Dragon boating and mice

August 19: Invited by VC Tuesday to go Dragon Boating.  It immediately reminded me of going to the art show my third day in the Bay Area but cooler.  I also felt uber Chinesey (although the vast majority of rowers were white).  The crowd was otherwise diverse although half worked for the same pharm-company and most were in their 40s.  Despite my terrible form and splashing of people around me, it was fun and a fantastic workout.  My lower right back and ass burned a bit the day of but were okay enough that I still gymed it up the next day.

Wow, I just re-read that first paragraph and realized it was boring as hell.  This is what happens when you medicate your ass to sleep after a mouse incident.  More on that later.

After being on the water for an hour, we went to get dinner at a diner.  I met another teacher and it pretty much dominated conversation for an hour…what a surprise!  The woman sitting next to me had a daughter who was contemplating being a teacher; the conversation was just a glimpse into the horror.  At least we were passionate (if not obnoxious…ok, no “we” in the last part).

August 20: My driver’s side window wouldn’t roll up the night before so after duct taping the window in the crappiest way I knew how (it matched the rest of my car well…damn, why didn’t I take a picture), I went to bed feeling better.  Until it started to rain.  But really, duct tape is amazing and in 7 years, if ES is taken, I just may have to marry the tape.  Kinky.

In the AM, I brought my car into a shop that didn’t have any staff but a nice painter guy who said the motor should cost $50.  After being charged twice that amount at another place plus labor (although they forgot to add the rivets they used on it), my car worked!  The shop was owned and operated by Chinese folk so I felt a little bit better about being ripped off…although they had a steady stream of customers who claimed they were expensive but honest about it and good.  I had a great conversation with Ms. Townson, an art teacher at a local K-8 public school.  The conversation started with us making the analogy of a auto shop and dentist office; you enter with a feeling of dread and leave in pain.  When she said that she’d been here for years but cursed her teacher’s salary, I knew we would be friends.  I have a standing invitation to visit her at school which I may just have to take her up on.

August 21: So on old recommendation from JG, I continued my SATC saga.  Dear god…the series is addictive.  Like watch 8 episodes back-to-back and skip lunch and almost dinner addictive.  I will save my dignity by saving my comments.  In the afternoon, I walked into Penn to meet with an IT person.  Because I’m an idiot, I got the building number wrong and ended up at one that was closed for rennovations.  Balls.  I got to walk around the University City area a bit and saw a bunch of fresh-faced undergrads and frat guys.  As expected, Penn is very preppy.  Picture me with my lowrider headphones.  But luckily I prolly won’t have to interact too much with the kiddos.

On the way back, I picked up some garam masala and veggies and made a chick-pea veggie masala dish, naan, collard greens, and fruit compote.  Because my timing was awesome, the greens and compote weren’t done until an hour after I finished eating, but made a good second dinner .  SL, I know, I put us to shame.

Afterwards, as if SATC wasn’t enough, I put on Bride Wars.  What was I thinking.  Dignity, gone.  It was an awful movie.  Although seeing Anne Hathaway doin’ a ho-dance was amusing.

The most excitement I had at night was when I finally went to bed – sleep cycle is shot – and woke up at 4 am to the sound of something squeaking and a weird tapping noise.  Apparently the previous tenant put a glue trap underneath a radiator and it trapped a cute little mouse.  Surprisingly, I wasn’t freaked out at all by the mouse but spent the better part of an hour sanitizing the area, my entire bedroom, and patching up the hole in my wall (the building is 150 years old, so I can forgive it a bit).  Then I popped tylenol PM and although it helped me sleep, it also zapped away my humor.

Hopefully I’ll be good by 2nite: dinner in Chinatown, karaoke, then clubbing.  Can u believe it?  I swear I’m never this social.