Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Pork

My memory is only good for about three years. It has failed me on several occasions. Such as, the Ohio State-Michigan game of 2013. Hopefully, the fact that I can NOT party with my dad and his brothers is permanently etched in my brain. Cause, that episode took 2 days to recover from.

I had a recent failure with very little ramifications. Pork. If it is not bacon, sausage or Honey Baked Ham, I am not going to like it. Unless, my Grandmother has come back, in which case I would gladly eat her breaded pork chops with the apple sauce, "to cut the grease." TRUE STORY!

But every three years or so I forget that I don't like it. Or, I think "maybe my taste has changed." It hasn't. I recently made this recipe. It looked so good and the recipe for left overs looked even better. PLUS!! The meat happened to be on sale. I put in the crockpot before bed and knew immediately on waking that this was not going to work. The smell alone put me off. But I let it keep cooking, maybe it would mellow.

FYI, it did not mellow. I tried to eat it tonight for dinner and let's just say it's good the garbage was right there. I will not be eating pork for a very long time.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

New Tech!!

I've had my Forerunner 110 for about 4 years now. And for most of that time it's done a great job. However, over the past year I have become a bit disenchanted with it. I've never liked the way it charges. It sits in a cradle and has a tendency to fall out or the prongs don't line up right. Over the amount of time I've had the 110 I've probably synched it to my computer only a handful of times. It's such a pain in the ass with the cradle and prong system.

I recently updated my computer and have tried to synch the 110 with no such luck. Then today. I went for an AMAZING 4 mile run today and thought I should try to update my Garmin again. I felt it wasn't keeping my pace correctly or hitting the satellites and might need a data update. When I got home I was finally able to get Garmin Connect onto my computer and amazingly it recognized my 110 and started to synch. STARTED. It never finished and the last run that it registered was one from June. I know I haven't been running much this year but I do know I've done quite a few runs since June. This all may be solved by resetting the 110. Which I did and consequently lost all old data. I don't mind resetting my shuffle every couple of months, since I change the music on it just as often. I do mind having to reset my 110. 

And then I started researchingARD new Garmins. HARD. I've kept an eye on them for awhile and have put off getting a new one. But then I saw how they charge now, GAME OVER! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!! It's still a clip and prong system but much more secure. And all the new ones are Bluetooth or wifi capable. Which means I don't ever have to synch to my computer unless getting updates. I can do it via my phone with the Garmin app. 

Now the big question was which one to get? The 220? The 620? Or the FANTABULOUS 920XT? If I had a fair bit more money I would have said the 920XT right away. But at $450 I REALLY needed to think about it. It does everything, run, bike, swim. It's an activity tracker. It can measure VO2. The 620 does some of these bells and whistles but the swim tracking is a little different. It is touch screen, which makes it cooler. The problem is a lot of these features don't work unless you use a heart rate monitor, another $50. I hate wearing them and didn't feel like getting one. The 220 is waterproof, so I could use it for swimming by using the lap feature. It can work on a bike, if need be. Basically, it was an agonizing 3 hour decision. 

I settled on the 220. If I could get away training for 2 half iron mans with the 110, I could do it with the 220. Plus, this is one is waterproof up to 50 meters, the 110 was waterproof for raindrops! Meaning, I can wear it on the swim portion of tris, instead of worrying some one was going to steal it off my bike or fiddling with it mid transition.

I have now spent all of Saturday night (livin' the life!) charging, synching to the computer, downloading the Garmin phone app, synching the 220 to the phone, downloading the MyfitnessPal app (does food and talks to Garmin app and the ihealth app), downloading the sleep cycle app, and then making all of these talk to each other. 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Something New

It's got fruit in it. Totally legit!
I'm going to try something new and post a weekly training schedule on a new "page." I'll add the workout after I've done them and then start over on Monday with a new week. I'm hoping it spurs me into doing something. I really want to do a fall half ironman but my bed is so cozy at the moment.

Also in the new catergory, I went out with a new guy on Saturday. We visited the botanical gardens and then hit up my favorite bakery for coffee and cassata cake. It went well. Loads in common, never a lull in conversation. Still talking with a  plan for a second date, always a plus. We shall see...

Monday, January 12, 2015

Oh. Dear. Lord.

Michelangelo. He needs to go. I basically came to this conclusion shortly after he called and repented for calling and ending our "relationship" to get his shit together. But, he was hot and sweet.

But then he sent me two pictures of him holding his baby niece, with the tag "I think I'd make a great father." Really? A week and a half ago you couldn't handle dating.

I started this Saturday night but am publishing 2 days later.

I ended it with Michelangelo. He did not take it well. Apparently, I'm not considering his feelings on this. When did he want me to tell him I had no feelings for him? When he asked me to move in with him? At the wedding?

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Exit Poll 1

Y'all! I got to administer my first exit poll this morning! And it was glorious.

Eye candy for the long post
Background: When Michelangelo called and said he needed to get his shit together with out me I pulled some one up that I was keeping in maintenance mode. We quickly started talking (for realz talking) and had a date set for Friday. Between first phone call and actually meeting the conversations were great. Funny, no odd silences, loads in common, I'm almost sold on this guy just need to meet for in person chemistry. Unfortunately, I had to cancel for a quick visit home and we rescheduled for the following day. Which he canceled due to his furnace breaking down (it's -20 with wind chill here) and the furnace people were coming during our date time. Finally, we agreed on dinner after work on Monday at a nearby Indian place. Except it was closed when I got there. No problem there was a great Chinese place down the street. After all these issues I should have know this was doomed.

And finally we meet. He's attractive, which was kind of in the air. He had three pics on his profile all either really far away or basically pitch black. I could make out enough to know that he wasn't hideous but that was about it. Slightly more gray than in the pics but I like that. I felt the whole thing went well but there was a point where it kind of shifted but not dramatically. It was a bit short, 45min, but I thought that maybe it was because I was heading out on a 2 hour drive to my parents. As the date ended we set up a second date for today, Saturday.

And now the whole flow changes. I get one word answers to texts. He didn't pick up when I called. All in all, not a huge deal. We were both were taking care of parents that had surgery this week (mine is doing very well), along with trying to get our normal jobs done. I finally sent a text yesterday asking about his father's surgery and about getting together today. CRICKETS!!!

I'm blue
24 hours later, first thing this morning, I get a reply. Which I didn't need. 24 hours, one date, one word answers, I don't need a flow chart to see that this is not going to happen. But his text says, "I don't see this going long term."  Which is cool, but there has to be an actual reason. Is it because I scheduled a 2 hour drive after the date? The chicken that got stuck in my teeth? The fact that I ordered a glass of wine before he got there? Am I fatter than he expected? Is it the edgy/half shaved head?



And so I asked. It's that I work with mice. MICE!!!??! Fucking MICE?! He's scared of mice and I work with them. (side note, I don't do a lot with mice. And they are all humanely treated) We got on the subject because he asked how my day at work was and that day happened to involve a scheduling issue with an animal study. After I told him about it he informed me that he does not like mice and I'd like to think I stopped talking about them but I can't promise. And looking back, that's when the winds changed ever so subtly.

On one hand, to me, this is ridiculous. I don't have to talk about my work with animals. I don't bring them home with me and you would never know if I don't say anything. It doesn't effect him. On the other hand, I didn't date a guy because he hummed when he ate. Or the guy that repeatedly said, "like I was saying," when he wasn't saying shit. And basically, all the overly needy dudes. All of these are ridiculous reasons but all of them directly effect me. I would have to hear hummer dude at every meal, every day, for the rest of my life.

You're welcome
Also, I don't understand fear. I get fear of terminal illness, fire, basically life or death things. Spiders? Snakes? Rodents? Bring it. Save my cat from a house fire? On it. Patch my roof? Drive through a snow storm? Vacation alone? Done it. I have a friend that would probably like to point out at this point that I refused to go into a hypothetical cave to save her from a Hellbeast. But that was a mathematical conclusion. I am not Katnis, the odds would never be in my favor in that situation. The likelihood of both of us surviving that is low and if I needed her to save me from said Hellbeast I would hope she would just save herself. But everyone, with the exception of the Winchesters, are afraid of Hellbeasts.

In conclusion, my first exit poll is a success. It is nice to know that there really was nothing I could have done to change this outcome. It saves me a lot of time from wondering. In fairness, he could have lied but why would he? We will NEVER EVER see each other again. AHHH! Peace of mind.




Friday, January 9, 2015

Dirty or no?

Is this supposed to be dirty? I can't tell. If it helps this is first contact from him.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

One Spark

Have you ever noticed that when you talk to people about dating some one they ask, "did you feel a spark?" Everyone just refers to one spark but I thin there are two, a physical spark and a mental spark.  I've never really thought about it until this second date with Michelangelo. Obviously, I feel the physical spark but I really don't feel the mental spark with him.  And, thinking back there are very few guys that I've dated that I've felt both. All of the guys that have lasted more than a month or two have been guys that lit both sparks. I'd be willing to move this guy into booty call column but I don't get the feeling from him that he would be ok with that.

This is going to be a wait and see situation.

ps I had a date with a different dude last night and while it was brief I feel that it went well. I'll have more updates on that situation after this weekend if we do a second date as talked of.

pps, I' not feeling any spark on the running/workout front. But my schedule is a bit effed up at that moment. I've been traveling back and forth between Cleveland and my hometown. I always do best with a consistent schedule. That should start Thursday.