I was looking forward to the Blogher'11 conference and meeting lots of cool women and going to the famous parties. All the posts and all the chatter about previous conferences conjured up a picture in my head of an incredibly fun inspiring event. I imagined all the women I would talk to and all the things we would have in common. I imagined sitting around a table with several other women sipping drinks and laughing up a storm about who knows what. It was all so wonderful in my head.
I did get to meet lots of cool women. I didn't get to know them very well. All my interactions were short. The boogie woman of social anxiety reared her ugly head. I just knew that all these women were doing me a favor to even deign to converse with me for a few minutes. I couldn't shake the feeling despite my rocket scientist brain telling me it was bull.
Thursday night I really tried hard to pretend I was OK and not anxious in the hopes I could fake it until it no longer felt fake. I managed to get through the People's party and part of the Queerosphere party before throwing in the towel and retreating to my hotel room at the Best Western in Chula Vista. I felt relieved to be out of the crowds but also lonely. I escaped to my Harry Potter book to forget my woes and be entertained. It worked.
The sessions and speakers on Friday went better for me. I felt less fear when there was a topic to be talked about or an expert to be listened to. Its always been easier for me to be social when being social is not the only thing going on.
I decided to skip the Friday night parties as I couldn't face up to the fears. I decided to save that energy for Saturday's parties. I enjoyed the voices of the year speakers and headed back to my motel in the hopes of a hot tub soak. Alas, the hot tub was broken so I settled for a nice long shower and watching some TV. I was alone but not lonely.
Saturday was a struggle at times. I was getting creeped out by how much social anxiety I was feeling at the conference and I started to dwell on that instead of putting energy into making a space for myself where I was comfortable. I started to think what I loser I was. I would search for tables with no one at them and then bury my nose in a book or in my iPad so no one else would join me and I could be alone. Its like someone just turned off my courage faucet and turned on my fear faucet. I did enjoy the speakers and the sessions I went to and giving blood but the interim times were icky.
The Saturday party I chose to go to was the Aiming Low party. I figured it was aiming low so there wouldn't be as much emphasis put on being super social. But I arrived to find out they were playing a sticker game where the sticker says “You are _________” and you fill in the blank and stick it on a stranger. I guess it was a ice breaker sort of thing but to me it was something I just was not wanting to do. As the sticker woman went away, I got rid of my sticker and I sat there sipping my wine alone at a table until two women asked if they could join me. I said sure and talked with them a bit but my mind was a million miles away dealing with this mountain of fear. I felt tears of frustration that at 50 years of age I'm still dealing with this damn fear I have had since I was 5 years old. Before the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks I excused myself and headed to the restroom to let the tears eke out a little. After I had them under control, I hoofed my way through the hotel lobby to the parking lot and dived into my car for more crying. Sigh. It was all so deja vu.
This isn't the first conference that I have gone to with high hopes of tremendous fun so I don't know why I thought Blogher'11 would be any different than the other conferences I have gone to. I'm mystified as to why I still seem to get this urge to go to conferences. I guess I keep hoping that as I get older I'll kick this social anxiety problem and things will be different. The fantasies of what it will be like are just so good that I overlook the past realities. If the conference did one thing for me though, it did inspire me to write this and that is something good.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Monday, August 01, 2011
Peters Creek Hike at Portola State Park
Saturday I led a hike for GLS to Peter's Creek redwood grove at Portola State Park. The day started in typical bay area fashion with there being no parking at the park-n-ride lot. It was full at 9:00 a.m. I parked on the side of the road just outside the lot and after about 5 minutes someone left the lot and I ran like a bat outta hell to my car and managed to get that valuable parking place. By 9:15 the other hikers showed, just three of them. One had to leave their car along the side of the road. The other, my co-leader, volunteered to drive to Portola so we all tumbled into his car. It was four in all.
We wiggled our way up Page Mill road and down Alpine road and Portola road and got to the park at 10:00 a.m. We paid our state park fee and were off on our hike. The hike started on a paved road in the park that took us to the Summit trail. We hiked up the trail to, what else, the summit. Then we were off on Slate creek trail which runs along a wooded ridge to the Slate creek backpack camp. It was nice to have an outhouse for a bathroom break rather than finding that private spot behind a bush without poison oak! After a short break we hiked on Bear Creek trail three and a half miles when we stopped just short of Peter's Creek trail at a little water fall on Bear Creek with a great log for sitting and eating lunch.
After lunch we hiked the last little bit of Bear Creek trail to Peters Creek trail and then we did the lovely one and a half mile loop around the grove. It is an nearly pristine redwood grove since its so far from the beaten path. The only thing that makes it seem not quite pristine is the memorial signs for patrons who supported the park and of course the trail. There are no names for the trees like in other redwood groves that are more accessible. There are no fences to keep one from walking right up to the trees. Its a wonderful place to hike.
After our wonderful loop around the Peter's creek it was time to climb back up the big hill we descended to get there. I decided to hike up the hill at my fastest pace and planned to wait at the top for folks to catch up. But everyone followed me up the hill at the fast pace. I think we all wanted to get it over with quickly. I did stop once or twice on the way up to admire the views I missed on the way down.
We retraced our steps the rest of the hike. I plodded along for the rest of the hike trying to ignore my sore tired feet and enjoy the quiet of the redwood forest. We finished up our hike at 4 p.m. and were glad to sit in the car and take a load off our feet, me especially. My feet don't usually get this sore on a 13 mile hike but I think I just over did my training for the big Whitney hike the past couple of weeks and did not give my poor old feet a chance to recover. Thankfully the rest of the body served me well. I really can go up hill a blistering pace these days! Its fun to do long day hikes and have energy at the end of the day!
We wiggled our way up Page Mill road and down Alpine road and Portola road and got to the park at 10:00 a.m. We paid our state park fee and were off on our hike. The hike started on a paved road in the park that took us to the Summit trail. We hiked up the trail to, what else, the summit. Then we were off on Slate creek trail which runs along a wooded ridge to the Slate creek backpack camp. It was nice to have an outhouse for a bathroom break rather than finding that private spot behind a bush without poison oak! After a short break we hiked on Bear Creek trail three and a half miles when we stopped just short of Peter's Creek trail at a little water fall on Bear Creek with a great log for sitting and eating lunch.
After lunch we hiked the last little bit of Bear Creek trail to Peters Creek trail and then we did the lovely one and a half mile loop around the grove. It is an nearly pristine redwood grove since its so far from the beaten path. The only thing that makes it seem not quite pristine is the memorial signs for patrons who supported the park and of course the trail. There are no names for the trees like in other redwood groves that are more accessible. There are no fences to keep one from walking right up to the trees. Its a wonderful place to hike.
After our wonderful loop around the Peter's creek it was time to climb back up the big hill we descended to get there. I decided to hike up the hill at my fastest pace and planned to wait at the top for folks to catch up. But everyone followed me up the hill at the fast pace. I think we all wanted to get it over with quickly. I did stop once or twice on the way up to admire the views I missed on the way down.
We retraced our steps the rest of the hike. I plodded along for the rest of the hike trying to ignore my sore tired feet and enjoy the quiet of the redwood forest. We finished up our hike at 4 p.m. and were glad to sit in the car and take a load off our feet, me especially. My feet don't usually get this sore on a 13 mile hike but I think I just over did my training for the big Whitney hike the past couple of weeks and did not give my poor old feet a chance to recover. Thankfully the rest of the body served me well. I really can go up hill a blistering pace these days! Its fun to do long day hikes and have energy at the end of the day!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
RIP John F. Wilkinson 1940-2010
A really good hiking buddy, John F. Wilkinson, died yesterday. Rest in peace John. You will be fondly remembered by me. I loved it that you kept asking me to be your co-leader on these long challenging hikes despite my slow pace. I felt like we were a good team with me doing the sweeping and you up front with the fast folks. Somehow it was never a problem that I was slow and you were fast. It made for a welcoming hike for all participants. I also loved the Lost Coast backpacks I did with you. I'll remember the long steep hikes up to the ridge tops and the rain soaked night on the beach. I'll miss your stories of hikes I wasn't on where you talked about all your backpack trips and the adventures that ensued.
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| From CLOGS |
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Kings Canyon and Book List
Just spent a weekend at Kings Canyon. I drove there after work on Friday and arrived at 8:30 p.m. to discover that there was a forest fire burning in the hills above the canyon. From the campground I looked up and saw an orange glow on the hill side in the distance and after watching for a while saw flames! If you are familiar with the trails in Kings Canyon, the fire was burning around the upper part of the Don Cecil trail. I had hoped to hike on the Don Cecil trail this weekend but obviously no can do!! The smoke from the fire ended up messing up my plans to do two tough hikes this weekend.
Saturday we ended up driving out of the Canyon to the General Grant grove to escape the smoke from the fire and to see the giant Sequoia trees. The trees were very impressive and beautiful but the short 1/2 mile trail was full of tourists from tour buses. It was not exactly a wilderness experience with the trails so crowded with people. We ate our packed lunch at the trees though and enjoyed ourselves. We mostly enjoyed being able to breath deeply and not breath in smoke. After the hike we headed back to the canyon and found a section of the King River that was far from the smoke and spent a couple hours napping, reading, and watching the rapids of the King River from a warm flat rock right next to the river. At 5 we headed back to the campground. It was still smoky. It was a slow burning fire and the smoke will probably last till next weekend according to Deb, the fire expert ranger. I finished off the day by having dinner at the snack bar in the air conditioned snack bar area. I had a BLT, potato chips, and a glass of orange juice. When I returned to the camp ground we sat around the camp fire talking. It seemed odd to be sitting around a camp fire with a big fire burning on the hill in the distance. I hit the hay at 9 p.m.
I got up at 6 a.m. this morning and decided to escape the smoky canyon and drive home. I couldn't see trying to hike in the smoky canyon area and I had seen enough of the stuff that was away from the smoke. So I drove the 4 hour and 45 minute drive home at 7 a.m. I got home just before noon and had marvelous afternoon snoozing and watching the PGA golf championship.
I'm off on vacation soon and this afternoon put together a nice pile of books to bring with me to read. Here is the list:
Killing Orders by Sara Paretsky
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
The Bostonians by Henry James
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Animythical Tales by Sarah Totton
I doubt I will get them all read in 10 days but I would rather have too many books than too few!!
Saturday we ended up driving out of the Canyon to the General Grant grove to escape the smoke from the fire and to see the giant Sequoia trees. The trees were very impressive and beautiful but the short 1/2 mile trail was full of tourists from tour buses. It was not exactly a wilderness experience with the trails so crowded with people. We ate our packed lunch at the trees though and enjoyed ourselves. We mostly enjoyed being able to breath deeply and not breath in smoke. After the hike we headed back to the canyon and found a section of the King River that was far from the smoke and spent a couple hours napping, reading, and watching the rapids of the King River from a warm flat rock right next to the river. At 5 we headed back to the campground. It was still smoky. It was a slow burning fire and the smoke will probably last till next weekend according to Deb, the fire expert ranger. I finished off the day by having dinner at the snack bar in the air conditioned snack bar area. I had a BLT, potato chips, and a glass of orange juice. When I returned to the camp ground we sat around the camp fire talking. It seemed odd to be sitting around a camp fire with a big fire burning on the hill in the distance. I hit the hay at 9 p.m.
I got up at 6 a.m. this morning and decided to escape the smoky canyon and drive home. I couldn't see trying to hike in the smoky canyon area and I had seen enough of the stuff that was away from the smoke. So I drove the 4 hour and 45 minute drive home at 7 a.m. I got home just before noon and had marvelous afternoon snoozing and watching the PGA golf championship.
I'm off on vacation soon and this afternoon put together a nice pile of books to bring with me to read. Here is the list:
Killing Orders by Sara Paretsky
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
The Bostonians by Henry James
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Animythical Tales by Sarah Totton
I doubt I will get them all read in 10 days but I would rather have too many books than too few!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Last Weekend's Hikes
Last weekend I went on two hikes: Pogonip in Santa Cruz and Pinnacles just east of Soledad.
The Pogonip hike was with Gay and Lesbian Sierrans. Only three of us showed up and all of us were hike leaders so we decided to make it an unofficial trip and do a route that was slightly more adventurous. At the start of the hike, the others told me that the Pogonip name stands for POlo, GOlf, and NIP as in have a nip of a drink. Pogonip used to be the home of a golf course, a polo course, and a clubhouse with a bar. We hiked past the old clubhouse which was abandoned but looked like it might be fixed up at a later date. After passing the club house we were surprised to see several people playing bike polo on an old tennis court. Alas we did not see anyone playing any kind of golf but we did see an overgrown field that was probably part of the old golf course. We continued our hike to the other end of Pogonip and left the park to wander back to our cars through the university of Santa Cruz. Its a beautiful campus and we managed to stay mostly away from the roadways but not away from the asphault. Still it was nice to see UCSC. We saw a swim meet going on and saw students with banana slug sweatshirts. The banana slug is UCSC's mascot. After the athletic fields we paused to check out the map on the GPS to figure out how to get back to Pogonip and the cars. We figured it out quick and made our way back to the cars in about 5 minutes. After the hike we had a nice lunch at a place called The River. I had a delicious turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich. It was a very pleasant mellow hike.
Sunday was Pinnacles. I went hiking with my hiking buddy, L. We left at 8 a.m. and made it to the western entrance by 10:30 a.m. We headed up the Juniper Canyon trail. There were many purplish magenta flowers that neither of us could identify. There was lots of very healthy looking poison oak too but all of it easy to avoid. The trail switched back and forth uphill to the high peaks. I was happy to be in good condition and not feel like I was gasping for breath as we climbed. At the high peaks we talked to the ranger there and a field biologist who studies condors. There had been a condor chick born at Pinnacles but they had to remove the chick from the nest last week as it had high levels of lead in its blood stream. The chick is now being raised in captivity at an LA zoo. We had a fascinating conversation with the field biologist (who L knew well) all about condors. Well at least L. did. I must confess to listening for a while and then wandering off to look at the old nest and enjoy the high peaks. After chatting with the field biologist and ranger we headed off to explore the high peaks and hike on the cool part of the trail where steps were blasted from the rock and poles have been installed on steep sections. Its an incredible feat of trail creation. We found a nice shady spot at high peaks and had our lunch there enjoying the view of the green hillsides from on high. After lunch we descended back to the Juniper Canyon trail on the tunnel trail. It had been ages since I had been that way and it was fun to see the tunnel again. We got back to the parking lot around 2 p.m. It was quite a glorious day at Pinnacles. The weather was cool for May which made the hiking super comfortable. We got back to San Jose around 4 p.m. and I was home and in a hot shower by 5 p.m.
The Pogonip hike was with Gay and Lesbian Sierrans. Only three of us showed up and all of us were hike leaders so we decided to make it an unofficial trip and do a route that was slightly more adventurous. At the start of the hike, the others told me that the Pogonip name stands for POlo, GOlf, and NIP as in have a nip of a drink. Pogonip used to be the home of a golf course, a polo course, and a clubhouse with a bar. We hiked past the old clubhouse which was abandoned but looked like it might be fixed up at a later date. After passing the club house we were surprised to see several people playing bike polo on an old tennis court. Alas we did not see anyone playing any kind of golf but we did see an overgrown field that was probably part of the old golf course. We continued our hike to the other end of Pogonip and left the park to wander back to our cars through the university of Santa Cruz. Its a beautiful campus and we managed to stay mostly away from the roadways but not away from the asphault. Still it was nice to see UCSC. We saw a swim meet going on and saw students with banana slug sweatshirts. The banana slug is UCSC's mascot. After the athletic fields we paused to check out the map on the GPS to figure out how to get back to Pogonip and the cars. We figured it out quick and made our way back to the cars in about 5 minutes. After the hike we had a nice lunch at a place called The River. I had a delicious turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich. It was a very pleasant mellow hike.
Sunday was Pinnacles. I went hiking with my hiking buddy, L. We left at 8 a.m. and made it to the western entrance by 10:30 a.m. We headed up the Juniper Canyon trail. There were many purplish magenta flowers that neither of us could identify. There was lots of very healthy looking poison oak too but all of it easy to avoid. The trail switched back and forth uphill to the high peaks. I was happy to be in good condition and not feel like I was gasping for breath as we climbed. At the high peaks we talked to the ranger there and a field biologist who studies condors. There had been a condor chick born at Pinnacles but they had to remove the chick from the nest last week as it had high levels of lead in its blood stream. The chick is now being raised in captivity at an LA zoo. We had a fascinating conversation with the field biologist (who L knew well) all about condors. Well at least L. did. I must confess to listening for a while and then wandering off to look at the old nest and enjoy the high peaks. After chatting with the field biologist and ranger we headed off to explore the high peaks and hike on the cool part of the trail where steps were blasted from the rock and poles have been installed on steep sections. Its an incredible feat of trail creation. We found a nice shady spot at high peaks and had our lunch there enjoying the view of the green hillsides from on high. After lunch we descended back to the Juniper Canyon trail on the tunnel trail. It had been ages since I had been that way and it was fun to see the tunnel again. We got back to the parking lot around 2 p.m. It was quite a glorious day at Pinnacles. The weather was cool for May which made the hiking super comfortable. We got back to San Jose around 4 p.m. and I was home and in a hot shower by 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Palo Alto Baylands
Palo Alto Baylands is sort of my home park. Its just a five minute drive from my condo. When my hiking buddy, L, cancelled on the Pinnacles hike we planned today, I decided to go on a solo hike at the Baylands. I had a blast.
When I started the hike rain arrived, but it didn't last that long. I got just a bit damp but not soaked. The sky views were incredible all day long as the clouds and blue sky and rain rolled in and out. Gnats were abundant at times and seemed to come in clouds. I saw the usual small airplanes landing and taking off from the Palo Alto airport and I saw some jets way up in the air on their way to and from the SF airport or the SJ airport. I saw the usual assortment of sea birds: ducks, geese, pelicans, coots, gulls, herons, egrets, and more whose names don't roll off my tongue. I saw one hare disappearing into the bushes but that was my only wild mammal sighting of the day. I did see quite a few dogs being walked and of course human beings enjoying the park as I was. I saw quite a few snails.
I made it to the nature center around 10 a.m. I always enjoy walking out the board walk and seeing the San Francisco bay, the Coyote Hills, and the Dumbarton bridge. On the way back I stopped by at the duck pond and took some pictures of the Bird Migration Sanctuary that I never really knew was there before. Discovering new stuff on a hike you have been on lots of times is fun. I then hiked back to the small dam and crossed it and headed back to the cars while watching some very dark clouds approach. About a mile away from the end of the hike the wind picked up and ripples covered the water and then the rain just came pouring down. I was poured on for about 5 to 10 minutes and it was wet wet wet and cold cold cold. Phew! But before I knew it, it was over and heading off across the bay to the east bay. I kept up a very fast pace to stay warm as I hadn't really worn the proper cloths to stay warm when wet. I was somewhat amazed though that before I ever got back to the car, the blue sky returned and the sun came out. Wow. What a fast fierce storm! I reached the car at 11:30 a.m. and headed home for a nice hot shower. It was a fun hike and it felt very adventurous to have been poured on so vigorously.
When I started the hike rain arrived, but it didn't last that long. I got just a bit damp but not soaked. The sky views were incredible all day long as the clouds and blue sky and rain rolled in and out. Gnats were abundant at times and seemed to come in clouds. I saw the usual small airplanes landing and taking off from the Palo Alto airport and I saw some jets way up in the air on their way to and from the SF airport or the SJ airport. I saw the usual assortment of sea birds: ducks, geese, pelicans, coots, gulls, herons, egrets, and more whose names don't roll off my tongue. I saw one hare disappearing into the bushes but that was my only wild mammal sighting of the day. I did see quite a few dogs being walked and of course human beings enjoying the park as I was. I saw quite a few snails.
I made it to the nature center around 10 a.m. I always enjoy walking out the board walk and seeing the San Francisco bay, the Coyote Hills, and the Dumbarton bridge. On the way back I stopped by at the duck pond and took some pictures of the Bird Migration Sanctuary that I never really knew was there before. Discovering new stuff on a hike you have been on lots of times is fun. I then hiked back to the small dam and crossed it and headed back to the cars while watching some very dark clouds approach. About a mile away from the end of the hike the wind picked up and ripples covered the water and then the rain just came pouring down. I was poured on for about 5 to 10 minutes and it was wet wet wet and cold cold cold. Phew! But before I knew it, it was over and heading off across the bay to the east bay. I kept up a very fast pace to stay warm as I hadn't really worn the proper cloths to stay warm when wet. I was somewhat amazed though that before I ever got back to the car, the blue sky returned and the sun came out. Wow. What a fast fierce storm! I reached the car at 11:30 a.m. and headed home for a nice hot shower. It was a fun hike and it felt very adventurous to have been poured on so vigorously.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
El Corte De Madera Hike
I went on a delightful hike at El Corte De Madera open space preserve today. We met at the Woodside park-n-ride lot and I managed to get the last available space. One person had to park on a side road nearby and the other person volunteered to do the driving so we were all set. We were surprised on our drive up 84 that there were not that many bikes. We reached Skegg's Point parking and there were still plenty of parking spaces there. We parked and headed off on our hike. One note: there is no bathroom (not even an outhouse) at Skegg's point. I had to make a visit to the woods a bit into our hike instead.
It was a very mellow hike with only three of us. I enjoyed that this park is not so popular so we didn't have to share it with lots of people. We mostly ran into mountain bikers but fortunately all the bikers were polite respectful bikers not the kind that go too fast and nearly run over hikers. Wild flowers are still wonderful and we saw lots of forget me nots and some others that none of us could identify but all of us enjoyed! This was a hike through the woods. We saw madrones and maybe second growth redwoods and oaks. I enjoyed that feeling of being surrounded by the woods. We didn't see any wildlife of significance. I'm sure wildlife was there but we just didn't see it.
I mooched a wonderful lunch at our lunch stop vista point. I forgot my lunch and was planning on just enjoying the conversation while others ate but both my companions offered me food. I got half of a delicious cheese sandwich, half of a banana, and a quarter of an apple. Pretty good mooching, eh? After lunch, we reached Skegg's point pretty quickly. We were done with the hike around noon. It was just 5 miles but it was a beautiful five miles.
It was a very mellow hike with only three of us. I enjoyed that this park is not so popular so we didn't have to share it with lots of people. We mostly ran into mountain bikers but fortunately all the bikers were polite respectful bikers not the kind that go too fast and nearly run over hikers. Wild flowers are still wonderful and we saw lots of forget me nots and some others that none of us could identify but all of us enjoyed! This was a hike through the woods. We saw madrones and maybe second growth redwoods and oaks. I enjoyed that feeling of being surrounded by the woods. We didn't see any wildlife of significance. I'm sure wildlife was there but we just didn't see it.
I mooched a wonderful lunch at our lunch stop vista point. I forgot my lunch and was planning on just enjoying the conversation while others ate but both my companions offered me food. I got half of a delicious cheese sandwich, half of a banana, and a quarter of an apple. Pretty good mooching, eh? After lunch, we reached Skegg's point pretty quickly. We were done with the hike around noon. It was just 5 miles but it was a beautiful five miles.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Hiking at St Joseph Hill park in Los Gatos
As summer approaches and the days get longer, its time to hike in the evenings again! Tonight I'm hiking at St Joseph Hill with GLS. We are going to do a 4 mile round trip hike up the hill and back. I have been on this hike many times but its a great way to spend an evening just steps from Silicon Valley!
The hike was great. There was a nice blue sky and sun for most of the hike. We saw deer, a bob cat, a rabbit, California poppies, and Lupin among other things. We also saw lots of bikers and other hikers at this popular Los Gatos park but not so many towards sunset. Here is a picture of the bobcat
Thursday, April 16, 2009
New Hiking Shoes!
I bought myself some new hiking shoes today. They are called Merrell Moab Ventilators. I feel like a little kid that just got a new toy. I can hardly wait for Saturday to come so I can try them out on a hike. They fit wonderfully and are light weight but have good foot support. I'll be hiking with L on Saturday at Nissene Marks near Santa Cruz. Then on Sunday I'll be on the GLS hike at Windy Hill. Woo Hoo. I love to hike and I love my new hiking shoes.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Getting in shape
So I'm slowly getting in better shape this year. I started going to Gold's Gym about four or five weeks ago on week days after work and climbing on the aerobic machines for about 45 minutes. I do different machines although lately I mostly go on the Precor elliptical machine. It has a nice smooth feel and doesn't stress my achilles tendons. I do like the ordinary treadmill but it does tend to stress my achilles tendons. The stationary bike is my least favorite but it does the best job on not stressing the tendons. I'm still recovering from a bout of achilles tendonitis which is why all this going on about stressing my tendons!
On weekends I prefer to go hiking to get in shape. I have been hiking at Windy Hill, Henry Cowell, Henry Coe, Shoreline Park, and Castle Rock over the last several weekends. This past weekend the hike I had hoped to go on was cancelled due to the rain. So I put on my raincoat and went to Shoreline park and hiked for nearly 2 hours on the paved bike paths. Only a few people were out there braving the cold and rain. I had a good time although walking on pavement was not a good idea for my achilles tendons. They were sore when I got home so I iced them and rested. They feel fine today.
I have lost four pounds since January 1, 2009. I weigh 180 pounds today. I have been recording my weight at fitday.com. According to them I am now only overweight and no longer obese. Hurray. I need to get down to 150 to get out of the overweight category. The exercise is really helping with the weight lose but if I want to lose weight faster I'll need to change my eating habits. I'm giving myself some slack for now on the eating. I don't want to suddenly restrict myself. I want to gradually work into eating more healthy foods and less calories.
On weekends I prefer to go hiking to get in shape. I have been hiking at Windy Hill, Henry Cowell, Henry Coe, Shoreline Park, and Castle Rock over the last several weekends. This past weekend the hike I had hoped to go on was cancelled due to the rain. So I put on my raincoat and went to Shoreline park and hiked for nearly 2 hours on the paved bike paths. Only a few people were out there braving the cold and rain. I had a good time although walking on pavement was not a good idea for my achilles tendons. They were sore when I got home so I iced them and rested. They feel fine today.
I have lost four pounds since January 1, 2009. I weigh 180 pounds today. I have been recording my weight at fitday.com. According to them I am now only overweight and no longer obese. Hurray. I need to get down to 150 to get out of the overweight category. The exercise is really helping with the weight lose but if I want to lose weight faster I'll need to change my eating habits. I'm giving myself some slack for now on the eating. I don't want to suddenly restrict myself. I want to gradually work into eating more healthy foods and less calories.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Just checking in
Just checking in to my own blog. I'm here. I'm tired. I am looking forward to a nice nap after work.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
So tired ...
Breaking up is hard to do and its also exhausting. With so many things on my mind about the break up and C. moving out I have been having trouble sleeping at night and seem to be perpetually tired. Perhaps when C. finally is moved out I will just spend a week going to bed at 8 p.m. and getting oodles of hours of sleep. I feel as if I have this huge sleep deficit to make up. Do you think congress could bail me out and give me some hours of sleep??
All of life seems a little bit on edge these days. C. and I are of course on edge with each other and the break up. Then there is the U.S. financial crisis. That is certainly on the edge. And the presidential election is putting people on edge. A day rarely goes by at work when someone doesn't speak up passionately about some aspect of the presidential race. And the prop 8 stuff has the gay community on edge. I find myself just wanting to bury my head in the sand.
All of life seems a little bit on edge these days. C. and I are of course on edge with each other and the break up. Then there is the U.S. financial crisis. That is certainly on the edge. And the presidential election is putting people on edge. A day rarely goes by at work when someone doesn't speak up passionately about some aspect of the presidential race. And the prop 8 stuff has the gay community on edge. I find myself just wanting to bury my head in the sand.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Changes
So ...my life is full of changes at the moment.
I am dissolving my domestic partnership with my significant other. Essentially we are a same sex couple getting a divorce. She will be moving out in a couple of months. Its tough. I won't say much more in this public forum about this other than its a very significant change in my life and worth a mention in my blog.
Another change in my life is that I am beginning to fall into new identity of asexual lesbian. I know to some that seems a contradiction in terms but I have found a small group of like minded folks in an on-line community who understand and identify with the term. I love woman. I love to be around women. I want a serious relationship with a woman. I just don't want to have sex be part of my relationship. I have been posting and reading at the AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) site lately too. Its a new adventure of sorts. Although I must admit this having to face "coming out" again is a bit tedious. I seem to be more reluctant to come out as asexual than I was to come out as lesbian. Something to explore further.
Something that has not changed ... I'm still struggling with toe fungus, Achilles Tendinitis, and being out of shape, and generally not feeling well physically. It is a bit frustrating as I sorta know what I need to do but I just don't seem to be able to get motivated to do it. I think I just need to take things slow and worry more about not letting things get worse before I worry about making them better.
I am dissolving my domestic partnership with my significant other. Essentially we are a same sex couple getting a divorce. She will be moving out in a couple of months. Its tough. I won't say much more in this public forum about this other than its a very significant change in my life and worth a mention in my blog.
Another change in my life is that I am beginning to fall into new identity of asexual lesbian. I know to some that seems a contradiction in terms but I have found a small group of like minded folks in an on-line community who understand and identify with the term. I love woman. I love to be around women. I want a serious relationship with a woman. I just don't want to have sex be part of my relationship. I have been posting and reading at the AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) site lately too. Its a new adventure of sorts. Although I must admit this having to face "coming out" again is a bit tedious. I seem to be more reluctant to come out as asexual than I was to come out as lesbian. Something to explore further.
Something that has not changed ... I'm still struggling with toe fungus, Achilles Tendinitis, and being out of shape, and generally not feeling well physically. It is a bit frustrating as I sorta know what I need to do but I just don't seem to be able to get motivated to do it. I think I just need to take things slow and worry more about not letting things get worse before I worry about making them better.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Body needs repair ...
Long time no blog but after checking out my nephew's Lego Blog I am inspired to write something in my own blog.
My body needs the following repairs:
This week I visited the ophthalmologist and got the happy news that my eye pressure is fine and that my retina is still very much solidly attached (was detached in 1988 and fixed with emergency cryo eye surgery). I do need new glasses as my current pair is not quite the right correction. I ordered them and they will arrive in a week or so.
Soon I'll visit my general doctor about the cholesterol. I have started to cut out fatty foods and high cholesterol foods and have been eating food shown to help reduce cholesterol like flax and oat bran flakes. I did fall off the wagon so to speak this past weekend and had a wonderful juicy fatty hamburger with guacamole at Clark's burgers.
I will see my dentist in late July when she opens her new office. She is taking a break from all but emergency dental treatment until then. My teeth are not hurting but based on my abysmal dental hygiene for the past few months I suspect I have a tooth or two that need filling and some gums that are probably in bad shape. Got to get back to regular brushing and flossing and swishing the fluoride rinse.
I simply have not been caring for myself properly the past several years. I hope I can find the motivation to fix my body and keep it better maintained in the years to come.
My body needs the following repairs:
- reduce cholesterol level in blood
- fix Achilles tendons
- get rid of toe nail fungus
- better eye glasses to improve vision
- probably a tooth or two needs filling
This week I visited the ophthalmologist and got the happy news that my eye pressure is fine and that my retina is still very much solidly attached (was detached in 1988 and fixed with emergency cryo eye surgery). I do need new glasses as my current pair is not quite the right correction. I ordered them and they will arrive in a week or so.
Soon I'll visit my general doctor about the cholesterol. I have started to cut out fatty foods and high cholesterol foods and have been eating food shown to help reduce cholesterol like flax and oat bran flakes. I did fall off the wagon so to speak this past weekend and had a wonderful juicy fatty hamburger with guacamole at Clark's burgers.
I will see my dentist in late July when she opens her new office. She is taking a break from all but emergency dental treatment until then. My teeth are not hurting but based on my abysmal dental hygiene for the past few months I suspect I have a tooth or two that need filling and some gums that are probably in bad shape. Got to get back to regular brushing and flossing and swishing the fluoride rinse.
I simply have not been caring for myself properly the past several years. I hope I can find the motivation to fix my body and keep it better maintained in the years to come.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Dogs and Squirrel
Sunday the dogs caught a squirrel in the backyard. Charlotte raced out to save the squirrel and yelled at me to come help. I went out and pulled Astro off of the squirrel and was holding him in my arms while Charlotte held Cosmo off of the squirrel. When I looked for where the squirrel ended up, it was climbing up my leg (I had on blue jeans). Eee Gad. Who'd a thought a little old squirrel would give me such a fright. I had to put Astro down so Charlotte could hold him and I could get the squirrel off of me! While I was passing Astro over to Charlotte, the squirrel climbed up to my stomach. After Charlotte got Astro, I flicked the squirrel off of my tummy with my hands. It flew a few feet from me and landed on the ground and headed to the fence and climbed up the fence and got away. It was a young squirrel according to Charlotte and very stunned and frightened. Both Astro and Cosmo had got the squirrel in their mouths according to Charlotte but thankfully there was no blood on either the squirrel or the dogs. We took the dogs inside and blocked their backyard doggy door. They were besides themselves with excitement for the next 30 minutes or so wanting to go back outside. We didn't let them back outside until they had calmed down a little and we were sure there were no squirrels on the ground.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Another Silly Quiz
Your Life is 46% Off Track |
 Right now, you're taking things one day at a time. Some things are going well, but you can't help but wonder if you're getting the most out of life. It's time for you to slow down and reflect a little. You can change your life - but it's up to you! |
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Root Canal and Antibiotics
The story of my life the last week ... the affects of a root canal and antibiotics. I had a root canal started on Wednesday last week. Part I of the root canal lasted one hour. It was too complex to finish in one sitting so part II was scheduled for Saturday morning. I was sent off with a prescription for Motrin for the pain and an antibiotic to keep infection away. I was grateful for the Motrin. After the Novocaine wore off, there was pain. The Motrin took 10 minutes or so to kick in but worked like a charm once it did kill the pain.
Part II on Saturday was a long 1.5 hour session in the dentist chair. The dentist asked her assistants to take x-rays so she could be sure not to go past the end of my root canal. Well the assistants took about 7 x-rays before they found the right view for the dentist to see where my root ended. Sigh. I was exhausted and glad when it finally ended. I had more pain after the Novocaine wore off yet again. BUT within a day the pain went away and I was able to stop popping Motrin capsules. Hurray! Finally no pain in that tooth. Ever since the dentist drilled the tooth and put a crown on it the tooth it has been hurting.
The antibiotics have been a pain in the butt and the gut. Those nasty little things did keep any infection at bay but they also destroyed all those valuable bacteria in my innards that keep my digestion going well. I have been suffering from the runs from the day I started the antibiotics. UGH! I don't wish this on anyone. Thank goodness that I only have one left to take and then I'm done. Hopefully my good old bod will then let those good bacteria back into my system and my digestion will go back to normal.
Part II on Saturday was a long 1.5 hour session in the dentist chair. The dentist asked her assistants to take x-rays so she could be sure not to go past the end of my root canal. Well the assistants took about 7 x-rays before they found the right view for the dentist to see where my root ended. Sigh. I was exhausted and glad when it finally ended. I had more pain after the Novocaine wore off yet again. BUT within a day the pain went away and I was able to stop popping Motrin capsules. Hurray! Finally no pain in that tooth. Ever since the dentist drilled the tooth and put a crown on it the tooth it has been hurting.
The antibiotics have been a pain in the butt and the gut. Those nasty little things did keep any infection at bay but they also destroyed all those valuable bacteria in my innards that keep my digestion going well. I have been suffering from the runs from the day I started the antibiotics. UGH! I don't wish this on anyone. Thank goodness that I only have one left to take and then I'm done. Hopefully my good old bod will then let those good bacteria back into my system and my digestion will go back to normal.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Brown Rice, Brocoli, Carrots, Walnuts, Raisons ... oh my!
C. kindly made me a yummy lunch today that I am munching on right now. The title describes it. I'm drinking a new Crystal Geyser juice squeeze flavor called Pomegranate Lemonade. It is tasty.
The new job is going well. I have been doing lots of reading about satellites and the particular satellite software I will be working on. At the end of today I hit my 2 week mark at Space Systems / Loral. I got my first pay check for last week today. They conveniently have a Wells Fargo bank machine in the main lobby of SS/L so I was able to deposit the check here at work. In the future direct deposit will kick in and I won't have to worry about depositing my check in the bank.
Besides new work the other thing that has been going on lately is visiting the dentist. I got a temporary crown on my tooth about a week and a half ago. The tooth was painful so this past Wednesday I went in to have it looked at. The dentist put a different type of temporary crown on the tooth (acrylic instead of metallic). If the pain doesn't go away in a few days, it looks like that tooth is destined for a root canal. Ug. If so ... it will be my first root canal. So far the pain has not gone away and this is day two. I'm supposed to get the permanent crown on the tooth on Monday but it is looking like I may get a root canal that day instead. I have been popping Advil the past week and a half when the tooth gets painful and happily about 15 mintues after a couple of Advil, the pain is gone. Advil is my friend.
I took my first ever Yoga class last Tuesday. The class is at the Mountain View California Yoga Center. I enjoyed the class (level 1 class) and like the instructor, Lisa, and will give the class another try next Tuesday. I decided to give Yoga a try as I want to be better connected to my body, become more flexible, and learn to deal better with stress. Yoga seemed to be a perfect choice to help me with these things.
The new job is going well. I have been doing lots of reading about satellites and the particular satellite software I will be working on. At the end of today I hit my 2 week mark at Space Systems / Loral. I got my first pay check for last week today. They conveniently have a Wells Fargo bank machine in the main lobby of SS/L so I was able to deposit the check here at work. In the future direct deposit will kick in and I won't have to worry about depositing my check in the bank.
Besides new work the other thing that has been going on lately is visiting the dentist. I got a temporary crown on my tooth about a week and a half ago. The tooth was painful so this past Wednesday I went in to have it looked at. The dentist put a different type of temporary crown on the tooth (acrylic instead of metallic). If the pain doesn't go away in a few days, it looks like that tooth is destined for a root canal. Ug. If so ... it will be my first root canal. So far the pain has not gone away and this is day two. I'm supposed to get the permanent crown on the tooth on Monday but it is looking like I may get a root canal that day instead. I have been popping Advil the past week and a half when the tooth gets painful and happily about 15 mintues after a couple of Advil, the pain is gone. Advil is my friend.
I took my first ever Yoga class last Tuesday. The class is at the Mountain View California Yoga Center. I enjoyed the class (level 1 class) and like the instructor, Lisa, and will give the class another try next Tuesday. I decided to give Yoga a try as I want to be better connected to my body, become more flexible, and learn to deal better with stress. Yoga seemed to be a perfect choice to help me with these things.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Wen tagged me - Fivers
OK ... Wen tagged me to give this a shot ... I'm game.
1. Five favorite days of the year
2. Five things you watched this week
3. Five things you don't want to do, but should
4. Five things you want to learn
5. Five animals you've had as pets or who have impacted you
6. Five favorite pieces of clothing
7. Five things you enjoy in the summer
8. Five foods you don't like
9. You are given $50,000 to pass out to 5 people in $10,000 cash gifts. Who do you give it to, and why
1. Five favorite days of the year
- Christmas
- Thanksgiving
- My birthday
- Labor day - because that usually means a camping trip!
- Memorial day - again sometimes means a camping trip!
2. Five things you watched this week
- The Soprano's season 3 on DVD
- Export Control training (truly boring)
- The Yoga instructor, Lisa, at California Yoga in Mtn. View
- The latest Harry Potter movie
- DVD about ants and termites (more interesting than it sounds)
3. Five things you don't want to do, but should
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Desist eating McDonalds french fries
- Revaluate my investment choices in my 401K
- Read preliminary design documents
- Get my toe fungus checked out by a doctor
4. Five things you want to learn
- JAVA
- Yoga
- How to play the piano
- How satellites work
- How to put the brakes on while going backwards on roller blades
5. Five animals you've had as pets or who have impacted you
- Georgie Girl and Timothy, two family cats we had while growing up in Columbus, OH
- Barney, my first pet I was responsible for, sadly I did a less than perfect job and Barney escaped, got in the furnace duct some how and died.
- Sappho & Sascha, two python snakes that my partner had when I met her.
- Kalamozoo, and Punzel, my brother's cats that I loved to visit and cuddle with
- Cosmo & Astro, our dogs that impact our lives everyday
6. Five favorite pieces of clothing
- Aslo Hiking boots
- New 40-50 SPF sunproof long sleeve shirts
- Stanford Blood bank t-shirt
- Brown shorts with lots of pockets
- Blue REI fleece vest
7. Five things you enjoy in the summer
- the longer amounts of day light
- warm sunny weather
- vacations
- hiking
- camping
8. Five foods you don't like
- beans
- jalepeno peppers
- humus
- mushrooms
- lentils
9. You are given $50,000 to pass out to 5 people in $10,000 cash gifts. Who do you give it to, and why
- Charlotte, my sweetie, so she can increase her cash reserves.
- David, my brother, so he and his wife can decrease their debt or start saving for my nephews' education
- Bob, my brother, to help cover the cost of my nieces' education
- Cecily, my sister, to help cover the cost of my nieces' education
- My parents, just to thank them for all the financial support they have given me over my life.
- The key to my safety deposit box
- My passport
- At the moment my eye glasses (they are not on my face)
- A stack of papers on my desk at home
- Perhaps my dog, Cosmo (he has a knack at going where he does not belong
- no one
- no one
- no one
- no one
- no one
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