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

It’s March, so no more snow effect on the glen. Perhaps wishful thinking, but I’m downright tired of the stuff now.

None of the days these past two weeks were as bad as last Thursday, but they were pretty darned busy. Today was the epitome of it all, with several meetings with folks, the outcomes of which were almost pre-ordained, and all of which required I wear a suit, so suited I went. It always gets comments, since most days: a) I don’t wear a white shirt (white drains me of what little color I have); and b) I don’t wear a tie or jacket. I look good in the suit, and occasionally I toy with the idea of jazzing up the wardrobe with a couple more, but the idea of wearing one to work, or of dragging it to work on the bicycle in warmer weather, is not exactly appealing.

Running’s almost back on track and it appears I’m actually going to be able to run the Cherry Blossom on the way to the half-marathon I have in mid-April. (*knock wood*) Do need to creep back into the gym for some stablization, but the running’s going okay. When I have run, it’s certainly been a good sleep aid. It’s only a little after 8 as I write this and I feel like I could crash right now.

The newbie triathletes get started tomorrow with a meeting and a short run. Looking forward to this year’s program, if we can just tamp down the “and you need to do this, and this, and…” nature of one of last year’s leaders. I appreciate the help, but chill! We can do this, trust us.

Attracted some sort of bizarre anonymous stalker over at LJ on my last post there. Left the comment there for the heck of it, though did freeze the thread for posterity. It and another comment on someone else’s LJ (since screened) were directed at comments I made about not revealing which Big Government Agency (BGA) I work for in my writings online. I discuss work only in the most oblique manner, and it’s not like folks couldn’t find out where I work if they tried, but I prefer not to let my BGA be searchable through my writings, since there are folks who go out and look for news about the BGA (any BGA does, actually), and I’d rather not compromise my employment.

And as to the offer of sexual aid in the comment, don’t do me any favors.

Full triathlon weekend, after the newbie meeting tomorrow, we have the club’s postponed annual meeting on Sunday, plus my long run for the week, 8 miles or so. Will be cool again in the morning, so out come the tights once more (this morning was in shorts and a long-sleeve T, and that was a bit warm at the end).

Got tired of picking up certain chocolate stapes of my diet piecemeal, so ordered a bunch online tonight. Is good to have regular snacks that are also good for you. And storable.

Ran through a bunch of ethics reports at work today. I don’t normally do ethics work, but it’s the sole rating factor for our office, so we’re all pitching in. Thankfully they weren’t onerous, I got a good batch, so all but one are done, out of about two dozen or so. Hopefully tomorrow the Senate will take up and pass their version of the year-long budget bill so we can get our funding by the time it runs out on Thursday under the current structure. I’d also kind of like to get the pay raise I’ve been approved to receive, too, which is dependent on the final appropriation. Wretched congressmonsters, do your freakin’ job.

Leg is still sore, so still no running/biking. This is getting more than a little irritating, especially since I have races in two months. Still have plenty of time to get prepped, but I get irritable when I can’t exercise, so there I am.

Somehow I doubt the huge winter storm they keep predicting is going to actually materialize. We’ll see, but regardless I’ll be at work.

Damned screw top wine. I cut myself opening the bottle tonight. Poor thumb.

The stomach woes continued today, to the point where I’m taking tomorrow off to deal with them at home rather than at the office. Felt like I spent half the day in the bathroom (not quite that bad, but it wasn’t pleasant). Brought some work home, so I won’t be a total slouch, but I hope it’ll be better after tomorrow. And not having to venture out in the snow until evening isn’t a bad thing, either.

Good dinner this evening with Richard and another gay librarian here in town to whom I’d wanted to introduce him. Had fun watching them library-geek out, and they seemed to get along well. A good professional intro for both.

The newbie triathlete program is progressing well. Had our weekly conference call and everything seems to be on schedule. We’re definitely communicating better this year than last year, which helps tremendously. If you’re in DC and want to do a tri, let me know, we’ll be happy to help train ya.

My wireless router, after several years of good service, died unexpectedly last weekend. Not such a big deal for the computer, I was able to hook the laptop in directly to the cable modem and get service just fine. The TiVo, on the other hand, was getting fussy with no regular updates, so rather than wait for the local Apple stores to get in the latest version of their router, I popped out to Best Buy and picked up another D-Link router. The last one was a D-Link and it worked well until it died. Took a bit to get the new one working with the iBook, but it’s all good now. So nice to be able to sit on the couch and type again. it’s much more comfortable on my back.

Between the router being dead and stressing some over that (something in my control was broken and that drives me nuts), and the sinus thing not yet being 100% done (drugs – yuck), and MG also not feeling well, it was a blah weekend. Did get out and see Into the Woods with L and friends tonight (the new season at Signature), which was pretty well done (they need to work on sound issues, though – it’s not miked, which is good, but they faded out a bit when not facing at least sideways toward us). Needed to get out (and not to shop for a router).

Discretion says tomorrow is an indoor biking day, with the low around 8F in the morning. I have sufficient gear to run in it if I wished, but why the hell would I want to? 20s I might do, but not single digits. At least not yet. I suppose I could always go to the gym and use the treadmill, but that’s so deadly dull for me. Oh, did get new orthotics on Friday, tested those on a short run mid-afternoon today. Wonderful. Was nice to have the cushion under the ball of the foot again (the old ones had the cushion fall off). Hopefully with two pair now I can save on wear & tear by keeping the newer ones in the running shoes all the time.

I was on a triathlon course, but it was a really, really badly designed course. We had a long run from the swim course (meaning I had no glasses on), on an unmarked dirt road with spectators wandering in and out of the way. Finally found the bike course, which was similarly unmarked with spectators milling about. After getting lost at least once and backtracking, I made it back to the run, where I and everyone else promptly got lost and never found the finish. Very odd dream, very much not my experience with triathlons, where courses have always been well laid out, marked, and where the spectators stay the hell out of the way (with the exception of the port-a-johns, unfortunately).

I wish I could figure out for certain what my triggers are for depressive incidents. Injury is certainly one, as is feeling unwell/sick. But one does so tire of dealing with that crap. Nothing like wanting to just sit around and mope for days. And eat. Let’s not forget eating. Which of course adds to the depression, while feeling fat, fat, fat, and unable to control the desire to eat. Being currently at the highest weight I’ve been at in a number of years isn’t helping, either. Ugh. Thankfully the incidents don’t usually last for all that long, but it’d be nice to short-circuit them entirely. Or find a way to let it sweep over me and be done with it.

In happier news, ran into a friend while walking home tonight. She’s (finally) gotten a new job and is now working literally right around the corner from me at another BGA (fellow fed lifer there). Will have to get lunch with her and catch up.

But not any time soon. The CR has heated up, with passage in the House, and with it a lot of demands on my time at work. This has beeen such an unusual year, what with the former Congress totally punting on their one major responsibility in their final year – funding the Federal government’s operations. Unfortunately the Senate’s not going to take up the CR until a week from Tuesday, a little over a week after the next year’s budget request comes out this Monday. What a mess. I’m sure that hasn’t helped much, either.

I’m going to need to ramp up my running, getting up early enough to get in decent miles to build up to the two April races, and ramp down some of the other cross training stuff I’m doing. I don’t have any tris coming up until the fall, so it’s not crucial to maintain the swimming and biking quite as much as the running. The endorphins from running are more helpful, too. Of course, the cold weather out there isn’t much fun, but I’ve got enough clothes to stay warm enough out there. And regular exercise does help the mood. A lot.

I suppose this is one of the drawbacks of training as I do, what with swimming and what not. it seems I have a nascent case of swimmer’s ear. At least, I think that’s what it is now. Previously (because I’ve had lighter versions of these symptoms before in the winter) I’d just assumed it was a bit of excess snot built up in my sinuses, as the symptoms weren’t that far apart (slight pressure on the eardrum, which is really irritating when you’re running and your eardrum is beating in time with your steps). Now, I’m pretty much convinced it’s swimmer’s ear, so i’m backing off swimming this week, seeing my physician’s assistant on Wednesday, and in the meantime I’m just about steadily saying: OUCH!

This. Fracking. Hurts.

I’ll be getting some earplugs next week, too. Ouch.

In other news™, I keep thinking I want to get a Wii, but then I remember that I barely have time for my DS these days, which means I’m really not playing games at all, which means a Wii would pretty much be a waste of money. Which is annoying, because it looks fun, but I’d rather save my $$ and pay off a student loan this year. Irritating to be so ‘adult’ at times. I’d also rather spend my time, at least until July 22, on training our newbies for their first triathlon. After the ear’s better, of course.

Ouch.

The wind is literally howling outside my windows. Every few minutes it picks up and sounds like animals screaming outside. Spooky.

Was a triathlon weekend. The regional meeting for our region of USAT was held on Saturday. They hand out prize money based on the highest attendance, so went to help bolster the club’s chances (we won). Last year we plowed that back into the newbie program, and there’s a good chance it’ll happen this year as well. Yay for that. Then today I edited docs for the program and sent some along to the other leaders. Hopefully we’ll be all set for next Saturday’s info meeting for this year’s program. Also picked up some more winter/cooler weather gear (hooray for sales).

This past week was absolute hell at work. We had drafting assistance requests for hill staffers out the wazoo, and they’re still not done on action to complete our funding. I think the plan is that the House takes it up on Wednesday, then the Senate does next week. Which is a mess because the President’s budget for the following year gets released a week from tomorrow. Oh, and we were still negotiating bits of that as well. Oy! I look forward to the moment when next year’s is out and this year’s finally gets finalized. Of course, then we’ll start the hearings on next year’s but that’ll be a change of pace from where we’ve been.

Made a mess ‘o chili tonight so I have lunches this week. My usual cheap haunt on site has closed down for the next 2.5 months for renovations, and the other places just give you too darned much food, so looks like it’s time to get on the ball and carry stuff in again. Was good chili, so should be great tomorrow.

Quick thoughts because I need sleep, post swim and post vegging tonight with the TiVo.

Thinking about hiring a coaching service for my season this year. We have a deal through the club that’s not bad, and some specialized feedback might be a very good thing. Have until the end of the month to decide, so i’m going to ruminate on it.

Got my nudie calendar for this year finally. Third year running for this particular one. Just something about the models he’s chosen… It’s smaller (width wise) than the previous years’ calendars, but it works really well in the space I have it in – the extra length lets it match the bulletin board more easily. Good choice.

And, of course, there’s the naked butt staring out at me when I come into the living room now (nice back!).

Ran completely out of coffee this morning and was too hungry to stop at the grocery store on the way home. Will have to try and get some tomorrow evening after the gym and dinner with MG.

Running should prove interesting tomorrow morning, but from the state of the sidewalks I’ve seen today it should be dry where I’m running. If not, I go slow. No killing myself this year, I’d like to actually run the silly 10 miler this time around.

I hate when recipes lie. “Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.” 40 minutes my ass, how about 2 hours? Liars. And I think this happens more often than people think with cookbooks (because, really, if it said “2 hours” would most people try the recipe? no).

Finally got snow. I was debating biking to work tomorrow, then MG reminded me that no one will know how to drive tomorrow and I really didn’t want to be on the road with those fools. Point taken, I’ll walk. Did go run this afternoon and with 15 minutes to go the snow started (tiny little stuff, but snow nonetheless). That was fun, been a while since I’d run in snow.

Of course, if it sticks around, it won’t be the last time this week, either. Provided it’s not too icy.

Picked up gobs and gobs of groceries yesterday, before I realized it was going to snow. Needed tons of staples, so off I went to pack my little bag lady cart and subsequently my limited cabinets with lotsa food. Forgot coffee, though. Will have to pick up more after the pool. Was otherwise feeling a little bit of my hermit-mood for the weekend. Did go see a play with Richard, his much belated birthday gift, this evening, and MG was over last night and today, but was feeling the urge to just stay in and nest. Trying to break out of that some, but it was a particularly social week, with two happy hours, so perhaps I was just burnt out.