84 Hours Later

Before my quick recap of the looooong race, I thought I'd post this video about what 24 Hours of Triathlon is all about. NBC sports did a special on last year's race.



The basic premise is for you and your team (or for those brave souls who did the race solo, just you) to do as many short-distance triathlons in a 24 hour period. The course was a tenth the distance of an ironman -- .24 mi swim, 11.2 mi bike, 2.62 mi run. We completed 18 triathlons plus 1 swim and 1 bike, or 1.866 ironmans. In addition to lots of sitting around and reading US Weekly, I contributed 4 swim legs, 1 bike leg, and 2 run legs.

As I alluded to in my live blog, I went into this race exhausted and without any training for the two weeks leading up to the event. I was out every night the week before at DNC events and hosting two house guests so sleep wasn't really my focus. I thought I'd be able to push through on the adrenaline, especially for the short swim legs in the early hours of the race, but I guess I'm old now, because that wasn't really the case.

The way the race works is that you have to do the first three triathlons in traditional triathlon order - swim, bike, run - and the rest of the legs can be done in any order, with the main constraint being that the water is closed to swimming at night. We strategized about each others various strenghs, and my main contribution was going to be swimming. I did the very first swim leg of the tri - I was kind of honored that they picked me to lead. Less than halfway through that (very short, way shorter than usual!) swim leg, I thought to myself, "I don't think I can do this. Forget the 24 hours, I don't even feel like finishing this one swim." I feel bad about joking about drowning in Lake Washington because the water was pretty choppy on Saturday and there were a few times I felt uncomfortable. I pushed through and I was fine, my time was fine, I just knew that I was not operating at 100% and that I was capable of going faster. Did I mention the long run uphill after the swim to get to the transition / hand-off point?

After we did the first three tris, we assessed our pace and then set the goal of completing 18 triathlons. The plan was to bank our swim legs before the water closed, bike as much as we could before sunset, and run into the wee hours of the morning. There were 4 "A" swimmers, and we went one after another and through the rotation twice. Neither of these swims felt much better than my first - each swim was 30 seconds slower than the last. After two rotations of the A-team, we went to rest and the other members of the team each did one or two swims. We were done banking swim legs by 3pm and moved on to biking.

Since biking is my weakest of the three, I mostly rested while our strong bikers made the most of the sunlight. I got on my bike around 7:30pm - right at sunset. I took off wearing my sunglasses and came back with my headlamp turned on. It was actually pretty cool getting to see the sunset over the reservoir. At the turn around point, a volunteer warned me to watch out for deer, especially since I was wearing a headlight. I saw one! Luckily the cliche about deer in the headlights didn't come to pass. Once I got back to the transition area, I headed to bed.

My bed for the night consisted of two thermarests, my sleeping bag, and my camping pillow sprawled out in the back of an SUV, and I have to say it was probably the most comfortable set-ups I've ever slept on while camping. I knew I was up for running in a few hours, but I had no trouble getting in some much needed shut-eye before heading out. They woke me up around 1:30am, and I had about 45 minutes to have a cup of coffee, get the blood flowing, stretch, and get ready to go.

I think that those two runs - one at 2:30am, the other at 4:30am - were the most fun I had during this experience (though I admit it's an odd use of the word "fun.") I thought that the swims during the daylight hours would be a piece of cake and that I would dread the nighttime running and biking, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. I guess since one of the cardinal rules of being a woman is "Don't run alone at night!" it was a rush running underneath the stars with my lil' headlamp. After two decent runs (averaging less than 10 min/mi!) I crawled back into bed thinking that was my last leg.

About an hour later, I heard a knock on the window and someone calling my name. I opened my eyes and my teammate asked me if I would be willing to do one more swim leg. I sprung up and said, "Yeah!! I really want to!" She laughed thinking that she wouldn't be able to convince anyone who hadn't been running all night to wake up and swim. But, I had been hoping I would get another chance to redeem myself in the water. And I did! My time was almost a minute faster than my fastest time the day before and the fastest our team logged during the 24 hours. Some combination of calmer water and a more rested me really did the trick.



That was my last race of the 2008 season. I'm ready for a break and looking forward to being active in ways other than swimming, biking, and running. I've already gone highlighter happy on my YMCA class schedule and, inspired by Shawn and Nastia, I'm even thinking of trying an adult gymnastics class on Saturday mornings. I went to a boot camp class at the Y tonight, and, man, am I sore! Even though it might make more physical sense to keep up a moderate level of training through the winter so I don't have to spend so much time re-building my endurance next year, it makes more sense emotionally (for me anyway) to take a break so I'll be fresh and re-energized come February.

Here's to a re-energizing break!

24 Hours of Triathlon: Live Blog Transcript

Transcript of my real-time updates to my Twitter account. I'll post a post-race recap once I'm better rested...

06:58 AM August 30, 2008 I will be live-blogging the 24 hours of triathlon. Got off to a stressful start - mix-up meeting my team. Here now.

07:16 AM August 30, 2008 My team just informed me i'll basically be swimming all day. I'll do the 1st leg - then rest for the 1st 3 tris then swim swim swim.

08:22 AM August 30, 2008 1st swim done. I'm tired! Maybe i shouldn't have gone out every night this week. Time to recharge

09:28 AM August 30, 2008 Ok - feeling better. Had some coffee .and i'm excited to swim again. We're almost halfway thru the 2nd tri

10:16 AM August 30, 2008 Reading us weekly while i wait - j.lo is training for a tri !

10:50 AM August 30, 2008 Starting to feel tired again – we’re about to start banking swim legs. I'll go every 4th person.

12:44 PM August 30, 2008 Just did 2 swim legs. I’m kinda sucking today but I suppose that’s to be expected given my lack of sleep & training lately.

12:48 PM August 30, 2008 June & Debbie came by & saw me come out of the water on my last swim – that was the highlight. Now I rest for awhile.

02:06 PM August 30, 2008 Just laid down w/ my ipod for a bit. Maybe I need Michael Phelps’ playlist. We’re almost done with swimming – about to start biking.

03:01 PM August 30, 2008 We're currently 9th of 19. I'm eating a cheese & potato chip sandwich on wheat & reading the other boleyn girl

03:47 PM August 30, 2008 The water, which has been choppy all day, has just been closed hours earlier than planned bc it has white caps.

05:29 PM August 30, 2008 I've decided that this is sort of like camping except instead of hiking you go swim bike or run every now & then. Lots of sitting around.


06:04 PM August 30, 2008 I'm up for biking in 2 more legs - in about an hour & 10 minutes. It's very windy - hope it dies down.

08:15 PM August 30, 2008 Just did the bike - it's the split i'm most proud of so far. 42:35 for 11.2 mi. Not bad for windy, dark, & having to reattach my chain.

09:05 PM August 30, 2008 Laying down for a nappy-poo in an suv. They’ll wake me 45 minutes to an hour before my run leg

01:40 AM August 31, 2008 Awake. Rallying to go run soon.

02:51 AM August 31, 2008 Just finished the run - 2.62 mi in 25:37 so 9:45 / mi! Weird rush running at 2:30 am! I'm up again in about an hour & a half.

05:12 AM August 31, 2008 Finished my 2nd run a bit ago - 25:28. I'm done & crawling back into suv. So is the grand finale to my tri season.

06:28 AM August 31, 2008 Waking up. Turns out they want me to do one more swim before we finish. That'll be in about 30 minutes.

07:20 AM August 31, 2008 YES! So glad i did that extra swim. It was 56 seconds faster than my fastest time yesterday & the fastest swim of our team.

08:57 AM August 31, 2008 It's been 24 hours! We finished 18 full triathlons + 1 swim (mine!) & 1 bike. Going home to sleep now.

Seattle Danskin, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bottom of Lake Washington

I'm not sure quite what happened. I started my race as usual -- donning wetsuit, cap, and goggles, poised towards the front, and feeling good. Sally Edwards started us off with a pep talk, we all cheered and high-fived one another until the sound of the air horn started us off. Then the normal chaos at the start of a triathlon ensued as everyone plunges herself face first in the water, furiously stroking, kicking, occasionally on top of one another, occasionally elbowing your neighbor. I'm used to this by now, so I was stroking and elbowing along with everyone else.

I remember the rest in flashes. A kick to the head. My goggles pushed to the side, water rushing in. A gasp for breath, getting only water. Seaweed wrapping itself around my ankle. Panicking suddenly. Realizing that accidents happen to good swimmers all the time, but it couldn't be happening to me. Sinking slowly. Fading to black.

Kidding! Totally kidding. I finished the swim in 14:16 and was 8th out of the water in my age group. Unfortunately, my parents didn't see me after I finished the swim, and I didn't see them either, so they never saw me for the rest of the race. I found my Mom about half an hour after finishing and she ran up to me and said, "I'm so glad to see you! I thought you were at the bottom of Lake Washington!" I guess she wasn't at all comforted when commenting that they hadn't been able to find me to a fellow spectator who responded, "Oh don't worry. They have divers that can go out and find people."

But as for the rest of the race, it went well! A personal best of 1:26:28, though it feels like I was cheating or something because the whole training at elevation and racing a sea-level definitely worked to my advantage.

I did the race "caveman style" - I didn't have a computer on my bike and I wasn't wearing a watch, so I had no idea how I was doing. I didn't feel easy, like "Wow, I'm Superwoman!" It felt difficult, but I could tell I was pushing pretty hard. Usually, I try to focus on my own race and not pay too much attention to what others are doing, but on the bike portion I was intent on passing as many people as I could. The bike course was AWESOME by the way! A quick jaunt over Lake Washington to Mercer Island in beautiful, sunny-but-not-too-hot weather. I averaged 19.5 mph. (After all the drama, the bike store was able to rent clipless pedals to me.)

The run was the first time in a while I had run without a watch. It seemed like I was taking forever, even though I could tell I was running pretty fast. I must breathe really heavy when I run, because often during races people in front of me will turn around and say, "Wow. You go girl!" Friends have told me that I look like I run fast, which I suppose is a good first step to actually running fast. But, I did run pretty fast that day, averaging 8:58 per mile. In the last half mile of the course there was a pretty steep uphill - no fun! But, at least there was a good downhill right after that, leading right into the finish line. When I finished, the announcer called my name and said, "She's all the way from Denver! The Mile High City!"

I thought maybe my family would have heard that and would see me cross the finish, but no such luck. I had given my brother (who came to the race with my uncle and cousin) a list of the times I would reach each critical juncture, but of course he forgot it, so they never found me either. But, since my doing this race was in large part an excuse to have a vacation and a nice mini-family reunion, it's not that big a deal that no one saw me during the actual race. It was a really nice visit all around and a great race! I finished 34th out of 222 in my age group, and 214th of 3714 overall.

I've been exhausted since I got back, so I haven't been training this week, and who knows what I'll be able to manage next week with the DNC (!!!) in town. I only have one more tri left this year . . . 24 Hours of Triathlon! (A) I'm NOT crazy and (B) yes I will write a more detailed post about what the race entails soon.

Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

It turns out that the flat I got walking my bike after Tri for the Cure Sunday before last was just the beginning . . . the first in a series.

I had to replace the actual tire and the innertube for the back wheel, which I did. I rode it to work with no problems, but when I went to get it after work, the back tire, the brand new tire that I just replaced, was flat. I filled it up and it seemed to hold, so I took off, thinking it would hold long enough to get me home. It didn't.

When I fixed that tire, I didn't notice anything that caused the flat. I thought maybe it was just a faulty innertube with a slow leak. The next time I rode it, I rode it to work in the morning, planning to go to a Brick work-out straight from work. Before I left work, I went to add some air to the tires and the valve on the front tire blew off, and completely deflated.

Since I had already replaced two tires that week, I didn't have any extra innertubes. They do have some spare tires in the bike cage at work, so I tried fixing it with one of those. Either the new innertube wasn't the exact right size, or I messed something up in fixing it, but when I was adding air to the new tire -POP! So loud! The innertube completely ruptured with a loud bang reverberating in the parking garage.

The next day, I came to work, armed with new innertubes, which were definitely the right size. As I fixed it again at the end of the day, everyone who came down was like, "Weren't you fixing a flat yesterday too?" This time I was very careful, I fixed the front tire, no explosions, no incidents, and I made it home just fine. I went into my apartment for no more than 30 minutes to change clothes and went back to my bike to ride over to a friends house. The back tire -- the other tire, not the one I just fixed -- was flat.

Though this has been frustrating, there are two silver linings: (a) I've gotten a lot quicker at changing tires and (b) the most recent flat--the slow leak--is the first repeat of circumstances leading to a flat, meaning there is probably something I can do to prevent it from happening again. I dropped off my tire with some friends, and they are going to conduct a full investigation while I'm out of town this weekend.

I'm going out of town this weekend to do a Tri in Seattle. It didn't seem worth hauling my bike all the way there for a 12 mile ride, so I'm opting to rent a bike instead. The rental place said to bring my own pedals so I can use my clip-on shoes. But, after running around this evening, borrowing wrenches, watching videos online on how to remove your bike pedals, and getting a neighbor to help, I finally gave up. Those pedals have been there for 3 years and they are not budging. I know I should have tried to take them off earlier, but I've just about used up all the energy I have for bike maintenance this week. I'll just use the regular pedals on the rented bike with my running shoes, and it hopefully won't slow me down too much.

It's midnight, I'm leaving town tomorrow right after work and I haven't even packed yet. Ugh. Hopefully I've had enough maintenance issues that I'll have a good run of smooth sailing ahead of me. But, given my luck lately, I think the race this weekend will be a victory if I can go the whole way without getting a flat.

Tri For the Cure

I had another race yesterday. Although it was only my second official race this year, it feels like I've been doing nothing but triathlons lately. If you count all the race rehearsals my training group puts on, yesterday's was actually my 6th this summer and my 4th weekend in a row waking up at 4:45 to do a race. All day Saturday, I kept saying to myself, "Really? Another triathlon? Really?" I also went on a long hike on Friday and, since my hiking muscles are a little out of practice, I was still really sore on Sunday morning. I dragged myself out of bed (actually, not the hard part - on top of everything else, I didn't sleep a wink!) and decided to just go and enjoy the race. Tri for the Cure is all women and packed with first-time triathletes, which is really exciting and empowering. A lot of the women in my tri group were doing it as their first tri, so I just tried to focus on enjoying that energy.

Guess what? It was a personal best! I typically finish this distance in around 1:45 and my time yesterday was 1:32:15, which was in the top 15% of my age group! It was actually really good for my confidence - lately I've been feeling like no matter how much I train, I just never get much faster. Maybe it's a little lame to get a boost in confidence by competing against a bunch of beginners, but, hey, I was doing my first tri ever in a similar all-women's race a mere three years ago. If anything, it was another reminder of how far I've come.

I finished the swim in about my usual time - just under 15 minutes. The waves started 4 minutes apart and the women in the wave in front of me were all wearing green caps. I just kept saying in my head, "Catch the green! Catch the green!" Before I even reached the first buoy, I was pretty much surrounded by green caps. (Again, a lot of beginners in the race, so probably a lot of new swimmers). Every time I saw a blue cap (from my wave), I tried to keep up with them, catch them, or pass them. Of my wave, I was 27th out of the water, which isn't bad considering there were 320+ of us. For my next race (another all-women's race with lots of beginners), I'm going to pay close attention to the color of the caps two waves ahead of me and try to catch them too!

I enjoyed the bike a lot. It was a little chaotic because the race wasn't governed under USAT rules, which prohibit drafting and require specific passing procedures. But, the roads were blocked off and was really liberating to not have to worry about cars. There were parts of the course where we were even able to use BOTH lanes! I paid close attention to my cadence and speed and averaged 17.5 mph! (Unfortunately, I got a flat tire while walking my bike back to the car, but during the race I was good to go.)

The run! Ok, it was still really hot, but after the scorching heat of the last two weekends, the 90+ degree weather almost felt like a cool front. I was able to pace myself at 9:24/mile, which may be the fastest I've ever run a 5k! And it pretty much felt like business as usual . . . it was a pushed pace for sure, but definitely doable. I felt so good after crossing the finish line, I almost felt like I could run another 10k. About two hours later, the tiredness and soreness set in!

My next race is the Seattle Danskin in two weeks, which should be a fun one because my family will be there to cheer me on! It should also be interesting to see how cooler weather and lower altitudes affect my race. And this weekend - wait for it - I get to sleep past 5am on Sunday!

Two-Thirds of a Half

I was at the Boulder Reservoir again this Sunday, this time for a practice of the Half-Ironman distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). This was mostly an exercise in getting my feet wet and seeing what I could do. I really want to do a Half-Ironman next year to celebrate my thirtieth birthday. I'm generally opposed to setting goals to accomplish before turning thirty, as that seems to imply that in February 2009 I will curl up and die and never again accomplish anything important. Rather, I want to celebrate that I'm doing all these things at thirty that I never dreamed of doing when I was twenty. When I was twenty, I couldn't run a mile, I didn't own a bike, and, although I could swim, I'm not sure it ever occurred to me to swim over a mile in open water.

I enjoyed the day a lot, even though it was hard work and another hot hot day. Going in, I tried to think of the swim as my warm-up, the long bike ride as my main work-out, and the run as a short jog after to see how my running legs held up after 56 miles of pedaling. (I never planned on doing the full half-marathon, and only ran one of three loops for 4.3 miles).

The bike ride was only the second time I had ridden longer than thirty miles. Looking towards goals for next year, I think the bike is the area where I have the most room to improve. (Hopefully I'll at least be able to beat the nun next year!) The sensor of my computer was not adjusted correctly during the Boulder Peak, so I wasn't able to see my speed, cadence, or distance during the race. I don't really know myself as a biker - what pace is typical for me, what pace I should aim for - the same way I know myself as a swimmer and a runner. I've never been sure if my slowness on the bike is mostly mental (because I tend to space out and just enjoy being on my bike rather than being in race mode) or due to my physical limits. Today I played around with this a little using the data from my computer. Whenever I was on an uphill or a patch that was slow going, I focused on my cadence (aiming for 85-95 rpm) to make sure I was in the best gear; whenever I was on a downhill or a fast flat, I would switch over to my average mph and try to get my current mph as much over the average as I could, hoping to see the average inch up. My average mph was slightly faster than my average for the Boulder Peak, which is cool. I even got up to 37 mph during one downhill, which I think is the fastest I've ever gone. I used to be much more timid, riding the brakes all the way down a hill, but I think I moving past that and am finally able to use those hills to help me up the next hill and make up for lost time. The hardest part was that after 40 or so miles, I just didn't want to be on my bike any more. More long training rides next year should help this.

I actually felt a lot better after the 4.3 run than I thought I would. The first half was rough (in part from adjusting to being off the bike, and in part because it was uphill), but I felt pretty good on the last two (downhill) miles (especially after hanging out at the water station for five minutes before heading back!) It was a slow run, even slower than last week, but, as I said, it was scorching hot and I had just finished my second longest bike ride of the year. My coach said that heat like that can increase your time by 30-40% and in those situations you should throw your time goal out the window and just focus on staying hydrated. Most of the other women at the practice had the same difficulty, so I didn't feel too bad. But, I definitely feel motivated to work on my running for next year. I want to start doing more speed-work so the easy pace that I default to when the going gets tough will be faster. I joke that I have no pride and as long as I finish the Half-Ironman, I don't care if I have to walk the whole 13.1 miles. But, since they close the course after eight and half hours, it would be likely be cutting it close to walk the whole way and still finish in time (it took me just under six hours to do the swim and bike plus the 4.3 mile run).

My coach encouraged us to write down all the little things that you learn during these practices so you remember on race day. One important thing that I learned - I need to remember to put anti-chafing cream on before the bike and again before the run for this distance. I didn't use it at all today and I'm still pretty sore. Nutrition, hydration, and electrolytes are also very important when racing for 6+ hours, and this was a good chance to practice that. This morning, I ate / drank:

Breakfast - two whole wheat waffles, peanut butter, frozen raspberries
Pre-race - half cup coffee, 1/2 power bar
T1 - 1 cliff shot, water
Bike - 6-8 cliff shot blocks, 1 package jelly belly sport beans, 1 power bar (1/2 at halfway point, 1/2 at mile 49), 3 1/2 bottles water, 1 bottle Gatorade
T2 - 1/2 power bar, 1 cup water, 1 cup Gatorade
Run - 1 cup water, 1 cup Gatorade, a few potato chips
Post-race - two (half) burritos and lots of other snackies, lots of water

Probably could still use some tweaking, but I stayed hydrated and didn't bonk. I thought the combo of instantly absorbable calories (cliff shots and blocks) and calories that take longer to kick in, but sustain a little longer (power bars) worked well. I probably should have drank a little more water and more Gatorade. I'm probably going to start experimenting with the electrolyte tablets in addition to Gatorade.

My Ride with the Devil

I successfully finished the Boulder Peak – my first Olympic distance triathlon! It was a lot of fun, but definitely a challenge. My time was 3:26:32, which I was happy with.

The race started at 6:45am, but my wave wasn't until the very end and didn't start until an hour later. It was kind of a drag having to wait around (everyone had to be out of the transition area by 6:30) because it just meant more time for nerves and anticipation. I got in the water around 7:30 to get wet and warmed up. I swam out about 15 yards in the warm-up area. When I turned around to swim back towards the beach and saw it swarming with people in wetsuits and brightly colored caps – I always think the start of a triathlon looks like an alien invasion – it finally hit me, I'm actually doing this. Right before our wave started, the announcer said that they saved the best for last and we all cheered.

As per usual, the swim was my strongest leg of the race. I got to use my fancy new goggles, which suction-cupped to my face to prevent leaks and were mirrored like sunglasses so I could sight the buoys marking the course in the glare of the sun. I got out of the water in just under 30 minutes and ran to get on my bike and face the most challenging part of the course – the hill on Old Stage Road.

Old Stage Road has a 600 ft elevation change in 2/3 of a mile, so it's pretty intense. I road by a lot of people who had to climb off their bikes a walk up it, so I was proud that I was able to keep pedaling the whole way. My friend Patty and her boyfriend were there to cheer me on and had written in chalk "Go Emma!" on the street. There was also a guy in a devil's costume who ran along side me saying "Ride with the Devil! Ride with the Devil!" I did wonder for a second if I was hallucinating, but I have photographic evidence that I did, in fact, ride with Devil on Old Stage. The rest of the course was a nice ride – a big downhill and then a few rolling hills back to the reservoir. I averaged 15.1 mph, which I was pretty pleased with, although I must confess that a 78 year-old nun from Spokane, WA beat my bike time by about 2 minutes! But, this was still an improvement for me – my first tri barely had any hills, and I only biked that at a pace of 12 mph.

Even though there was nothing particularly hard or challenging about the run course, it was very difficult that day. The temperatures in Boulder reached into the hundreds on Sunday for the first time in years. One of the race organizers owns a bike store in Austin and he joked later at the awards ceremony that he must have brought the Texas weather with him. The run was hot hot hot and at times felt like a death march. I looked at my watch and realized I was going at a slower pace than I had anticipated, but quickly decided that I didn't care. I just wanted to take care of myself and finish, rather than push too hard and end up dehydrated or sick. It's so tempting to Monday-morning quarterback and think that I could have gone a little faster and shaved a few minutes off my time, but I know that in the moment that's all I could do and I was giving my best.

Some members and coaches from my tri team were there to cheer me on at the finish and it was exciting to hear the announcer say, "Emma Garrison from Denver, Colorado!" when I crossed the finish line. All in all, a good day.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support!

Twitterin' with my Tweets

If you're interested in a more blow-by-blow account of my ever-so-exciting life (all three of you that read this), you're in luck! It is now available. I've succumbed to the latest social networking trend of Twitter. Twitter is basically answering, multiple times a day, the question "What are you doing?" According to the Twitter FAQ, my Mom may want to know that I skipped breakfast in favor of a latte (I did not skip breakfast today, for the record) and my friends may want to otherwise keep abreast of my quotidian rituals. It's so hard to say no to something that involves the word "quotidian."

My Twitter page.

Karma Part III

The $60ish refund from PG&E is not entirely mine. I was not living by myself at the time, but I was the one PG&E tracked down because my name was on the account. In order to pay it forward and ward off bad karma, once again, I used $30 of the refund to become a member of the Sierra Club.

Happy Earth Day, bitches!

Karma Part II

One of my major New Year's resolutions this year was to get my finances in order, pay off my credit cards, and start saving and planning for the future. So, I've been reading Suze Orman and the Washington Post financial advisor. Suze Orman has a mantra - respect of money will bring you more money. In her book, she convinced a woman to up her contribution to her retirement from 5% to 10%. Then, a month later, she got a raise in the middle of the year, even though she had never gotten a mid-year raise before. Suze Orman was not at all surprised - she says that she has witnessed this kind of money karma time and time again.

This year I've been much more respectful of money. I've been writing down every time I spend money on anything so I can get a good sense of where it's going and what I can afford, I've been eating out a lot less, and I've retired all but one credit card to my desk drawer (the one in the wallet is for emergencies only). Well, wouldn't you know it, today I got home and got something in the mail from PG&E. This was someone surprising given that I moved away from California almost four years ago. Panic immediately struck that I owed them money, but, as it turns out, it was a refund check because they owed me money! Karma? Maybe respect of money does bring you more money! It's only around $60, but it's something.

My electricity got turned off once my first year in California . . . I never got a bill because PG&E was accidentally sending it to the apartment upstairs. It didn't occur to me as odd to go four or five months without getting a bill because when I moved there in 2000, everyone was talking about how screwed up PG&E was and how many of their accounts were backlogged. Apparently, California's Consumer Protection division investigated and ordered PG&E to pay everyone back for unauthorized charges related to these backlogs and mix-ups.

As for my other karma issue . . . I still owe the universe $14. I've made charitable contributions during that time (to public radio, MS research, etc.) but these are causes I would have donated to anyway. I think to settle my debt with the universe, I'm going to donate $15 to the father of an old friend from high school who is running for Austin City Council. He's a wacky liberal in the best way and would probably be great, but it's not something that would normally cause me to immediately reach for my checkbook.

Karma

I went to a concert last night, a CD release party for a local band. When we went up to buy tickets we noticed that it was $12 if you paid in cash, but $14 if you used a credit card. While my friends and I were figuring out if we had enough cash between us to avoid paying the extra $2 for using a card, a woman walked in front of us and went to the ticket window.

Two things were apparent about this woman: (1) she seemed a little "off," and (2) she had been arguing with the people in the ticket window for a while. Apparently, for whatever reason, they weren't going to let her in even though she really wanted to see the band. Then, all of a sudden, she was like, "Well, the three ladies behind me need tickets, can I buy tickets for them?" We tried to tell her that we didn't need her to buy our tickets, but she kept insisting, saying that she felt guilty. Once she gave us our tickets, we tried to give her cash and she screamed "NO!!!" in a very scary way. So as not to anger her, we kept the tickets and our cash. We said that we would promise to pass the good karma along, "pay it forward," etc., and she screamed, "Well, better not give it to anything that involves religion or kids!"

I definitely feel like I owe the universe $12 (or $14, as she paid with a credit card). Any suggestions on how to spend it in a way that would honor a crazy lady who hates religion and children and is a die hard fan of Oakhurst?

Denver Weather

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day in Denver--60s, sunny, I went on a bike ride wearing shorts and short sleeves. So many people were outside, running, roller blading, walking their dogs. Even artists were set up painting landscapes on their easels. When I woke up and looked out the window this morning, everything was covered in snow. And, the flurries have started again.

I'm Back, Baby!

I never should have complained about the thirty minutes or whatever I spent on the phone with Pay Pal. It was nothing, NOTHING, compared the ongoing battle I've had with Dell for the last six weeks.

Let's just say it involved at least thirty total hours on the phone with Bangladesh, several attempts to restore my system, a replacement keyboard (my old keyboard had the down key permanently stuck down, preventing me from finishing the system restore), a trip to the hardware store to get the right size screwdriver to install the new keyboard, realization that one of the screws was too worn down to let me unscrew it, a trip back to the hardware store to see if they could help me unscrew it (they couldn't), shipping it back to Dell for them to replace the keyboard, more unsuccessful attempts to restore the system over the phone, Dell's agreement to give up and send me a new laptop (yay!), a new laptop whose screen was messed up right out of the box, an A/C adapter that is incompatible with the battery, my not realizing I was supposed to save the new computer's box to ship my old unit back to Dell, spending an hour and fifteen minutes on the phone with customer service convincing them to send me a new box to ship my unit back, and a service technician making a house call to replace the screen.

I'm still waiting on the A/C adapter and the box, but I think it's safe to say the worst is over. I have a nice new computer with a working screen, a down key that isn't stuck, and connects to the internet (my original reason for calling Dell.) And, this experience has done a good job of weaning me from my internet addiction. So, now that I have my computer back, I may blog more, or I may not. Who knows? An exciting round of "will she, won't she" to keep you entranced until the post-strike tv shows start up again.

Pay Pal Woes

I want to sell something on eBay -- my first time. Before I can post an ad for my old Tivo, however, I needed to make sure I had a pay pal account so I can received payment. No problem, right? Wrong. I've used pay pal only a handful of times in the last few years, years in which I have moved a lot, switched phone numbers a lot, and had a few different email addresses and credit cards. Pay pal made it impossible to create a new account, because I was already registered, and it also made it impossible for me to figure out my old log on information so I could access the system.

Stephen got to "hear" me vent over IM while I was straightening this all out:

10:51 AM dewstephen: hey

10:52 AM me: sup

i'm having problems with pay pal

10:53 AM dewstephen: oh yeah? whatup

me: well i already had an account, so they wouldn't let me register for a new one

dewstephen: no way to get access to the old one?

me: but i don't have enough old information to get the email address and password for my old one

dewstephen: call them?

me: like i've tried my last few addresses and stuff

yeah - that's the next step

10:54 AM dewstephen: can you call? btw, haha, they are in the adjacent building to freescale.. lol

want me to walk over there?

:)

10:55 AM me: :)

11:50 AM dewstephen: so what up in denver? you doing anything outside of cleaning up the house?

11:51 AM me: i've been out a few times

11:52 AM dewstephen: when do you start work?

11:57 AM me: I F***ING HATE PAY PAL

12:01 PM i set up pay pal for the journal at law school and had a similar headache inducing conversation with their customer service then

12:02 PM they really need to revamp their system

dewstephen: you don't even know the half of it

their legal agreement you sign is really restrictive for the customer

there are a lot of websites devoted to how paypal are a**holes

12:04 PM me: like i couldn't remember when i last used it, or what email address i used. and i confirmed my old addresses, etc. and they wouldn't f***ing give me what email address i need to submit to figure out my password

12:05 PM then they said they would send me an email with a new link that would allow me to re-register

12:06 PM but it's just my most recent pay pal receipt

and i asked if there was a way i could call back to talk to him specifically and not have to wait 10 minutes on hold, and he said call back at 5pm pacific time

wait 6 hours so you don't have to wait 10 minutes

f**k them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12:11 PM OK - now it says enter credit card type, when there is no space or pull down menu to enter type

12:16 PM me: then i offered to verify using my phone number and it asked me to input the last 4 digits of some phone number that's not even mine

12:17 PM dewstephen: lame, lame lame

12:19 PM me: i finally figured out what address, phone number, email, and credit card i used, and that's not even helping

i better f***ing get 200 for my tivo after all this crap

12:24 PM dewstephen: haha, sorry

12:26 PM me: now i can't even send them a bitchy email while i'm on hold because you have f***ing log on before you can do that

dewstephen: that's lame he told you to call back....

12:27 PM me: i should have stayed on the line until i got the helpful email he was supposedly composing

but honestly i'd rather talk to someone else, he was not particularly helpful

12:29 PM have you ever listened to this episode of This American Life about the woman stuck on hold with MCI for forever

dewstephen: no!

dam...

me: it's really good

that's how i feel now, though my situation is not as extreme

12:31 PM dewstephen: customer service these days is just terrible

s

12:41 PM me: ok - problem solved (knock on wood)

you'll never guess what they had me do to sign up for a new account

12:42 PM i had to sign up using a fake email address, a gmail.net address, so it would let me create the account

then i had to go into my profile and add my real email address

and delete the fake one

12:54 PM dewstephen: nice, smooth move.

I really curse like a sailor when I'm on hold. :)

Here's the link to eBay, just in case anyone is interested in bidding on my Tivo.

William Husky?

I went to the Washington-Cal game this weekend and was surprised by two things:

1. William Hung of American Idol reject fame performed his infamous rendition of "She Bangs" (Warning! links to youtube) at halftime.

2. He performed with the accompaniment of the Washington marching band, was decked out in purple and gold, and yelled "Go Huskies" at the end. He went to Berkeley! What happened to his Bear pride?

Saludos de Costa Rica!

Just a quick report on the highlights of my trip to Costa Rica thus far:

1. Ate bird seed (accident)
2. Ate termites (on purpose)
3. Saw sea turtles laying eggs
4. Hiked uphill in a rainforest at night in the pouring rain
5. Swam in a crystalline waterfall
6. Played soccer in the mud
7. Luxuriated at a posh hot springs resort
8. Went whitewater rafting
9. Fed bananas to spider monkeys
10. Rappelled down a 200 ft waterfall

We´re off (via horseback) to Monteverde to ride the zipline!

Pura vida,

Emma

A New Spin on Teaching

So even though my official title is "Graduate Teaching Fellow" (at least for the next 7 days), I don't usually do any teaching during the summer. But, this morning I had an opportunity to do so when my spinning instructor didn't show up. Three other women were there and they were all mad that they woke up early for nothing. Then they started talking about how maybe one of us should just run the class, and I volunteered in a small voice that I had actually taken a spin class certification class three years ago. (This is when I was at Berkeley and obsessed with spinning. I mostly just got certified for fun. I used to be certified to teach Turbokickboxing as well.)

I had never taught before, I didn't have any kind of work-out plan, and the only music they had for us to use was Sweedish techno music. But, I did it! I had fun (it was definitely a rush!) and I didn't even feel self-concsious even though I didn't really know what I was doing. I guess I've taken enough spinning classes over the years that ideas for work-out sets have been engrained in me. After we finished, everyone was really nice. One said that my "class" was better than some of the usual instructors at Georgetown and that I should teach. I was totally flattered. So now that unemployment is fast approaching, maybe I have another option for making some extra cash before I find another job...

I'm starting to freak out

I have to leave my job in less than three weeks and I still don't have anything lined up for afterwards. Up until now, I was pretty relaxed about it because I know I'll eventually find a job. The only thing that annoyed me was constantly being asked by others what I'm doing next year and facing the obligatory grimmace when I tell them I don't know yet. But, now I just want a little certainty in my life. Has anyone tried the whole Oprah / Secret / just visualize what you want and it will come true thing? Do you think that could work?

Aaahh Freak out! / Le Freak, C'est Chic / Freak out!

Dictionary Fun

The last few nights, I've been doing some puzzles out of a New York Times Crossword Puzzle Book. Full disclosue: I am a crossword puzzle "cheater" in that I think research is fair game. Usually there is some inferential step required to successfully find an answer, so it's a sufficient brain exercise in my book. (Sometimes I actually cheat cheat and look in the back when I know it's a clue I will never figure out, but getting some letters down will help me with clues I know will eventually get.)

My laptop is broken, so I don't have a computer at home right now, which is probably the reason I've been doing crossword puzzles in the first place because I'm so ADD, I can't just sit and watch TV, I have to be doing something with my hands and the same time. (Fold laundry? Preposterous!) With my usual research method (I call it the Google/Wikipedia method) unavailable, I've been using these crazy old-fashion devices called reference books. It is so amazing how much information is contained in the Merriam-Webster dictionary!

For instance, I was able to confirm that "TET" was a correct answer for the clue "Eastern New Year," as it is defined as "the Vietnamese New Year observed during the first several days of the lunar calendar beginning at the second new moon after the winter solstice." It also lists a "Flemish painter: van ____," though not the one I was looking for. Apparently Jan van Eyck is dictionary-worthy, but Michiel van Coxie is not. While I was trying to figure out a five-letter word in Kansas's state motto, I looked to see if there was any kind of chart with that type of information in the back pages. No luck, though there is a chart with states, their capitals, populations, etc., and I was able to (correctly) guess that the missing word was "ASTRA," Latin for stars. (In case you're wondering, the full motto is "ad astra per aspera" or "to the stars through difficulty," which, if memory serves, was also the motto of my junior high school.)



While looking for the non-existent state motto chart, I did come across another interesting chart listing suggestions on how to avoid sexist language when referring to various professions. Some examples include: using cinematographer instead of cameraman, firefighter instead of fireman, and homemaker instead of housewife. This reminded me of growing up, how whenever we needed to something fixed or have some service done, we would always talk about needing to call the [something] man. The dishwasher man. The washing machine man. The parkay floor man. The fence man. One time we saw a frog in the backyard and my brother asked, "Are we going to have to call the frog man?" I'm not sure any of these were addressed in the dictionary chart, certainly not "frog man." Just the other day, my mom mentioned having to take the morning off work to wait for the dishwasher man. Perhaps she should have called him "the dishwasher repair person."

We were, however, politically correct whenever the toliet was clogged. We never called anyone "the toliet man," we always said "plumber." One of my favorite memories growing up was when my mom came and asked my brother and me if we had seen the plumber's friend (meaning the plunger), and we answered in sync, with the same incredulous inflection, "The plumber has a friend?"

I have a fan!

Lately I've been spending a lot of time on Yahoo! Answers, which is an "online community" where people can post questions on literally everything, and others can post answers. The questioner then votes on which response is the "Best Answer," which awards the answerer ten points in a largely meaningless point system. Currently, I have 236 points and 20% of my answers have been designated as "Best Answers." :)

Another feature of this system is that you can let people know that you are a fan of their answers, and I got my first fan today! A college student posted a question last week about being tired all the time, due to depression and the medication she is taking for it. I responded by first suggesting that she talk to her doctor about her medication, and I also suggested that she try taking a short walk after class every day, instead of going straight down for a 3-4 hour nap as she said she had been doing. I wrote that, in my experience, exercise usually makes me feel less tired, even though it seems counterintuitive, and that physical activity is known to ease the symptoms of depression.

After getting chosen as best answer, I looked at her profile. I know this sounds silly, but I just thought her "About Me" section was so sweet!

I heart pilates and yoga! I love my boyfriend dearly. I wish I had more control over my life. I'm always tired and it sucks. I'm a vegetarian because I love animals! I'm very laid back. I'm a hippie at heart. I love comfy clothes. I'm a movie fanatic. Anything or anyone that makes me laugh is awesome! I'm in college, working towards a Bachelors Degree in Family and Child Studies. This May I'm getting my Associates Degree in Sociology too! Only two more years of college! Woo!

Her other questions range from the typical issues facing 20-year-old college girls--like fighting with her boyfriend and whether or not to go to the tanning salon--to much darker issues--like her struggles with bulimia, depression, and thyroid dysfunction. She obviously is having a rough time, yet still seems so cheerful and optimistic in all of her posts. I find it so endearing that it restores my faith in humanity. Is that weird?

Regardless, I was so honored that she wants to be my fan. It made my day.