Although, I have to admit, it was entertaining in a way. Hence my series of tweets from my time by the pool ...
there's an old man in a speedo out at my pool. see, i knew i came out here for a reason today.
oh, lord. i'm just trying to chill by the pool. i do not want to have to listen to my neighbors debate energy policy.
now listening to my neighbor complaining about her "long ass day" that lasted from 8:30 to 5:30. bless her heart.
That same talkative neighbor was also a tad obnoxious. While I was cooling off in the pool for a spell, there was also a woman and her child (a 16-month-old little boy) playing in the shallow end. The chatty chica came over to sit on the steps in the water and promptly instructed this mother that she should really enroll her son in swimming lessons. Hmph, I'm always amused by such authoritative displays of unsolicited advice.
The mother politely indicated that the boy did do lessons at one point in time, but they enjoy "doing their own thing" now. But chatty chica wasn't satisfied ... and continue to boldly throw out do's and don't's of teaching your child how to swim. She was a former swim instructor, after all. An expert.
I felt bad for the mother, who was just trying to enjoy pool time with her son. But I did pick up a couple tips that I thought Andrea might find interesting:
- When in the water with a baby, it's better to hold him away from your body (or at least facing away). Apparently, if you hold him on your hip or to your chest, like you do out of the water ... he'll get used to that and come to NEED that level of connection in the water. Apparently ... that leads to the fear of the water or of swimming by themselves that so many kids deal with.
- Supposedly, the water wings (or floaties) are better at acquainting kids with the water, as opposed to one of those suit-type-contraptions with the ring around their middle or a floaty vest. The water wings give the kid a more realistic feel for the water and gives them more freedom of movement.
What a mess. Good thing I stayed home today. Well, for most of it. I did venture into the office briefly for an interview this afternoon and had a mess of a time getting home. (long story) But here's a piece from the Post that gives good insight into the craziness of the earlier part of the day ... which I was lucky to have avoided.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Metro Fires, Power Outage Disrupt Downtown
By Debbi Wilgoren, Howard Schneider and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 13, 2008; 3:35 PM
Two fires along Metro's Red Line and a power outage through much of Washington's center city this morning left commuters stranded, offices and tourist attractions dark and street traffic in chaos.
Three pedestrians were struck and injured by cars that were navigating busy streets without benefit of traffic signals, D.C. fire department spokesman Alan Etter said. Traffic signals were out in an area spanning roughly 30 blocks, from shortly after 7 a.m. until about 10:30 a.m. D.C. traffic operations crews in lime-green vests directed cars through some, but not all, key intersections.
Meanwhile, fires broke out at 7:30 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. on the tracks near the busy Metro Center station. Officials said equipment that regulates power to the track overheated, causing insulation to smolder. In each instance, trains in both directions had to share a single track, causing significant delays through the heart of downtown. The station was closed for about 20 minutes starting at 9:52, although trains continued to pass through on a single track from Judiciary Square to Farragut North.
The 3 1/2 hour power outage cut electricity to scores of office buildings, as well as the Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Farragut West, McPherson Square and Shaw-Howard stations. Farecard machines, turnstiles, escalators and elevators were not working because of the power outage, and the Dupont Circle station was shut down at 9:30 a.m. after medics treated a dozen people for shortness of breath after they trudged up that station's particularly steep escalators. The station has the longest climb in the city, and the ascent left many winded. One man was taken to the hospital after his internal defibrillator triggered.
Power was restored to the affected area about 10:30 a.m., and the Dupont Circle station reopened at 10:50 a.m.
Riders who were caught up in this morning's delays on the Metro and had to exit at stations with no functioning Farecard turnstiles will not be charged for those rides, Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said. The Farecard turnstiles have been reprogrammed so riders should be able to use their paper Farecards or SmarTrip cards normally and be charged for their afternoon rides.
The power outage affected approximately 8,000 customers downtown, included many office buildings, shops and restaurants, landmarks such as the Treasury Department and attractions such as the International Spy Museum.
At the affected Metro stations, only the emergency lights were on, leaving the stations "significantly darker than usual," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
The disruptions are the fourth major service problem for Metro in the last 10 days. A heat kink in a track on the Orange Line caused major delays Wednesday night; a six-car train derailed Monday, trapping riders in the tunnel between the Rosslyn and Court House stations for nearly two hours; and debris and downed power lines halted service between the East Falls Church and West Falls Church stations during last week's heavy rainstorms.
Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin said this morning's outage was caused by an equipment failure at a Pepco substation on 10th Street NW.
The Spy Museum at 800 F St. NW was among many places that were closed while the power was out-- "You can't spy in the dark," quipped Benta Davis, a museum gate attendant who was standing outside to pass the time.
At Chop't, a restaurant at 730 7th St. NW, the usual 10:30 a.m. opening had been pushed back to noon. "The problem we are going to experience is . . . all the frozen stuff. I don't want to risk selling spoiled food," said Dimitri Bamba, the manager of the restaurant.
Frustrated commuters described trips that in some cases took twice as long as usual. "It was very agitating. . . . It was very hot," said Cherisse Wilder, a retail sales representative at AT&T who boarded the Green Line at the Suitland station.
Alonzo Fisher, another retail sales representative for AT&T, boarded a Red Line train at the Shady Grove station at around 7:30 a.m. He did not arrive at Gallery Place until nearly two hours later, after a long stop-and-go trip. "Dupont Circle was pitch black," he said. "People had to come out cautiously."
At Jonathan's Gourmet Deli at 14th Street and New York Avenue, the kitchen crew stood idle, unable to cook during what would normally be the pre-work breakfast rush.
Food already on the breakfast buffet, and items from the refrigerator, were available for purchase, but workers had to use a hand-held calculator to ring up sales. Office workers lingered in the deli, saying they were waiting for the power to come back before heading to their jobs on the upper floors of nearby buildings.
A carnival-like scene developed along 12th Street NW, between F and K streets, near the heart of the blackout. Workers milled on the streets, not sure whether they were experiencing a late start to the work day or an early jump on the weekend.
Business people manipulated Blackberrys to reschedule meetings. Police officers directed traffic in the intersections. Faces peered out windows down on the scene as others chatted on cellphones making last-minute plans.
"Are you going home?" a bellman asked Lisa Washington as she strode past the J.W. Marriott at Metro Center. "No, this is better than being in a movie," said Washington, the chief operating officer at the Design-Build Institute of America.
Two lawyers from the firm Williams & Connolly, holding expandable folders, sat down with a client in one of three plush chairs dragged out into the courtyard. "Welcome to the law firm," one of the lawyers said, laughing, as the meeting began.
Inside the darkened Marriott, workers raced around the lobby with flashlights and groups of people huddled over muffins in the coffee shop.
"I was in the shower when the lights went off," said Marianne Patarino of Boston, who with her husband Frank, was accompanying their 14-year-old son on a field trip. She said she slipped out of the shower after the lights went off, dressed quickly, grabbed maps and other items she needed for the day and walked five stories down the stairs.
"It is a good thing I travel compactly," Patarino said. "I had everything in one place."
Her husband took the elevator, which was running on auxiliary power.
When Wendy Wise of the American Association for the Advancement of Science arrived at Metro Center, the station was still open, but lit by backup bulbs. "There was enough light to see," Wise said. "There were Metro people standing there waving you out."
Her colleague, Cathy Holland, who works on Science magazine's online site, surveyed the scene at 12th and H and said, "This is insane."
Much of the talk on the street had to do with the cause of the outage being related to today's date -- Friday the 13th. But workers from the association, an international nonprofit that works toward "advancing science around the world," laughed and rolled their eyes at the talk of jinxes and superstition.
"The plural of anecdote is not evidence," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive and executive publisher of Science magazine,. "Some things happen by coincidence. Coincidence is not proof of superstition."
A colleague, Albert H. Teich, director of science and policy programs, said, "Tuesday the 13th is superstitious in Mexico."
Replied Leshner: "I'm moving to Mexico."
At Dupont Circle, one of the passengers treated for shortness of breath was Gainna Ellis, 42, a receptionist whose morning ordeal had started hours earlier. She commuted by Metro from her home in Greenbelt to her office near Metro Center, only to find her building--and the whole street--without power. Told that the backup generator was about to go off, she decided to head home.
Then, "I got a bright idea to come to Krispy Kreme," a doughnut shop near Dupont Circle, Ellis said. She made it to the store while the Dupont Circle station was still operating, bought a dozen doughnuts and a cup of coffee, and walked down the immobilized escalators -- apparently ignoring Metro's strict no-food rules.
Inside the station, she learned it had just been shut down. "So I had to climb up all these stairs again. That was too much," said Ellis, who suffers from high blood pressure. ". . . Then I started feeling sick, like I was about to throw up."
A firefighter helped her up the stairs, walking with her and urging her to take her time. Emergency personnel gave her water to drink and took her blood pressure four times, until it came down.
An hour later, Ellis was still near the station, hoping for a shuttle bus to take her to the Green Line.
Staff writers Sindya N. Bhanoo, Michael Birnbaum, Benjamin Hubbard and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.
(And anyone else who's interested.)
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Tah-dah!
Via Healthbolt ... looks like getting adequate sleep helps reduce cortisol levels and keep hunger pangs in check. Hmm. Okay. G'night.
Mm-k. I said I would write more about the race, so here goes.
I had a few dreams about the race in the weeks leading up to the big day. Twice, I dreamed that I overslept and missed the race. And once, I dreamed that I ran the ENTIRE race with great ease and confidence. Interestingly, my alarm didn't go off on the morning of the race (but I just so happened to wake up in time). AND ... I did end up running for most of the race, doing way better than I'd expected.
On my way into the race, I've never seen the metro so packed before in my life. And it was 7:00 in the morning on a Saturday! Yeesh! All were dressed in Race for the Cure shirts and were headed to the race. That was my first inkling that this was kinda a big deal.
Second inkling was when I surfaced from the metro on the National Mall and saw the thousands and thousands of people who turned out for the event. I think the total count was 50,000. Wow.
The run itself was quite an experience. Standing in the huge mass of people at the starting line -- people as far as the eye could see -- I was actually nervous. And then, before I knew it, 3-2-1 ... we were OFF! It was slow to start because we were so packed together, but we had soon settled into a good jogging pace. I did end up running most of the race, only walking about half a mile throughout the whole 5K stretch.
The energy was great! There were cheerleaders and other supporters along the entire course. At the mile markers, there were the tables with folks handing out little cups of water. We quickly figured out the value of grabbing two -- one to drink, one to pour over your head. (It was SUPER hot and humid, after all.)
The last stretch before the finish line was my favorite. Cheering people on either side of the course, a band on one side, a river of people stretched out in front and behind me, and the Capitol ... peeking above the banner at the finish line. Talk about exhilarating!
I was proud to run across the finish line at a little over 44 minutes. We'll see if I can beat that next time. ;)
Well, most of it, at least.
Heyyyy folks back home: this one's for you. Just a quick note to let you know that I survived the 5K and I do plan to write about it, but today was a very long day and it just now ended. So. To bed I go.
Will fill ya in later ...
... right around get-out-of-work time after a tiring Monday:
Fabulous.Metrorail is currently experiencing a service disruption at Court House station.
Disruption details: Trains are sharing a track between Clarendon and Foggy Bottom due to a derailed train outside Court House station. Shuttle bus service has been established. Orange Line customers should seek an alternate form of travel.
I'm in California on business, staying at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto. After having to get up verrrrrry early to catch a flight (after a verrrrry long work day that stretched to midnight the night before), I was quite happy to collapse into bed to grab some zzz's once we got settled in.
The moment my head hit the pillow, my body simply melted into the bed. This is quite possibly the most wonderful bed in the world. I've slept in some great beds at some great hotels ... but this is ... just ... (sigh) ... I'm speechless. I let out an audible "Mmmm" as I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of someday owning a bed like this of my own one day.
When I awoke a few hours later, my mind was still pulled toward how amazing this bed was and how I could just lay there allllll day. I started to think through more logically how I could go about acquiring such a bed and figured it might be feasible just to contact the hotel and inquire about it.
Shmay. I did eventually have to get up and be productive and I went on through the rest of my day.
But then later this evening, as I climbed out of a bubble bath in the heavenly tub (yet another perk of this amazing room), I noticed a card on the counter by the sink. It was a list of all the bedding (including the bed itself and pillows) and other linens. My jaw dropped. And then I proceeded to jump around and squeal like a little girl.
I completely can't afford it right now, but this is officially a dream that is perfectly achievable. :)
Came across this at Healthbolt originally. Interesting info for other folks (ahem, you know who you are) who are in the habit of using Visine a couple times everyday.
Visine Original
What possible harm to your peepers could come from these seemingly innocuous eyedrops? "Visine gets the red out, but it does so by shrinking blood vessels, just like Afrin shrinks the vessels in your nose," says Thomas Steinemann, M.D., a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Overuse of the active ingredient tetrahydrozoline can perpetuate the vessel dilating-and-constricting cycle and may cause even more redness.
Your New Strategy If you still want to rely on Visine, at least make sure you don't use too many drops per dose and you don't use the stuff for more than 3 or 4 days. But you'd really be better off figuring out the underlying cause of the redness and treating that instead. If it's dryness, use preservative-free artificial tears, recommends Dr. Steinemann. Visine Pure Tears Portables is a good choice for moisture minus side effects. On the other hand, if your eyes are itchy and red because of allergies, pick up OTC antiallergy drops, such as Zaditor. It contains an antihistamine to interrupt the allergic response but no vasoconstrictor to cause rebound redness.
I've been working, working, working ... trying to plow through some projects that have persistently been evading my already over-loaded daily workload before I head to California on business and got even more behind on work. I'm currently about half-way done with a document I was determined to finish tonight, and it just dawned on me that I should do the math and figure out what time I have to get up tomorrow to allow myself time to pack and still get to the airport on time.
The thought process went something like this ...
Need to be at the airport around 6:00am ...
It'll take me about an hour to get there ...
So I should leave my apartment around 5:00am ...
...WOW...
And it'll take me about 30 min. to pack ...
On top of the hour it takes me to get ready ...
... which means ...
... OMG ...
I need to get up 3:30am?!?!
HOLY CRAP
Needless to say, I'm going to bed NOW. Off I go to enjoy my 3.5 hours of sleep.
