4 posts tagged “connections”

One of the utterly useless things I can do is stand by a bank of elevators and more often than not, be the closest to the one that arrives next.

Some would say this is merely coincidence or only seems "more often than not", but I know that it is a directly related to the following fact.

I also can pick the slowest moving line at the grocery checkout.  I can get into a line with only one person ahead of me and the other lines can each have two or more people and they will start to move faster.

This happened last night at Trader Joe's.  It isn't often I get the same wacky cashier at TJs because I don't go with any consistency but as luck would have it, I got the same HipsterChick as the last visit.  She might even think I purposedly choose her checkout because I didn't move to the one next to us each time it appeared that the person checking out was finished.  It just that other customers got into line before I could move my cart.

Finally I got in line and we had a little chat.  Usually the TJ checkout clerks are friendly and chatty but there's no real connection.  For example, they will say "did you find everything alright" and you can say "I couldn't find the frozen aardvarks" and they will, without blinking, say "yeah we must be out of them again." 

Last time, HipsterChick seemed about as interested in going through the TJ required interact-with-Customer routine as I usually am.  And watching her slowy pack her customer's groceries, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.  But strangely, when I got up in line, she seemed more chatty with me.  I would almost say, flirty.

Not in the "I'm really trying to pick you up" flirty, but more of the "you are the first interesting person that has walked through the door in the last hour please take me with you" sort of flirting.  It could just be my imagination.  Maybe she asks everyone what they got going on tonight.  If she was flirting, I'm certain that telling her that I'm gonna set up my new DVR squashed any remote desire that she would want to let me see her naked.

My two week assignment has come to an end and it is with both sadness and relief.  Sadness in that I had just got use to a steady, consistent start and finish time and getting to eat lunch.  And I certainly will miss the free coffee and fruit.  And I've even made a chat buddy or two.  But it is also a relief because user support does get old after a while. 

When I was asked to leave the law from that squandered my twenties, I tried to hide in plain sight.  i got a job at a dotcom on the other side of downtown and went to great lengths to avoid running into anyone from the firm. 

The dotcom went boom and I got the gig at the no-name software company.  I recall once walking down a particular street to get to the Old St Pat's block party and dreading when I got near the building. 

Eventually, I started recontacting some of the friends from the firm to let them know I had landed on my feet and we talked about staying in touch.  Of course that didn't really happen because of the usual reasons and because I was now among my own people "computer geeks" and "runners" and people closer to my age.

This summer is starting to move fast.  I usually gauge my summer by how far along I am in my marathon training and even though my program is two weeks shorter than the ones my friends are doing, it still feels like half the summer is over.

Today I ran 17 miles at Waterfall Glen for my Long Run (LR).  It's a trail path that has some slight hills which aren't bad during the first hour but the same hills seem steeper the second time through.  The course is about 9.8 miles and in order to get 17 miles in I had two choices:

• Run two laps and simply walk 2.6 miles at the end, or
• Run a lap, then run out 3.6 miles and then turn around.

I opted for the second choice but overshot my turnaround by about a quarter mile, which meant that I ended up walking a half mile.  That wasn't so bad.  What was tough was the heat and humidity.  It was 73 degrees when we started our run and 81 when we finished.  Like I hinted, the first hour wasn't so bad.  We took it fairly slow and we were feeling rather invincible.  The are no water fountains or pumps (that I could see) on this course, so you have to carry your own water.  After last week's experience, I figured I could easily ration a bottle of water through each lap, with a stop at my car for gatorade.  What I forgot to do was take my gel at the 5 mile point because I was feeling pretty good and we were in the middle of a LR conversation.

I try to take a gel every 5 miles because at an 8 min/mile pace, that's roughly every 40 minutes as the package recommends.  It wasn't until about Mile 6.5 that I decided to take it, which might have thrown off my timing for everything since I would have been more energy depleated -- even though I didn't feel that way at the time -- and so the gel was consumed faster and I felt more tired during the second lap.  Or the gel caused me to crash.

Our gels are basically sucrose laced packets meant to give us a quick burst of carbohydrates to energize us.  When I use them correctly, it usually takes about 5 minutes for me to feel the boost and then I'm good for 2-3 miles.  I can usually make it the 5th mile before needing another one.  Of course deeper into a race, all bets are off and the surge may only last for 1-2 miles.  The gels use to last longer but I'm running faster these days for  longer mileage than when I first started marathoning, so I need to re-learn how gels affect my body.  This season I'm really going to focus on figuring out what works and what doesn't so that I can make it through the marathon without crashing or bonking.

I'm Not Bragging

I have three parties to go to tonight. It's not that inviting me to a party makes the difference between it being a success or a drag.  I just happen to know a lot of people and when someone throws a party, they want people to come.  There was a time when I didn't have anything to do on a Saturday night and very few people to do things with.  Of my handful of friends, most were either in the burbs, or in a relationship or both and didn't want to go out to help me meet anyone.  I couldn't just call friends up and say "let's go do something" without planning it weeks in advance like I can today.  I'm still in touch with that small circle of friends and they grunt whenever they want to do something with me but find that I'm booked. 

 Two are from running connected friends and the other is from a friend of a my high school lab partner that I reconnected with at the reunion.  I normally wouldn't go to this many parties in one night, especially since two are in hard to find parking places and one of the hosts has blown off my parrties twice.  But it is a good way to meet new people and an opportunity to have fun. 

And that's what it is really about.  I talk a tough game about giving up on dating or ever meeting anyone but I know that because it is what I really want, I will continue to keep putting myself out there so that I have the best chance of succeeding, or at least a better chance than if I simply stayed in with a good book.

**World premiere of Greco-American's made-in-Chicago film!**

On February 10, 2007, 'Before We Were Turtles' will premier at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Greco-American filmmaker, Grigori Poulimas, wrote and directed 'Before We Were Turtles.' The film was entirely shot in Chicago.

Grigori Poulimas in person!
BEFORE WE WERE TURTLES
With James Zois, Cristin McAlister

Shot entirely in Chicago, this first feature is a harrowingly intense and authentic dissection of the end of a relationship. It begins one hour after the break-up, with a vitriolic, tour-de-force monologue by abusive photographer Michael as he spews out his resentment toward aspiring writer Jennifer. The narrative then proceeds in two directions: toward a past filled with memories both lyrical and lacerating, and toward a future in which the characters painfully build up the emotional shell that will enable them to move on. With an edgy, elegantly edited style that recalls Darren Aronofsky, writer-director Poulimas strikes a nerve that will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced--and lost--love. HD video. (MR)

Director Grigori Poulimas and members of the cast and crew will be present for audience discussion.

Saturday night I went to see a movie called "Before We Were Turtles" with a friend.  I won these tickets through a contest in the EuroCircle newsletter.  The trick was finding someone to see this movie with me.  I wasn't going to ask any of my guy friends and finding an available female friend with such short notice proved to be challenging.  Finally after looking through my cell phone address book, I happened upon Betty.  More than a few years ago, I would have loved to see an movie with Betty.  I liked her,  but she was dating someone.  Now all that has past.  Even though she brought the pretty on Saturday, the feelings just weren't there.  They've been gone for years.

It was this week three years ago that Sasha and I broke up.  I remember only because it was between Groundhog Day (my Polish grandma's birthday) and Valentine's Day, with Betty's birthday the day before.  Betty had a 30th and I didn't want to go because I didn't want to be around people, especially happy couples.  But I figured why punish Betty for having a birthday the same week as my birthday, especially a 30th which last time I checked, you only get one of those. 

I miss what I had with Sasha.  Part of me really believes we had something special.  Another part of me realizes that we had problems and we are better off apart.  As are me and Betty.