Forgetful, cheap tera, 8.0, sweat, disappointed
I ordered a terabyte HDD from Tiger Direct yesterday. Including shipping the cost was $93. It’s never ceases to amaze me how cheap storage has become. The new HDD will become home to Windows 7 Ultimate.
So I left work early to get out to the race site. Yesterday was incredibly hot for October, even by Florida standards. The thermometer in my truck read 96 degrees on the way. So I started unloading the truck and setting up stuff when a horrible realization came to me about 4:20pm. I forgot two bring the timing mats! Somehow I managed to load the truck up with all of the equipment except the two 8 foot wide timing mats. I was so pissed at myself.
The race didn’t start until 6:15 so luckily I had some time to sprint home and grab the mats. It’s amazing how annoying other drivers become when you are truly trying to get somewhere in a hurry. I got back to the race by 5:20. Things were more or less under control.
Ali was handling the day of entries. When I went over to her the band that was contracted to play started up. Immediately we were unable to hear each other. Obviously there was a lack of thought put into band placement. Having music blaring on the speakers 20 feet from the registration table was definitely not an ideal situation. You basically had to scream if you wanted someone to hear you.
Adding to the misery was the weather conditions. The blazing sun and high humidity made for some pretty uncomfortable working conditions. The one thing that was not a problem was the timing equipment. Although this was the first team format race I ever timed, I had no problems at all. The system performed perfectly. Last year they scrambled to figure out the team scoring by hand. This year I had it done in 30 seconds.
During the race I got to talking to a runner that I knew but never really engaged in conversation. I was flabbergasted by what he told me. He was in car accident 15 years ago and as a result he lost all of his memory prior to that date. He basically I had no idea who he was. He said he had to even relearn how to talk and write. He told me how he has three college degrees but remembers nothing about them. He has run four 100 mile races in his lifetime although he doesn’t recall the runs prior to the incident. What a bizarre thing that must be, losing all recollection of who you were.
So the race wrapped up and we started to pack up. Even though the sun was now down I was still sweating buckets. Clean up took longer than normal due to a smaller pool of volunteers than normal. It’s tougher to get them on a Thursday night. I was on the way back home a little after 8. It was a fun event to time, I just wish it wasn’t on a week night.
So we got our latest electric bill, the first one since we adopted the new pool pump schedule that results in us running it 3 hours a day instead of 8. Both Ali and I were hoping for a significant drop in our bill as a result. You can imagine our disgust when we see the $280 something bill, more than September…
We were both extremely annoyed. The only small victory was that in comparison to October 2008 we used on average 5kwh less per day. I think our AC system is the biggest culprit here. My inspection a couple weeks ago confirmed it was yet another example of the half assed work that was performed during the construction of our place. I bet the thing has leaks all over the place which is making it very inefficient.
Last night was the finale of the two week Spook medicine routine. Thank GOD. Spook appears to be back to normal, as normal as she gets at this advanced stage of her life. I can only cross my fingers that we are out of the woods for cat health issues for awhile.
Today I am going to partake in a little mini fitness challenge. I want to try to run a mile on the treadmill at 8 mph pace which translates into a 7:30 pace per mile which is pretty much top speed for me. On a 5k my best time translated to right around an 8 minute mile pace so it sounds reasonable that I should be able to do a 7:30 pace for a single mile.
Speaking of running, Ali has resurrected her running career. Her and Michelle are making tentative plans to try to run a half marathon together. Ali had this goal a few years back when she took up running but knee problems derailed her goal. So far her knee has been holding up to the training. Hopefully it remains that way. That would be quite the accomplishment if she pulls it off.
This weekend is our 11 year wedding anniversary. We aren’t doing anything as fun as the trip to Georgia we took last year. Instead we are just going to dinner to a nice place on the bay. Nothing spectacular but we’ll enjoy it. One of the nice things about being with someone as long as we have been together is you can enjoy big things like a trip or little things like a dinner for two equally well.
I’ve adjusted my potential Camaro purchase downward. Originally I was aiming for the top of the line 2SS model which has stuff like heated leather seats, ambient interior lighting and the 4 pack console gauges. I also am leaning towards skipping the $1200 RS package which includes stuff like different wheels, different color tail lights and the halo style head lights.
There are a couple reasons I am considering the switch. The VAST majority of SS purchases are the 2SS model with people opting for the top of the food chain. Same deal with the RS package, most people get it. I sort of like the idea of having the less prevalent model. The 1SS comes with cloth seats instead of leather which Ali would happily embrace. I’ve read that the cloth seats actually are more comfortable. At it’s core I get the same beastly engine and power train so I wouldn’t be losing any seat of the pants thrill. Most importantly of all I would be able to easily shave five to six grand off the sticker price where it could potentially cost me less than we dropped on the Camry hybrid.
Who knows, we still are pretty far removed being ready to make a move but at this point I think a 1SS will be the way I will go.