Woo, it was quite an exciting weekend. I moved the busted stove outside, and there is this funny empty space in the mini-kitchen now. The new stove is on special order (it has to be less than 26″ across), but since I’ll be out of town, it’s not that big a deal. Cooking is now dominated by microwave and toaster cuisines, and rounded out by restaurant food. Bunky and I were able to spend some real quality time together and we caught a few movies over the weekend. We saw Closer in a theatre, and rented Elf. Both movies were quite good, albeit very different. I thought Closer was very well done, although not quite what I expected. The acting was excellent all around.
We even got a chance to go to the mall in Norfolk. Unlike the crappy local malls, the MacArthur Center has more than one floor, and more than 4 stores that you would actually want to go into. I went into a walking shoe store and had a computer analyze my feet. To my disappointment, I had normal feet (ZOMG, the soreness in my arches was all in my head). Bunky learned she had high arches. It was kinda fun. And for the first time, we didn’t get lost on the way home. This was the first time we made this trip in the new Scion xA, so I was pleased that the gas cost was about 1/4th what it would have been in the old Blazer.
Even the cat was getting in on the holiday cheer. Sydney got his picture taken with Santa at a crappy local outlet mall, and the pictures came out very nicely. Bwark, bwark, bwark, all those leash training sessions really came in handy. Sydney also got a stuffed fox toy (it’s for dogs, but he loves these things) that he has been wrestling with a lot.
In an attempt to combat holiday fatness, I renewed my membership at the gym. More importantly, I finally (FINALLY) convinced Bunky to go with me. I usually just run around the track or play basketball, but Bunky prefers to use the machines, so I tried them out for the first time yesterday. We have our orientation of the weight machines tomorrow, so we just rode the bikes. I hadn’t been to the gym in a while, and I was reminded of why I prefer to wear workout clothes to the gym instead of changing there. Prodigious amounts of old nakedness were burned into my brain; why does everyone feel the need to carry on loud, long conversations while scratching their nude bodies in the changing area? JUST PUT ON YOUR CLOTHES PLEASE!
And to complete the holiday spirit, it snowed last night. Nothing enhances a Monday morning like having to scrape ice and snow before heading to work!
Anyone know where to find that Japan Break Industries flash file? It used to be at http://www.viplt.ne.jp/midopure/swf/jbi_ee.html and also at http://www.iichan.net/f/src/1090851926799.swf, but it seems the sites are down. I had the awesome ASCII goodness on my computer, but my hard drive crash wiped it out. For lyrics and other good links about the real (that’s right, it’s real) company, check out Harbringer’s site. If you know where the file (with the weird ascii cats) can be found, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!
Also, where does the line “My eyes! The goggles, they do nothing!” come from? I’ve been hearing it a lot lately, and I think I used to know where it came from. Now I can’t think of it, and it’s bugging the hell out of me…
Yesterday I got dragged into the CPR and AED (“Automated External Defibrillator”) training session, since my building is getting an AED unit. I’d never taken CPR before, so I was kinda nervous. When I walked into the room, the first thing I noticed was the latex faces at each seat. That’s right, we each got our own creepyass rubber face for practicing rescue breaths (instead of using breathing shields, everyone put their rubber face on the dummy, then took the face off when they were done). Yah, that really reassured me. Then I ended up having to pair up with my boss for the Heimlich maneuver training. It was all nice and awkward/uncomfortable. Still, I felt a lot better afterwards knowing what to do if I saw someone collapse, stop breathing, and register zero pulse.
It was pretty tense in the room when the instructor mentioned that the chest had to be completely bare to use the AED properly. In order for the shock to follow the correct path, all chest hair had to be removed (there was a chest shaving razor in the kit T__T), and any nipple rings had to be taken out (heavy duty scissors were included just in case T__T). Thanks for the heads up, buddy!
I’m not sure if it was for better or for worse that everyone was really mature about the situation. I think the lesson was one uncomfortable laugh away from seriously devolving.
Last Friday I woke up with a tremendously sharp pain in the right side of my neck/shoulder. The pillows on the bed were pretty well worn, and I think that this combined with an awkward sleeping position to land me in neck cramp hell. It has gotten better, but I still haven’t regained full mobility; it is awkward being unable to turn my head fully when driving or looking away from the computer to talk to someone. There was, however, a silver lining to the whole situation. I finally took the plunge and bought one of those pillows made from “memory foam”. The whole thing was very mysterious (I felt like Yukari from Azumanga Daioh), and surprisingly complicated for a simple pillow. I liked the shape of the foam pillow, and it was surprisingly supportive. Bunky thought the whole idea was stupid, and opted for some sort of feather-substitute pillow. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to give the pillow a full night’s test run. It has a bit of a chemical smell to it, and so I’ve decided to let air out for a few days. But I’m really looking forward to using it!
Blah, my fantasy NBA team got smacked around some more (7-2 T_T), but at least Finley is healthy now and producing good numbers. I still think it was worth using my IL slot on him, even with Kirilenko injured, so now it is just a matter of time before good ole AK47 is back in action.
Old Blogger | Kabitzin 12/21/2004 | 
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