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So, this morning I was

So, this morning I was returning to my
locker from the shower at the YMCA. Certainly hundreds of people shower
there ever day. Maybe 1000+? I’m not sure. Lots. The locker room has
lots of small-ish bays filled with lockers. In the center of each bay
is a wooden bench bolted to the floor. Its a pretty standard
arrangment, I think. So I turned the corner to get back to my locker
and was confronted with some guy standing on the bench. Not so strange
all by itself. I mean, sure, its a little curious, but not a big deal.
Except he was buck-assed-naked! His ass was right at face level! I kind
of reared back to get my bearings — I was a little suprised by the ASS
in my face! Sure enough, he was drying himself off. He had clearly just
come from the pool and was getting dried off and dressed. Thank god. I
edged quickly around him to the back of the bay where my regular locker
is. He was dripping his soggy ass pool water all over the bench and the
floor as he finished drying off. I tried to focus on my own situation
and to pretend there wasn’t a HAIRY ASS in my face only two feet to the
right. I guess at some point he needed something from his locker that
he couldn’t reach so he stepped off the bench with one foot and put it
… IN THE LOCKER. He was straddling the space between the bench and
the locker so he could reach in and get his deoderant or something.
What a freak. I mean obviously he was put off by the potential presence
of various and sundry fungi on the well trodden floor. I can’t fault
him for a healthy concern about his feet. but for crissakes!! get some
damn flipflops! All in all it was an unusual start to the day. Oh, and
during lunch I got my self some flipflops. It only seemed prudent. Once
I started thinking about the Stinky Feet Project (http://www.thespark.com/science/stinkyfeet/)and its cousin the Stinky Meat Project (http://www.thespark.com/science/stinkymeat/) I thought decided it was the right thing to do.

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Today was very satisfactory. I

Today was very satisfactory. I had a
status meeting with my team where we all get together and report on
what we’ve been up to and what we’re expecting for the next week. I
rattled off a string of fairly impressive successes. I’ve streamlined
several processes. I’ve automated others in an attempt to get my team
out of non-value-added functions. Every issue that came up also had a
solution. It made me look pretty competent and effective.

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I’ve been listening to “Opium

I’ve been listening to “Opium Jukebox”
this morning. They’ve covered such hits as “Cars”, “Tainted Love” and
“Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Not surprisingly… I don’t know why I
didn’t see this one coming… it sounds like they’re baked. It sounds
like they’re supposed to be on opium. All the music has an eastern
sound to it with flutes and twangy instruments and there are very few
words. Most of the songs are barely recognizable. Its not unpleasant
and it certainly jives with the title of the band… its just not what
I was expecting.

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Today was very satisfactory

I had a status meeting with my team where we all get
together and report on what we’ve been up to and what we’re expecting for the
next week.  I rattled off a string of fairly impressive
successes.
 
I’ve
streamlined several processes.  I’ve automated others in an attempt to get my
team out of non-value-added functions.  Every issue that came up also had a
solution.  It made me look pretty competent and effective.
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It should not have been a suprise

I’ve been
listening to “Opium Jukebox” this morning. They’ve covered such hits as “Cars”,
“Tainted Love” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

Not
surprisingly… I don’t know why I didn’t see this one coming… it sounds like
they’re baked. It sounds like they’re supposed to be on opium. All the music
has an eastern sound to it with flutes and twangy instruments and there are very
few words. Most of the songs are barely recognizable.


Its not
unpleasant and it certainly jives with the title of the band… its just not
what I was expecting.

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It does the body good

In addition
to swimming for the first time last night, I also managed to get to the gym this
morning for another workout.  I only managed 30 minutes instead of 40 but I’m
certain it was enough.  I was drenched in sweat by the end and I think I managed
to keep my heart rate in the right zone for the whole time.  By the end I was
pleased with the results.
 
I would
like to continue the cardio/aerobic focus every day, but I’d also like to add
swimming a couple of nights a week.  My arms and back are sore this morning from
stressing muscles that aren’t used to the strain.
 
But it
feels good too, I have to admit.
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Unreasonable preoccupation

So, this
morning I was returning to my locker from the shower at the YMCA. Certainly
hundreds of people shower there ever day. Maybe 1000+? I’m not sure. Lots.
The locker room has lots of small-ish bays filled with lockers. In the center
of each bay is a wooden bench bolted to the floor. Its a pretty standard
arrangment, I think.

So I turned
the corner to get back to my locker and was confronted with some guy standing on
the bench. Not so strange all by itself. I mean, sure, its a little curious,
but not a big deal.

Except he
was buck-assed-naked!

His ass was
right at face level! I kind of reared back to get my bearings — I was a little
suprised by the ASS in my face! Sure enough, he was drying himself off. He had
clearly just come from the pool and was getting dried off and dressed.

Thank
god.

I edged
quickly around him to the back of the bay where my regular locker is. He was
dripping his soggy ass pool water all over the bench and the floor as he
finished drying off. I tried to focus on my own situation and to pretend there
wasn’t a HAIRY ASS in my face only two feet to the right. I guess at some point
he needed something from his locker that he couldn’t reach so he stepped off the
bench with one foot and put it … IN THE LOCKER. He was straddling the space
between the bench and the locker so he could reach in and get his deoderant or
something.

What a
freak.

I mean
obviously he was put off by the potential presence of various and sundry fungi
on the well trodden floor. I can’t fault him for a healthy concern about his
feet. but for crissakes!! get some damn flipflops!

All in all
it was an unusual start to the day.

Oh, and
during lunch I got my self some flipflops. It only seemed prudent. Once I
started thinking about the Stinky Feet Project and
its cousin the Stinky Meat Project
I thought decided it was the right thing to do.

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Last night I actually got down to the YMCA to swim laps!

I’m very proud of myself. I’ve
never swam laps before and to be honest I found the whole thing a little
intimidating.  I didn’t know the rules or the customs.  I kept expecting someone
to come along and tell me I wasn’t doing something right or to give me a hard
time for not following a rule I wasn’t aware of.  I haven’t swam like that in a
very long time.  I didn’t want to look silly or have people laugh at me. 
Really, it was something I knew I was bad at but decided I wanted to go ahead
and do it anyway.
    When I
got there I went to the lifeguard and told her that I had never done this before
and although I got the idea that it was pretty much down-and-back — was there
anything else to it?  We talked a little and got everything sorted out.  I had
bought some goggles last year in preparation for this night.  As you can
imagine I’ve been working up to it for quite a long time.  So I started swimming
in the slow lane.  In one direction I swam the crawl and in the other direction
I swam the breast stroke.  I went down and back several times and then it
started getting hard.  I pushed and pushed and swam and swam and when I finally
ran out of steam I looked at the clock.
    It had
only been five minutes.
    Holy
cow, that was hard!!  But I decided I had more left in me so I kept
swimming.
    Down
and back.

    Down
and back.
    Finally, when I thought I couldn’t swim another stroke I stopped and
rested.  It had only been five more minutes since the last time I checked!  But
I was ready to throw in the proverbial towel and started to make my way to the
ladder.  But then I stopped myself and said “I can do better than 10 minutes!  I
know I’m tired and worn out but I can do a couple of more laps.  I know I
can!”
    And I
did.
    I went
slowly down and back a few more times and since I was in the slow lane there was
nobody chasing me or hassling me about wanting to pass me.  It was exhausting! 
I was totally wiped out when I finally stopped for the third time.  But I was
also very proud of myself for trying it out and for the exceptional effort I put
in.  A person can tell when they’re actually putting in a lot of effort or just
killing time and all this exercise has been rewarding for me largely because of
the consistently high level of effort.  My old football coach would be proud —
he hated me for not trying.  Several coaches were like that.  It felt that way
anyway.  And they were right, I wasn’t giving it my best and it
showed.
    Now,
I’m really working hard and doing my very best and although its unpleasant it
results in the difference between accomplishing my goals and failing.  The
small, infinitesimal successes feel really good.  And that’s something I was
never able to achieve by giving 80% of my best.

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We did Chloe’s birthday party

We did Chloe’s birthday party yesterday at the YMCA Gymnastics place.
Everything turned out great. They all had a super time and I think it will
be something Chloe can remember in the future.

I’m about to go back to the second showing of Star Wars with Ben and Gabe
and Chloe. I explained to them that Anakin does terrible things in this
movie and that its not a happy-fun jaunt through the star wars universe. At
first Chloe and Gabe looked distraught and as though they would cry. They
clearly thought I was explaining to them why they weren’t going to get to
go.

But I promised them that I would take them so I will. I don’t think it will
cause them any damage, its just I would rather Chloe and Gabriel didn’t see
it yet. I’ll probably have Chloe on my lap and I’ll see what I can do to
make it easier.

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So the weekend is over

So the weekend is over and my dilemmas
have resolved themselves one way or another. 1. The birthday party
turned out well. Chloe and the girls had a super time playing on the
gymnastics equipment. There were two teenaged girls there helping the
kids to not hurt themselves. They had an obstacle course set up and had
a wonderful time. Cake and ice cream was served. Presents were offered
and accepted. Nobody cried… well, that’s not strictly true. One
little girl cried, but I don’t like her anyway, so that’s ok. 2. I did
wind up taking all three of the oldest kids to see Star Wars. Ben was
fine. Chloe was bored. Gabriel cried. *sigh* I tried to manage the
stress and pain the kid felt. And I don’t think it did any permanent
damage. I mean he was upset at the terrible things the protagonist did.
I have to admit that it was hard to see the hero we had followed since
childhood turn around and say do awful things. 3. I got the picnic
table stabilized. I tightened bolts and screwed in some 2×4’s and I
hope it will actually stop creaking and groaning when people sit on it.
I still need to stain all the furniture in the yard. 4. I didn’t get to
do any grilling or exercising. The weekend was a complete washout in
that regard. 5. I didn’t get to the USS JFK. 6. I’m testing out
www.emusic.com - $10 a month gets you 40 downloads. $10 is pretty cheap
when most albums are more than $10 each. They give you 50 downloads to
get you started. Their catalog isn’t as extensive as MSN, Yahoo!,
Napster or… well, almost any of the other big ones, but I did find a
moderate number of things that piqued my interest. Also their downloads
are all standard MP3’s at 192kb sampling rate. I think I can find
enough things I want to keep it for at least a year. 7. I did get to
the gym this morning and pushed myself extra hard. That felt good. I
want to start swimming a couple of evenings per week.

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