Daily: May 2006 Archives

Clemens is back with the Astros! Woo!

I ran after work yesterday, despite the oppressive humidity. After my frustrating afternoon, I needed to burn off some energy. I told myself that I'd just do a nice easy run in the heat, but of course once I got out there, all keyed up after my crappy day, I took off faster. I did something a little different and hit the splits at the half mile markers instead. I ran the first 1.5 miles without stopping, then took a short walk break. I took two more short breaks at 2 and 2.5 miles, but ran faster because of it. In a way, it was almost a pseudo-speed session.

Mile 1 - 11:10 (5:40, 5:30)
Mile 2 - 10:56 (5:20, 5:36 w/walk)
Mile 3 - 10:32 (5:18 w/walk, 5:14 w/walk)

Including the walk breaks, I did 3 miles in 32:40. Because of my walk/run pattern in the last half mile that had me running sub-10:00 pace for the portions I ran, I finished gasping for air, but feeling much happier about work and life in general. Geez, running is such good therapy.

This morning I had to drive to work in a deluge. I think the rain started around 4 am, but it was still falling hard when I left at 6:45 for my sim. I had a crapload of stuff with me -- purse, backpack, and suitcase -- since I am leaving straight for the airport in a couple hours, and my umbrella was, of course, in the car. I held my suitcase over my head and ran for the car, and managed to avoid getting the upper half of my body too wet. The suitcase, on the other hand, had to be opened just so that water didn't leak through the top onto all my clothes!

Umbrella now in hand, I made it from the parking lot to the control center without difficulty, unless you count the fact that I was running late and therefore did not have time to stop for Starbucks. The control center, of course, was freezing, which felt great, especially on my wet legs. Sigh.

I'm off to Los Angeles this afternoon for two days of meetings at JPL about Mars stuff, followed by a Saturday hanging out with Gavin. I plan to catch a Dodgers game and push my list of stadiums over the halfway mark! Dodger Stadium will be #16. If only my flight got in a little earlier tonight -- I could've gone to an Angels game as well!

Softball last night. We won in extra innings, which was an unexpected surprise since we are quite adept at making it to extra innings only to lose by a landslide. I was too tired to add swimming to the mix, so my workout plans are already shot for the second of two weeks. I really must buckle down and get back on track. My jeans were tight this morning and that just depressed me. I'm heavier at the moment than I've been in more than a year. BOOO. I blame the fact that we (referring to both my friends and my boy) go out to dinner a lot. I have about zero willpower when it comes to not gorging on yummy fattening restaurant food.

I am very much looking forward to the weekend. We have Monday off, of course, for Memorial Day, and I have gloriously little else planned after the Astros 5K tomorrow morning. Time to finally catch up on my reading, clean up my apartment, and maybe do some quality sitting by the pool. Ah, weekend, how I love thee.

Things don't slow down when you go on vacation. If anything, they speed up.

The "chicks" survived another LSO Golf Tournament on Monday. Becca, Jen, Buzz and I together, using the best ball method, shot a 94. That was 14 strokes worse than anyone else and won us $2 each and the title of Worst Gross Score. We wear it proudly. Through a series of bizarre and just plain absurd twists, we actually birdied two of the handicap holes and parred one or two more of them, so our net score only dropped to 88. We won Worst Net Score as well, though we didn't get any money for it -- they said we could only win worst score once! :)

Monday was also J's birthday. I took him out to dinner, and he liked all of his presents, which made me very happy because buying good presents is important to me. I'm a weirdo that way. He is two years younger than me, which had me alternating between trying to harass him about getting older while following it up with "oh, I remember being 26...good times..."

Actually I don't remember anything specific about 26. Let's see, it would have been March 2004-March 2005. I went to Peru when I was 26. (I always think of travel first!) I bought my SLR and started doing more photography when I was 26. I bought my first car, the first that I paid for myself, when I was 26.

Yesterday it was back to work, but I spent the majority of the day in the control center which means it was a very fun day. Last night's sim was slow, but two of the cases were really interesting. We had one prop case, and prop cases are notoriously difficult, especially since we're now working new procedures. When it popped up last night, I thought I did a really good job of handling it as quickly as possible (which, unfortunately, is still not as quick as we'd really like, but such is life).

Afterwards, though, it turned out that we had had some communication issues about dump duration versus dump cutoff time, and I felt like TRAJ, Targeting and I were getting minor slaps-on-the-wrist for not modelling the problem quicker. For the first time in my training so far, I found myself getting a little defensive. For once, I had worked the procedures correctly. TRAJ doubted me at one point, but then realized I was right. I even heard a "oh wait, she's right" comment over the loop. So during debrief I jumped in and made the case that Targeting and I had worked the procedures correctly and efficiently based on the information we had been given from the FCR; it took us a long time to get modelled because the information we'd received was not correct! The front room misinterpreted the data, and I argued that the problem in that run was not with the procedures, but with our communication, and that Targeting and I could only model what we had been told.

This is going to sound strange, but the whole run made me feel really good about my training. It felt good to have the confidence that I was right, and had worked the procedures correctly. It felt good to be able to add my input and opinion, even though it differed from the FCR. In the end, I think they heard what I was saying and agreed with me. That was awesome.

Jen and I swam last night in the pool at my apartment complex. The pool is heated, and perhaps they just haven't turned off the heat yet, because it was like bathwater. It was not too pleasant. But we did hang on for 30 minutes, during which I swam 25 laps, or about 3/4 of a mile.

Not much to say besides that! I'm off to Georgia for what should be a nice, relaxing girls weekend.

Not much to say today. Life goes on, and it is good.

Jose and I ran last night. We did three miles in 36:16. He hadn't run in two weeks, and it was hotter than we thought despite the lack of humidity, so we took a couple walking breaks. Still, he is optimistic about the Astros Run for the Pennant, though I think he was worried he might come in last. I told him that would not happen -- because I'm going to run with him, and because there will be at least a couple hundred people that are slower than him! I'm excited. I'm glad he runs with me sometimes. I don't know how much he likes it, but I'll take what I can get.

I'm going on a last-minute trip to Georgia this weekend. This is the first time I have ever used frequent flier miles, and I must say I'm happy with how well they worked out. Buying a ticket on Tuesday would have cost $600 normally, but I was able to get one for $80 + 35,000 miles. And it could have been only 20,000 miles if I'd decided to come back at midnight on Sunday instead of earlier in the evening. Better yet: I could use 35,000 miles and I still have the 105,000 necessary for an eventual business class ticket to Australia.

It's a girls weekend with Karen and Becca, so sorry boys, but I don't think I'll have time to stop by the condo or apartment. We're heading up to the mountains for two days and only one night, as Becca and I have to be back for work on Monday. After calling a dozen different places and getting told they were either full or required a two-night stay in the summer (it's summer? it's not even Memorial Day!), we finally got a room at a bed and breakfast in Sautee. Randomly, I have been to Sautee before, because Rachel used to live there. I think she lives in Helen now, but I'm not sure. Regardless, we will be in her neighborhood.

Plans are loose, but will include hiking in one of the state parks at some point. Those of you familiar with the Georgia mountains and the Helen area are welcome to leave suggestions of neat things to do, or good hikes in Unicoi or Amicalola.

It took a month and a half before Jen, Jason and I were all able to attend an Astros game together, using our season tickets, without someone being out of town or otherwise engaged -- but last night was finally the night! We headed downtown with hopes of seeing the Astros perform better than they had on Monday night (when they lost 10-1) and with hopes of seeing Barry Bonds hit home run #714 to tie Babe Ruth for second place all-time.

We saw neither. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a less enjoyable baseball game than the Astros 14-3 loss to the Giants last night. And though it certainly made things less enjoyable, it wasn't the ugly loss that made the game so uncomfortable.

The fans were bad. The entire ballpark was filled with what I can only describe as negative energy. Barry Bonds was booed, loudly and repeatedly. A large group of fans in front of us held up signs with an asterisk and the outline of a syringe. The Giants fan behind us complained loudly about the booing. The fans in front of us told him to take a hike.

In the 6th inning, Bonds was brushed back from the plate by a poorly aimed pitch from Russ Springer. Both benches were warned. Springer then came inside on Bonds a second time. The crowd cheered as Barry hopped back. The next pitch hit Bonds on the shoulder. Springer was tossed, and the crowd cheered. They cheered loudly. The fans were cheering because our pitcher had just been tossed from the game, because he had hit Barry Bonds.

It made me physically uncomfortable, to hear the fans behaving so badly. To me, it was just wrong. I don't care what you think about Barry Bonds, or the home run record, or steroids -- cheering because your team plunked a hitter is low. And lame.

The epilogue? When Bonds was taken out of the game in the 7th inning, 75% of the fans left the ballpark. Those of us that stayed were able to watch the final innings in peace.

Ever have a series of days when you just feel fuzzy-headed?

I've worked two sims in the last week, and while I performed decently enough that nothing got screwed up, I've just felt off. Slow. Mushy-brained. Fuzzy-headed.

Sigh.

In an attempt to get back on some sort of schedule, I thought I'd try posting my workout plans for the week with the hopes that if I post them, I'll follow through.

Monday - nothing (late sim)
Tuesday - nothing (Astros game)
Wednesday - 3 mile run
Thursday - 3 mile run OR 1/2 hour swim
Friday - nothing (Astros game)
Saturday - 15 mile bike ride
Sunday - 3 mile run

I discovered the other day that I have already signed up for the Tejas Triathlon in Sugarland on June 11, so I'll be out there doing it -- trained or not! Gulp. It's a 1/2-mile swim, 13-mile bike, and 3-mile run. With good training, I feel like I could do that in ~1:45. My goal for June 11 will be ~2:00.

My Vomit Comet team's experiment passed the Test Readiness Review this morning and we're set to fly! I've been really impressed with my team's resilience: They arrived on Thursday and were told that they needed to come up with a different way to arrange their experiment since their rack could not be certified (because of the wood), and after only a few hours at Home Depot and in the hangar this morning, they had a new arrangement that passed inspection with flying colors.

Wade and I fly on Thursday; Rob and John follow on Friday. I can't wait!

My Vomit Comet team is here from the great state of Wisconsin. Did I mention I'm mentoring a Vomit Comet team? And that I get to fly with them next Thursday? WOO!

They arrived last night but I met them this morning for the first time out at Ellington, where they got their boring (but necessary) safety briefing and then unpacked their experiment. It's a behemoth of a thing -- a spiderweb of two-by-fours and wires and screws and nails. It will not pass inspection in its current form, since wood isn't homogenous and therefore it's next to impossible to say that it will successfully carry 9 times the force of gravity in the event of a crash. So we're going modular -- taking it apart so the individual pieces can be stowed in crates for takeoff and landing.

Wade, John and Rob are all physics teachers, and their flight is part of the World Year of Physics (which was 2005, but their flights have been delayed by a whole year now). A guy named Vinaya from Physics Central will be blogging about them. Wade and John can't be any older than I am, and I'm guessing Rob is still in his 30s. They're a young team, which makes it even more fun for me. Here is a team photo that Vinaya took this morning and has already uploaded. Technology rules.

They'll be keeping me busy for a good portion of the next week, including our all-day physiological training session tomorrow -- classroom in the morning followed by an altitude chamber flight in the afternoon. (Who needs alcohol when you can just simulate breathing the air at 25,000 feet? It's just like being drunk!)

Last night I freaked out a little bit. I can honestly say that hadn't happened in quite a while, and I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Work ended on a rough and frustrating note and I got a little overwhelmed by all that I have to do in the next week. There's a zillion things for work -- I have footprints, trade studies, procedure comparisons, and a Vomit Comet team about to arrive in town that I anticipate will need quite a bit of help before being cleared to fly -- and no one seems satisfied with my progress on anything. There's a final project for my web design class -- see, tonight is the last day of class but I don't have my project finished. I've turned in one project late already, and am about to turn in one more late. On top of that, I feel like I've done a half-assed job on them.

I felt stressed. I must have looked stressed too. "This isn't your style," he said. "You don't turn things in late. You don't do assignments halfway. It's against your religion, even if you don't care about the class."

My shoulders sagged and I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. He nailed it.

This isn't me. It's a class I should have dropped in January, knowing how busy my spring would be. But I didn't. And even if I don't care, it's not like me to turn in assignments late. Or do them crappily. Or not finish them at all. Even if it is "just" UHCL. Even if it's just a class I'm taking for "fun."

It's just not like me.

I'm glad the semester is over.

(Project 4 - Portfolio. Required a Flash intro.
Grad Project - JC Booth Chorus page. So not finished yet.)