Tag Archives: gaming

Resolution Recap from April

Posted on by

Sorry the blog’s been wonky recently. My scheduled posts don’t seem to be going out. Maybe something with WordPress? Maybe user error. (Most likely the latter!)

Alright, we’re still at the beginning of May, so there’s still time to recap how New Year’s resolutions are going. Find other recaps here. Alrighty, let’s dive right in.

1. Run 10 miles a week.

I’m still below what I should be for this one, and I kind of quit keeping track. I only wear my GPS watch every so often. Also, I’ve been running a lot more with other people from work, so I like to focus on the conversation instead of checking my watch for pace every 10 minutes. Ya know? It’s been kinda nice. Overall, I’d say I’m averaging less than 10 miles a week if we don’t count weekend soccer games.

Soccer Cleats

2. Write a novel.

Another failed resolution. I’ve pretty much given up on this one. I feel like a lot of my writing happens here (and at work), and my brain is too fried and not willing to cooperate when it comes to writing after all that. Surprisingly, I’ve discovered that Sean is a really good source of ideas. He has a great imagination for stories. I wish I had that AND the will to write right now. Alas, I don’t. We’ll see how this one turns out by the end of the year, but I have a feeling my motivation in this area will continue to wane.

3. Read a new book every month.

I was on track with this one until that dumb Blackberry Winter book. It was really not my type of read at all, but I’d paid for it. So, I slowly trudged through it. I want to get back on track with reading. I’m watching Game of Thrones (obviously since I mention it at least once a week here), so maybe that could count for 1/8 of a book. No? I agree. I just need to commit to another novel.

Blackberry Winter

I’m warning you now. Don’t read this.

4. Save $2000+ for emergency fund.

Done and done. And I’m pretty proud of myself for it. Carolyn, the spendaholic, saved a goal amount in less than half a year. Boom! Now I’m going to work to get to $3000 by the end of the year.

5. Stop biting my nails.

Not happening yet. I know it’s gross. I know there are germs. Nothing you say can stop the compulsion. Maybe I’ll re-commit to the nasty nail polish and just work through Game of Thrones nervousness.

Pitch Perfect Movie

I’m only posting this so you can check out my alien thumb.

6. Get a tattoo.

I’m starting to do serious research on this now. I’m actually looking into tattoo places nearby, their reviews, cleanliness ratings, etc. I’m also, of course, spending a ton of time researching tattoo designs. I’m really leaning toward getting a fox somewhere on my arms. Everyone I talk to about it thinks I should get a cat instead.

7. Buy no new clothes in 2013.

This is getting harder now that it’s summer. I almost  bought some new workout pants last night, but I couldn’t find any that don’t get sheer when you squat/bend over. Any recommendations? Other than last night’s moment of ALMOST weakness, I’ve not even thought about buying new clothes. Minus the running clothes I really want.

Thumbs Up Race Finish

Maybe I’ll just wear my tri suit for every run from now on?

8. Eat out only once a month.

I can’t remember paying for an out-to-eat meal in April. A lot of people took me out for my birthday (super nice!), but I’m still in the “bring your lunch to a restaurant” mode. I don’t care who thinks I’m rude!

So there we are! I’m only really excelling in money-related resolutions this year. Not like me at all!

A Night with the Water Tech

Posted on by

Right after we moved in, Sean received a call that a company would like to come test our water. They said it’d take 25 to 30 minutes, and we’d get a free $25 restaurant gift card. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? So Sean arranged for them to come one Wednesday between 5 and 6pm.

When he told me about this, I was a little suspicious since some people had done the same thing to my mom and never showed up. She then realized that she’d told them exactly when she would and wouldn’t be home. Not cool, scammers. Not cool. Sean decided that he just wouldn’t answer the door on Wednesday. If these potential scammers came.

Fast forward to that night. I’m pulling into the driveway around 5:30 and a man is parked right in front of our house, waiting.

Window Creeper

Sean’s attempt to send him away/pretend no one was home was foiled. And the man creepily met me at my car and then followed me in the house. Of course, the house was a mess and weirdly hot and humid. Perfect for company.

What followed was NOT a 30-minute testing of our water, but a 1 hour and 30-minute demonstration of how we had hard water, filled with chemicals and death and chlorine, and how his water filtration system could keep our drinking water cleaner, our bathrooms sparkling, skin so soft, water heater alive, etc. etc. He put our water in beakers and tubes, added chemicals, had us stick our hands in it, had us put a washcloth in it. You get the picture. The first two test were cool, but I was getting hungry and irritated after that.

The “water tech” then sat us down at the table to tell us “how much we’d save!!!!!” by buying his product. Except that we don’t spend what a normal family does. We haven’t purchased a single item of clothing/linen/rugs/the like in 5 months. We only turn the air conditioning on at night. Out last gas bill was, like, $6. The guy was baffled that we only drink water, and that we split a root beer every so often. So his big reveal of how much money we’d save, was actually WAY higher than what we spend now. $50 more a month. Sean was interested in the water filtration system for drinking water, except for when the guy dropped the price: $7,000 for the unit, $1,000 for installation, $120 for filters. Hell to the no. Then he called his boss right in front of us to help us get a “better deal!” The deal, $6,990! Ten dollars, you guys. Deal of the century.

Throwing Money Away

The worst part was the “marketing” materials, if you can even call them that. The guy had obviously been saying the same script for the past 24 years he’d told us he was in the water technician business. When he went off the script, he added a little, “and that” suffix to every. stinking. sentence. and phrase. The sheet of benefits he gave us included unverifiable claims like, “Cleaner bathrooms, shinier showers!” And, “Softer skin with cleaner water!” What is the exact measure for shininess or softness? Is there a shinometer? A softness scale? All subjective. A bathroom’s clean if you clean it. The end.

I thought we were almost done after 30 mins, then after an hour, and finally after 1:30, Sean put and end to it.

We pretty much decided it was over after he was like, “Wait! There’s more! You’ll get 5 years of detergents, soaps, and the like!” He tried to get us to wait in the house while he got some “purified” drinking water from his car, and, at that point, Sean was like, “Seriously, GTFO.”

SharkBait Ooo Ha ha

Then the guy started getting mad. I guess I would too, if I went through an hour and half spiel only to be rejected. He should have taken the hint when Sean didn’t answer the door. He said, “Well, Sean, it tells me you’re not going to call me back when you don’t even want to try the water!” You should have started off with the water, man. Not tried to trap us in our own house while you went out to the car to get up bottles of possibly poisoned H2O. Then Sean started getting mad, “We’re getting hungry and I have work to do.”

I told “Kevin the Water Tech” that, “You see how frugal we are. We split a bottle of root beer! We’re not going to make a $7,000 decision in one night.” Heck, that’s half of a decent used car! It was awkwardly silent as he angrily packed his mad scientist kit. He kept commenting on how young we are and how nice our house is, and I was about 3 seconds from saying, “Not to be pompous, Kev, but people our age don’t buy houses like this because they make $7,000 decisions on the spot.”

Wednesday night was kind of a bust because of that. I wanted to watch my birthday movie, but we didn’t have enough time by the time the water guy left at 7!!!!! PM!!!!! It makes me mad just thinking about it.

Kitty Hulk

Afterward, Sean and I raced to heat up some leftovers since we were so starving, and spent the night ranting about the experience back and forth while watching an episode of Game of Thrones and scarfing down birthday Thai and ice cream cake.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Where sales people tricked you into hearing their script and then got mad when you weren’t interested?

This is Why We Run

Posted on by

Though I’m not usually a big race-watcher, I was really excited to live-stream the Boston Marathon yesterday while I was at work. I listened as the elite women and men ran 6- and 5-minute miles, and even switched over to watch as both raced toward the finish line. It was exhilarating and my heart raced as they ran the final 300 meters.

I’m not a professional runner. Heck, I’m not even a good hobby runner, but I enjoy running, and am excited about signing up for my next marathon, half marathon, even 5k. Though running is a solo sport (you can’t blame anyone else if you are slow and you can’t really credit anyone else for how fast you are), it’s truly a community. In almost all the races I’ve run, I’ve experienced such dedication to the sport, and I’ve watched that love trickle throughout groups or even people.

Running

When I ran my first marathon in October of 2012, I saw something that truly inspired me. One man was very behind his pace group. He had a 3:45 pace jersey on, but was slumped and jogging along back where I was (NOT the 3:45 crowd). A man in a jersey (a sponsored runner–so, a serious runner) joined up with him and said, “Keep your head up! Let’s get going.” They ran together for a few miles, the sponsored runner encouraging the older man who had failed his pace goal. They both knew they weren’t going to win the marathon, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t offer mutual inspiration and keep each other company.

Runners know that even if you’re not the fastest runner–if you run, you’re a runner. If you love the feeling of your legs moving and the wind and the sunshine and the soreness afterward, you’re a runner. There’s a sense of freedom that comes with running, a sense of “this is what I was meant to do.”

Sweaty Run

This is why it’s so scary to me that someone/some group would do what they did yesterday. Running should be accompanied by a sense of wonder and lightheartedness, not fear and death. The bombing at the Boston Marathon also hit home because I cannot imagine the sense of fear for those at the finish line and for those families who were there supporting their runners. Running is supposed to be about joy and accomplishment, not hurt and hatred.

I’m sending my thoughts to spectators and runners, families and friends, first responders and law enforcement. I saw this on Facebook from Patton Oswalt:

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, “Well, I’ve had it with humanity.”
But I was wrong. I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.
But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”

Another good article on the topic: Boston Bombings: A Loss of Innocence
…Marathon running is a sport of goodwill. It’s the only sport in the world where if a competitor falls, the others around will pick him or her up. It’s the only sport in the world open to absolutely everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or any other division you can think of. It’s the only occasion when thousands of people assemble, often in a major city, for a reason that is totally peaceful, healthy and well-meaning. It’s the only sport in the world where no one ever boos anybody.
All of this is to say that we can’t stop running. We can’t stop the community of runners who celebrate life with every step. So keep running.