Day Two of "The Wallow":

I really did wallow for most of today. I did a quick laundry and I also actually unpacked a box that had been sitting in my closet since I moved into this apartment two years ago. But most significantly, I went to running class which I've written about in more detail in my workout log (which I've also added a link to on my sidebar, if you haven't noticed). One weird thing, as we were heading back after we had finished our running, we (the beginning class) passed all the competitive runners all lined up on the sidewalk and setting out for their class. We filed past them and all I could think was, "OMG, they are all so tall!" I felt like when you first go to school and are in kindergarten and you feel so tiny and scared and then you happen to go to an assembly or something and have to walk past a bunch of six graders in the hall. How small and insignificant you feel, and how huge the six-graders look to you (especially all in a pack). Anyway, it was the weirdest feeling. I even turned to one girl in my class and said, "is it just me, or are they all incredibly tall?" and she responded, "OMG, you're right!"

So, Day One of "The Wallow".

Today I got my hair cut (first time I've had bangs in years.) I got the batteries replaced in both my Timex 100-lap Ironman and my NIKE SDM watches (watch out, I mean business). And I worked out. In between these things I did a lot of quality wallowing.

Argh! I hate car alarms more than anything on EARTH!!! The bane of urban living.

I had the pleasure yesterday afternoon to meet Ellen & Ken for wings & beer at our favorite W&B place, Blondies, on the Upper Westside. I had told my friend Stephen that I was going to be there, and as luck would have it, another friend of mine, Mike, was also in the City that day hanging out with Stephen so both stopped by. Additionally, Ellen & Ken had run into Harriet & Daniel at a race in Central Park that morning and so they invited them along as well. So we ended up having a good group of people. It was slightly weird for me in that two of my worlds sort of collided: my running world with my old friends world, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I hadn't seen Mike in ages and ages and I think it had been at least six months or more since I had last seen Stephen. After everyone left, Ellen, Ken & I continued to drink beer first at Blondies and then moving on to another old haunt of mine, McAleers. And then finally a trip to Zabars to buy some cheese, etc. (I also picked up some smoked bluefish -- yum) rounded out the day. Today has been spent lolling around trying to recover from all that beer. What is about about drinking alcohol that makes you so tired the next day anyway? Must be the dehydration.

What is it with some men at the gym? I notice this with a lot of men, but most particularly with a couple I see everytime at my lunchtime gym. Guy gets on a weights machine and sits there. Sits. Sits. Sits. Finally does one or two half-hearted reps. Sits some more. May or may not do one or two more reps and then finally gets up wanders aimlessly around a bit. Stops and bullshits with people, maybe sits somewhere and stares off into space. Once in a while, may randomly choose another machine and sit. sit. sit. Do one/two reps and sit again. It's the strangest thing. And these are not body-builder types who are doing one or two super-super-high-weight reps. Just normal people doing a regular amount of weight. This one guy who I see there all the time was there again today. In the time it took me to do 9 or 10 machines, two sets of 15 reps each, this guy did one machine! And only a couple of reps. Unfortunately, it was also on one of the machines I wanted, so I didn't get to that one (because of him). Does this guy think he's actually working out? Maybe he hangs out there all day long and over the course of 8 hours gets in a fully body routine. Oh and the other thing is, he's also always wearing this heavy sweatshirt. Don't know how anyone can get a proper workout in wearing something like that. Weird. It takes all kinds, I guess.

A note about last night's dinner: Is it bad that I ordered a full meal (red snapper filet with garlic mashed potatoes and spinach) while everyone else at dinner just had soup? Even though I only ate half of my fish and a couple of bites of potato and the soup they were having was a full-fat cream, split pea whatever? I sure did feel like the big pig, but comeon. I rarely go out to dinner these days, so given the opportunity, I want to eat something! Especially if someone else is buying. At least I didn't order the pork chops! (and they were tempting, let me tell you.)

Last night, after first going to dinner on the Upper Westside, I was treated to a production of Sweeny Todd at Lincoln Center. The event was courtesy of my father and in honor of his wife's (Lori) daughter Tanya visiting from Kansas. Although I had my misgivings about the play going in (I'm not usually a big fan of operatic performances), I was pleasantly surprised and ended up enjoying it immensely. I got home late, late, late however, and had to be up extra early this morning to get to work earlier than usual to give a presentation. UGH! The presentation is over, though and it went surprisingly well given my late night and lack of preparation and now I can start looking forward to having all of next week off! I'm just using up the last of my vacation days before my vacation time renews. Lucky me, my leftover time ended up equaling a complete week. My boss said, "you know, you can carry over those days if you want to." My response, "Nope! I'm taking them. I'm going to lie around and wallow and be happy that I don't have to pack or run off to the airport or rush around with my morning routine and catch a train. I don't even care if the weather ends up being crummy. It'll be comforting to know that I don't have to deal with getting up, getting ready and getting to work if it is." heh.

Overheard in the gym locker room this afternoon: Woman bleating to her friend about her hellspawn and how the school (or daycare or whatever) has wrongly accused him of harrassing another child. "Oh not my child!" Not that the teachers who are witness to the situation would know anything. They must just have it out for your kid. No way your wittle pweshus is a bully, nope. Also interesting is how they apparently have offered to video tape the kids' interaction and she has told them not to bother. Maybe afraid she's going to discover something about wittle pweshus she doesn't want to know?

Seen this morning at the train station coffee shop: Nice looking, late 30-ish/early 40-ish straight guy lecturing the girl behind the counter about the various carb content of equal vs. spenda and milk vs. half n' half and the advantages of one over the other. You would have thought this normal-seeming guy was a neurotic super-model. Do you think perhaps this low carb craziness has gotten completely out of hand? Sheesh.

So tonight was my first running class (since I blew off the real first session last week). I was actually pretty nervous beforehand, but I needn't have been, everything went fine. And the class was a good size, not so large that I felt lost and overwhelmed and not so small that I stuck out in any way. Tonight's session featured repeats of two minutes running with two minutes walking, coincidentally, the exact routine I put myself through last week at home when I skipped the class (only I did two mins running intervals with only one minute walking as recovery), so luckily I was able to do it without walking at all on any of the running bits. It was also very enjoyable to be in Central Park on a quiet week night again, oh how I miss it! We were running around the boat pond, but I occasionally saw people running past us on the Park Drive above, running up Cat Hill... made me wistful for about 5 years ago. Anyway, class was good, I really like the coach they assigned us, he was very nice and enthusiastic, so I'll be back! I'm glad I'm starting this now before the heat sets in.

Oh also, the weirdest thing. On my walk back down to 63rd Street to the subway, I passed Dominic Dunne on Park Avenue. Just strolling by. I did a bit of a double take. (btw, he's very short).

Things That Annoy Me: Having to listen to co-worker's phone conversations. First baby-talk to his damn toddler and now laughing-laughing-laughing with friend or similar. Freaking annoying.

It's a little disconcerting to begin your day with a dodge through Penn Station around police decked out in full riot gear (complete with helmets and billy clubs, etc.) I wonder what is going on here today?

People Are Assholes

I get on the elevator this afternoon with about four other people. One guy stands in the middle of one wall with his legs spread trying to take up the entire wall. I lean into one corner as close to the front (and away from him) as I possibly can get without putting my nose on the actual door (I hate to have to stand in the middle of an elevator if it's not necessary). Guy makes this huge sigh and "ARRRRRGHHHHpphhhffffftttt!!!!!!!" and grudgingly backs off a millimeter. I glance over my shoulder at him and say, "well, you have the whole wall!" I get off on my floor and mutter, "sheesh. What a dick." I hope he heard me.

Really in the mood for a wings & beer day. When, oh when, are Ellen & Ken back from South America anyway???

I've been completely remiss in my blogging for this week. For some reason I've been more tired than usual and so I just never felt like blogging from home, and things were busy enough at work that I didn't have the time much to blog from there either. No matter, you didn't miss much.

I think the highlight of the week was watching the video-taped keynote speech (by the company prez) from my company's sales meeting during our four hour department staff meeting the other day. During the speech he had the head of one of our products division come up on stage to demo some of the latest and greatest, etc. and all I could think during this entire thing was, "wow. I've seen him naked." (and now he's a bigwig -- heh). I think perhaps I've been at my company too long.

I am no kind of Irish person. Am not wearing a stitch of green (I don't think I even own anything green), I scowled today at all the people spilling out of the bars in this neighborhood, I hate corned beef & cabbage and I'm not even planning to drink any beer (green or regular) today. Some green tea maybe, but no beer.

Ran out to the gym at lunchtime and noticed that it's still snowing! From yesterday! I think I heard on the news that there is supposed to be another snow storm of some sort tomorrow and then I heard someone saying at the gym that apparently there is supposed to be a blizzard on Saturday? Crazy.

Oh, and did I mention that my group had a four hour staff meeting today? Four. Hours. During which I got to watch the guy across from me (who orders lunch separately because he's kosher) slurp and slop his Chinese food with his mouth open. It was disgusting. Certainly made me lose my appetite (which maybe isn't such a bad thing).

All the dire winter storm warnings worried me enough that I didn't end up schlepping up to the Upper East Side for running class. I hate to blow off the very first one, but I was concerned about getting there and even more concerned about getting home at a reasonable hour. I felt guilty though, so I came home and did a 30 minute running drill on the treadmill, followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical. With 3 minutes left on the elliptical machine, another girl came into the gym to workout, so I was very happy I had done my running first and also glad that my workout was almost over (I just hate sharing that gym, I don't know why). It still was a very long 3 minutes though.

Okay, it's like a blizzard out there. I somehow don't think I'm going to make it up to Central Park for running class.

Seen on the train in this morning: Woman standing inbetween cars to smoke a cigarette. I mean, we were only 10 minutes outside of Penn Station (the destination of the train)! How desperate must she have been? Damn junkie.

So tomorrow night is my first running class and, coincidentally, tomorrow a Winter storm is supposed to hit -- the heaviest snow slated for (you guessed it) right around rush hour (the class is scheduled for 6:15 PM). Today, of course, was a perfectly beautiful day. In the 50s, not a cloud in the sky. Tomorrow, a snow storm. Go figure. Welcome to my life.

Well, I've been pretty consistent about going to the gym now (again) for about three weeks. I think I'm starting on my fourth consecutive week and I've noticed that the trainers at the gym I frequent on my lunch hours are now recognizing me and actually talking to me. This has never happened to me before, probably because I've always been an after-work gym attendee and things are a lot crazier at that hour. Anyway, it's kind of nice, as long as they stay out of my face (which they have, so far). It is a cozy, friendly group at lunchtimes. A few people working out, nothing crazy and no real competitiveness.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that my dog is a fat ass. She weighs 27 lbs!!! Which means that she gained 4 lbs this year. So much for being a member of the toy dog group. Sheesh!

I walked Lola to the vet today for her annual check-up and shots, etc. I know I keep talking about how Queens is a weird place, but it really is. The area I have to walk her through to get to the vet is pretty urban, it borders Hillside and Jamaica, both very "Queenish" places. So I'm walking her and she poops. Okay, no big deal, I pick it up with a baggie and continue on, looking for a trash can, but there are none. At all. We walk and walk, and do not come across one garbage can. So frustrating, no wonder there is litter everywhere. Finally, I see someone's personal trash can in front of a private house, so I throw it there. So then we're walking some more and we're finally on the over-pass over the Van Wyck and see this woman with a baby carriage coming towards us. As she gets closer I notice that something about her was just not "right", and it wasn't all the missing teeth in her mouth either. Anyway, she sees Lola and has to make a big fuss over her. Lola, being the friendly, indiscriminating dog that she is, eagerly approaches the woman with her, 'love me, love me, love me' attitude. The woman, while leaning over Lola making a fuss over her, drools! Fat globs of drool mindlessly escape her mouth and land on my dog. She fucking drooled on my dog! I finally manage to drag Lola away so we can continue on. Queens is so weird.

I'm so proud of myself. It's Friday night and I haven't had any beer. That's right, you heard it here first.

Gym was surprisingly crowded at lunch today, but it was such a "happy" place. Everyone seemed so friendly and talkative. Yes, even to me. I must have been giving off some good vibes for a change.

Oh so, I meant to blog about this earlier. At lunchtime this afternoon I went out and walked around for about half an hour, just to get some air. First I strolled through H&M (extremely discounted, cheaply made, trendy-ish clothing) which I usually avoid because of the crowds. The music there was so loud that I think that drove me out of the store more than the frantic crowds of shoppers hammering for a bargain. Next I went up to Foot Locker, or Lady Foot Locker, or whatever it is. Browsed for a pair of pants for hanging around the apartment on weekends. I'm looking for something that is nicer that sweat pants, but just as comfortable. Kind of like boot-cut track pants in comfortable material. First of all, why is everything so expensive? I mean $50 or $60 for a pair of glorified sweat pants? I try to avoid paying that even for a pair of pants to wear to work. Secondly, why are the lengths all designed for amazons? I find that I can pretty much buy jeans in a regular length, they'll be a little long, but I can deal with it. Not so with any kind of sweat or track pant. The usually end up about foot too long. What? Do these manufacturers think that they're making these things only for Gabrielle Reece? And who is going to take their track pants to the tailor? I mean, really. Whatever. Needless-to-say I didn't buy anything at lunch today, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Next week starts my running class (Tuesday nights in Central Park). I'm a little nervous and also worried a bit about logistics, etc. I hope it all works out. This also means that I'll be losing one of my Spinning nights, but I would still like to spin at least two times a week, so I'll have to work something out somehow.

It's always a relief to get through my second Spinning class of the week because I know I've done what I set out to do. Not that Spinning is my only weekly goal, but it is the one that requires the most effort and is the one that is the most tempting to blow off -- I pretty much always just want to go home when the workday is done. The instructor tonight was a sub, you never know what you're going to get when that happens, but she was pretty good. Spent a lot of time on high resistance and also really isolating the movement out of the saddle (basically slowing everything down so that only your muscles are moving, you're not using any momentum or weight to revolve your legs, while supporting your weight out of the saddle -- it's harder than it sounds). So my legs were protesting pretty quickly into the class. Got through it though. Actually, the toughest part was the heat -- she couldn't figure out how to work the A/C! ACK!

Things That Annoy Me:

* People who do not move back into the elevator when people are getting on, when clearly there is room behind them.
* People who do not allow you to get out of the revolving door first before attempting to jump in.
* People who do not thank you when you've held a door open for them.
* Stinky Lunch Girl: eating her foul, curry/maple syrup-smelling concoction.

In short:
Things That Annoy Me: People.

Since I got to the gym at lunchtime pretty late today, I didn't really feel too comfortable doing my usual routine of weights plus cardio. So, I went down to the basement gym in my apartment building this evening to cap off my weights workout from this afternoon with some cardio work. I hadn't been down there in a couple of months, but I have to say I quite enjoyed it, mostly because I had the entire place to myself (as soon as I have to share that little gym, I lose interest very quickly). Anyway, nobody came in so I was able relax and do twenty minutes on the elliptical followed by a little running workout on the treadmill: alternating one minute fast walking with one minute moderate running for 12 minutes. I should have worked out longer, but it was getting late and I needed to make dinner and cook some chicken breasts for lunches for the rest of the week. The evenings are just too short. Anyway, I'm happy I got it in.

Annoying Occurance #57684: I'm at the gym today. The gym is empty except that there happens to be this one guy working out on a weights machine, three machines away from me. Fine. Well, he went through each machine so fast (like 1 minute on each one) that in no time he was completely on top of me (and I don't exactly linger). Stands over me while I do my thing on one machine. I get off, he jumps on. I do my thing on the next one and am not even a quarter of the way done before he is standing over me again. I mean, literally on top of me. I was so freaking pissed. The gym was EMPTY! Couldn't he have jumped around me, or gone to another machine while I was on mine? It's not like he was going to completely lose his opportunity. Gah! I was so completely irritated. After shooting him an extremely dirty look, I got off, and moved on to another set of machines and away from this bonehead. I came back and finished the last two or three machines on that line after he was gone. People are so rude. Dickhead.

Spin class tonight was like following a drill sergeant, either that or a sadistic game of "Simon Sez". "3rd position!", "2nd position!", "1st... no, 3rd position!". Didn't know whether I was coming or going.

Annoying Occurrence #46789: I'm in the lobby waiting for an elevator, elevator comes, and I move to get on. Guy comes from other direction to get on, rushes to get on before me, cuts me off, crosses my path and jumps on to position himself in front of the little TV news screen. I mean, there were just two of us on the thing. So rude!

Well, it apparently doesn't seem to matter what store I decide to browse in, people just seem to think I work there regardless. Today it was Sephora, even though I was wearing a coat and had sunglasses on my head. People are morons.

Speaking of morons, they were giving tickets away to The Maury Show on 34th Street. Woo. You should have seen how excited all the idiots were for this "windfall". If you ever wondered from where they gather the class of people for their live audiences, now you know.

Why is it, when I bring my lunch to work, by around 11 AM, all I can think about is that lunch just inches away, waiting in my bag? Here I sit, ticking the seconds away until noon when I can eat at least part of it. Sheesh.

Today when I ran out in the rain/snow and up to the gym with my umbrella, I had an opportunity to all of a sudden wonder to myself, 'just when did I stop wearing a baseball hat in the rain (in lieu of an umbrella) anyway?' I think it's pretty much been a recent development. Another unattractive bit of fallout from my move to Queens, no doubt. It's less urban here, so you don't need to be as agile to bound in and out and around people, so one day you wake up and realize that you actually own three umbrellas. I sort of think this is how middle-age creeps up on you. In dribs and drabs and purchases of items like umbrellas. I gotta find that old baseball hat.

Things that annoy me: People who have to walk up my ass, particularly when I'm coming up the walk of my apartment building. Argh! Either freaking pass me, or keep your damn distance.

Seen at the gym today: Man sitting on one of the leg weights machines... asleep.

NY Times review of "The Passion of Christ" (registration required). I particularly liked this line:

"With its laborious build-up to its orgasmic spurtings of blood and other bodily fluids, Mr. Gibson's film is constructed like nothing so much as a porn movie, replete with slo-mo climaxes and pounding music for the money shots. Of all the "Passion" critics, no one has nailed its artistic vision more precisely than Christopher Hitchens, who on "Hardball" called it a homoerotic "exercise in lurid sadomasochism" for those who "like seeing handsome young men stripped and flayed alive over a long period of time.""

I think one of the scarier societal responses to this film is the instance of (many) parents taking children to see it. Yet the experience of seeing a woman's breast flashed during the Super Bowl apparently (according to many of these "Christians") will scar children for life. Yeah, okay.

Life sucks: when you lose an entire weekend day to feminine issues. Phooey.

Or perhaps that was too much information...

In case you're living under a rock, like I appear to be sometimes, Martha Stewart was found guilty this afternoon.

I should add that three of my workouts this week (M/W/F) were really not up to my usual standards in intensity or length, but I did what I could given the truncated lunch time-slot. At least it's got me going to the gym again and I don't have to rush a weights workout in before Spinning class anymore. That just never really worked out very well. Someday I'll get back to running again, I truly will.

Went to the gym at lunch again today and, as this was my third time this week doing upper-body weights, I could really feel it. I decided to give myself a bit of a break and shortened the weights workout and increased my cardio a little bit by doing 30 minutes on the elliptical instead of 20. Feeling pretty smug and proud of myself right now for having worked out five days out of five for the week so far. Well. Really five days out of six, since technically I start counting my workout week on Sundays. Whatever.

Oh yeah. And if anyone cares, I went Spinning tonight. Felt out of place though amongst all the girls wearing form-fitting leggings and little racer-back-belly-baring-half-tops. And there I was with my oversized-big-white-shirt-with-a big-honking-beer-on-it-that-I-got-in-some-bar-for-free and my floppy shorts. I made it through the class just fine though, thanks for asking. (Also did 15 minutes on the elliptical machine first).

Drama on The Apprentice

Ding Dong The Witch is dead. Woo! In a bizarre boardroom twist, Omarosa finally realizing that there was a good chance she might be the next to go, broke down, first sobbing on Kwame's shoulder and then bursting into the boardroom uninvited to tearfully appeal to Trump, bleating about how hard she had been working (it was so entertaining, I had to rewind and watch it twice). Trump was not at all impressed. Not with her whining about an invented "concussion", nor her contempt for her fellow teammates and finally for all her excuses. I, however, held my breath until the final words, "You're fired" were uttered. I'm sure I'm not the only one who squealed with delight in their living room tonight. The only thing is, who am I going to hate now?

My manager needed to use my computer for a little while earlier, so I went to Macy's to kill some time at lunch. I am so over the whole huge department store thing. Walked around in a daze and did not even look at one thing. I can't believe that I used to like to shop. I also can't understand how a huge department store like this makes any money. Racks and racks of merchandise crammed everywhere you look, and not a whole lot of buying going on. Basically just a bunch of shell-shocked people like myself wandering aimlessly around.

Anyway, there were hordes of these "perfume guys", you know the people who try to spray everyone with perfume or cologne? They were lined up like soldiers in the men's department on the first floor. Yes, the men's department. They were hawking cologne there worse than in the women's area. And it didn't matter if you were male or female either. Anyone was fair game. I basically had to walk through with my head down, trying not to catch any of their eyes. If you do, it's all over, you'll be smelling your own self for the rest of the day.

Why does the work week always seem just about one day too long?

Just discovered one bad thing about McD's salad. I'm hungry again already. Dammit.

Grabbed a McDonald's Salad on the way back to work from the gym, since it was on the way. It wasn't bad. Certainly a far cry from the iceberg salads of their past. Still not as good as the salad they serve at Ranch1. But it'll do in a pinch.

Gym Epiphany:

I suddenly discovered today at the gym that it is much easier to use the lockers on top, than those on the bottom. I have slight trouble reaching the hooks, but it's a helluva lot better than rooting around through a locker on the floor. Let's see, fifteen years of going to the gym and I'm just discovering this now. Guess I'm a slow learner.

Went to Spinning tonight which is a bit of a minor miracle since Ellen & Ken are traveling and so a big piece of my motivation wasn't there. But, after a short debate with myself before leaving the office, I went. It was hot in NYC today (in the upper 60s with a good amount of humidity too) and it was HOT inside the gym. Hot, hot, hot. UGH! I don't know if it's from being unprepared for this unseasonable weather or what, but the A/C situation was inadequate (especially for me, after having booked it for 10 blocks South to get there). I had a little time so I did 10 minutes on the elliptical first (just to make sure that I was even hotter.) The instructor started class by debating whether to turn the A/C up. Finally decided not to because she thought that it was better to be just a little too warm than to be too cold later. Too COLD??? My God. This is a Spinning class! Ain't nobody ever gonna be too cold in a Spinning class. Certainly no spin class I've ever participated in. Sheesh! Anyway, other than that the class went fairly well. Except that we spent most of it in either second or third position (both of which means you're out of the saddle) and that just kills the bottom of my feet. I was in pain by half-way through the class just by all the out-of-saddle stuff. My body can keep up, it's my feet I have a problem with. I know you can buy special Spinning shoes (somewhere), but really. Where does it all end? I mean, Spinning shoes???

Seen on the train coming home: Aisan woman with bleached platinum hair. To her waist. It looked like straw, the hair was so damaged.

And one other thing. What is with The Gap these days? I stopped in there after my Victoria's Secret adventure. Men's floor -- okay, lots o' stuff. Women's floor? Not so much. Basically, there were four items. Jeans, oxford shirt, t-shirt and ubiquitous khakis. The only color down there was black, khaki, white and the occasional dash of anemic pink/beige. I was not impressed.

Victoria's Secret

Why is a foray into Victoria's Secret always such an ordeal? I had some time to kill at lunch today so I decided to stop in at VS because I really do need some new bras. First of all, they really don't make it too easy to find the correct size. Sizing is all on a tiny tag on each bra that you really have to search for, unlike most stores that have size-specific hangers so you can find the size at a glance. So here I am struggling through a rack of bras that are too tightly packed together, trying to find a size other than 32B when a voice asks, "can I help you find a size?" I look up with, "yes... " dying on my lips to see this guy peering at me intently. "uh, no, thanks, it's okay." He goes on to point out a display of bras that are supposedly the latest and greatest thing and I say, "well, I don't like the padded kind", he replies, "oh, you mean the molded cups?" "er, yeah. Look, I have to go." Beat a hasty retreat to another rack where I grab a couple of bras and duck into the dressing room. In the dressing room I am shown to a stall by some chipper chick who exclaims, "so you're trying on some of our new bras???" 'I have no fucking idea if they're new.' "have you been measured yet???" I reply, "Look. I don't like this hands-on business. Just let me try on these bras and leave me alone." She looks at me like I'm insane, but lets me into the changing room and beats a hasty retreat. I didn't end up buying anything afterall. I tried on the bras and liked them, but by then I wanted to get the hell out of there. On my way out, I noticed the guy who had talked to me, "helping" another customer. She was watching him out of the corner of her eyes, while trying to edge away from him. What a crazy, freaking place. This is why I like to shop online.

So, of course last night I was drawn into the finale of Average Joe, Hawaii. And, once again, the "beauty" was down to one "average" guy and one "hunk". In a show of just how shallow this chick is, she, of course, picks the "hunky" guy, even after when asked by her at their final dinner together what he hopes to get out of all of "this" he replied, "er, well, to be an actor, of course" (???!!!) Yet average guy Brian showed true and sincere feelings for her. And all with humor and a true and solid character that the hunky guy Gil did not show at all at any time during the entire show (in my opinion). Brian (average guy) made a strategical error (I believe) by revealing to Larissa that he was starting to feel love for her. I believe that this was part of the motivation behind her choosing the other guy. Knowing that she did not return as strong a feeling.

The last laugh of it all, however was on Larissa, when, while on her final romantic getaway with the man of her choice (Gil, "the hunk") she had a "deep, dark secret" she had to reveal. NBC had been playing this up in promos all week. I thought to myself, 'what could it possibly be? She has a child, she used to be a man, what???' Nope. Turns out her darkest secret is that she used to date... Fabio! Okay, gross! But hardly the Earth shattering confession they played it up to be. However, it did turn the romantic getaway sour and cause Gil to completely reject her. He basically completely freaked out. I'm not really understanding what the big deal is. Having a Fabio in your background as a former boyfriend is embarrassing, sure. But why should he care so much? I guess it just illustrates just how shallow this guy was. Basically, in my view Larissa and Gil deserve each other.

Do you ever feel like you're invisible?

Invisible Scenario #1: Walking out of coffee place this morning with my coffee, chick decides to come in the door that I am already half-way out of. Uh, excuse me? Could I maybe get out the door first?

Invisible Scenario #2: Walking out of the gym locker room this afternoon, woman comes careening around the corner with a glazed look in her eyes, I leap to the side to avoid being plowed over, while saying, "exxxxuse me" woman doesn't apologize or blink or even acknowledge that I was even there.

Invisible Scenario #3: I finish washing my hands in the ladies Room and turn towards the door as a co-worker is coming in. I say, "hello", co-worker looks through me, doesn't respond and just heads for a stall.

I must have forgotten to turn off my cloaking device this morning. Damn.

I managed to get to the gym at lunch again today for an Xpressline Workout (and some additional weights machines) and twenty minutes on the elliptical. I think I kind of like this working out at lunch business. It makes the day go by quickly (by breaking it up), I feel energized in the afternoon, and it feels great to know that I got a workout in. Ideally, I should run or something after work too, but it's a relief to know that the whole day isn't shot if that doesn't happen, especially since it's more than likely not going to happen. On the other hand, I feel motivated now after my little workout, so that might help to compel me to do something more after work. It could happen.

hmmmm, I just realized that I'm wearing socks with santa clauses and christmas trees on them...