Saturday, July 31, 2004
Comcast Repair
Called Comcast today to fix my InterWeb. I was pleasantly surprised: After the normal too-many-options on the voice mail system, I actually reached a human after almost no time on hold. Then, after simply describing my problem (cable modem cycling through its lights over and over again), the guy on the phone actually scheduled a tech to come out. And, better yet, the tech is supposed to come out tomorrow! That's Sunday! Yay!I hope this isn't just a setup for a bad joke tomorrow, though... Time will tell.
Interweb down
My InterWeb is down at home. I'm pretty sure it's the cable modem (an RCA DCM245, what a piece of junk) because it just cycles through its startup sequence over and over again. It never establishes a connection.I'm posting this from a sidewalk outside the Ugly Mug coffee shop in Sellwood at 1:49 AM Saturday. Cars driving by keep giving me funny looks. I half-expect a policeman to show up and ask me what I'm doing.
But, dammit, I need my 'Net access.
30 hours to go until the Run Hit Wonder. Whoo! I got my shirt and timing chip (not the same as the chip that Nike implants into their employees) yesterday on my lunch break.
Labels: meta
Friday, July 30, 2004
Philosophical materialism
I think part of my problem is that I'm a materialist (believing only in the material world, not a supernatural world) by default. There is no evidence, credible or otherwise, to suggest the existence of such things as immortal souls, or effects or energies that can't be observed, or deities of unlimited power.But, deep down, like most other people, I wish that all that were true. OF COURSE it would be great if magick worked. OF COURSE it would be great if there was an infinitely powerful god that guided my life and rewarded the faithful and punished the unholy and the evil. OF COURSE I'd like it if someone could contact the dead and offer reassurance that they are at peace, or could tell me what to avoid and what to work towards in the future.
It's just that I can't justify any of it beyond wishful thinking.
With all that in mind, my horoscope this week has been suggesting that I'm very close to achieving a goal, and that if I can be patient, I can reap great rewards. That I will achieve vindication.
Wouldn't that be great, if only it were true? Because it's exactly what I (or anyone, really) would want to hear.
Labels: atheism
Early run
Ran this morning. Got up early. Haven't done that in a while. Ran the Three Parks Run, around 3.3 miles, in 33:22.66 -- dog-slow, a 10:00 pace or close enough. But that's what I plan on doing for the first 3-4 miles of the race on Sunday.I wanted to record the route and it's different legs and lengths here:
Three Parks Run
- Start: SE 13th and SE Linn
- 1st Leg (Start to head of Springwater Corridor Trail @ SE Umatilla) - .67 miles
- 2nd Leg (Head of Springwater Corridor Trail to SE Bybee & SE 18th) - 1.24 miles
- 3rd Leg (SE Bybee & SE 18th to SE Marion & SE 19th) - 1.39 miles
- End: SE Marion & SE 19th - total distance = 3.3 miles
Labels: exercise
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Outrage would be too easy a response
Outrage would be too easy a response.Buried in this story is a nugget of information that should have any thinking person incensed:
State election officials say they are optimistic voting will go smoothly this time. Florida spent more than $125 million on new touch screen and optical scan voting machines. Lawmakers also made sweeping changes to elections laws, banning manual recounts and tightening voter eligibility.The important part of that paragraph, to me, is the part about banning manual recounts.
What the fuck? Even a little basic research into electronic voting machines shows that they are far from infallible. Hell, anyone who has worked on a computer for longer than a couple of hours knows that data gets lost. So what planet are Florida legislators from when they think that e-voting machines are so infallible that they have made recounts illegal?
Is it any wonder that Florida has its own tag on Fark?
4 mile run, easy pace
I had no InterWeb last night, so I couldn't a) check my training schedule, and b) post about my run last night.I decided to run 4 miles, and to practice going at an easy pace. I succeeded, averaging a 9:31.6 pace (4 miles in 38:06.47). About perfect. I will aim for that same pace in the first 4 miles of the 10K on Sunday, and then aim for a faster pace for the remaining 2 miles. If I have the energy to average an 8 minute pace for the final section, I will average under a 9:00 pace for the entire race, which is my goal.
Goals are good.
Labels: exercise
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Message in a bottle indeed
Did you ever think about the song "Message In A Bottle"? I mean, really think about it?Here's this guy, alone, on an island. He's basically dying, right? I mean, loneliness can kill you. Maybe he's got enough to eat, fish, fruits, coconuts. If the Professor was there he could make a friggin' radio out of those damn coconuts, but, I'm assuming, no, he's not the Professor. He's just some guy. Alone. On an island. And, eventually, the way all stories end, if he's there long enough, he's going to die.
He's got to do something. Something to relieve the loneliness. So what does he do?
He writes a letter, puts it in a bottle, and sends it out to sea.
What the hell is that guy thinking? Has he gone batty? Talking to a soccer ball, nutso?
Because he waits a whole fucking year, and wakes up one day, and all he's gotten for his trouble is more bottles!
The moral is that everyone's on a fucking island, yes? They're all out there, lonely, sending these pitiful messages out to sea, hoping someone will come rescue them from their little island...
But, butbutbut, those assholes out on those other islands, they're selfish, just like the guy in the song. They don't want to risk their skin in the sea. They've got a bottle, hey, they can spare one little bottle. On an island with coconuts and all the fish they can devour, who needs a bottle? Hell, it's probably a rum bottle, and they polished it off (yeah, I've seen "Pirates of the Carribean") and then, with their courage all pumped up from the booze, they just scribbled off some note and tossed that fucker out into the waves.
No, the real moral of the story is that people are worthless. Ain't nobody coming to save you from your sandy beach; they're too busy nursing hangovers from cheap rum on their own sandy beaches waiting for you, yes, you, bunky, to come and rescue them.
The real moral of the story is that you've got to dive into the briny deep, expose your skin to the saltwater depths, the storms, the sharks and barracudas... and all you're going to find out there on the other islands are cowardly people with an unlimited supply of booze to mask their fears.
When, all along, the people you need, the ones that are worth meeting, are probably dead, killed when they dove into the ocean, lashed by storms, drowned, exhausted from battling the waves, eaten by sharks. Dead. Like you're going to be, whether or not you stay on your island or risk trying to find someone worth talking to.
Portable. Barely.
Oh, man. This is what we needed to do the site survey last night:
Click on picture to open original in new window
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Lock and Key Chronicles: The near-miss
I often eat lunch at a little taco stand called Taco del Mar. They have a "surfer" theme, being based around their beach-style food. They have a few local outlets, even though they started in the Seattle area, I think. I love their burritos and tacos. I'm a recent convert to their fish tacos; those are especially good.For the month of July they've been having a promotion where they gave away a bunch of little surfboard keychains early on, and for the rest of the month if you show the keychain they give you a free upgrade from a small to a large drink. Saves a big $0.20, but what the hey, it didn't cost me anything.
I went running at lunch time with a friend, who I shall refer to as "Jimbo", and after we'd showered off we went to Taco del Mar for sustenance. It was "Taco Tuesday" -- two tacos, rice, beans and a drink for $4.99. I have the keychain but my friend does not. So I showed the keychain to the Taco del Mar girl, she gave me the upgraded drink, then I slipped the keychain to my friend, behind the counter, so that he could get the discount, too. Worked like a champ. OK, I think we're pretty much regular customers so they probably would have given us the discount, any way, but it was fun.
Cut to later this evening. After work I was helping another friend, Palsy, set up some art space. He wanted me to see if they could set up a free wireless InterWeb connection. I was doing a little site survey, with a directional antenna and a wireless-equipped laptop. It was fun, hanging out the windows in Old Town, watching the crack deals going down outside, while playing with some high-tech gear in this loft filled with crazy painters and musicians. I'm basically doing this for free, just for the opportunity to hang out with creative types and get invited to some crazy-ass parties. I can be the "computer guy" for musicians and poets. It's a niche, it's all good.
The laptop I was using was borrowed from Jimbo (my iBook doesn't have an external antenna connection to attach a big directional antenna) and it was an old piece of shit. Small, but the slot where the wireless card went in had a loose connection and I had to hold it just so to get it to work right. Also, I discovered, even though I had left the damned thing on my desk all day, charging up the battery, for some reason it wouldn't hold a charge. Trying to get it to stay on only produced frustration -- a couple of quick warnings that the battery was low, then it would shut down. Argh. I had to go back to the office to get the power adapter.
When I got back to the office, I ran into Jimbo, the friend I had lunch with. Normally he has to go meet his wife to pick him up as soon as he gets off work (they car pool) but tonight for some reason he had an hour to kill. I invited him along to help me look for potential InterWeb.
The artist's space was very cool, like a low-tech improv version of a T. G. I. Friday's or something. You know the corporate look: carefully purchased and arranged random objects placed all over to create a "hip" atmosphere. Only in the case of the artist's space, it was truly random and authentically chaotic (whatever that means). At one point, we weren't getting a good signal from the 2nd floor and decided to try to get the laptop and antenna out on the roof. Since we were tethered to a power cable, we figured we had to get an extension cord (or three, connected together, to reach the distance) up on the roof. We had to trek up a rotting staircase to the 5th floor and then go out a window and on to the fire escape, then climb up a rickety old wrought-iron ladder to the roof, the plan being to drop the cord down the outside of the building to plug in on the 2nd floor.
First Palsy, the one for whom I was doing all this, went out there, on the fire escape. He quickly realized he didn't want to die and was afraid of heights, and came back in. I said he was pretty brave for going out there, knowing he was afraid of heights.
Then I went out there; after all, I've jumped from airplanes, I'm not scared of heights. Um, turns out that jumping into the clear blue sky is a lot different from standing on a flimsy platform of rusty steel rods welded together and anchored via means unknown into the side of a brick building nearing condemnation. Yeah. I chickened out.
Finally Jimbo, waiting down on the 2nd floor, called me on my cell. "What they hell are you ladies doing?" I told him we were coming down. He berated us and insisted he'd up there. "How bad could it be?" he sneered. We went down and met him, led him back up to the 5th floor, and showed him the fire escape. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No way IN HELL am I getting out there! I've got a wife and kids. I'd be shaking in my shoes." He'd thought it was a simple staircase up, not a thin metal ladder that one had to climb up the outside of to get to the roof. So we determined that we would have a decent view of any possible wireless access points from the 5th floor windows, and dropped the extension cord from there, not the roof.
It was at this point, waiting with the laptop and directional antenna, that I realized I didn't have my keys.
Oh, man. I just realized that you, the faithful reader, are in store to be disappointed. You read the title I gave this essay, you've been paying attention all along, and now you've probably got some great ideas how this story could continue. "I'll bet the keys fell out of his pocket while he was on the roof!" you might be thinking. Sure, that would make a great story. If I were less truthful, I'd go ahead and write it that way, and when the real people whom I'm calling "Palsy" and "Jimbo" read this story, they'd complain that that's not how it actually happened, but I'd claim poetic license and tell them this is so much better. They'd shrug, or bitch, or whatever, and I'd either be smug or mildly guilty, depending on how other people's reaction to this went.
Or you might be thinking that the keys were lost somewhere else, maybe in what I described as chaos, the artist's space on the 2nd floor. That would be good, too, and there'd be a long sequence of me and my friends searching through all the discarded paint tubes and cast-off art projects, and eventually either find the yellow surfboard keychain or not. Yeah, that would be good, too.
It's especially ironic since I've been having a string of incidents involving locks and keys. I mean, that's the whole reason I called this the "Lock and Key Chronicles", right? Locking myself out of my house, out of a rental car, stuff like that. So I wouldn't be telling this story if it didn't involve me losing my keys, right? Right?
Well, sorry. Wrong. As soon as I mentioned that I didn't have my keys, Jimbo went "Oh!" reached into his pocket, and pulled them out. He'd had them ever since lunch, when he'd gotten the free upgrade to a large drink. "Boy it's a good thing you ran into me, isn't it?" he asked. "You would have been stuck."
Yeah. Good thing. But I still am worried about what the universe is trying to tell me about not being able to keep track of my keys.
just a few minutes after that, his wife called him and he had to leave.
My lesson has apparently not yet been learned. I'm mentally bracing myself for the next lesson. Argh.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Training Schedule for week of 7/26 - 8/1
- Monday: Rest day.
- Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x2:00 AI, 2 miles
- Wednesday: 2 miles
- Thursday: Rest day.
- Friday: 2 miles, 3 GP
- Saturday: Rest day.
- Sunday: Race day! 6.2 miles, baby!
Labels: exercise
Deep thought
A random Deep Thought for the day:Anytime I see something screech across a room and latch onto someones neck, and the guy screams and tries to get it off, I have to laugh, because WHAT IS THAT THING?
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Photo Gallery update
Yeah. Still broken. Working with my webhost to get it fixed. My apologies that it's taking so long.Once again, you can view the pictures if you choose "original size" from the drop-down menu. Also, due to my own damned fumblefingers, I've lost my pictures from the Bridge-to-Bridge run in, I think, May. I'm going to try to scrounge up some replacements, but probably not until after I get the gallery working again.
I might have to replace the gallery with something else. If this takes much longer (I'll give it another week) I'll do that.
Thanks for your patience.
Labels: meta
Locked in
Argh. Had a rough night last night. I was at a friend's birthday party and I could tell I was tired because the party kept going out of focus for me. I'd come to and realize that people were directly addressing me. I was so out of it. Can't tell what it was; combination of a hangover, the heat and failing my run? I only had two beers which normally wouldn't be enough to knock me out but, then, since losing all that weight I'm a pushover. Honestly, though, I felt spacy even before I started drinking.At any rate, when I went home I came through downtown and stopped at my office. The building is secure but I have a keycode to get in. I signed in at the security desk even though there wasn't a security guard present. I wanted to use some software I have at work to map out some routes for running. I was there for less than a half-hour. Swapped some text messages with a friend who was bored and actually working late that Saturday night. Finished up what I needed to do and went back down to the lobby.
And nearly broke the glass doors trying to get out. There's a sensor that is supposed to unlock the door for people leaving. I tried the door several times but all the door would do is clank menacingly. It felt physically locked, which was more than annoying. I couldn't fathom it. Why was it locked? Was it just stuck? If it was, I still couldn't unstick it. I tried the big red "Open Door" button in the vestibule but the door still wouldn't open. No alarm went off, though.
I considered looking for the security guard but wasn't sure there even was one. It was nearly 11:30 PM on a Saturday night. I'd stopped by my office on a weekend before but never this late, so I didn't know if this was normal. Tired as I was, all I could think about was sleep now. I decided to go upstairs and wait a bit, then come down again and see if a guard showed up. Maybe he was on a break?
When I got back to my desk I must have nodded off. I woke up around 3:40 AM, my contacts dried into little plastic slivers in my eyes, back cramped from slumping over in my chair, mouth tasting like something scraped off my sandals, legs and arms cold from the air conditioning.
Once I got downstairs, I looked at the sign-in sheet. There were at least two other people in the building other than me. Maybe I could find them if I can't get out? I tried the door and it still felt locked. Fuck! I was so mad. I considered calling someone to come down and trying to enter my keycode in the door, but I couldn't think of anyone who would answer the phone at 4 AM in the morning. I got so pissed I pushed the door again, hard, my discomfort and pain turning to anger. Voila! The door unstuck and opened. Dammit! Was it just stuck this whole time? Or had someone unlocked it since I was last down here?
I'll never know.
One more choice to make: expensive taxi ride home? waiting three-plus hours for bus service to resume? or a two hour walk? Being in good physical shape and cheap, I opted for the walk. Dawn was breaking before I reached my neighborhood. I wandered past an encampment of homeless folk, startled at least two huge raccoons and was passed by a cheery morning bicyclist. Heard probably every crow in the inner south east cawing at the sunrise. Wandered in and out of consciousness as I zone out on the walk home. Did a lot of thinking and made notes that I can't decipher now... all in all an interesting morning.
When I got home I fell in the general direction of my bed and didn't wake up until after 11 AM. Which means I missed a late-morning date for coffee This posting is my public apology to her. I hate flaking out, even when it's me that's doing it.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
6.58 Mile Run
I did my 6.5 mile run today. I wanted to do it early, but due to heavy drinking the previous night I didn't get out of bed until 9:00 AM, and didn't get out the house until 10:00 AM. Not bad, but it was already hot by then.So, final score for the run: 6.58 miles, 1:06:08 for the total distance. I started strong -- OK, I started out too fast. Which cost me at the end. I kept up a 9:00 pace for the first 4 miles or so, then started slowing considerably until I was walking. My average pace, then, for the entire distance is a 10:03.039. Again, not bad, considering I was hung over and it's frickin' hot outside. It's already 85 degrees and it's only noon. Bleh. Double-bleh.
I learned a valuable lesson in pacing myself which I hope will carry over to the Run Hit Wonder race next weekend, my goal being a 9:00 pace.
I've got nowhere to go but faster. Right?
Labels: exercise
Thursday, July 22, 2004
4.58 mile run
Ran my scheduled miles tonight. Well, a little over: 4.58 miles, as calculated in Streets 98. I pushed the pace a little, aiming for a 9:00 pace. But I did even better than that, according to the Cool Running Pace Calculator: total time was 40:14.38, which means I maintained a pace of 8:47.152! Go, me!I also did the "Gentle Pickups" afterward, six of them. The next-to-last one was downhill and, I'll tell ya, I felt like I was flying!
This is amazing, considering I nearly killed myself on Wednesday, trying to run in the heat and after giving myself severe gastro-intestinal distress from some very very hot sauce at lunch!
Labels: exercise
Narrowing it down (not)
I walked into one of the county offices where I work, and the receptionist, a lady I'll call "C", was slumped at her desk behind the bullet-proof window where she works with the fine clientele she deals with every day. She looked like she'd had a long day already, and it was only 10 AM or thereabouts.I asked her what was up, and she laughed tiredly and said, "A client came in and claimed to be Jesus Christ."
I started laughing. "That's pretty funny," I said.
She smiled a bit and said, "I just kept asking him to tell me his real name, and he just kept insisting it was 'Jesus Christ.'"
"Maybe it's pronounced 'HAY-soos!'" I suggested, and laughed harder.
She laughed with me, but after a minute she drew in enough breath to continue the story. "So I had to look him up in the computer. Guess what I found? There were two 'Jesus Christs'' in there!"
Tears came to my eyes. "Two of them!"
I couldn't stop laughing now. I had to sit down in a vacant chair. "You should have asked him what his middle initial was! My dad always insisted it was 'Jesus H. Christ!'"
C turned to the computer, the search screen still up. "No middle initial listed." She continued, "Yeah, so I had to figure out which one he was..." I knew where she was going.
When there's multiple names in the database, the next question the fine county folk ask is the person's birthday. To narrow down which one is which.
"So..." I prompted her.
'C' smiled even wider. "So I asked him. And, of course, it was December 25th."
Explanation of today's catchphrase
There's a weird security lady in the building where I work. I used to think of her as just bitchy; the first interaction I ever had with her, I was bringing a computer and monitor into the building, and she lectured me about using the "normal" elevators instead of the freight elevators. She's usually very deadpan. Remember Cloris Leachman from "Young Frankenstein"? Like her but on Xanax.Anyway, my buddy Ken thinks she's crazy... and creepy. And he interprets everything she says in that light now. He takes every opportunity to point out how crazy she is. Yesterday, Ken and I were both coming in at the same time as these two guys in coveralls. We must have looked curious, because Creepy Security Lady (CSL) mentioned to us that those two worked in the building. As we get on the elevator, I say something smartass like "Yeah, I try to do that sometimes, too." And she starts laughing.
She continues to laugh, while standing in front of the doors, as the elevator closes. It's hard to describe in print, but it was creepy the way she continued to laugh. It gave the impression that she would still be laughing if we went down there again.
This is all setup. Today Ken goes down to get his breakfast (they make yummy and cheap breakfast burritos across the street at Cafe 400) and when he came back, he said CSL stopped him and pointed to his bag. "Getting some breakfast?"
"Uh, yeah." Ken said he scooted around her to get into the elevator. "I try to eat it every morning."
Deadpan, she replied, "It's the most important meal of the day" as the elevator doors closed on Ken.
When Ken told me the story, I cracked up. There was more, but I made him go back and say that line multiple times, and it took him quite a while before he could repeat it with the poker face of CSL again without laughing himself.
Hoo-boy. Still gets me. It's especially funny out of context.
Mmm…
Mmm... Honey Dijon Kettle Chips.Today's catchphrase
Today's catchphrase (delivered deadpan, with a poker face):"It's the most important meal of the day."
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
New watch run!
Ran tonight. Did 2+ miles, plus 4 x 1:30 intervals, interspersed with enough slow jogging and walking to completely recover, then two miles home.Since I had my new watch, I timed the 2+ miles, and the first one I did in 18:35, the second leg I did in 18:51. I'll have to figure out exactly how many miles that distance was, 'cause I felt like I was going faster than a 9:00 - 9:30 pace, but I could be wrong.
My recovery time in-between the intervals is getting better, though. That much I can tell.
Labels: exercise
This is so wrong.
Besides the fact that "Catwoman" is going to be teh suck, here's another reason not to see it:Halle Berry's stunt double in the movie? A man.
So, basically, by releasing that little tidbit of information, they've removed even the guilty pleasure of watching Ms. Berry's derrierre. All over the country, men and boys past puberty will be wondering, "Is that a man's ass I'm staring at?"
Why? Why did they have to ruin it for me?
Warner Brothers have now essentially reduced their target market for this movie to be bisexual comic-book geeks. Yes, all 10 of them.
The Old 97s
New guilty pleasure:Listening to the Old 97's.
Just for the record, they're alt-country, OK? OK!
Monday, July 19, 2004
New iPods!
Sweet cracker sandwich!
I already used "HFLoK" this weekApple announced the new, fourth-generation iPod!
...unfortunately, most of the features aren't really compelling enough for me to upgrade just yet. Sure, 12-hour battery life. Sure, nifty click-wheel like the MiniPod. Sure, multiple On-The-Go playlists and better UI features. Sure, the 40 GB model is $100 cheaper than what I paid for my 3G 40 GB model. Sure, it's thinner (oooook, that's cool).
ButButBut... it's just not cool enough. Me pout.
Now, if they had announced a 60 GB model today... then I would have been first in line to upgrade.
Curse you Steve Jobs!
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Training Schedule for week of 7/19 - 7/25
- Monday: Rest day.
- Tuesday: 2 miles, 6x1:30 AI, 2 miles
- Wednesday: 3 miles, or rest day.
- Thursday: 4.5 miles + 6 GP
- Friday: Rest day.
- Saturday: 6.5 miles
- Sunday: 4.5 miles
Labels: exercise
Technical difficulties
OK, sorry, my picture gallery is broken.You can view the images at their original size. Just select "original size" from the drop-down menu. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'm working on getting it fixed.
Labels: meta
I beat the Burnside!
Wow! I beat the Burnside!Caleb, Becky and I left the Forestry Center at 8:00 AM sharp. The course was beautiful, and you couldn't have asked for a nicer morning for a run. Becky quickly left Caleb and I in the dust. I got the feeling that Caleb could have gone faster but kept pace with me.
The first couple of hundred meters or so were uphill, and there was at least one surprise uphill near Council Crest Park, but for the most part it was downhill, in places very steeply downhill. A fun, fast course, although, once again, I tried to maintain a steady even pace.
As Caleb and I approached the bridge, because of the angle, it looked like it was already up! I hadn't remembered that the bridge itself curves up and over the river. About halfway up the slope, I saw people waving flags and thought that was the finish line, and started running faster; I always try to sprint to the finish (or at least lumber along faster)! But when I crested the hill, I saw that the actual finish line was down further, another couple hundred meters. Argh! Trickery! Of course, in hindsight, it makes sense; since the bridge is being raised at 9 AM sharp, you don't want people standing around on the part that goes up.
The race isn't professionally timed (not sanctioned by the USAT&F) so I don't know what my official time was. I'm not sure if I'm going to post the results on my Trophy Page or not. But I saw the clock as I finished and it read almost exactly 8:46 AM, which would make this my first 8K and my fastest 8K ever! That translates into a 9:15 pace! Whoo-HOO!
Caleb crossed the finish line just seconds ahead of me (he saw me running faster and his competitiveness kicked in!) and Becky finished in about 42 minutes! Go, Team Saponified!
Pictures are up in my Flickr gallery.
Labels: exercise
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Me vs. Qwest: Final Victory Is Mine
Holy friggin' list of Kens!It looks like it does, in fact, pay to complain. You might recall from my previous posts that I had some difficulty dealing with Qwest. Cue up a recap: I had Qwest for both landline and cell phone, I was moving, and contacted Qwest to disconnect my landline and port that phone number to my cell phone. Seems simple enough, right? But Qwest insists that it's a very complicated procedure... and my battles with an endless series of phone droids showed me just how seriously Qwest takes that point of view.
It can't be that hard, because if I walk up to a kiosk in any shopping mall in the US, and order a phone, I walk away from that kiosk with a working cell phone. What did the minimum-wage kiosk-dweller do? Why, they check a credit history, and then assign a phone number from a pool of available numbers to a specific phone. There is not an iota of difference, from a purely technical standpoint, from what I asked Qwest to do. Move a phone number that I had in my own name to a phone that I had in my name.
I won't re-hash the whole fight, but after dealing with at least 10 different people, and having a time frame further and further in the future quoted to me as to when the port would take place, and going weeks without phone service at all, I complained. I filed formal complaints with the State of Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Fraud Division, the State of Oregon Public Utility Commission, and the Better Business Bureau in Denver (which covers the nest of thieves that infests Denver, a.k.a. Qwest HQ). After the Oregon PUC informed me that they didn't address porting issues, I filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, which does.
At the time I also informed the most recent Qwest phone monkey that I would require any further promises they made to me to be in writing, as I could no longer trust them to tell me the truth. I told them that if I did not hear from them, in writing, within 48 hours that I would consider Qwest to have terminated their business relationship with me. I didn't hear from them in my specified timeframe, and dropped off at a T-Mobile kiosk to get a new cell phone. Within 10 minutes of stepping up, I had a working cell phone again! Joy!
A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the Oregon AG's office telling me that they had contacted Qwest and to expect a formal response from them. A week after that, I got a series of voice mails from yet another Qwest employee asking for more information (they were calling me on my work phone). I didn't return the calls. Last Friday I picked up my ringing work phone to find yet another Qwest employee on the other end of the call. Nearly unable to contain my anger, I informed her that I had another phone number, that since I hadn't heard back from Qwest I considered our business relationship to be over, and that they could do what they wanted but I figured they applied the credit that one of their previous monkeys had offerred me to my bill and zeroed it out.
Well, I received a letter from the Oregon AG's office, signed by a Ms. Papke, Enforcement Officer, saying that they had heard from Qwest and considered the matter closed. A copy of Qwest's response was included, signed by Suzzy Reeves, Executive Regulatory Escalations Analyst for Qwest, saying that my accounts have been "adjusted to a zero balance... Mr. Moon will not owe Qwest any money on the accounts involved in the port."
Sweet, sweet vindication. I am victorious!
Broken training
OK, broke my training again today. Should have done 6 miles, per the Runner's World 10K Training Plan for Beginners, but, dammit, I only did 4 miles. I'm worried about totally killing myself in the Beat the Burnside tomorrow morning, even though I keep reassuring myself that "I'm only using the BtB as a training run".Yeah. It's not sinking in. The course tomorrow has 650 feet of elevation drop in 5 miles! It's going to be tougher than the Mt. Tabor Challenge!
Anyway, the 4 miles were a bit tough, probably because of the 4 miles I did yesterday in Tryon Creek State Park (see previous post). I'm pushing myself... but am I near the limit? Or over the limit? Or do I have lots of room left before I hit the limit?
Time will tell.
Labels: exercise
In which Brian is introduced to used import CD shopping
Score!
My friend Caleb lives near the big Everyday Music on Sandy, which is a used music store. It's to used music what Powell's City of Books is to, well, books. I went there last night with my friend.
One of my favorite bands is Radiohead, and I own all of their major releases. A while ago I found an EP of theirs at the Everyday Music on Burnside, so I tend to check the Radiohead bin even though the odds of finding anything I don't already have is pretty slim.
But the odds were on my side last night. When I checked the bin, there was an EP I'd never seen before: "My Iron Lung", apparently released around 1994, with eight tracks, six of which I'd never heard of, and one a version I'd never heard!
- my iron lung
- the trickster
- lewis (mistreated)
- punchdrunk lovesick singalong
- permanent daylight
- lozenge of love
- you never wash up after yourself
- creep (acoustic)
...as close to a forgotten, long-lost Radiohead album as you can get. Although marketed and priced as an EP, it contains eight tracks, seven of which are unavailable anywhere else, and is half an hour long (which more than meets the criteria for a full-length). But besides its length, what makes My Iron Lung such a find is the quality of the tracks, all of them being great outtakes from the sessions for their classic 1995 full-length release The Bends.Joy! After I've listened to it a million times I'll post my own review, but I can tell you that a) I'm already a fan of Radiohead and predisposed to like their sound, and b) Since these are outtakes from "The Bends" and that was my first favorite Radiohead CD I'm even more predisposed to like these (yes, I've learned to like "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" and the others, too, but "The Bends" was my first favorite). What? Why haven't I listened to it yet already? Because I'm moving my MP3 collection to a server and therefore iTunes is busy, so I haven't ripped it to my iPod yet. And my actual CD player, out in the living room, isn't hooked up (a product of my recent move).
I ran my 4 miles last night
I ran my 4 miles last night. But I didn't do the 3 "gentle pickups". Why? Because I ran with friends, and instead of wanting to run somewhere nice and flat where I could do my training stuff, they wanted to run in Tryon Creek State Park.Sure it's beautiful up there, and since it was so hot yesterday it was nice to run in the shade and on the trails, and sure the hills give me a good overall workout... but I did only part of what my training plan was and that mildly frustrates me.
I'm supposed to run 6 miles today but, hoo-boy I am achy all over and don't know why. Shoulders, arms, back, legs... ears are stuffed up, too. Maybe I'm coming down with a cold? Aw, man. Summer colds are the worst! I hope I'm not, I hope I'm not, I hope I'm not...
Labels: exercise
Test post...
Test post... Blogger's made some changes to their posting method, and last time I tried to use Safari to post there were problems.Friday, July 16, 2004
Squid taco
I spent a significant fraction of my lunch break, thanks to a conversation with a friend earlier, trying to convince the girls at Taco del Mar to make me a calamari taco.Me: "How about I run across the street to Greek Cusina, get some calamari, and bring it over?"
TDM Girl 1: "I don't think so..."
TDM Girl 2: "What is calamari, anyway? I don't think I've ever had it."
Me: "It's delicious squid."
TDM Girl 1: "Oh." Thinks about it. "I don't think so."
Me: "You don't think you'll make me a calamari taco? Or you don't think that calamari is delicious?"
TDM Girl 2: [with a 'whatever' attitude] "It's just OK."
TDM Girl 1: "I've never had squid. I'm not a big fan of sea food. I've never even had one of our fish tacos."
Me: "Oh, no, you're wrong. It's good. Calamari is good. Delicious."
TDM Girl 2: "You've never had a fish taco? It's like our specialty! That's like working at Starbucks but not liking coffee!"
Customer 1: "I can totally see not liking coffee if you work at Starbucks."
TDM Girl 1: "See?"
...at this point, I just cut my losses and ordered a fish taco and a pork burrito.
But wouldn't a calamari taco be delicious?
Reverend Horton Heat, Roseland, 2004 July 15
Actually, I was probably consciously avoiding running yesterday, due to a) the lack of sleep the previous night and b) I was going to see Reverend Horton Heat at the Roseland Theater. Since I knew I was going to be up late again Thursday night, I went home and took a disco nap before heading back downtown and meeting my friends.There were two opening bands but I missed the first one. Second act was the Detroit Cobras. Noone in my group knew if, in fact, they were from Detroit, although Anna opined that they didn't look Detroit enough. I was pretty sure they weren't actually cobras, however. They didn't even do any cobra-like moves, although the bass player from Rev. Horton Heat, Jimbo, did do a cobra arm movement later on. The Detroit Cobras had some decent songs but the lead singer spent a lot of the show griping, at one point sarcastically commenting that "we might as well be at a house party", and later, when the band paused between songs she threw a diva hissy fit and demanded several times they start the next song.
Luckily the main act was far more polished and professional. There was some ass, and the band kicked it. Names may or may not have been taken in the ensuing party. The Reverend's crowd rap about crowd rap (monologues between songs from a band) was amusing and ended with the crowd telling the band to fuck off, much to the Reverend's delight (and due to his skillful orchestration of the audience), and Jimbo's diatribe about his carnal desire for Martha Stewart on the eve of her sentencing left a lasting impression.
The noise level from what is only a three-piece band was incredible, and the crowd was eating it up. Many pompadours attended the show, and a large wild-haired blond gentleman spun through the mosh pit, head down, very much as though the Grateful Dead were playing.
The only downbeat note was at the end of the encore set, when a kid made it up on to the stage. A roadie ran up and pushed the kid off the stage into the crowd, and the Reverend berated him, calling him a "pussy" and mocking him for picking up his cell phone -- "Call your mommy!" he shouted at the kid. But it was an entertaining downbeat note, all the same.
Run update: arrrgh
Arrrgh! I didn't run yesterday as scheduled. I didn't run because for some reason I thought Thursday was a rest day. I was supposed to do 4 miles + 3 "gentle pickups". I'll have to do them today, which is going to make for a tough weekend: I'm scheduled to run 6 miles on Saturday and then I'll be running the "Beat The Burnside 8K" on Sunday (about 5 miles). Hmmm...Labels: exercise
Thursday, July 15, 2004
New iPods?
Rumor has it that Apple is going to annouce the next version of the iPod in August, which means that I will likely be trading in my third-gen 40 GB for whatever the top end of the new ones are...Only major concern is the report that they're going to be in colors. I hope they offer a black, white, grey or silver model...
Ooooh... black. That would be wicked cool...
Locked out
Argh. If I believed in a supernatural force that doled out justice in the universe I'd say that said force was attempting to communicate with me.Went to a friend's house for a BBQ last night, and on my way home realized that I had left my keys on my coffee table in the living room. Yes, it's true, the mental image that came to me once I discovered that the keys were not in their accustomed place in my right front pocket was undeniably clear. I could see them sitting there amidst all the unsorted junk mail, and sure enough, hours and hours later when I finally broke into my own apartment, there they sat just as I had envisioned them.
Yes, I had to break into my own apartment. But that was the option of last resort. First I called my landlord, but his wife refused to wake him up for such a trivial reason, since it was nine-freakin'-thirty in the evening, far too late for such shenanigans. Mrs. Landlord told me that if I called tomorrow he could come over and help, "and he gets up real early." Considering I had to be at work at 7 AM, just how early would Mr. Landlord be up? "Oh, no, not that early," she said. OK, on to Plan B.
Second I called my sister, because I remember giving her a spare key to my apartment. Unfortunately, my sister reminded me that I have moved in the last couple of months, and hadn't updated the key. "You could get into your old apartment," she laughed and said. I don't think the current resident of said apartment would appreciate that, though.
Third, I went to my office downtown, and looked on my desk. Maybe, I thought, I had somehow left the key there... no. So I pulled out the Yellow Pages and looked up a couple of locksmiths. First number I called I reached a woman with an accent strongly reminiscent of the Far East, who shrilly advised me that "he forgot to forward phone. Here his cell phone." But the number she gave me was another lady who advised me that there were no locksmiths, ever, at that number.
The second number I called was a young-ish sounding man who, when I first asked him if he could get me back into my apartment, asked if I had called my landlord. After I explained that my landlord apparently needed his beauty sleep, the man shrewdly advised me that getting back into my own apartment "...is gonna cost you a hundred-dollar bill." Thanks but no thanks, pal. I hung up on him. I'd sleep in my office overnight before paying that much just because a) I made a stupid mistake and b) my landlord is a lazy bastard.
So, I headed home. Once I got there, I tried that old trick of trying to jimmy the door with a credit card (I used my Portland Art Museum admission card, figuring it was the most disposable card I had). Turns out that trick doesn't work. At least I couldn't make it work.
I was both upset and pleased, however, at how easily I was finally able to break into my apartment. I'll have to do something about that.
And, as I said above, sitting there on my coffee table, in my living room, nestled among the unsorted junk mail of several weeks, were my house keys. Joy.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Attention: new curse phrase
I just overheard my co-worker say something that I'm going to use as my new favorite curse-phrase:"Holy friggin' list of Kens!"This will occupy the spot that "Sweet cracker sandwich!" occupied.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Recharged
I'll tell you, I wasn't looking forward to running tonight, at all. I was pretty energetic today at work, even playful at times (the weekend at the beach really helped to recharge my batteries), I got a bunch of stuff done, but by the time I got home I was dragging a bit. Might have been the warm weather, or it might have been my lack of calories today (medium breakfast, medium lunch, no dinner after I got home)... could have been a lot of things, I guess. But an hour or two after getting home, I was in bed napping.Got up around 8:00 PM, though, and forced myself to get into my running shorts and shoes and head out the door. Today was the "2 miles, 4x1:30 AI, 2 miles" routine. Once I finished my warm up and started running, I surprised myself at how easily I fell into a decent pace. My training instructions tell me to go easy, keep it slow, go for endurance... but I swear I was keeping a 9:00 - 9:30 pace without getting winded. My legs and feet felt light as feathers. It was great!
I finished the first two miles in no time, then started my intervals. Again, I was flying along at a great clip! And it took me much less time than the last time I did intervals (two weeks ago) to completely recover, maybe two minutes total.
Then the two miles home again, and I purposely ran a route that had me going uphill for at least the last half-mile, and I still felt so strong and fast. Tired, but a good tired.
I hope this isn't just a random variation. I'm going to chalk it up to my training routine kicking in. I'll bet I'm going to kick some serious ass on the "Beat the Burnside" run this weekend! Whoo-HOO!
Labels: exercise
Like never
I was riding up the elevator in my office today, and another fellow elevator-rider started humming, then made a joke about there being no "elevator music" in the elevator.Which got me to thinking: when was the last time anyone actually heard "elevator music" in the elevator?
No camera phones
Remember a couple of months ago, I got a new phone? Sony Ericsson T610? Tiny, color screen, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, infrared? Camera phone?See, I don't normally think of the camera phone feature. I have a decent-but-not-great digital camera already, so I haven't really made much use of the camera in my phone. But I got a reminder yesterday...
See, camera phones are kind of a big deal in strip clubs.
Yesterday evening I was still technically "on vacation", didn't have to be back to work until Tuesday morning, so I stopped in a strip club in my neighborhood for a beer. While I was there, a friend called me, and when I pulled out the phone and the bartender saw me (I wasn't even sitting at the stage; I was up at the bar!) he came over and read me the riot act. Pointed to a sign that said:
"The safety and privacy of our entertainers is very important to us. As a result, please refrain from using your cell phone while in the club. Since camera phones are becoming more common, and it's often difficult for us to tell which phones have cameras and which don't, we ask that all cell phones not be used at [club name]."Aside from the poor grammar, the message was clear.
They didn't even let me finish my beer, dammit. I guess that'll teach me.
Labels: stripclub
Monday, July 12, 2004
Beach weekend recap
Back from the beach.As I first rolled into town I stopped at the Safeway in Lincoln City to pick up some supplies... and managed to lock myself out of my car. I was using a FlexCar, since I don't own my own car, and this particular one needed a keycard to open the doors; the ignition key only starts the car, it doesn't open the doors. As a FlexCar member, I have a keycard, and I keep it in my wallet. As a male who is concerned about my butt becoming numb on long drives, I take my wallet out of my back pocket when driving. Combine those facts with my 4 mile run that morning before leaving for the beach, and a lack of a solid breakfast, and general crankiness from taking the wrong way to Lincoln City (I drove out the Sunset Highway, then turned off onto Highway 6, which adds about 25 miles to the trip as measured by Mapquest), and you have a very upset Brian. Luckily I had my cell phone with me and I had service. I called the 24-hour Emergency number for FlexCar, and found that, although it was technically possible to have them remotely unlock the car (yay!), the technology to do this was dependent on cell phone reception and whatever service they used was not the same as the service I used, so they had to call a local locksmith to open the car (boo!). That cost me about 2 hours. Luckily the locksmith they called had no problem getting me into the car. I won't make that mistake (knowingly, at any rate) again.
Had the traditional first-night-dinner-at-Mo's-Chowder-House on Saturday. Saw a very out-of-place large Goth girl there. C'mon, it's a small coastal tourist town, and this girl comes in, dressed all in black satin, bat-wing clips holding up her dyed-black hair, all pale-faced with her spider-web stickers at the corners of her eyes, wearing tall black vinyl boots... to say she stood out like a sore thumb is to underestimate how much a sore thumb can stick out.
I also ran on the beach, my longest ever run: 5.5 miles. It felt good, even though I had to run into a headwind for the first half (I ran 2.75 miles north, then turned around and came back). I had sea salt on the left side of my face when I got back to the beach house! I should have taken a picture, dammit. But it felt good to have completed that distance.
I also read two books. I finished "Children of God" by Mary Doria Russell, a book loaned to me by a friend (hi, Anna!), and I completed "Slack Jaw" by Jim Knipfel. If I think of it I'll post reviews later this week.
I had a good time, a relaxing time. Tried to watch for the Green Flash twice, and missed it twice. Oh, well, someday.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Training Schedule for week of 7/12 - 7/18
- Monday: Rest day.
- Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x1:30 AI, 2 miles
- Wednesday: 3 miles, or rest day.
- Thursday: 4 miles + 3 GP
- Friday: Rest day.
- Saturday: 6 miles
- Sunday: 4 miles
Labels: exercise
Friday, July 09, 2004
Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11
Since I lost a day to my sore ankle last week, here's what my schedule for this week looks like:Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11
- Monday: Rest day.
- Tuesday:
- Wednesday: 2.5 miles, Waterfront/Esplanade
- Thursday: 3 mile run in my neighborhood
- Friday: 4 miles (Four Parks Run) + 3 GP
- Saturday: Rest day.
- Sunday: 5.5 miles at the beach!
Labels: exercise
Beach weekend
I'm going to the beach this weekend, and won't be back until late Monday. I probably won't have InterWeb access so I won't be posting 'til Tuesday (remember them?).So I'm going to post next week's running schedule now, but I'm going to change the date so it stays on the main page all next week. So nobody get confused.
Neighborhood run
Ran three miles last night. Around my neighborhood. Yay.Didn't keep track of time. Just wanted to work on endurance. I did have to stop a bit, but it was when I crossed Tacoma Street near the Sellwood Bridge. I have to stop for traffic.
Labels: exercise
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Waterfront run
Exercise update: Ran 2.5 miles on the waterfront last night. Kept at an easy pace, didn't go too fast but also didn't have to stop and walk at all. Wanted to go easy on my ankle.I know, I know, I was supposed to do the 2 miles + 4 x 1:00 AI + 2 miles, but I didn't. I went back and checked the printed version of the training schedule and it wasn't in there, either, so I think it's not a typo.
Labels: exercise
Dark night of the soul
Dark night of the soul.The realization that there is no one on this planet who listens, and understands, and likely never will be.
Ah, me. Of the kinds of loneliness, this is the worst.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Pushups and stomach crunches
In other exercise-related news, I've managed to work my way up to 30 pushups and 60 stomach crunches daily. I'm sure I mentioned this before so don't act all surprised.I started off almost exactly one month ago with this daily regimen, on 7 June 2004. On that day I recorded 15 of each, and I remember that the 15 pushups were difficult for me. I'm so glad that I've been able to increase my pushups so much in that much time. The stomach crunches are another story; yeah, I can do a lot of them, but I still don't have washboard abs. Realistically, I probably never will. If the muscles are getting toned and in shape, they're still under a lot of loose skin, left over from my losing so much fat around my middle.
Kinda icky; when I do my pushups, if I look down underneath myself I can see the loose skin hanging down from my midsection. Bleh. It's both a badge of honor and a source of revulsion to me. Yay, I lost weight. Bleh, I'm not perfect 'n' stuff.
Labels: exercise
Sore ankle
My right ankle was sore today. Actually had been since yesterday. Maybe I hurt it at the gym yesterday. At any rate, I figured it was best if I didn't run today. I'll ice it tonight and see how it is tomorrow. If it's better, I'll just start my schedule on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, push it back a day.Bummer, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Labels: exercise
Monday, July 05, 2004
Burton's Willy
Pardon me while I interrupt this blog with important news.Can you imagine Tim Burton's version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"?
Well, soon, you won't have to...
And, as a bonus, you won't have to imagine Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, either. Pshaw... like Burton would choose anybody else in the role...
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Total mileage for the week: 16.75
Finished the week with a 3.5-mile run, not quite as planned. Also did the "gentle pickups", as planned. My legs are sore now. Should have stretched... Oh, well.I shouldn't rely on my memory of what my schedule says, it seems. I was supposed to do a 4-mile run. I can't trust myself to be accurate without double-checking.
That makes my total mileage for the week: 16.75. Still my best week ever!
Labels: exercise
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Haircut
Got a haircut today:
Geeze, you can really see my bald spot in there. Oh, well. I'm just this close to going completely bald. No Hair Club for Men for me!
Bloggest
I use Blogger to create posts for my blog (the thing you're reading now). I mainly use my iBook to do it, and on my iBook I use Safari as my main browser.In the Bookmarks Bar I keep links for both my main website, and Blogger.
I just noticed that there's something missing. It should read
"Blog - Blogger - Bloggest"
Was that too far to go for a joke? I hope so...Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11
- Monday: Rest day.
- Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x1:00 AI, 2 miles finish
- Wednesday: 3 mile run (Waterfront/Esplanade? Three Parks Run?) or Rest day.
- Thursday: 4 miles (Four Parks Run) + 3 GP
- Friday: Rest day.
- Saturday: 5.5 miles - Run downtown?
- Sunday: 3.5 miles in my neighborhood.
I decided that the lack of AI on Tuesday was a typo. I'm also planning on hitting the gym on my rest days for some upper-body training.
Labels: exercise
Ran to work
Ran 5 miles to work yesterday. I ran slow, remembering the advice from the training plan I'm following:"Easy runs mean totally comfortable and controlled. If you're running with someone else, you should be able to converse easily. You'll likely feel as if you could go faster."So I took it very easy, and when I got to where I normally stop, at SW 1st and Madison, I just kept going. I still had lots of energy left. I finally stopped at SW 4th and Taylor, after going flat-out for a couple of blocks, but I could have continued even further.
I've estimated my normal route and distance at about 5 miles so I guessed I'd gone 5.5 miles, since I'd ran five or six blocks further than normal, but on Friday I sat down with some mapping software (Microsoft's Streets 98, the only one I could find; Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps aren't well-suited to figuring out distances on routes like that) and found that the total distance was only 5.24 miles. Oh, well, I'm not that disappointed. That gives me 13.24 miles for the week.
I did time myself, and my pace for the run was still under 10 minutes. In fact it was 9:56.507 (total time 52:05.7 for 5.24 miles).
Tomorrow I'm going to run... Oh, crap! I just checked my schedule and I'm supposed to run today! 4 miles with 3 "gentle pickups". I thought that was for tomorrow... drat. I'll have to do it tomorrow. It'll be better for me to do it tomorrow. (Am I convincing myself yet?)
I'm looking at the schedule for next week and there are no "AI" days -- Aerobic Intervals. It's the only week without them. Is that a typo? I'll have to compare it to the one printed in the magazine to double-check. Next post will be my schedule for next week.
Labels: exercise
