Skiing on Concrete - why???????

I haven't posted here for ages but this is something that just made me wonder what is the point of it?

I'm talking about skiing on concrete. This morning doing my usual lap of the park there were a whole bunch of them - concrete skiers. God knows I love skiing but - hello - on snow. Skiing on concrete is dumb for a number of reasons.

1) It's going to hurt eventually.
I've fallen many times, forwards, backwards, sideways and as I'm flying through the air I know I'm in for a soft landing - so no tensing up. Were I stupid enough to ski on concrete I would know that sooner or later a spill would give me road rash if not a few broken bones.

2) You just look silly.
Well you do - all the other people exercising in the park don't look like they just stepped off the set of Gladiators.

3) Can you say 'sad sack' ?
Oh come on - how desperate are you for Winter that you can't enjoy the Summer by hiking or biking or running or anything but concrete skiing.

Another thing - this lot belong to the U - so why do they have to come down to SugarHouse when they've got a perfectly good athletics track they could be tooling around. I go to the park for exercise but also I go with the knowledge that I'm not going to have to dodge the traffic. That I can let my mind wander and not have to worry about being overtaken on the inside by some tosser on a pair of skis with wheels on the bottom.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Fluffy 2.,0

I'm putting this in the blog that no one reads anymore because I had to write it somewhere. This will make no sense to you unless you worked with me at IR in the 90's. In my working life I never thought I'd ever encounter another 'Fluffy' as far as I was concerned they broke the mould when they made her but here she is Fluffy 2.0, as undermining and corrosive as version 1.0. even looks the same, even sounds the same. This puts a whole new spin on a situation I thought had been sorted out last December. The people I work with are like a family but there is one that I do not trust, a backstabber, a Fluffy. I learned the hard way that you don't rise to a Fluffy's bait. You just get on with the job, always write things down and always have important conversations in front of other people and always be super-nice but never relax. OK now this is buried in cyberspace I feel much better.

There are times when I want to go home

After a pretty tough closing session - which involved me losing the will to live after every total was out. I thought I'd go home and cuddle up with hubbie. But I got back to my car - my postage stamp of a car and there was a note on it.

It said and I quote

Next Time Be Considerate and don't hog the whole curb!

Thanks

on AETNA stationary.

Now I have parked in that space before in my old car (my big old Subaru) and been blocked in. And I actually was trying to be considerate because it's bin day today and I hate when I can't put my bins out because of some twat parked in the wrong place but do I go out and put notes on people's cars, no I do not because basically I am a nice person and if I'm going to have it out with someone I will talk to them in a reasonable manner, not leave snidey little notes on their windscreens.

Well snidey you made me cry - so I hope you're happy.

Out with the Old and in the with the New

By Monday night I'll be the proud owner of a brand new car (my second new car ever!). As you lot know we've been getting ready to sell "scooby" so that when the Smart comes out we can get one of those. But and it's a big one the Smart dealership will be out by Point of the Mountain. My wishlist was Mini Cooper - too expensive. Toyota Yaris - Toyota said they wouldn't import them to the US and then the Smart.

On Tuesday we went down to Mark Miller Toyota and test drove a Yaris, we spiffed up the Subaru I vacc'ed it to within an inch of it's life and polished every available surface and Thursday night we tried to part-ex it for a new Yaris. They massively low-balled us on the price (bloody car dealers) so we said we'd sell it privately and this morning while I was having breakfast with D over at Blue Plate my little scooby sold for the price we wanted so C went down to the dealership this afternoon and after quite a bit of haggling they've agreed a price and although I have to walk to work the next couple of days it's so worth it!

NPR Interview

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, today on www.kuer.org

Devra Davis: Chemicals, Cancer and You

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14986010

Health Insurance - what a joke!

Since C went corporate we've had to deal with all the corporate bs that goes along with being a company man. First that stupid health screening and now we begin to understand the real "benefits" of this type of insurance. You see you don't have a say in what you want - oh sure you can ask for a treatment but that doesn't mean you get it - oh no! Take C, his ankles have been playing up really badly but the physio told him about this ultrasonic treatment which would blast away all the scar tissue that's built up and by doing the exercises he's been doing retrain his ankles back to normal. No cutting required - guess what the health insurance company, lets call them "sicktick" (think opposite for the first syllable and similar for the second, you can work it out) labelled the treatment "investigational" and vetoed it.

And now we come to me. Since last year when that female nazi at the health center told me I have to have a mammogram (Mum told me she didn't start having them until she was fifty and there's no history of the big C in our family) Now the two male docs I've had did a yearly exam and I self-examine and they never mentioned the M word - not once. I haven't been back and when I do go back she's not treating me. I'd heard about this digital thermal imaging - they're using it all over Europe now and I told that woman doctor about it along with my objections and concerns - which she steamrollered right over - she said she'd never heard of it. Just recently a couple of my friends over here have been diagnosed with Cancer and they're younger than me so it got me thinking I should get tested. Only one place around here does the thermal imaging test and that's Huntsman and they don't have a pricelist for their services so C phoned sicktick this morning and guess what they labelled this test. Let me give you a clue it starts with "i" and ends with 'gational"

So lets recap for peace of mind I have to be stressed (cos the whole thing really scares me) irradiated, have my boobs squished to a pulp oh and then stressed again while I wait for the results to come back. Or maybe I should just not go - gosh that's a good idea I'm feeling better already.

Bottom line - if you want to come and live here bring plenty of dosh because you're going to need it. Health Insurance is a sick joke and the only people who benefit from it are the company themselves and their investors.

C goes to Torey and the Angel of Death moves out???

C is down in Torey with the fabulous biker boys as I'm writing this and the cellphone reception down there is spotty at best so I'm a free agent until Sunday. Just me and the moggy and she knows he's gone 'cos she's sitting on the dining table - naughty kitty!

As we are all wired I've been using e-cards this year it makes more sense and postage is really expensive now, when they upped the local postage they almost doubled the overseas one. Christmas is going to be pricey:-( but I digress. These e-cards have worked really well until this last one. My godmother's birthday - she can't see her card just an error message. Sorry Auntie D!

Oh yes M while I remember, just because we are both going to be in UK at the same time doesn't mean we can meet up. I know geography was never your strong suit - but we'll be up North with C's parents and you will be down South with yours and R's. C's parents are paying to fly us over and we will be spending our Xmas with them.

This is weird, yesterday there was a small moving van outside the AOD's place (aka mormon barbie) I know this because it kept parking across the end of our drive. I just assumed that her girlfriend?? is moving in but this morning there is a dirty great moving van out there and no sign of her and the kids. Now they could be moving stuff in but that house isn't anywhere near big enough for all that stuff, so logically they're moving stuff out. Of course it could be wishful thinking on my part but you never know:-)