Maybe there are times when a cab is a good idea

So, late last week I had some unexpected medical festivities that involved being sent to the emergency room and having surgery. I didn't know that was going to be the outcome when I showed up at my doctor's office that morning complaining of fever and pain. But she clued in pretty quickly about what was going on, and after making a phone call, she sent me to the ER of a nearby hospital.

The doctor wanted to make sure I could get there, so she asked, "Did you drive here?"

I was a little stunned, but I said, "No, I can just take the bus to the hospital. See, look, there's a bus stop right outside this building."

She didn't like that idea. She liked it less when I admitted that there were actually two buses involved.

I told her, "But taking the bus is easy. I do it all the time."

And she said, "Well, but you don't usually have a high fever and an infection that probably needs surgery!"

Well, geez, if you're going to get snippy about it. Fine. So I took a cab.

And maybe it was the smart thing to do. Probably. ... Definitely. But I could have gotten there by bus!

Well I could!

I'm just saying.

The distant opposite of "fun"

Sometimes I can get sick with something that makes me wonder if I'll ever, ever get better. Last Thursday I came down with something that was more than the usual kind of winter virus, and actually went to see a doctor about it!

It wasn't any better on Friday ... well, except my temperature wasn't as high.

And then Saturday I still felt pretty crummy but managed to go outside for a short walk and sit in my favorite tea joint for awhile ...

And Sunday, well, I somehow dragged myself outta bed to play in a concert in the afternoon, and that was fun ...

Monday morning I shakily made it to work still feeling kicked by a six-legged horse ...

And I could've used another hour of sleep this morning, but really the main complaints besides that were about my computer and scary code I had to fix.

So I guess I got better after all! Sneakily, but it happened.

Phew!

A favorite kind of afternoon

We had a beautiful spring-like Sunday, so we had a road trip to one of my favorite places to spend a sunny day -- Rockport, MA. Yes, it is a tourist destination, but I think it's very fun and colorful and I always smile the entire time I'm there. Wander the shops, get a delicious bowl of soup at an eatery overlooking the water, get some sweet treats, and of course -- climb over the rocks.

These rocks:



Despite the signage, people always scramble over the rocks and walk out to the end of the point. Some people make their way more gracefully than others. I am definitely not as sure-footed as the kids who scoot by me nearly at a jog. In fact, when I reached a certain point on the rocks, no matter which way I looked I couldn't find a safe next step and ended up standing there, stuck like a cat up a tree until a ten-year-old girl rescued me. No joke. There were a few giggles from some onlooking adults (even an outright roar from ONE), but I didn't care, this kid knew what she was doing! She was like, "You could put your foot there, and then take these rocks like little stairs over here ..." and I followed what her feet did and -- phew! Got past it! Because I just have to make it to the end:


For some reason, the walk back toward shore is a lot easier. No rescues needed.

We got chocolate almond bark and half a pound of candied ginger at the candy store before we left. It was a very good day!!

It's a sign of something, probably.

Pretty, aren't they?



You can always count on the crocuses to get all excited about the first few warm sunny days, though their optimism is often premature and does get them snowed on fairly often.

The trees around here are lot more skeptical about our weather and probably won't even attempt to bud for a few more weeks. You can't really blame them. After all, one or two or twenty sixty-degree days in a row don't mean it won't freeze or blizzard tomorrow -- a detail the people who've lived here all their lives have a funny way of forgetting year after year! I have heard some strong claims recently that winter is totally done for the year ... even though we had a snowstorm this past Monday and I think I see snow showers in the forecast for this coming week ...

It is really nice to see the crocuses though. I think the daffodils and tulips are next.

Maybe it's the background color ...

My passport needs to be renewed in a couple months, so today I had passport photos taken.

The photographer snapped two different shots on a digital camera and asked which one I preferred. I looked at both pictures on his camera's viewscreen and winced. "Want me to take another?" the guy asked.

"Nah," I sighed. "It wouldn't make a difference."

The guy laughed. "Don't worry, nobody likes their passport picture."

We've all heard that one before, right? Usually it's the driver's license photo that people cringe over, but apparently the same principle applies to passports. In my case, my driver's license picture actually came out pretty well this past time. That's something, I guess. But the passport photos ... !!

Granted, the white background and the straight ahead, unsmiling pose really isn't going to yield a shot for anyone's modeling portfolio ... but still ...

Well. All I can say is ... it's just as well that not many people have to see it!

Yeesh.

Nothing unusual about these ...

Just three shiny little red-orange balls -- just the right size for juggling. Doesn't everyone keep a set of these at their desk at work?


Ah, but they are much more than mere juggling balls! These fellas are exerballs -- "exercise juggling balls".

And they're heavy.

They're sold in weights ranging from one pound to maybe two and a half pounds -- I don't remember for sure anymore, but I think mine are about a pound and a half each. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me, that's plenty. I once tried juggling the two-and-a-half-pounders, and the sheer impact of the balls landing in my palms sent shock waves through my wrists and up my forearms (not to mention that I could hardly stand to keep them in the air for more than about ten seconds). So I'll stick with my little orange guys.

My coworkers are used to my little juggling breaks, but newcomers are always surprised at first when they see me juggling and turning red in the face from the effort. Then I toss one of balls to them. Oof! Ha! Bit of a nasty shock, but it definitely clears up the situation for them.

It's something to do when I'm running a build or waiting for something to reboot. Or just as a random break in my afternoon, if my upper arms don't kill enough for some reason.

I think juggling exerballs definitely counts as "weight bearing exercise", too, so that's a bonus.

Lunchtime plus

It turns out that a small handful of my coworkers are home brewers, and two of them brought in sample ales. So at around noon, we gathered for a taste-test in the kitchen. One of the brews was a nice flavorful ginger-honey ale, though again, someone poured more into my mug than I would have poured for myself. He didn't fill it up or anything even close, but still. I know, I didn't have to actually drink all of it ... but I did.

And even with just those few sips, I was loopy for the next hour! I'm not even kidding, I kept making these really dopey coding mistakes over and over. The third time I ran my program and found yet another really stupid little error I actually started to giggle a little, but I quit that in a hurry because the last thing I need is for my coworkers to think I get tipsy on a quarter of a coffee mug of beer!

What I do get, though, is headaches when I drink even a minuscule amount of alcohol on an empty stomach, so I had to eat my lunch right after drinking those two ounces of beer.

My lunch was some leftovers from a great Thai place near where we live, and the name of the dish was "drunken noodles". It was flat noodles with lots of veggies and basil, and was delicious. Still, I thought was a little funny to be eating a dish called "drunken noodles" right after a beer tasting (not a belly-laugh or anything, just a little smile kind of funny).

Anyway, I didn't get a headache, so the drunken noodles did their job (and were tasty too!).

Welcome to March ...

To celebrate the new month, we had a nice snowstorm! We got about a foot of new snow, and seeing as the last of the ice had just melted, it kinda shocked everyone (even though these kinds of late-season sneak-attack storms do happen!).

The morning after a snow fall does pose problems for bus takers, however (bus walking is much less advisable on these mornings, since a lot of walkways haven't been shoveled yet!). For example, here is the bus stop where I get the bus to work.


Yeah, that makes it a little difficult to stand at the stop. You could stand next to the curb in front of the snowdrift, but that leaves you sort of open to being spattered by road-slush as cars drive by. The usual technique is to kick out a few footholds in the snowdrift, climb up, and stand at the top of the snow drift in a King-of-the-mountain pose until the bus pulls up and then you jump down.

The gym I belong to was closed, so I went home after work and shoveled snow. We cleared out the car and two other on-street parking spaces (we park on the street). So calories were burned after all.

The bus stop was all nice and shoveled this morning, too, so that was good!

Happy March!