Racing Naked

I used to be a runner (and perhaps I will be one again). Therefore, I have a subscription to Runner’s World. Months have passed since I cracked one open. That all changed today when I opened my mailbox to see the teaser “Racing Naked” on the March 2008 issue. Page 56? I’m there. So many questions, so few answers.

The chafing, the lack of support around certain boy and girl parts. This does not seem like a pleasant experience for the participants.

Is it legal? I know there are nudist colonies, nude beaches etc… Perhaps the races take place at these locales.

A little googling shows that nude running is more common that I ever imagined. There’s the Dare To Be Bare 5K in Lutz, Florida, the Annual Sneaker Streaker in Land O Lake, Florida, the Fig Leaf 5K in Dawsonville, GA. Such clever names.

For those who want an even more daring challenge, there’s the Bare Hare Sprint Triathalon. Participants swim 500 meters, bike 8.5 miles and run 3.1 miles.

Swimming nude, sure. Running nude, maybe. But, biking in the buff? I can’t imagine the effect 8.5 miles of nude bicycling would have on the groin. My bike is made for triathalon use. It is very streamlined. The seat is hard and narrow. It is not a padded banana seat.

To each their own.

The HATED Taxman…

At the end of each year of my working life, I have received a tax refund. Today I received my W-2, so I set about inputting our information into turbotax and then into taxact.com, since I was sure there had to be a problem with turbotax. It doesn’t seem possible that we could owe almost $2,000!

WTF??!! We claim married – 2. We are two married people. That seems right, huh? We moved and pay 3x as much tax and interest on our home as we did before. We both put 15% into our 401K.

I am hiring a tax professional. Hopefully he will be able to help us find some more deductions or will be able to find that typo that I made.

Just today, I was telling my husband that our finances might allow us to take that much needed vacation at the end of April. I guess not! This year we will be summering at Camp IRS (better known as The Annex or our house).

It is not financially responsible to get a large tax refund. I certainly don’t want to give the government a tax-free loan. I wouldn’t mind paying a few hundred dollars, but the thought of paying $2,000 (including a penalty for not paying enough) makes me sick to my stomach.

I guess I will become one of those people that don’t mail their taxes in until April 15th!

1 (900) 2COREYS

As most of you know, my radio repertoire consists solely of talk radio. XM has many offerings.

This morning as I was driving to work, I caught an E True Hollywood Story on Corey Haim.

If I have ever been a fan of anyone it was Corey Haim. When I was in the fifth grade I LOVED him (as only a 10 year old can). I papered the walls of my bedroom with his photos from Tiger Beat and Big Bopper Magazines. Feldman did not occupy any space – and it was a hard task to find any Haim posters sans Feldman. But, I did. I was going to marry him.

My neighbor Jamie and I spent a day calling the Two Coreys Hotline and leaving messages. When his parents received a bill for the 1-900 number, we were in big trouble. But we didn’t learn, the next month we left messages for Freddy Krueger. The art of the 1-900 number has been lost. I have never seen a commercial that lets me know how I can leave a message for Suri Cruise or Horatio Sanz. What ever happened to Miss Cleo?

But, I digress as I often do. The E True Hollywood Story on Mr. Haim didn’t make him out to be a very responsible citizen, to put it nicely. His life has went the way of most of my ex-boyfriends – rehab, lives with his dad, people constantly giving him opportunities that he doesn’t make come to fruition…

Luckily I wised up and picked a great man to marry!

#11 – One Mississippi by Mark Childress

One Mississippi by Mark Childress has been on my “to-be-read” list for quite some time. The list is compiled from book reviews and friend recommendations. When I found this at the library, I wasn’t sure I would like it – after all it is about teenage boys.

After the first chapter, I was completely engrossed. The prose is very well written and the author is able to deal with heavy issues such as school shootings, homosexuality and interracial dating without being too over the top.

This is a great read. Check it out.

Verbal Turbulence

I am stealing the title phrase from a man I know… Its a neat way to describe back talk, etc.

The worst thing I did (so far) today was declare that the well was dry. Professional acquaintances often ask me to help them out. Today I needed something to do my job properly. Two people that constantly ask me to help them didn’t come through although they could have easily done so. I did thank the person who did help me profusely and pledged to bend over backwards to help her the future (a daunting feat with my current expansionary period and the ever present lack of flexibility).

The good things I did today include controlling my eating for at least 16 hours. I also made a great professional accomplishment that might help me with future career development. The joy I get from this is a flashback to the days when I felt like I was making a difference. Maybe I still am…

I will be at the blogger bash tomorrow and look forward to seeing everyone there…

Live Your Best Life

The slogan on Oprah XM is “live your best life.” This morning I woke up before the alarm went off and spent a few of the moments between sleep and wake thinking about what I could do to make sure I am living my best life.

*treat my body better, by watching what I put into it and getting more exercise. This is always on my list. How sad.
*spend more quality time with my family, friends, husband and pets.
*try to develop my career by moving into another job, thus reducing work related stress.
*mentally review each day to determine what I can do to live my best life.

I also have been thinking about the Ursula Hegi book I recently reviewed – The Worst Thing I’ve Done. I mentioned in the review that the couple always asks each other what the worst thing they’ve done each day is. It would be an interesting practice to review each day what the best and worst things that I did were.

Today I did nothing that would benefit society. We spent time with friends, went to the gym (I even lifted weights which is something that I HATE), did some cleaning and then met my husband’s parents at Logan’s Roadhouse.

The worst things I did were to overeat (which made me feel guilty) and gossiped about someone with whom I need to change the dynamic of our relationship. I try not to talk poorly about other people, but this person has really gotten under my skin. I need to do something about it so that I will no longer feel the need to express my discontent to others that are not involved with it.

#10 – The Worst Thing I’ve Done by Ursula Hegi

When I finished The Worst Thing I’ve Done by Ursula Hegi, I was 10% towards completing my goal of reading 100 books this year. Pretty admirable for January 26th!

At a previous job, I spent a eight hours a day listening to audio books and talk radio (this is where my love of talk radio began). I tried several Ursula Hegi books but didn’t enjoy listening to them at all. Hegi reads her own audio books and her English is heavily accented, which does not make for good audio book narration.

I thought that I’d give Hegi another try. I had never experienced one of her books in book form and thought that she might be worth trying out, with her former Novel Stones From the River being an Oprah selection. Wrong.

I hesitate to say that I didn’t like a book. After all, I appreciate that she is a published author and I am not. Writing a book is an admirable task.

But, I didn’t like this book at all. It seemed as if Hegi was using it as a forum to express her hatred for Bush. I am generally apolitical, but this was too much. I appreciate our freedom of speech in this country, though for some reason it seems sacrosanct to me to speak poorly of our President. It makes me feel uncomfortable when people do it. I don’t know why. I’m sure people spoke out against Hitler, Sadaam and Castro; and rightly so. I guess nobody should invite me to a protest, because the lingo on my sign wouldn’t be very eye catching.

The couple in the book often ask each other “What is the worst thing you did today?” An interesting question.

#9 – Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan

Reading Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan took me a few hours on a dreary winter afternoon. Only 146 (small) pages, it is the story of the last night a franchise location of Red Lobster is open, told from the point of view of the general manager.

This was a fast, interesting read. Definitely not something I would purchase, but a good choice to pick up from your local library. I would rate it 6 out of 10 – lobster without the melted butter.

I wondered a lot about O’Nan when reading this story. What would drive him to have such interest in Red Lobster and Darden Restaurants that he would make it a driving force in his novel? Was he inspired by the live lobsters that peer at the customers who may consume them from their tank in the lobby? Did he previously work in the food service industry? At the back of the book he thanks his family and friends for putting up with a year of Red Lobster Talk. Did he pay Darden to use Red Lobster as the setting? If so, did Darden have to approve the book prior to printing? Although it is not unflattering to the seafood house, it does not leave one with the desire to run off to Red Lobster, (though I did suggest to my husband that we go to the Olive Garden – another Darden Restaurant – tonight).

This Is My Life…

It’s not what I signed up for, but I am enjoying it all the same.

Last night I participated in a Stitch-n-bitch with Laura and Katie. I really enjoyed it. I am thinking of hosting a stitch-n-bitch at my house sometime in April. If anyone in the blog-o-sphere is interested, let me know and I will be sure to invite you.

The blanket I’m crocheting is almost done. I just have to finish it off, which is daunting task. At this point, I follow along with the pattern I’ve created. I will have to carefully count the stitches on the finishing, and I’m afraid to ruin what is turning out to be quite beautiful. Then there’s the question of what to start next. Can I even make a chain?

I have made two trips to the library this week. I took a list of books that I am interested in reading and checked out 13 things. I am sure that I won’t read them all in the next three weeks, but it is definitely a money saving venture.

Proof of Karma…

When I drove to my previous job, I felt like I was going to vomit. Yes, my malcontent was so great that I felt physically ill when facing the fact that I had to continue working there until I could find another job. Unfortunately, I am not independently wealthy.

Most of my distress was caused by one person. A manager. Famous for her pot-stirring tactics, like pitting one person against another. I actually witnessed exchanges like the following:

SB Boss: Mary, Sally said that you are lazy. What are we going to do about it?

later…

SB Boss: Sally, Mary said that you are lazy. What are we going to do about it?

Blatant lies like this occurred all of the time. I guess the idea was to make sure everyone was at each others throats, so that nobody would realize what was really going on (I will keep my speculations to myself).

Today I heard that SB Boss is EXTREMELY unhappy at her new place of employment, because her new boss is difficult to deal with. If this is not karma, it doesn’t exist. I giggle with glee. Yes, I know that it is very un-Christian to gather joy from the misfortune of others, even those that caused you to loose sleep because they did things to make your work-life miserable.