Another lovely relaxing Fall day - leaves are really bright with color. Slept in late this morning then headed out onto a nice 52 miler out into West Virginia and back, mostly to see the changing colors of the trees. I was pissed at myself when I realized about 5 miles into it that I forgot my camera.
Came home, took a nap on my deck while reading a book It's Not About the Tapas, by Polly Evans - fantastic book (did not put me to sleep, was the 75 degree Fall air, exhaustion...oh so relaxing). The book is about a woman who decided to quit her job and go to Spain and cycle the country, and adopt the countryside for fun, food, cycling. My kinda gal:
I'm finishing up the editorial ends of my stoopid cookbook - and all recipe pages have been designed. Time for me to finish writing the intro and epilogue. The rest speaks for itself.
Looking forward to another relaxing day tomorrow. Life is Good.
Came home, took a nap on my deck while reading a book It's Not About the Tapas, by Polly Evans - fantastic book (did not put me to sleep, was the 75 degree Fall air, exhaustion...oh so relaxing). The book is about a woman who decided to quit her job and go to Spain and cycle the country, and adopt the countryside for fun, food, cycling. My kinda gal:- "After working for four years at a London book publisher, Polly Evans moved to Hong Kong where she spent many happy hours as a senior editor on the city's biggest entertainment weekly. But fighting deadlines from a twizzly office chair and free use of the coffee machine seemed just too easy. So Polly exchanged the shiny red cabs of Hong Kong for a more demanding form of transport – a bicycle – and set off on a voyage of discovery around Spain.
From the thigh-burning ascents of the Pyrenees to the relentless olive groves of Andalusia, Polly found more adventures that she had bargained for. She survived a nail-biting encounter with a sprightly pig, escaped over-zealous suitors, had her morality questioned by the locals, encountered some dubious aficionados on the road and indulged her love of regional cooking. While she pedalled, Polly pondered some of the more lurid details of Spanish history, for example, the king who collected pickled heads, the queen who toured the country with her husband's mouldering corpse, and the unfortunate duchess who lost her feet. And wherever she cycled, she ate and ate – and yet still she shrank out of her trousers.
It’s Not about the Tapas is funny, irreverent and inspiring. It will establish Polly Evans as one of the most exciting new voices in female travel writing."
I'm finishing up the editorial ends of my stoopid cookbook - and all recipe pages have been designed. Time for me to finish writing the intro and epilogue. The rest speaks for itself.
Looking forward to another relaxing day tomorrow. Life is Good.
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There is sometimes reprise in certain things, after yesterday's shitty day at work, it partially carried over again today, but things calmed down in the afternoon today. Work just sped by with trying to get things done before the weekend. We even left the office a little early - I was happy to get out there and go for a long ass ride.
Headed out towards Purcellville - just after sunset, then it was Blair Witch Project night cycling again. Totalled 44 miles, all in all...I saw only 3 cyclists, 1 runner, 24 deer, 2 foxes, 12 rabbits, 1 oppossum, and one pig. Well, I'm kidding about the pig, but I did have an encounter with the Leesburg Police. On my way back, I was just finishing passing Leesburg and up ahead, I see a set of tail lights - then was like...oh crap. Now what. He sped up and then disappeared. I was like, phew. Then about 10 minutes later, I see these really bright lights heading towards me. A police cruizer in the bike path. I slowed up and he approached slow then flickered his lights to gesture for me to stop. He rolled down his window and the conversation went like this:
LF (Leesburg Finest): "How are you doing, enjoying your ride?"
FOC (Freaked out cyclist): "Uh, yea..."
LF: "Have you seen anybody out here on the trail tonight, or anything suspicious?"
FOC: "Um, other than a cyclist I saw back about a mile..."
LF: "Yea, I saw him...."
FOC: "....and a lot of deer, but no, nothing suspicious..."
LF: "Reason I ask is that we are looking for a couple of maybe just kids, out here, that clipped a woman in her car, and may be running down the trail..."
FOC: "Well, I have only seen a few cyclists - out training or commuting, and a few foxes..."
LF: "Do you have a cell phone?"
FOC: "Absolutely, why?"
LF: "Give us a call if you see anything suspicious..."
FOC: "um, sure"
LF: "...and enjoy your ride, sir. That's a really cook bike, have fun and be safe"
FOC: "Thanks, Sir..."
Then I biked off. Strange. I was worried that I was going to get a lecture...or even a ticket for cycling on the trail after dark (technically, you're not supposed to be on the trail after dark, but no one enforces it, and we are harmless).
Welp, the weekend is finally here. Thank effin goodness. I plan to relax, cook, cycle, do domestic shit, watch a few DVDs, work on my cookbook. Just relax.
photo by d. scott gregory Blair Witch Cycling click on photo to enlarge |
LF (Leesburg Finest): "How are you doing, enjoying your ride?"
FOC (Freaked out cyclist): "Uh, yea..."
LF: "Have you seen anybody out here on the trail tonight, or anything suspicious?"
FOC: "Um, other than a cyclist I saw back about a mile..."
LF: "Yea, I saw him...."
FOC: "....and a lot of deer, but no, nothing suspicious..."
LF: "Reason I ask is that we are looking for a couple of maybe just kids, out here, that clipped a woman in her car, and may be running down the trail..."
FOC: "Well, I have only seen a few cyclists - out training or commuting, and a few foxes..."
LF: "Do you have a cell phone?"
FOC: "Absolutely, why?"
LF: "Give us a call if you see anything suspicious..."
FOC: "um, sure"
LF: "...and enjoy your ride, sir. That's a really cook bike, have fun and be safe"
FOC: "Thanks, Sir..."
Then I biked off. Strange. I was worried that I was going to get a lecture...or even a ticket for cycling on the trail after dark (technically, you're not supposed to be on the trail after dark, but no one enforces it, and we are harmless).
Welp, the weekend is finally here. Thank effin goodness. I plan to relax, cook, cycle, do domestic shit, watch a few DVDs, work on my cookbook. Just relax.
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Sitting here for 10 minutes staring at the blinking cursor, for me to type - finally decided to type something. It's been an exhausting week, a frustrating week. I'm tired. I won't bitch about the typical bullshit I endured today, but it is just wearing on me. I find myself these past few days and weeks cycling harder and harder after work to destress, because the stress at work has escalated beyong imaginable proportions - which in turn makes my day go longer, I come home later, and I'm more tired. I try to finish up all the things I need to do to try to "rest" before I head back into the office to endure it all over again.
So to sum up:
I went to work, and spent the day crisis after crisis putting out fires while having ABBA breathe down my neck, being the Neopolean complex bipolar drama queen, with a complete self-centered sense of idiocy, every word that comes out of his mouth enforces a lack of respect for me and my staff, crushing in any way he can any thread left of the already -500% level of morale, then giving "the shocker" of a fistfull of fingers of his irrational fear of lack-of-productivity and pure lack of confidence. Arrghhh. So as a result, we had yet another employee give notice today - because of his schenanigans. 2 this week. We are now completely understaffed, and stress is paramount. We barely have time to even interview new candidates, then before they accept an offer, they back of when they find out how crappy the "benefits" are. In my count, we have lost as many as the amount we have hired in the past 1.75 years, yet the amount of work has gone staggaring above the charts.
Time for me to put my hands in the air like I just don't care.
I finished up work, and went out on my damn training ride - FU office, I'll cycle 50 miles tonight if I damn well need to do to destress from this day. So I did. I biked a fucking 1/2 Century tonight, mind you, in the dark, and cold. It was a nice ride tho - nobody out there, crisp air, moonlit, lots of deer, and time to think.
Came home, nuked some leftovers and turned on the tv while watering plants. Watched exactly 15 minutes of tv and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up near the end of ER (damn, missed it).
Well...another day awaits me...time to work on my cookbook, to continue to destress........
So to sum up:
I went to work, and spent the day crisis after crisis putting out fires while having ABBA breathe down my neck, being the Neopolean complex bipolar drama queen, with a complete self-centered sense of idiocy, every word that comes out of his mouth enforces a lack of respect for me and my staff, crushing in any way he can any thread left of the already -500% level of morale, then giving "the shocker" of a fistfull of fingers of his irrational fear of lack-of-productivity and pure lack of confidence. Arrghhh. So as a result, we had yet another employee give notice today - because of his schenanigans. 2 this week. We are now completely understaffed, and stress is paramount. We barely have time to even interview new candidates, then before they accept an offer, they back of when they find out how crappy the "benefits" are. In my count, we have lost as many as the amount we have hired in the past 1.75 years, yet the amount of work has gone staggaring above the charts.
Time for me to put my hands in the air like I just don't care.
I finished up work, and went out on my damn training ride - FU office, I'll cycle 50 miles tonight if I damn well need to do to destress from this day. So I did. I biked a fucking 1/2 Century tonight, mind you, in the dark, and cold. It was a nice ride tho - nobody out there, crisp air, moonlit, lots of deer, and time to think.
Came home, nuked some leftovers and turned on the tv while watering plants. Watched exactly 15 minutes of tv and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up near the end of ER (damn, missed it).
Well...another day awaits me...time to work on my cookbook, to continue to destress........
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Another beautiful Fall day.
Another shitty day at work.
Another amazing training ride, 44 miles.
Another relaxing evening.
Another day.
/not a haiku
Another shitty day at work.
Another amazing training ride, 44 miles.
Another relaxing evening.
Another day.
/not a haiku
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What a long, stressful, day - but a nice evening. Weather was splendid - just a warm Fall day, perky skys, gentle breeze. But work was the paramount stress factor - continued drama residual from yesterday.
Took a nice 44 mile training ride, albeit in the dark - it was really pleasant cycling out to Shirlington and back, pockets of cool and warm air. Cycling thru the 'burbs, wafts of the scents of steak and dryer sheets - glimpses of people through the amber light coming from their homes, doing whatevva they are doing.
Came home, took a shower and went on a quick date with tri-gal to a local restaraunt - great company, great food, but we were both exhausted and called it an early night (is 11pm an early night?)
More work drama tomorrow - but at least hump day.
Took a nice 44 mile training ride, albeit in the dark - it was really pleasant cycling out to Shirlington and back, pockets of cool and warm air. Cycling thru the 'burbs, wafts of the scents of steak and dryer sheets - glimpses of people through the amber light coming from their homes, doing whatevva they are doing.
Came home, took a shower and went on a quick date with tri-gal to a local restaraunt - great company, great food, but we were both exhausted and called it an early night (is 11pm an early night?)
More work drama tomorrow - but at least hump day.
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Happy Halloween!
Wokeup somewhat exhausted this morning, didn't sleep well. Had a dark feeling of the day, in more ways than one. Daylight savings time was going to have a severe impact of my cycling - heading out while dark after work to bike for 2+ hours IN the dark, didn't bode well...at least until Spring. And it was Halloween (which ordinarilly I love) - but there was something freaky about the trifecta effect. I headed into the office and there was a fucked up stillness in the air - something was up. Well, found out quickly after I made an attempt to log into my computer - zero internet access. I knew it was eventually was gonna happen, our company has been flirting with the idea of having a closed intranet structure - no access to the outside world. But without a contingency plan, or a way for folks like me in my position and my responsibilities....I was looking at a day of 95% inactivity - a complete impact on what I can do without access. So that was my workday - no way to get to my email to deal with the clients we support, no way to access the net to do my standard research and whatnot for the continual projects that I manage, and more importantly, to be able to access the websites that our company manages, to test for the requests we have to change, et al. SO what was I to do? Just sit and steam. Was a frustrating day. Until "management" decided it was a wrong move - there was nothing they could do, gave us a few computers with access, but no way to transfer things between computers. Oh the drama. so after a full afternoon of frustration, they decided to let us go early at about 5pm.
It was just about to go sundown, so I hurried to suit up and bike out to Purcellville with a fully charged battery for my lights, and dressed down - it was about 71 degrees as I left.
It was a beautiful sunset and I was sailing out west - was hitting pockets of warmth and cool spots, then it became dark. I was heading thru Leesburg and noticed that I'd only seen 2 other folks out on the trail - obviously Halloween. Things started to spook me, with the leaves being crunched upon with deer, then a dude in a trench coat walking on the trail - scared the shit out of me. Then a final fright....another cyclist snuck up behind me...and cleared his throat while trying to say Hello...sounded like the devil....he saddled up and we biked out to Hamilton before he got off the trail. The funny thing was that after a few miles, we stopped off at an intersection, I looked over...he was wearing a full body Spiderman costume over his cycling clothes, complete with mask (under helmet). Bout freaked me out. He commutes to work daily and biked into work wearing that costume...then was heading home to go trick or treating with his kids. I found it amusing.
Wokeup somewhat exhausted this morning, didn't sleep well. Had a dark feeling of the day, in more ways than one. Daylight savings time was going to have a severe impact of my cycling - heading out while dark after work to bike for 2+ hours IN the dark, didn't bode well...at least until Spring. And it was Halloween (which ordinarilly I love) - but there was something freaky about the trifecta effect. I headed into the office and there was a fucked up stillness in the air - something was up. Well, found out quickly after I made an attempt to log into my computer - zero internet access. I knew it was eventually was gonna happen, our company has been flirting with the idea of having a closed intranet structure - no access to the outside world. But without a contingency plan, or a way for folks like me in my position and my responsibilities....I was looking at a day of 95% inactivity - a complete impact on what I can do without access. So that was my workday - no way to get to my email to deal with the clients we support, no way to access the net to do my standard research and whatnot for the continual projects that I manage, and more importantly, to be able to access the websites that our company manages, to test for the requests we have to change, et al. SO what was I to do? Just sit and steam. Was a frustrating day. Until "management" decided it was a wrong move - there was nothing they could do, gave us a few computers with access, but no way to transfer things between computers. Oh the drama. so after a full afternoon of frustration, they decided to let us go early at about 5pm.
It was just about to go sundown, so I hurried to suit up and bike out to Purcellville with a fully charged battery for my lights, and dressed down - it was about 71 degrees as I left.
It was a beautiful sunset and I was sailing out west - was hitting pockets of warmth and cool spots, then it became dark. I was heading thru Leesburg and noticed that I'd only seen 2 other folks out on the trail - obviously Halloween. Things started to spook me, with the leaves being crunched upon with deer, then a dude in a trench coat walking on the trail - scared the shit out of me. Then a final fright....another cyclist snuck up behind me...and cleared his throat while trying to say Hello...sounded like the devil....he saddled up and we biked out to Hamilton before he got off the trail. The funny thing was that after a few miles, we stopped off at an intersection, I looked over...he was wearing a full body Spiderman costume over his cycling clothes, complete with mask (under helmet). Bout freaked me out. He commutes to work daily and biked into work wearing that costume...then was heading home to go trick or treating with his kids. I found it amusing.
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Another repeat of yesterday.... slept in, biked out to Harpers Ferry and back, 52 miles...came home, took a nap...showered went on a quick coffee date...came home and dealt with domesticity issues, including a sick computer. Oy vay. Sunday night anxiety settles in.....another work week ahead.
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(Under development, I'm bashful)