kjp
Some random stuff:
My training for the Gold Coast half marathon is going ok. My knees and feet are going ok. Knees slightly sore, but I think that this is ok. There's no pain (unlike training for Brisbane half marathon) - due to fixed up legs and innersoles. But as of just after this afternoons run - my back is a bit iffy... I'm hopefully for my knees - doing lots of stretching and there's no discomfort after running. Need to stretch quads as well as all my stretches from the physio.
I have a new pair of shorts for running. My 1992 vintage highschool PE shorts have been chucked out. I need to get a new watch (for timing during exercise). Previous one died a while back. The Big W at Chermside has a self service checkout which is kind of different. I paid credit card, signed on an electronic pad thing. Missed a trick though, I could have just put my PIN in instead, which I'm going to start doing (instead of signature).
I was in at work on Saturday and earlier today as well... cough.
It was good fun (as expected) hanging out with E. on Saturday night, drinking at a couple of cool places I hadn't been to. Although I had a slight issue getting back - I slept on the train and missed my station... an extra 25 minute walk at 1am. Nice.
I got a DVD burner, and installed the Nero 7 stuff. I shouldn't have done the default settings: there was a great deal of junk that came along with it. After uninstalling it all, I put back on just the burning part of the software (no media file management, TV stuff, etc, etc).
Wikipedia entry on the United States Housing Bubble
Hey, how about this: it’s a real blog entry, about a few of the things happening… shock horror! I had a day off from work (RDO) – and I actually took it. Very rainy and windy outside; so I’ve stayed indoors, doing jobs around the flat. There’s been a few firsts recently:
So, where to begin. Wednesday I chaired my first meeting at rostrum. It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be – only a handful of people where there, so it was pretty relaxed, which was good. This contrasts to the other only other major meeting I’ve called (start of last year) – with 20+ people, which was a fairly nerve racking experience.
Thursday I sung with a community choir that a friend sings in. It was pretty good – a good range of music, reasonable standard. I’ll probably try to stay with them for the term (concert in August). Two issues – an audition and $$$. Hmmmm. Anyhow, the traffic that particular day was a bit average. I’d left work at 4.10pm to get to a podiatrist appointment at Red Hill for 5pm… ICB was clogged up, and so I got there at 5.15pm. After my appointment was shifted to 5.40pm, I got out of there a bit before 6pm. The roads through Bowen Hills were packed too, so I didn’t bother going back to my place: just parked on the side of the road at Spring Hill until 7.15pm rehearsal. Apparently there had been a “police incident” at the Story Bridge. Anyhow, so I was a bit tired when I got back to the flat at 10pm.
It’s interesting: just writing that last paragraph, there was two points where I could have said “home” but didn’t. In one sense, I sort of have two homes: one in Brisbane, one in Canberra. But, not really either of them. Home is more than just a place to live. Anyhow. I’ll be off to Sydney on the last weekend in June, should be excellent indeed. Looking forward to seeing all the family then.
Friday evening saw the first big use of my BBQ (a birthday present from friends at work). A lot of the people who gave it to me came around. 14 or 15 people – a good crowd: probably couldn’t fit too many more people in the apartment (sitting down). People seemed to enjoy themselves, was really enjoyable. I haven’t BBQed much in the past. A few things learnt from it: the back is a lot hotter than the front; the grill side is best for skewers and chops, hotplate for sausages.
Saturday afternoon saw me going to my first Tupperware party. Yeah, I know. I needed a couple of containers for freezing / reheating food; a friend was putting it on, so wanted to help them out. It was a bit pyramid scheme-ish though, a bit weird. Anyhow, it wasn’t unsurprising when I was out on Saturday night, that I copt (sp?) a bit in good humour.
I’m not sure what I should do regarding running. A while back, I started training for the Brisbane half marathon, but stopped training (and didn’t enter the race), due to knee problems. Physio and podiatry has sorted them out, however I didn’t do any running when it was being sorted out. The past two weeks have been very busy: only managing time for a couple of jogs. Intended to go today (but couldn’t due to rain). The entry for the Gold Coast half marathon closes in 2 days time (well, the early bird entry rate). Am I prepared to bet the $70 entry fee on me being reasonably ready by July 6th? Hmmm.
Oh, in music news I’m enjoying the music for the gig on the 22nd - in particular the cowboy / western pieces we’re playing.
The Moral Life of Cubicles - all about office layout, etc.
Here are a few interesting articles: (cleaning up my bookmarks)
The worlds best investment (according to the Copenhagen Consensus) - vitamins for undernourished children.
Gender gap in science / technology jobs.
20 second clarinet solo compressed to less than 1kB
10% of American adults not getting enough sleep
Out of Print - The death and life of the American newspaper.
Men were from Mars, Women from Venus
Grape Expectations – Expensive wine tastes better than cheep wine.