Drop Kick.

I don’t know who the Einstein was that thought that there should be a scale in our hotel bathroom this past weekend. I mean, did they think that I would pretend it wasn’t there and not weigh myself? Certainly not. You’d think for $159 a night I could escape the guilt of my eating habits but no, there’s the scale, waiting to remind me that my fitness routine is at a stand still.

The hotel scale does “airborne” well. It held up much better than the digital scale we have at home.

I don’t know what I thought would happen when I jumped on the scale Sunday morning. I mean after Saturday’s tasty lunch in Chinatown, a stop at Bertucci’s for supper, a cannoli and a chocolate chip cookie at Quincy Market and a beer at The Alley, did I really think I was going to spin a low number on the blasted thing? Of course not. To celebrate the fact that “tilt” didn’t pop up in glorious technicolor, I had three waffles, half a pig of bacon and some hash, all swimming in maple syrup, for breakfast. Then it was on to D’Angelo’s on the Masspike for lunch, where I was quite proud of myself for only having a medium sandwich instead of the large.

Today it was vegetables, fruit and a dollop of tuna for lunch. And water. Lots of water. I’ve peed more today than I did the entire weekend.

At least the “tilt” light is still off.

20 November 2006 by Fitness. 0

Chatty.

I guess I should be working when I’m at work, and I do manage to be productive, but today I’m guilty of a little bit of chatting while I should be working. I guess it’s harmless since it was very quiet at work today, but I could easily see me falling into the habit of chat, chat, chatting away over IM while I’m troubleshooting a customer’s internet issue at the same time.

I was also quite chatty at my appointment with the local community college today. I met with one of the representatives from the Office of Adult Student Services (or something close to that) in an effort to get everything in order so that I can return to college in January. The meeting went splendidly and I found myself to be quite talkative, especially when they were asking why I chose to be a Civil Engineer focusing on transportation. I used my standard, “I want to make traffic!” line before explaining what I felt I could contribute to the motoring public, besides my terrorizing cell phone using drivers and assorted hand gestures out the sunroof of my rice burner. I’ve been surprisingly motivated about my education decisions but today I really got excited about the whole propsect of getting my degree. It’s a matter of three words now: “I can’t wait!”.

Cue Nu Shooz.

The first thing I have to do is take a placement exam next Monday night so they can be assured that I can write and speak English goodly, in addition to subtracting addition while doing algebra on geometry. “A seamstress has four yards of fabric on bolt ‘a’, three yards of fabric on bolt ‘b’ and six yards of fabric on bolt ‘c’. How much material will be required to cover Debra Messing’s clavicle?” I say screw the dress and give the woman another donut.

I’m sure the experience will be loads of fun.

20 November 2006 by Geek 0

Home Again, Naturally.

Earl and I are back home after the weekend in Boston. You’d think a big geek like myself would remember to bring along the AC adapter for his PowerBook, but no, I forgot it and the battery went dead last night right after I uploaded the pictures to yesterday’s entry. So we were completely without computing capabilities for almost a full 24 hours.

I did not experience the full withdrawal symptoms I thought I was going to. I did get a little sweaty though.

Last night we ended up going to Bertucci’s for dinner and then walking around the South End a bit. After a brief “disco nap”, we took the T to Haymarket and walked around Quincy Market and picked up some dessert and did some people watching. I love to people watch. People are so fascinating, even when they’re not trying to be fascinating. We then walked through Downtown Crossing and went to The Alley, where we ran into a couple that I knew one half from years and years ago. (How’s that for sentence structure?) He remembered me from my club DJ days and I remembered him from the same so we chatted a bit and hung out with his husband and he (they’re legally married – yay Massachusetts!). His partner is a fireman on the South Shore. The conversation was interesting. The eye candy was eyepopping and the drinks were good. I limited myself to one beer and then water or diet soda so that I could make the walk back to the hotel without being one of those street drunks.

This morning we did some obligatory roadgeeking by driving several different ways through the Big Dig before heading home. There is still one section closed and I believe it’s where the couple was killed several months ago when the ceiling literally came down on their car. I took a few back roads getting home, driving along Route 2 to Leominster and then driving south through Worcester and picking up the MassPike there. By the time we were reaching home it was snowing, but nothing major.

Tomorrow kicks off a week of on-call and the start of the crazy holiday schedule. I’m actually looking forward to it all.

19 November 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Wonder Blogger Powers, Activate!

Earl and I are back in the hotel after a great afternoon in Boston with fellow blogger and now our friends Karl and Randy. There really was no need to be nervous, as we had a wonderful time.

Since we’re staying on the edge of Chinatown, we decided to have lunch in Chinatown. Despite the fact that we had to ask for our drinks several times, despite Karl who had this intriguing concoction called “bubble tea”, lunch was delicious and we had great conversation. I’ve had this nagging hunch in the back of my head since we got here that something had decidedly changed since I lived here back in the day, and Karl reminded me of it: the “combat zone” is pretty much gone.

After lunch we went for a walk to the south end, where we did some wine tasting and picked up some wine for Thanksgiving dinner and then did a little shopping at a gift shop. I overheard Randy and Earl talking about how Karl and I were chatting up a storm as we were walking along Washington Street. The afternoon was wonderful and we look forward to meeting up with Karl and Randy again. They’re great guys.

We took the obligatory pictures before saying our good-byes.
New friends in Boston.

Tonight Earl and I going to enjoy some dinner, do some sight-seeing and then probably go out for a couple of drinks at The Alley.

18 November 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Off To Boston.

Earl and I are off to Boston tonight after work. We’re hoping to get a headstart on some Christmas shopping and to just get away one more time before the holidays are here in full swing. We have no specific plans, aside from meeting up with Karl and Randy tomorrow for lunch in Chintatown. I have to admit that I’m a little nervous about meeting Karl and Randy but I’m sure it’s going to be fun. I guess I’m kind of shy when meeting new people.

My lack of sleep from last night’s Aunt Clara routine is making me feel a little wonky at work today but I’ll get through it. I’ll take a nap on the way to Boston while Earl sleeps in the passenger seat.

Oh, and one other thing. When I was in radio I despised doing “shout outs” from Joanie to Chachi and other such nonsense but I have to say happy birthday to UG and a belated happy birthday to AK.

17 November 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Chopstick Dreams.

It’s a little after 5 a.m. and I’ve given up trying to sleep until the alarm is scheduled to jar me awake in a little while. You see, I made a bad dietary choice last night and that, coupled with some non-blog worthy events of yesterday, made “J.P. TV” very, very active last night. I think I’ve been awake since 3:45 a.m. or so. That’s when Earl awoke me as I was apparently sleepwalking and trying to walk through a wall.

We’ll blame the Chinese take-out we had last night on my disorientation.

Have you ever laid in bed and just wanted to scream “STOP” at all the dreams and memories that are flooding your brain when you’re trying to get back to sleep? Last night I dreamed of people I haven’t thought about in over 30 years. Where do these thoughts come from? I dreamed about the babysitter that scolded me for wanting to play with my sister and her friends instead of playing with toy soldiers with her maladjusted heathens (I think they’re in jail now).

I relived every second, in slow motion for twice the fun, of the car accident we were in back in February 1978 and the sadness I felt when I heard my mom and sister crying in the front seat, but the relief I felt at the same time because they were crying and that meant they were still alive.

I visited with an older husband and wife named Sam and Irma who must be really old by now and may have passed on, though I’m not quite sure about that since I haven’t seen them since 1976. They owned a farm not far from where I grew up and were friends of some of our distant relatives. They also had the brother of our childhood dog Sunshine. They seem to be doing well whereever they are. They were always nice.

Chinese food plus half of an episode of “Medium” really made for some interesting fodder for my dreams and nightmares last night. Let’s hope I don’t fall asleep on my desk at work today.

And let’s hope I don’t try to walk through a wall again.

17 November 2006 by Spiritual Stuff. 0

Rashy.

I finally gave in and went to the doctor’s today for a small rash I’ve had on my forehead for the past couple of months. I know, I should have gone to the doctor sooner but the rash wasn’t spreading, wasn’t getting worse and it wasn’t impeding my looks so I was just dealing with it.

I hate going to the doctor’s, despite the fact that our family doctor is very nice and not bad to look at in all his yummy scruffiness. I mean, who likes going to the doctor? At age 38 though, I suppose it’s the responsible thing to do so I even made an appointment for my yearly physical that’s a year too late. At least I’m making an effort.

One thing that surprised me was when he told me blood pressure was “excellent” at 130/78. During the last couple of visits, over a year ago, he sort of scolded me for high blood pressure (158/98) and was urging for a physical then, but I ignored him and just avoided going. Today he pointed out that I was almost 35 pounds heavier a year ago (I didn’t realize I had lost that much weight) and that was a good thing. I gave myself a mental pat on the back.

All this healthy good news makes me yearn to jump on the bike and go for a ride. I always feel the need to go cycling between the middle of November and the middle of February, then I sort of lose interest when the weather is actually conducive to riding my bike.

So now I have a little cream to put on the little rash over my eye. I have a physical in December and he’s going to set up an appointment with a dermotologist just to make sure I don’t have anything else going on. He seemed particularly interested in the freckles on my head, I reminded him that he wouldn’t even know they were there if I wasn’t bald and then I assured him that I’m often well basted in sunscreen or at least I keep my head covered with a hat as appropriate.

It looks like I’m going to be around for a while longer.

15 November 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Alphabet Soup.

I rarely do these meme things but today I figured what the heck. Courtesy of Karl and The Persian Guy

A is for Age: 38
B is for Beer of choice: Michelob Ultra. I have a figure to maintain.
C is for Career: Once in working with the disabled, then I was a radio DJ and program director, currently in IT, I hope to become a traffic engineer.
D is for favorite Drink: Unsweetened iced tea.
E is for Essential item I use everyday: Mach III over my head
F is for Favorite song at the moment: “Jump (Extended Mix)”, Madonna.
G is for favorite Game: “Let me In, Let Me Out!” with our cat.
H is for Hometown: Little tiny hamlet of Richland, New York.
I is for Instruments I play: Tuba. Some piano. Some other brass instruments a little bit.
J is for favorite Juice: OJ
K is for Kids: None. Once upon a time Earl and I were going to adopt but never did.
L is for Last kiss: 6:30 this morning.
M is for Marriage: Absolutely, bring it on Governor Elect Elliot Spitzer.
N is for Name of my best friend: My partner Earl.
O is for Overnight Hospital stays: Too many to count. I like to think of them as bionics upgrades.
P is for Phobias: I used to wig out about elevators but not anymore.
Q is for Quote: “Life is such a sweet insanity”, Roberta Flack, theme from The Hogan Family.
R is for biggest Regret: Learn, don’t regret.
S is for Self confidence: I’m working on it. By 38 you’d think it’d fully be here by now.
T is for Time I wake up: Variable depending on my work schedule.
U is for Underwear: Tighty-whiteys or boxers or none. Depends on my mood.
V is for Vegetable I love: I love all vegetables!
W is for Worst habit: Losing my temper and saying stupid things.
X is for X-rays I’ve had: Oh lots. I’m a vogue cover model of the “inside out” set.
Y is for Yummy food I make: Chocolate chip coookies courtesy of my grandmother’s recipe
Z is for Zodiac: Cancer.

15 November 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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