Thirtyone - Sunday Run

I went for a run this afternoon. It snowed all morning, almost an inch, and when I went running it was a mess. Icy, slick, cold, but nice. For some reason it didn't feel like it was zero degrees out. The sunset too was nice, but the cloud cover was just enough to prevent it from being amazing. I was a nice run and made me think I should do it more. I don't really want to train for anything or compete in a running race, but today, just enjoying the process felt good.

Thirty - Let it Snow...

It has been snowing for like four weeks it seems. Not that it is constantly accumulating, but it comes and goes and comes again. It warms up a little, and then freezes again. It is kind of nice, but then it goes away and you miss it again.

Twentynine - Friday!

I usually wake up at five, have some breakfast, and catch the train to work which takes a hour with one transfer. Most days it is quite busy, and when it is the first leg of the journey, which is only ten minutes, it is so packed that I don't bother to take a seat but rather stand in the aisle by the door with hoards of other people. The second leg is usually dominated by noisy school kids who seem do board in drove upon drove at every other stop and who are either playing games, listing to their music on their cell phone speakers (why do people have to listen to crappy music on even crappier speakers?!? get headphones please!), and laced up on faux Redbull energy drinks. These kids are all of 8, 10, 12 mobbing ever body's unadulterated silence. Anyway, it was friday, and for some reason, the same train I normally take was completely empty. It was still early enough to make it feel like two in the morning, and I was probably just as tired. But the Friday train ride to work was fantastic for some reason. Maybe because I was the only one on the train, or maybe I knew it was the last day of a seemingly long week.

Twentyeight - Let it Snow

It hs been snowing (off and on) for what seems like the last 3 weeks. It should continue, it looks like, for the next 3 days. This week however is quite cold, below freezing, and is a good week to stay inside. It looks realy nice outside, so I don't mind it so much, but you can only stay inside so long.

Twentyseven - Reactions and Interactions

We are all taught to do our best, try harder, improve. Yet, how many of us are truly and critically objective to themselves? Perhaps we all want to be better than each other in some way, or even better then ourselves the last time we checked. In some way or another, we give ourselves more credit while dismissing the contrary which would right us back to center. We lack honest self judgment. This is not competitiveness, which is truly a metric to gauge ourselves against others. Self judgment is knowing, understanding, and reconstructing your own self (in reflection) in situations, environments, projects, interactions, and work such that you are able to see what is good, bad, or indifferent. Sometimes we think we are hot shit, and sometimes we are. But were not hot shit all the time, and not hotter shit that the last time we checked. This isn't a tirade on people who are positive, optimistic, competitive or good at what they do. Nor is this a reasoning for the negative. I think we all may become better if we are able to be honest with ourselves. I believe, that if we are truly and constructively self critical, then who can tell us otherwise that we are better than those who are not?

Twentysix - Tuesday

It's Tuesday, but the post says Wednesday. Looks like I missed a day. Too busy to conjure up a topic.

Twentyfive - Another Monday

Even though it was another Monday, it didn't really feel like it. There was still a lot to do, and meetings, and the daunting personel reviews this week, but other than that, not too bad. I still managed to get some work done, call my parents, plan the week, help out others, and make it home on time. Lets hope the reviews go this well.

Twentyfour - Fourtyeight

The weekend is over. I just don't think it is all that fair. You spend most of your time working and with your work colleagues, and then you only get a few hours on the weekend. I would work 12 hour days just to have friday or monday off. The weekends are never long enough.

Twentythree - Product Returns

I returned a seemingly defective phone today. Normal procedure; here it is, it doesn't work, yep - receipt, thanks. But when I bought the phone, I only bought it and nothing else, but there was another charge on my bill. While returning the phone I questioned this thinking it was some kind of warranty or something. Nope. It was the charge from the person in front of me who bought a pack of CD-R's. I was told I can't get the money back without returning it. I never F***ing bought it, but you took my money! Then since I returned the phone, I needed to buy a replacement. Great, I either buy the same piece of crap I had before which didn't work, or shell out some more coin for another model. Now I'm out 19 bucks for CD-R's which somebody else has, and 10 more for another phone (this is my third one). Gotta love the financial times we live in, even the cashiers are scamming for money by not closing out the previous customer.

Twentytwo - Friday

Another long week has deservingly come to an end, or a beginning to a weekend. It is a celebration not just to relax a bit, but to enjoy time with family. Yeah!

Twentyone - Responsibility

I was in a meeting where someone got upset for bring up a topic for which they were not responsible for. I really wondered why they were taking the responsibility to discuss a topic which they were not a part off. Strange. This kind of ruined the group dynamic for the rest of the day. Then I started to think how we each have a responsibility, to ourselves, our families, our friends, co-workers, and eachother - even those we don't know. It's an important topic, especially when people take responsibility from those who should be, or we neglect our responsibilities to help others who may be less capable.

Twenty - Hee Haww

Today I felt like this...

image found on photobucket.com

Nineteen - Soap (Part 2)

In an attempt to know where our products come from and at the same time make a less expensive laundry soap... which we then used to do the rest of our laundry on Sunday. We may have had better results using old socks as soap or fabric softeners, than to use this simple recipe. Everything which was washed using this new formula came out of the wash smelling awful. Needless-to-say we had to redo much of the wash today using more expensive soap, however, our stove is still clean.

Eighteen - Boomtown Rats

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot
The whole day down, down, down, shoot it all down

This was the theme for most people today, even though they may not have hear their little voice inside their head shouting out the lyrics to this song. Thank you Boomtown Rats for giving us some of the best (most applicable?) lyrics in one of the most (worst?) melodramatic songs I have heard.

Seventeen - Soap

I don't know very much about soap, except that it's a surfactant used with water for the purpose of cleaning, some have ingredients which I cannot pronounce, some have Glycerol, and salts, and some leave "a sticky film on you which just won't rinse away." In an attempt to know where our products come from and at the same time make a less expensive laundry soap - which by the way we were short on and all the stores were closed on Sunday - we set forth with a simple recipe of water, baking soda, and bar soap shavings, which were combined into a heating pot. As my wife left to go down stairs to check the laundry, she had asked me to check the heating pot while she was gone. After a few minutes, I checked, nothing happening, so I went back to whatever it was I was doing. Well, somewhere between nothing and when my wife got back, the heating soap solution took to our kitchen like Vesuvius to Pompeii. The baking soda was the special ingredient which allowed for the pot to boil over like crazy, silently. I swear I heard nothing. Needless to say the added benefit of making inexpensive soap is that you can clean your kitchen and stove in the process.