Like Butta

Eastbound

For as infrequently as February 29^th appears on a calendar (roughly once every 4 years) it doesn’t feel like anything special. If you’re a single man (see my post from a few days ago) then I think you should be concerned about the possibility of being proposed to today. You may want to just stay in bed.

I heard one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs this morning on the way to the bus – “Never Can Say Goodbye” is a classic.

Last night’s ride/drive home was not a pleasant one, as I’m sure most of you can attest. It’s amazing how a little snow falling at just the right time of day can cause such problems. The bus was about a half hour late getting us back into Chaska but it could have been much worse.

One thing I do miss about working at Eaton is the occasional times where I would walk out of the building and smell the fresh baked bread from the plant across Hwy 5. When I worked in a grocery store there were times when we would go down to the bakery and get a fresh loaf of bread and a tub of butter and eat the whole loaf. The butter would instantly melt and soak into the bread… wow, was that good.

Speaking of Hwy 5, how does that number play into the highway numbering system I wrote about yesterday? Good question.

Feeling a bit under the weather and I’m wondering if it has to do with the fact that I’m taking the bus. Am I more prone to pick up something taking public transportation? This is a risk they don’t tell you about ahead of time. I think I’ll bring a can of Lysol on the bus with me next week, and maybe some Clorox wipes as well. If that doesn’t work I’ll be forced to resort to the Michael Jackson face mask. I suppose the face mask would be fitting since I already have someone to walk around with me and hold an umbrella over my head.

A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. – "Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World", U2. I can’t say I agree with that, but the line is one I’ve always gotten a kick out of.

All Along the Water Tower

Eastbound

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful sunrise this morning - a mix of oranges and pinks. It won’t be long until the “snow” comes later today. A whole inch they’re predicting. Fortunately, Julie and I have the home well-stocked with food and essentials in case it’s a few days before the roads are clear enough for us to travel…

The bus today feels like it has eggs for wheels. I don’t think the tires are round, at least they certainly don’t feel like it.

One of the guys I met at Target is also a BA and he has a map of the U.S. on his cubicle wall that shows all the Major League Baseball parks around the country. He was telling me he’s been to all but 6 of them and hopes to knock off 2-3 more this year. Pretty cool.

What’s love got to do with it?

Water towers are rather interesting to me. How much water do they hold? Is their main function to store water? Or are they supplying the needed pressure to get the water to the surrounding homes and businesses? Are their massive pumps that pump the water up to the top? Or does the vacating water cause a suction or siphoning effect thereby “pulling” the water into the tank? Is there anything special or functionally different regarding the various designs, or is it strictly aesthetics? How long does one last? How many homes or business could one water tower support? Aren’t you curious? I’ll see what I can find out for you.

I seem to recall being told once that there is a logic to the highway numbering system. Your two-digit, odd numbers are for highways that run between states and move in a north-south direction, your 77, 35, 75 highways for example. The two-digit, even numbers are for highways that run between states and move in an east-west direction, such as 94, 80, 66, etc. You then have your three-digit scenarios that start with an even number that circle metropolitan areas, such as 494, 694, 475 etc. Now, what about three-digit highways that start with an odd number? I believe those are for intra-state highways. Any of you aware of such a numbering scheme?

What’s love but a secondhand emotion?

Westbound

I passed a guy in the skyway today.

I’m looking at upgrading my phone and I went into the Verizon store over lunch. Talked to a nice chap named Eric. I’m thinking I want a cell phone with a planner, address book, a QWERTY keyboard, and the ability to access my Gmail account. Right now I’m leaning towards the BlackBerry Pearl but it doesn’t have a full QWERTY keyboard, but two letters per key plus some fancy-shmancy logic that figures out what you’re typing. Heck, I don’t even know what I’m typing but some phone will figure it out. Maybe it will make me look smarter. It certainly can’t hurt.

Well, it’s snowing. We just passed a guy riding his bike. Now, either that’s dedication or insanity. My vote is for the latter.

We were listening to KOOL 108 a while back and their commercial said that they’re playing the good songs again, or something along those lines. What were they playing before? Are they admitting something? “Sorry, folks. I don’t know what that crap was we were playing before but we apologize. So be sure to listen now. We think we got it this time.”

It’s interesting how when you’re on the 30^th floor and you look out the window when it’s snowing and the flakes are actually floating UP, not down.

Someone named “BA” left a message on one of the blog posts, but I don’t know who they are. Who are you? Who? Who? Who? I really wanna know.

Don’t you miss the 80’s?

I prefer a creamy coleslaw to an oily one. Some of the best coleslaw I’ve had in a restaurant was at Bob Evans. Quality.

How many “winds” does a piece of exercise equipment have? If I bought a treadmill from 2^nd Wind, used it for a while, and then wanted to get rid of it, would I have to find the 3^rd Wind store and take it there? How do they know the treadmill is only on it’s 2^nd wind?

Scratchy and the Boy

I think I really like riding the bus and taking some time to write my blog posts. However, you may disagree if posts like this one and the one from yesterday are any indication about what to expect. You may soon be asking for me to start driving to work again.

So I was talking to my mother the other day and she told me that single men need to watch out because it’s a leap year. Confused, I asked what she was talking about. She goes on to inform me that during a leap year (or, perhaps, on Feb 29^th only, I’m not sure on the exact ruling) a woman can propose to a man. She was surprised that I never heard that before. Are any of you aware of such a wrinkle in the relationship cosmos?

Guy with dog on lake.

Ok, so the bus is only about a ¼ full, if that. I’m near the back of the bus, but I noticed right before I sat down that there was a couple about my age sitting at the very back. I didn’t think much of it at the time but they are being very quiet back there. What’s up do you suppose???

Remember the TV show “Family Ties”? When I was off work and between jobs the cast of “Family Ties” was on the “Today Show” for a 20^th or 25^th anniversary special deal thingy. Anyway, do you remember how at the end of every episode they showed a picture of a black dog with a Frisbee its mouth, with a voice saying “Sit, ____, sit! Good dog!”? What was the dog’s name? Or what did you THINK the dog’s name was? I found out that day that the I’ve had the dog’s name wrong all this time.

Although, I guess I shouldn’t assume anything. No one really talks on the bus, especially in the morning. Maybe they’re just sleeping.

It’s good to be the king.

Birds on a wire, aren’t their feet on fire?

Speaking of sleeping… Have you seen the Sandra Bullock movie “While You Were Sleeping”? I thought it was a typical Sandra Bullock film. Cute, not too deep, wasn’t a waste of money. Not Oscar-worthy, but not a stinker either.

OK, they’re talking to each other now, 15 minutes into the trip.

The cat’s in the cradle, Scratchy is its name
Baby coughs and sneezes, Scratchy is to blame
Allergic to the feline, baby not too happy
Mommy must remove the cat, better make it snappy.
© Copyright, Patrick Gibson, 2008

What’s that? No, it’s not that hard to type on the bus.

I read a great column today by John Stossel (you know, the 20/20 guy) and it was about gun control. It seems logical to me. Click here to read it.

“Sit, Ubu, sit! Good dog!”

The FTIOONVBTW Scale

Random thoughts warning….

A popsicle stick bridge. Have you ever made one? I haven’t. Apparently some of us had to make them when we were kids, for school or some such thing. I don’t recall ever having to do such a thing when I was a kid. Now eating the popsicles??? Yeah, that I did.

For as much as I enjoy popsicles it’s rather interesting that I never eat them. They must be better for you than ice cream, not that I’m saying they taste as GOOD as ice cream, but as for the nutritional value of frozen treats go I would think the popsicle beats the ice cream. Frozen treats in order of nutritional value, best to worst (FTIOONVBTW): popsicles, ice cream.

Of course, the best popsicle is the one that has the ice cream in the middle. The orange popsicle with the vanilla ice cream was, and is, a great little treat. A hard, orange popsicle shell with a soft, creamy vanilla center. Yum. However, due to the combination of popsicle and ice cream it makes it’s nutritional value fall somewhere between the two. FTIOONVBTW: plain popsicles, orange/vanilla popsicle, ice cream.

Then you have the push-up, another great treat I would enjoy as a kid but never eat anymore. A little creamier than the straight popsicle and perhaps a little harder to eat, you would pull the wrapper off the top and push it out of its cardboard home and try to eat it before it dripped all over the place. Not the best situation but well worth the effort. FTIOONVBTW: plain popsicle, push-up, orange/vanilla popsicle, ice cream.

Now, if you’re a fan of the Dairy Queen Blizzard like the little lady and I are then I think you would agree it’s probably NOT the best when it comes to nutrition. In order to try and make it a little better from a nutritional standpoint I once ordered mine with broccoli mixed in, but that didn’t taste so great. Corn either. So I stick with the chocolate ice cream Blizzard with peanut butter, peanuts, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Oh, mama. Good stuff. And I like to think my emotional health is as important as my physical health, so partaking of the Blizzard does an emotional body good. You have to try it. FTIOONVBTW: plain popsicle, push-up, orange/vanilla popsicle, plain ice cream, DQ Blizzard.

I now have a craving for a Blizzard, which isn’t good. We gave up ice cream for Lent and it hasn’t been too difficult, although it’s only been three weeks. Must… be… strong.

Little house, big house,
White house, blue house.
Grey mouse, wireless mouse,
Dead mouse, Mickey Mouse.
Red blouse, tight blouse,
Her blouse, my blouse.
Big bird, little grouse,
Gotta fire? Better douse!

The woman in front of me is reading a book on the Spanish-American War. Nice cover, solid binding, red ribbon bookmark. Wait a minute… She just turned the page and now she’s reading about the Chinese Exclusion Act. The page after that is about the Interstate Commerce Commission. I think I’m falling asleep just reading the headings on the pages!

Brown seems to be the dominant hair color on the bus this afternoon. A smattering of blondes and bald heads poke above the seats, along with a couple grey-hairs.

Mark T. is our bus driver. He’s doing a swell job.

Isn’t it interesting that a faded, dotted line on a road will make you feel confident that the person traveling the opposite direction of you will not hit you? If you were put into a large open area with one other car and you were both told to drive 60 miles per hour towards each other, how close do you think you’d come to them? The relatively minuscule 8 feet that separates the two of you on a road? I don’t think so. You’d panic if they got that close to you. But if we put a nice dotted line on the ground you’ll do it without even thinking about it. Interesting.

Skyways and Highways

Reviews from the Oscars last night seem to be unanimous that it wasn’t a very good show. Makes me glad I didn’t waste much time watching it… just a few minutes here and there. Most of the movies we haven’t seen or know much about, which doesn’t help raise the excitement bar at all.

I’m trying to type on the bus on the way home – we’ll see how it goes. I’m sure others on the bus are thinking to themselves “Wow, that guy must be really important… AND cool.” The only thing that would complete the package would be if I had my cell phone clipped to my belt.

Which reminds me – I’d like to take a survey of the three people who actually read the blog. What is your view of cell phones on belts? It seems a decent number of guys I work with have them. Julie is 100% against them.

My foot hurts.

I like working downtown and taking the bus. You see a lot of interesting people downtown. You’d never really see anything “crazy” in Eden Prairie. It’s a great place to people-watch. A whole lot of people standing together waiting for something or someone and they don’t talk to each other. I don’t know if that’s the way it’s always been or not.

You hear all the old folks (no, I’m not including myself in that category) say how everyone would talk to each other, although maybe that was more the case in your own neighborhood. Sitting on the porch swing, visiting with neighbors, drinking lemonade, watching the kids play in the street. The good old days? Sounds good to me.

Being downtown five days a week is helping me to learn the area at least a little better. Julie would say I’ve got a lot to learn yet and she’s right. I was telling her over the weekend that I’m learning how to get around town via the skyways but my starting point is always the City Center building. If we ever went downtown and I wasn’t at the City Center building and we needed to get from point A to point B we’d first have to go to the City Center building and then I could probably get us there. Not too convenient.

I have a key on my keyboard that popped off. I’m going to try and put it back on. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I wonder if that worked.

Temperatures are up. That’s nice. Snow is melting. Ground is brown. Not nice.

Yeah, my foot still hurts. Goodnight.

Glove Plus One

It was an interesting first day on the bus. No singing (see previous post) and the bus was about half full this morning. I'm wondering if it was due to President's Day. The ride home was even less crowded, but I managed to leave my gloves on the bus and had to play catch-up in my car to get them back. Just like a kid... if my head wasn't attached to my body...

Wow, this is a really short post. Now back to work!

Get On The Bus, Gus

One week down....

Well, I've finished my first week at Target and I'm still looking for that comfort zone. It's weird being the new kid on the block but I'm quickly learning names - now if I could just place them with the right face I'll be all set! HA!

This week I begin the commute via public transportation. I have a Metropass and will be taking the bus from Chaska straight downtown. Pretty cool. As you may recall from an old post I used to sing on the bus when I was in 1st grade, much to the embarrassment of my sister, but this time I think I'll keep my melodic self in check. I can't promise that I won't be humming to myself, tho.

So I'll be taking the Southwest buses into downtown and, from what I hear, they are the nicest buses in the metro. I think they have a wet bar and a masseuse on board. How sweet is that?

I can't wait for it to get warmer out. I'm itching to get on my new bike. It's probably not the best for a century ride or a triathlon, but it looks cool. Click here for a pic.

Speaking of cycling - we went to a couple of spin classes with the Tahoe team and WOW is my butt not ready to be sitting on a bike seat for extended periods of time. It's going to take a few weeks to get those callouses built back up. The first spin class was tough but the SECOND one was even harder. It took have the class the first time for the old hind quarters to get sore but the discomfort was rather immediate at the second class.

Honestly, now WHY would you advertise this?!

In honor of my first day riding the bus, here are some songs you can enjoy:
"Another One Rides The Bus" - Weird Al Yankovic (Parody of "Another One Bites The Dust")
"Bus Rider" - The Guess Who
"Bus Station Blues" - John Lee Hooker
"Bus Stop" - The Hollies
"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" - Bruce Springsteen
"I Missed The Bus" - Kriss Kross
"Kiss Me On The Bus" - The Replacements
"Magic Bus" - The Who
"Watin' For The Bus" - ZZ Top

You all have a great week. And watch the buses... you may see me.

New Kid In Town

So, today was my first day at Target. The morning was spent in an orientation class, followed by lunch with my boss, and time meeting folks and getting a tour finished off the day. I'm really excited about this opportunity and everyone there seems really nice. Although it's much quieter there, but I'm not sure if it was because half the floor was gone in meetings.

During the orientation we were shown some cool videos on Target, including a montage of all the cool commercials they've had over the years. I do think Target has some of the best commercials out there and they're consistently good. As soon as the commercial starts you immediately know it's a Target ad. They do a great job with that.

This first week sounds like it's going to be relatively quiet and then next week I'll start working into some of the projects that are going on. My main problem is remembering names. I've never been the best at it and usually have to meet someone a dozen times before my brain makes that all-important face-to-name connection. I need to find out how to be better at that part.

As I think I've said in previous posts I'm not that well oriented for downtown skyway walking. The whole habitrail deal will take some getting used to. I parked about 5 blocks from my building today only because my orientation this morning was in a different Target building. I managed to only get confused a little on the way back to my car and only spent an additional few minutes walking outside because I went out the wrong door. But, when it's as cold as it is and with the wind whipping down the street I was a walking iceberg by the time I got to the parking garage.

All in all it was a good day. Not too stressful, was able to ease into it. We'll see how long that lasts....

Don't Drink the Water

Tonight I went to the tri teams first team training which was at a pool at an area middle school. Team In Training has so many signed up for the triathlons this year (140 and growing) that they broke the swim up into 3 sessions - each for a different skill level.

As Mentor Captain one of the things I'm going to try and do more of this season is attend team trainings (for all the sports) and take pictures. Seeing as some 80% of the participants in TNT are beginners there are always nerves coming to the first team training, and I'm sure me standing there with a camera didn't help any! ;-)

While I was watching everyone practice their drills and struggle as they learned the techniques and tried to catch their breathe it reminded me of our first team swim last year. Julie and I were not even remotely strong swimmers when we signed up for the Life Time Fitness Triathlon last January and that first team swim was quite stressful.

And tonight I was reliving those feelings from last year - how the heck do you breathe and swim? why do my goggles keep filling with water? will I ever be able to swim just to the other end of the pool without stopping? does the water HAVE to be this darn cold? It was all coming back, and as I watched them and felt their anxiety I was also somewhat wishing I was in there as well. But, thankfully, those feelings were fleeting at best. :-)

There is always a really high level of excitement when the new TNT seasons start, but summer season always seems to have that something extra. I don't know if it's because it's a new year or if it's because you know spring is around the corner but I've always enjoyed this season.

Julie will be staffing the Tahoe century ride again this year and the first team training for them is Saturday morning, as are the team training for San Diego and Anchorage. It's going to be another great season and I've already met some new people tonight that seem really cool. TNT draws the best people who want to help a great cause - or just get in shape!

It's not too late to join a team! If you're at all interested you can come to a Try It Out training and see what the whole thing is about. You won't be disappointed. Click here for more info.

Behold the Turtle

I'm fighting the urge to have a "random thoughts" post. I'd like for today's installment of "this is your life" to have some sort of theme to it. We'll see how it goes.

I'm wrapping up my 14+ years at Eaton this week and the feelings are mixed. There is a real sense of transition and movement which at times seems unsettling. I feel like a small boat being tossed around the ocean and I find myself longing to be back on shore in a sense. (Wow, deep.)

Everything has been very comfortable at Eaton. I know my job, know the company, and love the people I work with. Eaton is like a comfy pair of shoes, and I wonder if I'm going to be stepping out of those shoes and walking across burning coals or if I'll be stepping into another pair of shoes - shoes needing to be broken in but still comfortable.

Let's stay with the shoe analogy. It's like shoes that you wear when you train to run a marathon. Half way through the training the shoes you have on are getting worn out and loosing their ability to get you to your goal. So you go out and buy a new pair of shoes. Now there is a spring in your step and the anticipation grows as you get closer to that finish line. I think the situation I'm in is similar.

Target represents a real opportunity to get outside my comfort zone. I think there is going to be a lot expected of me and that is not only a little scary but it's a chance to step up and really see where this takes me. I know I can do the job - that's not it at all. And perhaps "scary" isn't the right term. It's the excitement and anticipation. It's trying something new. It's growing, changing, engaging, performing. It's finding out what you're made of, which is where I think most of us sell ourselves short.

There are so many quotes that speak to all the things I'm feeling, but two of them seem to speak to me tonight more than the others.

"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." - James Bryant Conant

"A ship in the harbor is safe. But that's not what ships are built for." - Anonymous

It would be very safe for me to stay at Eaton, but I know I wouldn't realize my true potential by staying. It's long overdue for me to shake things up a bit, and I feel very blessed and fortunate about this next opportunity - the next chapter of my life.

This dust will settle soon. The shoes will get broken in, and I'll continue on the course towards the finish line. I'm setting sail and leaving the harbor - and I'm sure the trip will be interesting.

One last thing to wrap this up. Julie has been amazing - as always. The saying goes that behind every good man is a good woman, but Julie is more than good for me. She is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and for that I am so thankful.

Julie gave me something a number of years ago - a framed drawing of a boat floating through a wavy sea. I've had it on my desk since she gave it to me and I often will read it and think about the two of us. Written on it are these words:

The little boat of you and me
went sailing on the deep blue sea.
We weathered winds and crashing waves
and we were strong and true and brave.
And we were still in love, so we
kept sailing on the deep blue sea.
The little boat of you and me.