techno-jealousy

I'd like to preface this with the admission that I am a huge geek. (sort of...I used to actually be a computer geek, sans gaming, and then I went to college and technology really took off while I kept my 1996 hand-me-down desktop. I've fallen so far behind I've become a "user." My dad had to recover my pc for me when it crashed last year. He's a miracle worker; he managed to save all my music and photos.)

Lately I've been a little jealous of the sleek Mac Books (or iBooks or whatever the latest one is called). I love how light and thin they are. I love the little magnetic power plug (and I want to know how it works). I love the jewel-like graphics. I find the bubbly open-and-close a little annoying, and I dislike the commercials where the young and hip guy isn't nice to the pudgy middle aged guy, but I can overlook these things. 2/3 of my comps group has these little numbers, and I'm jealous that they don't consume 1/2 of their backpacks. Also, EW showed me how she can color code her iCal and file folders, and I want to color code too.

But I've always been a PC girl, and my laptop is only 6 months old, so I haven't been browsing options....until today. We had a group presentation and one of my group members brought their laptop. Its a newer version of mine, essentially the same computer, but with Windows Vista. And Office 2007. Its beautiful. It has lovely desktop features. Its WAY nicer than my circa 2003-release software. Instead of studying for my huge exam of Friday, I've spent the better part of the last hour browsing upgrading so my PC can have pretty software too, but its way out of my price range at the moment. Sigh. I hope MK brings his computer to class more often so I can drool from the next desk.

the crackberry

I cut class for the first time in grad school today. I just couldn't go. My prof wasn't there anyway, and was sending a PhD student as a guest speaker. I'm sure he was good, but I couldn't do it. I went to the gym instead (this was way more appealing, and will also allow me to go home after class at 9, instead of rolling in at 11 pm all gross and still unshowered). I'm not going to revert to my undergrad days and make a habit of this, but man it felt good.

Karma did nab me a smidge and I had to run with a flimsy hairtie and floppy hair. Granted, I did pack my bag this morning instead of last night, but I bet its somehow divine punishment anyway. I have NO IDEA how people run -- or do anything hot -- with their hair down. The one piece I couldn't get to stay back was driving me batty, not to mention the parts sticking to my neck. Yuck. Gross.

Anyway....while I was on the treadmill (I cannot wait for warmer weather/later sunshine) I noticed the girl next to me had a blackberry....sitting on the ledge (like where one would put an ipod or similar)...and she had an ipod too, so it wasn't some new fangled musical one or something. Now the kicker...she kept checking it!! What the HELL is so important it can't wait 30 or 40 minutes till you're off the treadmill? She looked young, maybe 19, but even if she's somehow way older, what can't wait? I don't ever want to be that tied to my email. Ever. (I check it like 34242 times a day as it is....)

insanity in the snow

I thought I was a little ridiculous this morning since, rather than waiting for the weather to pass, I left my apartment at 7:40 this morning to make it to the gym more or less in time for work (under the assumption that everyone would be a little late anyway). Then I saw a guy out running.

It was still sleeting a bit.
There's 3 inches of snow covered with a layer of ice on the ground.
Philadelphia appearently doesn't believe in snowplows.
I fell (and am admitting it) walking to campus wearing my snowboots.

How the HELL was he running?

I thought the people who've been out running the last couple of weeks were a little crazy. I admire their dedication -- and cold tolerance -- but I'll stay partial to the treadmill when conditions call for any gear commonly associated with snowsports. This guy though, running on ice with winddriven sleet pelting your face...that's not dedication, that's insanity...

with the money that will be spent on this

You could feed the homeless of at least one city for what I'm sure consumers will blow on this one....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17120663/

"...a sweat-free four-minute workout that will give you the same results as a grueling 90-minute session at the local gym."
"four minutes aboard her company’s machine is equivalent to 45 minutes of resistance training, 30 minutes of running and 20 minutes of stretching."

sorry folks, nothing is equivilent to 30 min of running but 30 min of running (not that there's not similar cardio that is, well, similar)....and how the hell do you speed up stretching?

sigh.

So many better things those marketing dollars could be spent on.

good and bad ideas

Across the weekend

Friday
good idea:
making cupcakes
bad idea:
making cupcakes on an empty stomach

Saturday
good idea:
going to the most productive (yet still enjoyable) practice you've attended in years
bad idea:
having a small breakfast and not bringing a post-practice snack, so that by the time you've arrived home to work on school stuff, despite the fact its Saturday afternoon (sigh), you are literally nauseous from hunger.

Sunday
good idea:
doing your long run in the evening so you can be productive (eg. read for class x2, draft a paper, and attend a comps meeting, and go grocery shopping and make dinner for mon/tues) during the day
bad idea:
eating a cupcake and cookie during the meeting which is conveniently scheduled over dinnertime, then running 10 miles on a 1 pm lunch and said dessert items. (lack of nutrients + high fat content = unhappy tummy)

oh wow

how I want a cupcake

I also have this urge to make cupcakes and send them to Katy and see if I can beat the cupcake shop. Considering I've never made a cupcake (well, I probably helped my mom when I was a kid, but I don't really recall it and they probably came from mix), I might need to do a few practice runs first. Shame. teehee. Maybe this will replace cookies for my Friday-or-Sunday afternoon baking project.

brrrrrrr

It is incredibly cold.

Its currently 11 degrees here, with a windchill of 10 below. The high -- 19 degrees, with a wind chill of 3. Granted, I shouldn't be complaining. It was in the 50s until, oh, 3 week ago. And I could be in Madison or Ann Arbor, where the wind chill is another 10 degrees lower......and that's not going to happen.

So Mom, I think you'll be happy -- I've officially deleted the job/HR sites of Michigan and Wisconsin from my favorite places and will no longer be considering jobs in the upper-middle portion of the country, as appearently I am a huge pussy about the cold. (Also, side note, thank goodness for treadmills, or I wouldn't be getting any cardio exercise for quite some time, seeing as we're not forecast to break freezing until at least Friday).

Lets blame it on the 5 years I spent in Texas. Wind chills in the 40s don't even make the map!

(Also, side note #2: I just noticed the wind chill in central IL is 20 below. Moments like this I thank the heavens that I left my plant job -- I don't even want to think about spending the day working around the stills or --eek-- loadout (which was right on the river) in this kind of cold.)