Reboot. Recharge.

When all else fails, just shut it down for 5 seconds and turn it back on. Just like new!

Monday, October 30, 2006

I'm back!

Hi - back from the left coast! I had no internet access last week from Tuesday - Thursday. That sucked. But, San Diego is lovely! What a great place.

Got there on Tuesday afternoon at 2 Cali time, and went to the zoo. It was great to walk off the 2 legs of my flight in, which amounted to 8 hrs+ of travel time. The San Diego Zoo is quite a place. I managed to see a good bit of the animals, including the baby panda, who was asleep in the bough of a tree. Mama panda was chillin', eating some bamboo. I witnessed a HUMONGOUS HIPPO sneeze, and almost blow out the glass of the tank. I was graced with the beauty of a child saying Look mommy, the turtles are fighting, as one turtle aggressively mounted another. Some deer also got frisky while I was there. The peacocks roam free at the zoo. I wonder if that pisses the other animals off..

Anyways, that night for dinner, I ate at an amazing sushi restaurant called RA. AMAZING sushi (even more amazing when it's expensed). So frigging good. I almost went back on Wednesday as well, but I was too pooped, and too hungry after my day working. This was a tough audit for me to do. The lab I was checking out didn't really have it's act together, and while the people were nice enough, and treated me to lunch, I had to lambaste them at the end of the day. Made it a little uncomfortable, and made me wonder what they said once I walked out the door.

Flew back on Thursday on an uneventful (thank god) and quick flight....thank you jet stream.
The movie on the flight was The Breakup. Now, wasn't it supposed to be a comedy? I felt the sad scenes outweighed the funny. I must have looked like a complete idiot, with tears streaming down my face. Funny though, the guy sitting in front of me made some comment, to no one in particular, or to whomever would listen, and said, Did you watch the movie? What was the point of it, I didn't get it. (For those of you who might not have watched the movie, and plan on watching it, I am now going to talk about the ending)....I said to myself, it was evident what the point was. When they bumped into each other on the street, Vince Vaughn was well polished, thinner, and was holding a bunch of bags from high end stores. It's evident that he totally changed into the man that Whats her name wanted him to become. As they ended the conversation, and walked away from each other, they both turned around to look back at each other, and Vince Vaughn winked. Clearly the viewer is lead to believe that they get back together. At least that's what I gathered....That guy was the same guy who turned on his cell phone when we landed and proceded to listen to voicemail, and make phone calls on speaker phone. Ah, hello, you're on a full plane. Do you really think we want to hear your business?
Oh, and did I mention I was in the like, last row of the plane, close to the bathrooms which STUNK!?!? The stewardess actually went as far as putting coffee grounds into the bathroom to make it smell better. It was vile, really.

Anyways, back to reality on Friday, the reality that I really hate my job, and hate my new supervisor. The person I reported to for the past 3.5 years has left the building, and I have been reporting to a new person for the past couple of months. He is a DICK. He likes to make comments about me, in public forum, at our group meetings. Here is his most recent comment.
In a meeting we were talking about a colleague who was running late, but got to our meeting on time. I said something along the lines that she had been in since 10 of 9, that I looked at my clock when I saw here come in. And DICKHEAD goes, is that the same clock you look at when you leave in the afternoon? I was, and still am furious about it. Really made me angry. I'll keep you posted on this one. I am just writing down every offensive comment he says and I'm keeping them close.

Halloween tomorrow!

Monday, October 23, 2006

On the road.....again

Yup, that's right. This time to San Diego for biz.
I'm not too thrilled. It is because of the stupidness of a co-worker that I have this trip in the first place. I fly out tomorrow, work Wednesday, and fly back on Thursday. Oh joy. What's that going to do to my sleep cycle...??..???
So, no Spin Cycle this week.

However, I do have to tell you that I have been listening to the new Justin Timberlake, HEAVILY in the rotation. I like it. It has some goodies to spin to for sure....and if you don't like JT, well, that's ok too. I've also been listening to the Racanteurs, which I am totally digging, as well as some down home funk, by a band called Breakestra. Good, good stuff.

I will try and post from sunny (hopefully) CA.
I am planning on going to the zoo tomorrow (if my flights are on time, etc).....and sushi, here I come.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Spin Cycle 10/19/06

Word. Ola. Hello.
My spin music from today came to me from a friend that I met through moe.,
Mr Nick Ten Eyck. He has great taste in music (aka, similar to mine!!!)....
The music Nick sent was mainly from the Ubiquity record label, a label featuring independent, hard to find soul, funk, latin, jazz, hip-hop releases from then and now. The music is real, and it is smart. Thank you Nick. The class loved it.

Ride on:
1. Bangladesj - Kinny & Home
2. El Nuevo Barretto - Ray Baretto
3. Blood from a Stone - Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra
4. Championsound - Radio Citizen
5. Mirror Mirror on the Wolf - Alice Russel
6. Song #3 - ?, Soul of Brazil
7. Ray & his court: De Eso Nada Monada - Playtime
8. A Woman Like Me - Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra
9. Giraffe Walk - Quantic & Mr Scruff
10. Didn't I - Darondo
11. Kissing my Love - Spanky Wilson
12. Bring it Up - James Brown
13. Desert Fairy Princess - Nostalgia 77 Octet

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Slacking

Sorry. I've been a slacker.
I just don't seem to be motivated these days.
I did loose another 0.8 lbs over the week, bringing the grand total to -7.6. I've got to step it up this week. Last week was tough. Lots of picking at the kids foods, a bachelorette dinner w/ champagne etc. I'm surprised I lost anything, really.

I've been thinking about something that pops into my mind frequently. When I say bye to people at work that I might pass on my way out, I say "See you tomorrow". Then I think to myself: If I don't die tonight.
Is that weird?
I am scared shitless of dying, and I think about it frequently.
Where my kids are concerned, I just freak out about it. It tortures me. I can't imagine not being around for them.
Ugh, sorry to be so heavy.....chalk it up to PMS..........

Spin Cycle tomorow...

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Asian Pork Soup

I made a great soup for dinner last night. I used a Soy-Ginger broth from Trader Joe's as the base; fat-free and low-cal - 40 cals/cup. It is a new product to TJ's in Massachusetts. Nice light flavor.

I sauted ground pork with scallions, lemongrass paste, garlic paste, and a bit of chili paste. To that I added sliced red peppers, small florets of cauliflower, and the broth. I let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes. I then added some soy sauce and some rice wine vinegar, lime juice and cilantro to give it some brightness.

I served it with cellophane noodles. It was really good.
I'm glad lunch is soon, because a) I have this soup for lunch and b) I'M STARVING!

Spin Cycle 10/12/06

I am POOPED!
My frigging legs feel like they are 100 lbs each.
But, class was good none the less.

Because I tortured the class with the music last week, I went to disco again.
Here's the ride:
1. Salsation - David Shire
2. Car Wash - Rose Royce
3. Good Times - Chic
4. We are Family - Sister Sledge
5. Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players
6. Shake your Groove Thing - Peaches and Herb
7. Take a Chance on Me - ABBA
8. Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
9. You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees
10. Disco Inferno - The Tramps
11. Calypso Breakdown - Ralph MacDonald

So, Disco Inferno, off the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, is 11 minutes long. It is an awesome song to end the class with - a jump sequence, speed sets, back to jump sequence. With tired legs, you really feel it when the second jump sequence comes along......

Good stuff. Next week, classic rock?? I don't know. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them...

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Not much to say

That's why I haven't posted....but, I lost another 2 lbs bringing the grand total to 6.8 lost. Not too shabby at all.
Frankly, I'm surprised at the loss this week, as moe. was in town, and I consumed alcohol like it was going out of style.
I thought for sure I was going to be gaining....looks like I have a new strategy to weight loss!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Catalog Hell

It's holiday time again, and as if I didn't get enough catalogs to begin with, the influx of holiday catalogs has begun.
I got one the other day that I had never seen before called What on Earth, Here, with over 450 NEW Products. Oh Joy.
I actually sat down to look at what was in it.
I guess their schtick is the T-shirt with the stupid sayings on them. You know the ones. The ones that all the asshole hunters with guns in middle america are wearing.
Here's a sampling of some of the sayings on the shirts:

If Idiots grew on trees, this place would be an orchard.

First the good news. I made bail.

Still plays with _________ (insert word here e.g., tractors, cars, you get the idea).

I eat three servings of vegetables per day, Ketchup, Ketchup, Ketchup.

Of course I'm right, I'm _____________ (inset nationality here e.g. Italian, Spanish, again, you get the idea).

Who are you and why are you reading my T-shirt?

My mind's been gone for years. I hardly miss it.

They just keep going and going.

The catalog was set up by "hobby", and offered chachkie type items for that hobby. Like, for bass fisherman, theres the sweatshirt that says: I came, I cast, I kicked Bass, and the fish putter, where the putter is actually a widemouth bass.

For the political activist, there's the First Lady talking action figurs, offering up Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush and Jacqueline Kennedy.

For the fart enthusiast, there's a book called Blame it on the Dog, A Modern History of the Fart. (I actually might buy this for my father aka, Stinky, farter extrodinaire).

For the car enthusiast, they offer a replica of a Chevy 427 Big-block Engine.

There's a whole page dedicated to the Redneck - you remember, You know you are a redneck if....

Crap I tell you, it's all crap. Other than the gag gift, I can't imagine people taking this seriously, and I wonder how this place stays alive.

Spin Cycle 10/05/06

Class today was tough. It was a high energy, demanding ride. I used alot of shorter, louder, more driving songs to do intervals to, sandwiched in between some hills.

1. Landlady - Phish
2. Next To You - The Police
3. Twist - Phish
4. When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around - The Police
5. Superconnected - Belly
6. Mach 5 - The Presidents of the United States of America
7. Monkey Man - The Rolling Stones
8. Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart - The Stone Temple Pilots
9. Samba Pa Ti - Santana
10. The House is a Rockin' - Stevie Ray Vaughn
11. It's My Life - Talk Talk
12. Bright Yellow Gun - Throwing Muses
13. Eye Know - De La Soul
14. Pressure Zone - Beck
15. Bug - Phish
16. Sure Shot, European B-Box Mix - The Beastie Boys

I think some of the tunes were over the student's heads....but overall the class was good.
One of my students actually commented that she thought I lost weight, so that confirmation for me was excellent.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Week 3


Lost another 1.4 lbs bringing the grand total to -4.8. Not bad.
This week was especially hard for me for some reason, and I felt hungry all day, every day.

On another note, someone here at work has a Chia Homer going, and it looks awesome. The ambient lighting really makes those Chias grow.