22, Shuttle service, Kooky Katy Perry

Yesterday I equaled my all time best in pull up reps, scoring 22 at the gym over lunch.  If I chose to hang on the bar another 5 seconds or so I am pretty sure I could have set a new best.  I didn’t bother though because to be honest, setting a PR on an indoor bar where you can’t fully extend your legs isn’t quite legit.  (my other 22 rep performance was on my Iron Gym)

Having your legs tucked changes the movement around a bit.  I hope to chalk up and see if I can hit 23 reps at home on my outdoor bar.  The best I have ever managed outdoors is 20 reps.

I have found having your grip locked in tight is essential in a max pull up attempt.  As soon as the bar starts slipping down onto your fingers you are going to struggle.

I left work a little early yesterday to meet up at a near by bar with some other co-workers.  The former head of a department that had moved out of the area years ago was back visiting.  A few of us got together to catch up.  I only had a couple beers before I unfortunately had to head home to let the dogs out.

I was worried that I would come home to a smelly present since the dogs had been home alone for 11 hours by the time I got back.  I was quite pleased to see they both held it like troopers.

So Ali flew back last night from her work trip to Virginia.  Her plane didn’t get in until close to 10pm.

I piled the girls and their stuff in the party van to pick her up.  I saw Ali’s flight was a little ahead of schedule so I left a little early.  I wound up having maybe 15-20 minutes to kill in the cell phone parking lot.

I was sitting there with the van turned off and the windows down, checking email on my Iphone.  There was a BMW parked maybe 30-40 feet away with it’s windows down as well.  In the vehicle were two women, I think it was a mother and her daughter.

Anyway since it was quiet I could pretty much hear their entire conversation without even trying.  At one point the daughter got onto the subject of how she likes Katy Perry but is so tired of hearing her on the radio all the time.  She said it seems like every other song is Katy Perry.

Well I had to take a swing at that softball.  I instantly fire up Pandora on my Iphone, create a Katy Perry channel and turn the volume all the way up.  I saw the girl glance in my direction, although I don’t think she realized that I intentionally started playing her music.  I saw her bopping her head to the beat, probably after making a comment to her mom about how ironic it was that a Katy Perry song came on right after she talked about it.

I was smirking from my party van captain’s chair the entire time.

So Ali texted me she had her bag.  I fired up the van and picked her up.  As we pulled up to the curb both the dogs were up on the front seat with their heads out the window, excited to see their mommy.  I threw Ali’s bags in the back and off we went.

On the way home Ali told me about her trip although there weren’t that many details since she basically just worked and hung at the hotel when she wasn’t working.  I filled her in on what the dogs and I did while she was gone, including the various efforts at her new place.

As we were on I-75 Ali mentioned how it feels weird that I am picking her up at the airport but I am dropping her off at her own place.  I agreed it felt weird but just lumped it in with all of the other weird feelings we have already experienced and will surely experience more of going forward.

When we got back to her place I took her bags up for her and gave her a brief rundown again of what I did.  She liked the new tv and the shelf and laundry cart I put together for her.

When I it was time to go I got a bit choked up when I said goodbye to the dogs as I rubbed their heads.  They had a lot of fun with me and I am sure this geographic split of their “parents” makes no sense to them.  I could tell Ali was upset as well as I hugged her and told her I was glad she was home safe.

There is just no way to avoid those sad, painful moments in this process.  We can only both hope that as time passes they will decrease in frequency and intensity.

On a brighter note, I found a great replacement camera app for the Iphone, it’s called Camera+.  Spend 99 cents to see why  and thank me later.