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Monday, February 28, 2005

party like it's 2005...and we're all old and tired...

After Saturday morning's 10K, I spent the rest of the weekend "partying." Or as close as I get to partying these days...

Saturday night was the long-planned "shot party" in honor of Becca's birthday, Cari's birthday, Melanie's birthday, and Jo's desire to get sloshed. I went over prepared with a toothbrush and pajamas, but it just wasn't happening for me. I like to spend the night in my own bed anyway, so I was one of the few (two?) who actually made it home that night. The party was fun though. We played Twister (I love Twister!) and watched Space Camp, which I had never seen, much to the dismay of everyone else in the room. Now they can get off my case about it.

Mental note for the future: Do not -- under any circumstances but especially when everyone is tipsy -- watch cheesy 80s space-themed movies with a bunch of NASA engineers. Why? Because they will steadfastly refuse and/or ignore your requests that they SHUT THE HELL UP about all the inaccuracies in the movie. You know who you are!

I slept late yesterday and lounged around all afternoon. I'd planned to go see The Aviator, but Cari and Nick both ditched me, or rather, just didn't want to go. So it's still on my list. I headed over to Becca's for the second evening in a row to watch the Oscars. They were surprisingly short, and I thought Chris Rock was a nice change as host. I loved his bit comparing the presidency to a job at the Gap, finding that your register is $7 trillion short at the end of the day, and starting a war with Banana Republic over toxic tank tops...and it turns out that Banana Republic didn't make tank tops to begin with. Hee hee.

No big surprises with the major awards, so that was a bit boring. I feel sorry for the people who had to accept their award from a microphone in the aisle of the theater; do they not deserve to be on stage like the actors and directors? The best acceptance speech of the night came from the guy who won Best Original Song with "Al Otro Lado del Rio" from The Motorcycle Diaries. He got up, sang two verses of his song, said "ciao" and left. Beautiful.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

go speed racer

Isn't it funny how an event can turn out the total opposite of what you expected?

I headed downtown this morning for the Rodeo Run 10K, which I've done three years in a row now. I was alone, since Rich bailed on me (he's feeling sick). It was drizzling. It was cold. I almost stayed home, but figured I should at least drive downtown, after all, the weather can be totally different there since it's 20 miles away.

It wasn't. It was still rainy. It was still chilly. I'd left Clear Lake a bit late and then had to stop for gas and then I parked near the finish at Minute Maid Park and didn't realize how far away that was from the start line. As a result, I ended up having to jog at least half a mile to even make it to the start line in time. I quickly threw my sweatshirt in a bag, picked up my chip, and no sooner than had I jumped into the crowd, the horn sounded to start the race. I waved to Roger Clemens, who was the honorary starter, as I crossed under the banner.

Whew. After the hectic half hour leading up to it, I was finally doing the race. The jog to the start line had warmed me up so I wasn't cold, but it was still drizzly and generally yucky out. I was not enthused and not expecting to run a good race at all.

I was slightly surprised when I passed the first mile in 10:00 flat, not because I'd gone that fast (I have a bad tendency to start too fast) but because I still felt perfectly fine. Usually when I start too fast, I can tell by the first mile marker that I'll feel it later. But not today.

"Hmm," I thought. "Well, I'll just keep going." I walked through a water station and then passed mile 2 at 20:30, observing that I'd started to slow down, as expected. Did I mention I'm horrible at judging my pace?

The race leader passed me on his way back into town right before I hit mile 3, and I crossed the 5K mark in 31:30. Great so far, and I still felt decent, but I knew I had another 5K to go and I didn't see how I could possibly keep up the pace, especially since I knew I'd have to climb the incline of the Elysian viaduct again on the return leg. It's a slight hill, but still a hill, and come on -- I haven't finished a 10K in less than 1:05 since, well, my 1:03:12 personal record in the Rodeo Run last year.

After the water station at ~3.25 miles, I fell in behind a group of 4 runners. I thought they were running a pretty good pace, so I listened to their conversation for a while and hit mile 4 in 40:30. Whoa -- that was a fast 4th mile! I'd sped up. I started thinking that maybe I could keep up the pace till the end.

The 5th mile was hardest, and I fell behind the 4 runners I'd been following. I passed mile 5 in 51:30 for an 11-minute mile. "Ah, now that's more like me," I thought, but was a little irked that I'd slowed after such a great first 4 miles. I decided to push myself through the final 1.2 miles and see what happened.

I focused on Minute Maid Park, and passed mile 6 in 1:01:25. It wasn't until this point that I was sure that I had a chance to turn the rain and cold into a really good day for me. I held strong, turned the corner, and sprinted the last 100 meters to the finish line, crossing in...

1:03:10!

A new 10K personal record! Only by 2 seconds (my previous was 1:03:12) but still! A new PR! I'm very excited. This is just the thing I need to get me back in the saddle, and motivated again after being a (relative) slacker since the marathon. And it all happened on a nasty, cold, confusing, uninspiring day.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

I'm so popular

I'm guessing Cubs tickets went on sale yesterday. Why?

On an average day, this blog draws ~120 hits. Yesterday it drew more than 230. My lovely stat tracker shows that at least 50+ people got here from Google, searching for some combination of "Cubs virtual waiting room."

So: attention Cubs fans! I bought Cubs-Astros tickets online last year and got stuck in the virtual waiting room. It sucks. I feel sorry for you if you're stuck in it this year. I blogged about it, which is why my site shows up on the search page.

Oh yeah, and GO ASTROS!

Friday, February 25, 2005

mya hee / mya ho / mya ha ha

Jason sent me a link to a video of some kid dancing, which is extremely, extremely funny.

Friday, February 25, 2005

don't cry for me Argentina

Carter called last night to announce that he and Steve are flying to Buenos Aires in April to spend 10 days exploring Argentina and a bit of Uruguay. I'm so insanely jealous. Steve somehow ended up with a free airline ticket to anywhere in the world, so they're splitting the cost of Carter's ticket (two-for-one, basically) and going to Argentina. So so jealous.

I'm dying to go to Argentina or Chile, the southern part, Patagonia. Everywhere I turn lately, I keep coming across these spectacular photos taken in Torres del Paine National Park, in Chile, and I just feel like the place is calling to me. Or haunting me. In a good way. In any case, the place looks so beautiful and I want to go.

I just have to keep reminding myself that we are going to Ecuador this fall. Ecuador. Ecuador. More Andes. I love the Andes. Must work on my rudimentary espanol.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

now people can't see how much time I spend surfing the web...

Gavin says he likes the new site design, but didn't comment on it because it's a lot like Becca's. Hmph. I designed this one before I did Becca's. I didn't think they looked too similar. Though with blogs, I do admit that I tend to fall into the "sidebar + blog entry" template mindset.

So I'm...halfway moved into my new desk, which is all of 5 feet from my old desk. People keep coming by, seeing me moving posters and books and such, and wonder why I'm bothering to move to another desk in the same office. My answer is that Becca's old desk has a better computer setup, space to put things next to the computer, and a bookshelf that I can actually access all the shelves of, as opposed the my old bookshelf where the bottom two shelves were blocked by a table.

But another big reason that I decided to shift desks has to do with the fact that I was always one of those kids who rearranged their bedroom at least once a year, if not more often. I just want a change of scenery. It's a slight change, but still a change.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

of tech support and its infinite wisdom...

Becca's moving down the hall seemed rather uneventful for me. Even though she seemed sad about it, I didn't really care, I mean, she's just going down the hall. She's still practically within shouting distance (because I can shout pretty loud). But yesterday when all her stuff was actually gone, and her desk was just sitting there empty, it was weird.

It's amazing what lack of an internet connection will motivate one to do quickly. I came in this morning to find that the tech support people, geniuses that they are, managed to turn off my ethernet port instead of Becca's. One desk is obviously empty, one desk is obviously occupied, and they turn off the port for the occupied desk. Sigh.

So my computer is now moved to Becca's old desk / my new desk. The rest will follow when I feel like it. For now, I have two desks. :)

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

a new saroy.net

Well, here is the new site design I've been talking about. A bit different from what I designed for Becca over the weekend.

I still have a lot of little tweaking to do here and there, but I got tired of trying to manage my posts in two content systems -- the old, Blogger, and the new, Movable Type. So little things may change over the next week or two. I want to put the Flickr photo stream back on the main page. I may make the comments pop-up boxes. I may change the entry layout text and colors and fonts a bit. The word count feature is currently not working, so all you see is "Words". I need to add contact info. And oh yeah, at the top of the list is to make something to link to from the "About Saroy" link!!

As I have time, I'll also finally be piping in my old blog entries, dating back as far as 1998. I know. 1998.

Anyway, here it is. If you find bugs or have suggestions, let me know.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

sigh

My day is totally sucking. I'm accidentally offending people, I'm stupid, I do things too slowly, I don't pick up on new concepts fast enough, and I am a totally horrible mentor. I just want to go home and crawl back into bed.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

"and Germany is boiled down to beer?"

Rachel Wiesz, that woman from The Mummy movies, was on The Daily Show last night talking to Jon Stewart. She was talking about the movie she's currently wrapping up filming in Montreal, and about how she loved Montreal because it was the best parts of France -- croissants, etc -- without the snootiness.

Jon Stewart says "You know we tried to create that in EPCOT Center."

The audience cracks up, but Rachel Wiesz is deadpan. "I don't know what that is," she says, confused.

Jon Stewart looks puzzled. He attempts to start an explanation a couple times, and finally says "hmm, how do you explain EPCOT Center?? Ok ok ok -- You know how big the world is?"

"Yeah," says Rachel Wiesz.

Jon Stewart explains: "Imagine if you could walk it...in an hour."

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

all my bags are packed / I'm ready to go

Movers are supposed to come today and take Becca's things down the hall to her new desk, so she spent yesterday packing. When I left at 4:30, it didn't look like she was anywhere near being done, and I predicted she'd be there until 7 or 8 to get everything finished. Imagine my surprise, then, when we all met for dinner at 7:30 and she announced that she'd finished packing and left work at 5:00. I was all ready to take it back, and give her credit for finishing up so fast.

Silly me! I forgot that Becca's definition of "packed" is not the same as a normal person's.

I walked in this morning to see the top of her desk strewn with papers and binders, an open binder on my desk about stuff I don't know, a few post-its still stuck to her desk and monitor, four posters still on the walls, a globe beach ball still inflated and on top of her bookshelf, a bunch of rolled up posters still on her shelf, a couple Smarties wrappers between her keyboard and monitor, and dust everywhere.

Yeah. She was packed at 5:00 yesterday. Suuuuuuuure.

She's not even here this morning for me to tease her about this. It's really a shame.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Becca's tech-saavy relatives...

Two new additions to the blogging world: Nancy and Emily! Becca's aunt and cousin, respectively. Both were members of the great Peru adventure, and Emily also joined us for Longs Peak, if you will recall. They are both very cool.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

"in an effort to avoid overexposure, we're only going to be on three nights this week..."

This may be too much information, but I have this weird rash on the front of my neck. It's incredibly itchy, and is a bit red and blotchy. Putting lotion on my neck helps. I think I'm having an allergic reaction to something, but I can't figure out what. It began on Saturday, when I went running in a new t-shirt that I hadn't washed yet, so perhaps there was something skin-irritating on the shirt?? Even so, I'd think the reaction would have subsided by now. It's very strange. If anyone has any idea what it might be, let me know.

Ok, weird health issue discussion over.

Except I've just developed a random headache, since lunch.

Ok, now weird health discussion really over.

Having yesterday off work inevitably left me feeling like it was a Sunday, and as such, I almost forgot to hit the climbing gym last night. I went because Buzz encouraged me to come, and reminded me when I randomly ran into her yesterday at Jiffy Lube, but she has gotten too good for me and I can't really climb with her. It's disappointing in one sense not to be able to keep up with her anymore, but on the other hand, she has a tendency to push me just a bit harder than I want to be pushed, and I end up frustrated. ;)

Jeff was there though, so I had someone to belay me and we ended up climbing together for an hour. I don't know him very well (he's a former co-op who started full-time just a couple weeks ago, so he was the co-op generation after me), but I think we're pretty good climbing partners because we're both at about the same skill level. He's just a bit taller and has more upper body strength, simply by virtue of being male, so he can climb more difficult routes than I can. But not enough harder to make us mismatched.

I came home from the gym and watched the 12 guys perform on the first night of American Idol. I was pretty impressed, actually -- all twelve of them could carry a tune, and a few were really good. The first and last guys, Nikko and Mario, were my favorites of the night. I guess I'll tune in tonight to see how the girls do. Don't know about tomorrow night for the "elimination" show. Three nights per week of American Idol? That is a lot. Thank God for TiVo and the ability to fast-forward through the parts I don't want to see.

This afternoon the rodeo trail ride is coming through JSC. It passes through every year (apparently they spend the night at Gilruth) but I've never gone to see it. I figured today is as good a day as any, so I'm going to head outside in an hour or so to watch the people on horses ride past.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Thank you Mr. Washington and Mr. Lincoln

Carter just called to tell me not to waste my President's Day sleeping, but I had the last laugh -- I was up at 9:30 and had already been on a 16-mile bike ride and showered by the time he called. Woohoo. Nacho and I rode around the lake today, including up and over the Kemah Bridge. That monster is a tough climb. Well, and, the only climb in this area...

It's been a lovely three-day weekend. I've managed to exercise each day with a 3-mile run on Saturday, a 4-mile run yesterday, and this morning's bike ride. This bodes well for me getting back into some sort of routine. The runs were both tough, but I'm glad I did them. A month ago I ran a marathon, and yesterday four miles seemed like a long way. I have to admit that it's a bit discouraging to see how quickly we lose our fitness if we don't keep it up. But I'm determined not to let the marathon training benefits disappear entirely.

Saturday night I had fondue at Becca's house with her, Nick, Cari, Melanie, and Carlos. MMMMM, it was so good. I love fondue, but rarely have it. We did cheese first, took a break, and then did chocolate. It was delicious.

Yesterday I worked on Becca's webpage and caught up on my TiVo recordings. Chris was in town for the full-timer beach party (which I declined to attend). He'd been down in Surfside partying on Friday and Saturday nights but was back in Clear Lake last night, so I joined him for a group dinner at Lupe's. Ian was also in town from LA for the party, so he was at dinner as well. It's always nice to see old friends. Ian, of course, lives permanently out in California and so I'm lucky if I see him more than once a year. Chris is out at Stanford for the year and it's weird not having him around, so it was good that he came back as well. Now I've got to figure out a time to go visit him...and make my heart ache for California again...

Now it's off to Mediterranean Chef for lunch! Mmm.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

a new old piles of rock

I did a quick and easy redesign of Becca's website this afternoon. Check it out and let me (and her) know what you think!

Sunday, February 20, 2005

FYI...

If you are ever getting ready to go to bed, and have taken out your contacts, and then go to wash your face with Clean and Clear Morning Burst facial cleanser, and lean in so that you can see what you're doing because, as previously mentioned, you have already taken out your contacts and can't see more than 6 inches in front of you, and the cleanser pump is a bit clogged, so nothing comes out for a moment and then suddenly it squirts out with a lot of force and a few drops of cleanser hit you RIGHT IN THE EYE before your instincts even have a chance to shut your eyelid, this might be your reaction as you clutch your face because your eye feels like it's burning away:

"SH!T F*CK G0D D$MN that HURTS like a SON OF A B!TCH!!!!"

Then you'll spend 5 minutes flushing your eye out under the faucet.

Friday, February 18, 2005

oh canada / my home and native land

I have Monday off work for President's Day, and had fleeting thoughts of leaving town for the long weekend. Becca searched high and low for a last-minute flight+hotel deal to anywhere on the Yucatan so that we could relax on beaches and see Mayan ruins, but no luck. I'm not too disappointed because it's better for me to just save the money, but it definitely would have been nice to get out of Houston. So then I thought about heading to a nearby state park to camp on my own for a night, but the weather is looking very blah and noncommittal. Showers and overcast skies.

In the end, I've decided that Sunday might be a nice day to finally check out Armand Bayou Nature Center, which is only 10 minutes away. Maybe find the geocaches that are hidden there that I haven't yet checked off my list, take some photos, walk the trails. I'll wait to see what the weather is like...

I'll be getting out of Houston soon enough anyway. We're taking a big group trip to Vancouver/Whistler in three weeks and I'm starting to get excited as plans come together. For this trip, "we" includes myself, Becca, Cari, Gavin, Jen, Rich, Jen O, Irwin, and Becca's Aunt Diane and Aunt Nancy. What can I say -- when we do trips, we do them big!

We fly into Vancouver on March 9 and half of the group is heading straight to Whistler to ski, but Rich and I (the little- to non-skiiers) are going to spend a day and a half in Vancouver. Cari and Gavin are going to spend part of that time with us, and Irwin too. We're going to stay with Cari's friend Ruey one night, then spend Thursday riding bikes through Stanley Park which is supposed to be very pretty. Rich and I will head up to Whistler on Friday, and Jen O will come up for the weekend as well if she can escape work. Finally, Cari's friend Kelly coincidentally will be at Whistler that weekend as well.

Whew! Everyone is scattered for the first couple days, but by Friday night we'll all be at Whistler/Blackcomb. On Saturday I'm going to attempt to learn how to ski (I've only done it once before, when I was in 8th grade). On Sunday, we're going to do this very cool Ziptrek thing across the valley.

Becca's done a great job with the planning so far, and it sounds like we've managed to work out a plan where everyone can do what they want! The funniest part so far was when we called to confirm our plane tickets, and didn't realize that we needed to talk to the international ticketing department. Yeah, Canada is another country, apparently. ;)

Thursday, February 17, 2005

fly me to the moon / and let me play among the stars

The Cheesecake Factory last night was fun, but I have to say it was not my best CF experience. My cajun jambalaya pasta was sticky and not well-tossed. I went out on a limb and tried a new cheesecake and while it was good, it's not going to make my favorites list. And I swear our waiter was on drugs or something. He disappeared for long stretches and always seemed confused, but then sang "Happy Birthday" to Cari with more enthusiasm than any waiter I've ever seen. Head bopping back and forth and everything. It was bizarre, and funny.

Becca wrote a bit this morning about the current aeronautics budget cuts that are circulating at NASA, saying "I do care when research funding is withdrawn prematurely and grad students can't finish their PhDs. And I care when expensive, useful facilities are shut down with no thought to the future. And I hate to see people lose their jobs... But, I just personally think the space agency doesn't need to be as involved in aeronautics as it used to be."

I have to say that I agree with her. When NASA first began, there were still so many unknown areas in atmospheric flight. I'm not implying that we have "figured out" everything there is to know about aeronautics, but I feel like the industry is big enough now to take care of itself. As Becca says, if the airlines want improvements to their fuel efficiency, they can fund the research. If the military wants to improve performance on an F-15, they can use some of the hundreds of billions of dollars they receive annually. If the air traffic control system needs updating, ask the FAA or NTSB.

I'm not saying that NASA shouldn't work together with other entities, but I do believe that NASA should avoid doing work that is more appropriate for other government agencies, or that private industry is capable of doing. Aeronautics is a widely researched field these days, and well-funded with or without NASA. Space exploration, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. There are private companies that are starting to break into the market -- Scaled Composites, Blue Origin, etc -- but for the most part, if NASA wasn't doing space stuff, and specifically manned spaceflight, no one in the U.S. would be.

I think it should be NASA's duty to investigate areas and concepts that no one else is thinking about. NASA should be in the business of doing things that other groups can't. We're not in this to make a profit, so we should be developing technologies instead of maintaining them. NASA should be out there pushing that proverbial envelope.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

cat-feeding instructions

Best pet-care note ever (Worm is one of the cats):

Rich,

The key to the house is in your desk drawer. Stephanie left instructions on the counter. Be careful. I think Worm is plotting to kill you...

Schottel

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

an email exchange

Me: "Happy Birthday, Cari!"
Cari: "Thanks. Nick left me a flower so now my entire group thinks he's my boyfriend."
Me: "So what's new? Everyone in DM used to think we were dating."
Cari: "Well, there was both you and Nick to tease. Here, it's all dumped on me."
Me: "Ah. Just tell them he's gay."

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

grab your things / I've come to take you home

Today is Cari's birthday, and due to an inability to buy cheese curds at Whole Foods because she left her wallet at work, she can't make poutine (ick) and we will now be visiting the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner. As you can guess, there are no complaints on my part. Mmmmmmm. Cheeeeeeesecake. Thanks for forgetting your wallet, Cari!

I left work at 4:30 yesterday and had planned to go on a bike ride, but ended up sitting on my butt watching TV and messing around on the computer. Next thing I knew, it was dark. Excuse: I was tired anyway. I do need to start biking though, in preparation for the MS150. And speaking of the MS150, if you would like to sponsor me, please do so here.

Yes, that entire paragraph was a way to work in the "donate to me" sentence.

But to continue with the athletic theme, I've been a major slacker in terms of working out since the marathon. That, combined with the fact that I've been eating whatever appears in front of me, has resulted in gaining about 5 pounds. This does not make me happy. Grr. Time to buckle down again.

I'm running the Rodeo Run 10K in a week and a half and am going to plan on doing at least 4 runs between now and then. My goal is 1:05:00, or ~10:30 miles. I think I can do it, but it'll be a challenge.

Looking toward spring in general, I'm finding that time management is the hardest part of any workout routine. There are so many things I enjoy doing, and so little time. Rock climbing on Mondays, softball on Thursdays, soccer on both Saturday and Sunday once the spring season starts again. Plus we usually go swimming on Wednesdays, to stay in shape for two upcoming triathlons. Add to that the need to get in at least 2 decent bike rides per week from now until the MS150 in mid-April, and the fact that I'd like to get in at least 2 runs per week to maintain my running fitness... That adds up to nine activities, or, more activities per week than days!

Somehow I'll work it out.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

those wheels, they keep on turning...

As news comes out that Lance is riding the Tour again, I realize that I'll be spending the better part of July tuned in to the Outdoor Life Network. And I'm going to love having the TiVo.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Reason 31. 2004 NLCS Game 5.

Thirty reasons why baseball is way better than football. Some of them are pretty shaky, for instance, Bud Selig is supposedly a good commissioner? Baseball has parity because 5 different teams have won the Series...when basically the same 2 teams fight for the AL each year and the Braves always win the NL East? But others are funny:

12. SBC Park -- Stand on the walkway behind the right-field wall and take in the bay, emerald green field, San Francisco skyline and smell of garlic fries. There might not be a better place on earth.

21. Ticket prices -- Take out a second mortgage if you want to see your favorite NFL team. Better yet, come to the ballpark, where there are still good seats for under $20.

27. Billy Wagner -- He's 5-9 and throws 100 mph. Next.

Monday, February 14, 2005

The Amusing Tale of the Runaway Purse

On Saturday night, Becca, Melanie, Josh and I went to a performance downtown by a dance company from Los Angeles called Diavolo. They do pieces that are rather Cirque du Soleil-ish and involve simple yet elaborate props. They did two pieces on Saturday: Tete en L'Air involved a staircase with many doors and hatches, and Trajectoire was done on a large half-cylinder that rocked back and forth on the stage. It was strange at first, but as the dances became more physical and acrobatic, it was really neat to watch.

The other part of the evening though, was that our seats were on the front row. Like, really, on the front row. In the orchestra pit, on the part that moves up and down to raise and lower the orchestra. The music for the performance was piped in, so they replaced the orchestra with seats, and we were on the front row.

Ok, so now you have an idea of where we were sitting. The pit floor was lowered part way, to be at the level of the theater instead of the level of the stage. As a result, there was a 2-foot vertical gap/hole at our feet, which I didn't discover...

...until I dropped my purse through the hole and onto the pit floor beneath the stage about 6 feet below!!

Yes, I dropped my purse through the stage. And couldn't figure out how to retrieve it. It was far enough below me that though I knew I could jump down, I was unsure that I'd be able to get back up, and because of a strategically placed curtain (which was very deceiving and is the reason I didn't see the hole in the first place), I couldn't see whether there was a way out of the under-stage area. So I went and got the first usher I could find, who was inexplicably about 5 feet tall. I'm not sure if he was a kid, or just short, but it only made the situation funnier. He consulted his boss, who told him to "just go get it." I discouraged him from that idea, seeing as how it was a 6 foot drop and neither of us knew what was down there. He consulted his boss again, and said they'd get it at intermission.

Intermission came, and Josh (whose seat was the section over from us; we bought the tickets too late to get 4 together) came over to chat. We informed him that my purse was down below, and showed him. You could see it lying on the floor if you pushed the curtain back! Josh, matter-of-factly, jumped down and retrieved my wayward purse. Just, bloop, jumped down. As he was worming his way back up, the usher was trying to help him and ended up slamming his back repeatedly into the stage (as I said, the gap was fairly small, and vertical, and tough to get out of).

But Josh saved the day. Hooray for Josh!

And the lesson is, don't drop your purse down the orchestra pit!

Monday, February 14, 2005

I fall asleep with my friends around me / only place I know I feel safe / I'm gonna call this home

Props to Becca and Irwin for this site -- Anti-Valentine's day. They have a hilarious selection of e-cards to send. My favorites:

I left my heart in San Francisco. Otherwise, I would have like totally given it to you, I swear.

You'll do.

Single is good.

My Precioussssssss.

I love you blah blah blah hearts & flowers yadda yadda yadda cupid etc.

Nick gave me the COOLEST VALENTINE'S PRESENT EVER. It's a Lego man picture holder. I mean -- two of my favorite things in the entire world -- Legos and photos. And the picture holder is actually great because it doesn't have teeth, and thus won't mess up whatever I stick in it. The only way it could be better is if it somehow came from IKEA... But apparently there is a Lego store in Chicago (where he was for the weekend), which may actually be better than IKEA but I can't say that until I've been there. So I must visit.

Has anyone else been reading about the massive art project in Central Park called The Gates? It consists of 7,500 saffron-colored gates used to hang fabric swaths of the same color, strewn throughout Central Park. It went up in a matter of days, will be there for only two weeks, and will then be taken down as quickly as it went up. The entire thing is quite intriguing to me, especially as I've read more about the artists, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and some of their other work (wrapping both Pont Neuf and the Reichstag in cloth, for instance). It makes me want to hop a cheap flight to New York this weekend and see it for myself.

Fortunately for those of us in other areas of the country, photobloggers are out in full force to document the event.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

I'm addicted to you / don't you know that you're toxic

Becca, Jen, Gavin, Cari and I went out to see "In Good Company" this afternoon. I like Dennis Quaid, and Topher Grace, and Scarlett Johannsen. And I also really liked the movie. There was something that just felt real about it. Nothing ever felt "Hollywood-ized" about the story they were telling. It felt like real people, and real problems, and a realistic conclusion. Good flick.

Afterwards, I went to Fry's. I've been in the market for an external hard drive (for backup/archive purposes) and I hadn't been to check out the new store (it opened back in December). I picked out a hard drive that seemed like a good value, and that had a nice rebate, and began wandering the aisles just browsing.

As I entered the TV section, I was overwhelmed by a loud pop song and glanced at one of the screens. Ten TVs in a row were showing the same thing -- Britney Spears gyrating on stage at some concert.

Standing in the row watching very intently were -- I counted them -- nine men. Just standing. And staring.

I had to smile as I walked past.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

and so he doesn't feel left out...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Friday, February 11, 2005

I got a story it's almost finished / all I need is someone to tell it to / maybe that's you

I feel as if I should apologize for not blogging much this week. I can't even explain it really...it feels like I've been incredibly busy, and yet I don't feel like I got all that much done. That's the worst kind of week. I'm sleepy and stressed out, and the worst part is that the stress I'm feeling isn't even mine. I know that sounds strange, but I can explain. Two of my good friends are having a major fight. They're both strong-willed people which is how the argument began in the first place, but one of them is way out of line this time, so much so that I'm feeling sympathy shock and indignation for an argument whose beginning I wasn't even there to witness. Although I wish I had been; maybe I could've nipped it in the bud. Who knows.

I just came back from a two-hour training session over at USA to find that Rich and George have completely rearranged their office! For a place like JSC where the paint on the walls hasn't been refreshed in 40 years, I swear, even the smallest movement of furniture is a big deal. Anyway, it looks nice and it's more open and now I'm even more jealous of the fact that they have a window and I don't. Maybe instead of moving to Becca's desk when she moves down the hall, I'll move into the third desk in their office. It was unappealing and stuck in a corner before, but now it's bright and open.

In other work news, the oldest guy in our group has officially decided to retire, and will be leaving by July at the latest. This is great for him -- he's been here at least 35 years -- but is cause for minor panic among the rest of us because the man is brilliant and is basically the source of all knowledge on Apollo guidance and its current application to all the Mars entry guidance. We've said, only half-jokingly, that we should have a "Gil Hour" every week or two from now until he retires, just to sit down and let him talk about...anything. He's got so much knowledge and somehow we've got to capture as much as we can. Me especially, since I'm going to be taking over half of his current work.

Gavin says our co-op needs something new to do. I don't have anything new for him to do. I'm a sucky mentor.

I don't have much on tap for the weekend. We're having softball practice tomorrow in anticipation of the new season starting next Thursday, so that's good -- I need to refresh my fly ball judgment skills! Tomorrow night I'm going to see a dance performance downtown that's supposed to be Cirque du Soleil-ish. And there's also a Valentine's Day "Old Skool" Bash as well...

Thursday, February 10, 2005

don't it feel like sunshine after all / the world we love forever gone...

It's been a stressful couple days. I find myself asking people what day it is. Thursday? Already? Well, that's good only because it means tomorrow is Friday. I'm stressed out, man.

A swim last night with Buzz, Becca and Jen helped though, and a run tonight should as well. Two laps plus 800 meters, which totals 6.3 miles. I know, a little weird, but two laps is just shy of a nice, round six miles. So last week we added a bit extra, and will again tonight.

Better head out -- time to get to the Gilruth and get changed.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

the pleasure and pain of...

IKEA!!

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

and of course...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

night and day / you are the one

Yesterday somehow became busy, despite the fact that I really didn't get anything done. Including posting.

Jen and I went downtown last night to see Anything Goes at the Hobby Center. The tickets were originally for last Sunday night, but the horror of the mere thought of missing the Super Bowl had us exchanging the tickets for a different day. Theater Under the Stars is nice that way. Easy exchange, and the show was great. Not much of a plot to speak of, but funny bits and great songs, including a couple that I knew well but had never known they were from Anything Goes -- I Get a Kick Out of You, Night and Day, even Friendship. I'm not sure how I even recognized that last song; maybe Mom used to sing it?

On our way home, it was foggier outside than I can ever remember seeing before in Houston. When we got off the highway, you couldn't even see the mall. You couldn't see the street signs. It was so confusing and eerie that Jen even took the wrong turn on an exit she's used a zillion times before. And the 100-foot tall light poles with their rings of lights looked like alien spaceships landing all around us. It was spooky and cool.

I have a half-formed mental blog entry about my career aspirations, or lack thereof. I guess I'll post it when it's fully formed.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

intelligent loner

You're like me! The intelligent loner. You're shy at times but friendly, and you are never weak and always independent. You are incredibly intelligent (wise beyond your years) and have a talent for many things (sports, music, art). You have a kind and warm personality and enjoy the simple things. Like hanging out with friends and watching movies at home. But you're sometimes quiet nature makes you a bit of an outcast and a mystery to people. No matter how pretty you are or smart or athletic, you just can't seem to break into the crowd and be noticed. Don't worry, try to be more outgoing and speak out when you have more to say. Don't hide behind your books and sports and computer, get out there and get noticed. You also have deep desires in life and feel vunerable and alone at times. Don't feel sad either, what helps me to express feelings and dreams that I can't say to people, is through my writing. Maybe you should try.
What kind of girl are you? (with pix!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Ok, so part of that is accurate. But the advice to be more outgoing and speak out when I have something to say? Don't hide behind my books? Try writing? Yeah, I probably don't need help with that. ;)

Monday, February 07, 2005

and the things on our shoulders were epaulettes

Nick: "Why do people say 'throw down the gauntlet' when you duel? If I want to duel, do I have to run out and get a gauntlet?"
Becca: "No, you can just say 'let's duel.'"
Nick: "Where did that phrase come from?"
Becca: "Well, I think it's a throw-back from a time when people wore gaunlets."
Nick: "You wear them? Wait, what's a gauntlet?"
Becca: "It's a glove."
Sarah: "Yeah, and the part that goes on your forearm. We had fake ones to wear with our marching band uniforms in high school."
Nick: "What?? I thought it was, like, a glass."
Sarah & Becca: "No, that a goblet."

Monday, February 07, 2005

oh you drive me crazy / oh you just bring me down

I had a nice weekend -- half quiet, half busy.

I ran a local race on Saturday morning, the Galloway Gallop in Kemah. It didn't go as well as planned. I had signed up for the 10K, but an odd combination of starting too fast and being exhausted from not getting enough sleep lately got to me, and I stopped after one lap. (The 10K was simply two laps of the 5K course.) The race started well enough, but as I ran through mile 1 in under 10 minutes, I knew I'd started too fast and might pay for it. By mile 2, I was feeling incredibly sluggish; I felt like I wasn't even getting my feet off the ground, despite the fact that I still covered the mile in a good time, and hit the mile 2 marker at just over 20 minutes. By about the 2.5-mile point, I'd decided to cut my run from a 10K to a 5K and just go to the finish line instead of turning to begin another lap. I was disappointed, so I did push myself hard over the last bit to finish the 5K in a respectable 31:33. But for the rest of the day, I was mad that I hadn't done the 10. Grrr.

I did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day, and before I knew it, I was on my way to the Houston Auto Show on Sunday with Melanie, Jason, and Debbie. I'd never been to a car show before, and -- slightly surprisingly -- it was fun. I'd expected more really fancy expensive cars, and while there were some, it was mostly all the car makers just showing off their latest models. I checked out the 2005 Xterra, which has been redesigned, and actually found that I like my 2004 version better. They've changed the interior a lot, and I don't like it as much. We also checked out all the sports cars, of course. Everything was very, very shiny. I wonder how many coats of wax you have to put on cars to make them that shiny.

After the car show it was time for the Super Bowl, of course, which I watched at Matt and Stephanie's place. I didn't really care who won, and so I was glad that it was a close game, which kept it entertaining. There were some good commercials, as usual (loved the Volvo/Virgin Galactic one with the rocket, the one with the "don't judge too quickly" slogan and the guy with the knife, cat, and tomato sauce, and the one with the Diet Pepsi trucks). And after the "fiasco" of last year's halftime show, I really enjoyed Paul McCartney. I wasn't offended last year, in fact I thought everyone made way too big a deal out of it. But I also thought it was really nice to return to a more "normal" halftime performance. I would much rather see Paul McCartney sing multiple songs, songs that everybody knows and are fun to sing along with, than listen to 4 or 5 of the latest one-hit wonders sing a 2-minute montage of their "greatest hits."

So bravo, Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Monday, February 07, 2005

link-o-rama

Yesterday, Gavin wrote a fantastic blog entry on a subject everyone can relate to -- your mom selling or giving away something that you weren't tired of yet.

My mom still does this, actually. Last year, my sister bought me a "Luke Schenscher has a posse" shirt at Tech, when they were on their way to the NCAA championship game. She didn't get around to mailing it to me, but instead took it home after the end of the semester. As Katie jetted off to Europe for the summer, she told Mom to mail the shirt to me. Mom, instead, gave it to Goodwill. She didn't know what it was, and she gave it away!! I gave Katie $25 for that shirt, $15 plus shipping plus a little extra. I maintain that Mom owes me $25.

Another great blog entry today comes from Gabriel Rodriguez, the speedy guy who wins tons of local races (finished 7th -- overall -- at the Houston marathon and was the first local finisher) and works as a manager at my local running store. I've spoken to him only a few times, when I was at the store to pick up new shoes or something. He wrote an entry about his car history after a visit to the auto show, and it's a really funny post. I knew he was fast; I didn't know he was funny too! ;)

(Note, I found Gabe's blog through the new Houston Running blog by a guy named Jon Walk. I left a comment on his site last week and he emailed me back last night -- after reading my blog, he realized that he was running close to me during at least part of the marathon because he remembers hearing people cheer "Go Sarah!" He must have been feeling better at the end though; he finished about 4 minutes ahead of me. :) He was also kind enough to link to my blog, as I noticed this morning. That was unexpected. Thanks Jon! I'll have to find you at a local race sometime and introduce myself.)

Enter to win a trip into space with Volvo and Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic's site also has a page where you can indicate interest in getting a job with them in one of the following categories:

• Space Pilot (you'll need to be an experienced non-space pilot first)
• Rocket Scientist (technical, design, training, IT)
• Astronaut Advisor (marketing, sales and customer care)
• Ground Controller (Business project & facilities management)
• None of the above but I make great coffee

Saturday, February 05, 2005

I'm watching the Tech-Duke game.

I'm watching the Tech-Duke game. It's only 8-8 at the moment, but already I'm remembering how much the addition of three schools to the ACC (two already, Boston College comes next year) has screwed up the basketball schedule. It was a football move, with little regard to basketball. Case in point: we have to visit Duke this year, but they don't have to visit us. Next year, it's reversed.

But today, I just want the Cameron Crazies to SHUT UP ALREADY!

Friday, February 04, 2005

she must have a thing for togas

I'm at the video store. As I peruse the new releases, a man walks up carrying his ~2-year-old daughter on his hip. He heads straight for the entire shelf full of "Troy" DVDs. "Is this rated R?" he ponders into the air and then sighs as he turns to his daughter. "Your mom wants to see Orlando and Brad."

Friday, February 04, 2005

when all your love is gone / who will save me / from all I'm up against out in this world

So Melanie has started a blog. I love blogs!

Melanie sits in my office a lot using the FADS terminal next to my desk. We rarely use it, and there isn't a free terminal in her office because...well, because the computer setup over there is dumb and the terminals are at individual desks, which makes them, you know, hard to share. ANYWAY, that's not the point. She was sitting there this morning as Becca was talking excitedly about her flight controller certificate that she just received and its frame, as she put it up on the top of her desk/hutch thingy, leaning against some notebooks.

I guess the certificate and frame is pretty cool, and so maybe I'm just jealous. After all, I've been here going on three years and I'm not even close to getting a flight control position; I mean, no, I didn't apply for FDO like she did, but I've told my management I want a backroom position, and nothing is really happening, and maybe I should be more aggressive, but I also feel like if they don't realize by now, it's hopeless. ANYWAY, I'm still not to the point.

So I made some snide comment about how it's just a cheap frame, and a couple minutes later when it fell off the desk because it wasn't really that stable, I said something like "oh, I totally knew that was going to fall when you put it up there, blah blah blah."

And then Melanie said something about how our office was really mean. And how we say mean things. And while I made light of it at the time, and said "oh, that's just the way Becca and I are," her comment sort of made me think.

I tend to be very sarcastic, and I think that in the past six months or so, many of my sarcastic comments have gone beyond teasing and turned into thinly veiled criticism. I can't quite put it into words...but the best I can come up with is that I just feel like I've lost patience with people, that I'm not as understanding and accomodating with them as I used to be. And they're my friends. I hear myself saying snippy things, and I don't like it, but can't stop myself.

I need to work on that. I need to figure out why I've lost patience with people, and get over it. It's not their fault, it's my fault.

Now that I wrote all that, I feel like I should clarify -- there is nothing big going on in my life, I'm not trying to start some grand discussion, or any sort of "waaaah, I'm sorry, I'm a horrible person, why do you even like me" conversations. And it's not about Becca, or Melanie, or any person in particular; they're just the two who put me on this train of thought.

So. The end.

Friday, February 04, 2005

come on and get in the boat, fish / come on and get in the boat, fish fish

Chris, who updated, I mean, not like I check people's blog every day and wait for them to write something... Anyway, point being, he mentioned a local gay water polo team called the Atlanta Rainbow Trout. OH MY GOD, that made me laugh so hard. I love their name.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

chim chim cher-ee / a sweep is as lucky as lucky can be

I'm about to sign up for the MS150, and I can't design which team to join. One option is to rejoin the team I rode with last year. They took great care of me, and I'm certain they will again. The other option is to join the "Mission Control" team and get a jersey that has an astronaut riding a bike on Mars. How cool is that? But I don't know what sort of amenities they offer. Though I'm sure it'll be fine...

I gave about 15 minutes of a presentation today, one that I just found out about yesterday. It was a subject I've presented a thousand times before (at least it seems like a thousand times), but I had forgotten some of the main points to make. As a result, my part was a little awkward. Ah well. It still went ok.

The floor in our office is so absolutely disgusting. They mop and wax the hallways, but not the individual offices. As a result, the offices are filthy. I can't go an entire day without ending up with tan dust/dirt all over my pant legs. Seriously, I look like Pig Pen or something. I honestly think it's probably a health hazard of some sort; there is just so much dust. And it never gets swept, or mopped.

So I finally got a Swiffer wet mop, and figured I'd clean my office floor myself. I think all the wet mop does is push the dirt around. I don't think it actually gets any of it off the floor. There's just too much.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

state of the union's pronunciation

Seriously. I'm convinced he just does it to bug me. Yes, me. He doesn't know me, but somehow, he knows it irks me.

Nuclear. Say it with me. New - clee - ur. NEWWWWWWWW - CLEEEEEEE - UR!

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

I say that I don't care / I just run my hands through her dark hair

I know it's time for a haircut when, first of all, I have split ends, but also because it's long enough that I can pull the aforementioned split ends around in front of my face, and inspect them without going cross-eyed, and pick at them when I'm distracted. Also -- when I can reach my arm up behind my back and grab the bottom of my hair. It hasn't been this long since sometime at Tech, four years ago.

Time for a cut.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

money makes the world go round

In the middle of my "stock crisis" yesterday, as I freaked out over what to do with my small, small sum of money, George came into my office and tried to drag me back into his office to show me what to do. I wouldn't let him. Apparently, after that, he went back to his desk and told Rich: "Sarah's kind of strong!"

Hoo ha.

Anyway. I do appreciate all the comments about investment strategies. A couple things, in response...

Cari, I'll help you with website work in return for no investment advice. Nothing personal, but I think I've decided what I want to do for the time being, and I don't want to second guess myself again. :)

Jen, it'd be nice if I could access something through my parents, but as far as I know, they don't have significant investments thanks to raising four kids on two middle class salaries; this is one of the reasons I want to start saving now, while I can.

Brian, yeah, I've been using fool.com; I like how they explain things in a basic way. I can dig that. I've considered going to a financial advisor, but haven't yet. I hesitate to pay someone, because like I said, I feel like I should be smart enough to figure it out. But maybe it's not a bad idea.

Suzy, hi! Thanks for reading my blog! Index funds are mainly what I'm looking at. They seem to be the best for long-term investing, which is all I want to do. I'm obviously not cut out to be anything like a day trader. :)

Rachel, thanks for the pep talk. ;)

Karen, I know I could pay someone to do this stuff for me but that's the thing -- with the relatively small amounts of money I'm talking about, I feel like I should be able to figure it out myself. I don't own a home, so I don't itemize my taxes; I still fill out the form every year by myself, takes about 10 minutes and I'm done. Yup, my work retirement (TSP) account is invested in either government bonds or any of four other funds that follow various indicies (including one that tracks the S&P500, and the thing I like about that plan is I tell it how to divide itself among the funds, the money automatically goes in each paycheck, and that's all I have to think about. I'm basically looking to set up something similar. I know I could just bump up my contribution to my TSP account, but I'd rather put the extra money in a different location.

Becca, agreed. I don't want to pay someone to manage my teeny amount of money. For the amount I'm going to be investing for the time being, I just don't think it's worth it.

Anyway, point being, I think I've decided what I want to do, and so I'm gonna do it.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

money money money money / MO-ney

I recently started a Roth IRA, after hearing that it's "the thing to do." Ok, so I didn't open one only because someone told me to; I opened one because I know saving money now is better than saving money later, and hell, if I can afford to buy all the tech gadgets that I do, I can certainly afford to put some money in some kind of savings.

HOWEVER -- dot dot dot -- I don't really like the stock market, probably because I don't really understand the stock market, therefore I am greatly intimidated by it, convinced that any money I put in it will immediately disappear forever, and generally would prefer to just find someone trustworthy and say "here's my money, make it grow."

But you have to pay someone for that service, and, being an engineer, I feel like it should be within my capability to understand the damn stock market. I mean, not everything, but at least to the point where I can take the money I would have to pay someone else, plus some, and just invest it myself!

So anyway, I opened this Roth IRA. Put some money in it, just as a start. Now...I can't figure out how to actually invest the money. And...I don't know what to invest it in. So...I asked Rich and George and they started telling me all the things that were bad about the broker through whom I opened the account until I couldn't take anymore and told them to go away.

This is why I haven't invested before now.