31 March, 2009

The Beatings Will Continue…

Category: Dating,Exercise,Neighbors,Politics,Sleep,Work — Moose @ 10:04 pm

Work continued with the ass kicking today. I’m going to have to knuckle down and punch things out faster and/or just be better in general about getting back to folks or my office is going to continue to get pounded. It’s bad enough the head of the BGA hates the lawyers, but it’s filtering down to the rest of the staff as well. And we’re a very convenient whipping boy these days.

Meh.

Dinner date this evening to help de-stress. Still not completely sure where this one is going past hanging out. With my return to training our social lives are again drifting apart, since mine is once again starting to revolve around exercising and crashing relatively early and his, well, does not. In any case, it was date number whatever and I’m enjoying it. I seriously need to cuddle, though. But dinner dates are not conducive to cuddling, more’s the pity.

And it must be bed time because the local army fort is playing retreat/tattoo. No, it’s not taps (lights out), but it’s close enough.

Cherries in the Morning

Category: Biking,Body,Club,DC,Exercise,Habits,Parks,Tourists,Triathlon — Moose @ 7:04 am

Sunrise through the cherry blossoms this morning on my first weekday morning ride of the year. Absolutely gorgeous.

Also pretty darned cold. My little balcony thingey says 46, though the official temperature at the airport across the river says 38. Either way, chilly when you’re cycling. I’m glad I changed my mind at the last minute and put on the fleece tights. As I sit here in the apartment my arms and toes are still a little chilled, but the shower will solve that. This was supposed to be the coldest morning this week, so I’m hopeful it won’t be this bad again this season.

Not my fastest ride ever, but the point was just to get out there and do it, not necessarily to be a speed demon on the roads. Didn’t see anyone else from the club out there (and it’s hard to miss me, between the club jersey, wind vest and arm warmers – I look like superman in the club’s blue with all the red and white on it), but that should pick up as it warms up. I thought I’d see one or two of our die hards, but perhaps they’re avoiding the Point until the blossoms are done and the tourists are gone (and yes, there were tourists out, even at that hour, catching pictures of the sun just hitting the blossoms as it came over the Washington Channel).

I’ve been cutting back on my caffeine intake again, with a goal of eliminating it from my diet during the week. I’m tired of being dependent on it to get going in the mornings, and would prefer to be able to use it more strategically and not as a “must have” drug. So far so good, though yesterday was dragging. All part of getting back to training and getting my body back into shape. I wrote off yesterday for exercise, but I want to get back to the schedule I was on last spring before the injury – MWF Run in the morning, swim in the evening (with Wed as the weekly long run), TuThSa bike, Su completely off. That worked well as I recall, and kept me on track with a single weekend day to be a complete bum (and one night to be able to go out without worrying about the next morning’s workout). I’m still on the fence about the Columbia triathlon (Olympic distance) in May, but if I can stick to that I think I can do it, even if I’ll be slow on the run.

25 March, 2009

Busy Moose/Dating on the Brain

Haven’t made time to write because I’m either getting home & being a total veg because I’m wiped out from the work day or I’m going out to see friends or maybe even a date or two. Work continues to roll along at a crazy pace. I’ve given myself a big assignment that I’ve not been able to start yet because of other fires that keep popping up. It’s needed, but finding time is a challenge.

Training is almost non-existent at this point. I’m swimming, but with the colder temps I’ve not gotten out to bike in the mornings and I’m unmotivated to haul the trainer back out. It’s not supposed to be this bloody cold in late Smarch in DC, damn it.

Much has also been on my mind about dating and the extent to which one compromises versus standing firm. After BC there are some things I consider to be vital to my well being which are not precisely the norm (Body Electric comes to mind), and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about those things and how and when to introduce them. With a couple guys I can tell there are distict differences in relationship styles that I don’t think will ultimately be compatible. And how does one express that and not sound cliché?

18 March, 2009

Bailed

Category: Annoyances,Dating — Moose @ 11:20 pm

Long story short, I had a date not show for dinner tonight. No call, no email, no nothing.

I am So. Not. Pleased.

11 March, 2009

Continuing Apace

The cult co-op’s annual meeting wasn’t so bad. The usual suspects got up and spouted their insanties, and we got through it without a lot of other nonsense. Of course, they started half an hour late, and we barely had quorum, but hey. I did finish a baby sock, got back to the apartment all excited about it, only to realize that when I did the first one I must’ve skipped a step (a few plain knitted rows) because the original is much shorter in the leg than the one I just finished. Crap. I so fail at reading directions sometimes. So much for giving the co-worker with the new baby a pair of baby socks next week.

Did manage to sleep fairly well last night, bourbon notwithstanding. I think it helped that it was a nice, calm, peaceful night out chatting calmly with a charming gentleman in a not-too-obnoxious bar. After we left the one that was doing drag bingo, that is.

I get to skip work entirely tomorrow in favor of my one (one) professional development activity for the year – the annual approps law update over in the legislative branch. Huzzah. Then it’s work HH, followed by club HH. I’ll have to pace myself. And drink lots of water. And take taxis. But since I am working on Friday, I’ll definitely behave as hangovers at work are teh suxors. It’s not like I’ve been bad lately anyway, as evidenced by my surprisingly higher than ever before in my ten years as a fed sick leave balance. I keep this up I might get to a higher sick leave balance than my annual leave balance, which would be a definite plus since it means I could start using sick leave for doctor’s appointments instead of annual leave, and save the “good stuff” for real vacations like this June’s.

10 March, 2009

Time Keeps On Slipping

Category: Dating,Habits,Home,Sleep,Stress,Work — Moose @ 7:19 pm

Holy shit, it’s Tuesday evening. As in “it’s already Tuesday evening,” and also “is it only Tuesday?” all in one. The time change threw my already precarious balance with sleep and the morning meetings completely off. Add to that a host of “too much work-itis” and you have a mix that’s just been more than a bit nuts. Oh, and social and cult/co-op obligations most of the week as well.

I fully expect my candle to be completely burnt out by Saturday evening.

I will cut my participation in the cult thing short tomorrow if I still find myself in need of sleep. Won’t be able to keep functioning otherwise, and frankly I despise those things and would like as little to do with the process as possible. The folks who are most vocal at these things are batshit-crazy and best avoided under normal circumstances. And then they wonder why they can’t get more participation. Despite the advantages of desk service and on-call maintenance, it is enough to drive one away from communal living arrangements.

The boy bingo has been interesting. Did confirm something based on a friend’s post from day or so ago – I have no tolerance for the folks who lie about their age online. I’m not talking about “oops, had a birthday a month ago and forgot to update,” but rather the deliberate attempt to blur one’s identity by moving up or (more likely) down in age in some vain attempt to make one look more attractive. The last few times I’ve run across that it hasn’t been a pleasant thing, and it engenders a sense of distrust in the person and who they ultimately are under their public persona.

8 March, 2009

How Appropriate

Category: Biking,Dating,Drinks,Music,Running,Weather — Moose @ 6:16 pm

How bad is it when you’re grooving out to the jazz in your taxi, headed home from another night of confusing bar boy bingo, and realize that the song is “Someday My Prince Will Come”? Miles Davis, so it was good jazz, but it was surprising to hear that particular tune at that particular time.

Good run today, following on the nice bike ride yesterday. Need the rain that’s coming in Tuesday to wash away all the road chemicals from last week’s snow storm, but the warmer temps are definitely a plus. Still have to haul out cold weather gear to ride or run in the mornings once my body adjusts to the time change, but it felt good to have a good, warm day again.

6 March, 2009

Wandering Decisions

Category: Dating,Friends,Government,Habits,Law,Queer,Schadenfreude,Work — Moose @ 12:44 am

Insulating yourself from the world is so much easier. If you have no contact, there are no boys to have to meet, and be interested in, and turn down, or say yes to, or decide among. And that’s comforting, not having to decide. “But how can you know what you want, ‘Til you get what you want, and you see if you like it?” Meh. Boys are so difficult.

That said, I ran into Doug on the way to dinner. Was good to chat in person, even for only two Metro stops. I do miss being as social as I was. But I’m going to get busy soon with my new triathletes as they gear up to their July race, and work is absolutely freakin’ insane now (I was out at the bar tonight and got email indicating that OMB disagreed with the position we’d taken, taking the position I’d originally taken inside the agency on a particular issue before I was overruled – schaden-correct-view-of-the-law-what?? Friday will be interesting.).

And then there’s, of course, a boy who’s flirting from tonight. As well as boys from previous nights. And boys I’d like to get to know, and boys I’d like to avoid encouraging (despite trying to be polite). Boys are, well, odd. And they force decisions. The gentleman whom I had the date with last weekend is out; he snored, and smoked, both pretty annoying on their own, but deadly in combination. There was another man I was sort of interested in from previous contacts online and in person, but he wasn’t there tonight when I was at the bar, so another gent who was more insistent seems to have gotten my attention for the immediate moment. Despite my warning him off, he’s still interested, so we’ll see how this goes. Dating is difficult, but I’m not trying to race to one definite goal, so we’ll see where the various wanderings take me

1 March, 2009

Icy/More Socks

Category: Knitting,Weather — Moose @ 10:43 pm

The snow was a huge disappointment; DC has even canceled the declared snow emergency. Drat. Going to be nasty icy out tomorrow, though.

Finished another baby sock tonight, this one from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters:
Little Sky Sock
Same yarn as the last baby sock, but a different method this time – two circulars instead of double pointed needles. I’ll actually do a mate to this one for practice next, and then try the toe-up ones next. I even took some measurements of my foot for some Moose-sized socks after that.

The two circulars method of knitting them was much more pleasant than using double pointed needles. Nothing was in danger of falling off the needles as I moved the piece around, and seeing the whole thing flexibly in the round was much nicer. I look forward to trying this with toe-up socks and being able to try the things on while knitting them up. Also, Judy’s Magic Cast-on? Once you get the hang of it, pretty darned cool.

Snowy Weather

Category: Exercise,Government,Running,Shopping,Work — Moose @ 3:03 pm

DC is hunkering down for another snowpocolypse. Somewhere along the line of 4-8″ of snow is expected to fall, beginning late this afternoon. Of course what this means is that everyone in town seems to be doing the usual panicked dance, trying to get groceries before it all hits. My quick trip to the grocery to stock up this morning went pretty well, and without a lot of drama, thankfully. Even ran into my supervisor and her husband picking up a few things. Wasn’t a lot of ice on the car when I left,nor was it particularly doing much when I came back.

Zipped over to the gym afterward, to run on a treadmill and do my stability exercises. Lucked out in getting a treadmill; it was pretty busy this afternoon. Twenty minutes actual running, with five minutes on either side to warm up and cool down. Again, on the way over there were a few flakes by no real snow yet. I understand Atlanta’s airport has been shut down for a while now because of the snow & ice coming up the coast.

It will be interesting to see if the snow actually appears and what OPM will do about it, in light of the President’s earlier comments mocking the area for shutting down over the last snow storm. It would be nice to have a day off, but if it’s just unscheduled leave, I’ll be going in.