Shadith's random thoughts

changes are afoot

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:40:28 GMT

Thursday afternoon I got a call from my boss telling me that he'd just gotten a call from another manager who had a job offer for me.

This sounds weird, I realize. The backstory is that we had a major re-org here earlier this year. As part of that re-org they had too many people in the new division (2 business divisions became 1) and offered a voluntary separation package. To which they got more than twice the people they'd expected to take it. So they went from too many, to too few.

At that point a handful of departments were identified as have potential people who could be laterally moved and not backfilled. Thus keeping much of the downsize. So while everyone gets asks to pick up a little more work, where ISN'T that happening and for 150 or so people its creating great opportunities.

So, yes, I got this call from my boss saying he had a manager wanting to offer me one of these jobs. HR fast tracked these placements, there were no formal interviews, nothing. They strictly went off internal resumes and performance management. Then the other shoe dropped. The job is in Cary, NC. Which is pretty much THE best spot in the company in the US when you work for a midwest based ag company.

I accepted the offer yesterday. I am waiting to hear on start dates, relocation, etc. Expect a few more posts from me than normal. :D

One great dad

shadith@gmail.com — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:48:22 GMT

This is mostly a placeholder. I have a lot to say, but not enough time to say it.

My father passed away friday night from a massive heart attack. He was 73 and married to my mother for 51+ years.

He's being buried in national cemetary in Keokuk, IA tomorrow.

He was not always an easy man to like, but he always had my love and respect. He did the best he could for his kids and his wife. That meant working long hours, being the disciplinarian and being the loudest voice at any event my brother and I participated.

He loved life. He loved sports. He loved eating. He loved his family. And I will miss him.

WoW wanking

shadith@gmail.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:22:13 GMT

Feel free to skip this.

Monday night we're doing progression run(s) in ZA, timed attempts are a
different night.

So I'm in what looks to be a decent, solid group being led by the GM (who is
offtanking). There are a fewer of our newer guild members who we haven't done
high lvl content with so our expectations aren't all that high and we start the
event heading for Bear (I can't ever keep names straight) to make sure we get
one timed chest.

We totally blasted Bear, left the chest and headed off to the gauntlet - where
I'm an idiot and pulled a group out front for running mounted - our priest dies
but its ok with BR and a 'vate (3 druids in group makes for handy BR and lots
of innervates), and we down Bird with time to spare.

So we quickly decided we may as well take a stab at the Lynx on timed - no
pally so we left Dragonhawk. We did a clean run to Lynx and killed him with
less than 30 seconds left on our timer to get the third chest.

This is something that the 'stacked' group has never done, nor has the 'top 10'
group. We were stupid giddy about the whole thing and I was /whispering the GM
to find out just how pissed the main raid leader was about the whole thing. At
that point he was 'annoyed, but not yelling or anything'.

No wipe at this point, we've time left in our raid slot, we figure lets try the
dragonhawk to get peeps exposure to him and the fight. We one shotted it! Not
timed of course, but we weathered a few mistakes with BRs and managed to
outlast the hatchlings.

Everyone is just ecstatic and we figure why not take a stab at Malacrass, which
took us three tries and then we did Zul'jin in another 3 tries, coming in about
14 min. longer than our slotted raid time. It was fucking SWEET.

According to the GM, the main raid leader was boiling mad by this time (they're
roommates) and I could not fucking stop laughing, esp with 2 of my friends who
have been victims along with me of of being some of the oldest guild members,
but not cool enough to get into the stacked group.

Now, we've cleared ZA in the past, but never with 3 timed chests and definitely
not with a 'normal' group. Nights like that are why I still love the game.

worky work, busy bee

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:36:59 GMT

Well, its not really been all that busy at work, but I've been so busy since this weekend that I just want a night off to veg. Sadly tonight is not that night. We're having Joe's parents over for a late Mothers Day dinner since she was out of town on Mothers Day. The good thing is that I have nearly everything ready - which is part of why my week has been so busy.

Saturday - I added the engine cage and highway pegs to my motorcyle. Which was a bit frustrating, but very straightforward. The only real issue was that I couldn't find the right size wrench for the longest time. Apparently 11mm is common around our house cause that size was missing from every set. I finally had joe check the jeep and he had on in that kit. My bike isn't really tall enough and long enough to get a really good stretch with the pegs, but its nice to know I'll be able to shift around when I'm on a longer ride. Then we cleaned the garage in an effort to get both bikes, the jeep and my Torrent in a configuration that made it all accessible. Whew. Its a tight fit.

Oh yeah, Joe bought a bike. totally floored me when he announced that he wanted one. He did some digging around and found one of the old Hondamatics that they made in the late 70's/early 80's. Its in faboo condition and is really easy to ride. He's gotten his permit and is up to riding around the neighborhood, but hadn't hit the main roads yet. The weather has been cold and crappy and generally bleh.

Then we had his dad over for dinner on saturday since his mom was outta town.

Sunday was our anniversary and we were lazy in the morning and early afternoon, then went out for dinner (a potentially bad idea on mothers day, btw) and walked into to a packed house. We went to ask what the wait was and when we told them only two, were seated immediately. The group just in front of us of 4 were told an hour+, so it worked out like a charm. Then we did some shopping and went home and had cake and wine. :)

Monday night I made 3 pans of lasagna and a jello cake. One of the pans is for dinner tonight, so other than making the salads, everything should be done for dinner tonight...whew! My newest Jello cake was a hit at Bingo last night (it was a devil foods cake mix, with black cherry jello and whipped topping w/cherry extract added in).

Tuesday nights are always bingo and I went in to help joe for an hr and a half. Then went home to start the cleanup for company and he called me and told me he's got the day off today so I can leave the cleaning to him. That was such welcome news. So I finished boiling some eggs and finally got a bit of free time to play WoW. I'm working on my epic fight form quest on the druid. What an exercise in frustration. I made it most of the way through but finally conceeded the need to respec and called it a night due to all the travel time I would have needed.

I've been riding my bike in on all but the coldest mornings. The 20 min drive really adds up on the gas, so I'm going to ride as much as possible. I also finally got some bags (not saddlebags, a sissy bar bag, and a tool bag for the front fork) so I've got a little more storage. Now if it would just get WARM.

Tomorrow joe is having three teeth pulled (yay, the trouble not having dental insurance gets you once you do finally get it) so I'm sure the rest of his week is gonna suck. At least dinner tonight will be the yum.

eating healthy

shadith@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:59:28 GMT

Like so many other people this time of year, my efforts at losing some weight/getting in better shape have kicked off again.

I'm not using a specific diet plan, just trying to eat smarter and get off my duff more often. So my personal specifics are less junk food, more fruits/veggies and 10k steps per day.

My average day is about 4k steps. 2 30 min walks gets me the other 6k. So I'm trying to walk 30 min at lunch and 30 min with the dogs and thats easy and accomplished.

As for food - my biggest problem is with dining out. My cooking is pretty healthy, mostly lean meats, no sauces, a veggie and a carb. So its pretty solid, but boring for me (Joe loves it on the other hand) so I've been trying to come up with ways to expand the menu without also expanding the calories.

Green veggies are hard, I have a VERY short list of what I like, and mostly its salads and green beans. I'll tolerate a few others. A recent discussion on eschwa reminded me that a salad doesn't have to be the size of my head to count, and thats really helped me re-evaluate my meals.

Now I'm working on the perfect salad. I'm bringing a larger portion to work with me and eating a smaller one with dinner. I'm also bringing at least one fruit with me to work. Today for example I had a banana as my midmorning snack, the salad, and sliced strawberries. For dinner I'm making a roast, baked sweet potato and salad. So I'm getting up to 5 and they are actually different colors! I'm very proud of myself.

But really what this comes down to is the random things I'm adding to my salads to make them tasty and repeatable. At lunch I'm adding a protein (leftover chicked or diced turkey breast, something like that), crumbling a couple baked bagel chips (faux croutons), craisens, quinoa (cold) and dressing. I'm using a normal dressing, but portioning carefully - after all, I need some fat! I realize all this stuff adds calories, but I'm using it all in very limited amounts. Its enough to keep each bite interesting and tasty.

I also add cucumbers, hard boiled egg whites, carrots, etc if I have them handy.

Anyone have yummy stuff they add to salads to keep them tasty? I don't want to get bogged down and go back to eating out every day, so I need to keep it interesting.

And its 1pm and my pedo is at 6k already. YaY!

happy monday morning

shadith@gmail.com — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:05:54 GMT

yeah, not really.

I was up and ready on time, but I had about 30 pages left in my book and kinda lost track of time after eating breakfast, so I actually leave the house 15 min. late.

I get about 2 miles from home and the gas light comes on. I waffle about if I have enough gas to get to work and backc to the cheaper side of town to refill and come to the conclusion that its probably tempting fate. So I stop and throw 10 bucks (3 gallons, eek!) in the tank so I can hurry on to work.

I hop back in the car and here a rip/pop and realize I've just lost the button on my pants. Pants that are already quite loose. I actually have 5 pairs of pants in the mail, but until they arrive, I'm kinda stuck in very loose pants. There is no way I'm going to make it through the day without this button, so I detour to a walgreens, pick up a sewing kit and make it into work (all while holding up my pants with one hand, of course).

So I have my button sewed back on and was only 35 min late. :) happy monday morning indeed.

now, if only the weather would cooperate!

shadith@gmail.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:57:06 GMT

I have not really posted about my spring motorcycle saga - but now that its resolved I can laugh about the situation and invite my friends to enjoy with me. Read on to laugh at/with me, its pretty long though!

Back in Feb we had a nice day so I thought I should start the bike, run it around the block, etc. So I open the choke, turn the gas to prime and push the button. It turns over, tries to start, but can't quite make it. Giving it some gas I try a few more times, but its obvious there would be no love at that moment.

So I got out my trickle charger (yes, I know, I should have had the battery hooked up over the winter, I'm a slacker) and take a look at the battery and realize how very little of it I can see. I see the discharge tube, a bare connection and a connection covered by a soft plastic black cap. Thats it. No markings or anything else are visible. So I think about it for a while and decide the black cap is indicative of the negative, hook up the charger and go inside for 2 hours.

When I come back - I got nothin'. No lights, no uh-uh-uh-uh of an engine trying to start, NOTHING. Unable to deal at the moment, I put my head in the sand and ignored it for 2 more weeks, at which point I get a wild hair and decide to get on it and get a new battery. However, getting the old battery out proves to be more of a challenge than anticipated. I had to take the tool case off (done with key, very simple) the brace on the right (2 pieces) loosen the top enough to get a screwdriver to the connection on the left, and then wedge the battery out. However, the screws that connect the battery won't come out! Judicious application of WD40 and a night to think about it and they grudgingly came out allowing me to triumphantly remove the battery - where I finally see the pos/negative markings and realize I'd fried my own battery by hooking it up wrong. But WAIT - chances are it was borked before that cause it was BONE DRY.

Anyway, I take the battery to Farm and Fleet, ask for a new battery, the nice guy gets me one and then says "you know how to fill these, right?" Uhhh, WTF are you talking about? they come filled, right?! No, they don't pre-fill the less common batteries cause it shortens the life span. So I get to come home and pour POISON (it said so in many places in large letters) into my new battery, let it settle, pour more poison and make sure its filled.

I take it out to my bike, slide it back into the case and quickly discover that the new battery has not just a screw for the connection but a bracket with a nut underneath it. Which is physically impossible to be done with the current configuration of my bike. So, at this point I worked backwards and figured if I removed the cover on the left I could then see the bracket I needed. However, there is no screwdriver in this world small enough to get in the gap to remove this cover without removing the seat. After 10 minutes of finding the right size ratchet, I have now removed the seat, two covers, the battery bracket and have more screws floating around than I know what to do with. BUT, i can attach the battery.

I connect the negative first, slide the battery in and quickly realize it can't be done that way, the positive has to be done first, so I undo the negative, start working in the 3/4" space I have to connect the pos and promptly drop the screw. Which disappears into the ether and cannot be found ANYWHERE. I finally give up, get the non-stripped one from the old battery and try again. And the same fucking thing happens. At which point I burst into tears and melted down. Joe comes out to try to help, we still can't find the screws. After I gather myself I rolled the bike to the driveway hoping they'd fall out (as a side note, moving that much weight with no seat/power SUCKS) and still no screws. I finally found them wedged between the battery case and the wiring. Of course I can't reach them, but ingenuitive application of a magnetic necklace managed to retrieve them.

FINALLY we have connected, charged battery. So I open the choke, prime the gas, turn the key and get, yes, you guessed it NOTHING. No lights, nothing.

I gave up and put it away. The next day we had friends/family over for Joe's birthday and his cousin is a mechanic. I asked him to take a peek and advise me if I needed to get it towed to a shop. In about 30 seconds he'd found the problem (a blown fuse) pulled one from Joe's jeep and started the bike (we put the fuse back in the jeep). I almost cried again I was so happy.

So, 2.99 for a package of 5 fuses and 15-20 min to put all the pieces back on (which amazingly went perfectly as I'd kept all the screws matched up) and I was able to take my baby for a spin around the block. Which felt really damned good.

I file the entire experience under 'yeah, I'm a nub, but at least I'm trying!' and told myself it would all help me be a better bike owner come next winter.

I am not a gear head.

awww (cheese alert)

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:10:59 GMT

I recently read an article about 'secrets of a happy marriage' or some schlock like that. Mostly it boiled down to making time for each other in a busy world, keep communicating and make each other a priority.

All stuff we know, but don't always practice. One of the stories that a woman shared was how she leaves post-it notes for her husband in random spots around the house (under the toilet seat being one I haven't tried out). But I thought it would be cute. (I did something like that when I went to India, left them in all kinds of places that he'd find over time).

So I've been leaving bits of song lyrics mostly (stuff we sing to each other) on the bathroom mirror, the coffee maker, etc.

Now I've started to get a few back and this morning I had one in my car on the rear view mirror. It said "baby, we're everything" (which is a quote from Rent in response to Angel asking Collins, "are we a thing?") and I almost cried, it was so sweet.

So, while its silly, cheesy and sappy, I think we're both enjoying it immensely.

I went to chicago

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:07:29 GMT

I went to chicago to visit grog and I think all we did was eat and laugh.
Well, he slept, but apparently sleeping is no longer my MO.

He took me to Skylark for fried chicken and tater tots (I skipped the fried chicken in favor of a variety of appetizers) and they had Black Thorn cider on tap. It was awesome.

Then for sunday brunch we went to Orange and I had cinammon roll pancakes, which are topped with powdered sugar and glaze icing for all practical purposes. I ate a bit more than half I think, any more and I'd have died of a sugar coma on the ride home.

So I got home to find out that Joe had made plans to have dinner with his parents and THEN I had fried chicken at our little local joint.

While driving home I got a call from my mom telling me that my aunt had passed away earlier in the day. I moved away from my hometown at 18 and wasn't close to that side of my family, but I know its hard for mom. My aunt was the last living member of her immediate birth family. Obviously she still has her husband and her kids, but, I can only imagine how hard it is to lose a sibling.

Things worked out such that Joe and I can go to the funeral, which is tomorrow. It will be a long day of driving (2:45 or so each way) but its important to go.

candle. both ends. etc.

shadith@gmail.com — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:29:15 GMT

With the exception of work, I've got too much on my hands right now. There are exactly two nights per week where we don't have some commitment. I was sick most of January and now going through a lovely run of insomnia.

So, forget it. I have dog obedience class tonight and can't even muster up any guilt for the fact that I'm going to skip it.

I've got all this stuff going on, but I don't feel like I'm actually DOING anything - so I'm going to make a concentrated effort to do the stuff that makes me happy and that I enjoy. It may not be mainstream stuff (I do greatly enjoy WoW, which is 'sorta social...demented and sad, but social') but its the stuff I want to do.

My first scheduled act of enjoy more, worry less is scheduling a trip to hang out with Grog in chicago. My world need more Grog.

I'm also going to try to post more, because when I look back on this journal in a few years, I hope to see something more than empty months and nothing interesting.

My first 200+ bowling game may not be interesting to the rest of the world, but to me it was a major accomplishment (happened in Jan.). So be prepared for the mundane.

And some new pics. I need new pics. I look at the journals of friends who post pics to flickr and such with regularity and not only do I not post them, I don't even take them! Thats something else I want to change. Puppy pics if nothing else! Loves mah dogs.

exercise

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:49:37 GMT

Oh how I hate the woman on the Total Body Scupt DVD that I did last night. This was the 2nd time I've started it, and the first time I managed to finish. I was positively drenched when done and I'd wimped on the last set of box aerobics.

But! because I finished it this time I realized that unlike the other theFirm DVDs that I've done, this one seems focused. You stay on lower body for the first 20, then move to upper body, then abs. The other body sculpts that I've done mix it up more. So if I can get to the calf work, then I know I'll survive because thats the last leg exercise.

I'm definitely aware that I worked out. I'm not exactly sore, but do have a bit of muscle fatigue.

Anyway, I only lost 1 lb which kind of disappoints me, because I'm getting close to my first 10 lb mark and I just wanna get there. This is where I need to remind myself that slow is much, much better for me long term.

I think I will try the shorter cardio blast workout tonight and see how that goes. probably miserable, because I'm in terrible cardio shape.

exercise

shadith@gmail.com — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:16:56 GMT

Whoa, I've officially survived a week of doing some activity daily. Some days all I have time for is a 30 minute walk - other days its 2 30 min. walks and still other days its theFirm DVD workouts.

So, lemme tell ya, those DVDs kick my butt - but after doing them a few times a week for 2 weeks now, the day after soreness is just about gone. I'm definitely still jelly-legged afterwards, and the ones I'm doing now involve a step and that makes the cardio sections harder on me. I'm relatively strong, but in poor cardio condition.

Scale is showing a very slow downward trend and while I'd like to speed it up, I know that this is the only way I'll make a change forever. If I do crazy stuff with my diet I'll give up after a month or two and just go back to all my bad habits. My plan is to continue with reasonable diet changes and at least 5 days of exercise a week (if I walk the dogs like I should, I'll be getting at least 30 min of walking regardless).

I'm excited about this for the first time in a long time. The first week was HARD. I burst out to Joe right after I first started working out 'why does it have to be so damned HARD?'. I'm over that now - I feel good, strong - and occasionally even manage to channel my old mindset of being a sexy woman. Thats worth the hr of sweating I think. I hate(d) never being willing to face my naked self in the mirror.

Probably the only downside is that I'm so jealous of my free time and was already sleep deprived. Mostly I've noticed its cut down on my reading/WoW time. Which is probably not a bad thing.

is anything 'right'?

shadith@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:25:00 GMT

From Yahoo!

1. WEIGH YOURSELF OFTEN
Time was, experts said to stay off the scale—it can be discouraging. But after studying 3,500 individuals from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) who've maintained 60 or more pounds of weight loss for at least a year, researchers found that 44 percent weighed themselves daily. Unhealthy obsession? No, says James Hill, Ph.D., NWCR cofounder and director of the center for human nutrition at the University of Colorado. "They use it as an early warning system for preventing weight regain," he explains. "If your goal is to keep your weight at a certain level, you have to have feedback to see whether you're successful."

Full article here

I don't agree with everything they said, but found the above info interesting, as thats exactly why I weigh myself multiple times a week (3-4, not daily). I've noticed when I stop doing that, its cause I know I've been eating badly and/or not exercising and don't want to see the scale. When I do weigh, its cause I think it will be good news.

not bad

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:29:03 GMT

well, this first week of diet/exercise make-over went well. I lost 2.5 lbs and had no stress about what I was/wasn't eating.

Joe continues to be willing and eager to play tennis as exercise and we're having a good time doing it. So thats awesome.

Also, I has an interview in a few weeks (the internal job cogs be slooooow) for something that could be a really good fit for me. I have a 1/3 chance since they have to interview 3 candidates. I'll warn everybody when I start needing good karma sent my way. ;)

losers!!

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:02:53 GMT

A friend of mine challenged me to a personal 'biggest loser' contest after a conversation about how we're both trying to lose some weight.

No time limit, just a race to first to lose 25 pounds.

My diet isn't attrocious, but I'm LAZY. I've asked Joe to hook up the PS2 for DDR and I know our dogs would be in heaven if I'd walk them daily.

Anyone have suggestions for how to get moving and keeping it up? I'm going for 10,000 steps a day. I know my pace is typically about 100 steps per minute and I typically get 4000 or so in my typical routine (its a long walk to my building) so I need to get about another hour of walking or some other activity that works out about the same.

Basically I need some motivation. Cause I'd much rather read a book or play a video game than go sweat. :)

for grog

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:01:15 GMT

This is really for grog, cause his email keeps bouncing, but is just in general cool! (photo can be found at the link, its a wicked cool looking frog)

Purple frog among 24 new species found in Suriname

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A purple fluorescent frog is one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, conservationists reported on Monday, warning that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining.

The discovery of so many species outside the insect realm is extraordinary and points up the need to survey distant regions, said Leeanne Alonso of Conservation International, which led the expedition that found the new species.

"When you go to these places that are so unexplored and so remote, we do tend to find new species ... but most of them are insects," Alonso said by telephone from Suriname's capital, Paramaribo. "What's really exciting here is we found a lot of new species of frogs and fish as well."

The two-tone frog -- whose skin is covered with irregular fluorescent lavender loops on a background of aubergine -- was discovered in 2006 as part of a survey of Suriname's Nassau plateau, the conservation group said.

Scientists combing Suriname's Nassau plateau and Lely Mountains found four other new frog species aside from the purple one, six species of fish, 12 dung beetles and a new ant species, the organization said in a statement.

These creatures were discovered by 13 scientists who explored a region about 80 miles southeast of Paramaribo, including areas with enough clean fresh water sources to support abundant fish and amphibians.

They also found 27 species native to the Guayana Shield region, which spreads over Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and northern Brazil. One of these was the rare armored catfish, which conservationists feared was extinct because gold miners had contaminated a creek where it was last seen 50 years ago.

Including the new species, the scientists observed 467 species at the two sites, ranging from large cats like panthers and pumas, to monkeys, reptiles, bats and insects.

While these places are far from human civilization, they are totally unprotected and may be threatened by illegal gold-mining, Alonso said.

These highland areas have also been investigated as sources of bauxite, used to make aluminum, but will most likely not be mined in the future, she said, at least not by the two mining companies that sponsored the study.

The sponsors are BHP Billiton Maatschappij Suriname (BMS, a subsidiary of BHP Billiton) Suriname Aluminium Company LLC (Suralco, a subsidiary of Alcoa Inc).

"It's an opportunity now for all the players, the mining companies who still have mining concessions there, the local communities, the government, the NGOs (non-governmental organizations), to try to make a regional plan for the area," Alonso said.

so tired.

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:40:06 GMT

oh, huzzah. I have my mid-year review today. I feel lousy.

In addition to my review, I have a team meeting and 2 upgrades. I'd really like to go home and sleep more.

Sadly I did not sleep well last night. Everyone wanted to be on my side of the bed. It took me 4 or 5 tries to get Joe awake enough to get him back over to his side of the bed (it was necessary to navigate the husband around a dog, which complicated matters). and then he must have really been tossing and turning and crabby ol' me got kicked a few times and finally snapped "What the f*** is wrong with you!?"

At which point Joe went to the 2nd bedroom. I felt bad enough that I still couldn't sleep, even with the whole bed. Oh yeah, and even with only me in the king sized bed, the dogs still had to sleep RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

see? Crabby.

ridin'

shadith@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:40:33 GMT

I went on my very first poker run this weekend. For those of you who've never heard of such a thing (I hadn't either until a year or so ago, now it seems there is one every weekend), its a motorcycle ride where you meet up at a bar, pay an entry fee, get a map and hit a number of bars getting a stamp at each one. Eventually you have enough stamps to put together a poker hand and the top three hands win some $$ back.

Well, my poker hand was absolute crap(2 jacks), but it was a lot of fun. This was the first time I've been out in a large group like that and its a very different experience than just running around solo.

My legs were a bit sore, but not too bad. This was a short run, only around 75 miles total, but since we just hit decent riding weather a week or so ago, that was plenty. Since its nice, I rode the bike into work this morning and my butt is sore too. heh.

I'm not sure I'd want to go on the longer ones (I know they go up to 200ish) but that was a good one to start with. Plus, the money was for a benefit of a sister of a friend.

lack o energy

shadith@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:23:06 GMT

I have been horribly tired and listless lately. I attribute it to work. No matter how well or much I sleep, I feel ick the next day.

So I'm trying a B complex vitamin for a bit, to see if it helps at all. And I'm trying to get more exercise. Because overall, I'm really happy with my life - moreso than usual even, and it irritates me that I'm going through it in a grey fog.

name change

shadith@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:42:24 GMT

Which is kinda of like KEY CHANGE, but quieter.

uhh, so yeah, only 2-4 people will get the Julipe thing, but it makes at least one of them happy and I never do anything but comment anyway, so...

There you are Greglet. :)

India - day 3

shadith@gmail.com — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:11:16 GMT

Day 3.

I opted to skip on more site seeing (locally in Delhi) in favor of resting up a bit before our evening flight to Pune. As I mentioned earlier, Julie=bad tourist, so it worked out for me. I slept pretty well that night, and got about 7 hrs, I think.

We'd arrange to have late checkout on one room, so I read and channel surfed some in the morning, packed up and moved my luggage down the hall to another room. After chatting a bit with the other 2 co-workers who passed on the site seeing, we decided to head downstairs for lunch. Excellent plan as that meal turned out to be one of the best of the trip.

The radisson in New Delhi has a restaurant called Italia and obviously, it serves Italian food. Turns out they have a champagne lunch on sunday and boy was that tasty. There was soup, salad and three courses along with a dessert bar. And speaking of salad, I never thought I'd say that I'd be missing lettuce, but I do. We've all been told repeatedly to skip the salads (and anything else washed with water). I suspect the company goes overboard in an effort to keep us healthy, because if we're not, they're spending a ton of money for us to sit in a hotel room and be sick.

So, lunch was awesome and we eventually headed to the domestic airport in Delhi. I don't recommend it. As soon as your car stops you are swarmed by people who are trying to take your luggage for you and its difficult to get through them. Far easier to just pick one and tip. Then you don't know where you're supposed to go to check in, we got conflicting instructions and wandered around a bit. We eventually got our boarding passes, the luggage was tagged and we moved onto security.

More confusion. There is one other woman in my party and we were flagged out of line and pointed in a different direction AFTER our bags were taken for Xray, which neither of us liked. We eventually sorted out that women were required to go into a curtained booth and be wanded by women away from the sight of men (apparently). We didn't like the fact that it also meant we were out of sight of our carry-ons, including purses. But the guys in the party realized and took them for us. It concerns me that I'll be alone on the way back home and won't have anyone to watch over my stuff.

After security we're all wondering what gate we need to go to and realize there are only 4. The signs are handwritten on a standard size sheet of paper and hung over doors - thats the extent of the 'gate'. All passengers must take a bus to their plane. The only good thing I can say about that is they put two stairs on the plane and if your seat is in the back, you can come on from the back. Service was nice. They served a full meal on a 2 hr flight - on real places even. They brought around warm damp towels to wash your hands and face with and all in all it was a good flight though a bit cramped.

Arrival in Pune showed us a much newer airport, our luggage showed up and we got a shuttle to the 2nd hotel of the trip, the Sun and Sand, in Pune, India.

It was nice to actually be able to unpack all my stuff - which I did, then got settled in and attempted to sleep. At this point of the trip I'd only slept one night.

India - day 2

shadith@gmail.com — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:39:17 GMT

Ok, so I showered and got dressed for that 4:30 ride to the Taj. This portion of the trip was planned by the other people in my group before it was known I would be going on the same dates, so I didn't have any input here.

That trip should come with a disclaimer!!!

4+ hr trip to get to the Taj. Nothing in India (including the only McD's I've seen since arriving here) opens earlier than 8am. We nearly T-boned a kamikaze cow at one point as it dashed across the road in epilectic fashion, but our driver did manage to avoid it. Traffic defies normal comprehension and I'm reasonably sure that all traffic laws are merely suggestions, not actual laws. At night cars use their brights to indicate they are coming up behind you and you should make way. During the day they use their horns. The din is incredible, even inside a closed car.

It was reasonably cool early in the morning and only warmed up to jacketless weather late in the morning. I'm a lousy tourist. I hate sightseeing but kept my mouth shut as I didn't want everyone to think I was a bitch. After all, this is a serious notch on the amazing places to see list, right? So, we went, I was bored, etc.

The street vendors are incredibly aggressive. Unlike Mexico (only other place I can begin to compare it to) a no does no suffice. They follow you and literally put their wares about 6" in front of your face. Eye contact is fatal and after that they never leave you alone until you've moved out of their circle. I suspect many americans are made uncomfortable by this and I'm no different.

There aren't any motorized vehicles allowed near the Taj in an effort to cut down on polution and protect the delicate white marble. We were required to either take off our shoes or wear little booties over our shoes once we hit the actual Taj (the other buildings made of a redstone are not as fragile). No pictures are allowed inside where the actual crypts are, but I have many of the surrounding area and will post some when I'm back home.

Lunch was a quiet affair at a small India restaurant where our food was picked by the only Indian in our group. It was probably bland as hell to him, but we all enjoyed it. I had my first chance to use a 'pay for use' toilet. It was only slightly scary.

The trip home was a nightmare and seemed to last longer than the flight. We were all falling asleep and beggars would come up to our car as it stopped in traffic and banged on the window. The poverty is staggering, but you don't see anyone starving. Even the cows, dogs, and goats that roam around everywhere seem in reasonable health. I've discovered that the weather is suitable to allow for three complete crop seasons in a year here. Lots of agriculture to feed the people I guess. I'm going to save the rest of my general India comments for a distinct post.

We finally make it back to the hotel around 4:30, agree to meet at 6:30 for dinner and head back to our rooms for a short nap. Jetlag has reared its ugly head for us all. After a meal, it was back to bed for most of us.

Oh, I finally connected with Joe at this point and chatted on IM for a while. Still sad and miserable - I kept crying and eventually crashed out.

India journal

shadith@gmail.com — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:24:36 GMT

I'm starting this really late, but one of my friends suggested it as a way to not forget anything, so now I'm backtracking in my head and you're likely to see a bunch of posts in a row.

Day 1: Left home at 2:30 on the 11th. Travelled to chicago via shuttle. Dropped off at O'Hare for a 7:20 flight to New Delhi.

The flight wasn't as bad as I expected. Its just under 15 hrs to get here and I slept approx. 5 hrs of the trip. I was up 5, slept 5 and was awake the last 5. Our plane was a 777 and its reasonably roomy, even in coach. I was on the aisle (highly recommended) so I didn't feel guilty about tromping over other people to get to the bathroom or to stretch my legs. We all got a lot of various advice before leaving (all being the rest of the people travelling from my company with me, 5 total) and most of it consisted of drink lots of water on the flight and get up and move around. I did well with the water and moved around as much as I could. Its amazing how dehydrated you can get in 15 hrs under those conditions. I was kicking myself for not having any non-lipstick lip moisturizer as my lips were really dry in no time. As expected, my iPod battery didn't last nearly enough, and the plane music stations sucked. But each headrest had a TV in the back of it that you could control and that lasted me for a few more hours. The food was not memorable.

We arrived at Delhi and processed through customs very quickly. Faster for incoming non-Indians than it was for the Indians.

We gathered up our luggage and proceeded towards the door where a driver from the hotel was waiting. We got to the hotel about 11PM local time on the 12th.

I grabbed something to eat with a few coworkers at the 24 hr cafe in the hotels and head back to my room around 1am. Because we had a rental car and driver picking us up at 4:30 am to take us to the Taj Mahal, I decided it wasn't really worth going to bed and I bought an hr of internet access and logged into to a few people know I was there and alive.

Thats the end of what I considered day 1. It was a very long day. Oh yeah, I left out the part where our company cell phone didn't work upon arrival and no one could call home to let loved ones know we were ok. Thats why I ended up logging on and doing it via IM. I was also horribly sad and depressed.

India

shadith@gmail.com — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 05:11:21 GMT

Sadly I have had no time at work to make a substantial post and the internet from the hotel is painfully expensive, so I've been very sparing with it since I don't want to get challenged on my expense report.

My high level assessment is - no matter how much we bitch about our current administration, it is still good to be an american.

The theory of crushing poverty is a lot different than actually seeing it.

Driving through new Delhi at rush hour will give you grey hair unless you're used to it.

Don't hit the cow (or dog, monkey, donkey, horse, camel or elephant) that is sharing your driving lane.

My limit for Indian food is 1 meal a day, and even that might make me feel oogy.

Hotel prices are insanely expensive no matter what country you are in.

Cricket is a national obsession.

Bidets are 'standard install'

The Taj Mahal is pretty amazing.

and lots of other observations, but since all I've really done is see the Taj, drive to/from work and sleep.

And after a week, I'm ready to come home. But, 5 days to go.

randomalia

shadith@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:23:17 GMT

I had a weird holiday break. The time off was LOVELY and I was very sad to come back to work today.

However - for the first time in 34 years I did not wake up on Christmas morning in the house I grew up in. I woke up in my own house with my husband and dogs and drove to see my parents later that day. I'll reflect on what that means another time. :)

My car got banged up in a hit and run, but it was cosmetic damage and covered by my insurance. Then my fridge died and is still not fixed thanks to the fact that there was no mail yesterday for me to get the parts necessary. Thank god its winter and we have a deep freeze.

My trip to India is quickly approaching and I view it with a certain amount of dread. I was able to get some information about where we are staying and I know we'll have internet access at the hotel, which helps a lot, since I know I'll be able to talk to Joe via IM (since we have no land line - phone conversations are unlikely) at the hotel and the office (covering most of the hours we'll both be awake). Also, the hotel looks very nice, has a pool and multiple restaurants that I'm sure are just fine to eat at (good grief, but I'm tired of hearing about what I should/shouldn't do while there). Now I just have to remember to take my malaria meds. ;) (envy me, really)

And I really wanted to show off my new userpic, cause Bowie is so cute - even if his nickname is Thug (its well earned).