Blue Monday
2 things of note today.
#1 I was informed that, once again, I am being bumped by someone more senior with the district. I will be unemployed after July, 31st. This sucks. I’m tired of fighting to continue working in a place that has done none of my requested/suggested things to ensure that they retain me. I don’t want to lose my job, but I’m at the point where I feel I just have to make the best of it.
#2 I went to the bullfights tonight. Photos tomorrow.
All weekend in a day
Wow. Today was busy. Busy but fun.
This morning, the 10 AM English Mass moved to the new church. It was oh so familiar to me, but it was really new for Mike. After Mass, he went on and on about how I really stepped up and saved the day for the group. At the risk of being overly modest, I didn’t do anything that he won’t be fully up to speed with in two weeks. Still, it’s nice to be appreciated. I’d say that music went well. We have lots of room in which to get better, but it was a solid start and I am very much looking forward to the weeks ahead!
Right after Mass, Cathy, Joey, and I went to the California Ballroom to watch the Modesto Portuguese Pentecost Association parade and then have some sopas. In all the years that I’ve gone to festas, I’d never had sopas before. Well, that streak has ended. It was pretty good. I LOVE all the cultural shiz!
Spent four hours over at the House of Robot Pets playing the new Star Trek game that Ross and Mike have created. It went pretty well. It calls for a lot of creativity from the players. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll stick with the game, but it was fun.
Then back to the festa for dinner. More sopas. I scored a pair of tickets to the bullfights tomorrow. w00t! After dinner, I sat and enjoyed the music of a group from Terceira, even though I had no idea what they were saying. I stayed for a bit of the dance, but as I had no dance partners, I left before 10.
Finally, I managed to get in my run for the day. 3.65 miles in 41 minutes. This was 5 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, rinse and repeat. Not sure why it should surprise me, but breathing while running is getting easier. 🙂
Tomorrow: the bullfights!
Remember albums?
Today, I list 5 of my favorite albums of all time. Of course, these days, albums are somewhat anachronistic, so this list will be heavily weighted towards the past.
So, in no particular order:
- Some Great Reward – Depeche Mode
This was the first DM album I ever heard and to me, it is the peak of the ‘sound’ that I like most from them. Not every song is the greatest, but the album as a whole is so significant in the development of my musical aesthetic. - The Joshua Tree – U2
U2 was on my musical radar before this album, but this is the point at which the band became mega-stars. So many good songs and some of my favorites aren’t even the ones that were released as singles. - 2.0 – Garbage
I’m not a big fan of a lot of the music from the 90s, but this album was really solid. It’s one that I could happily put on and listen to in its entirety. - Abba Gold – Abba
Scoff all you like, there is not one dud among all the songs on this album. - Stunt – Barenaked Ladies
Like Some Great Reward above, this album marks my first real introduction to the band. I’d heard other songs before this, but it was during their tour for this album that I first saw the band perform. So much fracking fun at that concert! I didn’t appreciate the band before I saw them live. Since that first time, I’ve seen them perform another 6-8 times. Love them!
What are some of your favorite albums of all time?
Stress-free, Lazy Afternoon
Today was about the best day of doing nothing that I can remember. Got up late. Played LOTRO. Cooked and ate. Went for my run. But no responsibilities, no one needing me for anything, no place I had to be. Pretty darn good.
I did realize that I shouldn’t cook food just before I go running. The temptation to eat it then was very strong. The reason I did cook at that time was that I wanted food to be ready when I got back. I’ll have to look for other ways to work that. Maybe something that would go into the oven… Or in the crock pot.
Kevin Bacon subverted
I am so frequently surprised when I realize that not everyone thinks as I do. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but nope, it’s always a shock.
Case in point: It seems the most natural thing in the world to me to share my friends with one another. I mean that if I know two people that are cool, I want them to know each other. I make the introduction and I try to facilitate the creation of a friendship that can stand on it’s own. Not everyone thinks this way. Actually, I’m not sure if I know anyone else who thinks this way.
Three examples.
Mary. Mary has been my friend for many years. We’ve had church and work in common, among other things. Of course, Mary has her own life, and I have mine. But I’ve thought of her as one of my closest friends. She got married last October to a man that she’d been dating for a year and a half or two. The wedding was only the third time I’d been in the same room as her husband. Even now, I have not been in the same place as him since the wedding. (I had the opportunity at the baptism of their child, but I didn’t go.) For a long time, I had no idea how serious they were because the life she led which involved him was completely separate and distinct from the friendship she had with me.
Letitia. We’re not friends anymore, but when we were together, she had a virtual parade of friends coming through town and staying at our place. Many of them very clearly wanted nothing to do with me. I on the other hand shared all my friends with her. I often felt that many of her friends were actually rather disrespectful of me and the fact that they were guests in my home. Their attitude seemed to be, “I’m Letitia’s guest so I can do whatever I feel she’d be ok with.” They occupied my space, sometimes my bedroom. Sometimes I was asked to go significantly out of my way to pick them up at this or that airport. One one standout occasion, one of them was really quite free with her derision about my faith. I don’t believe any of my friends ever behaved so ungraciously. Anyway, as I mentioned before, none of her friends (the ones I did like) had any interest in continuing to know me after she and I were over. Perhaps they were just pretending before that.
Lance. There is such a long list of my friends that I have introduced to Lance. And yet, not once has he ever made any effort to have me meet any of his friends. At one point, I asked about meeting one of them in particular. He stated very plainly that he liked to keep his world separate.
So what’s my point? I don’t know anymore. I think I had one in mind when this topic occurred to me last night, but I can’t remember what that may have been right now. I’ll say that often I would like to develop a friendship with the friend of my friend, but my friends always seem to see themselves as gatekeepers regulating contact with their friends. Maybe I really am that unpleasant?
Hump day roundup
Stayed home from work today. Was feeling a little poorly when I woke up and a sick day was too attractive to pass up.
After sleeping several more hours, I got up to do a bunch of laundry and play on the computer. Spent time running Haelindir around Evendim. It was not the best use of play time. Oh well. Got some rep with the Wardens of Annuminas but that’s about it. All grey quests.
About the only other thing I did today was begin week 7 of my 10K training. Did 5 miles in just about an hour. My quads are feeling it!
This evening, I watched Tora! Tora! Tora!. I am so pissed off right now. If I could, I’d probably go enlist tomorrow.
I wish I would have been up to going into work today. There are some things that I wanted to get done. Today’s absence will likely mean that some of those things get delayed by several weeks. Ah well.
It’s not WoW
The topic of running gear/apparel has come up a couple of times recently. Here’s what I use.
Why do I use these? They were on sale and in my size at the shoe clearance warehouse.
Cost – $30
Socks – Hanes Classics ankle socks
Why do I use these? Well, when I buy socks, I make a point of purchasing something that I can wear with just about anything. So I can use these for work or running. Versatile.
Cost – No additional cost as I already owned.
Shorts – Denim shorts
Why do I use this? Well, I already owned the shorts so it seemed so damned convenient.
Cost – No additional cost as I already owned (for like 15 years!).
Shirt – T-shirt
Why do I use this? Well, I own dozens of them and I’d rather not run shirtless.
Cost – No additional cost as I already own many, many t-shirts.
Electronics – iPhone
Why do I use this? I listen to music on it and I have apps that I use for training. I’ve had the phone for a long time and it works for most of what I want.
Cost – I already owned the phone. The app was $3.
So the grand total for all my running gear was $33.
Kiss them for me
Had a rather rough time sleeping last night. Probably too much caffeine last evening. We’ll see how it goes tonight. But, my tossing and turning did have one positive result, I was able to get up a little early. I made it in to work at 7:30 instead of 8.
I’m not sure what’s going on. When I am actually running, I don’t enjoy it. But between times, I think about it a lot and eagerly look forward to the next run. What the heck is that about? I got a couple of friends to sign up on mapmyrun.com so they can track their progress. I like encouraging each other. Today was a rest day so no running, but I did walk a mile and a half at lunch.
Tonight I spent my time leveling my hunter to 44. He’s moving right along. I hope it will only be two more weeks until he is high enough to replace my captain in the Monday night group.
I should be getting my cello back tomorrow. As much as I’d prefer not to do so, I’m going to try to sell it. I’d like to get $450 for it. Know anyone who’d like to buy a cello?
Rain in June
What great weather this weekend! Rain off and on. Of course, I love the cool weather. Thank you global warming!
Mass this morning went well. It was the last time in the old church. Next week, the schedule changes and we’ll be in the new church. About time! It seems like there is some general consensus about how to move forward. That’s good. I’m tired of fighting.
Went for my run this afternoon. A total of four miles in intervals of 3 minutes running, 1 minute walking over 50 minutes. Then I cooked a steak for dinner. Yum.
Here’s another lipdub. My friend, Betty, shared this earlier today.
Missed it by that much
Almost got away with not leaving the house today.
The only time I did head out was to go be the sacristan for the 5:00 Mass. What sucked is that I showed up and someone had already taken care of getting things ready. I hate wasted effort.
But I thought it would be ok since I had committed to meeting a friend at the Queen Bean for some music in the evening. Only problem there was that we must have had our wired crossed, because she didn’t show up and I have my doubts about whether I was at the right event anyway. So, that too failed to pan out.
I should have stayed home.
