Grr!

Awakened this morning while in the middle of a dream. A dream where I was yelling & throwing things in anger. I might have beat up some people, too.

My alarm went off. The dream dissipated but the emotions remained. Not a good way to start a day. Hit snooze in hopes that a few minutes would calm me down. Only led to more irritation because 5 minutes was not long enough. Hit snooze again but remained awake to try to get into a more positive frame of mind. Got out of bed at 5:40 am. Still angry.

I hate to think what these interrupted dreams are doing to my health.

Breakfast & a walk with Loki helped but still mostly irritated.

I don't get Labor Day off. Part of the building is a sauna (fortunately not my part). Got to listen to a reading of an e-mail about how Barack Obama is taking money from productive people and giving it to the poor and illegal aliens.* Pandora One refuses to work but I got around that. It's Monday. I ate over 800 calories for breakfast and was hungry again at 9:00 am. Getting these whines off my mind is helping.

*I don't mind populist anger. Populist anger led to some very good things - 40 hour work week, voting rights, workplace safety rules, minimum wage to name a few examples. Anger is the only thing that gets people in power off their butt. Fear of the people is good for those in power. Helps keep them in line and realize that their power does not give them the right to abuse people.

This current wave of anger worries me. Seems undirected. No goals or ideas other than Obama sucks, taxes suck, bailouts suck, government sucks, tan foreign people suck, liberal media sucks, I've got mine - fuck you. The tax system needs reform. The debt being left to later generations is alarming. Corporate welfare is more damaging than personal welfare. I've come to terms with the fact that my Social Security payments are for the benefit of others, some of whom I care about, and that I won't see any benefits. Well directed anger can change these things but all I see on television and on the Internet is a bunch of white people throwing temper tantrums. Anger changes the world - temper tantrums just destroy whatever is nearby. I worry because I'm nearby.

Dog Training

Last night, attended the orientation session for Loki's obedience class. It went well but he will have to stay on the opposite side of the class from two of the other dogs until we know how he will react.

I look forward to the next 8 weeks. I'm working on my current assignment: teaching Loki to associate clicker with treat. I think he has it.

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I got up earlier this week. I'm able to walk Loki in the morning, make breakfast and lunch, get dressed and make it into the office close to 8:00 am. Do this for three more weeks and it will become a habit. Ugh. I've found that I have a major bout of sleepiness from 9:00 - 10:00 am. I might attempt a 15 minute nap to see if that helps. I have a phone and people walk into my office. Maybe I can get 5 minutes uninterrupted.

Hooray for the weekend. I can catch up on sleep.

I'm Alive!

I finally emerge from the time warp that is Radio MASH. 4,887 children in the Brazos Valley will receive at least one gift for Christmas this year. Again, the Brazos Valley came through generously.

I spent most of Monday resting and my rhythms got thrown out of whack from all the sleeping and anxiety about Loki. I finally went to bed at 1:00 am, got up at 6:00 am to go to work.

I'm taking a week off from the gym and running to rest. I will walk and stretch. I probably the the equivalent amount of pounding pavement over 4 days of the toy drive as a single marathon plus lifting, twisting and bending. My lower back is a bit stiff.

Lessons from Radio MASH, ideas for improvement and random thoughts (I'm putting this on the blog so that a record will exist):

1. The separate tents for incoming toys/ repair and order filling were a godsend. Thank you, National Guard. Please do that again next year.
2. No child wants a stuffed animal for Christmas. I know some animals were quite nice and expensive but we had a list with some requests and stuffed animal did not appear. Specific characters that have plush versions were requested but no generic stuffed animals.
3. Signs under each box on the age group tables. Things get misfiled on the edges. Candyland is a game for 5 - 7 year olds. 8 - 10 year olds don't play Candyland unless they have a younger sibling.
4. A poster with examples of the types of things each age group likes over each table. This will take some advanced planning, glue, scissors and pictures. I started the project by printing pictures but did not get any further this year.
5. As many sets of dominoes that went out this year, I expect several dominoes champions to emerge from the Brazos Valley in a few years.
6. Found out what a Barkyardigan is. Have to remember that not all the volunteers are up to date on the interests of children and teens. Add logos to the posters in number 4.
7. I don't want to give another Uno Card Game ever again. There is a budget, otherwise I would never pick up an Uno Card Game ever.
8. A separate area for taping batteries on to new toys. We have a great toy doctor who would rather concentrate on the various interpretations of gently used electronic toys. Any volunteer can tape batteries on to boxes.
9. Knot tying demonstration for volunteers.
10. Pallets and tarps for boxes of loose toys. A more organized filing system for loose toys.
11. A check list of things that need to be done in case some volunteers show up or there is a lull.
12. A sign saying where bikes, trikes and big backyard toys go.
13. Good idea from this year: tubs for toys ready-to-go.
14. How did we end up with so many 8 - 10 year old girls?
15. Underprivileged kids: wait and you will receive that fad toy from four years ago! That and a stuffed animal. The first used Nintendo Wii should show up at Radio MASH 2011.
16. There is a very special place in the afterlife for the toy designer that made toys without off switches.
17. I'm sure it is a fine toy but I doubt that little toy train will give you infinite pleasure. The Engrish on the Chinese toys was entertaining and had a poetic quality to it. the eden of the movement. the aquatic animals of the movement.

Getting things done

I finally found a way to get up in the morning and make it to work on time. I use my cell phone's alarm clock feature and have the sound set to the chirps of Salvador. The sound wakes me gently rather than jarring me out of a dream and Walter does not hear it and get disturbed. I've tried it successfully for two days so far. I haven't experienced the 9:00 am - 11:00 am struggle to stay awake, either.

I've accomplished a few minor but overdue tasks.

Things have become a bit busy at work but I don't mind. Keeps me out of trouble and justifies my existence at work.

I feel good about how this week has unfolded so far. I'm a bit behind in scanning my cartoons but I still have four days worth on the hard drive. I have three cartoons in the box awaiting scan.

I still read the comics but nothing has been worth commenting on. At least the Charterstone Tales did not happen as I feared.

I finally saw the Chocolate Rain video on YouTube. Oddly enough, a reference to it appeared on both South Park and Lewis Black's Root of Evil tonight. I did not go looking for the video. I received a subscription update - looked at that video which lead to the Chad Vader parody of Chocolate Rain and finally to Chocolate Rain. I'm glad I caught that bit of pop culture when I did or else tonight's line up on Comedy Central would not have made as much sense, especially, South Park.

Massage therapy is winning the Mary Worth poll. Still time to cast your vote. If you want to know what being a super delegate feels like vote 1,000 times.

I am invigorated by busywork

The job is not so bad right now. I'm working on an interesting project but since it is registration time my train of thought is often interrupted by phone calls. I feel like a character in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. (I made a reference to Kurt Vonnegut - I'm such an intellectual!) Just when a germ of an idea develops the phone rings.

Some helpful hints in calling for an appointment and thoughts that go through my head while talking to you:

• Have your schedule in front of you before calling
• Your mom sounds like a very lovely person but she is not doing you any favors by calling me to make your appointments. Your sister or girlfriend aren't either. How come I never talk to fathers, brothers or boyfriends?
• How can you not know your current class schedule by now?
• Talking on the phone is nerve wracking - I hate doing it myself - but I can recall my own name rather quickly despite the circumstances
• Leave some identifying information in your e-mail - a real name preferably. I feel kind of silly addressing a response to Mr. rockthegoodag11 (not a real handle that I know of)
• Our department has over 400 undergraduates, so no, I cannot guarantee a quick response from the advisor

About the account suspension and taking time off from exercise: I did not realize the amount of time in the evenings that I devoted to updating my website and exercise. I've been going to sleep earlier than usual. Maybe this account suspension was the break I needed but refused to take. I'm still quite interested in what caused the suspension and would like to get things back up. Someone actually expressed concern.

Thanks for reading

Something about this comic rings familiar.

Witty retort there, Dawn.

I had a little more success with the waking up earlier experiment. I set the alarm to 5:05 am and actually got out of bed at 6:18 am. I sat up at 6:00 am and put on my glasses then laid in bed next to Walter. Walter thought I was going on a run because of the early alarm.

I've been wasting a fair amount of time in the evening watching TV this week. Tonight, I will be too tired from my speed work to spend much time doing anything. I have a few updates on the redesigned site to catch up on.

I did get to enjoy a nap before taking Loki to the vet yesterday.

Before I forget:

Argh.

Ben Franklin can go to hell

I'm trying to work out the trajectory of that slap. Maybe Dawn did a Captain Kirk karate chop on the back of Drew's head. Will Vera counter with a roundhouse kick?

So far this week, my attempts to wake up earlier have failed. I set my alarm for 5:00 am to go on a run on Saturday and have kept that setting. I can muster the strength to get out of bed to meet people to go on a run at 6:00 am but have difficulty doing the same thing to go to work. Getting up early for a run is different than getting up early to get to work on time because after the run there is time for a nap.

All the things I've read about wealthy (self-made millionaires) people say that the successful get up early in the morning. I guess I will give up some measure of success because I've tried and cannot sustain waking up before the butt crack of dawn without having to take a nap around 11:00 am.

Once I've acquired the great wealth from waking up early in the morning then I can take a nap because as a successful person I can set my own hours. In the meantime, I can enjoy the journey in a sleep deprived state. I'll skip it.

I really need to completely cut myself off from a strange little subculture that I've found myself sort of sucked into. I haven't drunk the Kool-Aid but sometimes I feel myself worn down by the copy. Fortunately, I'm not there in person so the rational mind can kick back in and I can hit delete. I think studying this little "teach you success, make you wealthy" sub-culture would be fascinating but a proper study would require getting further inside and I don't think an academic or journalist would be given access without paying the $1,000 (price will go up in two weeks). I'm not in any kind of program (academic or journalistic) that it would make sense to delve into this. My own curiosity and blog are not sufficient reasons.

Wednesday Morning Tempo Run

Woke up an hour early and got it out of the way. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 358 ft Location: Bryan, TX Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 08/15/07 Up/Downhill: [+144/-144] Time: 05:24 AM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 81F temp; 76% humidity 86F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 7.33 miles Goal: 7 miles Time: 1:31:40 Speed: 4.8 mph Attained: 104% Pace: 12' 30 /mi Calories: 939 Notes I'm not much of a morning person but with the high heat index I thought it would be prudent to get up an hour earlier and run in the morning. Nothing like the risk of heat stroke to motivate me to get out of bed early. Did not attain the 10:59 tempo that I had planned but I'm okay with the fact that I was able to maintain a less than 11:30 pace for 4 miles and maintain a consistent pace for that distance. The morning temps were not too bad. Running on a country road in the dark was quite interesting. The only light came from a pole marking the entrance to someone's driveway. It was like running in a tunnel toward the light. I noticed my posture was a bit more upright in the darkness because I looked forward rather than to the ground. Map Elevation (ft.) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 13' 34 +1' 04 4.4 -0.4 -19 ft 2 11' 15 -1' 15 5.3 +0.5 +7 ft 3 11' 24 -1' 06 5.3 +0.5 0 ft 4 11' 25 -1' 05 5.3 +0.5 +6 ft 5 11' 27 -1' 03 5.2 +0.4 -3 ft 6 13' 57 +1' 27 4.3 -0.5 -26 ft 7 12' 45 +0' 15 4.7 -0.1 +30 ft end 17' 54 +5' 24 3.4 -1.4 +6 ft Versus average of 12' 30 min/mi

Posted from bimactive.com

I am so tired right now. Thank God for Vault. The big bucket of high fructose corn syrup, caffeine water that I got at Taco Cabana is the only thing keeping me going at the moment. I'm glad I have my own office and that my job is mostly sedentary. Maybe I can sneek in a quick snooze. I'm waiting for the surge of energy that supposed to keep me going for the rest of the day. That's what the experts claim as a benefit of morning exercise. I better be burning a shitload of calories. At least I will get to bed early tonight and sleep well.

The wall

Clouds! Gray! Depression!

Abbey had her stitches removed last night. She behaved quite well during the procedure. Not a single peep. She also slept through storm that came in early this morning. The same storm knocked out the power and screwed up my alarm clock. I did not get out of bed until 7:00 am.

I'm attempting to make it through the 10:00 am wall. Everyday, I have trouble staying awake from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Sometimes the sleepiness starts at 9:30 am. If I can make it to 11:00 am then I'm okay. The years of screwing with my natural rhythms are taking a toll. Morning people would be more tolerable if they did not act as if it was some kind of special virtue.

I'm looking forward to the fishing trip. Walter is looking forward to it more. He doesn't care whether or not we actually fish, he just wants to get away.

Still looking for someone to temp foster Abbey. Loki will be boarded.

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Run and sleep, sleep and run

This week I ran 15.1 miles, burned about 1919.4 calories and weigh 172.5 pounds.

Monday: 3.28 miles in 35:00
Wednesday: 2.33 miles in 25:00
Friday: 3.29 miles in 35:00

Saturday ran in the Run Thru the Vines 10K. I don't have the official results yet but I estimate my time as 1:06:00. About a 10:30 mile. It was cold and windy.

I seems like I spent most of the day in bed. I ran in the race, went home, took a shower, read and started a nap. Someone called and woke me up. Just as I started to go back to sleep I received another phone call. I got out of bed to wait for some visitors. The visitors came and went. I went out to get some lunch and came back. I went back to bed and read for a while then fell asleep again. I was awakened by my earlier visitors bringing Pickles back. I tried to go back to bed but the dogs wanted to go out so I took them out and went back to bed. I was again awakened by a phone call from Walter. He thought it was safe to call but he did not know that I had been attempting to take a two hour nap all day. After he got off the phone, I was finally able to take an uninterrupted nap.

I spend a lot of time on the weekends sleeping. Trying to make up some sort of sleep deficit, I guess.

Ann Coulter and Noise - no they are not related this time

I slept better with the volume on the noise machine turned down. No sounds of waterfalls intruding upon my dreams.

Loki seems to like the noise machine, he's been sleeping in the bedroom instead of the living room.

Ann Coulter - every cartoonists' greatest challenge. Maybe not, just draw a skeleton with long hair. Ann Coulter should be ignored until she learns to behave like an adult.

Alternate spelling suggestions for Coulter: colder, jolter, counter, clutter, colet.

Noise Machine and Empty Space

I purchased a noise machine from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It plays a variety of relaxing sounds and has a timer. I set it to play the waterfalls all night. It drowned out most of Walter's snoring. I turned up the volume instead of hitting Walter and it had the same effect of making him stop snoring. I will need to try this thing for a few more nights in order to determine its effectiveness.
I dreamt that I slipped into the empty space between the tiny particles that make up an atom. It was dark and sounded like a waterfall. The journey into the empty space proved more interesting than the destination.

The 20 minute version of In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida kind of sucks. Maybe it should be enjoyed while laying in a meadow high on LSD rather than in an office stimulated by caffeine. Maybe the song just sucks regardless of chemicals ingested and location.

Glasbergen really needs to stop drawing reflections, too damn disturbing. Harriet's kneecaps are more aesthetically pleasing than her breasts.

In answer to your "?", Mary, "I-um have work to do." means, "Okay, you biddy, I've made my appearance at your dumb party can I go and be by myself or with a group of people I like or visit my therapist or be anywhere else but this @#$%! party?" Vera is just renting an apartment, a place to put her stuff, sleep, cook, relax and bathe; not a bunch of instant friends.

This whole story line pisses me off because I have dealt with people who tried to impose their "friendship" upon me and try to force me to conform to their ideas of friendship. Then they became angry when forced to use stronger tactics to get them out of my life because subtlety and tact failed. Since this is Mary Worth, Vera will have to resort to suicide.

Then there is the whole Aldo affair. Nobody likes a raging hypocrite, Mary.

People in Darfur are trying to avoid death and I'm pissed off about a comic strip storyline. I feel powerless regarding both Darfur and this Mary Worth storyline.

If I don't write new posts the Robin and accent thing will never make it off the main page.

I drew two cartoons this week. Busy with other things. I can take a short break because I'm 3 weeks ahead.

Right now, I'm waiting for a video to compile and save. Then I have to recompile another video because Windows Movie Maker ate 24 minutes in the middle of the video. Sort of like Nixon's gap.

Lately, I've been hearing that one of the keys to material success is to get up early in the morning. The Mad Money guy claims that the body can be trained to function on 4 hours of sleep a night. The Mad Money guy is rich but he screams a lot on television. I'll take the extra 3-4 hours and pay the price with less wealth and not screaming, on television or elsewhere.

My problem with early risers is that they won't shut up about it. They act as if it is some special virtue and that no one can achieve success unless they are out of bed at 2 hours before the butt crack of dawn. It just take discipline and training, something that, I as a late sleeper does not possess.

I've tried. My dreams are often interrupted in these attempts at early rising. I hit the snooze button on the alarm to finish the dream. I find it difficult to get out of bed after an interrupted dream. I always dream in color and I can read words. I'm told that both of these things are impossible.

I don't stay in bed until noon. I wake up on my own between 7:00 and 8:00 am. I have to be at work at 8:00 am. I have jumped out of bed to make it to 7:00 am training runs but the prospect of a nap later that morning motivated me. Most days I subvert my own natural sleep cycle.

My point is that being an early riser does not make you a better person. No, seriously, shut the fuck up right now. I don't need training, I have plenty of discipline. Stop. Please tattoo the following into your brain:

YOU ARE NOT A SUPERIOR BEING JUST BECAUSE YOU WAKE UP EARLY!

Annoying, yes; superior, no.

Somebody had to tend the fires overnight. While your early rising ass is stuggling to stay awake at 3:00 pm, I'm revved up and getting things done. No Robert Goulet gremlin in my office.

So I won't learn a new language, gain great wealth nor become a leader of extraordinary magnitude with the extra two hours that I give up for sleep. At least I'll be well rested and less annoying.

Sweet technicolor dreams.

Walked 2,168 steps/ .95 miles.

Texas A&M came to their senses and gave non-essential personnel the day off today. Tomorrow, normal operating hours resume along with classes. This assumes that the weather behaves as predicted.

I have a bit of cabin fever and I do want to get the chaos of the first day of classes out of the way.

Waking up early will be hard to do.

I'm not sleepy at all but will go to bed and read until I become tired.

Walked 6,789 steps/ 2.94 miles.

Right now the dogs are demanding attention. It is hard to type when a dog is using his nose to move your hands from the keyboard. Having two dogs makes typing one handed impossible. I have resorted to using my elbows to pet the dogs.

The second day of waking early was harder than the first. I was dozing by 7:30 am. I found I do better with more protein for breakfast.

At least it was just a 3 day work week.

Walked 8,151 steps/ 3.34 miles.

I finally finished reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Next, the Tao De Ching.

The first day at work went smoothly. The phone did not ring.

I'm going to bed. I cannot stay up much longer.

Walked 4,620 steps/ 1.78 miles.

I tried the Body Flow class instead of my usual workout. I liked the class but it is scheduled at a bad time for me. I was able to attend this class because of the day off.

I'm off to bed and will see how long it takes me to readjust to waking up so @#$%! early.

I'm almost finished with the Tibetan Book of the Dead!

I was a bit lazy last night. I did not update. Watched the Comedians of Comedy movie and then went to bed. I also ran after work.

Today, is a half day. I'll update when I get home. I will run some more.

Pickles will be visiting this weekend. 3 dogs.

Eat, sleep draw, run, web - that is my life.

My job does not suck so much.