Comments (16)

By kilax, June 5, 2009 6:01 pm

When you’re driving, and your lane ends (because of construction or a natural merge) do you get over into the new lane as soon as possible, or do you ride in your lane until you’re forced to merge?

Of course, this question was brought on by travel. We traveled through Rockford, IL, for Memorial Day weekend, and the highway merged to one lane because of construction.* It seems like in Chicago, when you have to merge, most people wait until they absolutely have to merge. If you don’t, you just end up sitting in the lane watching everyone pass you.

So, that’s is what we normally do – don’t merge until the lane ends.

But in Rockford, when we tried to do this, there was only one car in the lane in front of us, and we didn’t merge for another mile. And instead of driving to the front of the lane, the driver was a big pansy and just stayed next to the same car the whole time, then merged in front of it when the lane finally ended.

In Chicago, people would be honking at this car, but almost everyone was in the merge lane already… which weirded me out. It just made traffic all backed up. I think this is more common in small towns (even though Rockford isn’t that small).

*The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is really great and all, but it is affecting 50% or more of the roads we take with construction. It’s wasting so much time.

Comments (24)

By kilax, May 29, 2009 6:40 am

If you had the time and resources, what kind of volunteer work would you like to do?

I would LOVE to volunteer at the no-kill animal shelter right by our house. I would also LOVE to be a “running buddy” for the local Girls on the Run chapter.

I’ve filled out applications for both of these organizations and never turned them in. I worried I wouldn’t be able to make a huge commitment and disappoint someone. That’s kind of silly. Some help may be better than none!

The trainee group at my office organizes some philanthropy events. So far, most of them have been on the south side VERY far away from my home, but now they are taking about seniors bingo once a month near the city. That might be a fun way to spend an evening after work! (Yes, I’m serious)

Comments (18)

By kilax, May 22, 2009 9:44 am

Which of your five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, feel) would you least want to give up?

Or maybe it would be more interesting if I asked which of your five senses would you give up if you had to?

For me, I cannot imagine living without sight. I see all of these amazing blind people navigating the streets of Chicago with their guide dogs, or their walking cane, and I feel inspired by them and their perseverance. But I also feel sad for them, because I can only imagine what a struggle being blind is. And I feel like I would miss out on so much if I couldn’t see – so many beautiful landscapes, so many beautiful works of art, even just seeing the beautiful faces and varieties of people (and I sometimes wonder, could there be a blind architect?).

If I had to give up a sense, I think I would choose smell. I would miss out on a lot of wonderful smells, and it would affect the way food tastes to me, but I would also miss out on a lot of nasty smells.

As I am writing this, I feel like it is going into a more serious discussion than I wanted it to. I am not trying to be rude or inconsiderate, just asking if you’ve ever thought about these things. I do think about it a lot, because the woman who sits next to me at work is legally blind and deaf. She has a lot of special tools she uses to get her work done, and I am amazed by her!

Comments (14)

By kilax, May 15, 2009 7:22 am

How long do you take to respond to an email? Or rather, are you INCREDIBLY back-logged on personal emails, like me?!

At work, I make sure I ALWAYS respond to emails directed to me with in a day, if not within the hour. But when it comes to my personal emails, it seems to take me much longer to respond, especially if the email is highly personal chit chat, which a lot of mine seem to be.

If it is something crucial, or quick, I will respond right away. But something about reading a long email, and writing a long response back… tires me out? Or something? I love exchanging long emails back and forth, but I want to give them the thought and concentration they deserve when I respond, and I feel like I rarely have the time to do that. So they just build up and build up and build up… and I have an email box with 30+ “marked as unread” messages, so I avoid it…

It just makes me feel bad. I feel bad that I am running around writing posts, leaving comments, and living my life, but not responding to emails right away. I’m trying though. And I almost always respond back (because it’s kind of rude not to ever respond at all!).

Comments (24)

By kilax, May 8, 2009 5:36 am

What is your response in classes/seminars when you are asked to tell “three interesting things about yourself” during introductions?

I was surprised on Monday morning when our instructor asked us to reveal “three interesting things abut ourselves” to our table-mates, then later to the class. I couldn’t remember the last time an instructor asked me to do that. Sure, tell where you are from, what your degree is, blah blah blah, I’ve done all that, but three interesting facts?

The first three things that came to my mind were:

1. I am vegetarian
2. I am a runner
3. I write a blog

I think those are some of the more interesting facts about me. Or at least, somewhat unique facts about me.

But what I said was:

1. I am a runner
2. I like to travel
3. I like to read

Lame-o, cop-out responses! I didn’t want anyone asking me about why I am a vegetarian, and I didn’t want anyone asking me what a blog is, what I blog about, or what my blog address is, so… I was totally vague*.

Which turned out to be a good thing, because I did get a lot of questions, at least at my table, about my running. Which makes me think they would have asked about the other two things. Which means they are polite people, but… I just don’t like talking about my vegetarianism to people. I am so tired of hearing the same questions over and over, and the same excuses for why they eat meat, or why they couldn’t give up meat. It’s rude for me to say this, but I don’t care. Some people automatically assume they have to justify their diet to me, when I really DON’T CARE. Why people are so interested in what I eat continues to fathom me.

Hmm. Wasn’t expecting all of that to come out. Sorry.

So I guess my real question is: If you had to share “three interesting things” about yourself, would you share the first three that come to your mind, or think about it for awhile and maybe come up with something else? What would those three (or up to six) things be?

Yeah. And just ignore all the crazy writing above.

*I think the fact that I did this says something about my personality… but I am not sure what. I am usually very open, but maybe there are just certain things I am guarded about? Who knows. I’m tired.

Comments (16)

By kilax, April 17, 2009 5:36 am

When you bake or cook, do you follow a recipe?

According to this article, most people DO NOT follow a recipe. But I almost always DO. I’m not confident enough in the kitchen not to!

Steven, on the other hand, only uses recipes and cookbooks for inspiration. Sometimes when he wants to try something new, he’ll look at a bunch of recipes for ideas, then write his own. But sometimes, he just improvises! He’s a true chef.

Some administrative stuff: On Saturday, I put up a poll asking where recipes should be posted, and the majority voted for a new recipes category, so I am adding that today. In it, you will find Fruit Pizza, Swiss Apple Pie, Banana Donuts, Granola Bars (re-visit the comments section for an update on the recipe!), the Pad Siew teaser and Christina’s Rainbow Cake. Most of the recipes for these items are posted in the comments section or in a link in the post. In the future, I will post the recipes in an extended post.

I’ve also been bookmarking a few recipes to try in the future: Denise’s Pumpkin Spice Muffins, Chocolate Covered Katie’s 24-Carrot Cake Muffins, Nicole’s Cinnamon Bun Muffins and Cathy’s Gluten-Free Brownies. Yes, I like to bake sweets! And I love to share them with my coworkers or Steven’s, so we don’t eat them all.

Comments (15)

By kilax, April 10, 2009 6:51 am

Are you cuddly? Do you like to snuggle?

I’m not opposed to it, but I’m not very good at making it happen. I think I’ve become too comfortable in “my” space. My side of the bed, my side of the couch, etc.

Yet another thing I’d like to work on!

Comments (17)

By kilax, April 3, 2009 6:59 am

If you could “fast forward” through something in life, would you? What would it be?

Have you seen that Adam Sandler movie, Click*? Adam Sandler buys this universal remote and finds out he can use it to fast forward through all of the un-pleasantries in his life. He uses it joyfully, to skip the hard work required for his promotion, but discovers an awful side effect – he misses out on what is going on with his family during that time. He becomes distant and removed and ends up losing them.

I used to want to fast forward through all the time and hard work it takes to lose weight and just get to the “after” picture. I felt like I was stuck in “before” land.

But then I realized two things – that once I got down to my “goal size”** I would have to work hard to maintain it anyway. and that arriving at that “goal size” didn’t guarantee my happiness.

So I got over that. But I still fantasize about “fast forwarding” through things. That’s me, always looking to the future, struggling to live in the moment.

I have scheduled pay increases that would be great to fast forward to – not because I am struggling, but because I am greedy. It would be great to fast forward to the summer and some frickin’ warm weather. It would be great to even fast forward to our half marathon day, because I am so excited about it!

But I think I would rather live through the struggles… even though I continue to fantasize about skipping forward.

*One of the few Adam Sandler movies I can actually stand to watch.
**Not even sure what that is anymore, or how it could possibly exist.

Comments (20)

By kilax, March 27, 2009 8:10 am

Do you “brown-bag” your lunch or a lunch for your kids/family members? How often?

A little blurb in the April issue of Marie Claire made me think about this. They had a little chart that compared the cost of making a sandwich at home, to buying one at Subway. They concluded that the cost was so close ($5.01 vs. $5.59), it might not even be worth the effort to make the sandwich at home.

Hmm.

I bring my lunch to work every day of the week, unless I have a planned lunch date. I usually only have one lunch date a week (with my favorite lunch buddy, diane), but this week, I had THREE lunch dates – one every single day I was at work!

It’s expensive to eat out downtown every day. But some people do. I know people at my old office who did. And I am sure there are people at my new office who do as well. I’d rather have it be a treat, then do it every day. Three days in a row was too much this week.

Comments (24)

By kilax, March 20, 2009 5:47 am

Are you more likely to exercise if doing so with a friend or family member?

For the past two weeks, I’ve gotten up extra early (4:30) so that I can leave work a bit earlier to exercise with a coworker* in the office gym. I’ve looked forward to these days so far. Yeah, it’s a hassle to wake up earlier, take a gym bag, shower at work, and get home more than an hour later, but it’s a fun detour from my normal schedule. It’s something different. And it’s fun to chat while working out.

This coworker is also participating in the Biggest Loser Challenge. She was telling me that she hasn’t been successful, so I suggested we exercise together once a week, and surprisingly… she agreed. This made me think, maybe SHE is the type of person who is more likely to work out if she is doing it with someone else.

I think I’m different. I start by doing it for me. I’ll always be doing it for me. Seeing someone else work out isn’t going to make me do it. Steven worked out during the entire holiday season and I would just look at him and think, “Meh!” then go back to wrapping presents and eating sugar cookies.

I am more likely to meet someone to work out if I’ve already promised I would, but I wouldn’t be making that promise if I wasn’t already invested in exercise. Does that make sense? I need to make the commitment to ME, not to someone else.

I think other people may be different though. Are you?