You Ask, I Answer

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you Moms out there! I hope that you were showered with love and food yesterday! For those of you in places who celebrate on a different day (I am looking at you, UK), I am talking to you too!

I have had several days of no service, so have not really been online or in touch at all much, so I thought I would just do a quick Q&A, update and coffee date all rolled into one! For coffee, since I am "on (perma) holiday," and it is almost my birthday, I will treat myself to a large non-fat peppermint mocha WITH whipped cream, thank you very much. That reminds me, can I still get my birthday drink at Starbucks if I am in Canada? I am not sure if I will have the chance to find out... Maybe I will just buy myself a milkshake later to make up for it. 

If we were having coffee, I would give you a quick update that I am having a blast, BUT the weather is weird!! It was 27 F the other morning and then in the 70s that day, and then two days later, it was in the 90s F during the day and I went swimming! Sorry, Canada, but can you please make up your mind, eh? Actually I am not complaining, but I am a bit burnt. Tan line photos to be revealed later! 

Okanogan Lake Beach

And now, onto a few of your questions! As a side note, I have had a lot of questions about planning, gear and logistics, so that will be a post (or maybe a few posts) of its own! Coming soon... 

Jenny asked: are your parents worried about you doing this, or are they used to things like this? They could pipe up in the comments, but they probably won't, so I will answer for them. YES times two. They are worried, and my Mom tracks me like a very loving stalker, but they are also used to this and know that I am loving it. I don't think they worry about my abilities, but probably about other people who are not looking where they are driving, or are maybe creepy, or not nice people. As a side note, my Dad met me a couple of weeks ago and we ate too much, went hiking and rode bikes (!) together, so he is happy to have an excuse to travel too! Mom/Dad; want to add anything here? 

Anonymous asked: Now that you're up in the "wilds of Canada," have you encountered any wildlife? If you are asking about bears, Anon, not yet! However I have seen moose, beaver, elk, marmots, a bald eagle, geese and lots of the usual deer, birds and squirrels (plus some dead things on the side of the road). My favorite is the heard but not seen: the dawn chorus of birds in the morning. I have also heard coyotes at night and loons and geese in the mornings! 

I did find this Sasquatch. 

San asked: Were you sad to sell your home? I am glad you asked! I actually closed on the house last Friday and I could not be happier. This will likely be a post of its own at some point, but it had some hiccups but nothing big, and I am now officially homeless. I love it! So....NO, not sad in the least. 

Stephany asked: What's one of your unpopular opinions? I would say the fact that I don't love dogs. I know, Stephany, you are probably now blacklisting me, and I do think Dutch was the cutest thing! However, I don't like the hair, or the licking, or the jumping. I don't like people who say, "but he is friendly" as their dog jumps and licks. If the dog is well behaved and leaves me alone when I want to be left alone and doesn't smell or shed, I can get on board. Otherwise, I would prefer to be alone. Sorry dog lovers. 

This is Jelly. I like her a lot when she is sleeping. 

Lisa asked: How do you charge your phone? As I am often camping for several days at a time where they is no electricity, I have an Ankor 20,000 mAh portable battery charger (like this). You are probably saying, but what does all of that mean? My phone is about 3,100 mAh (milliamp hour), so I could technially charge it about six times. However, I have several (11!!) other electronics, so normally I can go about 4-6 days without power before my battery bank dies too. It is a little bigger than a deck of cards but it totally worth the weight. If you are ever thinking about buying one, I suggest Ankor as I do not think this is one of those things you should cheap out on. 

Ankor battery pack

Coco asked: Do you get scared? Hell yeah, but probably not of what you may be thinking. For instance, I am not really scared of bears per se. Sure, if one is near me, I am, but I don't dwell on it, if that makes sense. What I am scared of is riding on the side of the highway and some numbnut hitting me from behind, or maybe a ladder or a bolt or a piece of wood falling off someone's car and nailing me. Or me hitting a patch of gravel or getting a flat tire and falling right in front of a car. Then of course there are little daily worries, like where my next water source is going to be and whether or not I will be able to find a spot to sleep that is not obvious to the not-nice people that my parents are worried about. But those are mostly manageable. 

Riding on the side of the Coquihalla highway. Not fun.

My Mom asked: where do I park my bike when I go to use the restroom or go into the store, etc.? When I go to the bathroom, I just lean it up against the portapotty or bathroom, which is 90% of where I use the restroom when I am in civilized areas. If I am in the woods, well you know the drill there. In that case, I lean it up against a tree. If I have to go inside somewhere, I try to lean it against a window where I can sit, or if there is outside seating, I try to keep it within eye's length. When I go into the grocery store, I have a small lock that I use, but I don't take all of my stuff (bags) off of it; I just get my electronics, put them in my pocket, and go in and hope for the best. 

Parked at the grocery store

Parked at the bathroom

Okay, that's enough out of me! Now it's time for you to answer questions! 

If you are a parent, would you worry about me? What is the strangest or biggest animal you have seen in the wild? What is one of your unpopular opinions? Do you get scared when you travel? 

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Last Friday was my last day of work. I was going to write a witty recount of my time there and talk about my feelings about leaving, but I don't think I quite have it in me yet. My brain is on half mast; I have DNFed three audiobooks this month and have not read any eBooks. All I can do is listen to podcasts and sometimes not even that, so I have reverted back to listening to music in the car. 

This month so far, I am batting 250 on books, and my one hit was only a single. I read Lisa Jewell's Watching You and it was just okay. I don't know if that is my mindset or if the book is not that good, so take my review with a grain of salt. I then DNFed Everywhere an Oink Oink (annoying Hollywood producer) and I Didn't Know I Needed This (annoying Twitter influencer) and started Murder in The Family twice and just could not get into it, so I realized that it's not you, it's me, and decided to just give it a rest. I think I may be ready to give it a shot again, but I need something light and funny and fun. Does anyone have a suggestion of a quick and easy read? No Emily Henry please. 

Speaking of music, I found an old SanDisk music player among my things and it still works! It cost maybe $15 and it holds about 3G of music, and it was about half full. It was so fun to turn it on and see what I was listening to when I last used it, which was probably at least ten years ago! I also added more songs on it so I will have something that doesn't drain my phone battery that I can listen to when I am on the road. The playlist includes a variety of songs like Shaggy's It Wasn't Me, So What by Pink, Jesus Walks by Kanye, Believe Me Natalie by the Killers and Sex Is On Fire by Kings of Leon. I also have a playlist on my phone as a backup that I have dubbed Pick Me Up, and will be used when I am feeling discouraged or tired and need to be pumped up. 

Testing out the SanDisk

It still works!

Speaking of that, if you are interested, I would love to get one song recommendation to add to the pick me up playlist from each of you. FYI, I listen to all genres, and would be just as happy with Pantera or Snoop Dogg as I would with Taylor Swift or James Taylor. So lay it on me folks! If you are one of my shy lurkers (you know who you are Berreaux!) you can text me or email me your suggestion. 

As I said, I have also been listening to more podcasts. If you love hearing a short story made long, I have one about this too. I used to use Stitcher as my podcast player. It was great, I had all of the settings down and everything was copesetic. Maybe six or ten months ago, they closed up shop and told everyone to migrate their playlists, and suggested Google Podcasts. I am an Android user and a fan of the Google suite, so I did what they said and have been very happy with the transition so far. However, about a month ago, Google Podcasts announced that they would no longer be around and that we would need to migrate our playlist again. Sigh. I don't mind learning new things but that is kind of annoying. So I moved everything to YouTube Music, which is where I listen to and get my music from. However, I don't love this platform for various reasons. So I am going to try out Podcast Guru, unless one of you has a suggestion for a great podcast app? Like I said, I am an Android user and I don't want to pay for the app. Any suggestions? And if so, why do you like the one you are using? 

Speaking of podcasts, one of my go tos lately has been All the Hacks and I just listened to a great one about FOMO and FOBO. I had never heard of FOBO but it is the Fear of Better Options, meaning that you do not make a decision right away because you think something better may come along after you do. It really hit home with me, as I don't really have too much FOMO, but I definitely have a case of FOBO from time to time. It is not unusual for me to turn on Netflix and spend half an hour trying to decide what to watch before finally giving up and turning the TV off. It is not unusual for me to put an alert on a flight price rather than buying one right away, in the hopes that the price will go down later or that the flight will be at a better time. I try not to be, but often am guilty of analysis paralysis. 

In the podcast, they talk about being an optimizer or a maximizer, both who want to get the best that they can out of the choices they make and it is fascinating to see how much I can relate to much of this. The opposite is a satisficer, who will pick something that is "good enough" just to satisfy. Supposedly, maximizers will take longer to make the decision, but it will often be a better decision due to the research put in, versus satisficers, who will choose quickly, but be happier in the long run. I take a long time to make decisions and often have to ask many questions to be sure I know exactly what I am getting myself into before I make the plunge. I know this is annoying to many of my satisficer friends, but to loop this back to work for the grand finale, has served me well in my industry over the last ten years! 

What fun book should I be reading now? What is your one pick me up song? What podcast app would you suggest I use? Are you a maximizer or a satisficer? 

Confessions & Randoms

Happy Monday everyone! I hope that everyone had a great weekend and that spring is starting to show in your neck of the woods. In the Bay Area, it finally stopped raining and on Saturday it actually got above 70! I was very happy and celebrated by taking a nap (inside). I know it doesn't make sense, but I left the windows open, so I don't feel too guilty about it! 

Before I get to the confessions, here are a few random thoughts churning around the old noggin. 

Today I have a plumber coming to fix a leak under my kitchen sink. It is going to cost me more than my last vacation, which makes me cringe big time, and reminds me of the joys (!!) of being a homeowner. This is one of those things I want my personal assistant to take care of and I will just write a check. It will not be a happy check, but at least I don't have to deal with the guys in my house and things possibly going worse than I already imagine. Just tell me when it's over please! 

On the reading front, I have really been enjoying thrillers lately. I think my brain capacity has diminished recently and it is just so much easier to listen to a fluffy thriller than anything more substantial. The last one that I read and enjoyed was None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. I also just finished Kill Show, which came highly recommended by Lisa and Engie, and it did not disappoint. Due to my lowered brain function, I have also been getting back into podcasts. I just cannot concentrate enough for much more at this moment. Some of my favorites lately have been The Adventure Sports Podcast and All The Hacks. 

I went skiing with my Dad last week and it was a great day. We got snow on Wednesday and we skied on Thursday and it was sunny and nice with great fresh snow! The only thing that was a bit of a bummer was that my ski boots, which I have had since high school (that is a long time!!) broke in the middle of a run, so we had to rent boots. However, that did not stop us from having a great time. Lately I have only been skiing maybe once a year and this was the perfect day for my one day this year! 

Lovely day on the slopes

Today, something big is happening in my life (aside from the plumber) and I will talk more about it next week. However, I am both looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measures. Stay tuned to find out what the heck I am talking about! And now, onto a few confessions...

I am not very good at spelling. Yes, I read a lot and I know a lot of big words, but sometimes I still can't remember if "protein" is "I before E" or not. By the way, why IS the E before the I in protein? It does not make any sense. Also, if I can write it down and look it it, my spelling is better, but if I have to spell it out loud to someone, I am slow and I have to look inside my head at a whiteboard in order to get the letters out of my mouth. I think in general I am more of a visual learner and will remember things much better if I read them or write them down than if I hear them (over the phone for example). 

I sometimes hoard food. No, I am not like the chicken girl in Girl, Interrupted, but I do like to have something on hand in case I get hungry. I also do like to buy things on sale, so if it is a two-for-one, I will buy two of them. I also shop at Costco, although I am trying not to do that as much, as there are certain things you just don't need a two year supply of (although I will continue to buy the five dozen egg pack and the two pound bag of coffee). I bought a huge bag of protein powder a couple of years ago, and I finally just had to throw it away (gasp!!!) as it was a little sweet for me, and I barely used it. 

I eat expired food. I do not like throwing food away. I will eat expired food in most cases (obviously not rotten eggs or moldy veggies or anything) and have some spices that date back to the teens (does curry spice REALLY go bad?) that I finally just threw away. Plus there are some arguments about "sell-by" vs "use-by" vs "freshest by" dates. If it smells fine, I will usually go for it. This really disgusts some of my friends and family members. 

I schedule a lot of my text messages. Since I get up super early (usually around 4 am), and this is also when my brain is working at its best, I often reply to texts or send texts to people then. However, I am loving the schedule feature, and will usually set the text to go out around 8 am instead of the hour of the dead that I am actually sending it. There are a couple exceptions to this, such as when I know the person keeps their phone on silent at night, or if I know they get up super early too (Hi Mom!). The other thing I do, so I won't forget, is schedule texts like birthdays or anniversaries when I think of it. Otherwise the day will pass before I know it and I hate being the person to wish someone happy birthday a day late. 

I have never cleaned (or used) my fireplace. Some people like to sit in front of a crackling fire at night. Some people love the routine of starting a fire. I am not one of them. I bought a house with a fireplace and I have never used it. Therefore I have never cleaned it. I grew up in a house with a woodstove, which was our only source of heat, and making a fire (and chopping and carrying wood) is a chore to me. I also do not like smelling like smoke, even when camping. I can make a fire in a jiff if needed for survival, but it is likely I am not going to just do it for fun. 

Your turn! What random things are happening in your life? Do you ever schedule your text messages? Do you have (or use) a fireplace in your house? 

Things I Do Not Buy

I noticed the other day that although I have not bought toilet paper since March of 2022 (a 24 pack), I still have seven rolls left in my overflow stash. This could be partially because I bought a bidet in September 2022, which has drastically cut down on my TP use! The other thing is that I am at work four or five days a week for eight or ten hours, so many of my potty trips are at work. However, I was quite surprised to find that it had been that long when I looked back at my Amazon history. I do suspect that I probably had several left over before I bought the last pack, but I am surprised to still have some left! Question: How many rolls of TP do you go through each month? 

Sign in hospital bathroom. Hands? Really?

The other thing I rarely use is paper towels. I bought a Costco pack of 12 rolls when I moved into my house in May 2015 and I (a) still have two rolls left and (b) have given away at least six of them if not more. I just do not use paper towels! If someone comes over for dinner I will use them but otherwise, I use a rag to wipe the floor or the counter (a clean one!) and if I am eating dinner alone, I just use a dishrag as a napkin too. I have a set of older dishcloths that I use for those kinds of things, and a set of new ones that hang on the sink for wiping dishes or whatnot. Question: Do you use a lot of paper towels, napkins, cloth napkins, or dish towels? 

I have actually never used Doordash or Uber Eats. Once at work, I had to order for a group, so I have a Doordash account, but I have never had food delivered to my house. I tend to cook at home and am happy to eat oatmeal for dinner if I have not had a chance to go shopping, or I have a commercial district with restaurants and a grocery store about a half a mile from my house so I can just walk to get food. A coworker of mine ordered Chipotle through Doordash and he said that it cost like $40 with the delivery, food and tip, and I cannot imagine spending that much on Chipotle. You do you and all, but that is not where I want to focus my spending personally. Question: What is the weirdest thing you have ordered for delivery? 

After having several purges and getting rid of many books, I set the goal to not buy anymore until I had read (and given away) the ones on my shelf that I had not yet read. Confession: I still have a couple on my shelf that I have not yet read, but except for those two, I am reading 100% library books now. In the past 10 years, I have bought very few books. I did go to Powell's in Portland about five years ago and I used a gift card that was given to me to buy a few travel books. However, I am now down to only about 20 books on my shelf, which are mostly books from my childhood, and I do not have any plans to buy more books any time soon! Question: Do you still buy books? 

Powell's is awesome. 

I love going out to eat as much as anyone else, but there are a couple of things that I never order at a restaurant. The first is spaghetti. Don't get me wrong; if I am at an Italian restaurant and they make their own pasta, I will go to town on some ravioli or tortellini, but I will likely not order spaghetti. The other thing is roast chicken. If I am going to pay for meat at a restaurant, I feel like it should be one that I don't or can't cook. Fois gras? Yes please. Duck? Sign me up! Rabbit stew? You betcha! Roast chicken? Nah, I can make that at home. Question: Is there something that you rarely or never order at a restaurant? 

Exception to the rule: chicken and waffles!

Years ago, I realized that it is so much easier when hiking or traveling to just bring smaller tampons with me. I should have swapped long before that, but at that point, I finally made the switch to applicator-less tampons. I hated using the plastic tampons due to environmental issues and the ones without an applicator are not really any different. I do wish that I would have heard about or tried the Diva cup earlier, as I think that would have also been a good way to not have to use/carry so many feminine products on long hikes! Question: Have you tried the Diva Cup (or equivalent)? If so, what are your thoughts? 

List of questions: 

How many rolls of TP do you go through each month? 

Do you use a lot of paper towels, napkins, cloth napkins, or dish towels? 

What is the weirdest thing you have ordered for delivery? 

Do you still buy books?

Is there something that you rarely or never order at a restaurant? 

Have you tried the Diva Cup (or equivalent)? If so, what are your thoughts? 

Feel free to answer one or all of the questions above, or tell me what things do you NOT buy? 

Am I Wearing Pants? And Other Random Stories

Who remembers this meme? 

Leg Pants. 

I think the meme above was from when it was once again becoming more common to wear leggings out in public for no reason (see --> "are they yoga pants? are you doing yoga?") and it was not always appreciated! These days it is more accepted, but there is still the "leg pants" phenomena, where I wonder if a woman (or man I guess) knows that her pants are the exact same color as her legs. Sometimes I nearly have a heart attack as I pass or come up behind her, thinking she is walking around naked. People, perhaps get a shade a few shades darker or lighter than you? Or maybe you like seeing how many people you can get to do a double take. 

As a kind of related side note, the other morning I was getting off the train and a lady was getting on the opposite train and I saw that she was wearing leg pants that really hugged her butt tightly and were the perfect color for her complexion. She had a nice fur coat on top and had her hair done up really fancy. Then I realized at the last minute that she was NOT wearing pants, or underwear and that was actually her butt I had been seeing. Good morning to you too!

Mean Dad. 

Two weekends ago I went to A's soccer game. If you come to spectate, you must sit on the same side of the centerline that your kids are sitting on on the opposite side. We arrived a few seconds after the game had already started and so the only place to sit was basically just left of the centerline (by mere inches) meaning that we were sitting right next to the spectators from the other team. There was a girl on the opposite team who was playing on our side of the field and her Dad was sitting a couple of chairs down from us. He kept yelling at her, berating her, telling her all of the things that she wasn't doing etc. (these girls are around 13 by the way). The ironic thing was that he was pretty supportive of the other players, but very critical of his own daughter, who I thought was doing quite well. 

As Broski and I were sitting there, we chatted about this cool camera that was sitting right on the centerline, filming the game. We even Googled it to find out how much it cost and surmised that one of the parents must really be into sports. My friend K (A's Mom) arrived around halftime and after she arrived, the mean Dad walked away and went to sit further down the field. I was telling her how this Dad was being so mean to his daughter and she was really doing well and K told me that the last time they played this team, the parents got into a huge fight because the parents of the other team were all being rude, mean and unsportsmanlike (i.e. telling their daughters to "take them out!" and encouraging them to hurt the other girls and things like that). Anyway, the game ended, our team won in the last three minutes (boo yeah!) and as we were packing up to go, we noticed mean Dad packing up the camera. We kind of shook our heads at ourselves, imagining him sitting at home with his poor daughter, making her relive everything she had done wrong in the game. 

Later that week I was having dinner with K and the kids and she told me that she had received a video from a parent using that same camera for L's last game and as she had watched it, she had remembered how good the audio is on these cameras. They sit up off the field about 15 or 20 feet, but she could hear the parents chatting underneath the camera. I asked her what they do with these videos and she said that often the team will review them all together and they will talk about what needs to be improved. So basically, the team that A's team played is going to do the same thing. And if they do, they are going to get an earful about how I felt about mean Dad!! Oops. However, nothing I said was not true, AND they are also going to be able to hear him berating her, so perhaps he will take note. People, we are being watched and listened to no matter where we are! I guess the moral of the story is don't say anything that you wouldn't want a bunch of thirteen year old girls (and their mean Dads) hearing! 

Expiration dates. 

Last week Nicole touched on suggested expirations and I just want to say that I pretty much ignore most expiration dates. This may make me gross in some people's minds, but I am fairly sure that most of them are just a ploy to get you to buy more of their product. Now, I know that if they are old they can be less effective or not as tasty in the case of food, but I don't think I am going to die if I use a 2 year old mascara or eat an expired can of corn. I take them as a suggestion and if it is food, I definitely give it a good sniff before eating it. But I am going to use up that two year old bottle of Jergens and that Costco coconut oil even if it kills me. 

Having said that, in the past year, I have bought new tires for both my car and Bertha (the road bike) and they are fabulous! I have been using the same tires on Bertha for about 10 years and I was starting to have trouble stopping due to the lack of tread. I even splurged for the fancy brand, and man are they nice. Same thing goes with the car; I have replaced a tire here and there but finally decided to get four new ones at the same time and I feel like a new woman. I also do replace the little things that I can fix myself, like my car cabin air filter (did you know you were supposed to do that? I just learned about it a few years ago), wipers and the engine air filter regularly. 

Old girl, new tires

Fall. 

It is perpetual leaf raking season again. I think I have mentioned before that my seasons are based on the status of the maple tree in my front yard. September: clean the leaves out of the gutter season. October to December: leaf raking season. January to March: ankle breaking ball pick up season, also coincides with rainy season. April to June: spring break. July to August: removing branches from electrical wire season. I pretty much fill up the compost bin and/or the green trash bin with leaves each week and I still can't really keep up with all of the leaves on the ground. Usually at some point in December there is a huge wind and rain and it knocks many of the remaining leaves off the tree, but I would prefer that just happen early so I can rake them all and be done with it. It is supposed to rain this week so maybe this will be the week it happens? I doubt it, as the tree still has about 87% of its leaves left right now but one can hope. 

Gutter cleaning season

How was your weekend? Do parents use fancy cameras to film stuff at your kid's sports events? Do you follow the suggested expiration dates on your products and/or foods? 

Feed Me!

Hello readers; I need your help. You may have noticed that I was having trouble with my blog feed, and it was driving me nutso. I was posting posts but they were not showing up on Feedly for three days. The last one I posted (Minneapolis) actually did not show up in my feed at all, and that is when I knew that I really had a problem. I tried all kinds of things and posted a bunch of test posts (sorry if you got these) but I couldn't seem to figure it out. 

I removed all of my widgets, messed with my HTML code a lot, searched for errors and tried to fix them, removed code, added code, etc. If you know me at all you know that I do not like to leave things undone, so I spent several days patiently (??) trying to fix this issue. Then I kind of gave up, and decided to transition to WordPress. 

I spent several days staring at this

I downloaded everything in Blogger, uploaded it to WordPress and was still in the process of fiddling with the settings when my Minneapolis post showed up in my feed finally (about a week after my original post date). Clearly something I had messed with  had worked! I then posted a test, which worked, and then I scheduled the gadgets post, which worked. 

Now my conundrum is, should I stay or should I go now? From the few hours I spent working on the WP blog, it seems like there are definitely some features I like more (the commenting seems better for example) but some things that kind of confuse me (the set up of the template - I cannot seem to get my header font smaller without also decreasing my post header font and vice versa, also my side menu options seem more limited, but maybe I just need to fiddle some more). 

I need your help! 

WordPress people: What do you like/dislike about WordPress? What is the commenting like? If the person commenting is not on WP, does it make it difficult? Do you get an email if someone comments back (that is something I wish I had now. When I comment on a WP blog, I have to go back and check to see if they replied sometimes), can you comment back via email (you can do this on Blogger if the person is on Blogger too, but I can only do this with some WP people). 

Blogger people turned WordPress: Why did you convert? What things were hard during the conversion? (I noticed all of my comments came over but they are all "anonymous" now) What things do you like better or dislike more? 

Blogger people: Why do you stay with Blogger? Have you ever considered converting?

Additional questions for all: What feed reader do you use? How do WP vs Blogger posts show up on your reader? Do you have a preference for the aesthetics of one over the other? What day did you get this post? (FYI, I am posting it on February 18th) Alternatively, if you subscribe by email, when did you get this post? Also, if you have had this problem, how did you fix it? 

If you are shy, you can email me at travelspot06 at gmail rather than commenting. 

If you don't feel like answering any of the above questions, at least tell me...what are you up to this weekend? 

Thank you for your help! 

Quirks & Randoms

You may have noticed that I came out from  under my rock. Like Punsxutawney Phil, I am. I crawled out the first time and it was too sunny, so I went outside. Now it's raining and I am getting into purge mode. One of the things that I need to purge is computer stuff; my C drive is almost full of stuff, I have too many junk emails, I have a lot of unfinished blog posts. 

So I have started unsubscribing to emails, little by little and going through photos and removing blurry ones and dupes. This is not something that gets resolved overnight; I started it during the pandemic (or before?) and have been chipping away a little each month. I also decided to finish up some of those draft posts that are two thirds done! This post was started in 2016 (!!), I worked on it a little in January of 2022, but alas, I never came back to it. So, without further ado, I give you a six-years-in-coming list of randoms and quirks, in no particular order! 

About three years ago my cat gave me fleas. I thought I would be environmentally friendly and I decided to use diatomaceous earth. If you are unfamiliar, it is is a natural product that looks like baby powder but is actually a rock with jagged edges that will supposedly kill the flea by drying out its exoskeleton. However, it is not toxic to animals with endoskeletons. So...I did what it said and I spread it all around the corners of the hardwood, on the furniture and all over the house and then I vacuumed it up. Or should I say that I attempted to vacuum it up. It did not want to be vacuumed up. 

What a mess!

This may have been one of the stupider things I have ever done. First of all, it did not kill the fleas. Secondly, despite multiple sweepings and moppings over the years, I still find remnants of powder in the corners of the room, or when I bang into the couch some sprinkles out. I guess the moral of this story is that I should have either gone with the bug bomb despite the poison (which is what I ended up doing in the end) or gotten rid of the cat. (P.S. I did later use the same product to successfully kill a bunch of hornets in my garden, so it is not entirely useless). 

Gato supervises but never works.

I eat the same thing for breakfast every day. At the original time of this writing in 2016, breakfast consisted of  oatmeal with peanut butter (95% of the time) or Cheerios. Currently the breakfast du jour is eggs. We have hard boiled ones at work and I usually have a couple of those, or if I am home I will fry up a couple. The only real deviation would be on a weekend when I eat out, and then its usually omelet time, but that is still eggs! I also generally eat the same thing for lunch on the weekdays and maybe two or three dishes for dinners. You call it boring; I call it efficient. 

I believe that everything has its place. For instance, the milk in the fridge belongs on the right hand side of the top shelf. It doesn't belong on the left side, nor the middle shelf, nor the door. It belongs where it belongs and it always goes back there. In the risk of sounding a bit neurotic, I can usually tell if someone has moved something, eaten something or used something of mine, as they don't put it back exactly so (for instance, at work, I KNOW when you have used my stapler). I also like things put away in their place before I leave. The bed has to be made. The cupboards, shower curtain and closet doors have to all be closed etc. 

I am trying to save the environment. As I am running the water to heat it up for a shower, I put a bucket under the tap and I use that water to water the plants in the yard. In winter, when they don't need water, I use it to flush the toilet. I know that in backpacking and running, we definitely use too many single serving packets; I try to use reusable ziplocks and buy things in bulk when I can. For my last race, I carried peanuts with me in this reusable snack bag. The other thing that I really try to do is to not use plastic water or other small sized bottles. I am not perfect, but I am moving in the right direction. 

I am long winded....as you can probably tell from this post. I don't know if this is a quirk or an annoyance at times. I blame my father, who can make a 3 minute story last for 15 minutes. I notice my brother does the same thing as well, so watch out if you are in a room with all three of us (my poor mother!). Don't get stuck in a corner! However, I think that this makes me an excellent running partner. Just ask me to tell you a story about X and I will take until the end of the run to finish!

Stay tuned for more random finished draft posts; you never know what may be coming soon! 

What stupid thing have you done lately? What quirk do you have? 

A Bit of Color

In my industry, when we are looking for information, we ask for "color", as in, "can I get some color on that sale at Nordstrom?" And the person would say, "it's tomorrow from 8 - 5." 

Here's a "bit of color" about me: 

I am reading two books (one for the bus on my Kindle, one hardback for home) and they are The Architects Apprentice and The Beekeepers Apprentice. It's a coincidence that both of them have the word Apprentice in them!! Both are good so far! The Architect is about Istanbul in the 1500s; the Beekeeper is about Sherlock Holmes. I hope to finish both by the end of the year, which will bring my total books read this year to 77 books. 

I am looking forward to this weekend, when we will have our group holiday dinner for work, next week, which is a short week where I will go and visit family and friends, and a good night's sleep, which I may not get for another week or so, but whenever I get it, it will be great. 

I am eating a lot of "comfort" foods lately. Soups, stews and desserts have been on the menu a lot lately, and I need to get back into the habit of eating more healthy. 

I am planning my running schedule for next year with hopefully a couple of vacation trips sprinkled in. It's hard to plan around 5 other people's schedules (only one of us can have a day off at a time at work), summer plans, family things and races!!! I know, it's a hard problem to have... 

I am putting off buying the last of my gifts. I have to buy a gift for a coworker's wife for our holiday party and I don't really know her well and I have no idea what to get her! 

What are you reading? What should I get my coworker's wife? 

Random Ramblings

- The other day I was walking to the bus stop and my bus cruised right past me, about two minutes early. This bus goes from Oakland, where I live, to San Francisco. I hopped on the next bus, which goes to downtown Oakland where I would have to transfer in order to get into the city. As I got on, the driver asked if I had missed my regular bus. I told him that the bus had been early and had passed me up. He said, "I'll catch it for you!" and proceeded to slam on the gas and do a high speed bus chase through Oakland. If there were people waiting at stops, he would open the door before he even got to them and would rush them onto the bus. It was hilarious! We ended up catching my bus, and the driver flagged it down and made the other driver wait so I could get on. I have never had so much excitement at 5 in the morning! It was fun!

- I am having issues finishing books lately. I started one I thought I would really like about the strife between the Hutu and the Tootsies in Rwanda, but it just didn't catch my attention and I ended up putting it down after about 20 pages. Then I started another about traveling in Chile that looked really great, and I am still working on it, but it's slow going. I just started a third book (at the same time) and am about 7 pages in and so far, it's so-so. I am not sure if my attention span has changed or what, but it's really frustrating because when I am not enjoying a book, I tend to procrastinate reading, which is something I normally enjoy!

- My boss asked me the other day if I could define "extravagant". I told him what I thought it was and then he asked me what the last extravagant thing was that I have done. I had a hard time thinking of anything! I have traveled, but usually I stay in cheaper hotels and often eat picnic foods. I don't really buy myself clothes or jewelry. I sometimes go out for an expensive meal, which is extravagant to me. What would you say if someone asked you that? What "wasteful" things do you spend your money on?

- I think there is something in the air these days. Three people I know are making huge job changes (and several others are thinking about it)! It is hard to change jobs after years in one industry (trust me, I know), but I am of the camp that it is worth it, even if it means a pay cut or a move to a different city. It is hard at first, and it sucks having to relearn a bunch of new things, but in the end, it often works out. A friend of mine worked for YEARS for the government, and all of a sudden up and decided to move from the Midwest to San Francisco to go to culinary school. This was 10 years ago, and now she is a successful restaurant owner and she is 100% happier than she was before. Sometimes the sacrifice is totally worth it!

What is on your mind today? What are you reading? Have you ever made an extreme career move (or thought about it)?

Coffee Talk

I am having a hard time forming more than a list these days... but there are a few things we would talk about if we were having coffee today. First I would ask you:  

How is your week going? What's the weather like where you are? What big things are going on in your life lately?

I am not really one for small talk, but I may start the conversation off by saying that it's finally raining here! We have been needing it so badly. Of course, this is literally just a drop in the bucket, but I will take it. The other good thing is that this hopefully means that it is snowing in the Sierras and I can soon do some skiing and other winter sports.

Next I would delve more into my week by saying how I sometimes really love working with all men (not as many emotions running wild, no line in the ladies room EVER) but sometimes men can be as bad or worse than women when it comes to being catty and/or talking about each other behind the other person's back! They sometimes whine so much I want to just smack them. That and one of them keeps stealing my supplies.... As much as they are a pain, I do like the group I work with. In fact, last night we all went to all-you-can -eat Korean BBQ and I  gorged myself on spicy pork and little side dishes!

I need a quick and effective fitness routine that I can do at home. Do you have any suggestions? My criteria is that I want it to be less than half an hour and I do not want to have to pay for it. This month, and even more so in December, is filling up with week day activities and I need something quick I can do in the gaps of the day.

I have not done any Christmas shopping, and I am behind on starting my Christmas cards. This year I am having trouble getting motivated to do projects. This also bleeds into my running life. I just can't muster up the energy to go running on the week days lately! With the holidays around the corner, this is not going to get any easier. I need to make a list/schedule and start checking it off.

I would love to do this multi day snowshoeing trip in Yosemite. Seeing the valley in the snow would be absolutely priceless! I have added it to my list of things I want to do, which is getting longer and longer each day!

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Okay, your turn: Where do you want to travel to this winter?  Have you started your shopping yet? tell me what fitness routine you are doing for the winter!

Time is on Your Side

I had a nice chat with my Dad on the phone yesterday (while running), which has been a long time coming. It's amazing how you can keep thinking that you will call someone "tomorrow" or do something "in a few minutes" and all of a sudden hours, days or weeks slip by. I always thought that people who stated that they were, "SO busy" were just bad at time management. I haven't changed my mind about that completely; I have only just gotten worse at managing my own time.

While studying, I made a list in my head of all the things I have been wanting to do or needing to do in the last few months but have put off in order to study. I have mentioned before, but I was never any good at studying. However, this time, it's my job (and my pride!) on the line, so I am buckling down and trying to get it done. In 10 days, I will have literally HOURS of my life back. I am really, really looking forward to that day.

So I thought I would quickly share my list with you and then get back to studying again (and do another load of laundry, and get my lunch ready for tomorrow, and go set the rat trap in the garage, etc).

- Costco trip
- Pickling veggies (almost out of pickles)
- Trip to REI (need a new headlamp)
- Baking/cooking for fun (not just one pot meals for necessity)
- Get a massage (1 hour of bliss)
- Plan a vacation (well deserved!!)
- Catch up/visit with friends/family (on the phone and in person)
- Go camping (summer is nearly over!)
- Start taking more photos
- Organize my room / files (bought containers; now I just need to use them)
- Go browsing at Barnes and Noble (for hours...)
- Buy a few new tops for work
- READ A BOOK!

When you get busy, what takes a back burner? Is there anything you are looking forward to doing soon?

Currently: July

I took my series 7 exam on Monday and it was not the most fun thing I have ever done. You know how, no matter how much you are prepared, you feel inadequate when the time comes to perform sometimes? Well, the exam was a two part exam and I took the first half and felt pretty good. I did not feel good about the second half and after I finished, you have to push a button that says, "if you push this, you cannot go back. Do you want to continue?" and I really did NOT want to continue. But I pushed it and 15 seconds later (which felt like hours, my heart was beating SO hard), it gave me my score. I passed! Phew. One down; one to go. 

Current Book - The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. This book got good reviews from all my friends on Goodreads. I have to admit, maybe it's because I am studying at the same time, but I am finding it only so-so. It's about books, so of course that's a plus, but it's just not riveting. 

Current Running Path - The other day I took a run out to the Bay Bridge trail, where they built us a new bridge and are taking down the old one. It was pretty cool to see, and is kind of an end of an era. This bridge was damaged in the 1989 earthquake and it's been a long road replacing it, but it's finally done. Now they just have to get rid of the old one.

Current Drink - Sparkling water. It's my new treat to myself. I even got some mint the other day and have been drinking it with mint and lemon. It's so refreshing!

Current Excitement - See above regarding passing the Series 7. Phew! 

Current fashion trend - These are everywhere. In all different forms.

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Current Favorite Blog/Website - I have to admit, I have not really been reading blogs/websites lately. The only one I have really visited lately has been the Oakland Library website, and maybe Goodreads.  

Current Garden Item - So far we have tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, radishes and peppers! Summer is here!

Current Love - Running with people. I still mostly run by myself, but have been doing maybe one run a week or every two weeks with friends, and it really makes the time of a long run go by faster!

Current Food - See above regarding garden items. I made the best salad yesterday with radish, cucumber, tomato, toasted pecans, feta, lemon and mint. It was so good and fresh!

Current Indulgence - Trail mix. I have been going to town on it. It's my study snack. Unfortunately, I find it hard to stop eating it! 

Currently Pondering - How long my current computer is going to last. Right now it only has a little bit of space left, and I've gotten the black (not blue) screen a couple of times. To be fair, it's about 5 years old, but I am really hoping it hangs on for a little while longer! Also, I am not sure if I want another laptop, or a tablet. I want it to be more portable, but I really like the big keyboard and operating system on my laptop!  

Current Mood - Great!  

Current New Find - I am probably way behind the times here, but I found these great noodles that are made from yam and I love them!! I don't eat a lot of pasta, but these are a good substitute when you are feeling like a pasta-like dish! I really like them sauteed up with mushrooms, a bit of ginger, some miso and any other veggie that I have in the fridge.  

Current Peeve - People who borrow something and don't put it back. Use what you want, but replace it! 

Current Song - This song has come up on my Pandora a few times recently and I find it very haunting.

 

Current Triumph - Getting through studying. It's been a lot of years since I have had to do that.  

Current TV Show - Greys Anatomy reruns. They are my "reward" for a long study session.

Current Wish-List - New running shoes.  

Currently Delaying - Starting study for the next exam. I don't want to. I want to take a break. However, the train is still moving, so I cannot get off now!

What is your current indulgence? Have you ever tried yam (or tofu) noodles? Have you jumped on the leopard pants band wagon?

A Day In The Life

It annoys me when people who have not posted in a while start of a post by saying, "I know I haven't posted in a while, but..." or "it's been so long since my last post". It should be obvious if people are paying attention, but most likely, not as many people noticed as you hoped/thought. So I am not going to do that.

Having said that, I feel like every time I think about writing a post, the enormity of what has happened since my last post makes me hesitant. What do I even talk about? A lot has happened. Do I recap it? Do I just skip it and jump to the present? Where do I even start? I feel like in the past few months, a lot of other things have taken over my life, and now posting does not seem as important. Don't get me wrong; I WANT to post. I want to have things to post about. To be honest though, although I am busy, I am not very interesting lately, and my brain is pretty much useless. Therefore, that is why I am going to do a quick "day in the life" post, so years later when I look back, I can remember what a busy/trying/exciting/crazy time this was.

4:21 am: The alarm goes off. Sometimes I hit snooze and am reminded again in 5 minutes how tired I am and how much I do not want to get out of bed.  Usually I just get up. Why prolong the inevitable?

4:22 am - 5:10 am: Shower, eat a bowl of cereal, down a cup of coffee, and put on a pair of black pants and some sort of top. Study for about 15 - 25 minutes. **FYI, I got a new job which requires me to be licensed and there is a lot of studying involved. More on that in a bit.

5:11 am - 5:59 am: Walk to the bus, commute, study some more, walk from the bus stop to work.

6:00 am - 3 (or 4) pm: Work. I started this new job about 5 weeks ago and it has been a lot of learning new things, new terms, new processes and procedures, new software and new rules. I am also the "new guy" again, the one who people wonder about when I am roaming the halls. A typical work day involves a lot of spreadsheets and computer work, some phones, some handwriting orders (I know; who does that anymore) and some operations/organization items.

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Go to the gym, work out for about an hour, walk to the bus. I injured myself (Achilles) a couple of months ago, so have been doing more elliptical, bike and weights instead of running as much. **However, I do have three races to recap, including Boston, a 100k race and a 50 mile race that kicked my butt in a big way.

5:30 pm - 6:15 pm: Commute, more studying, walk home.

6:15 pm - 7:30 pm: Shower, water the garden (the tomatoes are looking great!), make/eat dinner.

7:30 pm - 8:30 (or 9) pm: Study. Try not to fall asleep.

9 pm: Bedtime. Hopefully.

You can't really get much more boring than that, can you? In fact, as I read over this post, I am falling asleep... So, yeah. The days are pretty packed right now, and not really with very fun stuff. I average about 2 hours of studying a day plus about 6 - 12 hours on the weekends. My exam is on July 7th and then if when I pass the first one, I have to take another one, which is as of yet unscheduled. Basically my summer is shot.

Hopefully soon I will post a couple of race recaps, as well as some opinions on micromanaging, tips on how to achieve having a successful garden and a dirt loving dog at the same time and some funny stories about my roommate's dating life. Until then, happy June!

What have you been up to in the last month? What is your average day like? Do you remember what it was like to be the "new guy"?

Randoms and Peeves

There are a lot of things that annoy me; some of them are organizational, like the fact that I like certain things to have their place and when they are not there, it is annoying (car keys anyone?). Some just seem like common sense, like not leaving two drops of milk in the milk carton in the fridge or one square of toilet paper on the roll (obvious, right?). However, there are things out in the world and on the streets that I know I can't control (nor do they really affect me) but I get annoyed at them anyway. So, in no particular order, here is a (Friday Five?) list of some of my peeves.

People who use cell phones while walking. Just like driving, this should be illegal. They don't pay attention; they don't look up; they don't walk in a straight line OR walk fast enough. They need to pull over and use the phone while stopped in a place where they are not in other people's way.

Litter bugs. This is a really big one for me. I see littering as something that the lower class does. I am sorry if this is not true but it seems like the lower income neighborhoods have more trash. However, I've seen people throw their fast food wrappers down right in front of me in downtown San Francisco (and I didn't say anything)! Have you no pride? Also, in this case, the trash can was literally 10 feet from them! To make it worse, I ran a trail race last weekend and there was a bunch of race detritus (Gu wrappers mostly) on the trail! These are people who should be loving and respecting nature!

This one kind of goes along with the trash theme, but people who do not sort their trash annoy me. At work, we have a basket for compost, one for bottles and cans, one for all other recycling and one for trash. There are PICTURES that tell you which thing goes in which bin, but there is always someone who throws their plastic container in the compost bin.

People in the gym who take up the whole changing bench in the locker room with all of their stuff, or people who sit on the changing bench and text, Instagram, Facebook or talk on the phone, especially when the locker room is really crowded (like at 5 pm, as everyone is changing for Zumba).  There is an atrium in my gym where there is plenty of space to socially network.

People who walk really slow on the sidewalk, especially during rush hour. Don't they get it? It's "rush" hour! Also, when they don't walk straight, whether I am walking or running up behind them and am about to pass, if they are swerving/veering around, it's hard to figure out how to get around them without a collision! 

So, all of my peeves are regarding things that people do/don't do. Hm. By the way, Happy Friday everyone! If you do one of the above things, I will still be your friend, but I may complain a bit about it!

What are some of your peeves? Do you have recycling/composting where you live?

What I Learned: Etymology

I have been listening to Don't Know Much About History while doing my long runs lately, and there have been a few interesting tidbits that I have learned from it. Actually, there have been a lot of different things I have learned, relearned or remembered, and of course they are all very interesting and very educational and I can just feel myself getting smarter by the day.

However, there were a few interesting factoids that I had no idea about, and actually never thought to question them! For example, do you know where the word "sideburns" comes from?

Sideburns were first called "Burnsides", after a civil war general named Ambrose Burnside, who, as you can see below, had a pretty nice display of facial hair.

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I also found out why "booze" is so named. It's from the Dutch word būsen, which means "to drink to excess". However, DKMAH states that it was given it's name due to a man named E. C. Booz, who was a distiller in the United States in the 19th century.

Do you know the game "rock, paper, scissors"? Do you ever call it Ro-Sham-Bo? We do. However, I never knew that there was a man named Rochambeau who was a French nobleman who participated in the revolutionary war. 

Do you ever wonder where certain words came from? Or why some things are called different words, even throughout the US? My mom's family is from Back East and they have some weird words for things, as well as pronounciations.

For instance:

Bubbler / drinking fountain
Pocketbook / purse
Cabinets / cupboard

Or there is always the coke, pop, soda debate. 

Why is that? And what do YOU call it?

What information have you learned lately that made you say "hmm"? What weird words do your friends and relatives say that make you giggle? Did you know where the word sideburns originated?

Don't Know Much About

I am stealing this idea from Lisa, who did a post about things that people may not know about her last week, because it is fun to hear weird quirks of other people, plus I am about to get on a plane right now and to go and hang out with her this weekend! Here go, a few things you may not know about me.

- I grew up on the Pacific Crest Trail. It actually comes down a mountain and you have to walk along a road and cross the river and then go back up another mountain. I lived on the road that the hikers have to walk on. Aside from that, my mom was the Postmaster for the post office on the road, and post offices are the life blood of the PCT. We had hikers for dinner at least once a week in the summertime. PS. they smell REALLY bad and are quite hairy, but they are very nice people.

Home sweet home

- I hate presenting in front of people. I used to go all pink and shaky and my heart would be beating a mile a minute and I would stutter a little bit. I have gotten a little better. I presented at work this week and I didn't flub it too much. I still have a ways to go, but I am learning to control my fears, or to fake it! It's a lot easier when I know when I am talking about and don't really have to read from the cards/power point. Also, I have gotten better at saying, "I don't know" or "I will look into that". I used to really fear getting a question I couldn't answer.

- I love going barefoot. I used to run around barefoot as a kid all the time and my parents would make me put on shoes because there may be gross things on the ground, but I still snuck out without shoes as often as I could. Now I take off my shoes as soon as I get home. A caveat: since the roommate got a dog, I wear socks because the floors are filthy! Then I take them off before getting into bed. I don't want to put dirty feet in my bed.

- I drink a lot of tap water. I have a reusable bottle that I drink from and I fill it up from the tap. Even when I travel or fly, I bring one in my bag and fill it inside the airport. Disposable water bottles are such a huge part of our trash problem. Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

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- I've eaten ants. Not on purpose, but we used to have a bad ant problem in our house when I was a kid and once they got into the Raisin Bran. The little black ones taste slightly of peppermint. Not in a good way.

- I have to make my bed every day. Coming home to a mussed up bed would make me a tiny bit antsy. I really love coming home to a calm, serene space. It only takes 2 seconds, because I don't tuck everything all the way in and I don't thrash around a lot when I sleep; I just flop it back into place in the morning and I am good to go.

- A couple of gym peeves of mine: (1) people who crank up the speed or incline really high and then hold onto the treadmill while they are running/walking. I feel like it just creates back/neck problems and they would get a more beneficial workout if they just turned it down a bit and let go. (2) People who sweat all over and then hop off and you are waiting for them to come back and wipe off the machine but they never do.

- I almost never wear skirts. I will put on a dress for a nice occasion, and I own several skirts/dresses. I just don't really feel that comfortable with my legs hanging out. I don't really wear shorts very often either.

- I wear my hair up 90% of the time.

- I eat approximately 8 salads a week and drink roughly 3 cups of coffee a day.

- I am trying to improve my Spanish by getting Spanish books from the library, and by using a flashcard app. Now I just need to buck up and start working on talking to people! That's the hard part for me (see: public speaking, above).

Do you wear skirts/shorts a lot? Do you speak a second language? What can you tell me that I don't know about you?

I almost forgot to mention: Happy Valentines Day!

Coffee Talk

Thanks for meeting me for a virtual coffee! I'm glad you're here!

If we were meeting for coffee today, I would get a large french roast with milk and splenda and you would get your favorite coffee and we would catch up on what we have been up to lately.

- I had a great time at New Years with friends. It was a very small group, which is the way I like it. I wore my comfy pants and ate a ton of crab and listened to Michael Jackson. At the end of the night though, two of my friends had an argument about whether or not one of their photos should be put on Facebook and one of them left in a huff. It was a strange beginning to the new year.

- I have started learning how to pickle things. Do you know how easy it is? It is so easy! All you need is some vinegar, salt , sugar , jars, dill seeds and peppercorns and whatever you want to pickle! Put the raw item in the jar, heat up the vinegar, salt, sugar and the spices to a boil, pour in the jar and voila! You have pickles. I didn't really use a recipe, but you could use this one if you want to give it a try. I made pickled cucumbers, picked green beans (dilly beans), green tomatoes, pickled jalapenos and pickled beets. So far, they have all been pretty good!

- I signed up for the Boston Marathon again (back in September). I looked into airline tickets the other day and they are Expensive! It may be because it is also Easter weekend, or maybe just that it's also the Boston Marathon, Patriots day and the Red Sox game...whatever it is, I can't decide whether I should buy them now because they may go up more, or if I should wait and hope they go down. I always do the same thing, wonder if I should buy now or wait.

- I started using the library again. For a while, I have been using the Kindle, especially since it if often lighter than the books I get from the library and it was giving me a backache to carry around the darn things! However, I am tired of reading the bargain books from Amazon and want some more recent ones, so back to the library I go! Of course, when it rains it pours, so I have about 10 books to pick up tonight after work!

Other than that, it's work, running and life in general. What have YOU been up to? What did you do for New Years Eve? Have you ever tried canning? What's your take on buying airline tickets? Do you use the library?