I am a geek. I love geeks. And this photo.

Happy Friday, all. I'm off to go label some office equipment.

Just show up.

Just as much as I like a solo bike ride, swim or run (lately, I can't say the same for just going to the gym)... I also really enjoy coached track workouts, spin classes and Crossfit (starting back up again in a month!). You just show up and do whatever you're told to do... and, provided you put in your 100%, you get better. Of course, that's not to say that sometimes it's challenging to pick yourself up and GO, especially if you know it's going to be a tough workout.

From RoadBikeReview's newsletter -

Wicked Wednesdays

Every Wednesday evening, my bike club hosts an interval workout on a hill at the local university. The climb takes 5-6 minutes and we do it 6 times. Rain or shine. Darkness or daylight. Forest fire or student protest.

Our coach refers to these sessions as Level 5 or anaerobic threshold workouts. Even if you pace it perfectly -- negative splits, each interval faster than the last -- it hurts. I'm talking root-canal, tax-audit, "I-think-we-should-start-seeing-other-people" pain.

I begin dreading Wednesday evenings around bedtime Tuesday. By Wednesday lunchtime, I'm feeling nausea that has nothing to do with my midday meal of organic yam and raw kale from my Biggest Loser lunchbox.

Then I show up at the workout and scan the group to see what fresh dose of humiliation awaits. Last week it was the 65-year-old guy who dropped me like a tub of Grecian Formula. It was inspiring. Really.

A few weeks ago it was the one-armed dude. OK, he had 2 arms, but one was in a sling. He flew past me like a, um, person with fully functioning body parts.

Did I mention the 50-something mom? The 15-year-old lad who I swear was on training wheels last month? Both quicker than me. A fellow could choke on all this inspiration.

Why keep at it? Like most cyclists, I'm stubborn, masochistic and a little delusional. All this toil and trouble have to make us stronger, right?

Plus, I do eventually finish ahead of some people -- the ones who come to one Wednesday and never return.

I may not be fast, but I'm pretty good at one thing: showing up.

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(If you enjoy reading Scott Martin, the eBook Spin Again contains 181 of his witty, sometimes wacky, and occasionally heart-felt observations on road cycling. Click here to enjoy 3 classic Spins again and place your order for instant delivery by download.)

Extra stuff be gone!!!

I need to do some massive de-cluttering/getting rid of stuff/organizing . My apartment is tiny, which means I don't really have that much extra stuff, but I would to prefer to get rid of things I don't use and live more simply and with less clutter. 

Unfortunately, I am feeling tons of guilt about throwing things away! There are environmental reasons, sentimental, and tons of other excuses for holding on to unnecessary stuff. Reading the post linked below helped me out with some of that... honestly, the "finding a new home" sounds like the best solution, but also the most involved. And I want this to be as quick and painless as possible. Yes, I am lazy. (Which is why I'm totally rewarding myself with a cleaning service post-declutter.)

Also, starting this project is daunting. I'm hoping to go with the one-drawer-at-a-time approach, but if anyone thinks that just making a weekend of it would be better, please comment! I need help!

The Wastefulness of Decluttering; or How to Make Less Count for More

Saving water at Portland International Airport

Portland International Airport (PDX, for you frequent fliers out there) is pretty great, as airports go. A few local (read: non-Sbux) coffee shops, a "Shop Oregon" store and some decent restaurants. I used to spend a LOT of time there, back in my Silicon Valley days.

PDX is now saving 177,000 gallons of water EVERY EFFING DAY by upgrading their toilets to those super cool dual flushers.

I wanted to get an idea of what 177,000 gallons of water really looks like, since it's hard to imagine - and really, if we don't get what kind of difference we're making, it's really tough to appreciate the statistic. So, I Googled 177,000 gallons of water. I didn't really think anything would come of this one, but...it turns out that Norwalk Maritime Aquarium (listed on the Best Things to do in Westport, CT site) houses 177,000 gallons of water.

The Maritime Aquarium is approximately 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) and has more than 177,000 gallons of water in its live animal exhibits. On exhibit are more than 2,000 marine animals and reptiles representing in excess of 300 species.  

So yeah, an aquarium holds 177,000 gallons of water. PDX is saving that amount DAILY. That's a lot of aquatic habitat, people. Cheers to you, PDX!

Dude. I'm a local.

Ok, I'm not about to claim OG status, but I'm not a tourist, either.

(Not that I hate tourists. Ok, some of them... like the ones that don't follow bike traffic common courtesy on the Bridge and the one that hit my friend HW and caused her to break her elbow. The rest are welcome anytime.)

Also, woo-hoo overturning of Prop 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iceland PM weds partner as gay marriage legalized

Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir officially marries partner on the day gay marriage is legalized

By Associated Press

 

Iceland's prime minister has married her partner under a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.
One of her advisers, Hrannar B. Arnarsson, said Monday Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir and writer Jonina Leosdottir were officially married Sunday, the day the law came into force.

The pair has been in a registered partnership since 2002 and had applied to have it converted into a marriage under the new law. No ceremony was held.

The law was passed without a dissenting vote in Iceland's parliament June 11.

Social Democrat Sigurdardottir, 68, became Iceland's prime minister last year, after the previous center-right government was ousted by a wave of protest triggered by the country's economic crisis.

AP: "Oil Leak Wouldn't Fill Superdome" - Who Cares?

sad

online dating update...

1. getting fewer emails from guys who don't fit my geographic preferences, which is great
2. was emailing back and forth with a guy for while who seemed pretty cool, but i haven't heard from him in a few days. i don't really get excited about anyone that i've never met in person, so i'm not concerned about it. i may write him a little hello later, i may not. this indifference probably shows through in my emails and may be one of the reasons why i haven't gone out with anyone yet.
3. i have a variety of pictures up on my profile - sporty, silly, dressed up, casual. a (guy) friend who's also on okcupid read my profile through and said that it was different from a lot of other women on the site - he said that pretty much every other profile states something about how she's comfortable at a baseball game or the opera, jeans and a tshirt or an evening gown... that sort of thing. instead, i've chosen to show that with pictures. so what do i get? a one liner from a guy who says, "it looks like there are three different girls in your pics. how am i supposed to know which one is you?" uh.... yeah. obviously the swim goggles aren't a permanent fixture, nor is the pink wig.*sigh*

so yeah, okc may be on the way out, unless i email with someone that i really want to meet in person. tough to compare online and in-person. just had an awesome hour-long phone conversation last night with a guy i met out on thursday night. what?!? i don't even like talking on the phone. and it's been a long ass time since i've talked to a guy for any length of time*. we're going out on friday. we'll see. i think this may be the second (maybe third?) time i've actually gone out with a guy that i randomly met at a bar.

*you may recall the triathlete? he was the most awkward phone person of all time. after our first 10 minute conversation (i generally limit my long social calls to a handful of friends and my mom), i hung up the phone feeling confused. i waited a few minutes. thought about what a strange call i just experienced... and then called him back to ask him if something was up or if both of us were just being awkward. he confessed that he is really bad on the phone, that it wasn't me. i never called him again. texted to do last-minute planning, email for a little communication and then talked in person.

Summer red wine recommendations from SFGate...

I like wine. I like wine year-round. I like chewy reds and crisp whites. I like pairing wine with food, I like wine alone. I like the smell and the taste and...

I also like this line,

 Americans have some peculiar beliefs about red wine, not the least of which is that bigger is better. In a world of linebackers, lighter red wines are the misfits in the hallway, the ones getting all emo and wearing black nail polish.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/20/FDVP1E05RQ.DTL&type=wine#ixzz0rbEw4Z5k

Words of wisdom for today...

1. I ran through the park today. It's great on Sundays - there's a fairly long stretch that's closed to cars. Also means it's a great spot to take kids out who are learning to ride their bikes. However, if you put a bicycle helmet on your child (and, despite the fact that I'm mostly fine and rode around helmetless until age 22, they should wear a helmet), the front should be parallel to the ground and the chinstrap should be fairly snug. After seeing so many kids with their helmets on wrong... backwards, unsnapped at the bottom, far back on their head - fully exposing their entire forehead... I'm convinced that those safety stats that say that helmets are useless should go back and look at how the helmet was worn, prior to the accident.

And yeah, I see it on adults - the helmet really far back, mostly. I kind of feel like they're just being idiots and the kids don't have a choice in the matter.

2. DO NOT do this:

1. Go for a sweaty 10 mile run 
2. Come home and juice ALL remaining fruits and vegetables in your fridge, so that you don't "waste" anything while you're on vacation for the next week
3. Chug said concoction because you're thirsty 

Because...You WILL throw up (a little) in the shower

Ok, maybe that would have worked if I didn't have a bunch of kale, two stalks of broccoli, a little spinach, two apples, one lemon, one beet, two carrots, 0.5 cucumber, half a bunch of radishes. Yeah. Totally gross. That's not to say that juicing is always gross, mind you. The beet, carrot, apple and spinach would have worked just fine. Or some kale and broccoli and other things.

Anyway... vacation awaits...taking my mom on an Alaskan cruise to see the glaciers! (Yes, it's pretty much the best birthday present EVER.)