Thursday List

1.     One of my staff is really into running so brought in the “Born to Run” book to lend me.  Which is good since I’ve been trying to make my way through Tinkers and one of Haruki Murakami’s books (Norwegian Wood I think).  Although good they just don’t hold my attention for my commute.  Nonfiction is really my cup of tea.  We ended up talking books - he’s not a big reader but loves this book and has read it multiple times.  And turns out he likes books on prison systems which funny enough, I have two books I would recommend.  One is Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing which I absolutely love. And The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness which I really want to read.  This is a good reminder I should stop by my local bookstore and see if they have it or order it from them if they don’t.  I also gave him Fastfood Nation which is a classic.

2.     Success on taking up running this week again - take #2.  I ended up doing the week 2 regimen. It was a nice sunny day and even though I was a bit cold on the train and the warm up walk, I kept reminding myself I’ll be wishing for the colder weather in July.  I have to say I like this program - it addresses my needs and shortcomings quite well. When I was about a block away from home, I was struck with the realization that when I left the office and I felt like I was “naked”, not having a bag or stuff to bring with me, but reassured myself that I had all I needed - my iphone (which I use for podcasts and stopwatch) and headphones, it was because I was actually forgetting something.  My house keys!  Doh!!  Once thing of condo neighbors, and luckily they were home but when I rang the bell - no answer.  I realized that it was prime time for the solicitations we sometimes get.  What to do - and then it dawned on me again that although I barely had anything, I was holding a phone in my hand - so just called them and they let me in - yeah!  Lesson learned, right?  I should not be forgetting my keys again now.

3.     After months of looking I finally got a new computer - an All-in-One with a touchscreen.  It’s really quite nice - so sleek and crisp screen.  I was setting it up this week and I have to say I don’t get Windows 8.  I got the computer to mainly do work at home - desktop work I can’t easily do on my smartphone, ipad, or laptop.  It felt silly getting something considering all the gadgets I have but I realized I’m most productive on my desktop at work, partly because of the set-up.  Anyways, I’m not using the computer like a tablet - but that’s what Windows 8 is wanting to be - a gigantic 22” tablet.  It seems awfully silly.  I was all into setting up my tiles on the front screen until I found out, after half an hour, you can’t have a tile with the time.  Plus I can’t seem to navigate very well using just the mouse or just the touchscreen and end up having to do a combination.  I’m missing a fundamental understanding of how to navigate.  Otherwise, the computer is wonderful and I can’t wait to start working on some projects this weekend - first thing up is organizing and backing up all my files.  They’re all over the place on external hardrives, thumb drives and my laptop.  I can’t wait!

4.     My hair is starting to annoy me so I’m so happy I have an appointment on Saturday for a haircut.  I hope I have the 10-12” for donating to Locks for Love.  Even if I don’t, it’s coming off - not super short, but not the long hair I have right now.  I keep toying with the idea of coloring it - I love the look but I keep reminding myself of the maintenance and chemicals.  So think I’ll settle with my mousy brown hair and a wonderful cut.  I’m checking out a place in town that has gotten rave reviews.  Fingers crossed! 

5.     This was weird today - I was writing an email, coordinating visit times with Karin and her kids and realize I should touch base with Nick first before sending.  So I give him a call to discuss and he literally had just sent me an email (that I hadn’t seen yet) saying what he wanted to do and that we should talk on the phone to discuss.  Crazy brother/sister connection, right?  Well that’s not the weird part, the weird part is that it happened twice today.  After I got off the phone, I was finishing up my lunch reading the New Yorker blog postings and saw an interesting article on a prolific New York Times letter to the editor writer I thought Mom would like.  I shoot her off an email with the link and at the same time, in comes an email from Mom sending me a link to the article just below that which I was about to read next about Why Do We Eat and Why Do We Gain Weight.  How crazy coincidental is that?