we survived...here are my results.
overall place: 2143 out of 2598
division place: 183 out of 222
gender place: 1125 out of 1471
time: 2:49:18
pace: 12:55
chiptime: 2:45:52
Summary
number of finishers: 2589
number of females: 1468
number of males: 1121
average time:02:21:52
i'm very happy with our performance. i will post more later about the race. now, i must get ready for a birthday celebration at my parent's house with picnic food. wish me luck...
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
friday 5:00...so close...yet so far away...
i received a very funny and interesting email yesterday from my friend melissa in LA. here is an excerpt -
"Now when I think about you and wonder what you've been up to I go to your blog and find out. Is it a further replacement for human interaction? Just as I could have called to tell you this but instead I am emailing."
i found this to be a very interesting observation. at first thought i wondered that she might be right but then again i thought if she didn't read it would she call to see how i was. probably not as often as she could visit the blog. is it possible that a blog is a convenient way to check in daily with our friends? we can check in, leave commitment free comments and know that we've made some contact. the other alternative is to not make contact at all. i must admit though it does seem like i am living more and more of my life in front of a monitor and less and less talking face to face with people. thoughts?
another thing melissa said was -
"I feel like a Christie blog leech. I secretly suck the information you share and get a glimpse of your day to day. "
what's interesting to me about this is that i've been thinking about this very idea a lot. if those of you reading this (all 6, maybe) weren't reading this, i probably would quit. even though i find it helpful and a way to express myself...i like the feedback and want to know that people read it. and honestly i feel guilty for saying that, as if my life is so interesting or profound that anyone would want to read it. the more i dive into this blogging world the odder i find it to be.
mel thanks for the observations and i hope you don't mind me using your comments. i'm super excited to see you guys next week!
a brief update on some things -
half-marathon - it's sunday. i'm feeling ok about it. i've trained as much as i can train. i think i'm more frightened by the 6:30 am race start than anything.
exercise - i've been doing great this week. today i even packed a gym bag so i could go between work and class but i forgot my running shoes...suck. so instead i went to the new marshalls (i'm digging that store). i am excited about having some exercise downtime but am really scared i will completely fall off the wagon so i need to find a happy medium. i'm considering some yoga and water aerobics. but next week there will be some serious couch time and healing for the blue toe.
weight - i'm still holding onto about 3 lbs that i would like to lose. but on a seriously happy note (and proud) i have officially maintained my weight-loss for 1 year. woo-hoo.
work - i'm starting to feel pretty settled. my co-workers are fab. my boss is crazy. overall government workers are an odd breed. and the cube, is still just a cube.
back - i've seen the chiro twice and will visit again tomorrow. i'm feeling a lot better. fingers crossed.
must sleep...happy friday.
"Now when I think about you and wonder what you've been up to I go to your blog and find out. Is it a further replacement for human interaction? Just as I could have called to tell you this but instead I am emailing."
i found this to be a very interesting observation. at first thought i wondered that she might be right but then again i thought if she didn't read it would she call to see how i was. probably not as often as she could visit the blog. is it possible that a blog is a convenient way to check in daily with our friends? we can check in, leave commitment free comments and know that we've made some contact. the other alternative is to not make contact at all. i must admit though it does seem like i am living more and more of my life in front of a monitor and less and less talking face to face with people. thoughts?
another thing melissa said was -
"I feel like a Christie blog leech. I secretly suck the information you share and get a glimpse of your day to day. "
what's interesting to me about this is that i've been thinking about this very idea a lot. if those of you reading this (all 6, maybe) weren't reading this, i probably would quit. even though i find it helpful and a way to express myself...i like the feedback and want to know that people read it. and honestly i feel guilty for saying that, as if my life is so interesting or profound that anyone would want to read it. the more i dive into this blogging world the odder i find it to be.
mel thanks for the observations and i hope you don't mind me using your comments. i'm super excited to see you guys next week!
a brief update on some things -
half-marathon - it's sunday. i'm feeling ok about it. i've trained as much as i can train. i think i'm more frightened by the 6:30 am race start than anything.
exercise - i've been doing great this week. today i even packed a gym bag so i could go between work and class but i forgot my running shoes...suck. so instead i went to the new marshalls (i'm digging that store). i am excited about having some exercise downtime but am really scared i will completely fall off the wagon so i need to find a happy medium. i'm considering some yoga and water aerobics. but next week there will be some serious couch time and healing for the blue toe.
weight - i'm still holding onto about 3 lbs that i would like to lose. but on a seriously happy note (and proud) i have officially maintained my weight-loss for 1 year. woo-hoo.
work - i'm starting to feel pretty settled. my co-workers are fab. my boss is crazy. overall government workers are an odd breed. and the cube, is still just a cube.
back - i've seen the chiro twice and will visit again tomorrow. i'm feeling a lot better. fingers crossed.
must sleep...happy friday.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
hmmmm...ponder...hmmmm
through an odd web journey i stumbled on to this artist. i'm completely amazed by her painting talent. i don't really like her stuff but she was a better artist at 4 than i will ever be...so yeah what can i say? she also claims to have went to heaven when she was 4 and that's where her talent came from. read through the section under "her life." very interesting.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
i'm in a special mood...
a special pms mood. i am emotional and slightly cranky. i would like to attribute it to the upcoming birthday but i think it's just good old pms.
E has been working early hours driving the homeless around and so he gets up around 4 am. he's usually pretty quiet but for some reason i've been waking up lately when he leaves. and when i do i wake up, i wake up long enough to realize that i need to pee. once i go potty i realize that i'm hungry. two days in a row now i have had a snack at 4:30am. nice huh? yesterday it was a brownie, today it was a weight watchers lemon cake. this just reinforces the fact that if i need to potty or if i'm hungry i can't focus on anything else.
but in my lemon cake eating this morning i couldn't go back to sleep. for one my blue toe was itching - yes, itching under the nail - i don't know if it's trying to heal or if it's about to fall off of my foot but it was driving me crazy. and so i was thinking how i should blog about my itchy blue toe, whether anyone would appreciate a picture of the toe, and other random things i could blog about (ie. my obessesive need to eat and pee).
but in all of this stupid blog pondering i came the realization that i think this blogging thing has been good for me. i've always been a somewhat introspective person, always taking the time to figure out why or how i feel about something and often how to address it. but for some reason over the last few years i have become less of a thinker really. not sure why but i think it had a lot to do with a moderate to severe case of depression and the nice drugs that made me feel nothing. but i think i'm back to thinking. my blog is like the friend that you always think "i shoud tell them about this" or "so and so will think this is so funny." always an internal dialogue...i wonder if it's weird that i'm always processing a blog post. but honestly, i think it's good for me and helps me order some things in my brain - silly and serious. i always tried journaling on paper but it never really worked for me - i must i admit i like the interactive element. it's nice to get the encouragement, the laughs.
anyway, those are some thoughts for the day.
half-marathon - 5 days away - thank goodness. for some reason i am wanting to flake on my exercise this week but i'm not gonna. i'm going to the gym this afternoon.
i heard this story on npr this morning. An estimated 90,000 people in Los Angeles County are homeless...why do we let this happen?
E has been working early hours driving the homeless around and so he gets up around 4 am. he's usually pretty quiet but for some reason i've been waking up lately when he leaves. and when i do i wake up, i wake up long enough to realize that i need to pee. once i go potty i realize that i'm hungry. two days in a row now i have had a snack at 4:30am. nice huh? yesterday it was a brownie, today it was a weight watchers lemon cake. this just reinforces the fact that if i need to potty or if i'm hungry i can't focus on anything else.
but in my lemon cake eating this morning i couldn't go back to sleep. for one my blue toe was itching - yes, itching under the nail - i don't know if it's trying to heal or if it's about to fall off of my foot but it was driving me crazy. and so i was thinking how i should blog about my itchy blue toe, whether anyone would appreciate a picture of the toe, and other random things i could blog about (ie. my obessesive need to eat and pee).
but in all of this stupid blog pondering i came the realization that i think this blogging thing has been good for me. i've always been a somewhat introspective person, always taking the time to figure out why or how i feel about something and often how to address it. but for some reason over the last few years i have become less of a thinker really. not sure why but i think it had a lot to do with a moderate to severe case of depression and the nice drugs that made me feel nothing. but i think i'm back to thinking. my blog is like the friend that you always think "i shoud tell them about this" or "so and so will think this is so funny." always an internal dialogue...i wonder if it's weird that i'm always processing a blog post. but honestly, i think it's good for me and helps me order some things in my brain - silly and serious. i always tried journaling on paper but it never really worked for me - i must i admit i like the interactive element. it's nice to get the encouragement, the laughs.
anyway, those are some thoughts for the day.
half-marathon - 5 days away - thank goodness. for some reason i am wanting to flake on my exercise this week but i'm not gonna. i'm going to the gym this afternoon.
i heard this story on npr this morning. An estimated 90,000 people in Los Angeles County are homeless...why do we let this happen?
Monday, April 24, 2006
just testing...
i've decided i want to spruce up the blog a bit so i'm playing with flickr. i had four photos at work to play with and this seemed appropriate. this was taken last year on my birthday at the zoo. crazy times for a 30 year old!
mondays suck and brownies are good.
mondays suck and brownies are good.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
back update...
so friday i went to the chiropractor to review my x-rays. here's the deal...it's a wonder i can stand-up because i am seriously jacked up.
here is a review of my problems. keep in mind i'm not a chiropractor or a good illustrator.
the left image is a spine. the normal spine is in the original drawing. my spine is the orange line. yes, my spine curves to the right. so the spine is the support for the upper body. when it curves, like mine, it will likely cause pressure on your pelvis and lower body. also, i found out that one of the discs (the cushioning between your veterbrae, shocks if you will) in my lower back is seriously degenerated (about half the size of other discs in my lower back). when the discs are degenerated it reduces the amount of space that nerves, blood vessels, all sorts of important things have to exit the spine. hence can cause all sorts of issues with those elements.
and to top off my faulty body. my neck is completely misaligned. again, the drawing is what a normal neck looks like. mine is completely out of whack.
what i've gathered so far is that these problems have probably been developing over the last 10 years. woo-hoo. well at least it's been a cummulative effort and not just something that happened during my 30th year.
anyway, i'm sort of relieved to find something to work on but i'm also so annoyed that there is such dislike, misunderstanding or egos between mds and chiro. 3 medical professionals looked at these x-rays and not one of them bothered to note that my spine was clearly curved and you could see an obvious degeneration of a disc. and all they could tell me was to do a list of exercises and stretches. it just annoys me. and i apologize to any of you who really like radiologists. i understand that chiros and mds are trained differently but isn't there some common sense involved.
so now i will continue going for adjustments to the chiro. he seems to think that we should know in a couple of weeks if things are improving. in the meantime my neck hurts - either because of the adjustment or maybe it has always hurt and i didn't realize i was such a crooked mess and now am aware of it.
onto other things. A and i did our long run yesterday. it was rough on me. no idea why but it took everything out of me. and in celebration of my extra 13 points i made brownies. and i'm still eating brownies.
one week left to the big day. i'm really excited to be done with it and so is my blue toe. i'm not looking forward to the 31 part though.
thank you amy. this image proves my point.
here's to a blues free sunday night.
here is a review of my problems. keep in mind i'm not a chiropractor or a good illustrator.
the left image is a spine. the normal spine is in the original drawing. my spine is the orange line. yes, my spine curves to the right. so the spine is the support for the upper body. when it curves, like mine, it will likely cause pressure on your pelvis and lower body. also, i found out that one of the discs (the cushioning between your veterbrae, shocks if you will) in my lower back is seriously degenerated (about half the size of other discs in my lower back). when the discs are degenerated it reduces the amount of space that nerves, blood vessels, all sorts of important things have to exit the spine. hence can cause all sorts of issues with those elements.
and to top off my faulty body. my neck is completely misaligned. again, the drawing is what a normal neck looks like. mine is completely out of whack.
what i've gathered so far is that these problems have probably been developing over the last 10 years. woo-hoo. well at least it's been a cummulative effort and not just something that happened during my 30th year.
anyway, i'm sort of relieved to find something to work on but i'm also so annoyed that there is such dislike, misunderstanding or egos between mds and chiro. 3 medical professionals looked at these x-rays and not one of them bothered to note that my spine was clearly curved and you could see an obvious degeneration of a disc. and all they could tell me was to do a list of exercises and stretches. it just annoys me. and i apologize to any of you who really like radiologists. i understand that chiros and mds are trained differently but isn't there some common sense involved.
so now i will continue going for adjustments to the chiro. he seems to think that we should know in a couple of weeks if things are improving. in the meantime my neck hurts - either because of the adjustment or maybe it has always hurt and i didn't realize i was such a crooked mess and now am aware of it.
onto other things. A and i did our long run yesterday. it was rough on me. no idea why but it took everything out of me. and in celebration of my extra 13 points i made brownies. and i'm still eating brownies.
one week left to the big day. i'm really excited to be done with it and so is my blue toe. i'm not looking forward to the 31 part though.
thank you amy. this image proves my point.
here's to a blues free sunday night.
please note...
i don't care about tom cruise and i haven't since top gun. i'm glad tomkat's baby is healthy and well but seriously...shut up about it already.
Friday, April 21, 2006
seriously...
Can someone who has played characters named Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back Kotter), Tony (Saturday Night Fever), or Danny Zuko (Grease) ever play a Texan named J.R. Ewing, have a wife named Sue Ellen and live at South Fork Ranch?
Please note that the original J.R. was played by Larry Hagman and was born in Weatherford, TX. Can you get more Texan than someone named Larry? And someone with the last name Travolta has been cast to revive this character. Seriously...I'm very bothered by this casting.
Travolta, JLo to Star in 'Dallas' MovieFriday April 21 8:14 AM ET
British director Gurinder Chadha announced Friday that she would direct John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez in a big-screen version of 80s TV show "Dallas."
The "Bend it Like Beckham" director said she had signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to direct the film, which will star Travolta as villainous oil magnate J.R. Ewing and Lopez as his wife Sue Ellen.
In a statement, Chadha said her appointment meant that the sort of South Asian-themed British films that made her name had "huge credibility and respect in Hollywood."
Chadha, who gave Jane Austen a Bollywood twist in last year's "Bride and Prejudice," is also involved with adapting another TV hit, 60s sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie." She said that film "is still in the pipeline, but there is still some way to go on the script."
Filming on "Dallas" is due to start in October, with the movie slated for a late 2007 release.
I'm not even going to start with Jennifer Lopez...any suggestions for J.R. casting?
Thursday, April 20, 2006
i heart oklahoma...
Man posts yard sign seeking 'virgin bride'By Ron Jackson and Sheila Stogsdill The Oklahoman
BRAY -- Michael Thelemann struggled Wednesday to understand why a homemade sign staked in his front yard caused such an uproar in his neighborhood. Neighbors are equally baffled by Thelemann's attitude.
Thelemann's sign offered a $1,000 reward for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear him children.
"I'm just somebody who is getting up there in years, and I'm looking for a born-again, God-fearing virgin between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear me children," said Thelemann, 45. "What's the problem? I just think I have some wicked neighbors."
Thelemann posted the sign on Sunday.
So far he has had no offers, only protests.
"I feel like I'm living down the street from a pedophile," said Christy Sternadel, a neighbor. "We want him out of this neighborhood. Who asks for a 12-year-old virgin bride? I would think he could get arrested for soliciting a minor."
Neighbors flooded the Stephens County sheriff's department with complaints.
"We are in the Bible belt, and we needed to address the situation, so I sent out two deputies," said Bob Hill, Stephens County undersheriff. "But the sign was gone by the time we got there."
Thelemann claims his sign was stolen. He posted a new sign Wednesday, but omitted minor ages while adding that he doesn't want a "pig-worshipping, heathen, white-supremacist wife."
Hill said the matter is under investigation. But Stephens County District Attorney Gene Christian doesn't think Thelemann has broken any laws.
In Oklahoma, individuals under 18 need parental consent to marry.
"His timing is awfully bad," said Christian, alluding to the recent abductions and murders of girls in Tulsa and Purcell. "But he hasn't crossed any legal lines yet just by putting up a sign. Now, if he actually acts upon his reward by soliciting money to a minor and drawing them away from their parents, then that's another story."
Neighbors, meanwhile, remain braced for something bad.
"I'm scared," said LaDonna Solomon. "I have a 17-year-old, a 14-year-old, and an 8-year-old -- all girls. I'm truly scared."
Thelemann, who was divorced in 1989, doesn't equate a 12- or 14-year-old bride with sexual child abuse.
"My grandmother got married at 14 to a much older man," Thelemann said.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
no more crackers...
amber has inquired about my new photo. yes, it is me driving and eddie took the picture while sitting in the passenger seat. the tower is called the leaning water tower and it's in groom, tx. it was taken our road trip to L.A. in november.
my tummy still hurts today. i've come to work but i'm not sure i'm going to make it. my goal is noon.
my tummy still hurts today. i've come to work but i'm not sure i'm going to make it. my goal is noon.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
tummy ache my foot...
so shortly after my last post, the stomach bug from hell attacked me. i won't got into details but there were various episodes/fights with the bug until mid-morning today. and i still feel like crap. my diet today has consisted of sprite, water, jello, chicken noodle soup and crackers. and i only ate those because i felt my body was going to start rebelling. i've finally reached the point of ingesting enough fluids that i need pee again.
geez. stomach bugs are bad.
and i couldn't go to my photoshop class tonight. stink...i missed the lesson on layers.
but on a happy note. this is my 100th post. i wish i had a prize or a dancing monkey for you but i have nothing. just my whining.
geez. stomach bugs are bad.
and i couldn't go to my photoshop class tonight. stink...i missed the lesson on layers.
but on a happy note. this is my 100th post. i wish i had a prize or a dancing monkey for you but i have nothing. just my whining.
Monday, April 17, 2006
tummy ache...
for some reason i have had a stinky day today. bad mood, tummy ache, and lack of motivation. i'm pretty sure i spent 90% of my day browsing online...bad christie.
yesterday was a nice day...it was all family, all day long. ok so let me rephrase, it was a nice but an exhausting day. hence, my bad mood, tummy ache and lack of motivation.
today i did run. i did 3 miles - running about 2 miles. i'm trying to do the all out running thing but it sucks. i'm not sure my body is built to do it. 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there i'm all in but once i hit about 15 minutes of running straight my body freaks out. hmmmm....or maybe it's just a mental block.
and on a happy note. E is no longer stuck in the basement at the tax commission. now he is stuck in a mall and i have nola back. oh happy day.
yesterday was a nice day...it was all family, all day long. ok so let me rephrase, it was a nice but an exhausting day. hence, my bad mood, tummy ache and lack of motivation.
today i did run. i did 3 miles - running about 2 miles. i'm trying to do the all out running thing but it sucks. i'm not sure my body is built to do it. 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there i'm all in but once i hit about 15 minutes of running straight my body freaks out. hmmmm....or maybe it's just a mental block.
and on a happy note. E is no longer stuck in the basement at the tax commission. now he is stuck in a mall and i have nola back. oh happy day.
what a great movie...
this was taken from an article on yahoo. doesn't it seem like a perfect movie set-up...thousands of earthquake gurus meeting in the earthquake hotbed of the U.S. on the 100th anniversary of the "big one." you're just asking for a movie disaster.
The study, "When the Big One Strikes Again," was released the day before the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It was prepared for what is being billed as the biggest earthquake conference ever.
The three-day 100th Anniversary Earthquake Conference, starting Tuesday in San Francisco, was expected to draw more than 2,500 scientists, engineers, government officials and emergency response professionals. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) and other politicians were scheduled to speak.
The conference is one of a long list of events being held around the Bay Area to commemorate the 1906 quake and promote earthquake preparedness. On Tuesday, survivors will lay wreaths at Lotta's Fountain in downtown San Francisco to mark the moment the temblor struck shortly after 5 a.m. 100 years ago.
The latest report, prepared by the engineering firm Charles Kircher & Associates in Mountain View, was commissioned by the earthquake conference's organizers: the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Seismological Society of America and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Using computer models, the study estimated how a 1906-size earthquake would impact today's nine-county San Francisco Bay area, where the population has mushroomed to more than 7 million people.
The report found that a 7.9-magnitude quake would cause up to $34 billion in building-related losses in San Francisco, $28 billion in Santa Clara County, $26 billion in San Mateo County and $15 billion in Alameda County.
The study, "When the Big One Strikes Again," was released the day before the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It was prepared for what is being billed as the biggest earthquake conference ever.
The three-day 100th Anniversary Earthquake Conference, starting Tuesday in San Francisco, was expected to draw more than 2,500 scientists, engineers, government officials and emergency response professionals. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) and other politicians were scheduled to speak.
The conference is one of a long list of events being held around the Bay Area to commemorate the 1906 quake and promote earthquake preparedness. On Tuesday, survivors will lay wreaths at Lotta's Fountain in downtown San Francisco to mark the moment the temblor struck shortly after 5 a.m. 100 years ago.
The latest report, prepared by the engineering firm Charles Kircher & Associates in Mountain View, was commissioned by the earthquake conference's organizers: the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Seismological Society of America and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Using computer models, the study estimated how a 1906-size earthquake would impact today's nine-county San Francisco Bay area, where the population has mushroomed to more than 7 million people.
The report found that a 7.9-magnitude quake would cause up to $34 billion in building-related losses in San Francisco, $28 billion in Santa Clara County, $26 billion in San Mateo County and $15 billion in Alameda County.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
i think i can do it...
A and i did a long run today. 9.5 miles. we ran/walked pretty much all of it. and i think we both felt pretty good about it...until we hit 40 mph wind gusts. geez. anyway, i am feeling better this week about our goal on the 30th. next week we will do 10 miles.
i must admit that i am tired and sore though. and i also have a toe nail that is turning an odd shade of blue and is sensitive to touch...i guess i'll need to keep an eye on it. oddly enough, A has had a toe issue for week snow. oh the injuries of exercise.
in the past i have mentioned that since i've been running, i've been able to eat anything i want. i've figured out why...today i counted my activity points for our 2 hour outing...13 points. 13 points...that's 2 good meals. and you can bet i have tried to use them all. like i have to try...
anyway, it's been a good day. i napped a bit, hit a couple of thrift stores and ate some tater tots. yum.
happy easter.
i must admit that i am tired and sore though. and i also have a toe nail that is turning an odd shade of blue and is sensitive to touch...i guess i'll need to keep an eye on it. oddly enough, A has had a toe issue for week snow. oh the injuries of exercise.
in the past i have mentioned that since i've been running, i've been able to eat anything i want. i've figured out why...today i counted my activity points for our 2 hour outing...13 points. 13 points...that's 2 good meals. and you can bet i have tried to use them all. like i have to try...
anyway, it's been a good day. i napped a bit, hit a couple of thrift stores and ate some tater tots. yum.
happy easter.
Friday, April 14, 2006
yes, i am...
a U2 fan. i had a religious experience at a show during "i still haven't found" and i think "40" is a wonderful, moving song but i'm not sure about this...
Episcopal Churches Turn to U2 to Pack Pews
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 14, 9:14 AM ET
As the electric guitar in the U2 anthem "Pride (In the Name of Love)" faded from four speakers, the Rev. Robert Brooks welcomed worshippers to Grace Episcopal Church with an unusual suggestion: He warned them to protect their hearing.
"If the sound's an issue, we do have earplugs available," he said.
Ushers handed out earplugs and fluorescent glow sticks for the "U2 Eucharist," a communion service punctuated by the Irish rock band's music. Episcopal parishes from California to Maine have hosted similar events, weaving U2's tunes — laced with biblical references — into the liturgy.
Streamers flew over worshippers' heads at the recent gathering in Providence. Children danced by the altar. Plasma-screen TVs illuminated the gothic sanctuary. Some people sang and clapped, while a few looked puzzled.
Brooks said the evening was designed to invigorate his once-aging congregation — attracting young people and those interested in social activism. "We absolutely need to grow in order to survive," he said.
Weeks before the service, church members conducted what Brooks called "guerrilla marketing," posting fliers at coffee and sandwich shops, bars and colleges. About 130 people showed up for the Friday night service, roughly the same turnout as a Sunday morning. The event included an offering for local charities and enlisted volunteers for the One Campaign, an effort to alleviate global poverty backed by U2's lead singer, Bono.
A similar U2 Eucharist in November proved popular at All Saints' Church in Atlanta. Organizer Laurie Haynes Burlington said she and her husband planned on 300 worshippers. About 500 showed up.
No one tracks how many parishes have hosted similar events, but the service in Providence was based on a playlist created by the Rev. Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine.
Her format has spread by word-of-mouth and on clergy e-mail lists. She's received calls from more than a dozen interested churches and helped put on the service in Providence. (Episcopal parishes seem to be the only ones that have latched on to U2 in such an organized way).
Christian Scharen, 39, a Lutheran pastor and professor at Yale Divinity School, said he's often argued to older colleagues that U2 is heavily influenced by Christianity. He wrote a book on the subject, "One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God," and says it doesn't surprise him that some congregations have caught on.
"People who have these liturgical resonances in their bones, they go to a U2 concert and they just get it," Scharen said.
Bono, meanwhile, has told interviewers that he worships God through music. He once belonged to an ascetic Christian community, and in February, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. The band's early tapes were sold in religious bookstores.
Still, the band members are traditional rock 'n' rollers — they swear, drink and sing about sex. It's also not known whether U2 endorses the services using their songs: Blair said she received permission from U2's publishing company to use the group's music, but never talked to the band. Representatives for U2 did not return phone calls seeking comment.
In Providence, Blair delivered a homily to pitch the One Campaign, which the Episcopal Church supports. She ticked off statistics about poverty and infant mortality in Africa, underscoring her points with equal parts Bono and Bible.
"If you're a Bono fan, you know the next line: Where you live should not determine whether you live or die," she said, then reminding worshippers of a Gospel passage warning that taking care of the needy is what will separate the good from the bad at the final judgment.
The opening hymn was "Pride (In the Name of Love)," an early hit. As the music played, pictures of famous believers including Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. flashed on a 10-by-14 foot screen set up behind the church's altar.
Several songs included in the service sound more like angry lamentations than hymns of praise. "Peace on Earth," inspired by a deadly bombing in Northern Ireland, questions why God won't halt human suffering.
"Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line," Bono sings.
Some Christians might not be able to relate to the shades of doubt and anger, but Blair said that struggle is evident in the Bible.
For example, Bono echoes the 40th Psalm in the opening lines of the band's song "40," belting out, "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry."
Episcopal Churches Turn to U2 to Pack Pews
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 14, 9:14 AM ET
As the electric guitar in the U2 anthem "Pride (In the Name of Love)" faded from four speakers, the Rev. Robert Brooks welcomed worshippers to Grace Episcopal Church with an unusual suggestion: He warned them to protect their hearing.
"If the sound's an issue, we do have earplugs available," he said.
Ushers handed out earplugs and fluorescent glow sticks for the "U2 Eucharist," a communion service punctuated by the Irish rock band's music. Episcopal parishes from California to Maine have hosted similar events, weaving U2's tunes — laced with biblical references — into the liturgy.
Streamers flew over worshippers' heads at the recent gathering in Providence. Children danced by the altar. Plasma-screen TVs illuminated the gothic sanctuary. Some people sang and clapped, while a few looked puzzled.
Brooks said the evening was designed to invigorate his once-aging congregation — attracting young people and those interested in social activism. "We absolutely need to grow in order to survive," he said.
Weeks before the service, church members conducted what Brooks called "guerrilla marketing," posting fliers at coffee and sandwich shops, bars and colleges. About 130 people showed up for the Friday night service, roughly the same turnout as a Sunday morning. The event included an offering for local charities and enlisted volunteers for the One Campaign, an effort to alleviate global poverty backed by U2's lead singer, Bono.
A similar U2 Eucharist in November proved popular at All Saints' Church in Atlanta. Organizer Laurie Haynes Burlington said she and her husband planned on 300 worshippers. About 500 showed up.
No one tracks how many parishes have hosted similar events, but the service in Providence was based on a playlist created by the Rev. Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine.
Her format has spread by word-of-mouth and on clergy e-mail lists. She's received calls from more than a dozen interested churches and helped put on the service in Providence. (Episcopal parishes seem to be the only ones that have latched on to U2 in such an organized way).
Christian Scharen, 39, a Lutheran pastor and professor at Yale Divinity School, said he's often argued to older colleagues that U2 is heavily influenced by Christianity. He wrote a book on the subject, "One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God," and says it doesn't surprise him that some congregations have caught on.
"People who have these liturgical resonances in their bones, they go to a U2 concert and they just get it," Scharen said.
Bono, meanwhile, has told interviewers that he worships God through music. He once belonged to an ascetic Christian community, and in February, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. The band's early tapes were sold in religious bookstores.
Still, the band members are traditional rock 'n' rollers — they swear, drink and sing about sex. It's also not known whether U2 endorses the services using their songs: Blair said she received permission from U2's publishing company to use the group's music, but never talked to the band. Representatives for U2 did not return phone calls seeking comment.
In Providence, Blair delivered a homily to pitch the One Campaign, which the Episcopal Church supports. She ticked off statistics about poverty and infant mortality in Africa, underscoring her points with equal parts Bono and Bible.
"If you're a Bono fan, you know the next line: Where you live should not determine whether you live or die," she said, then reminding worshippers of a Gospel passage warning that taking care of the needy is what will separate the good from the bad at the final judgment.
The opening hymn was "Pride (In the Name of Love)," an early hit. As the music played, pictures of famous believers including Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. flashed on a 10-by-14 foot screen set up behind the church's altar.
Several songs included in the service sound more like angry lamentations than hymns of praise. "Peace on Earth," inspired by a deadly bombing in Northern Ireland, questions why God won't halt human suffering.
"Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line," Bono sings.
Some Christians might not be able to relate to the shades of doubt and anger, but Blair said that struggle is evident in the Bible.
For example, Bono echoes the 40th Psalm in the opening lines of the band's song "40," belting out, "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry."
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
life is like a blog...
i've been having an off and on discussion with the gals at work about how somedays it's so easy to eat right. you don't crave the bad stuff, eating chicken and vegetables sounds yummy and you can stop at one piece of chocolate. but then you have other days that you could eat...well everything within reach. and why is this? just life, hormones or stress? or is there something to it.
also i've noticed a trend among foodies (and i've found lots of them online - there are a bunch of us dysfuntional eating fools)and myself that we get in these crazy funks with food and exercise. for example two days ago everything was great, i'm eating right, exercising is fun and then boom...i hate myself, feel like a failure, want to eat everything i can, and in the end i'm worse of then when the funk started. will it make a difference if i recognize the funk? can i alter my emotional response to it?
blog funk and food funk...oh so similiar to me...i'm in or out.
for some reason i've been in a very introspective mood lately...it's rather exhausting.
and then we move on to the infamous half-marathon, which might just push me over the edge (edge of what, i'm not sure). today, i went out for 4 miles, ran almost 2 miles straight. i got to run early (5:00 ish) but my word it was hot. yesterday, i covered about 2 miles. so i'm still working at it...i am just worried and feel the pressure. and i'm realizing more and more...i don't like pressure. it freaks me out and makes me want to crawl in a hole. a very productive way to cure the stress of pressure.
i've got to wrap this up...i think three times today is enough.
also i've noticed a trend among foodies (and i've found lots of them online - there are a bunch of us dysfuntional eating fools)and myself that we get in these crazy funks with food and exercise. for example two days ago everything was great, i'm eating right, exercising is fun and then boom...i hate myself, feel like a failure, want to eat everything i can, and in the end i'm worse of then when the funk started. will it make a difference if i recognize the funk? can i alter my emotional response to it?
blog funk and food funk...oh so similiar to me...i'm in or out.
for some reason i've been in a very introspective mood lately...it's rather exhausting.
and then we move on to the infamous half-marathon, which might just push me over the edge (edge of what, i'm not sure). today, i went out for 4 miles, ran almost 2 miles straight. i got to run early (5:00 ish) but my word it was hot. yesterday, i covered about 2 miles. so i'm still working at it...i am just worried and feel the pressure. and i'm realizing more and more...i don't like pressure. it freaks me out and makes me want to crawl in a hole. a very productive way to cure the stress of pressure.
i've got to wrap this up...i think three times today is enough.
a plethora of news...
i keep stumbling across interesting stories today. the funny thing is - i'm quick to post them because i'm sure the five of you reading my humble blog are checking in hourly. i swear i'm a big nerd.
anyway, this is interesting and sad yet not very surprising. you are welcome to skip to the highlighted parts for quick skimming.
Americans are growing up and out, according to a new report on changes in height and weight since 1960.
Both men and women in the United States are roughly an inch taller and 25 pounds heavier than they were in 1960, the study concludes.
A measure of obesity has also jumped. BMI, or body mass index, is a weight-for-height formula. It has increased among adults from about 25 in 1960 to 28 in 2002.
The study was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So how big are we? The following figures are for Americans age 20-74:
The average height for men increased from just over 5-foot-8 in 1960 to 5-9½ in 2002, while the average height for women increased from slightly over 5-3 in 1960 to 5-4 in 2002.
And the added girth:
The average weight for men rose "dramatically," in the CDC's words, from 166.3 pounds in 1960 to 191 pounds in 2002. Women went from 140.2 pounds in 1960 to 164.3 pounds in 2002.
Weight increases were greater among older men:
Those between 40 and 49 were nearly 27 pounds heavier on average at the end of the study period. Men 50 to 59 got 28 pounds heavier, and 60 to 74 were almost 33 pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960.
With women, the older crowd fared better, or at least less worse. Women aged 40-49 were about 25½ pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960. And women aged 60-74 were about 17½ pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960.
Children continue to gain weight, too.
The average weight for a 10-year-old boy in 1963 was 74.2 pounds; by 2002 the average weight was nearly 85 pounds. Among girls, that figure went from 77.4 to 88 pounds.
A typical 15-year-old boy weighed 135.5 1966 and 150.3 pounds by 2002. A typical 15-year-old girl went from 124.2 pounds to 134.4 pounds.
Average heights for children also increased.
For 10 year-old boys it climbed from 55.2 inches in 1963 to 55.7 inches in 2002. Girls went from 55.5 to 56.4 inches. The height of an average 15-year-old went from nearly 5-7½ to almost 5-8½. The height of girls at this age has not changed much.
and i leave you with the question - why? fast food, processed/packaged food, lack of activity?
anyway, this is interesting and sad yet not very surprising. you are welcome to skip to the highlighted parts for quick skimming.
Americans are growing up and out, according to a new report on changes in height and weight since 1960.
Both men and women in the United States are roughly an inch taller and 25 pounds heavier than they were in 1960, the study concludes.
A measure of obesity has also jumped. BMI, or body mass index, is a weight-for-height formula. It has increased among adults from about 25 in 1960 to 28 in 2002.
The study was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
So how big are we? The following figures are for Americans age 20-74:
The average height for men increased from just over 5-foot-8 in 1960 to 5-9½ in 2002, while the average height for women increased from slightly over 5-3 in 1960 to 5-4 in 2002.
And the added girth:
The average weight for men rose "dramatically," in the CDC's words, from 166.3 pounds in 1960 to 191 pounds in 2002. Women went from 140.2 pounds in 1960 to 164.3 pounds in 2002.
Weight increases were greater among older men:
Those between 40 and 49 were nearly 27 pounds heavier on average at the end of the study period. Men 50 to 59 got 28 pounds heavier, and 60 to 74 were almost 33 pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960.
With women, the older crowd fared better, or at least less worse. Women aged 40-49 were about 25½ pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960. And women aged 60-74 were about 17½ pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared with 1960.
Children continue to gain weight, too.
The average weight for a 10-year-old boy in 1963 was 74.2 pounds; by 2002 the average weight was nearly 85 pounds. Among girls, that figure went from 77.4 to 88 pounds.
A typical 15-year-old boy weighed 135.5 1966 and 150.3 pounds by 2002. A typical 15-year-old girl went from 124.2 pounds to 134.4 pounds.
Average heights for children also increased.
For 10 year-old boys it climbed from 55.2 inches in 1963 to 55.7 inches in 2002. Girls went from 55.5 to 56.4 inches. The height of an average 15-year-old went from nearly 5-7½ to almost 5-8½. The height of girls at this age has not changed much.
and i leave you with the question - why? fast food, processed/packaged food, lack of activity?
who is really taking my order...
The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order
By MATT RICHTEL
SANTA MARIA, Calif. — Like many American teenagers, Julissa Vargas, 17, has a minimum-wage job in the fast-food industry — but hers has an unusual geographic reach.
"Would you like your Coke and orange juice medium or large?" Ms. Vargas said into her headset to an unseen woman who was ordering breakfast from a drive-through line. She did not neglect the small details —"You Must Ask for Condiments," a sign next to her computer terminal instructs — and wished the woman a wonderful day.
What made the $12.08 transaction remarkable was that the customer was not just outside Ms. Vargas's workplace here on California's central coast. She was at a McDonald's in Honolulu. And within a two-minute span Ms. Vargas had also taken orders from drive-through windows in Gulfport, Miss., and Gillette, Wyo.
Ms. Vargas works not in a restaurant but in a busy call center in this town, 150 miles from Los Angeles. She and as many as 35 others take orders remotely from 40 McDonald's outlets around the country. The orders are then sent back to the restaurants by Internet, to be filled a few yards from where they were placed.
The people behind this setup expect it to save just a few seconds on each order. But that can add up to extra sales over the course of a busy day at the drive-through.
While the call-center idea has received some attention since a scattered sampling of McDonald's franchises began testing it 18 months ago, most customers are still in the dark. For Meredith Mejia, a regular at a McDonald's in Pleasant Hill, Calif., near San Francisco, it meant that her lunch came with a small helping of the surreal. When told that she had just ordered her double cheeseburger and small fries from a call center 250 miles away, she said the concept was "bizarre."
And the order-taking is not always seamless. Often customers' voices are faint, forcing the workers to ask for things to be repeated. During recent rainstorms in Hawaii, it was particularly hard to hear orders from there over the din.
Ms. Vargas seems unfazed by her job, even though it involves being subjected to constant electronic scrutiny. Software tracks her productivity and speed, and every so often a red box pops up on her screen to test whether she is paying attention. She is expected to click on it within 1.75 seconds. In the break room, a computer screen lets employees know just how many minutes have elapsed since they left their workstations.
The pay may be the same, but this is a long way from flipping burgers.
"Their job is to be fast on the mouse — that's their job," said Douglas King, chief executive of Bronco Communications, which operates the call center.
The center in Santa Maria has been in operation for 18 months; a print-out tacked to a wall declares, "Over 2,540,000 served." McDonald's says it is still experimental, but it puts an unusual twist on an idea that is gaining traction: taking advantage of ever-cheaper communications technology, companies are creating centralized staffs of specially trained order-takers, even for situations where old-fashioned physical proximity has been the norm.
The goals of such centers are not just to cut labor costs but also to provide more focused customer service — improving the level of personal attention by sending Happy Meal orders on a thousand-mile round trip.
"It's really centralizing the function of not only taking the order but advising the customer on getting more out of the product, which can sell more — at least in theory," said Joseph Fleischer, chief technical editor for Call Center Magazine, an industry trade publication.
McDonald's is joined by the owner of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., CKE Restaurants, which plans to deploy a similar system later this year in restaurants in California.
Not everyone is sold on the idea. Denny Lynch, a spokesman for Wendy's Restaurants, said that the approach had not yet proved itself to be cost-effective. "Speed is incredibly important," he said, but "we haven't given this solution any serious thought."
Mr. Lynch said that Wendy's would need concrete evidence that call centers worked. For example, could remote order-takers increase sales by asking customers to order dessert?
Then there is the question of whether combining burgers, shakes and cyberspace is an example of the drive for efficiency run amok — introducing a mouse where the essential technology is a spatula.
"This is a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' " said Sherri Daye Scott, editor of QSR Magazine, a trade journal covering fast-food outlets, which refer to themselves as quick-service restaurants.
But the backers of the technology are looking to expand into new industries. The operator of one of the McDonald's centers is developing a related system that would allow big stores like Home Depot to equip carts with speakers that customers could use to contact a call center wirelessly for shopping advice.
Jon Anton, a founder of Bronco, says that the goal is "saving seconds to make millions," because more efficient service can lead to more sales and lower labor costs. With a wireless system in a Home Depot, for example, a call-center operator might tell a customer, "You're at Aisle D6. Let me walk you over to where you can find the 16-penny nails," Mr. Anton said.
Efficiency is certainly the mantra at the Bronco call center, which has grown from 15 workers six months ago to 125 today. Its workers are experts in the McDonald's menu; they are trained to be polite, to urge customers to add items to their order and, above all, to be fast. Each worker takes up to 95 orders an hour during peak times.
Customers pulling up to the drive-through menu are connected to the computer of a call-center employee using Internet calling technology. The first thing the McDonald's customer hears is a prerecorded greeting in the voice of the employee. The order-takers' screens include the menu and an indication of the whether it is time for breakfast or lunch at the local restaurant. A "notes" section shows if that restaurant has called in to say that it is out of a particular item.
When the customer pulls away from the menu to pay for the food and pick it up, it takes around 10 seconds for another car to pull forward. During that time, Mr. King said, his order-takers can be answering a call from a different McDonald's where someone has already pulled up.
The remote order-takers at Bronco earn the minimum wage ($6.75 an hour in California), do not get health benefits and do not wear uniforms. Ms. Vargas, who recently finished high school, wore jeans and a baggy white sweatshirt as she took orders last week.
The call-center system allows employees to be monitored and tracked much more closely than would be possible if they were in restaurants. Mr. King's computer screen gives him constant updates as to which workers are not meeting standards. "You've got to measure everything," he said. "When fractions of seconds count, the environment needs to be controlled."
Speed and sales volume are not the only factors driving remote order-taking. CKE Restaurants, for instance, wants to improve customer service. It plans to start taking remote orders in September at five Carl's Jr.'s restaurants in California, with a broader deployment after that.
CKE said its workers were strained doing numerous tasks at once — taking orders, helping to fill them, accepting cash and keeping the restaurants clean.
Accuracy problems at the drive-through "are a result of the fact that the people working them are multitasking to the point they forget details," said Jeff Chasney, head of technology operations for CKE.
Mr. Chasney said the new system could help lower barriers in language and communication. Often, in California in particular, he said, the employee may primarily speak Spanish, while the customer speaks only English — a problem that can be eliminated with a specialized call-center crew.
"We believe we raise the customer-service bar by having people who are very articulate, have a good command of the English language, and some who are bilingual," he said.
Some 50 McDonald's franchises are testing remote order-taking, some using Bronco Communications. Others are using Verety, a company based in Oak Brook, Ill. (also the home of McDonald's), that has taken the concept further by contracting workers in rural North Dakota to take drive-through orders from their homes.
A spokesman for McDonald's, Bill Whitman, said that the results of the test runs had been positive so far, but that it had not yet decided whether to expand its use of the technology.
The system does sometimes lead to mix-ups and customer confusion. The surprised customer will say to the cashier, "You didn't take my order," said Bertha Aleman, manager of the McDonald's in Pleasant Hill. For the last seven months the franchise has used the Bronco system to help manage its two drive-through lanes at lunch.
Ms. Aleman said that, over all, the system had improved accuracy and helped her cut costs. She said that now she did not need an employee dedicated to taking orders or, during the lunch rush, an assistant for the order-taker to handle cash when things backed up. "We've cut labor," she said.
The call-center workers do have some advantages over their on-the-scene counterparts. Ms. Vargas said it was strange to be so far from the actual food. But after work, she said, "I don't smell like hamburgers."
By MATT RICHTEL
SANTA MARIA, Calif. — Like many American teenagers, Julissa Vargas, 17, has a minimum-wage job in the fast-food industry — but hers has an unusual geographic reach.
"Would you like your Coke and orange juice medium or large?" Ms. Vargas said into her headset to an unseen woman who was ordering breakfast from a drive-through line. She did not neglect the small details —"You Must Ask for Condiments," a sign next to her computer terminal instructs — and wished the woman a wonderful day.
What made the $12.08 transaction remarkable was that the customer was not just outside Ms. Vargas's workplace here on California's central coast. She was at a McDonald's in Honolulu. And within a two-minute span Ms. Vargas had also taken orders from drive-through windows in Gulfport, Miss., and Gillette, Wyo.
Ms. Vargas works not in a restaurant but in a busy call center in this town, 150 miles from Los Angeles. She and as many as 35 others take orders remotely from 40 McDonald's outlets around the country. The orders are then sent back to the restaurants by Internet, to be filled a few yards from where they were placed.
The people behind this setup expect it to save just a few seconds on each order. But that can add up to extra sales over the course of a busy day at the drive-through.
While the call-center idea has received some attention since a scattered sampling of McDonald's franchises began testing it 18 months ago, most customers are still in the dark. For Meredith Mejia, a regular at a McDonald's in Pleasant Hill, Calif., near San Francisco, it meant that her lunch came with a small helping of the surreal. When told that she had just ordered her double cheeseburger and small fries from a call center 250 miles away, she said the concept was "bizarre."
And the order-taking is not always seamless. Often customers' voices are faint, forcing the workers to ask for things to be repeated. During recent rainstorms in Hawaii, it was particularly hard to hear orders from there over the din.
Ms. Vargas seems unfazed by her job, even though it involves being subjected to constant electronic scrutiny. Software tracks her productivity and speed, and every so often a red box pops up on her screen to test whether she is paying attention. She is expected to click on it within 1.75 seconds. In the break room, a computer screen lets employees know just how many minutes have elapsed since they left their workstations.
The pay may be the same, but this is a long way from flipping burgers.
"Their job is to be fast on the mouse — that's their job," said Douglas King, chief executive of Bronco Communications, which operates the call center.
The center in Santa Maria has been in operation for 18 months; a print-out tacked to a wall declares, "Over 2,540,000 served." McDonald's says it is still experimental, but it puts an unusual twist on an idea that is gaining traction: taking advantage of ever-cheaper communications technology, companies are creating centralized staffs of specially trained order-takers, even for situations where old-fashioned physical proximity has been the norm.
The goals of such centers are not just to cut labor costs but also to provide more focused customer service — improving the level of personal attention by sending Happy Meal orders on a thousand-mile round trip.
"It's really centralizing the function of not only taking the order but advising the customer on getting more out of the product, which can sell more — at least in theory," said Joseph Fleischer, chief technical editor for Call Center Magazine, an industry trade publication.
McDonald's is joined by the owner of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., CKE Restaurants, which plans to deploy a similar system later this year in restaurants in California.
Not everyone is sold on the idea. Denny Lynch, a spokesman for Wendy's Restaurants, said that the approach had not yet proved itself to be cost-effective. "Speed is incredibly important," he said, but "we haven't given this solution any serious thought."
Mr. Lynch said that Wendy's would need concrete evidence that call centers worked. For example, could remote order-takers increase sales by asking customers to order dessert?
Then there is the question of whether combining burgers, shakes and cyberspace is an example of the drive for efficiency run amok — introducing a mouse where the essential technology is a spatula.
"This is a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' " said Sherri Daye Scott, editor of QSR Magazine, a trade journal covering fast-food outlets, which refer to themselves as quick-service restaurants.
But the backers of the technology are looking to expand into new industries. The operator of one of the McDonald's centers is developing a related system that would allow big stores like Home Depot to equip carts with speakers that customers could use to contact a call center wirelessly for shopping advice.
Jon Anton, a founder of Bronco, says that the goal is "saving seconds to make millions," because more efficient service can lead to more sales and lower labor costs. With a wireless system in a Home Depot, for example, a call-center operator might tell a customer, "You're at Aisle D6. Let me walk you over to where you can find the 16-penny nails," Mr. Anton said.
Efficiency is certainly the mantra at the Bronco call center, which has grown from 15 workers six months ago to 125 today. Its workers are experts in the McDonald's menu; they are trained to be polite, to urge customers to add items to their order and, above all, to be fast. Each worker takes up to 95 orders an hour during peak times.
Customers pulling up to the drive-through menu are connected to the computer of a call-center employee using Internet calling technology. The first thing the McDonald's customer hears is a prerecorded greeting in the voice of the employee. The order-takers' screens include the menu and an indication of the whether it is time for breakfast or lunch at the local restaurant. A "notes" section shows if that restaurant has called in to say that it is out of a particular item.
When the customer pulls away from the menu to pay for the food and pick it up, it takes around 10 seconds for another car to pull forward. During that time, Mr. King said, his order-takers can be answering a call from a different McDonald's where someone has already pulled up.
The remote order-takers at Bronco earn the minimum wage ($6.75 an hour in California), do not get health benefits and do not wear uniforms. Ms. Vargas, who recently finished high school, wore jeans and a baggy white sweatshirt as she took orders last week.
The call-center system allows employees to be monitored and tracked much more closely than would be possible if they were in restaurants. Mr. King's computer screen gives him constant updates as to which workers are not meeting standards. "You've got to measure everything," he said. "When fractions of seconds count, the environment needs to be controlled."
Speed and sales volume are not the only factors driving remote order-taking. CKE Restaurants, for instance, wants to improve customer service. It plans to start taking remote orders in September at five Carl's Jr.'s restaurants in California, with a broader deployment after that.
CKE said its workers were strained doing numerous tasks at once — taking orders, helping to fill them, accepting cash and keeping the restaurants clean.
Accuracy problems at the drive-through "are a result of the fact that the people working them are multitasking to the point they forget details," said Jeff Chasney, head of technology operations for CKE.
Mr. Chasney said the new system could help lower barriers in language and communication. Often, in California in particular, he said, the employee may primarily speak Spanish, while the customer speaks only English — a problem that can be eliminated with a specialized call-center crew.
"We believe we raise the customer-service bar by having people who are very articulate, have a good command of the English language, and some who are bilingual," he said.
Some 50 McDonald's franchises are testing remote order-taking, some using Bronco Communications. Others are using Verety, a company based in Oak Brook, Ill. (also the home of McDonald's), that has taken the concept further by contracting workers in rural North Dakota to take drive-through orders from their homes.
A spokesman for McDonald's, Bill Whitman, said that the results of the test runs had been positive so far, but that it had not yet decided whether to expand its use of the technology.
The system does sometimes lead to mix-ups and customer confusion. The surprised customer will say to the cashier, "You didn't take my order," said Bertha Aleman, manager of the McDonald's in Pleasant Hill. For the last seven months the franchise has used the Bronco system to help manage its two drive-through lanes at lunch.
Ms. Aleman said that, over all, the system had improved accuracy and helped her cut costs. She said that now she did not need an employee dedicated to taking orders or, during the lunch rush, an assistant for the order-taker to handle cash when things backed up. "We've cut labor," she said.
The call-center workers do have some advantages over their on-the-scene counterparts. Ms. Vargas said it was strange to be so far from the actual food. But after work, she said, "I don't smell like hamburgers."
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
my emotions rule...
...me.
seriously, for some reason here recently i have really been struggling with emotional eating. ok...i know i've always had somewhat of an ongoing issue with emotional eating but here the last month or so it seems to be worse than it has been in a LONG time.
tonight i went to a photoshop class from 6-9. and from about 7:30 on, I was thinking about mcdonalds. you know just swinging in and getting an all-american meal...nothing big and quarter poundish...just a little cheeseburger and fries and soda. so all the way i home i had a conversation with good me and bad me discussing where i could get mcdonald's. and the "good" me kept asking "bad"me "why?"
and you know what i didn't have a good answer other than i was in a funk and i couldn't even figure out why. possibly boredom, or tiredness. i had a good day, and even got in some exercise. so why the need to stick crap in my mouth? i was a bit hungry but nothing that a small snack couldn't handle. and then i thought was it the soda, salt or fried potatoes that was the draw for me? maybe it was the whole package...hmmmm. anyway, i decided my best bet was to call E - and he told me to wait for him to come home so he could either (1) eat with me or (2) talk me out of it...yes, that's what he said to me.
so to make my long rambling short - i came straight home and ate some kashi cereal with strawberries. not a great nighttime snack but better than fries. but seriously, i've got to do something about these emotional, irrational eating habits. eeek. and honeslty, i'm trying to think of something else to eat.
and on a positive note. because of my class tonight i got to watch oprah today...ahhhh how i miss the sweet part-time days. anyway, it was a very interesting episode about what some (bill gates, for one) feel is an epidemic in u.s. high schools (dropout rates, remediation rates, outdated teaching, etc.). for example oklahoma only has a 72% graduation rate and 5 states have a less than 60% rate. there is also the thought that the u.s. will not remain a leading force in the world if our educational system is not improved. you should check out the organization - stand up.
seriously, for some reason here recently i have really been struggling with emotional eating. ok...i know i've always had somewhat of an ongoing issue with emotional eating but here the last month or so it seems to be worse than it has been in a LONG time.
tonight i went to a photoshop class from 6-9. and from about 7:30 on, I was thinking about mcdonalds. you know just swinging in and getting an all-american meal...nothing big and quarter poundish...just a little cheeseburger and fries and soda. so all the way i home i had a conversation with good me and bad me discussing where i could get mcdonald's. and the "good" me kept asking "bad"me "why?"
and you know what i didn't have a good answer other than i was in a funk and i couldn't even figure out why. possibly boredom, or tiredness. i had a good day, and even got in some exercise. so why the need to stick crap in my mouth? i was a bit hungry but nothing that a small snack couldn't handle. and then i thought was it the soda, salt or fried potatoes that was the draw for me? maybe it was the whole package...hmmmm. anyway, i decided my best bet was to call E - and he told me to wait for him to come home so he could either (1) eat with me or (2) talk me out of it...yes, that's what he said to me.
so to make my long rambling short - i came straight home and ate some kashi cereal with strawberries. not a great nighttime snack but better than fries. but seriously, i've got to do something about these emotional, irrational eating habits. eeek. and honeslty, i'm trying to think of something else to eat.
and on a positive note. because of my class tonight i got to watch oprah today...ahhhh how i miss the sweet part-time days. anyway, it was a very interesting episode about what some (bill gates, for one) feel is an epidemic in u.s. high schools (dropout rates, remediation rates, outdated teaching, etc.). for example oklahoma only has a 72% graduation rate and 5 states have a less than 60% rate. there is also the thought that the u.s. will not remain a leading force in the world if our educational system is not improved. you should check out the organization - stand up.
Monday, April 10, 2006
oh i'm sore today...
yeah, so i think the race yesterday left me a bit sore. took a walk today nothing too crazy...just trying to loosen up a bit. and seriously, i am sick of the wind.
i'm feeling better today...not quite so sucky. i can do the half-marathon...all will be good.
i saw this site on tv last night. we live in a very odd country, with very odd fascinations. but if i saw...
i'm feeling better today...not quite so sucky. i can do the half-marathon...all will be good.
i saw this site on tv last night. we live in a very odd country, with very odd fascinations. but if i saw...
Sunday, April 09, 2006
i suck...
i am just having one of those "i suck" days. yuck.
E has been gone this weekend. and honestly i look forward to the short trips sometimes. it gives me some alone time and i think i will accomplish a ton of stuff. but generally what happens is i get in an odd funk because i'm alone for two days, have very few friends, nothing to do and then i proceed to sit on my couch for 2 days. or if i do something it is generally bad for me (ie eat too much or shop too much). it's odd really. so yeah, i've really done nothing this weekennd.
except i did run the red bud 10k today and let me tell you a secret - i hate running. i absolutely hate it or at least hate long runs. i can do 2-3 miles all the live long day but my body does not enjoy running over 3 miles. my stomach freaks out (during the run and for hours after), i can't concentrate on anything but getting to the next break or finishing and my body just does not enjoy it. i just don't understand it. at some point shouldn't i get to a point to where it's half way enjoyable or at least bearable. am i just not training enough - but then i ask- why should i train for something that i naturally hate doing in large doses? but i will say this i could walk for miles and miles. i love walking. it's casual, i can find a good stride and it's good for conversation. so i've realized that i must realize and respect that i am not a runner - i think i'm just too big of a sissy.
and here comes my dilemma - i have a half-marathon scheduled in 3 weeks. i'm pretty sure i am completely unprepared for it - the 10k today proved that to me. ahhhh. i am freaking out. A and are i have 2 long run weeks left (9 & 10) and then i will work my little tail off during the week. but seriously, right now i am just hoping to get through it. i think i completely underestimated my ability to train for it.
just a few side notes:
E has been gone this weekend. and honestly i look forward to the short trips sometimes. it gives me some alone time and i think i will accomplish a ton of stuff. but generally what happens is i get in an odd funk because i'm alone for two days, have very few friends, nothing to do and then i proceed to sit on my couch for 2 days. or if i do something it is generally bad for me (ie eat too much or shop too much). it's odd really. so yeah, i've really done nothing this weekennd.
except i did run the red bud 10k today and let me tell you a secret - i hate running. i absolutely hate it or at least hate long runs. i can do 2-3 miles all the live long day but my body does not enjoy running over 3 miles. my stomach freaks out (during the run and for hours after), i can't concentrate on anything but getting to the next break or finishing and my body just does not enjoy it. i just don't understand it. at some point shouldn't i get to a point to where it's half way enjoyable or at least bearable. am i just not training enough - but then i ask- why should i train for something that i naturally hate doing in large doses? but i will say this i could walk for miles and miles. i love walking. it's casual, i can find a good stride and it's good for conversation. so i've realized that i must realize and respect that i am not a runner - i think i'm just too big of a sissy.
and here comes my dilemma - i have a half-marathon scheduled in 3 weeks. i'm pretty sure i am completely unprepared for it - the 10k today proved that to me. ahhhh. i am freaking out. A and are i have 2 long run weeks left (9 & 10) and then i will work my little tail off during the week. but seriously, right now i am just hoping to get through it. i think i completely underestimated my ability to train for it.
just a few side notes:
- this stuff is super good (i've yet to figure the points - that's on my list for this week - see last post i am going to start counting again. that is if i can get my counter back from E.
- the sour cream chicken chiladas at bueno - muy bueno.
- today's chocolate bunnies are not as cool as my fake bunny (or the bunnies of my childhood). i've been looking for a similiar real bunny to compare the two (and eat) but none of the easter bunnies in stores have the decoration (you know the creepy eye and bows), they are all plain chocolate. hmmm.
a warning...
i am feeling very rambly and emotional right now so this could be a long, annoying post...
i've had a couple of things bothering me or at least causing me to ponder the last few days. plus eddie is gone today so i have lots of time to think. so here goes...
first, i went and saw the physical therapist this week about my back (side note - i can get a referal to see a chiropractor). at one point during the appointment he made the statement that "yes, most back problems are caused by stress" which led me to ask have people always been stressed and trying to not be. OR is this really just a modern problem we have in the great ole' US? you really don't hear about the farmer back in the 1880's stressing about things - maybe they did. they always had crops to worry about but was it like we worry. did they consider getting massages, working out, yoga, or meditative breathing? i know they did harder work than most of us do. i'm just curious...do you think we have created this stress bubble we all seemed trapped in. has consumerism, capitalism and the american dream caused us to expect too much from our lives. did the farmer or skilled tradesman back in the day expect to always like his job (or for that matter ever like it)? was he concerned that his plow was as good as the neighbor down the road? or was he just concerned that his family was healthy and fed?
i just feel so foolish whining about being stressed and having a hard life. and i ask myself what am i stressed about? a job. a job pays my bills and there is nothing there even remotely getting upset about...yet i do. money...money is so stupid...if i don't have it...it's because i've blown it on mexican food and shoes. health stuff...yet i continue to eat badly and not take responsiblity for the things i know i should do. i just worry about it and eat a cheeseburger. i must start living in the moment and be responsible for my emotional responses to things. i can't always stop worrying but i'm pretty sure i can try harder to train my responses.
i just wonder if we ever really appreciate the goodness of our lives...and is that everywhere, all the time? but seriously, read this article and tell me that we aren't doing something wrong.
second, i've been thinking about my eating habits. i realized yesterday i have good eating days and bad. really no in between. which got me thinking. i have changed some of my eating habits - just enough to not gain weight. but if i don't get better at this eating game...one day i will gain weight back. i do not have control of my emotional eating and i still gravitate to food that is bad for me. and it is so overwhelming the thought that i will literally be fighting with food the rest of my life. i will always want something that is bad for me...always. so i think it's time for me to focus again, maybe seriously count points, make myself accountable, find some kind of balance. i know i had balance and control when i lost 30lbs...i just need to find it again. a funny thing, the more i thought about my bad habits, the more crap i ate. suck.
i've found some blogs that are really interesting to me and honestly i'm glad that there are so many people out there like me that have the same struggles. i've been enjoying a particular blog lately. the blog has a book club and the "group" is reading "Overcoming Overeating" by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter. i think i'm going to look into it...it looks interesting to me. but anyway, one topic they are discussing is - does dieting create compulsive eating rather than cure it? something to think about it.
today a walk with the dog. tomorrow the 10k. 3 weeks til the race.
thanks for stopping by.
i've had a couple of things bothering me or at least causing me to ponder the last few days. plus eddie is gone today so i have lots of time to think. so here goes...
first, i went and saw the physical therapist this week about my back (side note - i can get a referal to see a chiropractor). at one point during the appointment he made the statement that "yes, most back problems are caused by stress" which led me to ask have people always been stressed and trying to not be. OR is this really just a modern problem we have in the great ole' US? you really don't hear about the farmer back in the 1880's stressing about things - maybe they did. they always had crops to worry about but was it like we worry. did they consider getting massages, working out, yoga, or meditative breathing? i know they did harder work than most of us do. i'm just curious...do you think we have created this stress bubble we all seemed trapped in. has consumerism, capitalism and the american dream caused us to expect too much from our lives. did the farmer or skilled tradesman back in the day expect to always like his job (or for that matter ever like it)? was he concerned that his plow was as good as the neighbor down the road? or was he just concerned that his family was healthy and fed?
i just feel so foolish whining about being stressed and having a hard life. and i ask myself what am i stressed about? a job. a job pays my bills and there is nothing there even remotely getting upset about...yet i do. money...money is so stupid...if i don't have it...it's because i've blown it on mexican food and shoes. health stuff...yet i continue to eat badly and not take responsiblity for the things i know i should do. i just worry about it and eat a cheeseburger. i must start living in the moment and be responsible for my emotional responses to things. i can't always stop worrying but i'm pretty sure i can try harder to train my responses.
i just wonder if we ever really appreciate the goodness of our lives...and is that everywhere, all the time? but seriously, read this article and tell me that we aren't doing something wrong.
second, i've been thinking about my eating habits. i realized yesterday i have good eating days and bad. really no in between. which got me thinking. i have changed some of my eating habits - just enough to not gain weight. but if i don't get better at this eating game...one day i will gain weight back. i do not have control of my emotional eating and i still gravitate to food that is bad for me. and it is so overwhelming the thought that i will literally be fighting with food the rest of my life. i will always want something that is bad for me...always. so i think it's time for me to focus again, maybe seriously count points, make myself accountable, find some kind of balance. i know i had balance and control when i lost 30lbs...i just need to find it again. a funny thing, the more i thought about my bad habits, the more crap i ate. suck.
i've found some blogs that are really interesting to me and honestly i'm glad that there are so many people out there like me that have the same struggles. i've been enjoying a particular blog lately. the blog has a book club and the "group" is reading "Overcoming Overeating" by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter. i think i'm going to look into it...it looks interesting to me. but anyway, one topic they are discussing is - does dieting create compulsive eating rather than cure it? something to think about it.
today a walk with the dog. tomorrow the 10k. 3 weeks til the race.
thanks for stopping by.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
for all you foodies out there...
i found this article very interesting. i think anyone (or probably everyone) who struggles with weight, eating, exercising or any other jacked up way of thinking should read it.
it resonates with me is so many ways (and i've often wondered why more "diet" people don't talk about it). i have always thought of myself as a fat girl for as long as i can remember, i am uncomfortable being referred to as thin, and i am afraid that one day the "fat" club won't accept me.
seriously...why am I ( are we) so messed up?
it resonates with me is so many ways (and i've often wondered why more "diet" people don't talk about it). i have always thought of myself as a fat girl for as long as i can remember, i am uncomfortable being referred to as thin, and i am afraid that one day the "fat" club won't accept me.
seriously...why am I ( are we) so messed up?
Friday, April 07, 2006
three pieces of cake later...
the newsletter is done. woo-hoo.
yeah so last night i couldn't sleep. i was so worried about everything working out today and the funny thing is that pretty much everything was done. and yet i still worried that something was going to go wrong. i really wish for a worry button that i can just turn off. i think i slept about 3 hours. so i am a sleepy girl.
i didn't work out today...that's two days off. tomorrow a workout and sunday anne and i are doing the red bud 10k. it should be a good time.
yeah so last night i couldn't sleep. i was so worried about everything working out today and the funny thing is that pretty much everything was done. and yet i still worried that something was going to go wrong. i really wish for a worry button that i can just turn off. i think i slept about 3 hours. so i am a sleepy girl.
i didn't work out today...that's two days off. tomorrow a workout and sunday anne and i are doing the red bud 10k. it should be a good time.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
i'm in shock...
ok, so some of you know that i have been trying to lose about 5 more lbs. because my initial goal in joining weight watchers was to get down to 140lbs. 140lbs you ask? yes, because when i was 16 i weighed 140 and i lied because I thought i was fat (oh how perspective changes everything) and so i put 130 on my license. so after my year long ww journey i leveled out about a year ago somewhere between 144-146lbs with a few minor dips into 143 (yes, i keep a weekly log-in). so here is the big news...today 142.4...yippee. i don't know why or how and i've chosen not to question it. and my scale is slightly retarded so i will believe it next week. anyway, i feel as if i have hurdled a plateau.
and to boot...i've been trying to drink more water. yesterday, i drank almost 64 billion oz. (it seemed like a billion). is that still the recommended amount? or have they changed that along with carbs, fat grams, the amount of sun needed, and any other medical finding that turns out to be wrong.
tomorrow is friday. the newsletter will be done and there will be cake. what more do i need?
and to boot...i've been trying to drink more water. yesterday, i drank almost 64 billion oz. (it seemed like a billion). is that still the recommended amount? or have they changed that along with carbs, fat grams, the amount of sun needed, and any other medical finding that turns out to be wrong.
tomorrow is friday. the newsletter will be done and there will be cake. what more do i need?
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
strawberry limeades too...
another recent addiction of mine.
last weekend eddie and i decided that a medium limeade wasn't quite large enough. and well the route 44 is so affordable. holy moly...do not get a route 44...it was larger than my head. it would fit in my cup holder (thanks to the smaller bottom) but was too flippin' tall for the echo. so next time we are going with a large. we also discussed that the amount of ice used in the drink could have an impact on whether it was the right size or not. but anyway, i love them and want one right now. i found this "recipe" online.
12 ounces Sprite (1 can)
3 lime wedges (1/8 of a lime each)
1/4 cup cherry juice (Libby's Juicy Juice is best)
1. Fill a 16-ounce glass 2/3 full with ice.
2. Pour Sprite over the ice.
3. Add the juice of three lime wedges and drop them into the drink.
4. Add the cherry juice and serve with a straw.
Makes 1 16-ounce drink (medium size).
tonight i went for a walk and it was sooooo windy. weather.com said the wind was gusting up to 27 mph. there were a couple of times that i swear i was running in place. but thankfully it was also in the upper 70's. i covered about 3 miles in about 40 minutes.
i've come up with a business idea. someone really needs to develop better decor/supplies for cubes. there are no cool, creative options/accesories. for example, i need some sort of mirror to re-direct sunlight my way or at least be able to see an actual window from my desk. i also need something cool to cover my lame-o window. today at about 4:00 i realized i had no idea if the sun was still shining, it could be dark and well all i would see were the blinding, eye melting flourescent lights in my cube hell hole. seriously, i'm developing my product line now. and see it is true cubes are bad.
and lastly, i haven't mentioned our church adventures lately. eddie and i have made it to a small, downtown church three weeks in a row (until we skipped last sunday). we are trying to psych ourself up for a small group meeting tomorrow night...sigh. but i know it's the only way to "plug in." sigh again...
so much rambling these days.
got to go...it's time to do my old lady, back stretches.
last weekend eddie and i decided that a medium limeade wasn't quite large enough. and well the route 44 is so affordable. holy moly...do not get a route 44...it was larger than my head. it would fit in my cup holder (thanks to the smaller bottom) but was too flippin' tall for the echo. so next time we are going with a large. we also discussed that the amount of ice used in the drink could have an impact on whether it was the right size or not. but anyway, i love them and want one right now. i found this "recipe" online.
12 ounces Sprite (1 can)
3 lime wedges (1/8 of a lime each)
1/4 cup cherry juice (Libby's Juicy Juice is best)
1. Fill a 16-ounce glass 2/3 full with ice.
2. Pour Sprite over the ice.
3. Add the juice of three lime wedges and drop them into the drink.
4. Add the cherry juice and serve with a straw.
Makes 1 16-ounce drink (medium size).
tonight i went for a walk and it was sooooo windy. weather.com said the wind was gusting up to 27 mph. there were a couple of times that i swear i was running in place. but thankfully it was also in the upper 70's. i covered about 3 miles in about 40 minutes.
i've come up with a business idea. someone really needs to develop better decor/supplies for cubes. there are no cool, creative options/accesories. for example, i need some sort of mirror to re-direct sunlight my way or at least be able to see an actual window from my desk. i also need something cool to cover my lame-o window. today at about 4:00 i realized i had no idea if the sun was still shining, it could be dark and well all i would see were the blinding, eye melting flourescent lights in my cube hell hole. seriously, i'm developing my product line now. and see it is true cubes are bad.
and lastly, i haven't mentioned our church adventures lately. eddie and i have made it to a small, downtown church three weeks in a row (until we skipped last sunday). we are trying to psych ourself up for a small group meeting tomorrow night...sigh. but i know it's the only way to "plug in." sigh again...
so much rambling these days.
got to go...it's time to do my old lady, back stretches.
stress for dummies...
so i bought a book last week titled "healing back pain naturally." i do think there are a lot of alternative ideas that western medicine chooses to not embrace. so i decided to add this book to my arsenal of opinions and treatments. the premise of this book is that our emotional health (stress, happiness, anger, depression, etc...) has a direct impact our physical health. which isn't really that far reaching of an idea. and it goes on to say that when you are stressed about something it creates muscle tension and that can throw your whole body out of synch and that includes your back. causing a weakness that can lead to injury. so in addition to exercising your back (yoga, stretching), and seeing a chiropractor, doctor or therapist it is very imporatant to learn to deal with emotions. this can be done by meditation, deep breathing, relaxing techniques, decompressing, etc...
and well let's be honest. i am a big ball of stress with lots of tension...90% of the time. so i've been thinking about ways to deal with stress and how can i force myself to be more "relaxed." so i'm looking for ideas...i'm going to try to do some yoga and some deep breathing/mediation type things. but first i have to get through this marathon...sigh...stress level rising.
i was reading an article last night about...stress you guessed it. anyway, there was a statement that stuck out to me. "Stress is almost never in the present. It is usually anxiety about the future or it is about processing the past." hmmm. it reminded me of a quote i read years ago that completley changed my thinking process (back when i worried more than i do now) "anytime you let fear, worry or doubt enter your mind you are misusing your imagination." so my question to myself is why don't we live in the moment. why are we always so wound up about things that did happen or might happen. i'm afraid we lose really valuable time and moments being caught up in the should'ves or what ifs.
*what work can do to us - "As long as stressful experiences are brief and infrequent, the body quickly returns to normal. In nature, this phenomenon is known as the fight or flight reaction. But a person who is in a continuous state of stress throughout every working day may experience a wide variety of potential health effects. "(from a random website - not based on any factual data that i know of - so don't quote me.)
thank you for listening to my mid-day lunch ramblings.
planning on a long run/walk this afternoon - OUTSIDE. i love spring.
and well let's be honest. i am a big ball of stress with lots of tension...90% of the time. so i've been thinking about ways to deal with stress and how can i force myself to be more "relaxed." so i'm looking for ideas...i'm going to try to do some yoga and some deep breathing/mediation type things. but first i have to get through this marathon...sigh...stress level rising.
i was reading an article last night about...stress you guessed it. anyway, there was a statement that stuck out to me. "Stress is almost never in the present. It is usually anxiety about the future or it is about processing the past." hmmm. it reminded me of a quote i read years ago that completley changed my thinking process (back when i worried more than i do now) "anytime you let fear, worry or doubt enter your mind you are misusing your imagination." so my question to myself is why don't we live in the moment. why are we always so wound up about things that did happen or might happen. i'm afraid we lose really valuable time and moments being caught up in the should'ves or what ifs.
*what work can do to us - "As long as stressful experiences are brief and infrequent, the body quickly returns to normal. In nature, this phenomenon is known as the fight or flight reaction. But a person who is in a continuous state of stress throughout every working day may experience a wide variety of potential health effects. "(from a random website - not based on any factual data that i know of - so don't quote me.)thank you for listening to my mid-day lunch ramblings.
planning on a long run/walk this afternoon - OUTSIDE. i love spring.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
some days you feel like a blog...
some days you don't. i would be one to make a candy bar joke.
it's tuesday. my week is going ok. a co-worker and i are launching a new employee newsletter on friday...it's a busy week but i'm enjoying doing something that is fairly creative and fun. hopefully my boss won't rain on our creative and fun parade...it's always a toss up with him though.
the family took a walk today. i figure i covered about 2-2.5 miles. nothing too fantastic but it was a nice, relaxing evening walk. have i mentioned i am in heaven since we changed the clocks...i love spring. on a good note, my back felt pretty good today. when i got up this morning i did some stretches. i figure it hurts worse in the morning so maybe stretching then would be a good thing.
and on a completely different subject...i've been craving bean burritos from taco bell. why, you ask? who knows but i have eaten three in the last week. but my point is...one day i ordered a bean burrito and a small drink and it cost $2.13. i can remember when i was in high school being able to go to taco bell and order a bean burrito, taco and small drink for $2.01. those were the good ole' days...the really cheap menu at taco bell. those were also the pizza pizza days at little caesars. but seriously, i really do think i'm going through a 30 year old crisis. not so much that i feel old, look very old or act old but i'm reaching the time in my life where i say "back when i was young" and it freaks me out. not freaks in a bad way, just in a "need to settle in" way. i'm always settling in somewhere. really, this is just stupid rambling so i should have warned you earlier in this paragraph so you could have skipped it.
and on a happy note there are 25 days until the half-marathon and my 31st birthday.
it's tuesday. my week is going ok. a co-worker and i are launching a new employee newsletter on friday...it's a busy week but i'm enjoying doing something that is fairly creative and fun. hopefully my boss won't rain on our creative and fun parade...it's always a toss up with him though.
the family took a walk today. i figure i covered about 2-2.5 miles. nothing too fantastic but it was a nice, relaxing evening walk. have i mentioned i am in heaven since we changed the clocks...i love spring. on a good note, my back felt pretty good today. when i got up this morning i did some stretches. i figure it hurts worse in the morning so maybe stretching then would be a good thing.
and on a completely different subject...i've been craving bean burritos from taco bell. why, you ask? who knows but i have eaten three in the last week. but my point is...one day i ordered a bean burrito and a small drink and it cost $2.13. i can remember when i was in high school being able to go to taco bell and order a bean burrito, taco and small drink for $2.01. those were the good ole' days...the really cheap menu at taco bell. those were also the pizza pizza days at little caesars. but seriously, i really do think i'm going through a 30 year old crisis. not so much that i feel old, look very old or act old but i'm reaching the time in my life where i say "back when i was young" and it freaks me out. not freaks in a bad way, just in a "need to settle in" way. i'm always settling in somewhere. really, this is just stupid rambling so i should have warned you earlier in this paragraph so you could have skipped it.
and on a happy note there are 25 days until the half-marathon and my 31st birthday.
Monday, April 03, 2006
good weekend...
i must admit after my last down and out post...i went home and took a nap. a three hour nap. i slept until 9:00 pm and then slept another 8 hours. i love weekends.
saturday i got a haircut. actually i got a great deal of hair cut off of my head and i'm so glad. i will forever feel better with short hair - less hassle. really it's because i'm lazy. i met A for a run and ended up doing a 5 mile walk. again my back is an issue. this week i'm going to see a physical therapist and i'm hoping to get a referral to a chiropractor. regardless i'm going to go to a chiropractor - i'm just hoping i can go for a wee bit cheaper. and then eddie and i hung out that day and went to a movie (v for vendetta - pretty thought provoking for an comic flick).
sunday we went to the medeival fair in norman. it was hot and crowded. i didn't have much fun. i think it's because i'm not into dragons and magic spells. but those in costume seemed to have a fabulous time. our AC wasn't working on sunday either but thanks be to eddie's dad we were cool by 10pm. and it didn't cost me an arm - which was a serious concern of mine.
today i went out and attempted to run 4 miles but the back was a bit sensitive so i ran for a couple and then walked back. eek. i'm concerned about this marathon. i have this horrible fear of hitting about mile 4 and it completely locking up. do you see how this is stressing me out and that can't be good for my healing process. i'm sure i will ramble about stress and healing in days to come but i just don't have it in me today.
a couple of exciting happenings. if you haven't checked out www.wherearethespoons.blogspot.com - you really should - exciting things are happening over there. also, i found out that our friends the dosters are coming for a visit in may - so fun!
i think it's time to wrap up the evening. i've realized recently that i've been in denial about my full-time gig. i was so used to only working about 6 hours a day that i forgot i didn't have those extra two hours and have continued to do the same things as before. i need to re-evaluate things soon or at least move some things around. have i mentioned that working sucks.
good night. sleep tight.
saturday i got a haircut. actually i got a great deal of hair cut off of my head and i'm so glad. i will forever feel better with short hair - less hassle. really it's because i'm lazy. i met A for a run and ended up doing a 5 mile walk. again my back is an issue. this week i'm going to see a physical therapist and i'm hoping to get a referral to a chiropractor. regardless i'm going to go to a chiropractor - i'm just hoping i can go for a wee bit cheaper. and then eddie and i hung out that day and went to a movie (v for vendetta - pretty thought provoking for an comic flick).
sunday we went to the medeival fair in norman. it was hot and crowded. i didn't have much fun. i think it's because i'm not into dragons and magic spells. but those in costume seemed to have a fabulous time. our AC wasn't working on sunday either but thanks be to eddie's dad we were cool by 10pm. and it didn't cost me an arm - which was a serious concern of mine.
today i went out and attempted to run 4 miles but the back was a bit sensitive so i ran for a couple and then walked back. eek. i'm concerned about this marathon. i have this horrible fear of hitting about mile 4 and it completely locking up. do you see how this is stressing me out and that can't be good for my healing process. i'm sure i will ramble about stress and healing in days to come but i just don't have it in me today.
a couple of exciting happenings. if you haven't checked out www.wherearethespoons.blogspot.com - you really should - exciting things are happening over there. also, i found out that our friends the dosters are coming for a visit in may - so fun!
i think it's time to wrap up the evening. i've realized recently that i've been in denial about my full-time gig. i was so used to only working about 6 hours a day that i forgot i didn't have those extra two hours and have continued to do the same things as before. i need to re-evaluate things soon or at least move some things around. have i mentioned that working sucks.
good night. sleep tight.
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