I was hanging out with people from the gym and now I know better than to go out drinking with certain people. In the same way that I’m able to stop eating everything on the plate in front of me, I also seem to drink whatever is put in front of me. Some people are more cruel in their drink selections.

In any case, a more exciting Saturday makes for a more subdued Sunday which is fine by me. I spent most of the day reading Real World, translated from the Japanese book by Natsuo Kirino and I’ve really decided that I need to finish that book and put it out of my mind. It really doesn’t seem to have much of a point, just characters that annoy me. I’m getting close to the bottom of my stack of real books, unfortunately finding A Spot of Bother to make the stack a bit taller. Once they’re all gone, though, it’s back to thinking about the Kindle again.

I canceled my Friday workout at the gym because today was the last day of the deadlift cycle and I’ve been overdoing things. Everyone else is breaking their PRs but I really should be taking it easy because of my back. Serendipitously I realized that Friday was also my mom’s birthday.

My mom said didn’t care about actually having any more birthdays, she’d had enough, but it sure beats the alternative. We went out to a Japanese restaurant and then to my sister’s house for cake. I finally used my iPhone for taking pictures of something besides the workout written on the board at the gym.

If I had any sense (and if you’ve reading this you probably have some idea of how much sense I have) I’d probably be asleep right now. But I started watching some TV shows from the last few nights and they’re addicting like the Skittles I really shouldn’t have open on the kitchen table all the time. Fortunately for me, I probably only eat a half-dozen individual Skittles in a day, and according to the intarweb there are an estimated 31 to 41 individual Skittles in a bag. So even if I ate ten a day, that means I eat one small bag every three to four days. My mom buys them at Costco in boxes of 36 bags, so 1116 to 1476 little Skittles in a box, or 1296 on the average. That’s about one hundred thirty days of Skittles in a box. And what can I gain from this calculation? I’m not really sure. What I am sure about is that I ought to turn off the TV and this computer and get some sleep.

I have noticed that I’m getting better at running around the building, probably because it’s much shorter than running around the block at the old gym. I also noticed that my eyes are starting to get itchy so the first day of spring tomorrow (also my mom’s birthday) may signal the start of hay fever season. It’s hard to run hard when your nose is running as well.

I figured I should get out of the house when someone calls, but it’s a school night and they wanted to meet about the time I usually go to bed. Well, stupid me, I went anyway (the whole needing to get out of the house thing) but I should have been in bed for three hours already. I’m surly enough as it is at work, this isn’t going to help.

That’s what I get for having friends who work in creative fields with flexible hours and are decades younger. This isn’t going to help my workout recovery, either, though I only had one drink.

I really have nothing interesting going on today (no surprise) and just left work early to take the restrictor out of the downstairs shower because it felt like it was just dribbling water on me this morning. The old shower is nothing compared to the new shower that I’m forbidden from using at the moment. Other than that I punted the gym since I’d already canceled and I could use the rest.

The only thing that’s cheering me up is finding this 80’s tune that they used to play in Boston when I was there for school. It gets stuck in my head and I’d really like to buy a copy of it, but just try searching for “My Ex” by the “Sex Execs” and you’ll see what comes up on google. Nothing savory, that’s for sure. This is pure 80’s cheese. You’ll know what I mean if this link works for you.

My Ex – Sex Execs

Oh, and I did have a bacon cheeseburger today at King Torta for lunch. It was salty and nasty but really, I don’t give a shit right now.

Carolyn, you win.

But I digress, it was a red-letter day today. My beautiful new shower is pretty nice, but I’ve been having my troubles with it. The door is quite pretty, but it leaks. I can’t get them to fix it correctly. And the grout looked like it wasn’t sealed right and was crumbling. The contractor didn’t really believe me, but when the tile guy came back to look at it he knew right away that something was wrong. He’s going to let it dry out for three days, work on it for three days, and let it cure for three more days. So I can’t use my expensive new shower for nine days.

But that’s not so bad because I had tomorrow to look forward to. I actually was going out to dinner tomorrow with someone, well, age inappropriate, to a restaurant that everyone tells me is rather good. Tonight at 8:43PM, I got a text message, “… I am starting to see someone and I cant go on a date with you. I am REALLY sorry its so last minute.” I am disappointed, but I figured things would go awry and I immediately started thinking of backup plans. I called Il and asked him if he wanted to go, but he’s off meat because of stomach problems and the restaurant is eat-all-you-can carnivore food. I just ended up canceling my reservation.

So the bad news is that I am not going out on a date. I’ve been playing it down and telling people who knew about that I was just going out to dinner, it wasn’t a date. If you recall, everyone thought I was going out on a date last year but the woman who I was going with didn’t, and she started inviting all her friends to come along. The good news is that if you read the above text message carefully, you’ll notice I almost went out on a date! That’s as close as I’ve been since the last date I was on, three years ago.

In any case: Carolyn, you don’t have to eat your hat. I give up. I promise not to ask anyone else out for the rest of the year.

Oh, and surprise. I just opened up a form letter and I may have problems with my health insurance. I hope this day doesn’t get any better.

I went to see my massage guy today and he told me things I should already have known. I’m old and rickety and I should lay off going to the gym so much. I’m sure anyone who goes too often gets told that. Massage guys like you to go to yoga, not to the gym. It makes their work easier. But my guy deals with a whole lot of runners and knows all about neurotic over-exercisers and how little they listen to advice to “take it easy”. I’m listening to him a little more than I usually would: I’m going to take two days off, both leading up to dinner at an eat-all-you-can Brazilian meat restaurant, The Brazil Grill.

I’m hoping that I’ll have better luck at the Brazil Grill than the three dinners I’ve had this weekend. The Industrial Cafe overcooked part of my steak (but it was tasty), the Widmer Gasthaus (also known as the Asshaus to my sister) way overcooked the meat in my sauerbraten (but it was tasty), and the McTarnahan’s Taproom Grill overcooked my chicken (still edible). But then again, my buddy tells me I used to happily eat Boy Scout food so what do I know?

I’ve decided I’m reading too many mystery books as well. I figured out why Detective Reese is phoning in all her conversations on Life (the actress is pregnant) and I figured out that the room full of people at the restaurant were probably doctors. These aren’t any huge deductions, but are probably enough that I could write my own mystery if I had any stamina.

(The way I figured out that the people were doctors was because the first dozen or so came in with laser printed papers that looked like scientific articles and the next few came in with things that looked like medical journals. I assumed they were doctors, but I was thrown off because they didn’t look smart enough. As I was leaving I asked one of them what their specialty was and they turned out to be orthopedists having their journal club. This answered the questions on their looks. As the joke goes, “How do you hide a dollar bill from an orthopod? You hide it in a book.”)

Like I said, not nearly enough for any conclusive evidence, but enough to make up stories in my head.

It wouldn’t be too exciting to tell you I got up after a fairly poor night of sleep, went to the gym, hurt myself before the workout was over, came home, took a handful of Advil, and took a long nap. That wouldn’t be all that exciting. The exciting part is that I got up, finished a book, and then WENT TO SEARS to BUY A VACUUM CLEANER, CAME HOME, and VACUUMED. I also moved my bed into the new, not-quite-finished bedroom so I could try emptying out the one that’s full of crap. Unfortunately, there’s few places to store the crap and did I mention I hurt myself today? My back kind of hurts again.

It’s all part of my master plan to get my money’s worth out of my massage tomorrow. I’m not sure it all makes sense, but with an exciting life like mine (did I mention the brand new vacuum cleaner and the vacuuming?) you have to make some hard decisions.

I showed up at the gym today and the first thing I did was look in my wallet for $10. There’s a $10 fee for late cancelations. It’s all group classes, and the classes are usually pretty full, so there needs to be a penalty for taking up a spot. In any case, this is a sleepy week for me and I’m craving a nap about the time class is starting. As soon as he saw me, THMFIC handed me another book to read so I knew I couldn’t leave.

THMFIC agreed that I should probably have canceled due to fatigue and coming every day so far this week. I didn’t do all 5 rounds of push presses in the strength part of the workout, but I did fine on the workout of the day. 10 dumbbell hang snatches on each arm, 10 pushups, and 10 situps for 12 minutes to see how many rounds you can do. My initial lack of motivation, though, made me THREE SITUPS SHORT of one more round. We only count full rounds so that means 8 rounds instead of 9. 9 is as many as I saw anyone else do, and I was so close.

So another book to read from THMFIC meant that I couldn’t ditch class and I had to stay and mop, which is something I do anyway. I think it helps develop the abs, or at least that’s what I tell myself. It tires my shoulders as well. But the worst part about getting another book is that it delays my Kindle 2 purchase just that much longer. It’s not really that much of a negative, because I’ll read almost anything, which is the curse of the English major.

Maybe I need to stay in all weekend reading. And napping. That sounds pretty good.

I felt pretty tired this morning and had very little enthusiasm for anything. I didn’t even feel like leaving early because I couldn’t think of what I’d do at home. I wanted to skip the gym, but there’s a 12-hour cancellation policy and I’m too cheap to pay the $10 for violating it. But I didn’t just feel tired, THMFIC said I looked tired. That’s no surprise to me. In any case, I still worked hard enough that I was lying on the floor trying to catch my breath for a while, and just now while flossing my teeth I had a cramp in my hand. Hooray.

In any case, I think it’s springtime in some sense (even though it’s still in the 20’s°F at night) because all I want to do is sleep. At least hay fever season hasn’t kicked in quite yet.

I actually got a phone number from a woman on Friday night. She was age-inappropriate, but as my buddy who just had brain surgery at 25 told me, “Enjoy life while you can.” In any case, she didn’t answer her phone the times I called which I’ve decided is much nicer than being insulted, which is how I usually get turned down for dates. Not recently, mind you, I get insulted enough at work that I don’t need to go looking around for more. I’m guessing that, like THMFIC says, at our age we’re just invisible to young women. And I’d rather be ignored than insulted.

I also think I should also stop listening to the guys at work who keep telling me to ask out the single women there. It didn’t work out at all last time, and now they’re trying to get me to ask out someone from Human Resources. I can’t imagine anything that could turn out worse than that. Talking to some of our larger customers makes me feel like I’m poking a dangerous sleeping animal with a stick; messing with HR seems much worse.

In any case I’ve decided that, to cheer myself up, I’m buying the Kindle 2 eventually. If I would have gotten a date I was going to buy the Kindle 2 to celebrate, so it’s not really a deciding factor. If you’re wondering how I have so much money to spend on such a gadget, I can tell you I found my REI dividend check and it was for a whole thirty-one dollars and fourteen cents that I can’t use at Amazon. I did get a not insignificant tax refund that’s going straight to Jay the Contractor, but I can divert some of it, can’t I? I suppose I’m still reading from my stack of books so I’ll see how I feel about this tomorrow.

There’s something about today, the snow, the lack of sleep, the Mondayness of it all. I was tired at the gym and had a hard time pressing 35lbs, and also gave up lunging while holding 122 lbs. I stuck with 106lbs (2x24kg) for my lunges. Then during the workout I kind of felt like I was letting my partner down. I guess that’s life.

I got a book from THMFIC at the gym and so I’d bette finish Shinjuku Shark and start the one he gave me. This is still keeping me from buying a Kindle 2, which may be a good thing. My sister told me she bought four books in the first week she had hers and it surely doesn’t sound like she’s saving any money doing that.

But really, today was a blah day. I wanted to leave work but then I felt like I had nothing to do at home. I forgot about finishing the book, of course, and I was in the middle of watching You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. What a wonderfully stupid movie. Like I said, it’s Monday and I’m waiting for a phone call.