Random Access

Today was good, even though my legs are still sore from yestermorn’s workout. It was a rather uneventful day at work – which is a pretty good thing. I passed a couple of hours talking to a coworker and somewhere in the course of the conversations wound up recounting the “embarrassing moments” stories from the past week-and-a-half:

• Last Monday’s gym shoe mix-up.
• Last Tuesday’s Mochalotta Chill surprise.
• And last night’s like lapse of sanity: I had taped The Wayne Brady Show on an old tape. Being the incredibly brainy person that I am, I started mid-tape rather than *duhr* at the beginning like a normal person. After coming home and killing a couple of hours, I rewound the tape. So far, so good. When it stopped I pressed play and wandered off to do something else. I came back into the room just as 7 Days came on! BONUS!!! So, sci-fi addict that I am… I watched it. Not only did I watch it, but I even suggested that some people on IRC turn it on, too. They said that they couldn’t find it and again, brainy person that I am, I was telling them “It’s on (channel name and number)! You can’t miss it!” Then a commercial for Dracula 2000 came on and the only thing that came to mind was:”Their engineer must be asleep to be showing a year-old trailer like that.” Fortunately, it was just about this time that my brain actually turned on and started registering all available sensory input – namely, the whirring of the tape heads on the VCR. *sigh* Genius at work. I told the IRCers about the tape and they had a good laugh about it… as did I. But, I still felt “special.” Oh well.

Other than that, it was just another day at the office. Not much else to say about the rest of the day but fairly quiet days are nice every so often, so I can’t complain.

And that’s a wrap for tonight.

Peace.

I survived another leg workout today. Gym GOOOD. ::: handgesture :::

Work wasn’t too bad, on the whole. There was the brief talk with my supervisor about, of ALL things, when I was taking my lunch. I’m “supposed to go” at Time X, but I went at Time Y, instead. Welcome to Kindergarten (version 2.0). I thought that it was a little much, but what are ya gonna do? But like I said, it was an overall a good day, so I won’t dwell on that little cloudburst at the end of my shift. Wait. I just said that I wasn’t going to say anything about it, didn’t I? Hmm. Oh, well.

Other than that… went to the mall to pick up a movie poster from a friend. He works at theatre and got a “Tomb Raider” poster for me. Actually, it’s not for me… I’m giving it to another friend, but that’s yet another story. After that, we came home and that about wraps it up.

What a fun day. Of course, since it’s over, that means that I am yet another day closer to crawling out of Dialup Hell. Dialup BAAAD ::: handgesture ::: But, in the infinitesimal chance that the technician tells me that I am unable to get broadband, this also gives me a few extra days to come up with insidious methods of torture that would make Torquemada and the Marquis deSade proud.

But for now…. of to visit Morpheus and the other denizens of The Dreaming.

Peace.

On the whole, it was a good day:

• Gym. Gym GOOOD ::: handgesture :::
• Work. Did I mention “work?” Work. This one was a little “not good,” because the air conditioners on the workroom floor are borked. This, in and of itself, wasn’t too much of a problem – I cope with heat MUCH better than I do cold. All things considered, the temperature was no problem. The problem was: I had this overwhelming tendency to start nodding off. NOT a good thing. But, after a tasty (and quickly-imbibed) Mountain Dew® after lunch, I was good-to-go!
• After work, I went to Liquid Joe’s, “A private club for members,” (see below) to hear Angie’s band. And it was mullet-tastic! Why don’t I remember seeing that many mullets when I lived in that part of town?!?
  “A private club for members” is how ALL of the nightclubs and bars in Salt Lake – and the rest of Utah – identify themselves as places that serve alcohol and where smoking is allowed. Of course, that still doesn’t excuse the stoopid “one drink on the table per customer” law, which I find asinine, but you take what you can get.
• Picked up Jess from work and came home.

Like I said, all-in-all, a good day. That’s about it for now. Tune in tomorrow for another exciting episode of My So-Called Utah. Or is it Utah’s Creek? Or 7th Utah? Ally McUtah? No, I know that’s not it. I keep getting them confused. *shrug*

Peace.

Week 2, Day 1 of GymQuest was good. ::: flex :::

Not much otherwise to report: Work, a trip to Borders – to check for a couple of magazines, and home. Yup, exciting day here.

Jess told me of more supervisor assignment shenanigans at work. *sigh* From what happened, we may lose another Acting Supervisor, and that’s a shame: The one that I suspect will drop from the program is good at what he does… when allowed to supervise, that is. I hope that I’m wrong about this.

Anyway, I guess I’ll watch the X-Files now since A&E saw fit to move Law & Order to make room for The Sandra Bernhard Experience. *sigh* Oh well.

Peace.

Note about yesterday: After the bike ride to Riverton, I am usually a worn-out fleshsack. Yesterday when I got there, it wasn’t bad at all. My calves were still a little sore from the Wednesday workout, but I think that the ride helped me stretch them out a bit. A shower and change of clothes later, Jess, Angie (who came down later), the inlaws and I went out to dinner and then watched The Green Mile. It was my first time seeing it. Movie GOOOD. ::: handgesture ::: I do believe that I shall have to put that on my “to be purchased” list.

Today was another good day. Jess and I laid out by the pool for a bit this afternoon with her aunt and cousin and Angie and Melody. Ok, let me change that a bit: Melody and I sat by the pool (and drew) and the others spent some time in the pool; Melody is coaching me in my drawing… she’s good. Very good. In fact, I should just pack up my drawing materials and never touch them again. ::: thinks ::: Nah. After pooltime, J, M, A and I came up to the apartment and hung out for a bit; a little later Ang left for band practice (Groove Dilemma) and Mel went home.

Later, it was comic and get-groceries-so-we-don’t-starve shopping time. We came back, and I cooked (steak, wheat pilaf and green beans) and watched “Walking Shadow” on A&E.

SIDEBAR: I am a BIG fan of the Spenser series and I have been waiting all week for this. I’m still a bit of a purist and miss Robert Urich and Avery Brooks in the roles of Spenser and Hawk, but it *is* Spenser and I got my fix, so I can live (pretty easily) with Joe Montegna and Ernie Hudson in the roles. And it was a good adaptation of the novel, which also helped immensely.

After that, I killed a couple of hours until it was time for DS9 – along with IRC-commentary and the obligatory bowl of ice cream and Cheerios®. Yes, “ice cream and Cheerios®.” Honey-Nut Cheerios®, to be exact. If you can put sprinkles or syrup on ice cream, why not Cheerios®? Mighty tasty.

I should probably wrap this up now and call it a night. 0830 hours – and the gymtime – comes early and then I have eight hours of the bliss known as “work” to look forward to. But there is always frozen mocha goodness or even homebrewed hot coffee goodness to help make it through the day, so that should help.

Until sometime tomorrow…

Peace.

Getting this done early, so that I don’t have to worry about getting today’s (Sat) entry done later today/tonight.

Since I slept in and have only been awake for… an hour or so, not too much has happened. One of the maintenance guys came and installed a peephole in the front door. Yes, we’ve been here for about six months and we just got a peephole. *shrug* We kept forgetting to ask about it whenever we went to the leasing office for something. Go figure. But now, we can see whomever makes the trek up to our (or our neighbors’) apartment! And we won’t even have to open the door, either! Ain’t modern technology great!?!

On deck for today:

• Heading down to the inlaws’. I think that I’m going to bike down there – my legs are still a little stiff and that will be a good way to work out the stiffness… assuming that it doesn’t just kill me. It will also be a good cardio workout. And then I can pass out in their living room.
• Other than that, I have no clue.

Time to get ready and to pack a change of clothes. Five miles, two wheels, the open road…. and traffic. That’s a good way to start the day.

Peace.

Pretty average Friday:

• We went to the gym, yep that’s a full week. :::flex:::
• Went to work, but we left at 5:45. Hey, we were there the rest of the week, that’s going to have to be good enough.
• Met Angie for dinner and then met up with Scott and saw “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” which was pretty good.
• And then we came home.

Now… umm… uhh… sorry, momentary lapse of sequential thought. Angie and Scott are supposed to be on the way here, in fact… I think I just saw them drive up. What we’re going to do, I do not know. *shrug* Oh, well.

Guess that will wrap it up for now.

Peace.

Today was fairly uneventful. After the way the week started, I put this under the heading of “good thing.”

• Woke up. (Good way to start any day).
• Did Hygiene Ritual (Part I).
• Went to the gym. Yes, this is four (4) consecutive days, now.
• Came home.
• Did Hygiene Ritual (Part II: Electric Boogaloo).
• Got dressed, fixed a pot o’ coffee and lunch, and headed to work.
• Worked. (Good way to ensure that you earn money.)
• Came home.

We’re supposed to be meeting some friends for a late bite to eat, shortly. And since there wasn’t much (translation: “any”) wackiness to report today, I figured that I’d get an early start on tonight’s entry. About the most noteworthy thing is the fact that I ache pretty much all over.

I [heart] getting back into a workout routine.
Of course, it will be better when the soreness goes away and I get used to having a regular gym schedule – one of the benefits of not supervising and thereby having my schedule bounced all over Hell and half of Georgia. But in the meantime… *ow*

Better scoot (that’s about as fast as I can move right now) so that we aren’t late.

Peace.

I am on a roll!!! Three… count ’em – THREE… consecutive days at the gym.

::: flex :::

Today was my leg day. Have I mentioned how much I… umm… “dislike” leg days? No? Oh. Well, let’s just say that they are not my favorites. But I did it. I am such a trooper! Walking up the steps to the apartment after working out wasn’t even a problem. Walking down them, on the way to work, however was something entirely different. Can you say “rubber legged,” boys and girls? I knew you could! That was me. I usually go up and down steps pretty quickly. Not this morning. And by the time we actually got to work, going up the steps was a rather slow-going process.

And in other news, my shoulders and back are still sore from yesterday’s workout. That’s okay, though. “Ah am gonna be sooo buff!” Fortunately, those muscle groups will get a little bit of rest tomorrow – it’s chest and arms day. But, I’m sure that they will be just achy enough to remind me of what I put them through. *shrug* No rest for the wicked, I guess.

And… ~dramatic pause~ …I needed neither Garanimals shoes nor a full-body bib today!!! I must be growing up! It’s almost bedtime, gotta get up early for the gym.

::: turns on night light :::

Peace.

Today was Day Two of GymQuest… and this time I even managed to wear two shoes from the same pair! Of course, I didn’t remember to check this until just before I left – but I did remember!

I came home and got ready for work. We left a little early so that I could get a Cinnabon from the mall for breakfast. :::bliss::: We went to the mall, I got a Cinnabon and a Mochalotta Chill. What?!? You expected me to eat the Cinnabon without a “refreshing beverage to wash it down?” (Thanks to Jules Winfield for that line.) As we were on the way to work, I didn’t dawdle and went straight back to the car. I opened the door, sat down… and then it happened.

I spilled part of my drink in my lap.
BRAINCRAMP

Yay. Let’s look at all the factors to consider here:

• I was sitting in a car with a lapful of Mochalotta Chill.
• I didn’t have anything to change into in the car.
• We had :25 to get to work – no time to go back home and change.

That left me with two options:

• Go to work with a stain in a highly-visible (and somewhat embarrassing) place or
• Buy a new pair of jeans.

BRAINCRAMP

Actually, this was pretty much a no-brainer: I was at the mall, there was an Eddie Bauer, I like the cut and fit of their jeans, so I bought a new pair. I walked back into the mall – stain and all, walked into the store, found the style and color of jeans, and looked for my size…. which they didn’t have!!! And the clock was still ticking. *sigh* I chose a darker denim and looked for my size in those, which they had! I paid for the jeans and headed for the nearest changing room to make like Clark Kent. I changed and headed off to work, old jeans in the bag.

We made it to work with a little time to spare. And, like yesterday, the rest of my day was nowhere near as “interesting” as the early part of the day. But… if anyone knows where I can find a full-body bib, please let me know. Apparently, I need one to go along with my Garanimals shoes.

I did it. That’s right: I. Did. It.

I got myself out of bed and went to the gym this morning.

Get up off the floor. I was pretty shocked too. But I went. Not only did I go, I worked out, too!

::: Cartman impression :::
Ah am gonna be sooo buff! Beefcake! BEEEEFCAAAAKE!!!

But that’s not even the “best” part. I did my cardio warm-up… did my chest and arms routine… and did crunches. And that’s when I noticed it: I had gotten up and put on shoes from different pairs. The first thought through my mind was: “Well, there’s something that you don’t see everyday.” And it only took me fifty minutes of gymtime to notice. I felt so special. Maybe I need to see if they make Garanimals for adults. Or at least Garanimals shoes.

For those of you who may be too young to remember: Garanimals was a line of clothes for children and/or their fashion-impaired parents. All of the tops and bottoms had animals on the labels. You knew that a top could go with a certain pair bottom by matching the animals up. Yesterdayland.com has and article about them here. And here is one man’s thoughts on how to apply Garanimal tags to relationships. But I digress…

I am kind of picky about my athletic shoes – I prefer all-white or almost all-white cross trainers. Lately, they have been the New Balance 600-series shoe. And , fortunately, the styles of the shoes haven’t changed too much in the past few years. *WHEW* At a casual glance, no one would notice a difference. But, if I had gotten into a conversation with someone and they had looked down, I’d have been busted. But I managed to escape the gym and get into the car without anyone else noticing.

The rest of the day, comparatively, was uneventful… and nowhere near as funny.

That about wraps it up. It’s L&O time.

Peace.

Life, in a nutshell:

• Slept in a bit.
• Sat out by the pool for a while with Jess and Rhonda and did some drawing.
  :::Magnum P.I. impression::: “I know what you’re thinking…” Why go and sit out in the sun when you are perpetually tan? Simple answer: Because I haven’t gone from “milk chocolatey” to “dark chocolatey” in a while… and I only have a few weeks of good summer sun left to do it in. Oh yeah! And, because I can!
• Came in and attended to the hygiene rituals.
• FINALLY went to the comic shop.
• Came back, put on a pair of pants and went to Black Angus (a steakhouse) with Jess and Angie.
  It was good, but I think that I still prefer Outback. Our waiter, Don, was very good – When I asked about their pint glasses, he said that he would get one for me to take home. And he did… wrapped in a cloth napkin! This must be “Get Good Customer Service” Weekend.
• Went to the local B&N to find a 2002 Wallace and Grommit calendar for Angie…. and saw a NICE skullet. I took a picture of it, but it’s from a distance, so I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out.
• Came home – Jess and Ang watched Elizabeth and I sat in my playspace and nerded on the puter.
• Watched the Sisko Show. *duh*

I think that I will go and read a little before calling it a relatively early night. Must go to the gym tomorning. And, since I revert to my normal schedule tomorrow, I have to be at work at noon. Of course, this also means that I will get out of there by 8:30, assuming that I don’t ditch early – which I doubt that I will do since a part of the money made between now and mid-September goes towards the “Have a Fun Time in Disneyland” fund.

Anywho…. that’s it for now.

Peace.

Today was a pretty good day off:

• Slept in. Sleep GOOOD. :::handgesture:::
  Explanation: The GOOOD. :::handgesture::: comes from a Flash ‘toon that someone did on Camp Chaos. It’s become something of a running joke among a few of my friends.
• Got up and did the hygiene rituals.
• Took my car in for an oil change. Oil change GOOOD. :::handgesture:::
• Went to lunch at Guru’s with Angie and Peggy – the coolest ex-gf in the world.
• Went with Angie to help her find new work clothes… and wound up buying a couple of new outfits for myself, too.
• Went to Barnes & Noble and got a couple of books, a magazine and a Café Mocha. Cafe Mocha GOOOD. :::handgesture:::
• Came home and am currently vegging out.

Just another day in the land behind the Zion Curtain. I think that it will be a quiet night in.

::: Mary Lou Retton impression ::: “And another thing…”

I need to add an endnote to yestermorn’s Sprint meltdown. When I originally talked to Lisa, the friendly and helpful Sprint Broadband Customer Service Representative, she told me that when I got the MDU form faxed to her (AGAIN), that she would set up a new installation date and time for me… but that the earliest date that they had was on 11 Sept 01.

BRAINCRAMP
So, I went to the leasing office to refax the form and a memo to Lisa’s supervisor praising her professionalism and pleasant demeanor. It took three attempts to get the pages sent, but sent they were! An hour later, Lisa called me back to confirm that the form had arrived and to make the arrangements for installation. YES!!! Looks like I will have a high speed connection again on 05 Sept. Yep, Zero-Five, baby! Did I mention that Lisa was the greatest CSR ever?
Lisa GOOOD. :::handgesture:::And so, it’s another waiting game. But, that’s fine. I’ve waited this long, another 2-1/2 weeks won’t kill me.

All this and Bowie at the BEEB will be on tomorrow. “Who could ask for anything more?”

It’s Siskotime. I had better bounce.

Peace.

Not an auspicious start to the day: I called Sprint to see if they can tell me when I’m scheduled for installation and they tell me that they don’t have ANY record of my order.

BRAINCRAMP

The customer service rep with whom I spoke, Lisa, said that they hadn’t received the “Multi-Dweller Unit” (Translation: “Piece of paper, signed by the apartment manager, which lets us install the antenna at your apartment”) agreement form… which I faxed to them over three weeks ago. Did I mention that it’s been more than three weeks? I did? Okay.

BRAINCRAMP

Let me go on the record as saying that Lisa was very kind, helpful and pleasant throughout this process. I’ve talked to many CSRs and not all of them present themselves – and their companies – in the most favorable light. Lisa never seemed to lose her patience nor did she seem to mind going to another area of the office to attempt to determine the nature of the problem. She made a rather unpleasant situation much more easy to handle. She gave me a new number, asked if I could re-fax the form and said to make it to her attention. She also said that she would call me to confirm that the fax arrived and help set up a new installation date. Simply stated: Lisa is the kind of person that I would want to represent me if… WHEN… I have a business of my own: courteous and professional. Those are qualities that, unfortunately, too many CSRs – and other business people – seem to lack today. It was refreshing to see that they are not completely forgotten in today’s marketplace.

I feel a little better now. Time to find something to get into for a couple of hours before I go to work.

Peace.

Today was Mallday. I know what you’re going to say: “Isn’t Mallday on Friday?” And, normally, it is. But, four of the Mallday gang work together and they have a company luncheon to attend, so….. Mallday = Thursday. Q.E.D.

And, I almost missed it.

Angie called me at 11 to ask if I was going to Mallday. Oh, yeah… I was still asleep and had no clue that Mallday had been moved to today. I told her this, but that I would try to make it. And with that, I hung up….. and fell asleep.

I woke up again at 11:50. Mallday was at 12:30. Oh, joy. I was up, showered, shaved and gone in :25. I was shocked, but then I remembered that it is much easier to get motivated for something that you enjoy or want to do as opposed to something like… oh…. I don’t know…. WORK! Mallday was good, even though there weren’t any quality mullet sightings. Found out that the Warner Brothers Studio Store in the mall is going to close relatively soon; I’ve known that it was going to close, but I didn’t know when. The actual date is still up in the air, but it seems like it will be in the next month or two. Which means that I have to figure out how to allocate funds for a lithograph that I want. *sigh*

The rest of the day was rather run-of-the-mill:

• Came back from Mallday…
• Prepared my lunch and work clothes…
• Sat around and wasted a couple of hours…
• Went to (yet another uneventful day at) work…
• Came home.

Tomorrow, I will find out if I will finally get out of dialup Hell. NOTE: Dante mentions the Nine Circles of Hell in The Divine Comedy: Inferno; I think that the only reason that he didn’t mention the Tenth Circle of Hell is because there were no dialup connections in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Of course, there was no “Internet,” either, so I probably shouldn’t bitch about this one too much. I’ve been stuck in the slow lane for… *counts the endless string of days*…. six months. No, it’s not long in “Gilligan’s Island” or “Cast Away” time, but in the “must-have-it-now” culture in which we live, it’s an eternity. Before moving to the new apartment, I had a DSL connection.; it wasn’t the fastest DSL on the market, but it was faster than dialup. And it was always on. And it was mine. :::insert maniacal laughter here::: Tomorrow, a tech from Sprint will come and hopefully tell me that by the time he or she leaves, I will have Sprint Broadband service. Mental Note: Think up some terrible torture just in case he (or she) decides to show a little backbone and tell me that I can’t get it here.

With that in mind, I should probably call it a night so that I am not a zombie when he arrives. Zombie. Hmm… Zombie songs.

• Thriller – Michael Jackson
• Zombie – The Cranberries
• Zombie Jamboree – Rockapella

Ok, making random connections like that is a sign that I definitely need sleep. And with that….

Peace.