the pod bay door

:: It’s 17°C in the Big City, and I just returned from having coffee and reading the NYTimes Magazine. Wearing denim short pants and a t-shirt, I drove home with the window rolled down in my car. This is the last evening I’ll be able to dress so casually and lightly for months to come – the temperature will begin dropping tomorrow until it reaches -21C on Sunday night. Cruel is a word that comes to mind. The forecast high for Hallowe’en is -11C, with light snow expected. Not fair, not fair at all, especially to the ghosts and goblins who will be out and about that night.

:: And people wonder why I’d like to live in NYC. 😉

:: The last few days have been a bit of a blur. The weekend was a trip to Calgary, featuring visits with good friends, including one who just had her second baby a week ago today. On Saturday night, I attended a gathering of old friends from my 1971 high school class – you can see some of the photos here if you like.

I’m too busy at work for words. Heavy G and I are coauthoring (yet another) article on blogging, and are preparing a presentation on “biblioblogs” for GELA, on November 13. (Geoff will deny it, but I think he’s doing most of the prep work, and I deal with my catholic guilt.) Otherwise work consists of putting out small fires everyday – lately, mostly to do with ordering much needed CSA standards for a mechanical engineering design project. My last big instruction session for 2003 is tomorrow afternoon. We are a couple weeks away from beginning our Winter 2004 instruction preparation.

Twice in the last three days I’ve misplaced my yet-to-be-paid-for hearing aid that I’m road testing. Each time I couldn’t find it for hours. Now I’m leaving it in its case, otherwise it is causing me too much anxiety.

Oh, what’s that? The World Series? Oh, right…The Yankees. Pardon me while I go back to sleep.

:: Dave Barry brilliantly summarizes recent baseball events, including the Cubs’ loss to his beloved Marlins, the arrogance of the NYY, and the (potentionally boring) World Series, beginning tonight. Reluctantly, I’ll pull for the Marlins – the lesser of two (boring) evils. (Via Derryl.)

:: It is a gorgeous sunny, fall day in Calgary. After two visits to Tim McKay, the best chiropractor on Planet Earth, my shoulder area is less painful, and my lower back feels fine. This morning I spent time with my dear friend Carole and her mom, and met her new, 5-day old angel, Grace Elizabeth. Later this afternoon I’m off for coffee with another friend, then a visit with my brother, Chris, and then on to my high school class Mini Reunion in the evening. Tomorrow morning it will be dim sum with – wait for it – another friend (it’s nice to have a lot of friends in Calgary!), and then either a movie, or head back to Edmonton.

:: Bill Maher makes an interesting case for the hypocrisy surrounding Rush Limbaugh’s addiction to pain killer medication and the ongoing drug wars in the USA.

:: In Canada, our Thanksgiving is tomorrow, Oct 13. This year I will be celebrating and giving thanks among the company of some good friends. There was an interesting article in today’s Edmonton Journal about the first Thanksgiving ceremony in North America. It took place in 1578 in the Canadian Arctic, 43 years before the so-called “first Thanksgiving in the New World” in 1621, in Massachusetts.

:: Tonight I do not feel well. My body feels a bit sore all over, and I’m more than a little tired. I’ve been working out and still eating well for the most part. My head hurts too. Time to boost the Cold-FX capsules, perhaps? This was also a day that included events about which I cannot write on this site, and that were quite draining. It is a lousy feeling to be helpless when long-term behaviour of a mean-spirited nature goes on and on, with malice of forethought.

:: I saw the movie Intolerable Cruelty tonight, and give it 7/10. I also saw School of Rock on Friday, and give it 8.5/10. It’s fun to assign numbers to things.

:: the pod bay door will be closed for a little while…but not too long. I’ve spent some time smoothing out the edges after the move to a new hosting service, and am going to take a couple of days off from blogging. I’m working a six-day week, and want to squeeze in some movies before they leave town. I can report that I’m starting to like the new workout routine suggested by the trainer I met with recently, and am feeling that I might be on the edge of some progress – good news all around. The tennis elbow condition in my left arm hasn’t improved, so I may need an MRI. I’ll learn more later this month when I meet with a sports physician again. The hearing aid jury is still deliberating – I have a few weeks to decide whether or not to purchase the Aero 211 AZ I’m using now.

This evening was particularly satisfying: I helped friends choose a starter electric guitar and amp for their daughter, who is rapidly becoming a good musician and songwriter at 15 years old. We were at Avenue Guitars, and studied two starter kits (amp and guitar), and settled on a Godin SD (black colour) and a Roland Cube 30 guitar amp. The guitar has a very sweet sound, and the amp has 8 guitar amp model channels. Everyone walked away happy, and now I want to borrow the new equipment and test it out!

I’ll be back shortly. See you then.

:: I’ve been cranky all week. Sometimes I don’t want to be around other sentient beings, and I think most of Those Sentient Beings are aware of that right now. I’ve been working hard on a new eating plan and exercising six days a week, and I don’t feel or look any different. I’ve been on the eating plan since August 6th. It’s very frustrating at this point in time. I’m beginning to wonder if I might have to accept the fact that I will not lose my tummy, despite my best efforts, or get in better shape. I’ve consulted with a nutritionist and a personal trainer. What’s left to try? Oh, I could bang my head against a wall.

It’s like, things seem so collectively lousy right now that the smallest, dumb thing that happens causes me to giggle hysterically for a second or two. I’d like to take an industrial-strength vacuum cleaner, and suck all the shyte out of my house, the zillion papers and magazines and other peripheral junk, and stare at the walls.