Tuesday – 19 February 2008
Home again.

I tried getting in touch with Tammy, but didn’t catch her… so Monday was “spend the last few hours of vacation hanging out with the family before getting on a plane” day. We did head out for a bit, so that I could take SaraRules over to Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes… which is only a couple of miles from the house. After getting back from that, we hung out with Bot, Bit and . Pictures were taken. (Granted, these were lumped in with other pictures taken over the course of the weekend – including two with my uncle and one with Bret – but there are pictures nonetheless.) Also, here are pictures of the quilt that SaraRules made for Grace. When the time came to leave, we said our goodbyes, threw our things in the car and headed to BWI. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We checked in and made it through security quickly and painlessly. Then… we waited.

We boarded our plane and we were on our way west again. The flight was rather uneventful; to pass the time, SaraRules and I watched Transformers. She hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed it. An hour and some change later, we were in Las Vegas. Our bags were on the carousel almost by the time we got there. To the car. Out the garage and we were on our way…

…to In-n-Out Burger. After that and a stop for gasoline, we were on the road back to Cedar City. By the time we got in, we were exhausted. So, we crashed.

This morning, we got up, ready and on our respective ways: SaraRules to class; me to work.

The work day wasn’t very eventful, which is not a bad thing. Eric and I had a special guest star for today’s workout: Wes, who in the AF office today. Today’s routine included:

  • Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
  • Pull-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs.
  • Cable Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs.
  • Shoulder Press (seated, dumbbells): 3 sets/10 reps, 45 lbs.
  • Cable Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 95 lbs.
  • Core Exercises
    • One-leg, with twist: 2 sets
    • Standard (plank): 3 sets – 45 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds

Today’s weight: 172.4 lbs.
It was a good mix. And tiring. It was Wes’ first time really working out in about six months. (Having brain surgery will do that to you, apparently.) He did fine. While he had to back off of some of the weight that Eric and I did, he was still right there with us otherwise.

Post-work, it was Scion game night. We didn’t do very much, as a couple of players weren’t there, but we were able to move the story along a little. And it was fun to hang out with the gaming crew.

Monkey of the Day
On the way home from gaming, I stopped at the grocery store. While I was in the checkout line, a young-ish guy (mid 20s, I would guess) came in, carrying a gallon of milk. He asked to speak to one of the managers. When she came to the front of the store, he told her that he’d purchased the milk at another location, but it was apparently past its “best if used by” date and wanted his money back. The manager offered to exchange the bad milk for a new one. The guy wasn’t having any part of that – he wanted his money. The manager said that she couldn’t just refund his money – as the milk wasn’t purchased at this store – but re-offered to replace the bad milk. His response: “Yes you can! This is all just one big chain. You can give me my money! It’s all the same store!” The manager countered that it was not, in fact, “…all the same store.”

This went around and around a couple of times. The guy finally started cursing at the manager. She walked away, saying, “I’m not going to go on with this if you’re going to speak to me this way.” She never raised her voice. She didn’t get confrontational. The guy just wouldn’t quit. He asked… no… “demanded”… that she get him the general manager’s name and contact information. She politely refused, as the guy was still slinging expletives at her.

He was still arguing (is it right to say “arguing” if he was the only one talking?) after I checked out and left.

Stray Toasters

I suppose that I should move from “the theory of sleep” to “the practical application of sleep.”

Namaste.