Weekend Update

I got an interesting start to my weekend when my toilet stopped flushing on Thursday night. The water swirled around but wouldn't actually go anywhere. I had already been thinking about taking Friday as a work-from-home day, so that pretty much nailed my decision. We do have the studio apartment we can use in a bathroom emergency, but this is not Little House on the Prairie. Traipsing across the yard to answer the call of nature is not acceptable as a long-term solution.

Friday ended up being super-productive. I started working at 6 am and finished the salary/benefits portion of next fiscal year’s budget just before 5 pm. I took about an hour in the middle of the day to wash the dishes, make banana bread and start the laundry, but other than that and opening the door so someone could come in and fix the toilet, I was head-down the whole day and by 5 pm I was hungry and brain-dead. But my portion of the budget is now done, I have clean clothes, tasty banana bread, AND my toilet is flushing normally—the problem was a partially clogged line. Apparently this isn’t an unusual problem in these older houses, where buildup accumulates in the pipes over the decades.

This morning I was up early and went for a run on approximately the same route as last week, starting with a loop around campus while waiting for the sun to come up before heading out toward Hermann Park, Rice University, and eventually Buffalo Bayou. At one point I encountered a group of runners, one of whom was running on one of those curved-blade prostheses that runners use. I’ve seen these in the running and triathlon magazines and of course there was the recent fuss over whether double-amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius was getting an unfair advantage from his prosthetic legs.

I had never seen anyone IRL with one of these, so my first instinct was to go chasing after the guy so I could tell him how cool his leg was and ask how it worked. Of course, I did no such thing. He might feel self-conscious about it. But it did get me thinking how far we’ve come in technology and as a society when the reaction to a prosthesis is: OMG! Cool alert! Lemme see, pleeeeez???

Oh, and did I mention the guy was nice to look at, too? Buff and blond, about half my age, but none of us is getting any younger, right? Right.

Moving right along, now.

My next-door neighbor, for reasons known only to her unemployed self, has decided to engage in home improvement projects. This would be good, except that they seem to always involve noisy power tools. I was very suspicious when we got back from having Indian food and there was a backhoe in front of her house and an assortment of lesser noisemakers in the yard. Nice. I was up at 6 am, ran 20 miles, and now I was going to be deprived of an afternoon nap? Luckily the noise didn’t start up right away and I was able to sleep for a couple hours, but if she’s fixing up the house to sell, I hope it gets purchased by Orthodox Jews. Then I can count on quiet Saturdays.

Just now, Tidbit managed to fall out of her litterbox. I have no idea how she accomplished this, since it’s a high-wall box and she fell out of the side. She lay on the floor for a few seconds with a surprised look on her face, until I put her back on her feet, watched her hop around, then gave her a treat and rubbed her ears. I love you, Tid. Even if you are a klutz.

Recent Workouts
Monday: 35 minute elliptical, abs
Tuesday: 6 mile run
Wednesday: 40 minute spin, abs
Thursday: 30 minute elliptical
Friday: scheduled rest day
Saturday: 20 mile run