February 2004 Archives

"Well, the official report says 15 inches of snow -- we got at least a foot here and are pretty much snowed in for the day. The snow is piled halfway up the railing on the back porch so I can't even get the door open. David went to work last night at 5:00 and the theatre closed at 10:00 -- he couldn't get his car out because it had snowed so much since 5:00, so called home and said he was going to walk home. Dad told him that we would come get him, but we couldn't get Dad's car out. First it got stuck against the curb and we dug it out, then it slid and almost hit the streetlight pole and was perpendicular in the street. With some neighbors' help, he got it back against the curb so it wouldn't get hit and one of the neighbors with a 4-wheel drive SUV took me up to Park Road to pick up David. When Dad tried to get out at 2:00 AM, he ended up parking the car a couple houses down the street. Sue (his boss) picked him up in her SUV and just brought him home. Only 6 carriers were able to get in, so most papers were not delivered."

I got that email from my mom this morning. Wow. Charlotte just got their biggest snowfall since I was 9 (almost 10) years old. And I'm stuck in Houston, where it never ever ever snows. It's not that I'm a huge fan of snow or anything, but it'd be nice to see every once in a while. Without having to leave the city, that is.

I'm currently in a "virtual waiting room" where customers are being randomly selected to buy Cubs tickets. It is very strange, I've never seen something like this before. A virtual waiting room. Hmm. We haven't even worked out the details of the trip yet, or thought about buying plane tickets, but the Cubs game we definitely want to see is against the Astros (popular division rivalry) and on Memorial Day. Tickets just went on sale online at 10:00 (you could get wristbands at 8 if you are actually in Chicago), so I guess there is high demand. Hopefully this virtual waiting room thing will let me through soon. It keeps counting down 30 seconds and then refreshing itself, only to count down another 30 seconds, and repeat. It also says that "internet customers that use computer based scripting language will have all potential orders cancelled." And I can only buy four. Man. They don't mess around.

Last night Jen taped "The Apprentice" during our Yuri's Night meeting, and we all watched it after we finished. I am so addicted to that show. Last week it dawned on me that Amy is the only person left who hasn't lost a challenge yet. And her team won again last night. She's the secret to winning! Trump should just pick her and fire everyone else. ;) In any case, when the show is finally over, I'll certainly miss the Friday morning pow-wow that George and I always have to discuss the previous night's show.

Still stuck in the virtual waiting room. I wonder how long this will last.

Our Yuri's Night webpage got 70 hits yesterday after getting linked to from the JSC homepage. And it was in JSC Today (a center-wide email) today and has already gotten 96 hits this morning! No one has signed up for the race yet, but we have 14 people signed up with just over a month to go, so I'm feeling good. Runners always sign up at the last minute.

It's the cold that won't end. Last night, I was practically singing with satisfaction, knowing that this morning I would be able to come to work and write about how my ears finally cleared from the week-long cold. That's got to be one of the best feelings in the world--the random moment when my ears finally clear. No amount of nose-holding and ear-popping really does it, it has to happen on its own. And it happened last night while I was in the shower. Suddenly, the water seemed really loud, but I was ecstatic.

Then I went to bed, and this morning, wham, I'm all clogged up again. My mucus is trying to choke me. And I even had a sore throat, although that has gone away thankfully.

I'm tired of being sick already!

Geez.

Complaint for the day: I wish West Wing and The OC weren't on at the same time. I always have to pick. And, since I have the TV brain of a 14-year-old, I always end up watching The OC.

Confession of the day: I love the Quizno's sponge monkey things. Despite the fact that they look like mutant hamsters, I think they are hilarious. And an amazingly effective ad campaign (though Quizno's already had my business). I get their silly song stuck in my head. We love the subs...cause they are good to us....the Quizno's subs....they are tasty they are crunchy they are warm because they toast them....they got a pepper barrrr!

Yesterday I was in a horrible mood all day. Let's hope today is better. Oh. I just realized that I have softball tonight. At least I think I do. I didn't bring softball clothes. And according to the schedule, our game is at 6. I will have to go home and get clothes. Sigh.

Everything will seem much nicer when I'm not sick anymore.

Jen had a fun game on her site. "Step 1: Open your mp3 player. Step 2: Put all of your music on random. Step 3: List the first ten songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing." So here we go!

Dixie Chicks, "Sin Wagon"
Matchbox Twenty, "Crutch"
"Poor, Poor Joseph" from Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
John Butler Trio, "Don't Understand"
3 Doors Down, "Be Like That"
"The Heat is on in Saigon", from Miss Saigon
Box Car Racer, "There Is"
Harry Connick Jr, "It's Time"
Angie Aparo, "Whatever We Become"
"Light My Candle" from Rent

That's fun. I think I'll do 10 more. :)

"Into the Lem" from the Apollo 13 soundtrack
Damesviolet, "Someday"
"Enchantment Passing Through" from Aida
Backstreet Boys, "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" (eek!)
U2, "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
Sister Hazel, "Concede"
Fastball, "Vampires"
"Angel of Music" from Phantom of the Opera
"On This Night of a Thousand Dreams" from Evita
Billy Joel, "Big Shot"
They Might Be Giants, "Women and Men"

Interesting. That's the first 20 random songs out of 2200 stored on my iPod. Random is weird. A lot of the musical soundtracks I have got queued up, but not a single one of the almost 100 classical songs I have on there. And nothing from the eight Counting Crows albums or six John Mayer albums. Weird.

Anyway. Last night we went out for Becca's birthday (which is actually today, but the birthday girl has to study for a test tomorrow, how much does that suck?). We went to this place called the Mockingbird Bistro, down a side street among a bunch of condos. Very hidden away. It was expensive, but yummy (I had salmon and rice and the best spinach ever, oh, and delicious calimari), and fun. Not to mention that the waiter was really cute. Also, he called all the females "the lady." As in, "is the lady finished with her plate?" and "would the lady like more wine?" There was even someone who pulled out my chair for me, and put my napkin in my lap. It was entertaining. I think I need to go to fancy restaurants more often just so that I'm not caught so off guard when I find myself in one.

In other news, Cari and friends went out and bought bikinis for the first time ever in preparation for their upcoming trip to...Tunisia. As Becca asked her, "You bought bikinis to wear in a Muslim country??? Great choice of a country to begin wearing skimpy clothes!" Yes, this does not seem like the best idea. Cari, please don't get spat upon, or hissed at, or stoned.

It has been an interesting morning. I have been offended, attacked by snot, asked to write up part of a document that someone else should probably write, and eaten a brownie. Mmm, brownie. I have a lot to do in the next couple weeks at work, for a change, and I'm not sure where to start. I need to make a list, and sort out the priorities.

I am busy planning our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in August. It's going to be so cool. We (a group of six at the moment, but hopefully growing to eight) are flying to Denver on a Friday, and staying that night in Estes Park, right outside RMNP. On Saturday we'll do a cool dayhike past a waterfall and ending at a mountain lake. On Sunday we'll pack in to a backcountry campsite, and prepare for Monday, when we'll attempt to summit Longs Peak, the highest mountain in the park at 14,255 feet!

Today for lunch we get to go out to Ellington to see a beat-up thrust reverser that fell off the STA in Florida. This is the highlight of my week, actually. I am excited. I just wish my stupid head and stupid sinuses would stop their throbbing.

Last night I sat on my butt and worked on my cross-stitch. Yep, I'm an old lady. ;) I have this cross-stitch of a wizard that I've been working on on-and-off for almost two years now, but since Christmas I've been doing a lot more. It's really starting to take shape. His robe is almost entirely done, and last night I did his face and hands while I watched "The Fast and the Furious" on tv. That movie amuses me. Can you stand the excitement?

I think the sickness has migrated into my sinuses. All day yesterday I had this pressure inside my head. Last night it got worse, so I went to CVS to get some sort of medicine. As I stood in the aisle trying to decide between the 20 different boxes with the word "sinus" printed on them, slightly dazed because of my pounding head, the CVS pharmacist came up and asked if I needed any help. The conversation that followed was a little weird, although it could be just because I was sort of out of it.

Me: "Yeah, I think I have a sinus infection."
Him: "An infection? If so, you'll need antibiotics..."
Me: "Oh, well not an infection, but just...well, my head has all this pressure in it and it's getting worse."
Him: "This should do it." (hands me a box of generic CVS sinus relief medicine)
Me: "Ok, thanks."

I start to walk up to the front to pay.

Him: "Did you go to Stanford?"
Me: (looking down and realizing I'm wearing a Stanford shirt) "Oh, yes, a couple years ago."
Him: "Oh, you graduated?"
Me: "Yeah, well, I mean, I went to graduate school there, so I was only there for a year."
Him: "Where'd you go for undergrad?"
Me: "Georgia Tech."

There's a pause. He didn't say anything, but it felt like a weird pause, so as I started to walk away again, I turned around.

Me: "Both good basketball teams this year. Haha."
Him: "Yeah, but we'll get you in the end."
Me: "Oh--where did you go?"
Him: "Arizona."
Me: "Oh." (drawing a blank, but later I realize that Arizona and Stanford are both Pac-10 schools, so he must have been referring to that)
Him: "Stanford has springs under the court."
Me: "What?"
Him: "The basketball court. It has spring under it."
Me: "Springs?"
Him: "Yeah. For earthquakes."

At this point I was certain that I'd missed his train of thought somewhere, so I just said thanks, and paid for my medicine, and left. It was one of those conversations that doesn't sound all that weird when I recount it, but it felt very weird when I was having it.

Anyway. My head is feeling a little better today, although I'm having trouble focusing on the monitor without my head aching. When I lean over, I feel pressure on my nose and the roof of my mouth. It's all very weird, and I'm all paranoid about it. I had a sinus infection when I was like 8 years old, and the only thing I can remember about it is lying on my parents' bed sobbing because my head hurt so badly.

As a result of all this me-being-sick, I haven't done anything remotely active since the half marathon more than a week ago. I'm going stir crazy, but I don't want to push myself. Friday I got home and couldn't stand to be in my apartment, so I went out to dinner with Becca and Nick, and then conned Nick into folding race brochures with me. Saturday morning I got up and went to the local 10K; I didn't run, but I did hand out race brochures. Saturday afternoon I got a pedicure (my poor feet needed it), and then had girl's night with Buzz, Jess, Becca, Jen, Laurie, and Pooja. We had dinner out, then went back to Buzz's house where we watched movies (Sliding Doors and When Harry Met Sally, the latter for Laurie, who had (gasp!) never seen it) and did a lot of baking. I finally made double-iced brownies, and have a ton of them, so if anyone's within walking distance of my office, feel free to come and get some. Mmmm.

Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing. In fact, the most productive thing I did was probably giving Carter directions on how to get to the Roxy so he could see John Kerry. I haven't lived in Atlanta for almost three years, he's lived there for 21 years, and yet he calls me for directions. It makes me laugh every time. It started to rain yesterday afternoon, so soccer was cancelled, which was probably a good thing considering I don't know how I would have fared trying to play defense with a head that felt like it might burst.

I did watch the final episode of "Sex and the City." I've never watched the show regularly, but I do enjoy it, and knew the story lines enough to think that last night's episode did a great job of tying up loose ends and ending the series on a high note. My only complaint is a personal one about the Charlotte-and-Harry-adopting-a-kid storyline. The couple they were supposed to adopt from was from Charlotte, North Carolina, my lovely hometown. Only the show depicted the Charlotte couple as total hicks! The guy had these huge mutton-chop sideburns, and the woman spoke with a huge southern accent. Talk about stereotyping!

Ok, that is really quite enough writing for today.

Handing out race fliers bright and early...

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Well, I'm back at work, feeling marginally better. I don't know if it's the illness or the Tylenol Cold & Flu, but my head has been all spinny and fuzzy all morning. I feel slow. Slow to hear things, slow to respond, slow to comprehend what's going on.

This week has been extremely weird, and tiring, and frustrating. With Austin, post-race soreness, then being sick, and some frustrations at work, I'm just glad it's Friday and I can put the entire week behind me. I was supposed to run a 10K tomorrow morning, but I decided that might not be the best idea since I'm pretty sure it was the stress of the half marathon that weakened my immune system and made me get sick in the first place. So I'm wussing out of the 10K. It's not too bad though, as I'm already signed up for 10Ks on the 28th and 6th anyway. ;) In the latter, we're running as a 6 person centipede and dressing up as the space shuttle in hopes of winning a costume prize.

I may have to get up and go to the race anyway, though, to hand out fliers. I can't find anyone besides Chris to volunteer to do it. Sigh.

I hate being sick. (Then again, who likes being sick?)

I am home again, after waking up feeling even worse than yesterday. I tossed and turned for a while, but it seems impossible to ever get really comfortable when you don't feel good to begin with, so I dragged myself out of bed at 9:30. And here I sit. Feeling a little bit better since brushing my teeth and washing my face. That stuff always makes me feel better.

It's weird. I get colds on a fairly regular basis, but they usually don't keep me home from work, and definitely not for two days in a row. I feel like I'm playing hooky. Actually, I feel like I've been attacked by one huge cold that's been building up since November.

There is a guy mowing the grass by the bayou behind my apartment. It's February. The grass isn't long. I wonder why he is mowing.

I woke up at 7:00. Felt ucky. Woke up at 8:00. Still felt ucky. Called work. Emailed Gavin about our document. And finally, I crawled back into bed.

I didn't get up again until 10:30, at which point I felt marginally better, especially after washing my face and brushing my teeth. My throat has stopped hurting, but is now dry and scratchy and generally unpleasant to have to deal with. My eyes ache and my ears sound funny, but at the moment, happily, I can still breathe through my nose.

Nick is currently my favorite person in the world. He called me twice yesterday to see how I was feeling, and again today at lunchtime. He even brought me french fries (my favorite food of late) and a frosty (which made my throat feel much better, if temporarily). So hooray for Nick.

And on an unrelated note...I was doing some web surfing this morning in my stuffy-head-haze, and following link trails from one of the strangers' blogs I read regularly. I came across the following online photo display and couldn't help but think: I know it's a hotly contested issue, and that a lot of people feel very strongly against it, but how can you be against something that makes couples like them or them look so incredibly happy?

So I know this is going to sound really obvious and cliche, but I have made a new discovery: going to the dentist is a lot less unpleasant if you actually brush well and floss every day. Really! And it only took me 25 years to figure this out.

If I ever get married, maybe it can be to someone who'll consent to living in an apartment next door, or a duplex, or something. I've become pretty accustomed to having my own space...

I had a nice weekend in Austin, though this morning has gotten off to a rough start. I have a sore throat and a looming dentist appointment in an hour. There is no coffee, at least not that I can find. And the work I thought I was going to do today has already been done by one of my workaholic colleagues. Some days I don't know why I bother getting out of bed.

Anyway. We met at Starbucks at 10 on Saturday and caravanned up to Austin. We arrived around 1:00, and were offended to find that we had to pay $7 to park at the expo center in order to go inside for 10 minutes to pick up our packets. Pretty absurd. From there, we went to the hotel, then to a massive group dinner at the very-crowded Spaghetti Warehouse. Leila and Brian even joined us, so it was good to see them, especially since our proposed dinner plans for Sunday didn't work out. We all were in bed with the lights out by 9:30 Saturday night.

We got up Sunday morning at 5, ate some breakfast, and got ready for the race. Our hotel was literally about 300 yards from the start line, and it was nice to be able to sit inside until about 6:30, when we finally had to head out into the freezing weather. It was about 38 degrees outside (it actually snowed in Austin Saturday morning), and I was not happy to be standing in the cold in my t-shirt and shorts. I ended up running in a long sleeve t-shirt, shorts, and gloves, and was fine while running. As soon as I finished, I picked up my clothing drop-off bag and bundled back up in a dry t-shirt, sweatshirt, and sweatpants.

From the finish, we walked down to the marathon finish line, about a mile and a half away (the marathon course zig-zagged a lot in the last half). After staring into the sun watching lots of marathoners finish, we cheered really loudly for Buzz, and I got my first sunburn of the year. Sunburn. In February. Ugh.

Results from this weekend are as follows:

HALF MARATHON
Ron - 2:05:47
Jeremy - 2:10:22
Jess - 2:13:35
Sarah - 2:16:35

MARATHON
Laurie - 3:55:20
Josh - 3:57:44
Buzz - 4:35:34

I was happy with my finish. Buzz ran the entire way with me before I peeled off to finish while she kept chugging along. We were incredibly consistent--you could have set your watch by our 10:30 miles. I would have finished right on pace with a 2:17:30 half marathon, but I had saved just enough in the tank to speed up for the last mile, and sprint the final tenth. It was enough to get me a 2:16:35. :)

That's a minute and a half slower than the Houston Half, but I wasn't expecting to beat that time. Austin, after all, has hills, and while there weren't any huge ones to climb, the constant slightly-uphill, slightly-downhill trends took their toll. My legs bothered me more during the race, and my knees were sore all day Saturday and yesterday. I really wasn't sore at all after Houston; the day after Houston, I went rock climbing. But last night, rock climbing was off my radar of possible activities, and I ended up just sitting at home watching tv. Fortunately, my legs are feeling much better today. I may try a very slow jog tonight to loosen them up.

On the whole, though, I think I'm done with long-distance running for the moment. My next goal is the Houston Marathon next January. I plan to maintain my current level of running fitness, and do a 10-12 miler once a month or so. Then, in late September when the weather starts to cool down, I'll start training for the full marathon. Till then, I have plenty to keep me busy. I'm doing the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin in mid-April, and there's the Danskin triathlon in mid-June, and the Peachtree in July.

Gotta run. More maybe later.

Nick playing with his camera in the shoe section at the mall...

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Last interchange out of Houston. Austin here we come!

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Friday the 13th is cold and drizzly in Houston. How underwhelming.

There's a good article in the New York Times today about Greece's rush to be ready for the Olympics this summer. When we were in Athens last October, it was amazing to see the amount of construction going on in preparation for the Games, and yet it also seemed like everything was just teetering on the edge of falling into mass chaos and confusion. Take the airport, for example: we waltzed out of the terminal without ever going through any apparent security checkpoint, not to mention European customs. We made it into the city without our bags ever being checked, or our passports being scrutinized. We just walked out the door and ta da--hopped on a bus to the middle of the city. As the acticle says, "They have also begun to manage expectations downward, casting Greece as the little engine that could, and that will, but only barely." I wish Athens the best in getting ready for the Games, but I think it'll be a tumultuous six months.

Today in the cafeteria they are making "Why I Work Safely" badges. Most people take in a picture of their spouse, or their kids. The people laminate the picture and put in on a badge. Since I have no husband or children, I printed out a picture of my fish. I am curious to see what they'll say when I ask to have a picture of my fish laminated onto a badge.

I don't have any plans for tonight, but tomorrow morning we head to Austin. We'll have a big dinner tomorrow night and hopefully get to bed early. The half marathon starts at 7 on Sunday morning, then I'll come back to Houston. We have Monday off work (hooray!) so I'll get to take it easy again. I have to say, this trend of having a day off work after I run a half marathon ain't bad.

In other news though, I've decided to do the MS150 in April. It's a bike ride from Houston to Austin, about 180 miles, in two days. I was talking to Angela, a coworker who did it last year, about it and she answered all my questions with the answers I was hoping to hear, so I'm signing up. Yeah, I'm crazy. So now, by July, in 2004 I'll have run two half marathons, at least 4 10K races, probably a couple 5Ks, and done both the MS150 and the Danskin triathlon. Either I'm getting a tad obsessive, or I just really want to make another t-shirt quilt as soon as possible. You decide.

It's supposed to be 45 degrees on Sunday morning in Austin. Brr.

Next Generation Rover: The Mars Science Laboratory

This is the mission I'm starting to work entry guidance design for--the Mars Science Laboratory, headed towards Mars in 2009.

My new lego Mars rover. So cool.

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Happy Birthday Dad! (Yes, Mom on Monday, Dad today. Together they are, as Dad pointed out, 108 years old.)

Last night I'd planned to stay at home, but got talked into playing bingo with Jason and Debbie. None of us won, as usual, but Debbie won $202 from those stupid pull tabs!! I was incredulous. She gave me $1 for being the one who actually pulled the tabs on the $200 winning card. ;)

George and I went and picked up Chinese food for everyone for lunch today. Ah, it was an excellent idea, as I hadn't packed my lunch anyway. Mmm. Now I am happily full of orange chicken.

Yesterday I fell under the spell of JSC Today's advertising, and went to the Exchange store to buy Mars legos. Dude. They are awesome. I bought an awesome set that came with a model of the orbiter, the rover, and the Delta rocket and launch tower. I wanted the big version of the rover, but it's $80. :( Maybe someday... In any case, they are all so cool! The rover even has a pancam ton top, a little robot arm in front, and independent suspension on the front wheels! So now the Mars set joins the International Space Station model I got a few months ago.

I love legos. When this NASA thing stops working, I'm moving to Denmark (or wherever) and working for Lego.

Playing bingo with the old people on a random Wednesday night.

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I hate the treadmill, I hate the treadmill, I hate the treadmill. Last night the rain slowed down, but it was so wet and chilly, not to mention still slightly drizzling, so I ran on the treadmill after watching all my silly TV. I managed to get in 4.75 miles of a planned 6 before I realized I had hated every minute of those 4.75 miles, and decided I'd had enough torture for one night. I read articles about people who do all their marathon training on treadmills, and I just don't get it. Outside, there is fresh air, and scenery, and sky. Inside, it's hot, and stuffy, and there's TV that I can't hear over the racket of the treadmill, and I feel like a rat in a cage. Outside is good. Inside sucks.

Last night was weird all around. After the dreaded treadmill, some reading, and hitting the sack, sometime around 3 a.m. the full effect of Monday night climbing hit me, and my arms began to burn "with the fire of a thousand suns," as I related to Rich this morning. Anyway, it was painful to even turn over or alter my position in bed, so I slept the rest of the night flat on my back with my arms limply at my sides. Fortunately, by the time I woke up for good at 8:00, the soreness has subsided.

So I have work to do today. Unfortunately, it involves showing that our methods are correct, despite the fact that we got the "wrong" answer while some other guys totally lucked into the "right" answer. Sigh. Is it Friday yet?

This weekend I'm running the Austin Half Marathon (on Sunday). It's funny. I had such a combination of anxiety, excitement, and apprehension before the Houston Half a month ago, and I have hardly been thinking about this one at all. I guess having done one takes some of the mystery out of it. I know I can go that far. I know I can finish. I'm not going to try to beat my time from a month ago, because Austin is hilly. If it happens, it happens, but I'm not going to go in with any expectations. I am both excited that Buzz is going to be doing the full 26.2 miles, and also a little jealous that I couldn't try the full thing with her. But I'll try this fall. In the meantime, after Austin, I think I'm going to switch gears to biking.

Yes, I have a new goal: to ride the MS150 from Houston to Austin in mid-April. A coworker of mine did it last year and is doing it again, and it turns out there's a NASA sub-team, part of the larger Dow Chemical team. So I would have a large group of people to ride with! I may just do it. If I decide to, you'll know because I'll post a link on this page asking for sponsorship. ;) I'll need to raise $400, but that's only 20 people giving $20. Or 40 people giving $10. Or...well, you can do the math.

I don't know when I started going insane with my athletic goals. But it's sort of fun.

As I have mentioned here before, I bought a new phone off Ebay a few weeks ago. I paid about $40 more than I would have liked, but I justified the decision by realizing that I could sell my old phone, which was going on Ebay for $40-$60. So last week after I got my new phone and confirmed that everything was working with it, I put my old phone up for sale. Last night, the bidding was only at $24.50, and I was disappointed, but c'est la vie. The auction ended at 8:45 this morning, so I checked to see what the final winning bid was. $91! Woohoo! Someone spent $91 on my old used cell phone (which, for the record, I did advertise as being used, locked to T-Mobile, without sim card, and with a few slight scratches)! I am quickly becoming addicted to Ebay. I wonder what else I have in my apartment that I can sell??

Anyway. Climbing last night was thoroughly crappy. Buzz suggested I do a route that turned out to be much too hard for me (she overestimates my upper body strength; she has incredible upper body strengh for a girl, while I can barely do a pull-up). The bigger problem is that when I do something too hard, I don't really see it as a challenge; instead, I don't have any fun, and it just makes me angry. Sigh. I need to move in small increments, not leaps and bounds. It's a self-fulfilling thing. The purple was too hard, and I got angry, but then I had to keep trying, which only made me angrier. So yeah, it wasn't a good night for me. And my arms are going to be in serious pain tonight, I can tell. It's only morning, and I can already feel the effects.

It's rainy outside, and I'm having a crappy morning. The other day I realized that I have accumulated almost eight weeks of sick leave. Eight weeks! And yet my annual leave is already planned out for the rest of the year. I should get sick more often. It's so frustrating. We were talking about sick leave last week, and apparently when you leave government service, you don't get any credit for all the sick leave you might have accumulated during your career. Therefore, I've decided that right before I leave NASA, I'm going to get sick for like 3 months. ;)

I accidentally left my iPod in the car this morning. Some mornings I go until lunch without listening to any music, but today, when I don't have the option, it seems really quiet.

I have been really busy the past few days. I'm looking forward to my two-lap run tonight, and then sitting on my butt watching American Idol and One Tree Hill. Ah, stupid TV, I love you.

Except it's raining, which means I'll be relegated to the hated treadmill. I feel really weird today and want to go be a hermit.

The 2:00 ritual--Coke break!

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Happy Birthday Mom!

I had a lovely weekend, even if I did spend all day Saturday trying to get warm. Ever have those days when you are just cold all the time? Me too.

I got up early Saturday morning to go with Jason, Debbie and Buzz to the Run for the Badge 5K nearby. We passed out fliers for our race, and that went well, but it was about 40 degrees outside and despite my three layers, I was still pretty cold. I have definitely lost any and all ability to deal with the cold after living in Houston for a year and a half. From the race, we went tromping around in the woods geocaching with Debbie, and then over to Challenger Park to check out one more potential route for our race (and find another geocache). But after 4 hours in the cold, I was done for the day. We had lunch, and I finally headed home, pooped at only 1:00 in the afternoon.

I spent the rest of the day getting a new tire for my car, going for a great 5k run, and having dinner with Becca, Nick, and Nacho. The tire was the most amusing thing. I went to NTB because 1) they had a big sign out front saying "guaranteed lowest price on any tire or it's free" and 2) I am very susceptible to advertising. Anyway. I just wanted one tire, for the left front. Now, I know you're supposed to buy tires in pairs and all, but my front tires haven't matched ever since I had the blowout in the middle of New Mexico a year and a half ago, and I wasn't too excited about the idea of buying a second tire that I didn't really need, especially when I'm selling the car in a couple months anyway. So I bought one. I was the only female in the entire place, and the salesguy seemed amazed that I even knew what a tire was, much less how to check the tread on them and such. This is why I hate dealing with car places--because four times out of five, they talk down to me. At the same time though, I love doing car maintenance. Makes me feel very "adult." :) Same with other mundane "adult" tasks like going to the dentist, and paying bills. I wonder if that feeling ever goes away...

Anyway. So that was Saturday. Yesterday I spent 5 hours at the mall, and in a brilliant display of willpower, only spent $5 (on a pair of earrings). The real reason for the mall extravaganza was Becca's immense need for work clothes, but she didn't have any luck. Jen, however, found an awesome leather jacket for only $75. She definitely won "best shopper" of the day. Nick, on the other hand, won the "most likely to get left in the mall looking at pictures of half naked women in watch ads" award.

Last night we had our first soccer game in a month, and I was reminded that there is perhaps nothing in the world as painful as taking a hard-kicked soccer ball on the inside of the thigh when it's cold outside. Man, that stings. We played well, but were short one person, and thus we lost again. It's getting easier to stay positive though, despite all the losses, because we really are improving.

Look! This article in Florida Today is about what I did a "footprint" for right before Christmas. Cool.

I love it! -- Charlie Brown Hey Ya

Geocaching in the woods with Debbie...

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Last night I was thinking about what an interesting group the online blog/diary/journal community is. There are probably a dozen blogs that I read on a regular basis that are written by people I have never met, and never knew before I stumbled across their online world and found some part of it interesting, or intriguing, or simply well-written. And though I never really thought about it, there are people out there who don't know me except for via what I've written. Case in point: Becky, aka mnnicegirl. I don't remember how I first came across her online diary, but I've been reading it for...well, it must be at least a couple years by now. I keep reading because her writing is good, her life is interesting, and her thoughts and feelings are often similar to mine. Yesterday she posted a map of states she's visited, after seeing it here on my page.

It's pretty cool, and flattering to know that other people read my page. And it definitely makes me want to write more interesting material. What can I say--my motivation always seems to come from unexpected sources!

Anyway. At some point I'll get around to posting the full list of "blogs of people I don't actually know" that I read regularly. Then perhaps those of you who scold me when I don't post first thing in the morning can busy yourself with the writings of others. ;)

This morning when I went in to get my coffee, Rich brought up our oft-mentioned, never-undertaken trip to Chicago to see the Cubs play at Wrigley. This year we may actually be serious about doing it...on Memorial Day, when the Cubbies play the Astros. I'm liking the idea. I've always wanted to go to Chicago, I want to add another stadium to my list, and I'd like to see Christina and her purple apartment and her boy and her fat cat. So we'll see.

Tonight is movie night, after a long absence of theater visits. We're seeing Miracle at 7, and possibly something else. I really want to see Lost in Translation (which has been on my list ever since I saw a preview back in August, but is now more urgent thanks to all the award nominations it's gotten) at 9:30. It would be close, but I think we can make it.

Tomorrow I'm up early to go hand out race fliers to people finishing a 5K over at UHCL, but other than that I have few plans for the weekend. Supposedly we'll play soccer on Sunday night, but all the rain may have already cancelled it.

Woohoo! After a six (eight?) month break from first playing around with Moblogger, it's always nice to see that the software still works...especially because it seems the code has disappeared from their website. I don't know what that means for the longevity or any chance of getting tech support if I need it, but at the moment it works for me, and so I plan on continuing to use it.

Just lying on the floor playing with my new phone.

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I saw this a few days ago, and then today my sister did it, so I guess it's about time. Here's a nifty map of states I've visited:


create your own visited states map

You can also generate a map of all the countries you've been to, but it was sort of depressing to see only the U.S., Mexico, and western Europe highlighted. I need to get out of the country way more often! Of course, to do that, I need to make a lot more money...

So I finally have my new cell phone. It came on Monday, along with the battery (I ordered the phone and battery from two different Ebay sellers). However, when I opened the package with the battery, it was a battery for some Nextel phone--not the Samsung that I'd bought! Grr. With ebay, it's always such a crapshoot anyway. However, the guy I bought it from was very agreeable, and I was able to call him, tell him the problem, and he sent the correct battery Monday night, and it arrived yesterday! Woohoo. So my lovely new phone is working wonderfully. My only complaint is that it has no normal ringtones. Everything is a song, there's no simple "ring ring" option. So I downloaded a couple less annoying tones from the T-Mobile website. Did you know you can actually get your phone to ring with an actual song now?? Like, John Mayer singing "Bigger than my Body", instead of the muzak version. I didn't download that one yet, but it was tempting.

Rich came in this morning with the good news that the people at Kennedy found the part that fell off their airplane back before Christmas. The bad news is that they found it in a slightly different place than we told them they would. Now, this is bad news not because we were wrong, because we probably weren't completely wrong; it's much more likely that we were wrong because the initial conditions we were given were wrong. It's all about the assumptions. However, unless we can come up with a new IC, people will wonder why we couldn't predict the impact point. Silly people.

Yesterday afternoon in the 5 minutes between looking out George's office window and actually making it downstairs to walk to my car, it started to pour down rain. I have never cursed Houston as much as I did yesterday, as I got soaked on my way to the car, soaked on my way into the UPS store to mail some packages, and soaked on the way back to the car. Stupid, stupid rain.

There's a funny article in the Times today, about how computer-saavy people are less and less sympathetic to the people who don't know enough to avoid spreading computer viruses. Funniest line: "Many of the computationally confused say they suffer from genuine intimidation and even panic over how to handle the mysterious machines they have come to rely on for so much of daily life."

Everyone around here is complaining that they're sick. I think they're all big wusses.

Ok. That's enough for today.

From my brother, I hear that "Dad is quite happy that they fixed the Spirit rover problem. He keeps putting different pictures of Mars on their computer." My dad is so cute.

So I came in early this morning to verify a piece of code for Gavin, who said yesterday that he needed it by 10 a.m. But he just now got to work (right as I was finishing the verification) and said we don't need it today. Sigh. I can't complain too much, because at least I have something to do. I guess I'm more annoyed by the fact that I have to go to the post office, and I didn't go this morning because they weren't open before when I thought I needed to be here at work. Now I'll have to go at lunchtime, which will take longer. Ah well. The post office and I have been arguing for the past few days about when they should be open versus when they are actually open. ;)

Last night Buzz and I went for an 11 mile run--one lap of the Gilruth trail followed by the large loop around the perimeter of the space center. We finished in 1:45, which I couldn't wrap my head around. 11 miles in 1:45 is less than 10 minutes a mile, and yet we were chatting away the entire run without much effort. It didn't add up. So after scarfing down some Quizno's, I drove the route that we'd run and it turns out that the perimeter of the center, which we thought was almost 8 miles, was actually only 6.8. So we did a total of about 9.7 miles, for about a 10:50 per mile pace. Much more reasonable! As cool as it would have been to have done sub-10:00 miles, I know I'm not to that point yet. In fact, the run yesterday wore me out. I am tired today, and the back of my knee still aches. But this was the longest run I've done since the half, and is the longest I'll do before I run another half on the 15th. I'm ready for it. And Buzz is ready for the full marathon. Hooray.

We are both looking forward to shifting gears to get ready for the Danskin triathlon in June though. The biking and swimming will keep us in shape, but give our poor tortured bodies a break from all the high-impact running. That will be lovely, and I'm sure my knees will like me better for it.

I'm supposed to have another soccer game this weekend, the first in a month. But it's also supposed to pour down rain this afternoon, which is bad news for soccer. Yes, even though it's not till Sunday, because the fields around here stay so swampy because everything's so flat.

I get to go to Kinko's after work today to make copies of the entry form for our 5k. Woohoo! We have five people signed up, and three of them are me, Jason, and Ron. Oh well. I'm just pumped that we have two people who I don't know already signed up. I feel confident that more people will sign up as we get closer to race day (April 3). In the meantime, if anyone out there wants to sign up, you can do so here. If you don't actually want to run, you can still sign up and consider it a $15 donation to Yuri's Night Houston.

And thus ends my plug for the day.

Work is alternating from being extremely frustrating to showing signs of improvement. I am ever-so-slowly getting things to do, and now must summon the motivation to get back to after having weeks of dullness.

When I was younger, every year or so I'd get the urge to rearrange all the furniture in my room. I don't know if this is a common thing or not, but after a year with my furniture and posters in the same places, I would come home from school one day desperately needing a change of scenery. In a couple hours, I could have what felt like an entirely new room.

I'm currently having the same feeling here at work. My desk area, which has always been cluttered, has been making me feel claustrophobic for a while now. I need a change of scenery.

I am so tired today. No amount of sleep is really doing it for me lately. I feel like I should just sit at home every night and rest, but at the same time, that's what I feel like I've been doing for weeks! I have had a string of totally uneventful Friday and Saturday nights. I don't get it. Fortunately, my morning coffee pepped me up a bit. I hope it sticks, because Buzz and I are running about 11 miles tonight.

I went climbing last night with Jason, Betsy, and Becca and the rock gym was an absolute zoo. There was a troop of 20 Boy Scouts, along with 20 parents, all learning how to climb, running all over the place, and attempting routes that were too hard for them. It was maddening. When you got to the top of a route and called "dirt me!" to your belayer, half the time they couldn't even hear you. I have never seen the place so crowded, or heard it so noisy. The kids even drowned out the stereo. Thankfully, they left after an hour, and our last half hour of climbing was done in peace.

Not much else going on today.

Well, the Panthers couldn't quite pull off a win in the end, but it was a great Super Bowl except for that. Ah, they played so well! If only they'd had a few more minutes! It seemed like every time the Patriots scored, it lit a fire under the Panthers, who would then march down the field to a touchdown. I'm proud of the Panthers, and how well they played. I think they gave a lot of people a bit of a wake up call. And I enjoyed having a team in the big game that I actually cared about. :)

In other Super Bowl news, most of the ads were dumb, the pre-game NASA tribute left something to be desired (but I thank them for trying), and the halftime show was 15 minutes of stupidity followed by 3 seconds of shock and amusement. All it took was Janet Jackson's boob, and all the guys I was watching the game with simultaneously jumped to their feet howling. Very funny. Oh, and the streaker, that CBS tried to cover with a stats graphic! Also funny.

It was a fairly uneventful weekend besides last night. I did some shopping, and finally bought a new pair of jeans that somewhat fit. I've lost I guess about 20 pounds in the last two years, and now even though I'm not losing pounds, I must still be losing fat (and gaining muscle from all the climbing) because my pants are all too big now. The problem with losing weight--not that I'm complaining!!--is that you have to go out and buy new clothes. I haven't weighed what I do now since early high school, probably, and I don't really have the cash to buy a whole new wardrobe at the moment, so I've been replacing things gradually. On Friday, I finally decided that it was dumb to keep wearing a pair of jeans that absolutely had to have a belt or else they'd fall completely off. So Nick and I went to the mall and I bought new jeans. My body is so absurdly sized. The new jeans fit in the legs, but are still too big in the waist. My waist is an entire size smaller than my legs. Ugh. I hate trying to find clothes that fit.

And most of my long sleeve t-shirts are now too big, and make me look like I'm wearing a bag. It makes me embarassed that I didn't start all this running and active stuff earlier.

But in other clothing news, I bought a new pair of running shoes. Hooray! I love everything about new running shoes. They have that new shoe smell, and they feel so springy and cushiony. They make me feel extra fast the first few times I use them. Zoom zoom.

I think my car needs two new tires. I've just realized this during the past week, when the roads have been wet from drizzle and it seems my front tires haven't been gripping the road as well. I finally looked at the tread on one of them yesterday, and it's pretty shallow. Sigh. I hadn't anticipated buying new tires. Though my dad would be excited. He always likes buying new tires.

I bought a new cell phone off Ebay, and it should arrive today. I hope. I am anxious for its arrival, and annoyed that it has taken more than a week to get here. We really should invent some sort of transporter technology so I can get my stuff faster!

I remember February 1 last year, sunny and cool. This year the air is chilly and the sky is a never ending shade of gray, but the view out my window is the same. I can see the flag on top of Mission Control, and it's flying at half staff. It's been there since Thursday. Houston has gone crazy for the Super Bowl, which finally arrives tonight and will leave as quickly as it came. But for me, and for a lot of us, today means something different.

You never forget where you were and how you felt when you suddenly hear news that shakes you to your very core. We lost Columbia and her crew one year ago today.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr.