8/10/12

Got called in to work today. 

I don't know why I answered the phone.  Just before she handed it to me Sarah said she thought it was work because of the area code.  I answered it anyway.  They have asked me many time while I am at work if I am interested in picking up extra shifts and I always say no.  Today though they had someone leaving and were short for 6 hours, would I mind coming in?  Guilt got me and I went. 

I spent the entire day resenting the fact that I was at work.  I constantly thought about other things I could be doing.  Every little annoyance became much larger.  My attitude sucked. 

I don't like work.  Well, I don't like working for other people.  Big surprise right?  Nursing has been good to me, don't get me wrong.  There is a great upside to this gig.  Especially in the ED.  You see some pretty profound things.  Still, I spend my time making money for other people.  I do things on their orders and I don't like it. 

Still do it, don't like it.

I have had chances to do other things.  Hell, I have done other things, several other things.  All of them felt like work and all of them seemed like an intrusion on my real life.  I somewhat envy those people that are so energized and excited by what they do that they wake up eager to go to work.  I somewhat suspect they aren't real too though.  Hell, even if it was that way, then you would be eager to get up and leave your family.  That doesn't seem right either.

You know, I had a shot once to make a try at becoming a guitarist.  It was a small shot, but legitimate.  When I worked for the Osmonds and stood in for their guitarist for a while.  I could have taken that opportunity like I did the audio engineer opportunity and learned enough that I could make it a real job, but I didn't because I was afraid that it would become work and then it would suck.  Probably a good thing.

The only thing I ever did that I really felt energized and excited to do that could have been considered work, was acting.  Rehearsal was never work, it was play.  The actual performance was awesome.  I thought long and hard about trying to do that for a living and even made one half-assed, pathetic attempt to move to California and give it a shot.  I spent a few months sleeping on the floor in a friend's house.  It came to an end when his kid asked when I was leaving so he could have his play room back. 

I was never really encouraged by my family when it came to acting.  They were supportive in a way that communicated to me that this was a cute hobby, but not something you spent your life doing.  That is how it seemed to me anyway.

I was actually pretty good at acting I think.  In high school I got pretty much every part I tried out for.  I won an award or two.  I really enjoyed it.  There were rumors around the school from some of the kids that I had some 'special' relationship with the female drama teacher of the day , Mrs. Davis.  I always thought she just thought I was a good actor. 

One day, Senior year, I decided, fuck it.  I don't care what anyone thinks.  I am going to be an actor.  I want this.  So I went to my teacher for a little encouragement.  Hell, I got all the parts, everyone supposed we had this great relationship.  I wanted to know if she thought I had what it took.  I waited until after a rehearsal for a play.  After everyone was gone I made excuses to stick around long enough to build up the courage and asked her.

"Mrs. Davis, do you think I have what it takes to move to Holly wood and make a living as an actor?"

She paused, wrinkled her nose up a little and replied.

"Well...you don't really have that leading man kind of face." 

It sat there like a turd on the table.  I muttered a 'uh..oh' and left.  I wonder now what a difference that one little remark made.  I later turned down a scholarship offer for an acting scholarship at a nearby school.  I chose to go to the larger state school because it would be better for parties.  I wasn't really good enough to be a 'real' actor anyway. 

My acting teacher at OU said I had one of the best perspectives of any actor he had seen coming through his class.  I had a great understanding of the craft, but seemed to lack motivation.  I went back to my dorm and got high.  Lasted one whole semester. 

I did some community theater later, nothing much though.  It still amazes me how big a thing that all was to me and Sarah has seen me do it.  I think if we settle down somewhere I might audition for a community theater.  For the fun of it. 


Shouldn't have answered the phone. 

8/9/12

The place feels bigger today.

Sarah's sister Rachel and her husband Chris left this afternoon.  It is always surprising how much larger this place feels when you take the adult resident count down to two.  We miss them already though.  It was a good visit.  We got to know Chris a little better and found out we liked him.  They got married after we had already been on the road and it is really hard to get to know someone when you only see them at family holidays.  Michael and Max love Aunt Rachel and really took to Uncle Chris well.  Max love playing catch with him.  It was a good visit.

We managed to get out and see a few things around here, well they did.  I worked half of the time they were here, but I hear they saw lots of stuff.  Yesterday we took them to a winery.  It was the best winery I have yet been too.  Although, since the only one I have been to before were in Branson, MO and Del Rio, TX, that don't mean much.

Next up, Sarah's parents coming up for a visit we think.  More to look forward to.

8/5/12

What a day.

Went for another run, it was good.  No pain.

Went for a bike ride too, another good one. 

Sarah's sister Rachel and her husband Chris arrived to spend some time with us, which is excellent.

We took them out to the dunes to check it out and it was fun, except for Chris planting into the sand while running down a dune.  Luckily the sand is soft.  Then we went to Pismo beach to show them around.  There were thousands of birds swarming over the water as we walked out on to the pier.  Then we saw the spouts.  There were dozens of humpback whales in the water driving fish to the shore.  The birds were only too happy to profit from that.  Someone had caught a starfish and left it on the pier.  So Michael and Rachel got to play with it a bit before sending it back to the water.

We went to go eat some burritos, yum.  Then tonight, the Curiosity Rover landed successfully.

What a day.  Good to be alive.

8/4/12

Did another run with the Vibrams today.  I think it was too much too soon.  I think I ran too far too fast the first day and didn't rest enough before trying again today. 

Talk about sore.  My calves were killing me.  I shut it down before I made it home.  Still too painful. 

An interesting thing happened though, before it got too painful.  It was actually fun.  For some reason running in those goofy shoes is fun.  Reminds me of being a kid again and just tearing off for no reason other than the sheer joy of moving fast.  I'm going to keep using these damn things until my feet and calves are stronger.  Just need to be smarter about it. 

Went out and got haircuts today for the whole family.  If we aren't careful we may just pass for respectable.


Nah.

8/3/12

Today was Dallas Cowboys Training camp day.  I must say I was a touch disappointed.  First, it rained.  I haven't seen rain in three months.  The Dallas Cowboys website said this was the first day it have ever rained on a training camp practice in Oxnard.  They said it only rains 5-6 times a year there.  Well, today was the day.  Also, the fans in attendance were more than a bit rude.  It appears as though there are a lot of guys there just for autographs, I guess they are selling them.  They get really cranky about space on the fence to watch the practice.  Anyway, we left before practice finished and weren't there for autographs. 

Another note, should I do this again some day I think it might be better if it is just Max and me.  The largest number of our group wasn't particularly interested in the practice it seemed, which makes it harder to justify staying around through the less than interesting parts.  Now, if it were wall to wall action with cool stuff happening all the time, it is easy to argue that you can't leave.  When it is raining, you can't see much and the crowd is rather rude, it is harder to justify staying.  Especially when you have a dog at home that just might pee all over your house.  Sigh.  Oh well.  Football is better on TV.

Someone had a really good time there.

8/2/12

Just a quick post as a follow up to the run.  Yesterday and today had the calves very sore.  In a weird way it was good.  I can't remember ever having them be this sore, no matter the weight of the calf raises.  Seems to me like they weren't kidding when they said I would be working muscles that I hadn't been working before. It feels like the soleus more than the gastrocnemeus.  Also feels like maybe the tibialis posterior.



http://www.iatrum.com/en/anatomy/calf-muscles.html

So, I am still deliberating on a run today.  And/or maybe a bike ride.  Sarah is out riding right now, which is good.  The sea air has been hell on the bikes and I think we may lose hers.  Oh well, they were Craigslist castoffs anyway.  Still would like to keep mine, I like it. 

Headed down to Oxnard tomorrow to see Cowboys Training Camp.  I'm a little excited.  It should be really neat.

I won the AFO challenge this month.  I was hoping for a better turnout.  I hope that it was just a busy month for everybody and that this time around there will be more time for participation.  I set the challenge with a bit shorter word limit in the hopes that would give people time to write, but I know it can be just as hard if not harder to fit the same story into a smaller space.  We will see. 

Vibram Five Fingers

OK, so I was convinced to try the whole barefoot running thing.  It passes my common sense tests.  We as a species ran very well for a long time before the advent of modern running shoes.  By evolution we were designed to run and do so very well.  The proponents of the modern running shoes argued that we didn't evolve to run on asphalt.  I argue that hard baked dirt is just as bad.  Whatever.  I bought a pair of Five Fingers to check them out.  I was intrigued and figured that if I was going to get better at this running thing, I should switch now before my habits in a full shoe became more ingrained. I bought them last week and walked with them for a day or two.  Today was the first run. 

First, they feel way different.  You find yourself walking as you would if you were barefoot.  Imagine.

I took them for a short run out and back with two doggy potty pit stops.  The stride is similar, but the forefoot landing is something that needs conscious effort at this point.  I didn't get the rhythmic jolt of the normal stride, but a soft spring almost like I was jogging in place, but going forward.  My time was comparable to my normal time over that distance, but my lower legs grew much more tired than normal. 

It is strange, being a former smoker, my lungs had always been my limiting factor before.  This time it was my lower legs.  When I got home I immediately noticed the tightness in the calves.  They were tight and tired deep inside like the muscles and fascia close to the bone.  I massaged my calves for a while and will probably do so again tonight like Vibram recommends.  I expect to be sore tomorrow, but not injured.  I will call it a success. 

Then, because the run was so short, I put the shoes back on and went for an 8.5 mile bike ride.  It was nice.  The sea air is playing hell on the metal on the bike and I have some maintenance work to do.  It's always something. 

The new kicks.