Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A Random Mix of Stuff

Hey guys and gals, it's been a few days since I hollered at you so I thought I'd say a few words so you didn't think I was dead. Now that it's been getting colder and darker, I've been having trouble adjusting. The time change has made it easier to get up in the morning, but only getting half an hour of daylight after work is a little more difficult to embrace.

Like most people, I tend to ease into a recliner once the sun goes down, and that's been happening around 5:00 - 6:00 in the evening. Once again, I've been neglecting things I should be doing in favor of sitting on my duff. Can I get some motivation?!


Refinance My Problems Away

Now that I've brought it to the attention of all parties who hold an interest in my house, I feel I am free to blog about it. Those of you who have known me for some time know that I was once young and stupid. And in those days, contrary to the advice of everyone I talked to, I bought a house with a soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. In retrospect, it can almost be seen equated to when a guy get engaged just to shut his girl up, only I sort of wanted a house too and I got to keep it once things went sour. I don't mean to give the impression that I didn't like her, but I learned a valuable lesson about buying houses for girls.

When she made the transition from soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend to actual-ex-girlfriend, we made an agreement that she was free to walk away from the house without financial obligation, and would sign paperwork when I sold it. Any profit would go directly into my pocket. Well, years later I'm still there and as lives get more complicated it's becoming more and more difficult to even keep current with e-mail addresses let alone mailing addresses and so on. With that in mind, I'm going to refinance the house to get her name off the mortgage and deed. It's a pain in the ass and the wallet, but it's going to be a huge load off my mind. Conveniently I had money earmarked for a ring, which will now cover closing costs, a wiser investment at this point. Hey, everything happens for a reason.

That was the big news I mentioned oh so long ago, sorry it wasn't more exciting. It's more of a personal thing than anything, and unfortunately it's like paying for a new roof when the old one still works; all I get is peace of mind.


I Dined on Lobberts

This weekend, JC stopped by to reclaim his TV. It's been sitting dormant in my parlor (yes fools, I am so fancy as to have a parlor) since last November and he's now ready for it in his mansion. I think after Sony made this TV they decided to put all of their efforts into flat panels because this sumbitch has to weight 150 lbs. I'm Shaq diesel and the damn thing was about all I could handle. Of course, they don't exactly put handles on the sides of TVs. Instead they sharpen every little nook and cranny you might want to use as a handle.

So we loaded the tube into his truck and the stand/DVD player/stereo, etc went into my car. We drove those puppies up into the woods and deposited them in their guest bedroom. Let me tell you, I should have been using this TV all along. I guess I didn't realize he had a high def TV, but the picture is much better than that on my TV. Hmmm, maybe it's best I didn't get used to it lest I should have to upgrade my own.

Yes, it's better this way.

As usual, J&BC felt the need to feed me while I was out at their house. I swear they're like the Italian grandmother I never had. I had stuff to do - fun stuff like grocery shopping and laundry - but they were able to convince me to stay for lobsters. Their son calls them 'lobberts' which was so cute I was not about to correct him.

I have to admit that while I wanted to stay for dinner from the first mention of it, I was secretly afraid that eating lobberts meant ripping a lobberts apart and digging meat from it's dripping carcass. Let me remind you that I can't even smoosh a spider without half a roll of paper towels in my hand.

Unable to come up with a valid excuse, I stayed for dinner and the ripping apart of the crustaceous body was not nearly as terrifying as I imagined. As a matter of fact, it was really secondary to the eating of the delicious "meat". Yup, put me down for having overcome my fear of eating real lobberts.

In the interest of full disclosure, I had to turn the torso away so he didn't look at me while I ate his claws. Even if he was still alive and missing his claws and tail, I'm sure he could have jacked me up in some mysterious aquatic way. That's just how lobberts' roll.


Lay Down Some Tracks

Okay, this isn't about recording the newest hot shit. It's about me running at the track. I tried to visit a new one this week, at a school out in Great Barrington (I think). As I pulled into the parking lot I was psyched to see that they had the lights on. As I got closer I was un-psyched to see that there was a soccer game going on in the middle of the track. Damn, defeated!

Well, back to the Pitt to Taconic HS and all of its darkness. I did my speed work and was handed a healthy dose of ass whooping. Fortunately for me, I was pretty much able to maintain the pace I was shooting for. Yup, I'm closing in on my goal slowly but surely.

For those of you who care, that goal is 6:00 miles for a 5K, and perhaps for a 10K since I don't really like 5K races (believe it or not, 5K is too short to be fun). Currently I'm in the 6:30-6:45 range, but with the times I did today I think I was hovering in the 6:00-6:30 range. Suh-weet. A few months of this training, maybe shed a few more lbs and I'll be right at my goal.

Then I'll set a new seemingly unachievable goal and have to work my ass off (literally and figuratively) to achieve it. Ahh, the life of an addict. It should get here on Thursday!


A Trainer's Paradise

Since I'm not just an addict, but an addict with a toy fund, I recently bought myself a new toy that normal people would never dream of buying. It's a GPS watch with built-in heart rate monitor function and optional cycling cadence-o-meter (which I will add when summer comes).

It cost an arm and a leg but I'm worth it. Dammit, I have two vices and since I can't quite justify the cafe quality espresso machine I have to feed my other addiction. Plus now I'll be able to see exactly where all the trails have taken me, how fast I was going, how fast my heart was going, and so on and so forth. There's some killer software I just downloaded - but can't use yet - that lets you save maps of your run with overlays of your path, speed, HR, elevation, hydration level, etc. It keeps track of how many miles you have on your shoes and if your dog went with you. I don't need this feature, but maybe I'll add my lard-o cats and make them go with me.


A Moment of Clarity

As I was sitting out on the porch waiting for my ride tonight I remembered a CD I wanted to bring. Wishing I had a key to the front door, I decided not to go back in because I'd have to walk all the way to the side door to get in. Just then an image of the missing keys to the front door flashed in my head. I ran to the side door and headed for a mug in a box of crap and to my amazement found two keys on a ring. I tried them and I'll be damned if they weren't the keys to the front door. CHA-CHING! Now I can do more than just walk out that door; I can also walk in it!


Well, that's all I have for ya tonight. I have to get my shower on and take my sweet ass to bed. I'll holler at you later.

Over and Out,
Old Coot

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is rad news about the house. Closure, man, closure. Like getting finally getting divorced when you've been separated for three years.

I wish I could get addicted to even the IDEA of exercising. The darkness makes it soooo much harder. Whine, whine.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your house, Tootles, that's awesome. I won't elaborate on my feelings about all that. I'm sure you know where they're at. By the dub, did you hear about our new cousin?

"Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him.' and I just took off." -Pre