Huzzah!

The new season of American Gladiators has begun!


I don't know what I find more entertaining - the fact that grown men and women are basically flailing around with giant boffer weapons while wearing spandex... or the fact that they take it so seriously!

If it weren't for the competitive aspect - or the 300 pound walls of muscle aiming to break you in half - I'd love to go play around on their giant padded playground.

mindtrip101 and I went scouting the Goodwill stores, today, to see if there was anything useful that he could cannibalize for his Top Sekrit Projekt.

On the one at the west side, just inside the door, was this lovely:




It was actually still hooked to its stand that turned it into a stationary bicycle...

Closer inspection revealed that it is a Sears, Roebuck & Company "Free Spirit". (Subsequent googling leads me to believe that it couldn't have been made any later than the mid 1970s.)



Even closer inspection revealed that it has never been used outside.

Ever.

The treads in the wheels have no wear (even on the one that was up against the wooden roller on the street-to-stationary bike stand), everything is oiled up, the gear is pristine. There is no rust, no corrosion, nothing to really indicate (aside from the style of the hand grips and the residual patches of dust that whoever wiped it down missed) that this bike didn't just roll off the showroom floor at Sears.

In addition, it has a leather (or a very good facsimile) seat, and a rack for carrying things.




Now, I just need to go and buy a new bike lock (since the giant U-lock I used to have was stolen, along with my old crappy and busted bike, a couple of years ago), and I'll be ready to roll!

I joined a fitness study being done by Curves and Avon, for some large research university. I've done two "workouts", so far, and have another one scheduled for Friday. I'm still not sure if I'll end up joining after the study - I'm one who kind of likes to exercise at my own pace, and this one is rather frenetic. (With some really bad remixes of some really good songs.)

( Potential drama )


I came home and called Wally World, to see if my contacts were in, yet.

They weren't.

So, now I'm just laying around, watching dvr'd episodes of what I thought were going to be Dr. Who episodes (since that's what was scheduled), but which turned out to be Torchwood. (Surprise!)

I have the back door open, a bit, to get some breeze flowing, and to listen to the rain. I love the sound of the rain falling outside. It's soothing. It's something we didn't get NEARLY enough, last year.

I can't decide what to make for dinner, but if I start now, I could probably have a really good potato and leek soup done in the crockpot by the time America's Next Top Model comes on, later. (;

While stuffing namebadges for this one conference, I noticed that some of them have these tiny little "N"s off to one side.

This puzzles me greatly, because I didn't put it there, it only shows up on random badges, and there is no word on the entire badge that even ends with an "n", so I can't even include the possibility that something got moved over.

I'll have to reprint those.


At some point, I have to get to the downtown box office during lunch hours, to pick up some play tickets that some people ordered as part of their registrations.



I just got an email from someone that said:

I am coming to the conference where they teach women how to sing. Send me all your information about all the places to stay.

No greeting, no signature...

So, since I actually have no idea what conference they're even talking about, I responded with the link to the "Where to Stay" page on the Bloomington CVB's website.

I spent the better part of the morning wrestling with namebadges and earworms.

My brain has been running a continuous loop of music, alternating between Angel is the Centerfold and That Fight Music from Star Trek. (You know the one... dun dun DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN dundundun dun dun DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN dundundun... As heard here.)


While this was going on, I had to tweak and merge the namebadges for the conference starting next week - so that we can stuff them and have them ready for when the tickets for the ninety gazillion events are done, so that we can stuff those in, as well.

But first, I had to get the new revised updated version of the badgename list from the coordinator, since the chairs apparently sent her the changes, and not the one who is actually making the namebadges.

But, I digress.

Next, I attempted to design a badge for the conference that starts the week after that, but the image of their logo that was sent to me was a scan of the logo on the cover of one of the copies of their journal - which was printed on that textured cardstock - and was thus not able to be modified to stick on a badge. (At least, not without looking really sub-par...)


All the while, our hourly assistant has been churning out those Methodist registrations. (We do the annual conference for the southern part of the state each year, and it consists mainly of about 1200 retirees, most of whom do not own computers and therefore mail their forms in.) We enter some each day, but when you get dozens at a time, it sometimes gets a little overwhelming...


But, I have been sipping a NEW tea - "Mexican Sweet Chili" from Yogi Teas. It has cinnamon and licorice and anise and cardamom (amongst others) - and a nice pinch of cayenne and black pepper!

Sooooo tasty!


Oh, and chats_noir, the Chocolate Oracle says that today is definitely a bubble bath day.

According to a recent article, a man has taught his goldfish how to play soccer.

I am of the school of thought that one cannot have too many books.

Last month, my mother sent me a little bit of birthday money, with strict instructions that I may not spend it on gas, groceries, rent, or other bills. (And before anyone says anything, it would not have been NEARLY enough to cover any doctor visits.)

So, of course, I've bought books with it.

Cheap books.

And you know what happens when you buy cheap books? You get to buy more books!

One is The Treasury of the Fantastic (Weisman & Beagle, Eds.), a compilation of late 19th and early 20th century science fiction and fantasy works, that I bought at Caveat Emptor, a couple of weeks ago.

The other is something I cannot believe that I didn't have, before today - the complete works of Jane Austen. It's hard-bound in leather, with gilded page edges... and even before my coupon and Borders Bucks certificate were applied, it somehow cost less than the plain old paperback version of the same publication.

I have a Borders giftcard coming to me, thanks to my cashback bonus from Discover, so I shall have to peruse the sale tables of trade paperbacks.

I am seeing more permanent red spots on my forehead. They're not always visible - they're mostly below the surface of my skin, but they always appear when anything comes into physical contact with my forehead - a washcloth, a hat, a towel... They're always in the same spots, too.


Also, I somehow got sun poisoning, this week. I think it must have been while I was driving to the store, and my jacket sleeve slid down and I was wearing short gloves. And that was with 70spf sunblock on.


In good news for pasty people, however, Neutrogena how has 85spf.

Perhaps I'm missing something obvious, here... but there's this one political ad that's been playing that makes no sense to me.

It's a Clinton ad, complete with the, "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I approve of this message," announcement that all political candidates seem to be using these days.

It's an Obama-bashing ad, telling how he won't do anything to help with gas prices, but Hillary will, "use the record profits of the big oil companies to help lower gas prices."



So... how exactly would that work?

VoicePost 36K 0:10

“There is a trucky(?) parked outside of my office. It's a Voyager minivan, and the license plate says Jane Way.” Auto-Transcribed Voice Post

There is a Trekkie parked outside of my office. It's a Voyager minivan, and the license plate says Janeway.

Happy birthday, kneads and its_a_ghost!

HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday
To YOUs to YOUs to YOUs!
(Ole!)

I awoke from a dead sleep, some time in the middle of the night, certain that my bed was vibrating, again.

I listened, and didn't hear anything rattling, so I went back to sleep.

I turned on the tv while I got ready for work, later, to see if there was any mention, but no.

But, according to the USGS, there HAD been another tremblor - just after 1:30 in the morning.


Good to know I am not going crazy.

VoicePost 57K 0:18

“I'm about halfway to the court I think, ___ but you can't see it because there's a giant wall in the way then the GM Plant on the other side but I'm wasting your time and the rain stopped.” Auto-Transcribed Voice Post

Approximation of what I said, because I can't be bothered to turn the sound on the computer...:
I'm about halfway through the course. I along that stretch by the river but you can't see it because there's a giant wall in the way, and the GM Plant on the other side. But, everyone's having a good time and the rain stopped.”

VoicePost 52K 0:15

“Hey everyone. It's almost time to maybe get on the course is that the contentative(?) voners(?) lined up right now and the test to ghostbusters(?) and it's raining so that's can be fun.” Auto-Transcribed Voice Post

Aaaand, here's what I really said:

Hey everyone. It's almost time to maybe get on the course. They've got the competitive runners lined up right now, and I've passed the Ghostbusters... and it's raining so that's going to be fun.

VoicePost 75K 0:23

“Good morning LiveJournal. I am here in the Natatorium building at IUPUI(?) waiting for the line up to start for race for the cure. You're taking refuge in here because we had a sudden down pour. I guess we couldn't have sunny race day forever. I'll bring more updates as they come.” Auto-Transcribed Voice Post

Ohhh, Auto-Transcribe!

“Good morning LiveJournal. I am here in the Natatorium building at IUPUI, waiting for the line up to start for Race for the Cure. We're taking refuge in here because we had a sudden downpour. I guess we couldn't have sunny race days forever. I'll post more updates as they come.”

I think we had another one!

Wheeeee!

Did... the New Madrid fault line just open up and swallow Missouri, or something?

I woke up to a rather nice massage, then realized that my pots in the kitchen were making CHKACHKACHKA noises.

It lasted for quite awhile, too.

My first thought was (I swear!), "OMG! A tornado is coming!" Then, my higher brain overrode my midwestern brain, and reminded me that there were no storms in the area.

But my pots were still vibrating.

Old hat for all the west coasters on my friends list, I'm sure. And heck, I've experienced a few of these as far east as Pennsylvania. (That time, I was doing homework, and thought that a car had hit my building.)


One thing's for sure - the media is going to go insane! CONTINUING TEAM EARTHQUAKE COVERAGE!!!!

(I'm watching one of the Indianapolis stations, and they're reporting calls from all over the viewing area, so it's probably not a case of someone's meth lab blowing up, or something.)


The most pressing thing here, however, is that now I can't fall back to sleep.


Grrrr.


Update:
USGS seems to have confirmed a 5.4 epicenter somewhere in extreme southern Illinois.


Interesting point of note: It is the anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

ooooOOOOoooooo


Dammit, I still wanna go back to bed.

Happy birthday to prosewitch and wadam!

HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday
To YOUs to YOUs to YOUs!
(Ole!)

It's my birthday, too!

Happy birthday to bramey and feyangel!

HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday!
HAPpy happy happy BIRTHday
To US to US to US!
(Ole!)