It's Going to be a Great Day!

I am not the least bit sore from my six mile run around the Charles last night and I got lucky this morning so it's all good!

Golden Boy has convinced me to go to Vermont tomorrow night even though Friday is my day to work from "home". I guess all I need is wireless access and my cell phone and my boss won't know if I am on Marlborough Street or Mt. Snow. We did some research and found that there are a few wi-fi hot spots in West Dover; Tony's pizza and the Snow Goose Inn. Let's hope the Innkeepers don't find it strange that some chick is parking in their parking lot for an hour or so with a laptop. This after we drive around the Inn slowly to find the best signal. At some point we'll get Tony's pizza but they only offer take-out service so we be sitting in their parking lot as well. This whole scheme might just work!

The only troubling part of blowing out of town Thursday as opposed to Saturday (when we have to drive to Newport for the long weekend) is that I do not have anyone to feed the cats for five days. I can leave them from Saturday to Monday, no problem but this extended absence is problematic. GB wants to drive straight from Vermont to Newport as it'll add an hour to the drive to stop in Boston first. My poor little guys! They deserve better than to be left alone for days on end with three bowls of dry food, a perpetual water feeder and a stinky littler box.

I have to bust it out here at the office for the next few days so I'll have as little work as possible to take "home" Friday.

Why do I do this again?

Sunday's 5k race was a bait-and-switch if there ever was one. The event website boasted, "picturesque Charles River views" and implied a shady run through the Emerald Necklace. Basically, we ran up Soldiers Field road and did a loop back over to Storrow Drive (not at all shady for those of you not from Boston) and ended sort of near the water near the Publik Theatre. Another scorcher on blacktop in the unrelenting summer sun and I paid $22 to do it. I think I weighed about 4 lbs. less at the end of the race which isn't a bad thing!

Anyway the race route wasn't completely closed to traffic and cars were trying to sneak past runners in the left-most lane of Soldiers Field road. If I still practiced personal injury, I would've been praying for someone to mow down some poor bastard so that I could run upon the scene, business card in hand. Oh and only the first 1000 runners got T-shirts which meant my running partner didn't get one. So lame! Some woman offered my $5 for mine when she heard me complaining that they had run out of Small and I had to take a medium. Little does she know that to me, these t-shirts are the only trophies I'll ever get from running; I pay for 'em and I earn 'em!

We registered for the Johnny Kelley 10K in Hyannis next month. I just won't run a race unless I am guaranteed to suffer from heat stroke and dehydration from Mile 1 on.

My weight is under control thanks to this running thing. I quit BSC yesterday. A big step! I have been a member of the gym for over 5 years but now that I have been running and doing Bikram (the yoga classes at BSC Copley kind of stink during the week), I haven't seen the inside of the place since May. Running is cheaper and more effective so me and BSC are done! I am taking my $68 a month elsewhere. Like to Sonsie.

Oh Good! The US war with Iran has already begun

Aljazeera.Net - The US war with Iran has already begun
And here I was thinking that Bush was a lame duck with no power or support on the Hill. I stand corrected!

The Good Life - Runner's Style

I am loving this catchy running video and plan to download the song from The Presidents of the United States of America onto my new Ipod as soon as I buy one.

Saturday's 10K was a blast in spite of the 94 degree weather and the brand-spankin-new blacktop in downtown Portsmouth. Running under those extreme conditions was a first for me, as was running 6.2 miles but I survived and am pumped to do it again. My running partner and I are just going to do a 4.5 mile loop around the Esplanade tonight. No need to do 6 miles everyday, right? Especially after the nachos and two beers I had last night at Rock Bottom.

At this point:
Weight: stable
Relationship: stable (unless I don't get a ring sometime this summer)
Job: stable

Overall assesment: still can't get my head around the Michael Jackson case and can only think, "WTF was that all about?" but, for the most part, things are good.

Good job on the "Journalism" Thing Guys!

The Globe did another half-assed job reporting the story about Kerry's and Bush's grades while at Yale. I haven't registered to read the Globe on-line so I only saw the headline but I wondered why this story was supposed to be interesting. The election is a distant, painful memory at this point so why was this even news? Well, the headline, if written by a Journalist, should have been: "Campaign Attack on Kerry Found to be Baseless". And I was only a Journalism minor. Imagine if I was my major; I'd be running the Globe!

On a more somber note, the weekend in NYC and eating after 7 (which is an absolute no-no but I can't be perfect every day People!) have set me back a little but today is a new day.

No Excuses

Well, I told myself when it got warmer, I’d have no excuse not to run and now it’s so friggin’ warm I can’t stand it. My Craigslist running partner and I struggled for 3.5 miles last night on the Charles. She cramped up after about a mile and we had to walk a few times as I wasn’t going to run alone. I started drinking water like a madwoman around 1 pm and almost screwed up the hydration schedule by drinking to close to the start of my run. No bathroom breaks on the Esplanade!

On Fox 25 this morning, the commentators were debating a school ruling that kids can’t wear fake Kevlar vests to school. This is a totally retarded trend and I can’t help but think that full SWAT gear can’t be far behind. Anywho, VB (is that his name?) said that it was analogous to the NFL banning do-rags because they were associated with gangs. The female Black co-anchor got upset, said her father wears do-rags and he’s an engineer. As if we thought for a minute that he was in a gang. She was beside herself and it was best just to drop the subject, which they did, but the point needs to be made that wearing a do-rag to bed and wearing one to school are two completely different things. Let’s not make this a Race issue folks! Nothing gets under my skin more than turning issues like school dress codes into "Race Issues". That is all.

How Broke Am I?

I am so broke that I had to buy my salad today from McDonald's because they take Amex and I have only $6.40 cash until payday next week. But don't cry for me Argentina as it isn't half bad.

Along the same poverty-stricken line, I had to use Golden Boy's credit card to register for the Market Race on Saturday. Amex-financed post-race lunch is on me!

Full Circle

Just when I finally healed from the brazen theft of my wallet, the incident is back on the forefront.

I got a call this morning from a woman with an Irish accent who said she was calling for Lir on Boylston Street and she had my wallet. Yeah!!! Lir is a block away from the scene of the crime (Sonsie – still have not been back there) and I have never set foot in the it but my wallet loves the place. One of the cleaners found it, with everything in it except the cash, in the basement next to the garbage. I guess my thief makes the rounds and must’ve stopped by Lir to help himself to a few purses and to dump mine. Or maybe the cleaner is the thief and this is how he atones: returns the wallet to another restaurant manager who he knows will call the poor owner.

I can’t believe I am getting this wallet back. The thing costs over $200 and I thought for sure some bitch has already bought it for $25 off a street punk selling it in front of Shreve, Crump & Lowe. Last week I was standing alone in that very spot when a "non-local" kid asked me if I wanted to buy a Discman he was holding. I said, "You mean the one you just stole from a jogger? No thanks." and crossed the street.

All of those resolutions about only buying cheap nylon wallets form now on and never carrying a wallet at all? Already fading from memory. Viva La Lir!

Another Match.com Cautionary Tale

No Ticker today as this weekend in NYC was Diet-Free and I am not going to weigh myself until Wednesday at the earliest.

Sorry Fung Wah but I think I’ll be taking Peter Pan home from NYC from now on. It was only an $11 fare and we caught the bus at the Port Authority which was a nice change from schlepping all the way down the Chinatown from the UES. I’ll always take the train to NYC though because there is no way I am starting off my Friday night on a bus. The train has a café car and chatty strangers so it’s sort of like being in a bar.

Hit all the spots I had on my agenda: amazing guacamole at Rosa Mexicana, Guiness at Murphy’s, crappy exhibit at the Guggenheim, had a frozen drink at the Rooftop garden at the Met, lunch at the Boathouse and still managed to get up at 7:30 on Sunday to drag myself to the NYRR road race in Central park. Beautiful day for a run in the park; too bad about the Sahara-like conditions. It was no where near as hot as Bikram yoga though so I was able to tough out the sun beating on me for 30 minutes. US soldiers about to be deployed to the desert should take a few Bikram classes to get an idea of what they have in store for them.

I was disappointed to hear that my friend’s date with a hot guy from Match was a bust. He was easy on the eyes and cool on the phone and then hit her up for half of an $8 tab (he only had a $5 on him!) and had the nerve to go in for a kiss before she ditched him. What is wrong with these losers? You show up for a drink on a Saturday night and only bring a five dollar bill? It isn’t as if she had racked up a huge tab here. Last time I checked, a little Class never killed anyone.

Big Shout Out To Nicole at Vidal Sasson

A gal who hands-down does the best highlighting job evah. She just rocks and now I do too. See you in 12 weeks Nicole!

I cannot wait to get on that 3:20 Amtrack train tomorrow and head to NYC. Must take it easy though as I am registered to run in this road race in Central Park Sunday at 9 friggin' a.m.! No $56 dollar bar tabs this weekend. Guess we just missed our chance to run in the Healthy Kidney road race but I am going to keep an eye out for the Healthy Myelin Sheath 5K as that is a cause I wholeheartedly support.

So Golden Boy isn't happy about my not going to Vermont with him this weekend but I have been bored out of my mind there the last few times we went up. I feel like Carrie on SITC the time she went to Aidan's cabin and stayed up alone to do vodka shots out of boredom till she passed out. Minus the doing shots part.

Pour Moi

Just a little note-to-self that I am making progress. Met my Craigslist running buddy after work yesterday and we did a 3.5 mile loop around the Esplanade. This afternoon I'll be suffering though a Bikram Yoga class instead of going home and snacking for 30 minutes straight as is my wont.

I am still a little peeved that I have to this at all. What happened to those glory days of law school where I lived on pita chips and beer and wore a size 4? Nowadays, a pita-chips-and-beer binge is followed directly by two days of "fat clothes". Totally unfair.