Double Drenching

I was up about five minutes early. I slept really well all night long. I was downstairs even before 530am. I didn’t need to glance out the back door to know it was raining. I could hear it bouncing off the skylights. Ugh!

I completed my calisthenics (push-ups and sit-ups) and tried to check the weather forecast and headlines in between. What? My internet connection was down. I had to resort to my Droid for the weather. It was only 45 degrees and rain was predicted to continue all day and into Wednesday. I headed to the family to check the radar to know what I might be facing during my run. The storm literally ran diagonally from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up into Canada, and of course, right through central Ohio.

Eiknarf and I headed out for our walk around 545a. At the time, it was raining but not too hard. We got our business taken care of then hustled back home. We weren’t back five minutes when it really started to pour. I held out hope that it might slow down before my run. But if anything, it came down even harder as run time neared.

I spent about 15 minutes in meditation and stretching. It was 625a. I didn’t bother taking Mindy coffee or the pug since she was off school to take the kids to the dentist. They were planning to sleep in until 730a. Because it was raining so hard, I went to the basement and found my mesh ski pack. Inside I pulled out the rain slicker Mindy bought me Xmas 2009. I hadn't yet used it, but it seemed like a good day for it.

I wore regular running gear underneath, but opted for my older running shoes. It was gonna be sloppy. It was raining so hard that I was instantly soaked anywhere the slicker didn’t immediately cover. I’d wait until the run’s end to determine the slicker’s usefulness. My feet were soaked in a hurry, mostly from running on the sidewalks and hitting those inevitable puddles that form between lots. My thoughts turned inward a mile or so into the run. It was eventful and sorta fun. I ran the full 4.1 miles. Once you’re wet, you’re wet.

The slicker did a nice job keeping me relatively dry. It’s safe to say that it was a good buy. I put my shoes on the register vent again. They were dripping wet. It was 718a. With Mindy still soundly asleep, I had to prep my own breakfast. Actually, it was quite nice having the quiet. I prepped my lunch while my eggs cooked. I was off to the shower just a few minutes later than normal. But I’d get that time back,  and more for not having to do the bus stop thing. Mindy was up and downstairs just as I was heading up for a shower.

I was out of the shower and back downstairs by 8a. I was ready to head out the door by 805a. I took a few minutes to enjoy a little coffee then left at 810a. I took my umbrella. It was still raining at a fairly decent clip.

This time I had little choice but to stop for gas. I was just above E. My gamble cost me. The price was up from the day before by a few cents, now $4.17 per gallon. The Trooper took 18.7 gallons. Goodness gracious! At least I had the benefit of the overhang while pumping my gas and getting screwed. :)

Unlike Monday, where I had trouble getting motivated, I was a bit more engaged. That did nothing but help the day move by faster. I called the backflow guy and left a message around 11am. He called back leaving me a VM mid-afternoon. Set me up for Saturday. I was going to skip the inspection this year until I got a 2^nd threatening letter from the water department. It pissed me off a little considering that we’re not yet past the threat of a freeze. I could see if it was mid-June and I hadn’t yet had my backflow inspected.

I stayed moderately busy all afternoon. Short of a addressing a few personal to-do’s I didn’t take any significant breaks. I was reminded of Wednesday’s Mexican potluck late afternoon. I needed to stop at Kroger on my way home to pick-up meat and seasoning. Before heading out, I called Mindy to let her know that I would be late – about 630p, I predicted. While chatting with Mindy she shared that she wouldn’t be there. That’s right. This was Bella’s gymnastics night.  I asked if Jacob was going with or staying home. Staying home, according to Mindy.

I left the office at 525p. Walking out, I ran into a guy I hadn’t seen in and around the office for maybe ten years. Turns out, he’s back with the company after several years in Denver. I headed to the Hilliard-Cemetery Rd. Kroger. As it often is, the lot was full. I found a spot fairly close just being vacated.

I was in and out of Kroger in less than 10 minutes.  I picked up a 5lb package of boneless chicken breast and 5 packages of spicy-hot taco seasoning. The chicken was on sale for $1.99 per lb. Good buy!

I arrived home at 610p. Mindy was gone as expected. I hollered for Jacob but there wasn’t an answer. I figured her decided to go with his mom. I did my after work chores, including prepping Wednesday’s coffee, then turned my attention to my PC. My internet connection was still down. Earlier I assumed Time Warner had it down for maintenance. Obviously, with it still down, that wasn’t the case. I power cycled my RR modem and eventually my wireless router. Still didn’t recover.

Mindy was home a few minutes later. I asked where Jacob was. Said he was off playing. I asked if her internet connection was down too. Yep, all day. I power cycled both the router and the modem again then reset my PC. This time it recovered. At the same time the batteries in my wireless mouse died. Holy crap! Mindy checked the laptop. Her connection restored too. I’m guessing our DHCP didn’t renew as scheduled.

Mindy soon left to fetch Bella. With our internet connection now fixed, I started iTunes letting my new Muse CD whirl. I headed to the kitchen to make the potluck chicken. I cut the 5lbs of chicken into small strips then fried it in a extra-large skillet with olive oil and tons of seasoning, including garlic, salt, lemon pepper, and seasoning salt. Mindy & Bella got home around 645p. I made myself a burrito with Sunday’s leftover taco meat. Mindy commented that I should’ve cooked the chicken in the crock-pot. I shared that I wanted to let it simmer in its own juices for an hour or so, but would do the crock-pot thing overnight. That way, I figured, it would get really tender.

Mindy was still angry and reticent. As a result, I kept largely to myself through the entire evening. I read a few articles about Osama bin Laden and the subsequent fallout. Can’t say any of what I read surprised me. Pretty much what I expected. I’m guessing it was just before 830p when I moseyed into the family room and tuned the TV to the bank of knowledge channels hoping to find something of interest. Not a lot of choices. I fell asleep in a jiffy but woke to find a program detailing the 9/11 events. Very graphic, even showed bodies falling from 80+ stories up.

Jacob watched it with me. He was gripped by the horror of the event. Had lots of questions. Mindy made him head for bed at 930p even though the program ran until 1030p. I watched until it was over. Well documented and very well done. Condoleezza Rice commented that many governmental decisions made that day were by the seat of their pants. Kind of scary, but as she reiterated, our strategic planning never really considered an attack from inside our own country.

Mindy headed to bed around 10p. I stayed up until 11p. I was good and tired when I finally headed up to bed. Just the way I like it.