Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Happy Hogswatch to all, and to all a good night.

A tad too much beer at the club holiday happy hour, but hey, I can breathe, so I’m good.

Chatted with a bunch of folks, both club business and not, and it was a ton of fun. Tomorrow may hurt (as yet to be determined), but tonight was worth it. I’m psyched about next year’s race season, and next year’s new triathlete program. It’s going to be a good one, we’ve learned a lot these last 3 seasons, and number 4 is going to be great.

Tomorrow’s it until next Thursday, and next week and the week after are 2 day work weeks for me – the joys of having some leave built up and not being afraid to use it.

Dear Postal Service,

The point of having a self-serve kiosk is so that customers who cannot make it to the post office during regular hours can help themselves and still pay you money. Closing the outer doors so that customers cannot use said kiosk defeats the entire point of having it in the first place. Thanks for nothing.

No love,

A Frustrated Customer

PS: That $0.17 upcharge for cards? Totally a rough fuck without lube. Bastards.

Nothing quite like having maintenance cut all the electricity in your building to tell you it’s time to leave. They’re doing some routine work on the electrical system that required it all to be off. I’m just glad I’m not staying home today with this cold, and that I don’t regularly work from home.

Getting up at the butt-crack of dawn, driving an hour to Baltimore, and then running a 5 mile race in the low 30s is perhaps not the best way to get rid of a head cold. That said, I had a great deal of fun at this race.

Chips aside, the race is a fairly low-key event. If a race with around 2,000 people in it can be said to be “low-key,” that is. Regular registration was $10, $45 if you wanted the jacket. Having seen the race shirts from prior years, I sprang for the jacket – embroidered, not ironed-on, and very comfy for post-race attire (and would work well to run in as well). Money well spent.

Started a few minutes after the stated time, which I find to be normal with a race this size. The beginning was a nice uphill to get the heart rate going and warm us up. BC ran this one with me, and save for a couple of moments in the middle, and right at the end, we ran together this time. Was nice to chat with him as we ran. The last race, a turkey trot right before Thanksgiving, he and his dad left me in the dust, which isn’t a big deal, but it was nice to have some time running with him for once.

After the initial hill, it was a roundabout, gently rolling course around Druid Lake park, with one of the final miles around the lake itself. The course wasn’t too crowded, folks were able to pass and be passed without much difficulty. The one water stop could’ve been a bit better laid out from what I saw (I had a bottle, so didn’t stop), but the volunteers there were very friendly and helpful from what I heard while passing it. Which was pretty much par for the course here – the volunteers were, hands down, some of the best I’ve seen at a race. Friendly, happy to be there, and enthusiastic with cheering out on the course.

The initial uphill was the final leg coming into the finish line as well, and I picked up a bit of steam coming down it. Actually, a bit too much steam – I ended up with that lovely “hi, I’ve run too fast and now I want to puke” sensation after the finish line. Whee! Didn’t ralf, thankfully, but it’s not the most pleasant sensation. My own fault for kicking up my heels a bit too much at the end.

What was pleasant was that immediately after I could breath clearly for the first time in days – my sinuses were completely clear, and no cough. Not the case at the moment (later this evening), but it felt great right as we got done, and lasted until we got ready to leave Baltimore, post-brunch.

There were a ton of folks at the race from the tri club as well, and it was great fun to wave at folks while running, and hang out with them before and after (as well as at brunch up the road at Cafe Hon).

All in all a great race, and one I’ll happily run again.

Headed up to Baltimore shortly for the Celtic Solstice Five Mile Run. Looks like it’s going to be a cold one. At least it’s not snowing like they first thought it was going to this morning.

Spoke with management this morning, they’re tired of the smoke, too, so it’s now getting packaged up to send off to the cult’s co-op’s attorney for action. I can say I’d not be upset if they moved, or were forced to move. That is an advantage of a co-op, if someone is truly obnoxious as a member, they can be expelled (in effect forced to sell). Given the mark-up since they purchased, and their behavior, no tears will be shed here.

My bedroom is currently airing out because the cigarette smoke from my downstairs neighbor is back. Joy!

My right hand looks like a vampire attacked me – I spilled some hot sauce on it last night and it appears I burned it in two spots. Considering the choice was to either get burned or to spill all of the pot all over the stove, I think I went with the better alternative. But still, it’s annoying.

My voice sounds like I’ve been drinking bourbon. Which would be fine, if I had (and much more fun to start). Unfortunately it’s more likely a slight bit of sinus ickiness. I think I’d prefer the bourbon, but this, too, shall pass.

TiVo taped something called the Hogfather as as suggestion, and I’m dying. Absolutely loving it. I just hope it taped the entire thing or I’ll be sorely disappointed. Any “fairy tale” that starts out by detailing the crimes of jack (of beanstalk fame) while reading it to children is a-ok in my book:

And then Jack chopped down what was the world’s last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned and all the giant’s children didn’t have a daddy any more. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused just about anything if you’re a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.

I’m very bad at trying to pick gifts for my family. It’s an obnoxious process that taxes my patience. But anyway.

An opportunity may be arising at another Big Government Agency which I may apply for. It would be a step up in responsibilities, and a good career move. I’m not entirely certain if I’m ready for it, but there are extraneous factors which argue for applying now or missing the opportunity entirely. Given my particular specialty this isn’t surprising – a similar situation arose when my current position came open (though I was certainly much more ready to go when that one came open!). I’ve been told it’s going to be posted, so I’m keeping my eyes open, and I’ve asked a mentor (who mentioned the opening in the first place) to keep his ears open for when it’s posted so I can look it over and decide whether to apply.

I don’t look forward to polishing my resume, but that’s simply a necessary evil in the process. To be honest, the possibility is a bit intimidating. But again, this is a now-or-never kind of thing, and I think I want to try for it.