Could I be obsessed?

I don't seem to have the time to type these days as I am either at work, biking or sleeping. Now that I can bike again (mostly pain free) I seem to head out every morning. The apartment is in need of a good vacuum job, and the kitchen is cleaned . . . to a young mans standard but I just cant stop myself! The weather was supposed to get way hot so I figured I would keep biking until the morning came when it was too warm from the start. So far that has not happened. I have seen some interesting things everyday on my bike rides. It would be wonderful if I could dictate to something or somebody while I biked. I'm not sure to what or whom but you would hear a lot more from me. The stories would be fun. Anyway, last week on the dock (across from downtown on the SE side) I saw a lesbian couple get engaged - velvet-like ring box and all. It was very cute but since I was almost home and had to get to work I did not stop to see the rest unfold. I Biked along side a retired couple from San Diego. They were here on Vacation and brought their folding Bike Friday bikes to see the sights. We chatted for a couple of miles before they turned around to head back downtown.

I love how the same path along the river can be a very different vibe depending on the day and time of day. Early in the morning it can be quiet and semi-deserted. It is really nice to hear the birds and quiet. Middle of the day can get crowded especially around OMSI with lunch walkers, runners and innocent families about to get mowed over by hard core bikers! I LOVE my urban lifestyle and cant imagine the quiet suburban life again. I do want a house but not far from the city center. I LOVE MY NEIGHBORHOOD!!!!

I thought about this post-in-progress while I was biking today. I'm not so much obsessed as I am thrilled to be exercising (esp biking) again. The feeling of muscles working and the energy it gives me from exercising is better than any drug I can dole out at work. I miss skating tremendously but it not not okay yet. I don't even know if my pads fit into my skates. I know it seems not me to follow the rules but seriously I have used at least three of my nine lives in the last couple of years. Who knows how any before that. I don't want to make things worse by ignoring the obvious. I need my feet, duh!

Today was the day it got hot. I got back from a 14 mile ride at 12:20 and it was already 88 degrees. I think 6 days in a row is great. Tomorrow is my day off but I have plenty to do. I have givien myself two days off and I will hopefully bike on my next day off, Thursday or Friday after day shift.

For those not on Facebook I invite you to join a group from work including others not from work to see the new Harry Potter in IMAX. We are going to Bridgeport this Thursday at 19:00. We bought our tickets online and will be in line starting 18:00ish.

Quick update

This will be quick update so hang on. Anyone who has gotten an update from me can easily get lost if you aren't focused. Sorry, just trying to get out on a bike ride before work.

My mom and I went shopping again on Friday (my day off) in between spray paint coats on the screen. We found amazing bargains at Macy's 60-85% off racks. $35 dollar shirts for $6.12. Anyway, I have five new shirts, three pants/Capri's and we even found a cute pair of shoes that are orthodedic friendly that don't make the pain come back when I wear them. They are better than the running shoes I have to wear constantly and look good with skirts. I will wear the running to work and most of the time but after two years it's nice to have something "cute".

Still no matches that click on the dating site. I have tried to communicate with four guys. They have not closed communication with me nor have they responded. If you aren't going to answer back why are you paying for a site? Beats me. I'm ready with some cute clothes thanks to my mommy. I guess my parents want me married off or at least paired off since one paid for the site and the other the clothes.

Finally had my one year eval at work. It went much better than I thought it would. The TB's put their heads together and say shit about anyone that is not one of them. The new Manager and side kick see through most of it and question the rest. Nice. I even got a raise and a promise that they are trying to get me a perm position and benefits. Whew! Now if they could kick out the TB's it would be awesome!

Happy Sunday!

Holy Cow!

My mom and I went shopping today. She wanted to make sure I had a few outfits for coffee or whatever. (dates) I have spent more time and money on my environment (DIY projects) that me. I wear scrub bottoms and moms hand-me-down t-shirts to work.

I got a bunch of pants and shirts to try on but most were to big! My mom said I had lost 20 pounds to which I said no way. When we got back to her house I asked where the scale was. We weighted me and I had indeed lost over 25 pounds since going to the blood doc (starting a year ago this month) for my DVT! I don't have a scale at home but had to be weighed at the Anti-coug clinic and blood Doc. Mind you that is with cycle muscle. Holy F'ing cool beans!

Dating is tougher than I remember

A week ago I made the decision to try online dating. I have been very reluctant to get into this for a plethora of reasons. The biggest one being the impersonal way you go about it. You have to decide about someone by the words they type and a few small photographs. Call me old fashioned but where is the spark of seeing a persons smile, or their great ass that made you stare, or the laugh or voice you hear and you glance around to see where it's coming from. I don't know about you but I find it difficult to write about myself. The works come up flat and don't seem to be the essence of me. If I cant write it how is a person going to "get me"?

After posting here I took your advice and joined two free sites. Why two you ask? Well, most sites only give the hetro choice. I joined a straight site and a gay/bi/hetro site. The problem I found was there is a lot of creeptastic out there. I thought derby had some creepy followers. Anyway, I responded to two guys and e-mailed two. The only one I heard back from was one of the guys that wrote me. We were actually going to meet for coffee. We wrote back and forth four times. He kept trying to get me to call him to "yap"but I did not want to give my phone number. I did not say that but that is how I felt. At first it was exciting and fun. I thought how easy this online thing is! After a few days and he was not responding to a few things I said repeatedly. I backed off from trying to go to coffee this weekend and closed the account. He could not meet this weekend as he has "family concerns". We were going to meet up "some evening middle of the week. I was getting a vibe that did not click right. I unfortunately sent him my direct e-mail. I cant access the dating site from work (where I spend a lot of time) but he ignored the two times I asked him to respond at my e-mail instead of answering on the site. I'm hoping that when I canceled the site that all correspondence erased too. I canceled Friday and have not heard from him, yet.

My next move was to join a free but not free site. It does not cost to be a member but to communicate you have to pay. I joined Match.com. You have to fill out a long questionnaire to be matched. Also had to write about myself. When I told people that I had joined Match you groaned. I'm not looking for my "soul mate" but that is not good enough for all y'all. Fine!

I canceled the very expensive Match.com to move to the more expensive e-Harmony! I cant go back now because I had 7 days free with Match. The thing I don't like about E is you can only see the 5 matches they send you once per day. So far they have all been frogs! This whole experience has made me feel very judgmental and snobby. I maybe 46 but don't feel/look/act it. The matches they are sending me remind me of the guys that leered at me during derby. I know it has only been about a week since I started this journey but I'm feeling a bit disappointed. I guess in thinking while typing this post is since it was now "out of the hands of fate" and I was "in control" it should be quick. I see that is unrealistic but at this early stage of the game I feel I threw my money to the wind.

Three days in a row?!?!

Okay, I'm hoping to get your input on my dilemma. I finally decided to look into the online dating options. I just don't seem to meet folks outside of work and that has been disastrous! I'm surprised on the cost of these sites! I want to hear from all of you and your experiences with this way of finding people.

Thank you in advance.

Not quite Desperate in NW

Happy 4th on the 5th!

I hope all of you had a great 4th of July. Mine turned out different than I planned/expected but all in all a satisfying day. I started out with coffee and HGTV. After breakfast I got dressed, gathered my project items and headed for my parents. I headed out about 12 noon. I had talked briefly to my mom about the screen. The only thing I had not thought through was how the bamboo was going to be secured on the screen. I wanted leather strips but did not know where to get them. Michael's Craft store was open so we bombed over there after I arrived at my parents. We also stopped at Goodwill after Michael's. My mom has some photographs of her with each of her sisters taken recently. She wanted them all framed but did not see any she really liked at Michael's so to Goodwill we went. In helping her look for frames I found an awesome cow print made by a local artist 3x5 size. It was in a okay frame but I figured I could spray it the color I was going to use the screen. A sweet deal for $1.99 and the frame turned out great.

The next step on the screen was to sand and use a Dremel tool to get all the paper out of the insert. I thought it would go much quicker but it took me the better part of two hours! Really, I was surprised it took that long but the part of using the Dremel was very slow precise work. While I was vacuuming the whole thing I found a crack that needed to be repaired. A bit of wood glue and a clamp called a halt to painting for the day. I would rather do it right than have it broken later.

The heat drove my parents into their air conditioning. I don't have that at home so I'm used to the heat. It did not really get to me. I had planned to finish prepping the bamboo but my hands were vibrating from all the power tool usage. I snipped off about half the nubs left from unwanted branches. The garden snips were no match for tough bamboo. I need to get out a knife and whittle but felt that would be a task for another day. I don't want an ER visit anytime soon. That also meant I would not be varnishing the branches. So be it. I knew this was going to be a multi step project. I'm just so excited to see the finished product I want to speed it up! I really need a place closer to or at home so I can do my projects!

My mom's sewing machine was put away for company (Aunt Kaki) so I could not do that phase of the project so I washed my car. Random choice but needed. It was almost dinner time and I was stinky and dusty from the sanding so it seemed the thing to do . My poor car had not been washed since the spring so it deserved it! It actually took two go rounds and four buckets of soapy water. I did not finish before dinner so I went out to finish after. I finally got done around 7:30.


Dinner was BBQ'ed rib eye steak, sauteed mushrooms, garlic bread and an awesome salad. My mom can make a salad! We had a splash of red wine with it all. Quite tasty. After I finished the car we had ice cream with fresh Oregon strawberries. Yum. My mom is a good cook. Wil is too but not the seasoned pro like my ma.


The folks were supposed to come over to my place after dinner to watch fireworks but they pooped out. I was a bit disappointed but understood. I have not actually been home on the Fourth for the last 8 years. I have been at DJ and Renee's for fireworks, food and fun. DJ said that he was not having the 4th this year but what he meant was not at a new house. I am not a mind reader so . . . Wil had a wedding so he was off.

I did not realize all the fireworks I could see from my place! After I took a much needed shower I sat by my garden and watching in awe. I could have watched the PGE Park, Water Front Blues Festival and Oaks Park displays from the Rec room but I did not want to get dressed. I'm not disappointed. I enjoyed.

I'm here! (Where else would I be?)

I have had a busy crazy summer so far. I don't really have time or choose to be on the computer. I'm too busy biking, doing projects, going out and about before or after work and yes, even more bizarre dating experiences.

I'm a re-purpose queen these days! My latest project I got a three paneled screen I got at a garage sale for $10. bucks. It is black wood with a paper insert that reminds me of a furnace filter. Not the most attractive but good bones for my needs. It is 5'10" tall so it will be perfect for a privacy screen. Our place is small and in the summer (especially late summer) can get warm if the cross ventilation is cut off from closing my bedroom door. I can put the screen up so I have privacy laying in bed and Wil and his friends don't have to look at me when they come down the hall. I'm using fabric so the breeze will go through the screen but privacy abounds. I bought the same color paint that Carly used on the Basically Fucking Awesome screen. I got the fabric on a flat fold sale and instead of using traditional trim that is expensive ($1.29 and up) I found a copper cloth ribbon for 29 cents a yard. Since I needed 18 yards (to cover the staples) much better deal and ties in with the copper in the room! So I spent an additional $20. and will get a finished product worth much more! The other neat thing that has me excited about this project is the use of black bamboo. My parents neighbor trimmed her bamboo and saved the cuts and two big stalks for me. I had to let it dry for three weeks but now I need to varnish it to help it keep it's color. If not the black will fade. I'm not sure what I will use the big pieces for yet but I will use the smaller ones to cover the decorative cross pieces in each panel. I like the bamboo because it is speckled green/brown/black picking up the color of the paint and fabric. The back of the fabric looks like raw silk while the front is Fleur De lee (sp?). I can turn the screen either way and it will be like having two! The bamboo will be in front of the "raw silk" side and the copper ribbon with the Fleur side. It is a project of many steps but I'm excited to get going! I'm going to start removing the old paper in about five minutes then sand and paint on the fourth (my day off) at my parents. I will also trim off any parts on the bamboo then paint on the varnish.

Things at work are more uncomfortable than ever. The PBS's (Punk Ass Bitches) are behaving very catty, gossipy and bitchy at the prospect of the new manager coming in on Monday. The small rebel core of "team players" are sticking together and trying to weather out the storm. Unfortunately there are way more of them than us. We have a few code names and hand symbols that unify us in our war against drama. They are also called Tricky Bitches. Silly but it helps us feel we are not alone. The work environment should be very professional but instead it is soooo Junior High! Enough of the TB's!

Enjoy the sun and holiday!