Danskin Triathalon – Let the training begin

I have 2 friends that have talked me into doing the Danksin Triathlon coming up in June in Colorado.  I’m in pretty decent shape, I’m in the gym every day, I lift once a week and usually spin or run the other 4 days a week.  If the weather is nice, I hike or run outside on the weekends too.  Its the only thing that keeps me sane.

Well, I’m in decent bike/run shape, but I haven’t swam in YEARS.  I used to swim competitively when I was in high school, but that was about 2 decades ago.  So today, I decided to get wet.  I thought I might jump in the pool at the East Boulder Rec Center and swim with a women’s swim group, but when I arrived I learned that it was for paying members only and the class was full anyway.  So I got in the water and just swam laps.

I think I swam maybe about 40 minutes.  I took lots of breaks, griping the pool edge for dear life.  I learned that I have an old-school freestyle stroke, that I don’t remember how to swim SLOWLY, but I regularly lapped the other people in my lane (so I’m pretty fast still).

Right now, I feel like jello.  I can barely feel my legs and my head is spinning.  So I rewarded myself with about 6 Oreo Cookies, the only thing I could find that had fat content.  I didn’t think the carrots I brought were going to adequately replenish. Only 3.5 months to go to the Danskin.

Just between you and me, I know I’m in good shape, but I’m still nervous about this (which is why I’m doing it).  I don’t even really have a good reason!  Anyway, wish me luck…

Why Hollywood is so great

I used to hate Hollywood. The boob jobs, botox, name dropping, $2K on a dress, plastic Hollywood is not my style. But my sister lives in LA and she gave me an interesting perspective on Hollywood once. She said Hollywood is the only place ON EARTH where the impossible is completely possible. Think about it for a moment. If you have a weird deviant fantasy about pubescent turtles, that talk, and are ninja masters nonetheless, and you can make a ton of money on that idea – what other industry in the world supports such insanity? Of course!!! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Why didn’t I think of that?!?!?

Anyway, I came across this video on YouTube. You’ll need about 10 minutes to see both the first video (which will explain the second video) and the second. But this is so weird that I’m truly entertained. Thank you Hollywood.

The original video:

The response:

Managing my health, online

Gotta love Google (will you guys just hire me already?).

GoogleHealth has been throwing out teasers for a while.  Their service would allow an individual to manage or see their own health records all in one spot, online.  The trick will be getting the doctors and hospitals to make that data accessible, and as long as Google can put all their efforts into security (so my private health data remains private), I’m in.  I have no idea when my last tetnaus shot was, and can’t remember what I’ve done when.

If they do it correctly, Google can knock this one out of the park.

The right candidate for you

I’m not going to pretend I know a ton about politics, mostly because  I’m often overwhelmed by the amount of information available.

Enter Glassbooth.org.

You answer a few questions about what topics are important to you, then how you feel about those topics, and Glassbooth matches you with Presidential candidates with similar views/stances.  I’ve even just learned that I match a candidate I’ve never heard of before…

Missing your flight over 1 extra gram of lithium in that battery pack

Because taking off your shoes, belt, coat, and your computer out of it’s case isn’t hassle enough in the airport security lines, the TSA has issued new regulations concerning the type, quantity, and volume of batteries you can carry or check at the airport.

Here’s a quick overview:

• You can’t check spare batteries anymore (like for your camera, computer, cell phone, whatever), but you can check batteries that are installed in the device.
• You can carry on as many batteries as you like, as long as they contain less than 8 grams of lithium each.  HUH?  To figure out how much lithium is in those batteries, you’ll need to multiply the voltage by the mAh, then divide by 1000.  That will give you watt hours.  As long as your less than 100 watt hours, you’re okay.
• Alkaline or Nickel batteries aren’t a concern.

Don’t forget to pack your calculator since you’ll be doing math while waiting for that long security line.  Just make sure the battery is less than 100 watt hours!

Since gas was briefly over $100 a barrel yesterday, and the security at the airports is getting RIDICULOUS, I’m voting to increase spending on R&D for a transporter.  Star Trek had it right!

Language on a construction site

Warning – this posting is R rated.

As I sit here and drink wine with my husband and his best friend, both home builders on construction sites all day long, it has been brought to my attention why they guys on a construction site talk the way they talk.

Look at the kind of words that they deal with on a minute by minute basis:

stiff
caulk
hammer
pound
screw
drill
nail
wood
Dike (wire cutters)
Upskirt (a long stick with a mirror on the end of it so the guys can see in hard to reach places)
“fill the crack/seam with caulk”
“your caulk is dripping”
“Suck it in” (talking about pulling 2 boards close together)
“Oil the wood, then caulk it” – self explanatory
“Drive it deeper” (referring to nails, screws)
“Do you want the top or bottom?”  (trying to figure out who goes up the ladder and who stays on the ground)
“Blow the tools” (they use compressed air to blow the saw dust off the tools)
So of COURSE men on a construction site hoot and holler at women when the walk by!

I don’t know you but, hey, nice butt…

So many of you know I’ve been running around throwing a business idea I have against a wall to see if it will stick.  Well, Monday I had the pleasure of meeting this fabulous Boulder woman named Kim who listened diligently to my tale, provided me some great insight, and promised an introduction to a person that could be key for what I want to do.

Today, I was at the gym and ran into Kim again.  It always makes me wonder how many times you circle around someone before you actually meet him/her.  Anyway, we had a nice little chat in between bench press sets and wished each other well.  When I was finished with my workout, I headed off to the showers to keep my poor officemate Andy from hating my presence.

So there I am, in the shower, naked save my hot pink flip flops to keep the public-shower-feet-nasties away.  And in she walks.

So what exactly do you say in this situation?  I’ve had 1.2 conversations with Kim.  She seems nice enough, but now she’s seen parts of my body that my mother hasn’t even seen recently.  There must be some clever one-liner to spout out at this opportune moment to ease the tension.  Suggestions?

Map where Congress spends your tax dollar

Now you can see where Uncle Sam is spending your money, as plotted on a map! The Sunlight Foundation released a downloadable Google Earth layer that plots what it says are some 1,500 earmarks attached to a proposed U.S. House of Representatives defense spending bill. The Foundation describes its mission as promoting political transparency through use of Internet technologies.

Interesting indeed. If you don’t have Google Earth, it’s a free program you can downoad here.  Thanks to Quinn Buchanan for bringing this to my attention, and to News.com for reporting the story.

A Halloween Haiku by Yours Truly

In honor of today, which is one of my favorite holidays, I have written a halloween haiku for you.

My Halloween drink
is not a dark witches brew
rather tequila.

Happy Halloween!

A t-shirt that detects Wi-Fi

Thanks to Brad Feld (via some guy named Mark) that posted this.

How about a t-shirt that detects Wi-Fi for only $30! Wear this thing around and you’ll know if you’re near a Wi-Fi signal, and how strong the signal is. Who’s buying me one of these for Christmas?

Take the batteries out before you wash it though!