serinde

Steve and I are separating.

A few notes to do with this:

1. It has nothing to do with the recent Dramageddon, and indeed the causes reach back to before either of the participants therein entered our lives; that event only served to bring things into immediate focus. So please, let there be no blamethrowing.

2. We are on the most amicable terms, and will remain so; and we intend to remain part of each others' lives and close circles. That means that any members of the mutual acquaintance found choosing sides will be summarily hoisted up, used for small-arms practice, and flung overboard for the sharks. Srsly. I mean it.

3. No, I don't know whatever shall I do or wherever shall I go. I'm wise enough to make no instant decisions. You will be informed In Due Course.

That is all.

In which I determine I need some device to record what I'm doing as or after I've done it, because otherwise it blurs together. I was thinking "notebook", but sweh points out that a mini-recorder might serve better. And indeed, my MP3 player has that feature.

Warmup: 5 min. on the exercise bike, heart rate ~130.

modular shoulder press: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lb
A thing supposedly for abs, but felt more like it was coming from my arms: 1 rep of 10 @ 1lb, 1 rep of 10 @ 2lb
combination deltoid/pectoral whatsit that I'm fairly sure I did wrong, because the directions were utterly unclear. 1 rep of 10 at I forget what weight, probably 2lb
the lateral whatsit for shoulders: 2 reps of 10 @ 1lb
leg extension (quadriceps): 1 rep of 10 @ 1lb, 1 rep of 10 @ 2lb
leg curl (hamstrings): 2 reps of 10 @ 1lb
assisted dip: 2 reps of 10 @ 115lb

There may have been one more machine in there. Did I mention I need a way to keep track on the fly?

I think I hurted myself, slightly. My upper body is sore already.

(Now I need an icon for doing weights. Feh.)

I was awful sore today, but more sore in back and arms than in legs, so I just did running. (Now I am even MORE sore.) After taking advice, I think I'm going to run M/W/F and do weights T/Th henceforth.

I did 5/3/8/3/5 and nearly did not survive, particularly the last five minutes. Kyuss helped.

Forgot to weigh myself this morning, so I'm not sure how we're doing there.

Penny Arcade has brought the Wii Fit to my attention. I think we may need to subscribe to this product and/or service.

As expected, vacation = bad for diet. Finally stepped on the scale this morning; not quite back to square one, but ground definitely lost.

Which is sad, considering how little I was eating while sick. But the procession of delicious poached eggs during our Sydney stay seems to've been my downfall.

1. Jet lag is stupid. I slept over 12 hours--admittedly, with waking up bits at 1am, 4am, 5am, and 9:30am, though only the 4am was a long wakefulness--and I still don't wanna do anything but sleep right now.

2. After two solid weeks of Best Coffee Ever, our cheap-ass little filter product (with Coffee Mate, at that, because of course none of the milk products lasted 2 weeks) really does not compare one tiny little bit. Yes, we buy good beans, but.

3. "It's not the fall, it's the sudden stop at the end." My body feels like hammered shit after 20 hours of torturous airline seats.

Edit: 4. Goddammit. I just checked excerpts from the new Beasts of Bourbon album and I really. REALLY. should have picked it up while in town. (I didn't 'cos the best-of I do have, I didn't like the sound of the most recent few songs on it, so I guessed I only wanted old stuff. Wrong wrong wrongity wrong wrong.) Why did I not make this investigation at the time? Because I am DUMB.

OTOH, I got to see sweh last night, and my kitties slept on me, and so it is not all bad.

I have yet to see a single spider or other horrific monster, except for the ones behind glass that I failed to avoid spotting from across the room at the Melbourne Aquarium. I'm very happy about this.

Actually, we got here about 24 hours ago. Checked into the hotel, which was impossible to find (driving in Sydney makes Queens look like a pleasant straightforward thing), to find a tiny tiny room smelling of mildew with drunken aspiring vocalists outside and a roar like the second half of Titanic whenever anyone in the building flushed their dunny. Also, unlike Melbourne, there is not tons of free wireless being given away like the flowers of Spring, which is why no updates 'til now. And though it's not a particularly large city, the distances are walkable, nevertheless every direction we tried to go in we were thwarted by some pseudo-highway-ish road or tunnel that impeded pedestrian progress. For all these reasons, by about 5pm we were half inclined to get the car from the rental place and drive right the fuck back to Melbourne. This was increased by our utter failure to find anything resembling a local rock scene. What the shit? Is this not Sydney, home of the Beasts of Bourbon, the Hoodoo Gurus, Midnight Oil, INXS, AC/DC, bla bla bla I could go on for a really long time? Feh.

Today, things is looking up. We have secured a room in a more central location, which does not smell like mildew and has Intarwubs and is twelve flights up so all that reach us is common city noises. We are regrouping and hope to take on the world shortly.

I made out a bunch of postcards while we were in the interior, but have failed at finding a post office. (!) Hope to send 'em tomorrow. I'll probably beat them home. Sorry.

In spite of going, what, some 900km through the interior, and in spite of NUMEROUS signs warning us of kangaroos, drop-bears, and wombats, we saw no native fauna at all, other than some interesting birds. Wait, I lie: we saw one dead kangaroo at the side of the road. Steve hypothesized it that they left it there to prove that such an animal exists, much as the creationists claim of dinosaur skeletons. Anyways: disappointing. We'll just have to go to the Taronga Zoo, I guess.

Health updates: Steve did indeed get some Nexium before we left Melbourne; thanks to damed_colonial and blarglefiend for suggestions. Driving through farm country was hell and death on his allergies, but he's better now we're back on the coast. I'm still coughing a bit. We're finding ourselves often dehydrated, as getting a glass of water does not seem a common thing in these parts, and when you ask for one you usually get a wee small thing barely the size of a Dixie cup, but we're doing our best to keep on top of it.

More later, I daresay.

Steve forgot his Nexium. He's managing okay at the moment, in spite of being a goober and ordering hot food two days running, but I don't know if it's going to get worse. If anyone has notions on how this is best addressed, please let me know.

1. American (who is running our EWR <-> LAX flights) is, I learn, no longer offering meals on any domestic flights. They will graciously allow you to pay $5 for a "wrap", or $3 for a packet of peanuts or a candy bar. Fuck you, right in your ear.

2. Qantas has found a way to be even more retarded than the TSA. Our Noble Protectors started allowing knitting needles again a couple years ago, but Qantas forbids them. Because why? Because, our spies tell us, someone tried to hijack a plane with a piece of pointy wood. Not a knitting needle, mind you; something much larger in scale, more like a 2x4. But, y'know, it's KINDA LIKE a knitting needle, so those have to go.

I am not packed. Steve is gone to bed, so I can't try to pack. Instead I drink a hot toddy and prepare to fall over, the better to attack tomorrow.