outskirts: life and times in charlottesville

My housewarming/Jake leaving party went pretty well. It was the typical C-Ville party. Lots of married people, kids, single men, and one single woman. People brought lots of tasty treats, and there was one bottle of Blackwing red left over, so that is being consumed as I type. I wonder if Jake made it to Philly…last year he vowed to leave C-Ville by the spring, and he got out within a week of the deadline. Very impressive.

Later that evening the Pistons let me down, but with the way the refs called the entire series, it is amazing they managed to win a single game. There is nothing easier to control than the winner of a basketball series when you have the ‘power’ to do such things.

I had a TON of things to do this weekend. I woke up Saturday morning and as I mentally went through my checklist I popped up to start the morning. At some point I managed to pull that muscle that connects the shoulder to the neck. As the day got going, the pain really started to settle in and by lunchtime I was basically laying on a nice hard floor for the rest of the weekend, and wondering where my Motrin was in the medicine cabinet. I got ABSOLUTELY nothing done that I had wanted to.

Was the pulled muscle the result of stress due to the “to do” list? My neck is starting to feel a bit more relaxed, but I’m not doing much head turning right now. I’m also starting to think about those items on the list again.

The mind is a horrible thing to waste, but it sure doesn’t mind putting a bit of stress on the body. It is an evil bastard on occasion. I really think I need a vacation.

Since I’ve bought my big expensive house a bit more than a year ago, I’m finally getting around to having a housewarming party Thursday evening. I really wish I had some free time to give this sucker a good cleaning, and do some laundry, but time waits for no party.

Starts at 6:30, ends when the last person leaves. Feel free to drop by. For those that last longer than an hour or two, and enjoy basketball, the Pistons will get a shot at their second title in a row in Game 7. I just hope it is a good game (in HD of course). A Piston win would also be nice, and make up for the Redwings not even having a season.

Football season is almost here. St. Nick will save the Dolphins. What new shows will compare to the success of Lost this past season? Will Big Brother lead the summer ratings? Why is Dancing with the Stars such a big hit? My mind wanders…

I have so many things to do. My E is still hanging out around 0. Maybe tomorrow the housewarming will give my E a boost.

Thursday is bagel day at work. Bagel day rocks.

I have absolutely no energy today. Same thing yesterday. I ran today, but was tired the entire time. Same thing for work. I thought about saying my energy was zero, but it is basically impossible to get to zero.

I wonder if something new is blooming outside. This has been the worst spring for allergies since I’ve been here. Every day weather.com tells us that we have a high pollen count of one thing or another.

I’ve gotten more than eight hours of sleep the past three nights, which is high for me, but it doesn’t seem to have helped. If I feel this way tomorrow I’ll pull a sick day and lay around all day with minimal thinking. I think my brain is tired of thinking. Does that put me in an infinite thinking loop? Maybe that is what has me so tired….

I’m sitting here in the new La Taza Coffee House which is about 3/4 of a block from me. It is rather nice. A modern coffee shop with a flair of South American hipness. Lots of orange tones. The coffee is standard stuff, but the food has a bit more flair to it.

There are a wealth of power slots for us computer users, free wifi, indoor and outdoor seating, and a rather friendly staff. As a matter of fact, there is a rather sharp group around here. One grad student from UVA working on her PhD in astrophysics, a woman who has already earned her masters degree in math from UVA (she is 19), and another woman who has her masters in biophysics. And of course me…a mere nuclear physics PhD. Lots of smart people hang out around here!

The cuban sandwich was pretty tasty. Next time I’ll try a salad with some fresh pineapple on it.

I used to enjoy playing Clue. A basic logic game. The adult version is usually a bit more complex, and there really is no logic left in the game. In Charlottesville, the answer is as logical as life.

Mr. Mooney says someone on a 10 speed bike did it with a knife in the neighboorhood.

Was Mr. Mooney correct? We’ll never know, since the media never follows up with anything in the village. I really wonder if the bike was a yellow bike? That would give it away for sure!

The robbed store was a block away from my house. Thirty feet from the store a new house went on the market for 429k. I wonder if that price has dropped yet

I’m dripping. Sweat. Yuck. It is still hot. It shouldn’t hit 90 again until next Tuesday, at least according to the current forecast. Earlier today they were saying the high was going to be just 72 on the weekend, but that has already made it up to 78. In any event, I am looking forward to something below 90.

I ran on Sunday in hot weather, and last night at 7pm when the heat index was 95. I brought a liter of water with me and enjoyed it along the way. It was my best run since my knees gave up on me months ago. My knees actually feel good today (although I tweaked my right one jumping up some stairs today). Will do the gym tomorrow and Saturday, and then run on Sunday and Tuesday. Gym on Monday. Wednesday and Friday off.

I tend to get in a rhythm of daily and weekly activity.

I reversed the doors on my new fridge so it properly snuggles into my kitchen. I went shopping and bought some milk and frozen veggies. While putting the stuff away I was wondering if the fridge was working. It wasn’t making any noise, and hadn’t since I switched the doors. Forty minutes later it still was doing nothing, and seemed a bit warm inside. I brought my food to the fridge at work. By the time I got back, it was running again, and rapidly cooling off. I read that when it is very humid it can go through 20-30 minute defrost cycles. I must have missed one of the running cycles.

I guess humans aren’t the only things that get in to a rhythm. Running. Dripping. Life rolls along.

So I went to Lowes and bought a new refrigerator. A basic 18 square foot model that is at the low end of the pricing scheme. I called a few repair places and they all felt it would set me back about $150 for the simplest of things, so I just bought the new one for a bit more than twice that. If I had done it myself it would have taken at least two hours, and I always sort of view my time as being worth $100/hr. Is that right…probably not, but who cares. Always good to think that way. It would probably cost me at least $30 to do the math.

I looked underneath my current broken beast and it looked pretty old down there. The new one is supposed to be super silent which is nice, since annoying small noises often drive me nuts. It should be here on Wednesday. That will be almost five days without a refrigerator. It only mildly changed my daily life. Could I live without one. Probably. Air conditioning…no way.

There is an old expression that bad luck comes in threes (although finding out where exactly that originated is not easy!).

My dryer died earlier this week. Yesterday my refrigerator died. The big question of course is what is next?

My air conditioner? Computer, clock, tv, fan, iron, stereo, microwave, feet, brain, dishwasher, washing machine, lamp, knees, car, bike, stove, eyes, plumbing, or dvd player. I don’t have much else.

Some people say my brain has already gone and I’m a bit daft, so maybe I should pull that one of the list. Off for a run in the 90 degree heat.

So I ended up getting back from DC around 2am. Very, very tired. Road construction was everywhere. The banquet was rather fun. My company won an award based on science simulations. My hobby and my job are pretty much the same thing. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

While up in DC I got to see something I almost never see here in the rural outskirts of society: women. Single women. To tell you the truth, I had sort of forgotten that single women exist. Let’s just say that single people don’t last very long in this village full of breeders, since insanity generally settles in after a year or two. I’ve outlasted many….but after last night the drive to get out of C-Ville has drastically increased.

Definitely time to start getting out of the sticks more often. A vacation in civilization is looming.

Off I go to DC for a black tie only sort of thing with the Association of Educational Publishers for an awards banquet. I won’t get home until 1am or so. I will be tired. I hope the have an open bar. I’m not driving. I really don’t have time for this…