Cuties!

Frank cuddling Bodhi...awwwh...

Pot Purity Experiment and other news

There are a few things that I don't like about East Peoria, namely the lack of shoulder and bike friendly roads, but there are redeeming qualities.  Like the pretty bridges that cross the Illinois River/Peoria Lake!  I suspect I'll be taking more photos of them and drawing them too when I find inspiring places to sit.    

Heading home on the War Memorial/Route 150 Bridge from a job interview.  (Yes, that's right, I'm looking for work.)

Home is where...you have two near-matching Toyota ECHOs?!  Yes, apparently it is. Frank's is pictured on the left and was inherited his from his father; it's a 2003.

I visited the Natural Grocery store today in Peoria.  Hmm.  I don't think I'll be frequenting this place...

...cause if you look closely, you will see that a can of beans is $2.49!! Some food items were up to two dollars more than I would expect them to be!  Crazy!

*****

As requested and promised, here are some photos of Ms. Mabel, Frank's 10 year old cat who is still not totally down with the uninvited invasion of my two rascal kitties:

Mabel on the top shelf of her cat tree.

And Mabel in profile.  She was growling in this photo as Sig was circling around my feet when I was taking this.

*****

And now, for the much awaited Pot Purity Experiment!

Frank has two sets of pots and I moved in one.  So the question arose one night, which pot would boil water the fastest?  We decided to do an experiment.

Frank very carefully measured out 1 cup of water per pot, and we used the three large burners on the stove, all on high.  Do you want to guess which order they boiled in and at what times?

The first three pots...and they're off!

At 3m 0sec, this lightweight steel (magnetic) pot (on the front right burner) brought it's water to a boil first:

This stainless steel (non-magnetic) and heavy steel bottom (magnetic) pot (on the back left burner) was quite a distance behind at 4m 30sec:

And the glass pot finished last with 4 m 45sec (front left burner):  

This was the order that Frank had predicted, though they took somewhat longer to boil than he had estimated.

Isn't it interesting how different all their boils look?  Go ahead, look again.  :)

But then we realized that the first pot had an unfair advantage because it had a larger surface area, so we grabbed a different pot of the set.  Shorter this one was, but with an equal surface area.  We brought 1 cup of water to boil, and for this lightweight steel (magnetic) shorter pot, it took it 3m 10sec.  So just a smidge longer (10 sec) than it did for its lightweight steel counterpart.  It also had a very similar looking boil:

Interestingly, after we removed the heat source, the water stopped boiling in the pots in the same order they had reach boil.  The lightweight steel pots lost their boil virtually immediately, but the stainless steel/heavy steel bottom pot held its boil for awhile (we didn't time this part), and the glass pot held the boil for the longest.  The steel and stainless steel pots are conductors of energy whereas the glass is an insulator.  So, if I'm getting this right, the glass pot has the greatest thermal inertia so retains heat the longest. 

Tonight I'm going to try cooking some Red Lentil Dahl from the Sri Lankan cookbook Matt gave me for my birthday awhile back.  I wonder what Frank will think...  :)  I plan on also cooking WHITE rice, which should help it be more Frank-Friendly.  AND, to some extent, halving the spices the recipe calls for.  I'm thinking I may do something with a bag of collard greens as well.  

Mostly a CAT Progress Report

Well, unfortunately, Frank's band did not get to play for the 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition Friday night.  That would have been pretty cool.  And only now is that the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in the oven, which, of course, I'm happy about as it'll soon be around for eating.   

The cats have been making progress adjusting each day.  Sig has been enjoying going outside on a leash.  I'll try to get some pictures of him soon; I think he looks pretty funny.  I tried to bring Bodhi outside the other day but ended up terrorizing her.  I'm feel a bad cat mom, and she may not be venturing outside again anytime soon.  

It's been fun watching the cat skirmishes and interactions while they're learning to live with each other.  Sig and Mabel have kind of cooled off with their posturing, but Mabel had been doing a lot of hissing and growling at both  Sig and Bodhi.  Bodhi had been mostly running and hiding, but in the last two days has started standing her ground more hissing back a little as needed.  Sig is mostly non-reactive when Mabel initiates something, and kind of annoying-little-brother-ish other times.

Here are some pictures of some cold-war-ish state of things the last few days:

That's Mabel on the left, Sig on top of the chair.  I think he was antagonizing her here with his presence, she was growling.

Sig, again, antagonizing Mabel, and trying to ambush her tree.  

I've been feeding them yummy wet food in the morning, and plan to slowly bring their bowls closer together.  The first day I did this, when Sig approached Mabel's food, she gave an old fashioned slap across the face.  He didn't respond or move at all until she'd finished eating and left the area of her dish.

But this one I just took a few minutes ago:

That's Mabel behind the curtain, Bodhi coming out from behind the chair, and just a few minutes after this was taken, Sig started licking Mabel's tail.  (!!!!!)  Mabel was making some grunting noises, but no hissing or slapping.  I think we're really on a path to success!  

*****

In other news, I've spend a good deal of time cleaning my car the last two days.  It's now cleaner than it's been in 6 years (I've had it 7).  And Frank walked me through changing the oil in my car, added air conditioning refrigerant to my car (yay! for A/C), figured out why my engine light was on (some tubes connected to an air filter chamber weren't connected), AND, maybe most importantly, Frank figured out why my horn was not working and fixed it (the vibrations of a honking horn vibrated a wire loose).  This does not mean I intend to use it excessively, however; I am not in Chicago anymore, afterall.  :)

There's also a Buddhist/Insight Meditation group in town I want to check out on Thursday.  This a group that Bhante Sujatha of Blue Lotus Temple, with whom I went to Sri Lanka three years ago, is going to be teaching in August.  So, if there are Buddhists in Peoria that are my "sort" of Buddhists, these will likely be them.  :)  

Tomorrow I've decided to start looking for work.  Vacation is over.  :)  More on that later...

Final Stage of Moving; A Run Sandwich

Tuesday was the day before my scheduled move, and I'd scheduled myself a full day:  final massages with some very long-time clients, walk through of my apartment, final mid-week run with Matt joined by Eric.  

I'd mentioned, Matt and I had talked for years of getting french fries from White Castle after a run...and since I was moving we'd run out of runs--now was the time!  What I'd envisioned was not at all how it went down.  A warm summer night, sighting under the statue of a young Abe Lincoln on the northeast corner of Clark & Peterson Ave, gossiping or philosophizing...No.  It was pouring rain.  Matt was, as per usual, severely underdressed.  Eric was well equipped in his high tech, high visibility (as in bright yellow) rain gear.  And I was somewhere in the middle as most of my "gear" is in Peoria.  But we were all soggy, squeezing tablespoons of rainwater out of my "sweat-wicking" shirt, shoes still a little damp two days later.   It was probably the second wet-est run I've ever been on.   (Thanks, Chicago, for that sendoff.)  

So, like some very wet dogs left out in a downpour too long, leaving puddles on their floor, we picked up three sacks for french fries from White Castle, and then ran them home in the cold (brrr...) wet finger-pruning rain.  Brr...  Another "meal" on the floor of my apartment:

Okay, well, I'm having technical difficulties adding text in amongst these photos; I was trying to use smaller photos, but I maybe can't do that without great working knowledge of this program and still have text between them. 

*****

So, Wednesday morning I spent finishing cleaning my apartment.  Bodhi is showing off my clean shelves.  :)  Sig understood pretty soon that he was to be going in the cat box, meanwhile Bodhi was hiding behind the stove/fridge, though she eventually came around.  (Aren't they cute?!  All set to go to our new home!)

Our drive was basically uneventful.  Long.   I'm completely tired of the Chicago-->Peoria drive. I'm glad I'm hear now and only plan to return for the Batavia Triathlon.  

*****

Kitties have been adjusting well.  Bodhi (not to mention Frank) has really been pushing the timeline up.  They'd spent the night in the guest room and were content with that...but Bodhi really wanted to get out and explore, kept reaching her little paw out under the bedroom door, trying to grasp at the world on the other side.  Sig has been much more cautious, reserved, obviously a little overwhelmed by the whole operation.  We kept them separated by door and gate, and then by gate, and then they seemed ready to be in the same room.  Mabel (Frank's kitty) has been less than thrilled with the presence of Bodhi&Sig and engages in a lot of hissing and posturing, but, thankfully, no actual attacking.  Sig doesn't seem to understand what her hissing could possibly mean, he's completely oblivious to it, Bodhi is slightly intimidated occasionally and will scoot away from Mabel.

I went with Frank today to Autozone which involved turning over some used engine oil, worthy of a picture for all yous in Chicago who would never change your own oil, but apparently it's all the thing down here.  :)  Like, real men change their own engine oil.  And Sig found Mabel/Frank's cat tree, overlooking the poker room.  I'm not sure Mabel was happy with him up there, but...oh, well.  She's a tough cookie to please.  I'll add some pictures of Mabel next time.

*****

Tonight I really did not want to run, but somehow, with thoughts of future regret as my motivation should I not get out the door, I put on my running clothes, plugged into an old This American Life episode called Plan B, and off I went.  

Run: 3.8 miles around the ICC campus.  Left at about 7:15pm or so.

-saw a sign that said, "please do not walk or run on roadway."   Hmm.  Is the shoulder the roadway?  I'll go with no.

-Saw on the side of the road: 1 screw, 1 wire cutters, 1 toothbrush

-1 Motorcycle class in session

-No other runners spotted

And now...to shower or to make a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake...?  

Also, will Frank's band play a show tomorrow night for the 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition?

(to be continued)

One more day and a wakeup!

If this were a military training scenario, we'd be happily saying, "one more day and a wakeup."  Tomorrow I have a very very full work schedule followed by a walk-through of my apartment followed by a final "mid-week run" (this to be importantly distinguished from Saturday's last "long run"); today was my last day to really get stuff done.  Of course, I could always add another day on in Chicago to *get stuff done*, but I don't really want to do that, and, knowing how I tend to operate, the last days would be the same whether they are now or 3 weeks from now.  

Matt and Sara came over to help clean, sort stuff, provide moral and mental support (I have a tendency to get really distracted like a honey bee when I'm trying to do this sort of stuff by myself).  But, first, we got bagels!  I really wanted bagels from the New York City bagel place on North Ave. and Sheffield, but that was too far away, so we settled for Einstein's in Andersonville.  There's a certain appeal to eating on the floor when you have no furniture:

How many addictive substances do you see pictured here (below):

 

(We came up with: Hemp milk (kidding! it's not really, no THC here), chocolate (in the hemp milk), carbohydrates (a la bagel), poppy seed (kidding!), dairy via cream cheese (serious about this one), coffee (obviously true)...which is a slightly humorous total of 6.  Now, that's a ways to start the day!  Green smoothies?  Heh, not on a day of cleaning.) 

Then we had a little Sig-in-a-basket photo shoot:

Me and Siggy-boy.  All this moving has been really hard on him; he's a smart, curious, and sensitive guy.  Being in this little basket seemed to calm him.

And then we got to work.  Sorting storage-crap into To Peoria (very small pile), Joey, Sara, Matt, Thrift store, Free/alley, garbage...  Things like this I find so much easier with friends.  I sold my scuba fins and the butcher block (finally!).  A little estimation challenge:

Me (sorting through my fridge):  When do you think this Miso expired?

Sara:  2004

Matt: 2004.  No...2006.  

Me:  Actually, you guys were right with 2004.  What month?

Sara:  May!

Me:  Holy sh*t!  You're right?!!  May 2004.  

Which means, I moved this expired Miso into my place 3 years ago.  It wasn't moldy or anything, just really potent smelling.

Sara and Matt spackled my nail holes, I cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed floors, cleaned out the fridge, etc., etc., until the apartment looked like this:

So as not to end this blog on a sad-ish note, I have a funny-ish story:

Matt & Eric and I were discussing our run for tomorrow night.  For almost 3 years Matt and I have talked about getting french fries from the White Castle that's 2 blocks from my place after a run, but never have. Tomorrow's run has got to involve some fries! I also have about an inch of tequila that should be imbibed before I head off to Peoria.  So...is White Castle BYOB?! I consult my supercomputer (a.k.a. iPhone), and proceed to call White Castle System Inc (that's the official name, according to my phone).

White Castle Employee #1 (male): Hello?  White Castle.

Me: Hi, um, I was wondering, are you BYOB?

WCE #1: Uhhhhhhh, I don't know, just a sec...

(At this point I realize this sounds sort of like a prank call, though I started out with perfectly good intentions.  And I start to feel the need to do the potty dance as I am trying very hard to not laugh out loud out of semi-embarrassment, and this is very difficult...)

White Castle Employee #2 (female):  Hello?  Can I help you?

Me (completely now aware this sounds like a prank): Um, yeeeaaaa, I was wondering if you were BYOB...?

WCE #2:  (silence)  Uh.  No.  This is *White Castle.* (which I'm sure was followed by a tacit "dumbass")

Last official Chicago "long run"

Saturday was my final "long run" in Chicago. Maybe I'll make some encore long runs when I visit, but that'll be part of a different era. Target distance today was 8 miles in honor of Eric and I having run (on and off) together for 8 years. Also, there's a 15K I'm thinking about doing in a month, and I think Eric has a half marathon in mind.

Time of departure: Late morning. Not sure; the clocks are gone in my place.
Return: We got to Alice n Friends at 12:15

Temperature: WARM, almost hot. low 70s, probably, but the sun was really powerful.
Wind Chill: eh.
Lake Temp: 50s, it looks like

Route: Down the lakefront to Addison drinking fountain, then in to the lake, and north to ANF
Approx Distance: 8 miles
Running buddy: Eric and Matt
Clothing: Shorts, t-shirt, running hat. THANK YOU, ERIC, for pressuring me to buy a running hat last year. I can't imagine sunny or rainy days without it now.

The Drive Activity: Eh.
Dog beach Activity: Hoppin'!!

What did I eat pre-run? A 600 calorie blueberry scone from Bittersweet and coffee. Yea, great pre-run snack. Maybe that's why I had side stitches.
How did I feel? I was cranky, it was hot, my diaphram and/or right intercostals were all tangled up.
What do I like about running? I like knowing that because this run sucked, the next one should feel good. IF, I ever get any good sleep at least, which is somewhat dependent on my kitty calming down about this move.
______________________________________________________

Oh, what is there to say? Last times and good-byes are always bittersweet. Maybe it was a good thing the run felt kinda crappy and I was kinda cranky. But, the lakefront was beautiful and everyone and their sister's soccer team was out playing somewhere. 6 teams I think it was playing within the vicinity of the Montrose Hill and many more up and down the path. Lots of delicious smelling BBQs. Lots of people out on the bike and running pathes. A few adventurous souls on the beaches that opened this weekend. A very happenin' Montrose Dog Beach...

We had post-run brunch at ANF, since I basically have nothing in the way of cooking materials or eating equipment. Followed by a post-run nap in my basically unfurnished apartment while waiting for someone to come buy my bookshelf:


:)

Goodbye, Bedsores. Hello, Happiness!

After three nights sleeping on the floor and getting progressively less sleep, and after developing a not-completely unfounded fear of bed sores, I decided to take Sara up on her offer of her air mattress.  I have six (6!! Am I counting??) nights left in Chicago, and at the sleep-reduction rate I was going, I'd be getting negative sleep by the time I was leaving, and arriving in Peoria as some sort of battered bride of Frankenstein.  That would not do. 

OH, WHAT SWEET HEAVEN!!!  What divinity!!  Be still your breath and behold this beautiful sight:

If you have never slept on the floor before for consecutive nights and then laid down on an air mattress, you do not know what bliss I'm experiencing right now.   Thank you, Sara, thank you for alleviating my bed sore concerns, for preserving my sanity, for not allowing the dreaded floor to thrash the great massage I got this afternoon...    Thank you.