Running on empty

I've been dieting for about three weeks now - I find I do a lot better when I have a specific goal and date in mind. This time, I've been trying to get back to a 38 waist by the time I go down to Jersey this weekend. And the results have been good - I'm down to 38-1/8 this morning, been hitting the gym regularly and staying away from the candy/junk food.

The problem is I've pretty much run myself down doing this. I hit the gym yesterday and came out famished. My name for it is "the hungry horrors" - I got home and had some peanut butter on a toasted English muffin and a yogurt (which not-so-coincidentally has been my dinner the past few weeks), which held me until L. made some shepherd's pie from dinner. Today I've been hungry AND wiped-out, so I know I'm running on fumes right now.

Luckily, the trip is Friday, but I need to find some healthy snacks to get me through the next few days.

Birthday wishes

My good friend Arlyn is celebrating her birthday today. A gentleman doesn't mention a lady's age, but we will share this particular number for the next three months. Enjoy the day and know that your friendship with myself and my family is cherished.

Lazy Sunday

I figured I'd knock something out here before hunkering down to watch the Sopranos. It's been a rainy weekend...the sun finally came out here about 4pm. Outdoor work was out of the question, so i spent a portion of today trying to resurrect the PC I gave to my sister. No luck though...and rather than spend any more $$$ on it, I'll probably buy a new one for her and her kids. Nice guy that I am. :-)

I also headed up to Ourglass Wine for a tasting yesterday afternoon - it was nowhere near as crowded as the last one. Plenty of distributors though...bought two Argentine wines, a tempranillo and a bonarda/malbec blend. Ourglass is my favorite wine shop right now...Rte.1 north in Saugus, next to Jimmy's Steak House. I recommend it highly.

Spent Wednesday in a comedy of errors...was invited to the Tigers/Sox game by an old friend. I left that morning wearing a thin short-sleeved golf shirt and a rain jacket with no lining. Unfortunately, the thunderstorm that came through around 3pm was immediately followed by a cold front that dropped the temperatures about 20 degrees. I wound up buying a zip-up cotton hoodie to keep me warm in the bleachers; however, Mother Nature had other plans. Spent $25 to park my car at Landmark Center, had dinner at El Pelon (El Guapo burrito - excellent choice) and walked over to the Baseball Tavern to await my friend. By the time I bought my first beer, I saw that the game had been postponed. Long story short, wound up at the Pour House on Boylston St. and had a couple of beers.

Getting ready this week for the trip to NJ with G. We're going to the Angels-Yankees game Friday night, and I'm meeting up with some folks from Emerson College days Saturday night. Looking forward to it, particularly the ferry ride up to Yankee Stadium. Hope to have a lot of photos from the weekend.

Flying blind

I'm sitting here in the datacenter work area, without my glasses. Two weeks ago I accidentally stepped on them - I finally got them repaired (basically had a screw put in), but the frame is still somewhat bent. I tried to apply a bit of pressure to straighten them out, which wound up popping the screw out again. Now I have to swing by the optometrist and see if I can get them fixed, or spring for a new frame.

Sigh.

Anyway, still tired from the weekend. Will finish up the workday from home.

Spring has sprung

Tired and sitting on the couch with my laptop, waiting for The Sopranos to start in a half-hour. Was out Friday and Saturday nights, which doesn't help matters. Anyway, ran the mower for the first time this spring...the weather was finally rebounded from the cold we had the past couple of months.

Spent yesterday at Suffolk Downs - went out to bet a few races and get my Derby action in. What a nightmare: big crowd, not enough tellers and long lines everywhere. Twice I got caught in lines where tellers were arguing with bettors over tickets they'd punched. I literally had to walk away from the second line, as I couldn't take Dumb and Dumber trying to sort bets out. A big part of the problem is the presence of the once-a-year visitors whose knowledge of calling out bets is equivalent to my knowledge of quantum physics. And to cap it all off, I didn't cash a single bet; in fact, one of the horses I touted in the Derby finished dead last.

Keeping busy with work - starting to integrate more into the group in Dallas. I'm finding projects to keep myself busy while waiting to transition our servers to Dallas.

I'm beat - more to follow, soon.

iPod/reading update

In case you're wondering what's been added to the iPod recently:


Back To Black - Amy Winehouse (highly recommended)

Yours Truly Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire

Introducing - Joss Stone

Swinging the Blues Dancing The Ska - Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

Dylanesque - Bryan Ferry

The Little Willies (also highly recommended)

LCD Soundsystem

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse


And I'm finally ripping some of my CD collection to mp3s.


As for my literary pursuits, here's what I'm reading now:

Starsky And Hutch

A long overdue post.

Got a great laugh Friday night - was waiting for Bootleg Willy to show, so we could toast his liberation from a hated job. I was talking with one of the regulars there - she asked me where Willy was, and I told her about his new job, and how I had met him at work about 10 years ago. She proceeds to tell me that she had originally thought Willy and I were cops.

A little later I tell this to the bartender, who says, "She isn't the only one. I've had two or three other people ask me the same thing."

:-)

I sent this story to my friend Arlyn, who tagged us with "Starsky And Hutch". Brilliant!

It's been an eventful few weeks since I last posted. We added a second consultant at work, and he's done a good job so far. I'm trying to get him up to speed on the basics there - eventually, the plan is for him to handle the OS side of things, while I transition to application support. It's comforting to know I have backup there now - I can take days off/vacation now.

Wound up dropping nearly $800 on car repairs a few weeks ago. The Cruiser had a stuck brake caliper, so it had to be replaced. Also got the windshield fluid nozzles replaced (they had cracked) and the AC recharged. Of course, we haven't had any warm weather to test the AC with.

Looks like some bad weather on the way here north of Boston. It's drizzling here now, and we're expecting 2-4" of rain this afternoon/tonight. I'd like to make a run into Cambridge to stock up at Trader Joe's. but we'll see.