outskirts: life and times in charlottesville

So one of the first big runs is this weekend, the Marha Jefferson 8k. I’m looking forward to it, since it will be warm and sunny (always good for a race at 8am). Having to wear mittens to bike there is never good. It starts just a few blocks from where I live (as do many, many races).

I just signed up for the first speed dating event here in town in a long time. The last group that ran a speed dating service held a few and the took the money from the last event and split town. I happened to catch the story on my new favorite station in town…the local CBS

I’ve started looking through some of my photos from my trip to the Northwest. I’m still amazed at how beautiful the area is. Eventually I’ll parse through lots of photos…but I’ll wait till I have a new computer (other than a few sneaking through on occasion).

I have a feeling after the 8k I’ll be doing a ton of spring cleaning. It will be a good day for that.

I really like this $8 bottle of wine I bought tonite. Yummy. I really wish I knew more about wine. I never want to buy expensive stuff since I know nothing about it, but I do know when one of the $10ish bottles pleases me.

Snow falls at the top of Mt. Rainier, but the clouds above still have a bit of glow as the sun is heading down. I love that time of the evening when the sky has that amazing gradient of blue running across it.

I’m somewhat amazed how exhausting it is to sit as a juror for a good part of a week, and then go though deliberation for two days. Trying to determine guilt or innocence for someone accused of murder if SO difficult when the vast majority of evidence is circumstantial, and stories continue to change on the fly as to the event. How much circumstantial evidence do you really need before reasonable doubt is gone from your mind.

A very difficult decision.

Anyhoo (local phrase..not typo), I now have to see how quickly I can get back in to the flow of normalcy. Having missed work since last week I feel a bit out of touch with what the current focus is, so will just work on cleaning up tasks. I have to get back in to a workout routine (the 8 miles yesterday felt good). Today I’ll head back to the gym, and by this weekend it may be hitting 80. I’ll definitely make it out for a run then. I need to get back in to my five days/week routine. I feel so out of it right now.

I’ve fallen behind on my daily photos (I’m secretly hoping my new computer magically appears one of these day…but ordering it might be the first thing to do). I’ll work on snapping a few things and getting them up and running again.

Hopefully I’ll sleep soundly tonite and won’t have any crazy dreams involving murder and such. A good workout at the gym will help out on that front.

Guilty + Innocent = Mistrial, my basic math of the day.

I’m still waiting for winter, but it is apparent we won’t have one this year. Oh well. I won a $1 in a bet. We may get a flurry tomorrow morning, but I have severe doubts as to that. Upper 60′s are only a few days away. Flowers are starting to poke out. You know the old expression, “February showers, March flowers.” With a bit more global warming we can move it back another month by 2010. If I end up in the northwest it will just shower all the time.

I went out and did a slow eight miles today. The breeze felt a bit cool at first, but after three miles I was nice and warm.

I’m still waiting on one form before I can finish my taxes…so no new toys until I find out what I’m getting back. I spent about six hours with TurboTax today. They have more questions, but they are easier to understand than the H&R Block questions. TurboTax also gives more examples. Currently I have almost doubled the refund that H&R Block estimated, so I’ll be very, very happy if it holds up after I get my last form. Pretty please! New computer and a vacation might be in the future…

I went out and bought a new shirt, and read the NYTimes at the bookstore.

Tomorrow it is back to the legalities of murder, mayhem, and madness (was that a Woody Allen movie?).

Art? Schmart? Looks like the wooden terminator is heading towards Main Street.

Always fun when I drop by the NOAA site and see that we have a warning for the village. We are currently under a Red Flag Warning, which I’ve never seen before.

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW…OR WILL SHORTLY.

A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Maybe I should find my hose…just in case.

My J-Time (aka jury time) has skyrocketed as the week progressed. Monday may be the last day. So many stories to tell in the future…but until then, no chatting, no news, no comments, no email, no nuttin…except a few good movies on DVD. Hitchcock is always nice.

Off to the gym tomorrow. I have only made it there once this week. J-Time all day is exhausting, and runs so late. Yesterday it was 74 and I really wish I could have made it out for a run. Maybe next week. Several races are coming up in the next two months. I signed up for the ten miler the other day (almost every person in the village runs in it).

Sleep calls…

Please get rid of the damn baby on Lost. I know all you parents out there are already deaf due to children, but listening to a baby scream for a full hour of television is torture. I keep the volume so low I miss most of the actual speech. Any show with a baby is bound to die. Every episode of Lost with the baby is equivalent to death.

Lose the baby. Let the others have the baby. Please