Ten Fifteen

Typical Saturday:
Sleep 'til 10 or so.
Get up, throw on my workout stuff, hit the gym for 30-45 minutes.
Back, down a protein shake, shower, do consulting work for a while.
Maybe run some errands.
4ish, get "dressed" and head out for the evening, back by 1 am or so.

Typical Sunday:
Fuckall.


Well, that's not really true. I actually do most of my consulting work on Sundays. But I usually space it out so I can relax while doing it.

So, it's October now. Next weekend is Blizzcon. In early November, I seem to be going to Redmond to meet with people at Microsoft for work. Those two should keep me distracted enough until Christmas and my trip to Guerneville.

Uh, let's see. I've been working out steadily for 3 months, and I'm roughly half-way to one goal for the year, so I may actually make it by NYE. That's the "bench press my weight" one, which is a huge deal for me since I've always had crap for chest strength. The 10% body fat one, not so much, but I'm more concerned about building and maintaining mass than about losing fat at the moment so that's okay. Doing both simultaneously is really really hard for anyone.

Nothing much else to mention. Nothing yet on the dating front. Roomie came back. Parents are on another cruise. A friend's script has been approved for purchase by a major production company. This is life in SoCal.

Fly away home

So, I got a frantic IM from the roomie today:

i need to talk to for 10 mins on the phone..I need a favor, like now

(I'm underground, so my cell doesn't work here)

So, I called him up. He's going off at angles, but I finally manage to get out of him:

1) Someone looked him up through an FBI database
2) His dad did "something stupid".
3) He has to get to Ohio, immediately.

This is from someone who, to my knowledge, hasn't spoken to anyone on that side of his family in maybe 20-30 years.

He was being obviously evasive, so I didn't push. He's been out of work for a while, though, and needs my financial help getting there. So now, he's got a one-way ticket to Ohio (he can't tell me, yet, when he'll be ready to come back), and tonight I'm going to give him some pocket money and help him through packing (he hasn't been on a plane in probably 10 years).

Of course I'm curious as to what's got him so frantic, but he'll tell me if/when he's ready. My job right now is to play the "good friend" and help make sure he doesn't fly off (literally) without something critical.

It does mean I'll have the apartment to myself for a few days, though.

Hey, did you know you can fly from LAX to Ohio for less than $400 at the last minute?

Speaking the language

So, here's something random:

Yesterday, in an elevator at the office, a colleage asked me, "So, where in London are you from?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment. "London?"

"Yes," he replied, "isn't your accent from London?"

"Uhm, I was born in West Covina. I've lived in L.A. County all my life..."

- Perhaps, here I should interject.

Most parts of the US have distinctive accents: it's pretty easy to tell a southern drawl from the long vowels of Boston, across to Chicago's harshness, past Minnesota (like most things) and it's American/Canadian blend, over to Seattle's lazy blur, and the odd intonations of Southern California.

I have none of those. Apparently, from what I've been told by a few English instructors, I speak with a distinctive mid-Atlantic accent - which is an artificial blend of British English and New England English, and doesn't come from anywhere, but which I probably picked up watching old movies and news broadcasts as a kid. I also speak very quickly, which is something no one else in my family does.

It leads to a lot of confusion. Most people outside of NYC assume I'm from NYC, simply because of the speed. NYCers always think I'm from - well, somewhere else; they never seem to be able to agree (I've actually been asked to slow down by people from NYC - a fact of which I'm oddly proud).

This is the first time I've been accused of being from London, however. To be fair, the person asking is from an Asian country. And, again, the mid-Atlantic accent is a deliberate blend of Britich and American accents. I've just never had anyone make the British connection to it.

I bet my friends from London would be amused.

The cheatsheet

Mentioning Harry Potter as the only book you read: 2 stars
Mentioning Atlas Shrugged or Ayn Rand as a favorite book/author: one star
Mentioning The Fountainhead as a favorite book: we'll see what else you write, but automatically costing you 1 star. At least it's a better story.
Posting up numerous pictures that aren't rotated correctly: Lose 1 star
Posting up numerous pictures where you aren't smiling, or where you're (non-ironically) flashing gang signs: 2 stars
Posting up only one picture, and that picture:
- Contains multiple people with no indication of who you are
- is sideways, and not artistically
- is of you in your underwear
- doesn't show your face
... 2 stars
Putting your astrological sign in any essay box without making a joke of it: 2 stars
Indicating serious religious or "spiritual" inclination: 1 star
Only posting a picture, with no or very little text: 3 stars (which is my version of "we'll check back later")


Okay, yes, I'm probably a dick.

Anyway, things are going pretty well. I just paid 11k in taxes (yay consulting!) for the quarter, some of which was "catching up" since my job got extended. Seriously, I'm so done with this mentally. They keep coming up with problems under the "you need to fix this" banner, 90% of which end up being "I can't fix this; you need to tell your users not to be idiots" situations. I'm all for making things as idiot proof as possible, but when you ask for extensibility and control, you automatically lose some lock-down capability.

Real work is still good. Some potentially interesting things that are slowly moving up to "very interesting" and may be approaching "totally cool" by the end of the year. Of course, part of the potential results is that I may be designing myself out of a job, but if that's what happens, so be it. Damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead.

Social life - as the above perhaps indicates, it's been interesting. I've gotten a few hits, no actual meet-ups yet but I think at least one may be leading up to that. But, I'm picky and not really in a rush, so that's perfectly reasonable. I'm not stressing about dating - it's just not that important.

I'm also getting ready to plan my NYE trip. To where, I have yet to decide. That's part of the fun.

Fitness: I'm down to 163, and I'm definitely showing tone. Hit a plateau for a week or two, but it's dropping again now. I finally talked the roomie into coming down to the gym with me; he didn't do much but talk, but at least I got him into it. Next is to get him to start working out.

That's it for now. I really need to post more than once every 4 weeks.

... Oh, one last thing. DADT ended today, and guys are already coming out. Fucking awesome. This guy recorded coming out to his dad over the phone. As a friend of mine put it:

At 3m25s, he asks his dad if he still loves him. I can hope for a world one day where no child will ever doubt the answer to that question because of their sexual orientation.

I can't help but think of this line from the Ode:

... For we are afar with the dawning
And the suns that are not yet high,
And out of the infinite morning
Intrepid you hear us cry—
How, spite of your human scorning,
Once more God's future draws nigh,
And already goes forth the warning
That ye of the past must die.

Incidentals

Nothing major going on.

Weight wise: I've lost 6 lbs in 2 months, and I'm definitely getting some muscle. The roomie looked at me the other day and said, "Wow, you've almost got breasts." Not exactly encouragement, but whatever. I don't entirely trust the numbers on my scale's body fat reading, but even if it's only approximate, I'm losing almost exclusively fat in that weight. So, that's a good thing. Means I might be decent by December.

The car's all nice and happy. I've decided I'm getting the suspension system done next, because it's at 100k miles (as of last night) and I've never had it worked on. I also got it cleaned, so it's -literally- shiny.

The resort I like up in Guerneville has a cabin open for Labor Day weekend. I'm trying to decide if I want to head up there. Well, actually, I'm trying to talk myself out of wanting to go up there. I really ought to stay home and get some work done. I've been goofing off a little too much on the consulting stuff.

Being an adult has its drawbacks.

I joined a dating site. We'll see how it goes. I swear, though, if I see one more person list Harry Potter in their "favorite books" section, I'm going to have to break something.

The price we pay

My car's been neglected for a while. First, the new job and the horrendous commute before I moved made getting it to a shop on a weekday pretty much impossible. Then, once I moved, it's been fairly non-stop with other commitments that mean I can't be without a car for a day.

Finally, after getting back from Montana, I dropped it off at the shop last night and got a ride from my best friend into work today.

Status report:
Two bad catalytic converters. Yes, my car has two, and they both need replacing. I figured I'd gotten bad gas at some point in the past since a few things went odd, but that cleared up. Or seemed to, anyway. Plus, I'm at 100k miles (just shy), so it's about time anyway.

A bigger concern is that they said the engine had almost no oil in it. Now, yes, it's been a while since I had an oil change (probably too long), but I swear I checked the oil levels either just before my vacation or just after, so it's been max 8 weeks and more likely 6 weeks since I looked, and it was fine. So, that's a little concerning. They're going to flush it, load it with HQ synthetic, and have me flush it again (at no cost) in 2k miles or so.

Lastly, front brakes, but that's not a big deal: pads are under warranty, so it's just labor.

Total cost: about $2500, most of that the converters (which are about 900 each). Luckily, I don't need new tires yet, which would be another $1k. But that'll probably come up in the next couple of months (especially as the weather gets rainy towards the end of October).

It's also a really good feeling to know that spending $2500 to get my car fixed isn't a big deal: I'd actually budgeted for about $3k, not including tires. So, while I'm not happy about the oil thing (hopefully it's just a "wtf" freak occurance and not indicative of some larger problem), I'm actually not upset over the cost.

And my toy will be all spiffy again. Well, as soon as I get it washed, anyway...

And go my own way

So, getting ready to fly home.

Interesting trip in the "something different" sense. I think I know how this friendship thing with the guys will work out: basically, not at all. I'll stop "bugging" them, and I'll likely never get a note or message from them. No blame attaches; I just don't see any interest (socially) at all from one of them, and the other seems more of a "out of sight, out of mind" type. I may be wrong, but years of making these kinds of connections can't be discounted.

Still, it was a nice break to do something unusual. I can't say I regret coming. I have to force myself outside my comfort zone more often. And, they seemed to be glad I was here, at least for the party.

This coming week is going to be pretty dull. Hopefully, anyway.

Big Sky Country

In a matter of hours (literally - 12 hours exactly from now, my plane takes off) I'll be on my way to Montana for the weekend. Should be fun. If nothing else, it's "something different", and as another Richard (fictional) once said: Never refuse an invitation.

I got the guys a Hawaiian "care" package - things like coffee, candies, nuts, lotions, a CD, etc. - since it fits in with the Hawaiian theme. The fun part, of course, is packing around this rather large box in my luggage; luckily, the weather's supposed to be great so I won't need to take any bulky clothes. Otherwise, I might have to pack two cases, especially as I'm taking my tripod (which is itself pretty bulky).

It's also the perseids this weekend, so hopefully Big Sky Country lives up to its name and I can get some decent shots. I'm going to try a higher ISO and see if I can get more vibrant shots without the trace lines. I think, on my camera, I can go up to like 3200 without any issue. So, we'll see how it works out.

Sirius Rising

Wow, been a while.

When last we left our adventure, I'd been in the new place a week. Well, it's approaching a month now. Last night I made my first "real meal" - not from scratch, though. I bought these pre-seasoned Jamaican jerk shrimp at the store (frozen, just sautee 'em up and go). I also got a rice cooker, some wild rice, and a bunch of snap peas. Cooked the rice, steamed the peas, made half the shrimp (had 12, so made 6) - oh my god, it was good. I may actually have to start cooking.

Roommate came in and had some of the rice and approved. He did make "gagging" noises when he saw me munch a clove of roast garlic (which I also made last night). I managed to talk him into trying it, and his response was, "What the fuck? This is really good!" So, I've made another convert.

I'm still working out every other day, and there's definite progress being made. My weight's staying about the same (which is good) while my body fat percentage is going down slowly (which is great). I'm also actually starting to get some definition to me, which is frankly amazing. I still have a long ways to go, of course, but it's nice to be at least headed in the right direction.

Speaking of heading in directions, I'm taking a day off and making a long weekend of next weekend: the 12th I'm flying to Montana for a wedding reception for the guys I met in Maui. Should be fun. I'm just not sure if I should be bringing a present or something.

Summer's finally decided to rear its ugly head in the form of 95+ degree days and humidity. I think it's getting cooler by the weekend, though.

Since I'm flying to MT this month, I probably won't be doing anything major for Labor Day. I might go on a day trip somewhere, just for fun, but I'm blowing a grand on one trip already and should probably "take it easy".

It's dangerous to go alone

So, I've been in my new place officially over a week.

I like it so far. I'm taking advantage of the weight room daily, and I love having my own place to do my own stuff. Even having a roommate isn't horrible; he's being very good about the "it's my place/I call the shots" attitude I have. Heck, I'm even running around most of the time in the nude and he hasn't batted an eye (but then, I told him about that before he moved in, and we've gone on trips together so he knew my propensities before).

I am looking forward to when he moves out, though, even though I know that's not until January. I'll stick with the original commitment just because I made it and I know he needs the time to get his financial house in order, but this is definitely not going to be a long-term roommate situation. I'm actually hoping he manages to get himself together faster and can therefore move out early.

The consulting company wants me to keep working until October. I said we'll make it through middle of August and see how it's going. Frankly, I'm burning out on it. It's great money, don't get me wrong, but it's a lot of work/hassle when I'd just like to relax. Having two jobs is tiring, no matter how much money you make.

The new place helps with that a bit, though. Since I'm not driving as far, I get more "down time". Also, with the gym downstairs and even room to spread out my bench and free weights, I'm burning through some of the stress in workouts. I don't know that there's a lot of difference yet, and I don't expect there to be, but I certainly -feel- a fair bit better. I'm also eating healthier, as I've got a fridge and my own kitchen. Haven't really started cooking much, but I can get the kinds of things I like - which tend more towards "snacks" than "meals" anyway, things like pita and hummus or small salads or such.

I'm also trying to adapt myself to the whole "if you can't carry it, don't get it" mentality of grocery shopping, since I'm usually walking to/from one of the nearby grocery stores. Which also means more exercise, more fresh air, etc. The weather's also been cooperating, as I've only had the A/C running two days out of 10.

Haven't really unpacked much, but also haven't really furnished the place. I don't want to set anythign up in the living room until I get an area rug, and I think I know what I want but there are logistics issues (such as making sure someone's home to receive it). For the bedroom, most of my clothes are hang-up-able; what's not is in the "sto-away" beneath my mattress, so I don't really need a dresser.

I haven't even bought a desk for my desktop - but that's a different thing. I've actually decided to do something I've wanted to do for a while: build a kind of lounge chair/console for my home computer. The chair gets delivered tomorrow; its frame is 2" steel pipe, so I can mount things to it pretty easily. I have a rough idea of where I want to go with it, but I'll know more when it arrives.

Anyway, that's the drive-by for the day. Maybe interesting things will start happening and I'll have something to post about.