A co-worker and I were walking down the hallways today and we both felt like the week had beaten us senseless already. And it was only noon on Tuesday. I think it may be a long week.

But of course I’m still up. Does that mean I don’t have the sense that god gave a newt? Well, first I’d have to agree about the concept of “god” and how I probably don’t think of “god” in any sense other than an abstract representation of the universe as a whole and second I’d have to ask what the question was again because right now I’m thinking that the most attractive woman is one who is carrying a Baskin Robbins Clown Face ice cream cake. You know the one I’m talking about. I used to work at a place where we got cake for everyone’s birthday and the Clown Face cake was my favorite. We got it as a joke and I rated it above the Pearl Bakery and Ja Civa’s. Man it was tasty.

I wonder if that’s my problem. I haven’t tried seducing women with ice cream. Huh.

I should have said something about finishing my destruction yesterday, but I was too tired to remember. I spent most of the weekend tearing out the lath and plaster in my bathroom because, well, if the contractor does it he has to put in positive pressure airflow and suit up like a spaceman, etc. I haven’t heard of a good reason for it besides the lead paint. The way I figure it is that I’m only going to do this once or twice in my life, not for a living. And now I can say I don’t ever want to do it again, though I probably will.

So Sean and I teamed up to form Team DFL at the gym today, and poor Jenny got roped in as well. Actually, I miscalculated, and I think we weren’t really DFL and Sean even punted on two of five rounds of ball slams. Whatever. You’re only cheating yourself, but when you have a team with one guy who did Seattle-to-Portland in one very long day, and one guy who was trapped in a sealed bathroom with googles, a facemask, a Harbor Freight fake Sawzall, a prybar, and a hammer you’re probably going to get pretty slow times. I’m surprised they didn’t find us curled up on the floor passed out or crying after that workout.

Ah well. Life continues, and work is busy, busy, busy.

I got stood up at the “Beer n Burgers” thing today but that wasn’t the worst thing that happened to me today. I mean, I got to eat five sliders and taste at least a half-dozen beers today so wandering around by myself wasn’t all that bad. Or all that uncommon so whatever.

I didn’t really need to drink any more after going out for Tiff’s birthday and having several beers last night but at least I wasn’t hung over. Not real sure how Tiff ended the night, because people kept buying her shots all night long. Ah to be 26 again.

The “Beer n Burgers” thing did take me away from gutting the downstairs bathroom, though. What a mess that was. Not sure why my fingers hurt from tearing out all sorts of lath and plaster. I had long sleeves, safety glasses, hearing protection, and a dust mask on, and I still got crap all over me. The plaster turned out to be more like concrete, so the dust wasn’t so bad, but tearing out the ceiling is an experience that I really don’t enjoy. Plus the ceiling had all that weird old fluffy insulation in it. And to start off, my fake Sawzall was dead and I had to buy another. Good thing both of them were Harbor Freight specials that only cost $20 each. The new ones even have a keyless chuck for the blades!

Anyway, most of my day was destroying stuff and I’m beat. Only a little bit more cleanup and I should be finished.

I’ve just been told that my blog has been a bit of a bummer lately. BIG SURPRISE, but really LATELY? I guess someone just started reading all this crap and didn’t go back very far.

My usual plans for the weekend are on hold (and the usual plan was probably to learn more iPhone programming) and I get to assist with the demolition of the bathroom so the contractor can get on with the renovation. Nothing exciting in the downstairs bathroom, just new cabinets and fixtures, but we have to tear out the old tub and the walls to get things going. The shame is that the demolition revealed tile below the ugly old vinyl floor that was really pretty cool.

Unfortunately, the new tub is a different size and so the tile had to go. Darn it, it’s pretty cool.

In any case, I see a lot of rubble being generated this weekend. I hope I don’t break anything that we really need.

One of the local “alternative newspapers” Willamette Week rated the burgers in town and I almost agree with them. Their #1 burger is like my #2. My #1 wasn’t on their list, and some of the things on their top 10 were suspicious (Foster Burger is definitely up and down). In any case, I’m going to list my top three “fancy” burgers and my top three “pub” burgers. For some reason I make a distinction.

In the fancy category, my top burger is from Laurelhurst Market. Every time I take the first bite of that burger I remember why I like it so much. The burger on the menu isn’t the one I like, however, since it usually comes with pimento cheese and I get it with cheddar. I mean, really, pimento? I’ve only ever had the stuff in Oscar Meyer cold cuts and pimento loaf was just baloney with that weird tasting cheese in it. The meat is good though sometimes overcooked (they don’t like rare there for some reason) and it’s complimented by the tomato relish and the bun. I may be blindsided by the cheesecake, there, though. One bite is OK, but when it starts to coat your taste buds it’s quite a wonderful taste that I think everyone should experience. WIllie Week didn’t have this burger in their top 10.

Second in fancy would have been the Carlyle, but they closed earlier this year. I really liked the burger there. Since they’re gone I probably have to say it’s the burger at Metrovino, which Willie Week said was their top choice. A double-patty of great beef and the relish and bun were good as well. The owner was especially nice and that wins points too. I need to go back. They’re in my neighborhood.

Third, well, I can’t think of a third. Wildwood was great when I went with a small group, but a large group was disappointed there. It was WIllie Week’s #8.

I was disappointed by Meriwethers on my second try (the first was good), Paley’s Place, and Yakuza in the fancier burgers. Violetta is almost great (needs more relish but the meat is good and the bun tended to fall apart) and

In pub burgers, I’d say Hopworks is #1, Slow Bar is #2, and The Maiden (gone now) would be #3. I could stick Foster Burger in there but they’re iffy.

Also, Five Guys Burger and Fries is consistently tasty for a fast food burger and Skyline holds a place in my heart. Helvetia is kind of crap now if you ask me. A burger that people think is that special shouldn’t need that much ketchup to taste good.

Somewhere in my room is my mom’s checkbook. I found her new checks, I found several of my checkbooks, but I can’t find the one that may or may not be the one that I should be using. Of course I should be able to check all this on the credit union’s web site, but it’s the WORST FUCKING MESS ever. I hardly ever use it so I forget which password I had on it, and I get locked out. I try to answer the security question but it’s a question I’VE NEVER ANSWERED BEFORE. It asks me questions I can’t answer, like the name of my first wife. I’ve never been married, but what does that matter to them? And the joke of a credit union only has phone support during business hours. I hardly ever try to do online banking during business hours. This is why I keep money in a huge and awful national bank.

I was discussing money with kids from the gym today and they never carry cash. How the hell do they score any drugs buy any food at the small mom-and-pop restaurants that only take cash?

Anyway, that’s my small mess for the day.

There’s not all that much horrible going on in my life, but Mondays are Mondays. I had to sit patiently for an hour while an IT dude in the Philippines (I’m guessing) moved my mouse remotely. A known issue with Microsoft Outlook is what I’m guessing because there was a locally written program to fix the problem I had. So after getting my silly computer back (and it rebooted several times today because it does that rather than sleeping) I suppose I got on with my day.

I keep thinking about my fitness level and how I was able to do certain things before that I can’t do now. Not the “when I was younger” kind of things but more the “before I had that cold a few months back I was able to do this a bit faster” sort of thing. I wish I could say I was constantly improving, but it’s more like slowly improving. Then again, when I actually think of my fitness goals it’s just to maintain some level of fitness amongst all the cheeseburgers and the beer I wish I was drinking. I’m too lazy to go out and get any. The cheeseburgers just seem to find me.

Oh, and I did pay bills tonight, the only thing I really had on my short to-do list. It’s not short because I don’t have anything to do, it’s short because I’m disorganized and a little lazy. I mean, come on, I’d actually have to START A LIST to have a list and then I’d have to keep from losing it. Pfft.

My brain’s not running on all cylinders today. I got to Café Allora in the Pearl to watch the World Cup Final game between Spain and the Netherlands and the only reason I was rooting for the Netherlands is because I didn’t want that game-predicting octopus to be right. I wasn’t very vocal about it, because I was in the middle of a lot of Spain supporters. In any case, Spain won, and the octopus was right.

It being Portland, of course, I saw a guy I’ve gone to for Sports Massage, Michael Bilyeu. I was just thinking of calling him last week because I was all knotted up. I’m not sure why he was down in the Pearl to see the game because he lives in NE and works in SE. I did get to ask him if I still had the right number and address for him.

The Pearl, being the Pearl, had a lot of wealthier seeming people around. Across the street from the café was a BMW Alpina. I’m not quite sure what it is, but I bet it cost more than I make in a year. Two years, probably. My buddy Matty suggested I get one, but I reminded him that I am neither a drug dealer nor a record producer and he told me it was never too late for a career change.

What I can afford is to finally get my sorry ass to Violetta to try their sustainable slow-food hamburger. I’ve heard mixed reviews, and I have to say it’s a very good burger but not the best I’ve had. Plus, it’s kind of a fast food/slow food establishment. Tacky interior but expensive prices. The staff was super-nice and even gave me a rare hamburger, but it needed a little more sweetness in the relish. But it was tasty, the meat was tender, and I was full of cheeseburger and crispy truffle oil fries. I’d certainly not dissuade anyone from getting it, but still there was something missing.

I wondered why I wasn’t hungry at dinnertime and I realized that I had my burger at 2:48PM after my first bite. Late lunch. I also forgot to get my free Slurpee today. I kind of figure I can afford to buy a Slurpee, so I’m not out too much, but do I need to get as much as I can from the faceless holding corporation that owns 7-11? These are the kind of philosophical questions I can handle today, nothing much harder though. I think the sun fried my brains.

I am trying to post from my new iPhone 4 now. I was going to see if my old iPhone 3GS can be used as an iPod Touch of sorts and post with that but the battery was completely flat. So now I’m playing with the new hotness yet again.

I heeded the advice of my friends who suggested that I try closing all the heater vents downstairs which did make it much cooler upstairs, but it’s still too hot to sleep. I think my mattress has picked up residual heat and I like it a little on the chilly side when I’m sleeping. Ah well it is supposed to be about twenty degrees cooler tomorrow and be in the low 80’s instead of the high 90’s.

I took my mom to Slabtown Ribs for dinner and I had way too much barbecue tonight. My blood is slowed by the barbecued goodness and I don’t think I have much more to say. Andiamo.

My old boss asked me if I was going to ask EVERYONE to remind me never to walk to Subway (1.25mi) when it’s going to be over 90°F. I wanted to make sure that SOMEONE would remind me next time since I nearly melted on the way back. Fortunately, I was able to watch the end of the World Cup soccer match in the cafeteria from the time that (not going to spoil it for people who haven’t seen it) scored the first goal on (the other team). I’m really getting sucked into some of the games.

I also had a small cramp in my leg during the walk, which was great because it’s now in the other leg. In between cramps I got to see Helen at the gym (two laps around the building, 21 24kb kettlebell swings, 12 kipping pullups, three times). The first lap around the building in the 90+°F heat and I had cottonmouth so bad that I had to stop and get a drink of water. Not only don’t I do well in the heat, but I keep telling myself that I don’t do well in the heat and that probably makes things worse. I think, however, that age probably has something to do with it. That plus the walk to Subway. Plus I couldn’t count and I did 6x med ball cleans with 60#, 80#, 90#, 100#, 90#, and 100#.

Heck, I’m a native Portlander. 50’s and cloudy is the ideal weather for athletics, and the 70’s are hot.

I’ve been ignoring writing anything down, except for some stupid iPhone code that doesn’t really work. Holy hell it’s driving me nuts. I should know better than to try to dive into the middle of something so messy. All while sitting in a room that’s in the upper 80’s while it’s really much cooler outside. I’m not a huge fan of the heat and I’m in one of the hottest rooms in the house. Of course it’s silly, but that’s just where my office is now. It’s supposed to be in the 90’s (F) this week and that’s way too hot for me.

Other than that, today (Tuesday) felt a lot like a Monday. Forgot my badge, brought the wrong DVD with the wrong version of Linux to work, forgot my headphones, and now the electrical room at the end of my row is buzzing quite loudly. They say it’s working fine, but there are a dozen people who aren’t going to be able to work while it’s buzzing like that. Hooray for that.

So, once again, a boring day for a boring guy. A boring guy who should be asleep but isn’t. Boring with no common sense.

That was a fairly successful 4th of July. I kind of got my iPhone app working a little better. It’s still broken, and I’ve still spent a hell of a lot more money than I ever should have writing an app I could have purchased for 99 cents, but whatever. We also invited ourselves to my sister’s house for a barbecue, and I watched my neighbor set off hundreds of dollars of legal fireworks without getting injured.

I also reconfigured my web server in a panic, late at night, which is the way I usually do it. I’m hoping it’s working correctly now. We’ll see.