Oops

Well, I decided not to sign up for Tahoe 2008 with Team in Training. Instead, I will keep cycling and do one of their fall events. I will do Tahoe again in 2009.

I'm up too late again. I was trying to get into bed earlier and earlier but that didn't happen tonight. :(

I accidentally locked my cat in the closet today. She has this way of stealthily hiding in the closet when I get my coat. Somewhere in the back of my mind as I closed the house door today I only saw one cat but it didn't occur to me to find the other cat. So my second cat, Ginger, was in the coat closet all day.

Unfortunately, my husband made it home before me and found the cat. Boy was he ticked. Luckily, she hadn't shredded anything or ruined his electronic stuff so he got over it pretty quickly.

I know she likes to go in there as soon as the door opens and I usually catch her but not this morning. I feel bad for her but this isn't the first time she's been locked in that closet by mistake. You would think she would figure out its dangerous for her to go in there.

Anyway, she acted kind of weird when she finally got out; a little confused. She curled up with me though, so I guess she's not too traumatized.

About an hour ago she came upstairs and jumped on the coffee table with her favorite string in her mouth. That's unusual for her. I've taught her the fundamentals of fetch but she's never brought her toy from another floor.

I was in the middle of a battle on World of Warcraft when she appeared. I felt so bad for her that I went AFK and played with my cat for about 10 minutes. I figured after her time in the closet she needed to romp and play.

I spun the string around in the kitchen so fast and long that we both fell over.

Okay well it's after midnight and I have to get to bed.

See ya.

Unanswered Prayers

Last topic of the evening:

I was listening to the radio the other day and that Garth Brooks song Unanswered Prayers was playing. That song always annoys me because as a self-proclaimed Christian I just don't believe there's any such thing as an unanswered prayer. Sometimes the answer is no, but there's always an answer.

Why do people (most of them it seems to me) want to think God doesn't say no. If God is the all knowing parent figure then we are Her children. Sometimes its a parents job to say no.

Okay, those are my pet peeves for the evening. I have to stop having caffeine after 3:00.

SUVs

On the topic of SUVs, barely referenced in my last post:

I hate SUVs. Of course I do, I'm a bleeding heart liberal. They're so big and seems like they don't care who they nearly run off the road. For the most part they are gas guzzling, earth killing, wastes of space. I realize there are people who need to haul stuff, but to use it for commuting is absolutely irresponsible; excepting hybrids of course. At least those folks are trying.

Health Care Crisis

I just saw a story on the news about people spending 3 hours in an ER waiting room. One was having seizures and the other had a potentially fatal blood clot in her leg. Hospital administrators apologized while on ER doctor said things are only going to get worse because the hospitals are understaffed and underfunded. Apparently, there's a threat of one hospital in the area closing down due to lack of funding, which will overburden the remaining area hospitals.

I think this is a direct result of not enough people having medical insurance. People without insurance don't go to the doctor until they are in crisis and then they go to the ER. These people are harder to treat because their problem has had time to fester. That raises costs.

I also think the health care crisis and other problems can be linked to overcrowding on earth. Quite a while back when I was in college we read of a study social scientists did with rats. There were two rat habitats: the first had population control measures in place and the second was allowed to procreate uncontrollably.

Scientists noted that in the first habitat rats were kinder to each other, they helped one another, brought food to the sick ones that were unable to get to the food area, the rats were polite, etc. (I don't know how one judges polite behavior in rats but apparently it can be done.)

In the second habitat, where population raged out of control, the rats displayed agressive behavior, they committed rat "crimes" like killing the weaker members, stealing and horde food, randomly attacking one another, etc. Also, I think the rats in the second habitat had more health problems.

Every time I hear about random violence or problems in the ER I think there are just too many of us on this planet. But who among us is willing to lose ourselves or our friends and family to help reduce the human population? I mean, there's nothing to be done for it except convince people to stop procreating and I doubt that's feasible.

There's also a growing divide between the haves and have nots in our society. A lot of middle income folks are falling into the have nots category as the cost of everything rises.

I suppose every generation forsees doom and gloom and the end of everything in their life-time. I suppose we survived the Iran-Iraq war and gas crisis of the 70s and I guess we'll survive this one; if people stop driving SUVs. It was a lot easier to be optimistic when we were younger.

Clearly the key to my babbling on this blog is to keep me up late and piss me off. :)

Frustration

Arrgghh!! I'm so freakin' ticked. I logged out of World of Warcraft to so I could restart my computer after adjusting some settings in control panel and now I can't log back in! There's a message basically saying their ISP is having problems. I just knew I shouldn't log but I did. Now I'm so mad!

Well, I just talked to a friend of mine who said that I would have been kicked off if I hadn't logged right then so I guess I feel a little better. I guess I ought to just go to bed but I don't feel like it. I'm just so frustrated because I was enjoying killing things and was about to chat with my sister... <*sigh*>

Okay, I was going to write about my delayed anniversary dinner but it's kind of late. Basically, my hubby and I had our dinner tonight since the real day fell on a weekday and we're both too tired at the end of the day to get dressed up and go someplace fancy.

Then again, we didn't really go any place fancy; we went to Outback. I guess I can write about this later. Apparently, the WoW server is back up. Woohoo!

OMG! I can't believe I'm still awake. Its 3:30. I can't do this to myself, my biorhythms get all screwy and I'm useless in the daylight. I totally lost track of time questing with some folks in a dungeon.

On the issue of Fat Activism

So, just before Christmas my husband and I were in a local electronics store and I was looking at headphone/microphone combos as was another customer. We were both questioning him and he eventually took the other customer to an area where they had cell phone headsets.

In the meantime my husband found me and I was repeating what the store clerk told me as I debated which set to buy. A moment later the other customer returned to where I was with her chosen headset and said she just wanted to talk to me for a moment. This lady went on to explain that she had stomach surgery a few years back and she was so happy now. She said the weight just melted off and she wanted to let me know if I'd been thinking of having the surgery she highly recommended it. This woman practically told me her whole life story.

I told this woman my sister had the surgery and I wasn't really interested. She continued to speak about how wonderful it was. I was so shocked all I could do was sort of laugh at her. Later it occurred to me to be offended.

How sick is our thin-obssessed society that a complete stranger felt comfortable telling me to have my stomach mutiliated. I wasn't talking about having the surgery; so she didn't overhear anything. I should've said, "Well my had plastic surgery and she looks so much younger; so if you're thinking of a face lift go for it!"

I'm mostly a live and let live person. When my sister had the surgery, I was supportive. That's what she needed to do for herself but that's not me.

Okay, well, I'm falling asleep at the computer so I guess its bed time.

Another Day in Paradise

I had a rather blah session of yoga today. I got a yoga kit and a couple of DVDs because I thought it would help me strengthen and tone my core muscles thus, making me a better cyclist. The only problem is, I'm not very flexible and I skip over the meditation parts. I don't think I'm patient enough for yoga; either that or I'd do better in a class setting.

I gave up the yoga about 30 to 45 minutes into the DVD and wound up doing 15 minutes of ab and lower back work.

Yesterday, I put my bike in the trainer and did an hour of intense spinning. That was fun.

Okay, I can't believe anyone will be interested in reading this. :)

In My Humble Opinion

I have finally decided to start a blog because, like so many others, I believe my opinions are right and valuable and all the world should have the benefit of my wisdom. Of course, I also think the minutae of my life is fascinating so why not share. :)

Before I climb on my soap box and begin spouting off about topics which I may have little knowledge, let me introduce myself.

1.) I have a sarcastic sense of humor. If you're not sure if you should take me seriously chance are you should not.

2.) I like intelligent discourse. Differing opinions are welcome but please don't let discussions devolve into name calling sessions.

3.) I tend to have a liberal view so if you don't like my point of view, don't read my blog. :)

4.) I'm a novice cyclist who has already completed one endurance event with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. (http://www.teamintraining.org/) I've already started my fundraising page (http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/tntncaEmilyShaffer) and if I have the energy, I will post amusing stories about my training for a 100-mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe in Nevada and California.

5.) One more thing. I'm proud to call myself a feminist and a fat activist. Yes, I'm a big girl and proud of myself. I won't let America's obsession with thinness make me hate myself just because I'm round!