"Oh good. You still work here."

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Not the best way to start the day: "Oh good. You still work here."
- A co-worker, when I walked into the office one day last week. Turns out the company's been playing musical chairs, a.k.a. reorganizing.

Not the best way to end the day: That night I drove home by back roads, going 60 down dark, narrow roads that don't even had a shoulder if you need to pull over. I turned into the driveway, shut off the engine, and only then noticed clouds of steam rising up from under the hood. Half an hour later, the car was still steaming. Can't see any loose hoses, but there's a definite smell of antifreeze. Thankfully, I can get around without a car if I have to.

Goal for the week: I'm thinking that I might try working four 10-hour days this week. The manager told me that this was an option, and I'm wondering if it will work out better. I get more done when I can concentrate for long periods of time. Plus, I'm spending three friggin' hours a day commuting. Would be nice to only have to do that four days a week.

On the down side, doing this means that I will have less time to exercise during the week. Therefore, I have to take a walking lunch break. Also, I will have to make it an absolute rule to use the elliptical every night. That's going to be hard. I don't mean physically, but mentally. By the end of the day I'm usually worn out and want "me" time -- I want to relax, put my feet up, and be self-indulgent. The trick here is to try to persuade my inner slug that using the elliptical is a form of self-indulgence.

Exercise du jour: 4 miles walking, 15 minutes elliptical. Yes, I know it's the same goal as before. When it gets easy, I'll up the workout. (It's easy enough physically. The challenge here involves time and discipline.)
Done! Actually did 5 miles walking.

Today's the first day of bummer

Quote du jour: "People keep telling me I'm stupid. I think it's because I work for 76."
- A gas station attendant, overheard at the gas station as I was refueling the car. He was lighting a cigarette at the time.

Person I've managed to inadvertently piss off du jour: "You want to do what? Speak to Dr. Pucciarelli's assistant? Who are you, anyway?"
- The receptionist at my doctor's office, in a tone that made it clear she was working hard to keep from telling me to go to hell.

Please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke du jour: There's a Twilight Cookbook out? Dear lord. Suppose they have blood pudding as one of the recipes? Though I was moderately amused by an Amazon review, purportedly by the author, that took umbrage with another reviewer. "Your comments sound more like a jealous individual than a person that has actually purchased this book. Your recommendation to amazon that they not stock this book, sounds like sour grapes, which is not a recipe found in the book." Anyone who can do something like that to an innocent defenseless comma should be locked up in a room with some frustrated editors and a sharp-pointed red pen.

And it's not even a full moon. Only 'waxing gibbous.' I'm tempted to put my head under the covers and ignore life, but I still need to work some more tonight, plus fit in some kind of exercise. Jogging or cycling or banging my head against the wall.
There will be something. I have spoken.
Choosing to exercise is one way of proving to myself that I do have some control over this life-thing I'm going through.

Done! Yes, only did 20 minutes on the elliptical, but considering it took me until 11:30 to make it that far, I figure I done good. Or as good as I can get on a day like this one.

Um... who am I exactly?

This is your brain:













Well all right, if you want to be pedantic about it, that's a picture of SOMEbody's brain. Stop being so fussy. Sheesh, some people.

This is your* brain after driving for several hours:










Cranky? Moi? Naaah. Fried, however, might be a much more accurate term. That felt like a lot of driving. I don't think I put more than 1400 miles on the car this week, but somehow I am extremely tired -- which seems odd considering all those hours/miles were spent performing an activity that mostly involved sitting and cursing the people in front of me.

*See pedantic comment.