Power Up!

January 20, 2008

There were two things I wished for when I woke up this morning: 1) I be able to get an entire row to myself for my flight to Seattle, and 2) that I have a power outlet so I can work like mad on my 5 hour flight across the continent. I think really I would have been glad with either, but today I really felt like someone was watching out for me when both wishes came true. I sit here in seat 28F with the biggest smile on my face because I have my own entertainment console, my own row, and my very own power outlet. Now I don’t have to choose between work and writing, and on this very long flight I’ll get to do both.

I’ve never been to Seattle before and I’m absolutely ecstatic to have this break from the usual routine and do something a little different for the next few weeks. I don’t expect to do much besides work insane hours, but I’m going to make a point of going and seeing the city (maybe attempting to see natural daylight will be my first goal), and spending time with friends.

Yesterday as I was judging UTEK, I got a call from my friend telling me that he ran into one of our Seattle based friends on the frigid streets of Toronto. He mentioned that I was going, which was funny because I was going to message him that same night. And today he found me in the boarding area as we were waiting for our flight. It should be good, he shares the same interest in Indie music so I’m hoping to go and see a lot of show over the next month, not to mention a visit to Mt Rainier National Park, and hopefully a sojourn to Vancouver to visit my cousin.

Not much else is going on except that I’ve been working like crazy. Apparently not hard enough though (okay I slacked off nearing the end of the week because I was burning out). I’ve grown more accustomed to my contacts and I think I almost like them more than wearing glasses. Whenever I change out of my contacts and put my thick black frames back on I’m not sure if I really like them. I guess it’s the “getting use to them again” each time I switch back. The adjustment isn’t so bad—not compared to everyone else getting used to me without glasses on.

Thursday was the MIE Etiquette dinner and when I got there, I saw my friend who I obviously greeted and asked how she was doing. She gave me a dirty look and was really confused. To put it simply, it was the “who the hell is she?” look. I wasn’t sure if she was angry at me or not, but then I figured she didn’t recognize me. Another friend panicked asking me if I had lost my glasses and if I required any help getting around. I told her that I was wearing contacts and her reaction was, “you were able to put them in?” Eventually my friend Tom recognized me, and gave me a great big hug. Maybe I should have made the switch to contacts earlier? There’s only one person I can think of who saw me on several occasions without my glasses so I guess it’ll take a while for others to get used to it too. With the suggestion of modeling from a few maybe I’ll give it a try sometime in 2008! Ha ha ha, okay maybe not with the expectation of actually becoming one, but to get someone to actually do his voice acting!

Work Out Fine

It is a quiet Sunday, and after a few hours of fighting with my crappy crappy work laptop, trying to free up more space so I can do my work, I wait as two years worth of work writes to DVD so I can finally run Access. May 16 will be a sweet sweet day, when my warranty expires and I can finally order a new laptop! I can envision my new desk at our new office, with my brand spanking new laptop. Small and sleek, it will rest on my desk in its docking station, with a matching wide screen LCD monitor perfect for CAD, I think I'll keep my Mac keyboard because I love it so much, and perhaps an external drive because our IT is so retarded and the company won't give us more memory on the shared drives.

And while I wait the hour and a half for the DVD to finish, I have found this to be the perfect opportunity to reflect on the my start to the New Year.

On the eating front, forced detox turned out to be a Godsend. I pretty much cut out all of the junk I was eating and went back to simple healthy foods and better meal proportions. I gave up the idea of incredibly intense work outs and instead opted for the attitude, "I will do something active for at least a half hour every night, no restrictions". I've been able to do some more work outs on the elliptical, some yoga and those terrific ab crunches on my exercise ball. Absolutely perfect in front of the TV. To top off the list was going rock climbing last week. I finally found some people who wanted to do a lesson and so we went. Not sure how I feel about it... I'm deathly afraid of heights-- not like in a plane, but instances such as being 8 flights up on a steel grated staircase, or where I'm just hanging by a harness and rope high up off the floor.

Given how scared I am of heights, I think I did alright! My beginners wall, wasn't quite a beginners wall. I climbed all the way to the top, but I should note I felt like I was going to die. Afterwards, my partner and I went and tried a 5-6 wall (didn't make it quite to the top because I scared myself), and then a 5-7 (didn't quite finish either because I couldn't reach a freaking hold). After a bit more, it was time to wrap up when I bumped into the craziest rockclimber of all-- Andryi. I met this gentleman at a friend's party. To put it simply, Joe Rockheads is simply practice for him. When he and his wife plan a vacation, they need to find a beach for her, and something to climb for him. And he wanted me to show him how I climbed a wall. After pleading that I had to go and that not enough sleep and no dinner was preventing me from climbing more that night. No excuses apparently! I found myself at a 5-8 wall, with the goal of reaching this one hold I could not get. And so after a few really frustrating attempts, I cheated a little and pulled myself up using a carabiner hook I made it to the impossible hold. I screamed TAKE! to have him let me down and basically he said no and forced me to go to the next one. And the next one. And then the next. I couldn't feel my arms anymore, woozy and shaky, I really was ready to go down. And still he wouldn't let me down. Eventually I made it to the second last one, looked down and saw my colleagues round the wall. I didn't realize how high I was and felt like I was going to throw up. If I recall correctly I screamed take a few more times, only to look down and see a few people around Andryi. I think by that point it was a mix of embarassment (who is this chick screaming at the top of the wall?), and fear for how high I was, and the look of Andryi's face if I came down without finishing the wall. The latter wouldn't happen anyway because he wouldn't let me down. I made it to last hold and breathed a sigh of relief because I was finally done. When I screamed take, I heard a, "you're not finished until you touch the chain!". Fuck! If getting to the last hold wasn't enough I still had to touch this chain that was two feet away? So I grabbed the chain and shook it furiously because I really was ready to come down. I was really happy Andryi helped me get up that wall. Without his advice, guidance and insistence I wouldn't have finished it. I think I'm going to go again, hopefully soon, so I can keep on practicing and truly conquer my fear of heights.

Other milestones... I finally got contacts! Yes, I practiced touching my eye, and then eventually practiced putting them in. I don't really like the way I look without my glasses, but I want to try something different. I also got a haircut and with open arms I welcomed back my bangs, and shaggy-ish hair. I think I'm happier about the way I look (more so to do with the hair than with the contacts). Not a bad way of starting off the New Year either, eh? Maybe someone will notice... I'm thinking someone normal with non-asshole tendencies? Wishful thinking I know [queue rolling of eyes and sigh of defeat]. One step at a time, one step at a time!

Foodtastic? Okay, maybe not...

It's is the day after new year's and I've almost recovered from what I thought was potentially one of the worst days of my life! It's true that the only thing that has mattered for the past few weeks has been eating. This gorging of food and pure gluttony during the holiday season culminated to a peak on New Year's Eve as everyone finished saying goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008. I, Miss Pow, passed out on my sister's bed sometime after 12:30 from weeks of eating too much. Not your usual, I've eaten myself silly and now I'll pass out because I'm so full, but rather a, I'm passing out because I feel so freaking sick from eating so much these past few weeks I think I'm going to die.

New Year's Eve was quite enjoyable I should say. Sunday night we had a great big family get together which was super fantastic, and on Monday night I went over to my friend Rutzie's place for her New Year's Eve bash. I hadn't seen her for a while so it was great to catch up with both her and her friends. Notable mention goes to the a pleasant surprise at the party-- an acquaintance I know through a friend, and someone who I generally seem to talk to at parties hosted by this friend, was actually at Rutzie's party!! Turns out that my world just got a little smaller and that he was friends with the hostess. It was a huge bonus because I didn't feel like going to the party I would have expected him at, and I had the good fortune of hanging out with him.

I made it back home to do the countdown with my family which I was also pretty happy about. Being in the general area I thought it was the right thing to spend the last hour of 2007 with my family. It made me happy and I think it also made my mom happy. Needless to say, it was a good way to start off 2008. And then with a prompt passing out of eating too much food for weeks.

Anyway, to finish off, I spent the first day of the new year sick, and unable to eat. I think it's mother's nature way of forcing detox on me, and so I didn't eat and anything I did eat sat in this really uneasy spot of almost in my stomach and not quite out my mouth. Ewwww gross! Today I am better and hope to make a speedy recovery.

Cheers to 2008 and may this be a fantastic year!! I know I can feel it already!