not so much -- it's funny how William Gibson uses titles from distinctly non-badass songs for badass futuristic slang in his novels. I guess I can't complain, it cuts both ways: Straylight Run is now the name of some kind of emo band...

A Productive Evening

The Start Of The Party
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 170.5#, 10.5% BF

Got home, finished the Carmine's leftovers, then did laundry and dishes while I cleaned the kitchen. I mean cleaned it, like tore it down to bare metal and scrubbed it, it actually looks weird in there. Threw out a ton of clutter, found a bunch of thing I thought were lost..

I also put my McSorley's trip photos on flickr, check them out here.

A Day In The City

Morning weigh-in: 173#, 12% BF

 

Had a most awesome time yesterday: 30 good friends on a bus ride to NYC, bagels & mimosas & Irish coffee on the way in, an afternoon at McSorley's Old Ale House (plus a trip to the Blind Tiger with a splinter group), then dinner at Carmine's. It was all good, but dinner was especially amazing since I'd never been there, and it was as impressive as people said: incredible food in gigantic family-size portions. there were eight of us at my table, and we ordered two entrees and couldn't finish them. Changing taste: I normally do not like seafood such as, say, calamari, but I was scarfing that stuff down last night like there was no tomorrow. And don't even get me started on the lox cream cheese...

 

Tough Call: I went with a few friends (Fred & Lara, Don G, and Jim & Allison) to the Blind Tiger, and just as we exited McSorley's my phone rang. It was my friend Joe S, calling with some very bad news. His girlfriend Dawn has a nephew Eddie (her godson, and they're very close), three years old and in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant, and he had just passed away. He'd been very ill recently -- even a cold is life-threatening for someone like that -- so they put him in an induced coma about a week ago, and now he's just gone. Joe had no other info, and since I wasn't in any condition to deal with something that serious, I told him I'd call today.

 

I gave him a lunchtime call just a minute ago, on his cell -- I didn't want to talk to Dawn about this, get her any more upset than she probably already was -- and it was Dawn that answered. And needless to say, she is pretty upset. I ended up walking around the building here, talking on the phone and crying. Man that was rough.

Red Red Wine

Morning weigh-in (Friday): 169#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Saturday): 168#, 9% BF
Morning weigh-in (Sunday): 170.5#, 11% BF

Yeah, she has a boyfriend... saw her Thursday night at Porter's, sorta-semi went there to see if I'd run into her, you know, by chance: "Fancy meeting you here! Blah blah can you be my girlfriend, Mollie?*" Jesus. Anyway she was there, but before I could bust my move I saw she was there with some guy. Oh well. There's a saying, "looks, brains, personality, availability -- pick any two!" She's off the charts with the first three, my mistake to think she was single.

Today is the bus trip to McSorleys, with dinner at Carmines afterward. I was going to ride this morning, but yesterday was a tough yoga class and a tough workout in the gym, and Friday night was a night ride on the towpath and at Sals, and my body is whooped. I'm walking downtown in a few minutes, catching the bus at 11:00.

In other news, I'm cleaning my apartment. Good Lord.

*Not her real name!