If I squint real hard I can pretend that this sugar-free hot chocolate that I’m drinking is the real deal. Sort of.

Last night we got about an inch of super fluffy fake-o Xmas-movie-style snow. It’s actually sticking around today thanks to the arctic winds blowing through. Supposedly it’s going to be 10 below tonight, which is rare around here. I’d better make sure that the heat is on in the basement. I’ll be exercising from home tonight if it’s that cold.

Speaking of exercising, I’m taking it up to a new level of science. Last week I tried spinning with Jeremie’s heart rate monitor and since I could monitor myself and stop before I got sick, it was a much more pleasant experience. I discovered, to my surprise, that it’s really easy to go way above my target heart rate while spinning. So, I ordered the Polar m32 monitor and it arrived today. It looks pretty cool and it came with a free bike mount for the monitor watch. I am very excited to try it.

Even more exciting .. my iPod Shuffle has left Ontario, CA and is now in Memphis. Scheduled delivery is Monday evening (after I’ve left for Madison) but I have hope that it will be here tomorrow. Puh-leez FedEx, I beg you.

There’s a noisy car honking outside my office window. Beep beep beep.

Rain, snow, back to rain. All in a few hours. Bizarre weather.

I would like to go to a coffee spot and have some nice coffee and write some cards. Perhaps even read a book. Maybe tonight. Then again, probably not.

It took almost an hour to get the order through, but I successfully ordered the shiny new Apple iPod Shuffle. 1GB, of course. I am so excited. I hope it comes before I leave for Madison. Given that my trip is just less than 2 weeks away, I have my doubts. I really hope that the Shuffle kicks the pants off of my 128 mb Rio. I expect it will.

When I woke up this morning, it was raining.
On the way to work it had changed over to little ice pellets. I would call it hail, but I think they were a little small to be considered hail.
Now, magic window shows snowflakes. Too bad it won’t stick. We’re having crap for winter because I bought snowshoes. My parents are getting 12 inches today.

Wintry mix indeed

Why do I do this to myself? A few days ago I got a message from my host that I should upgrade my install of WordPress. I knew this would not be problem-free (oh ho ho) so I put it off until today. I’m so perceptive I should charge people for my brilliant insight. Seriously, I thought I was going to throw up this morning after about an hour of working on this stuff and convincing myself that I broke it beyond repair. The new Kubrick code is a lot easier to install on a clean install and a little bit of a bitch to upgrade, especially since i was a wee 5 iterations behind the times. You won’t notice anything different, I think, but if you find anything broken or acting strange please let me know.

I think I’m going to go out and look for some winter boots I can use for snowshoeing. Even though we’re still in a state of no snow. Global warming, my left foot!

Heat wave on the East coast! The high today in Stamford was a whopping 58 F, so Jeremie and I decided to go hiking at the Devil’s Den preserve in Weston, CT. When we got there the small parking lot was packed to the gills but the preserve is big enough that once you start hiking you only come across other people every once in awhile. There was quite a bit of mud but that was greatly overweighed by the no-bugs factor.

The temperature made it very hard to believe that it is January and not April. So far, not looking good for the snowshoeing.

That’s the song I have stuck in my head right now. I got Jeremie’s sister Adena the new/double re-release of Mike Doughty’s Skittish/Rockity Roll for Chanukkah and we listened to it in the car on the way to lunch. When I got it for her I picked one up for myself as well and I highly recommend you get one for yourself if you have the means. It is double plus good.

Oy, people. Can you believe this tsunami business? Please be generous and pull out your checkbooks and credit cards and make a donation to the aid organization of your choice. If the thought of helping people doesn’t get you going, think tax credit. Amazon has an easy way to make payments to the Red Cross but you can also do so through the Red Cross website. If you have employer matching on charitable donations, don’t forget to fill out the necessary paperwork!

Sleep well.

27,656 2004 Elite Qualifying Miles

My miles from EWR-CDG posted today, so as of tomorrow I am Silver Elite on Northwest for the next year. Hot.

I am crazy thirsty today. I definitely haven’t been drinking enough. I usually knock back 2.5-3 liters of water while I’m at work and I bet I haven’t had even 3 liters of water over the past 3 days. I should pay more attention to that.

Not much going on right now. Hanging out at Jeremie’s house before we go back to Ruthellen’s house for shiva. Jeremie’s Mom and Dad went over there around 2 but the idea of 7+ hours of sitting shiva was a little too much for the rest of us. It was nice, though, as nice as a shiva can be.
I am sleepy. Elias and Adena are watching Frontier House but I need to try and do some work. Cows on tv.

I am in a good mood today. That is all.