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

Well, three months in it finally happened, I’ve become the grouchy homeowner.

Have fired off a series of emails over the past several hours, starting last night when I asked the cult co-op members’ email list if anyone knew why the pedestrian gates on N street were locked, forcing me to walk over into the driveway (a.k.a. “the River” in last night’s storm). Wouldn’t normally be an issue, but the security mechanism does not yet work and no members have keys (and the gates have been unlocked for months). This was especially annoying because I can see the pedestrian gate on the cul-de-sac at O street from my window, and it’s wide open. Followed up with another email to the building manager this morning with the same questions.

The next was to the building engineer asking if there was something that could be done to allow my balcony to actually drain. It has a drainage channel on the outside edge, and I’ve cleaned a bunch of crud out of it, even poked a chopstick through the end such that I can see it coming out from my bedroom window. No go, water still just stands there. So hopefully he can help with that, as the 1/4″ or so of water standing on the balcony annoys me.

The third was back to the members’ list, asking if I had missed a piece of paper under my door about access to the “members page” off the co-op web site. If there’s a way for us to get electronic communication from the cooperative rather than five gazillion pieces of paper under my door, I’m all for it, but you know, I have to know how to get at the stuff. Supposedly the co-op membership voted last year (?) to move to more electronic communications and stop the paper under the door method of notification. The board, predictably, has stonewalled. It would be nice if they’d realize this is 2006, not 1962, and get with the times. If there are members without computers, or who need paper, fine, let them opt in and get a special printing under their door. Not a problem. But don’t blanket the rest of us with paper we neither need nor want in this day and age.

I suspect the relative lack of sleep hasn’t helped, but the little things do add up.

The cold is progressing in the normal manner. Which is to say last night was my usual sleepless night (I always have one when I get a cold, like clockwork, on day 3 or 4). Thankfully it was over the weekend so I didn’t have to take time off.

Other than killing monsters (yay for Diablo II), it was a very uneventful weekend. Missed two handsome gents who were in town, and the aforementioned parties and dinner. Did run out to the grocery store this evening, just in time for the bottom to drop out right before I checked out. Brought a golf umbrella, but everything from the knees down was soaked right through (and is currently on a drying rack). Used some of the time yesterday to finally get some crap off the kitchen floor and put away, as well as rearranging some of the cabinets so they work better for cooking and eating. I have floor space again in the kitchen, which is a very good thing.

A very good thing because I will be cooking at home more. I looked over ye olde finances and I need to trim some stuff, and dining out/take out is an easy and obvious target. Hence the grocery shopping trip for some stuff to make for lunch this week. Will be healthier anyway, and allow me to stick some more money toward paying down the student loan with the highest interest rate. The cards are gone, so the next target’s in sight. Wish me luck.

The typical DC spring thunderstorm just blew through, making a mess of the early to mid afternoon commute. Saw many folks caught unawares, lots running for shelter, and tons of lightning coming down. Thankfully it was a fast moving storm, and it’s pretty much gone now, and should be nice and pleasant by the time I have to ride home.

‘Twas a pleasant weekend. Did some shopping Sunday, including a massive Whole Paycheck Foods trip to pick up much needed sundries. Indulged my inner fag and finally broke down and bought some Garland and Callas for the music collection. Has been most pleasant listening to them at work today.

Well, that and Julie Brown’s, “The Homecoming Queen’s Got A Gun.” My tastes are nothing if not eclectic.

Joe was kind enough to take some pictures yesterday and I’ll get some of those uploaded later this evening.

Going to make a batch of pesto this evening and kill some time with the TiVo. The ST:DS9 episodes are starting to pile up and I’d like to get through a couple more so I don’t overwhelm the poor machine. Nice and low-key, perhaps with some Big House Pink as well.

Counted the weeks until the marathon yesterday, it’s about 20 until the event, and I’ve not run a step since the triathlon. I need to get down to the local running store and get new shoes, though I could still run in the ones I have now that they’ve dried out. Looking at various training plans to see what I want to do to prepare for the event.

Last night was a lovely dinner with Brian at Cantina Marina. Margaritas, veggie burger, lots of dogs. Evidently Monday night is their “bring your dog to the restaurant” night and they had several cute pups out playing. The special is either a chili dog or corn dog for $1, and they provide snacks for the pups as well. Cool concept, especially for an outdoor space.

Dragged him back to show him the new apartment. After he left I straightened a lot more stuff up, put boxes away, etc. while chatting online. I’d love to get a small table that’s tall enough to chat on the laptop without having to bend over or sit down – when the boxes were piled up in here that was a possibility, and it definitely made chatting and cleaning much easier (I could just stop by, type a few pithy phrases and keep going). Perhaps on the one short wall where I’ve discovered that I now have room for a small table. We’ll see.

Only two more boxes of books left to be put away and then all boxes will be gone. Only two months in, that’s good for me. Now I just need to find a good shredder on sale so I don’t accumulate as much stuff as I did in the last two places…

Been texting off and on with last week’s date while he’s off on vacation. Trying not to bug him while he’s relaxing, yet still keep some contact. For the most part I’ve been succeeding, letting him get up on Left Coast time and text me first. Has been quite fun, he’s very flirty and good with words, both qualities I enjoy.

I think the thing I like most about Pride is that I get to get a whole lot o’ hugs. There are tons of people I always manage to run into at Pride whom I almost never see anywhere else. But pretty much everyone I see gets a hug, if I know them. Even if they don’t want one.

Marched in the parade this year for one of our city council candidates. He’s got one of the best records for queer legislation, as well as the best environmental record, labor record, etc. (if you’re a lefty, that is). But his campaign this time around has not been going as well as I’d like. He’s got a credible competitor this time, unlike the last time where there was a crowded field to take the pressure off of him as the incumbent. Frustrating. But I marched, and handed out leis, and saw folks (and didn’t see folks), and got hugs.

Had a brunch with fellow Body Electric school alumni, and again, more hugs. After that I wandered down to the Pride festival where I immediately ran into my evil twin, Marc. Fun story there, Marc and I look very similar, same height & weight, same hair, etc. We came to know each other because The Ex dated Marc shortly after I fled from him, mainly because he looked almost exactly like me (we understand there was a third twin out there somewhere, Marc saw him once, but we’ve never connected with him). Marc and I had great fun commiserating over how crazy The Ex was/is, but past that we enjoying hanging out together when we see each other. So Marc and I wandered the festival, stopping at few booths this time around, but jumping in to saw hi to folks we knew. Eventually we stopped in the middle of the thing and just let the crowds walk past us, which made seeing people we knew easier, actually.

Post-festival I wandered home and fell into something of a funk. To keep from simply wallowing in blahness I went ahead and rearranged my living room as I’ve been saying I wanted to do for a while now. The new set up now means, once I clear the assorted junk that’s now deposited on top of it, that I can actually use my dining room table without feeling like I’m hiding in a corner. It’s much more prominently placed in the room now and much more accessible. The desk is in the opposite corner, which meant relocating the cable wiring. I’m sure my neighbor was wondering why I was hammering in so many odd places yesterday afternoon. Now I have to figure out the art and put some assorted things away, but I’m finally pleased with the layout.

Despite that, it was still an awkward night in some ways. Getting home just felt, well, lonely. (and on a side note, I think I’m close to saying screw it to the co-op rules and bringing the cats home anyway; let them try something) I was suitably chastised for being so maudlin online last night, but one can’t always control one’s feelings, and I was just feeling down. I need to get refocused on some things, that will help, but there may be more changes coming for moi. Not a bad thing, certainly, and some changes I think I’m ready to accept and embrace. Not sure how they’ll be perceived by some, and I have to consider them carefully before jumping into anything, but I think I’m ready.

Anyway, enough being cryptic. Rainy morning here today, so it’s a walk to work kind of day rather than biking. Margaritas planned after work at the local watering hole, and then some more putting stuff away here at home. Might even show the place to a friend this evening. Thus far the only folks to see the apartment have been my parents and a couple tricks, but I think it’s ready for showing to friends.

I made my last big purchase, post-move, today. Finally went and bought a wetsuit.

Was intending to buy a different one, a two piece system, but when the company’s out of them, and there’s no time to order and wait, you get what you can. As it is, I’m happy with the purchase I made, it fit well, was comfortable, and should last quite a while. I look forward to using it.

Nice weekend thus far. Club event this morning, bbq afterwards. Came home, changed up, ran this afternoon. Wasn’t my best run, but no calf pain, thankfully. Afterwards I ran out to get the wetsuit. Tried on several, this was the most comfortable by a hair, but the easiest to get out of overall, which ultimately was the deciding factor.

It’s a gorgeous day in DC, was perfect for running, and for the first brick workout for our new triathletes. Was good to have such nice weather for this important workout for them, but then again, this spring has been absolutely lovely for pretty much everything exercise wise. They’re been very lucky this year.

But with this purchse, my major purchases are now done. Table, chairs, the apartment itself, and now the wetsuit. There are some things I’d still like to get, but no necessities, those are done. Which is just fine with me.

Finally got a chance to taste/use the little Cliff Shot Bloks I’d picked up at the Cherry Blossom expo, and I’m hooked. It was so much easier on the bike to fish one of those puppies out and have something to actually chew on, rather than having to tear open a container of goo one handed and then worry about where to put the little container when you’re done. Definitely going to be the calories of choice for the bike portion of my upcoming race (since I don’t seem to do well with sports drinks when exercising). Used them on a nice 2o-ish mile ride this morning.

Then this afternoon I swam, did 3 500 yard repeats after a long warm up. It went well, so I’m feeling okay about the swim portion of the race. The bike will be tough, but definitely doable, and the run, if this calf doesn’t get better this week, will be torture itself, but overall I think I’ll survive it.

Managed to get up to Dupont for lunch with a friend, and back down to the Y for the swim and then home again before the rain really hit. It’s going nicely now, a good, steady, relatively light rain. Enough to keep the kids indoors, not so nasty that I have to close the balcony doors. Is a nice, quiet counterpoint to my tapping on the keyboard. Should take the nice, quiet time to do some more cleaning, but I’m feeling cleaned out after yesterday’s straightening and getting the chairs unpacked and set up.

It looked as if I had killed the Scarecrow in my living room.

My dining room chairs arrived today, and inside the boxes they were padded with this paper wrapping that included some sort of straw stuffing that, no matter how careful I was, got all over everything. Whenever you moved the padding, it fell everywhere, along with the twine that I had to cut off the outside. Even tried to clog up the vacuum cleaner when I went after it that way. But in the end, I have dining room chairs, and can finally sit somewhere other than the couch to eat.

Otherwise it was a calm day. I got rid of the last of the donatables from the old apartment, got hissed at by Boris after I clipped his claws, claimed my flours & other baking sundries, forgot to get my mail, and had a nice time seeing Richard. Took the cart to the grocery store, hauled back some sundries for making some fun things (marinara, anyone?) and some more staples. I’m gradually rebuilding a kitchen, now I just need to cook some more. Tempeh gets made tomorrow – I’ve been craving a good rice dish, and since the rice cooker was among the things reclaimed from the old place, I can make some again. Without picking up the phone, even.

Long bike ride planned for tomorrow, then off to whatever Arena stage is playing at the moment. Might have to talk Lawrence into Jenny’s for dinner, stick down here in the ‘hood.

The boxes are gone.

I just packed up the last of the empty boxes, including the ones from the just-set-up dining table. I have space in the back of the living room (a.k.a. the dining area), there’s no boxes sitting around, and the psychic relief of having it all gone is considerable.

Of course, now that the table’s set up, now I want to rearrange the room entirely. Move the desk around, shift the storage unit. Thinking the table should go as a console behind the couch. Shift the black bookshelf around. Generally see how better to set the room up.

But man, it feels good to have those boxes gone.

I hate when I overschedule.

I’m normally fairly good with putting things in the two different calendars I maintain (work and home), but I forgot to put in an after-work-work-function (aka happy hour with the other young attorneys) and scheduled dinner with a friend this evening as well. Given the relative positions of the friendships and what not, I’m choosing dinner over HH, but I hated having to spill the beans that I’d overscheduled and was not making HH (even with the real and good excuse that I have to run and get my new glasses after work today). Ah well.

Been in a mild funk the last two or three days with a lack of sleep, general feeling of pessimism, and dealing with the last bits of the relationship with CT (a handover of some things I left at his apartment). Not terribly fun, but I know it’s a temporary condition, just have to keep telling myself that.

The dining room table arrives today, as does a stool/side table for the balcony. The chairs are on backorder until the middle of the month, but that just gives me time to clear the remaining junk out of the way. Once the table’s set up I’ll have a chance to look at various designs of couches I’ve been looking at, to see if any of them would work in the space. For the most part the dining room table will be in the folded mode against the wall, so I’ve got some space for a couch in front of it, but I’ll need to actually see the space, as well as measure, etc.

Work’s nuts, with several things bouncing around. Thankfully the bosses are understanding since they’re bouncing on the same issues (as well as others). Fun stuff (not). Hopefully will settle down soon, but if not, oh well!