I got a new cellphone to replace the one that never got reception anywhere except the first stall in the ladies bathroom.

This one is MUCH better. So much better, in fact, that I can even blog from it. Yep, if they want it back, they'll have to tear it from my cold, dead hands.

Temp: -34.58?C


Wind: 9.71km/h


Humidity: 63.97%

It's miserably, hideously cold outside. If there were ever a day that hell would be likely to be frozen over, today would be that day.

Temp: -21.21�C


Wind: 13.11km/h


Humidity: 67.94%

This morning's run with the running club felt very, very hard. I did my best, gave it my all, tried to slow my pace when it felt too hard, but somehow that wasn't quite enough. My heart rate hit 204 at one point, which I don't think is a good thing.

My muscles don't seem to have a problem with the workout, but I'm worried that my heart is going to quit on me.

Measuring one's heart rate while plodding down the street during a challenging workout can be an eye-opening experience.

Being out of shape is no surprise. A sedentary lifestyle will reap you plenty of that. But discovering that your heart is labouring away at 90-100% of its maximum is a bit disturbing.

In fact, the more I think about it, that's a good way to kill yourself. I think I'm still in pretty good health, and I've never had cardiovascular problems, but 90-100% of your maximum heart rate is really pushing it.

I'll have to think on this further.

Since the training log for my learn to run class limits the size of comments one can make for a given workout, I'll comment here:

The class started on the 7th, but we weren't able to sign up until we could be sure that we would actually be able to afford it. Today was our first class.

I got around 7 hours of sleep, and that felt more like 2 because the pets we making the most absurd amount of noise during the night. Nari was having weird nightmares where she was twitching and barking in her sleep, and Saba was batting things off the nightstand and crunching on paper. (He has some weird oral fixation with paper, which we don't quite understand.)

Additionally, I really set myself up for success by having a coffee, two iced teas and no water over the course of the entire day, thereby rendering myself completely dehydrated.

I'm not afraid to admit that my cardiovascular conditioning is really the shits. Many years of hard effort has allowed me to cultivate this level of un-fitness. So I'm starting small, I'm starting from the beginning. Probably where I should have started, back when my ignorance about running left me with shin-splints.

FN and I had begun with the run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes intervals that were suggested for week 1. The dog enjoyed it and so did we. It felt good, not too hard, like we were moving at the gradual pace that everyone recommends. The class, however, is now in week 3. We're supposed to be doing run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute intervals. A bit of a jump, but what the heck, right?

I thought I was going to die. They tell you to keep a pace that allows you to comfortably talk to someone at the same time. Well, I dropped to the back of the pack, and that was still too fast. I could barely breathe enough to keep from passing out, let alone carry on a conversation. The woman next to me was terrific and friendly and trying to strike up a conversation, and the best I could manage was " . . . (gasp) . . . yeah . . . (gasp) . . . ". Apparently my pace was still too fast. I think my run is going to look more like a bouncy walk for a few weeks.

So apparently FN and I now need to continue with the run 2, walk 1 intervals, since next week we move to run 3, walk 1 intervals. If I can manage to do this without dying, I will be so fucking impressed with myself. I can do this. Really I can.

On the bright side of things, I'm impressed that I actually managed to go running in weather this shitty. Okay, it's only -2, but when slush is pouring from the sky and obscuring your vision, you begin to wonder if your sanity is intact. But nevertheless, yay me!

I passed a sign pointing people to a 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminar this morning. Forever North and I began speculating what those 7 habits are. After some consideration, we concluded that whatever constitutes a Highly Effective Person probably doesn't constitute either of us. For those of you wondering if you are a Highly Effective Person, have a look at this handy questionnaire:

1) Were you two hours late for work this morning? yes=1, no=0


2) Has this happened before? yes=1, no=0


3) Did you have an excuse? yes=0, no=1


4) Did it involve traffic? yes=0, no=1


5) Have you used the traffic excuse before? yes=1, no=0


6) Did the excuse involve a pet consuming or excreting something? yes=1, no=0


7) Did you have a more credible person vouch for you? yes=0, no=1


8) Did you have breakfast before work? yes=0, no=1


9) Did you eat breakfast at your desk? yes=1, no=0


10) Did you miss breakfast because by the time you got yourself together, it was nearly lunchtime? yes=1, no=0


11) Are you wearing clean clothes? yes=0, no=1


12) Did you determine that your clothes were clean by picking them up off the floor or nearby furniture and giving them the "sniff-test"? yes=1, no=0


13) Did you get enough sleep last night? yes=0, no=1


14) Would it still be enough sleep without all the coffee you drank? yes=0, no=1


15) Are you sleep deprived because you were up late doing laundry so you would have clean clothes for today? yes=1, no=0


16) Are you sleep deprived because your significant other couldn't pry your hands from the gaming console control? yes=1, no=0

Now total your score. How did you rate?

11-16

You are not a Highly Effective Person. In fact, it's a wonder you even have a job. Either you're related to the boss or you're sleeping with him/her. Or maybe both. You can barely dress yourself or spell your own name. Please go and join the other mouth-breathers in the corner. (This would be me.)

6-10

Just can't make up your mind, can you? Can't decide whether you'd rather be a worthless grease-stain of a human being or a total head-case. Instead, you're a capricious moron. You're also among the majority. God forbid you do anything remotely individual.

0-5

It's very likely that you're either obsessive-compulsive or an android. You're either on medication or ought to be. Congratulations, you're one of 5 Highly Effective People in the goddamn world. Do the rest of us a favour and stay home.

So the funding for my job came in, so it looks like I've still got a job. Everybody cheer!

Okay, that's all. You can go back to what you were doing.

Woman shot to death in Vancouver while trying to end fight

They were strangers to her. She had been passing by with friends and saw the fight ensuing. She attempted to shield a man who was being kicked. A pistol was drawn and shots were fired, one of which killed Rachel Davis.

Some might say it was stupid or foolish of her to jump in the middle of all that, but I think she's a hero. The fight wasn't gang related, it wasn't drug related. It was just one of those horrible unfortunate things that sometimes you just can't stand by and let happen.

One would hope that no one else would have to lose their life that way, but I really wish more people could have that kind of courage. The courage to not turn a blind eye. The courage to take action when they see something like that happening. There is so much fighting these days, from groups outside of nightclubs to all-out military warfare, and there seems to be so few people willing to stand up and try to put a stop to it.

I think Rachel Davis gave the world a tremendous gift when she gave her life. The world is a better place because of her.

My mind is an over-active and noisy place where I can often be found talking to myself and referring to myself as us and we. Could be the onset of mental illness, or maybe just too much coffee.

"What class should we take?"

"We already discussed that."

"Oh, right. So what can we afford?"

"Don't know yet, we could be unemployed in a week."

"Right. What about the running class? Can we do that? I mean, there's that fund, right?"

"The fund will only help us if we're an employee. Unemployed = not an employee."

"Right. So what do we do?"

"Wait."

"Should we look at jobs?"

"You mean full-time?"

"Yeah."

"It's hard to say, we don't know if we'll be out of a job."

"Okay, what about part-time? We could sure use the extra money, even if we do stay employed."

"When will we work, evenings and weekends?"

"Yeah."

"So no classes?"

"Didn't we just discuss this?"

"Yeah."

So as I sit here hacking up a lung, I'm wrestling with whether or not to register for a number of classes that I've been either taking or toying with the idea of taking.

Under better circumstances, I would be throwing caution to the wind and taking as many as I could, but the reality is that I don't know if I'm going to have a job in a week.

Before Christmas holidays I was feeling pretty certain that the funding for the project I work for would come through. Time is ticking down, and still no one has put pen to paper yet as far as a signature of approval goes.

I should be freaking out and losing my mind, but somehow I'm eerily calm. Maybe I'm confident that things will work out, or maybe I'm just trying not to waste my energy on something I have no control over. Either way, the looming possibility of being unemployed in a week is making it difficult for me to plan out which classes to register for.

In a week, I'll either be up to my neck in recreational exercise and self-development, or lining up at the food bank. Time to do a lot of ommmm-ing and visualizing my third eye.

---------------------------

If the story of my meagre woes has made you feel charitable, please donate your time, money or household goods to a local charity that supports people who are struggling much more than I am. It's extraordinarily cold here today (a low of -21 degrees Celcius), and there are far too many people, including children, that are going without basic neccessities. There are never enough warm jackets to go around, so don't be shy, give a few to people in need.

I was looking forward to tucking into my half of a beef and bean burrito that Forever North had heated up for me. After eating his half, he came to see what I was looking at on the computer, leaving my half unattended. When he went back to look for it, it was gone.

Completely gone. No trace of it. And it's a bit big to disappear or walk off on its own.

One cat in particular, Saba, has a rather satisfied look on his face, and seems to be grooming himself more than the others. I suspect it was a group effort, though.

I'm a bit disappointed about not being able to eat my burrito, but I'm a bit more concerned about the digestive repercussions of a spicy beef and bean combination on the feline digestive tract. It's either coming back up, or going out with a bang. It ain't gonna be pretty.