Woes of the Traveler

It has now officially been seven hours since I arrived at SFO. My original flight was scheduled to depart at 10:55AM. After that flight was canceled, I was placed in the standby carousel. Round and round we go, from gate to gate, going this next flight is the one we'll finally get on.

I'm only going to LA. I could drive there in less time than it is taking me to fly there today. I've drained and recharged my cell phone twice. I've stood in line after line and somehow still managed to keep my "please" and "thank you" intact. I feel bad for the service workers who must endure the impatience and perhaps even some verbal abuse from the hundreds of people who have had their flights canceled today.

The airport is an alternate universe. You can sit in the same spot all day and hear five different languages spoken. There are no street fights or screaming matches. People typically don't randomly sit down in the seat right next to you and start breaking the ice with small talk. I feel much more connected to people when I'm at the airport. We don't speak much, but were all united by a common goal. We're all going somewhere. Being in transit isn't fun to me necessarily. I just like the people watching. If much rather be in my Hollywood hotel room than sitting in this damn airport. There's only one more flight to LA tonight after this one. Let's hope I don't find myself returning home tonight only to do it all over again tomorrow for a one-night excursion.

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the shaving cream trick

Lumpy’s fan in his car doesn’t work, so there’s an issue with the windows fogging in the rain. When I returned from Sac on Sunday, after supporting Dimples for his first marathon, it was really bad. I looked up a solution on my fancy phone and found a convincing testimonial about shaving cream. I walked down to Walgreen’s while Lumpy went to do some maintenance on the sound system at the club and purchased a travel size Foamy. I used the same gym t-shirt I’d been using to remove the condensation and put a small dog poo sized dollop in the middle. I was worried for a bit because it just felt like foam on a t-shirt. I rubbed it around on the shirt until the foam almost disappeared. When I wiped the windshield again, it was like magic. Best of all, it’s still working and that was almost a week ago! I’ve thought about it since then. It’s such a small thing, but what a huge difference! I thought, “I can see!” No wonder men who get married live so much longer than single men. Seriously, how dangerous is it to be driving around in a nighttime storm with severely limited visibility? I feared for my own life.




The past few weeks have been a blur. I was knocked down by the flu for over a week following a brief stint with a stomach virus… goddamn germs. I haven’t been sick like that since the chicken pox. The first few days of the full-blown flu (I’d been dancing around it for weeks) I found it difficult to just live. Breathing was so painful. My throat and sinuses were swollen and on fire. There were days when I couldn’t talk, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t stay awake, couldn’t eat. It was truly miserable. Next year I’m getting a flu shot – the first I’ve ever had. I don’t ever want to go through that again.



I haven’t run in four weeks and haven’t ridden my bike in three. The endorphin withdrawals were overshadowed by my illness and I’m now a regular scrub again. Pathetic. Since I still struggle with the regular sore and scratchy throat, I’ve been taking it easy. This week since I’ve returned to work has been a series of ridiculously long workdays, leaving no time for me to get my moustache and armpits waxed, grocery shopping, a movie or even a happy hour beverage. I managed to play almost an hour of dance dance revolution on Tuesday. That was fun. I want to do it again. We’re out of meetings early today, so I’m going o attempt to have more ddr time. Perhaps I should try for a movie instead? I’ll play it by ear when I get home. It would be nice to cook dinner for a change. Thanks goodness we have no company events tonight. I love it here, but I’m exhausted.

moving on, out and forward

I am not a runner. I haven’t so much as looked at my running shoes in over two weeks. That may change with the end of daylight savings time, but I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m back in yoga now. I wouldn’t say I’m hardcore just yet, but getting there won’t be too difficult. I love yoga. I have a favorite instructor who teaches on Mondays and Fridays. If I can go to his two classes every week, I’ll automatically be propelled to hardcore-dom. His classes are just that challenging. I already have yoga tune-up every Wednesday, and last week I did the evening Vinyasa on Thursday. It felt great.




Friday I hung out with mom during the day and I had a date in the evening with the contestant formerly known as Option C. There’s no use referring to anyone as option A, B or C any longer because, as I stated before, this type of thing tends to work itself out in time… Tomorrow I am scheduled to meet with the contestant formerly known as Option A. He thinks it’s a regular date, which was my intention when I set it up, but he’s actually getting the boot. I don’t really feel bad because his heart was never in it to begin with. We both had that “I need something to do” quality to our communication. Once again, being hot means nothing in the long run (and the run wasn’t that long to be quite honest). We had some funny convos and some terrible awkward moments. He’s a nice guy. I wish him luck.



The new guy wants to take Salsa at the local ballrooms with me, has a very active and goofy sense of humor and enjoys a twirl on the dance floor to some soulful house music. What’s not to like? The partying we did together Friday night propelled him into the top spot. Our impromptu date the following night eliminated the competition. So there you have it. We’ll see where this goes. Mom wants to meet the guy. She’s in a hurry because she leaves for the Philippines tomorrow, but it’s still far too early in my opinion. I don’t date often, so I understand her excitement. The fact that he’s one of her countrymen is just fueling that fire.



Mom will be gone until Spring. This means that I’ll be living in her house until then. I move out of my apartment this weekend and over the weekend. I am NOT looking forward to any of that. I haven’t packed a single item. What a pain in the ass.

It's not you, it's me

I put on my running clothes on at 6am. I had my usual energy gel and glass of water. It gave me a stomach ache. This is how my life has been for the past two days due to a stomach bug. Needless to say, I didn't go. I changed back into my PJ's, sent my coworkers an email telling them I wouldn't be in today and popped a Family Guy DVD into the player.

I stayed home from work yesterday too. Surprisingly, I slept most of the day and through the night. I think I ate about 1000 calories. It has been difficult to eat more than a few bites at a time. I've resorted to thawing out meat to cook so I can make those few bites count as much as possible.

The nausea I suffered on Sunday was so terrible that I barely ate anything. I felt weak that morning, so I skipped my long run. I didn't know I was ill yet at that point. I had a prior commitment to a volunteer group in West Oakland, so I left the apartment to take care of that. Three hours of chills and stomach cramps later, I was back home (albeit without electricity for a few hours). I tossed and turned all night with stomach cramps. It was awful.

A couple of people at the office have recently complained about similar symptoms. I understand that they don't want to use their paid time off for sick days, but neither do I. It's not fair to everyone else when you go to work sick. I say that a lot, but no one's listening.

As for the dating scene, it's the same as it ever was. I'm fed up with the probationary period when everyone is on their best behavior. I'm tired of people not being themselves. I'm even more tired of people being intimidated by my directness. Seriously, how old are we? I don't feel like it's necessary for me to pretend to be well-mannered. I'm not. I laugh at mean things and make crude jokes. Although I know which fork to use at a fancy restaurant, I much prefer a rowdy neighborhood diner.

I could just be depressed from endorphin deprivation (oh man do I miss them), but I'm so over the bullshit. I think this is why I always end up with assholes. They're going to say what's on their minds whether you want to know or not... my kind of people.

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Done, and next?

I ran the first 8+ miles with one of my coworkers, whom I spotted in my pace group (12:00 – 13:59). We chatted a bit but were just silent in each other’s company for the majority of it. Once the course got hilly, she wanted me to go on and leave her to her own comfortable pace. I think it was clear that I needed to turn it up. We were averaging about 13 minutes a mile together. My last five miles (according to the tracking chip) were around 11.6 minutes each on average. I probably could’ve gone faster, but I didn’t want to be too tired at the end. I still had to ride the shuttle back to the start, BART back to my car and then drive home. Also, I hadn’t had a meal yet. I’m impressed with the knowledge that I can do all that on so few consumed calories. It really makes me think of how much food I eat unnecessarily. If only the act of eating wasn’t so sensual.


I have only run once this week, yesterday morning. I suppose that’s enough, but I do feel a bit lazy now. I skipped my usual hour of physical training yesterday to attend a meeting yesterday. I feel endorphin deprived. I had an hour of restorative yoga, so maybe that’ll be enough. If not, I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do. I may just have to deal with it.

I am keeping the running schedule with Wednesday as an optional running day, determined by how my joints feel after Tuesday’s run. I’m also keeping the distance on Sundays. I’d like to add a mile a month to build up to the full distance for Nike 2011. I’ve never done a full marathon, running, walking or any combination. I’ve hiked/backpacked 26 miles before, but it was spread out over three or four days. Speaking of which, I need to plan a backpacking trip; I’m WAY overdue. Legs wants to make it a bike-packing trip. Not sure how much I can get into that idea. I’d like to get as far from the roads as possible. I’ve got about three weeks of vacation time saved up, so maybe I can do both.



On the dating front I’ve come to the disturbing realization that this guy I’ve been pseudo-investigating for the past few months is very similar to me. We hung out last night, and he said many things that could’ve easily come out of my mouth. I was taken aback. We were awkward together at best. Hopefully that will relax soon. I’d like to find out more. If he’s anywhere near as screwy as I am, I may be biting off more than I can chew. I need a simple man - simple, not boring. He’s got his eye on me for signs of red flags too. I can feel it, and it’s funny. Supposedly he has a history of attracting crazy women. Now THAT is intriguing. Were they crazy before he met them or did they snap? Either way, not it! Hmmm.

I don’t want to downplay the other two dating game contestants. Both are hot. One of them is pretty to look at, and the other has a smokin’ body. I have been doing everything humanly possible to avoid physical contact with Mr. Smokin. It’s starting to be completely obvious. I’m not sure how long I can keep that up. There is definitely an awkward and uncomfortable conversation in the works between us. I’m all nerves about it. The tension is palpable. Mr. Pretty Teeth, on the other hand, has this air of calm and cool while still being a bit of a dork. It’s sweet. He has crossed the defensive boundary. We’ll see what he does with that privilege. He and I also share quite a few personality traits. Spending time with him feels very casual. That is hurting him as much as it’s helping him because of my experience with Secret Squirrel.

Call of the Wild

Contrary to what I already know about training and recovery, I went out to Era Art Bar for the Evolve party Friday night.  It is by far my favorite East Bay party.  It was a ball, as I expected it would be.  I have yet to go to that party and leave before the bar closes.  I intended to go with Legs and Twin Peaks, but they both bailed.  I got a flashback to my old night-prowling days.  At first I found it disturbing, but now I'm just amused.

I mentioned before that I've gone on a couple of dates recently.  Well, when it rains it pours.  Friday night, outside of Evolve, I finally got a moment alone with the man I've been crushing on for the past several months.  Get this, he's actually interested.  Then Killa B and B-Ry both show up - grreaaaaaat.  In my mind I thought, 'What the hell is going on here?'  But you know, never look a gift horse in the mouth.  Man, I love cliches.  Anyway, the evening came to an unusual climax when, while dancing on a practically empty floor to one of the last songs with this man that I've had my sights on for months, one of the regulars (who has never expressed anything other than friendship to me before) grabbed my wrist and spun me around to dance with him instead.  I wasn't sure how to react (mainly because I was a bit sauced), so instinct took over.  There was no way on Earth that I was going to let someone randomly step in and screw up the potential for my designs to come to fruition!  I leaned in and said, "Don't be jealous."  Then, I made my way back over to the object of my attention, not really caring who was watching or what anyone thought.  Even now, as far as I'm concerned, they can kiss my ass.  I never led anyone on.  There is just one man whom I've sought to become closer to.  The additional suitors are icing on the cake.  I blame pheromones.  Seriously, if I hadn't been on a couple of dates already, I'd still be in the friend zone.  Funny how that works.

I'm going to just be honest with everyone and try to be as nice as possible without being a sucker.  I don't see any need to make a choice because in these situations people tend to eliminate themselves naturally.

Oh and by the way, the drinking and staying out late Friday night made my run SUCK ASS on Sunday.  Twelve miles of misery, but I fucking did it.  I am ready for the Nike half next weekend.

wearing me down

Last Sunday I “ran” 11 miles from downtown Calistoga to the fire station bordering Calistoga and St. Helena and back. It felt really good. My knees have been a bit achy since then, and that experience hasn’t made my 3-mile morning runs any easier. Other than being able to say that I ran 11 miles, I don’t have much to show for it. I thought it would at the very least make me stronger in my morning runs. I don’t get it.


I’ve got ten more days til the Nike half. I am eager to get it behind me. I want to say I ran the whole thing and felt great afterwards. The goal is to do this without pain. I can struggle with my mind a bit, but I need to do this without injury or not at all.  So far so good.



I had a date last week. Yes, an actual date! Okay not a real date by Twin Peak’s standard, but I’m counting it. I have another one tomorrow – we’re bowling. At first I was really excited about it, but I’ve come to the realization that it’s not really that exciting. Normal people have lots of dates; I’m the only freak who hasn’t had any this year. Legs (f.k.a. OMB) asked me why not and I told him that, contrary to how much I flirt with men on a regular basis, I don’t really find many men attractive enough to pursue. Sure, there are some really hot guys out there and some who are even interested in me, but there has to be a spark. I don’t see a reason to date anyone without a t least a spark. I don’t date for practice. To me, that’s pointless. If you find someone you have good chemistry with, it’s okay to be a little awkward. I’d rather date a person who thinks I could be someone special as opposed to some guy just working the odds. I do realize that most men are the latter. It’s inevitable that I will have to run through a gauntlet of them before finding a match. The new guy, who hasn’t made enough of an impression to have a nickname yet, seems like a good match personality-wise. We like enough of the same things to have a good time out, but we have enough dissimilarity to run in different circles. I’m not looking for anything serious (although I would not completely opposed to the idea after an appropriate assessment period), but I would like some companionship… especially of the physical nature.



I’ve had a busy couple of weeks with one business or social commitment after the other. My fridge is full of leftovers that have been there so long that I won’t eat them. I haven’t eaten a meal at home in a week and a half. It’s getting on my damn nerves.



Well, I better go. Legs and I have a movie night on Wednesdays now. Come to think of it, we hang out a lot. I invited him to join me at the party on Friday too. Hmmm. Is he becoming a bestie?