Third Time’s Almost a Charm

I was just going to say that it’s happening again, when, with the help of someone at the Netflix customer service, I finally figured out what was wrong with all these Little Britain DVDs: you have to hit “play all” to be able to get through all the sketches. Ugh… I was only watching one episode at a time, and they were all screwed up completely AGAIN. Anyway, at least I’ll be able to watch everything and get this off my list of obsessions before going on vacation. I felt like I was in Groundhog Day, seriously.

More Little Britain Silliness

Two favorites from the third series. I got my replacement DVD and it has the same sketches for all episodes AGAIN. Unbelievable. Makes me think there’s some sort of divine plan according to which I’m given only little doses of the show lest I OD on it and then go directly into withdrawal since it’s the last one

Olympic Frustration

Watching the Olympics in a country other than your own is an underwhelming experience. I’m happy I’m not in Romania, which for the most part drives me nuts, but I’m still attached to it to a certain extent. So when I turn the TV on these days and I inevitably see only coverage of the American team, I lose my interest at some point. I like the side stories by reporters on the ground, I like the excitement, but not being able to watch the Romanian team is disappointing.

Weekend Update

The crazy friend canceled her trip at the last minute (which you might already know if you’ve read the comments); great relief. Her flight got delayed and the airline offered her a full reimbursement, which worked out great for everyone involved :). I slept like a log the whole weekend and I really think it’s because I bike a lot more. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and, not being able to pick between playing with Precious and biking, I decided to do both, so I biked to Alexandria on Saturday. The bike trail takes me from close to where I live right to Old Town Alexandria, a delightful historic port in the DC area, in just a little over 10 miles (16 km).

I was so happy to just be by myself and enjoy my camera that I had no qualms about scaring an annoying guy away :). First, he pissed me off because he took his sweet time on the trail. I kept biking behind him because there was too much traffic and he didn’t pass the people in front of him even when he could and there wasn’t enough time for me to pass several people at the same time. I whizzed by at the first opportunity and stopped further down on the Potomac bank to take some pictures. I was immersed in my camera experience when the guy shows up and asks: “Do you mind if I share the shade of this beautiful willow tree?” In an instant, I saw red and turned toxic. I could already hear the cheap pick-up lines that he was probably going to throw at me and I was in no mood to listen to that. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’m sorry.” The guy couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing, so I repeated, with a firm and irritated voice, looking straight into his eye: “As a matter of fact, I do, I’m sorry.” He started going away, mumbling, “I was only going to read a book.” I was not impressed: “doesn’t matter.” Other than that, the day was great.

The weekend was not entirely perfect, though, as my computer collapsed under the attack of trojan horses, so I couldn’t download any pics :(. A friend is coming to my rescue on Wednesday so hopefully peace will be restored in the electronic realm and no files have been lost; we’ll see. The only downside is, no pics until then. As luck had it, I couldn’t enjoy Little Britain either because the DVD was defective :). It had the same sketches for all the episodes, over and over again. For a minute I thought I was the stupid one and couldn’t figure out how to jump from one episode to the next After operating the remote very carefully and saying out loud, “this is Episode 2, this is Episode 3,” I decided the DVD was the stupid one.

But I’m not complaining because I enjoyed my little trip on Saturday and read a lot on Sunday. I finished Therapy, which was really fun and bitter-sweet, I read a bit from the camera manual and some other stuff but, most importantly, I napped and rested my eyes.

And yes, I biked to work today. What took me so long to do this? I’m not gonna be back on the bus until it’s freezing in the morning.

My Preciosssss

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!

A very happy end to this weird day :). I think I’ll go get a bottle of wine since the battery is still charging, so I can’t take any pics yet :). For those of you late in the conversation, My Precious is a Canon XSi I’ve been long dreaming for and I finally allowed myself to buy. The equally good news is that I’m not going to have a much-dreaded expense at the end of the year, which would have made a big dent in my savings, so I can truly relish my camera free of any possible guilt. I found out about that this Monday, so this was a really neat week.

I wish you guys the same

Later edit: I just realized that I got it the day when the 2008 Olympic Games started. I hope it’s as lucky as the Chinese say number 8 is. I should start learning Mandarin Chinese before it’s too late :).

Ruined Weekend

Well, a distant friend will be spending the weekend at my place; this came completely out of the blue. Her accommodation plans in DC fell through at the last minute, which I found out about this morning, so I had to offer that she stay at my place. What else could I have done??

Under normal circumstances I am a lot more social than this, but normal circumstances is something that has eluded me for the past years. I don’t want to go into details as to why they’re not normal and I’m not going to be apologetic for my antisocial mood. I just want to spend quiet time by myself. And it’s different when I plan for and with friends to stay with me, so, to all my friends who visited with me this year: please, don’t even think that this rant concerns you in the slightest bit. For me, with planning comes the excitement of anticipation and peace of mind. I’ve always been the planning kind :). It’s very unlike me not to have a five-year plan for pretty much anything. Anything like what’s happening now completely throws me off.

So my hopes of watching Little Britain, playing with the camera (which I’m getting today), and, generally, having a quiet weekend by myself, are positively f*ed up. Great!

Biking to Work

I’ve started biking to work every day now and, in addition to saving money on transportation and to exercising, I think I stumbled upon an unexpected cure for my difficulty with falling asleep, too. Quite the jack pot. Yesterday and the day before I went to bed at 9:30, which for me is great because the sleep I get before midnight is the best. Today I went to my spinning class, too, which is always very intense, so I’m completely wiped out now (which means no Little Britain tonight). I do expect to sleep like a baby :).

I plan to do this at least until the end of September, which is really a summer month in DC. With a little bit of perseverance, I might do it for part of October, too. The morning breeze on the tree-shaded trail is wonderful. Why on earth haven’t I done this on a regular basis until now? I know: because I was a chicken and thought I’d be too tired to bike after going to the gym, which really left only two days a week to do it and for the most part there either was a rain forecast or I had to dress up for work those days. Not any more! I’m decided to make the effort of packing my work clothes every day.