bitter magnet

this morning i woke up at 7, but it was ok since i went to bed around 12:30. Plus i wasn' t in a rush to do anything (besides eat breakfast of course). :)

After breakfast i watched "Some Like It Hot" from the SP video library. I wouldn't have chosen to see it on my own, but yesterday evening the deskworker suggested it as a good comedy, so i tried it. Anyway, it was really great! I didn't think I liked old movies, but this one I did. I guess that's because this one was a comedy and not a drama (the dramatic ones, like "It's A Wonderful Life" seem too fake and sappy for my taste). Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were hilarious (the basic plot is that the two dress up as women to escape getting killed by mobsters). A movie with a similar plot is the British film "Nuns on The Run," which was also very funny. I guess you can't go wrong with the idea of men trying to pass themselves off as women!

Anyway, one thing I noticed from the movie is that Marilyn Monroe is really pretty. No wonder men were obssessed with her! And the interesting thing is, she looks like a size 10. So a size 10 was sexy in 1959. But I guess forty years down the road the media's sex symbols somehow became size 0's (Calista Flockart, Kate Moss, Courtney Cox). Stars (like Kathy Griffin, from "Suddenly Susan") were having plastic surgery to try go from a size 4 to a size 2. Eek! So where did society go wrong here? Who knows. But the good thing is, there are no known "negative sizes" (i.e. once you've hit size 0, there's no size -2 or anything like that). So i guess that's a hard limit (models are already skeletons, so they can't really get any skinnier, can they?)

Well enough of my rambling. :) After the movie I went to the Wellbridge Athletic Alub for a muscle-conditioning class. It was really hard (an hour long)...most of it focused on the upper body (biceps, triceps, shoulders)..basically lifting free weights, body bars. It was a bit hard on the legs (since i had to bend knees when lifting weights) but it didn't seem as bad as running, for example. I did some stretching afterwards, and I also went to the hot tub. It was really nice since no one else was there, and it was really relaxing. That club is so great..it felt cool to be in an exclusive club. In the locker rooms, they have so many amenities, it's insane! The showers each have dispensers for shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel (and they're not just some cheapola Wal-mart brand either; it's this exotic-sounding great-smelling Hawaiian stuff). There's a section of the bathroom with vanity mirrors and hair dryers...and near the sinks they have dispensers for soap, lotion, and even mouthwash (with teeny little cups on the side). They have a dispenser for plastic bags (like they do in the produce section at the grocery store) for you to put swimsuit, etc in (the bags aren't cheap either..they have the club logo on them). All in all, it was a great experience!

Anyway, it's almost six and i should be getting to work. Part of the reason I waited so long is so I could take the SafeRide and not have to walk (my legs are bit weak after this morning's workout). Hopefully I won't be there long though...maybe 1-2 hours at most.

Hmmm..well, actually now that I'm sitting here I'm getting kind of hungry. :P I had lunch at 2:30, so maybe it's the workout? It wasn't a huge lunch. I just started munching some macadamia nuts, but I'm in need of more. Guess it's time for dinner! Work can wait one more hour. :)

Oh yeah, and the cable at SP hasn't been working for at least a day. What's up with that? Hope it gets fixed soon.

i'm excited..i have 10 free passes to the Wellbridge Athletic Club in Harvard Square! They're good for the month of August, which is great because the last day of PE classes is Aug 4 (and the Z-Center has crappy hours in the summer). It's a really great gym..tons of machines, plus a pool and a jacuzzi (and the locker rooms have towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, even robes!) It looks like a rich person's gym! My physical therapist said he said he saw Chelsea Clinton there the day before yesterday (the Clintons were there for the DNC).

Anyway, the other cool thing about the place is that it has a variety of classes, just like the Z-Center (step, yoga, Pilates, aquatics,etc), and they're FREE!! Also, they have classes on the weekends too (Z-center does not). Anyway, i'll go this weekend and see how it's like. If it's really great, i might consider joining!

According to Time Magazine, John Edwards is known to drink 4 Diet Cokes before noon. Eek! So i don't feel so bad about drinking this one can here at 5:45pm (that too-early-for-dinner-and-need-something-to-get-last-bit-of-day time). I haven't had a Diet Coke in several weeks, so i probably (hopefully) haven't reached lethal levels of aspartame yet. Boy, i sure hope the folks at Monsanto (and the FDA, since it's the same crowd essentially) aren't totally wrong when they claim that aspartame really isn't carcinogenic. I think the only way to be sure of this is to force all the execs over there  to drink at least 4 cans of Diet Coke a day. If they go along willingly and are unaffected (save for being caffeinated up the wazoo), then it's safe. If they dont (or if they do and they start dropping like flies), time to switch to regular Coke, peeps! Or black coffee, for that matter!

Oh, and by the way, on a totally unrelated subject: Feliz 28 de Julio!! For those of you not in the know, today is the independence day for Peru. I wonder what sort of feast my parents have prepared back home. Ah, if only i have some picarones right now! Maybe i should i get a deep fryer just so I can make them. Or should i try making turron de dona pepa? Or maybe alfajores? Mmm, dessert!!

Life is short. Eat dessert first!

ah, another foggy Boston morning. the view from Ashdown is undescribably amazing...the top of the Prudential has yet again disappeared in the fog. it's going to rain big-time today, but luckily i don't have to go anywhere (physical therapy, hospital appts). another excuse to stay inside! :)

i only got about 6 hours sleep, but oh well--i'll catch up later. anyways, that seems to be my average lately. last night Michael & I watched Episodes 8-12 of Season 1 of "24." That explains why we were up until 2:30am. :) I swear, that show is addictive, you can't watch one without watching several (until the point when you realize you either really have to go to sleep, or there are no more episodes to watch on that disk (in our case, they both were true).  :)

montreal is great! here i am in one of the McGill residences (Royal Victoria College), typing away in this super-stuffy computer room with machines that must be at least 5 years old. Whatever..at least there's free internet access here. Not like it helps much, though.

Anyway, yesterday we saw to shows: Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventures, and then at midnight, Boston Comics Standout.  The last one was at the Kola Note nightclub, same place where we saw the "Masters" comic series on Friday. We weren't going to go at first but we managed to get last-minute tickets.

I'm glad to be able to experience Montreal in the summer. Last time I was here I was trying to recall all these things from the Just For Laughs festival (first time) and it was pretty impossible given the fact that there was a raging snowstorm everyday, and it was freezing all the time. NOw it's the same weather, same festival, and it's pretty cool.

Anyways, Michael & I drive back this evening, hope it's not too painful. It's six hours driving, and we'll get back late (probably after midnight). And the next day, off to work...ack!

ok, early tomorrow morning (7 am) Michael and I take off for Montreal. Instead of taking the greyhound ($98 per person, so about $200), we decided to rent a car ($140 for weekend), which came out cheaper even when you include parking and gas). Anyways, i'm really excited about the trip, except I have so much stuff to take care of here! Plus, I'm worried that my legs will give me grief in Montreal. At least for half of Friday I won't be walking around...Saturday will probably be a tough day.

Oh, and about my injury, i guess i still need to limit the walking and exercise that I do. Swimming is definitely no good because it hurts my knees when i kick. Biking is ok, but only light biking (like to get around somewhere) for less than 15 minutes at a time. Walking is ok but only for short times. This kind of injury is a bitch because I can't really do any cardio (unlike when i hurt my back in December). My PT says that I have a muscle imbalance going on, and that I really need to strengthen my quads and inner thighs. Argh. So i guess I will mostly do that before I start running again.

so things to remember when i start training again:
1) Always, always STRETCH during workout (5-10 min after warming up)
2) Always STRETCH after workout
3) use foam roller on daily basis
4) strength train 2x a week (at least)

Damn..who would have thought that a power outage in the town of Eagan, Minnesota would have wreaked such serious havoc (and I do mean havoc)at several airports across the entire country! Apparently this power outage caused a "computer problem" at Northwest Airlines' headquarters, thus causing several people (Michael & I included) to have a less-than-perfect time trying to get back home.
 
The first sign of trouble appeared right after we got dropped off at SFO (around 7 am PST) and we saw this insanely huge line for check-in. We tried the curbside check-in outside, which allowed us to check in our luggage, but we couldn't get our boarding passes (apparently the printer wasn't working). We had to go back inside and line up to use the e-ticket check in. Not only was the line long, but it was extremely slow since none of the check-in computers were working. The employees kept rebooting them, but they kept returning with  "Network Error" . Nonetheless, we finally managed to get our boarding passes and get to our flight on time. We thought the flight would be seriously delayed (it was for 8:20am) since everyone else would have been held up trying to check-in. But it was only held back by 10 minutes or so, and we ended up getting to Detroit on time (around 4pm EST).
 
Our connecting flight was for 4:58pm, but once we de-planed in DTW, we saw that it had been cancelled! The only other Boston flight showing on the screens was one for a 3:30pm flight (had already left). We talked to an a ticket agent and she told us that we had been reserved seats for a 9:00pm flight, but that she could try and get us on the very next flight (7:00pm). She checked and managed to get us the very last 2 seats on that flight, and plus she gave us each meal vouchers due to the delay.
 
So we then scuttled all the way to the food court, to get some Honey Mustard Chicken Salads from Quizno's (they have amazingly delicious salads for only $7). After that, we got some good coffee (me) and cinnamon tea (Michael) at Coffee Bean. At that point (this was like 6:30pm), Michael & I were pretty happy...we just finished having our delicious meals & hot drinks (free) and we were just about to head over to our gate, without having to wait at all. We were thinking that we were  pretty lucky to have gotten seats on the 7:00pm flight, and that it was probably even better to have ended this way rather than with our original schedule, as in that case we wouldn't have time for a lunch.
 
Well, we spoke too soon. Just before we were about to head over to our gate, we saw that our flight had been delayed to 8:30. Bugger. We waited around for a while, watched TV and/or read (by this time i had a huge headache). Around 8pm, we looked to the display screens only to find out that this flight also got cancelled. The only remaining flight was the 9:00pm one (which had been delayed to 11:30pm). It was a shame since that was the flight that we had initially been on, before we were bumped up. It turned out we couldn't get back on it, since that was already overbooked (with 20+ ppl on the waiting list).
 
Anyway, at this point it was pretty much pandemonium at our gate and the surrounding ones...crying kids, frustrated parents, busy corporate folks chatting away on their cell phones. Pretty much everyone there had been there for several hours (by 10pm, we had been there for six hours), since they kept getting delayed flight after delayed flight. We waited for what seemed like hours to talk to a ticket agent, and she gave us a 5pm flight for Thursday (the earlier ones were booked). We had the option of going on earlier flights with other airlines, but all of those involved 2 or more stopovers, resulting in a 5-hour flight (instead of a less-than 2 hour direct one). We got some meal vouchers, but she wouldn't book us a hotel, warning that they were probably all booked by now since there had been so many cancellations.
 
Well luckily Michael managed to talk to a ticket agent who did finally give us a hotel voucher, along with $20 in meal vouchers per person (some of which would be available at the hotel)! After thanking our lucky stars (most of the other folks trying to get back to Boston were still waiting in line, frustrated as ever on what to do), we took the next shuttle over to the hotel (the Northwest Inn). Luckily by the time we got over there, there were still rooms available (we didn't actually have reservations, it's first come, first serve). The hotel itself was very close to the Detroit airport (town of Romulus, MI), so close that we could hear the planes take off right outside our window. It was pretty cheap-looking motel from the outside, but the room inside was pretty ok. By the time we got there it was around midnight. We had a small "dinner" consisting of hard-boiled eggs (my mom had prepared us a few for the trip), cheese sticks, Balance Bars, and a peach. Not exactly gourmet, but we weren't really that hungry anyway.
 
The next morning we slept in (we were still on California time) and checked out at 11am (the absolute latest). The next hotel over (the Sheraton) wouldn't serve us breakfast since it was too late, but the next one (Hilton) did. We both got these huge 3-egg omelettes with cheese, ham, and peppers (Michael's had onions and mushrooms as well). It was so huge I finished just 85% of mine and I was stuffed (usually i finish it all and then am still a bit hungry for a dessert). But it was ok since by that time it was around noon and i guess it counted as both breakfast AND lunch, since i wouldn't end up eating till 7pm anyways.
 
Well, from then on, we were lucky. :) At that time we headed off to the airport, to see if we could fly stand-by on the 1:30pm flight (after all, why wait 3 1/2 hours more when you don't have to). We got to the gate just as soon as they were boarding, and lucky for us, we were allowed on! After that, everything went pretty smoothly. We got to Logan around 3:30pm, and had no trouble getting our bags (they were just sitting there, unattended..pretty crappy security, but whatever). At that point we were just glad to be back. 
 
We didn't know what to do though, about our remaining $34 in meal vouchers. They were only valid at airport restaurants, and for up to 24 hours after it was issued..so if we didn't use them then, they would be lost. We still weren't hungry at all though (huge omelette was still sitting in my stomach)...so we thought of ordering some takeout for a good (read: expensive) restaurant, to take home for dinner later on (especially since we had no food in our fridges at home) So after getting our suitcases, we went upstairs to the check-in area and found this restaurant near a security entrance. It looked pretty pricey (a place we would never go to if we were paying) and to my surprise they offered all items to go. So we ordered steak tips & rice (for Michael), cobb salad (for me), garlic mashed potatoes, and a Fudge Chocolate layer cake. We weren't going to get the cake at first (it was $5.95, plus  sugar makes Michael dizzy, wheat makes my stomach ill) but we did anyway (it won some "Best of Boston" award..plus we figured we deserved a treat after all we went through). Anyway, the tab came out to $33.69 or something like that, so we didn't have to spend a cent.
 
We took the bags of food, our suitcases on the T, and went home (I got off at Central to go to SP, while Michael went to Kendall to head back to Ashdown). By the time I finally i got home, it was 5-something pm. I was so glad to be back!! After checking all my email, etc..i went and got the packages that were waiting for me (my foam roller, from performbetter.com, and the Yamaha keyboard for Michael's birthday present). 
 
Around 7pm Michael came over for dinner (our 2nd meal of the day) and we ate the the food we got at the airport. It was pretty good (the steak tips were great), though I'd have to say the chocolate cake was the best! We ate it along with Tosci's vanilla ice cream, and it rocked. Yay!

ok, so like 4 weeks after my last run (June 5), and 3 MIT urgent care visits later..am i think i can honestly say i'm getting better. i didn't go to work thursday or friday, as i didn't want to walk and have the pain restart again. been taking Flexeril (just 2x a day now) and still doing the NSAIDs..i guess that's what's helping. the main thing is i am doing *very* limited amount of walking/standing. yesterday i only left SP once, to walk to the corner around the block. today, i have yet to walk outside SP at all (but i'm thinking of maybe going over to see the Boston Pops concert).

bit i know my legs aren't 100% healed though...maybe the pain is like down to 5-10%. the pain does seem the lowest that it's been since i've stopped running...likely due to the fact that i haven't been walking at all. i think the muscle relaxants help, although they have annoying side effects (drowsiness, very dry mouth, dizziness).

anyway, i'm excited to finally be able to walk again. :) i definitely won't do any running or any sort of exercise before i leave for California (Wednesday). and while i'm there i'll probably get a massage or something. i probably won't be able to do swimming anywhere (most places require membership or some fee)..but maybe i can do that thing where you run 5 min every other day, and keep adding 5 min to that. it sucks that i won't be able to run the wine country half-marathon. :( i guess i'm destined to not run any half-marathons in california! oh well...