Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Run Hera Run

Just had to share a quick update. Personal goals in my life are being reached and I couldn't be happier.

I'll start with a little bit about my quest to take up running. I've been on the Couch to 5K plan for awhile now. Currently, I'm on week seven of nine. The plan is designed to follow either by time or distance. I chose time, since as a beginning runner I figured the first step should be to build my body up to the sustained high impact of running. I wasn't overly concerned with the distance I ran in the allotted time, just that I did it. However, I did track my distance, so I could chart my progress and know how much I needed to improve once I hit the distance portion of the training.

So for the first few weeks I just ran or walked for whatever the program time called for. My best mile per minute time during week one was 14 minutes and 10 seconds. As of yesterday that time was down to 10 minutes and 24 seconds per mile. Down almost four minutes in just over six weeks! With a little over two weeks left to train--all running, no more walking at all--I'm beginning to have a glimmer of hope that maybe I can reach my ultimate goal of finishing the 5K in under 30 minutes. (First goal is just to finish, second goal is to finish in under 30 minutes.)

One other great note to share: A year ago when I went to the junk doctor for my annual checkup my blood pressure was very borderline high. I don't remember the exact number, but it was something like 145 over 90. My doctor was very concerned and questioned whether or not to put me on medication to regulate it. Both of my parents and my brother are all on blood pressure medication, so I was a little scared of my hereditary destiny.

I walked out of the doctor's office that day and gave up caffeine cold turkey.....from four or five Mt. Dews a day to nothing. First I went to Sprite and other caffeine free sodas. In recent months though, I've really just been drinking lots of water and Gatorade, and really only have one or two Sprite Zeros a week. I was never a person who added salt to my food, but never thought about the natural level of sodium in foods. I do now. Cut out lots of other crap, too. Took up frequent exercise--three to four times per week. All of those changes, along with the recent running venture, have certainly done the job! I went back for my annual checkup today and the blood pressure was down to 114 over 70! So stoked! No meds for me!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Jonesing

Earlier in the spring Maverick and I ventured off to Chicago for a weekend getaway. Outside of layovers in O'Hare, this was the first experience in The Windy City for both of us. We had an absolutely fantastic time. It was great to get away from reality, if only for 48 hours, and experience a new city together.

We shopped a tad on Michigan Avenue. We took a tourist trap architectural tour of the city via boat through the Chicago River. Which, even though the guide was a little obnoxious in her overly cute speech, was actually was a quite interesting and informational little view of the city, especially if you don't have a lot of time to see it. We met up with a college friend for brunch at a fantastic Southern style restaurant. It was heralded as one of Oprah's favorite joints, and being that I can't stand Oprah I was skeptical. It was phenomenal though.

We took in a Cardinals/Cubs game at Wrigley, and sort of delighted in the physical dump nature of the place. The nostalgia is there, but the place is actually a dump. Don't get me wrong, Wrigleyville is freaking fantastic. The stadium, however, blows. Not enough bathrooms, not cleaning the place between games, falling concrete, Old Style (who in the hell drinks that crap?) and poles in your way. If you really want to see an old park, I suggest you skip Wrigley and go straight for Boston. Fenway is a religious experience for any baseball fan.

Sorry for the tangent. Back on track....

We hung out with an old co-worker after the game at one of the bars in Wrigleyville, and mingled with the locals. That was lots of fun. We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel downtown. We enjoyed the fruits of an adequate public transportation system. I was kind of mesmerized by the elevated train system, particularly in The Loop. This also provided great rain protection on Sunday.

All of these wonderful memories from that weekend and pretty much the one and only thing we talk about now is the pretzels we had at dinner one night. We were told to try this place by several people, so we figured it had to be good and said "let's go".
We ventured off to said pub, Elephant & Castle. Let me start by saying that every single thing we ordered was outstanding. However, everyone who recommended this place said, "you have to get the pretzels!". Let me assure you, they were not joking. Almost two months later and I still crave them.

They were so soft, moist, and unlike any other pretzel I've ever tasted. I have zero clue if the dough is that much different, or if they're basted in some sort of flavored butter, but whatever it is, it rules. The dipping sauce served with them is a Bass Ale Mustard sauce. The whole combination is orgasmicly good.

I've really been wanting pretzels today and sitting at my desk right now, this special little yummy gift of goodness is pretty much all I can think about.

I've discovered that Elephant & Castle is small chain across America and Canada. It looks to only be in very large cities. According to their website one of those cities is Boston. I'm not sure how we've never seen it before since it's right near all of the things we usually do there, but I know exactly where we're going the next time we go up to The Hub to visit Maverick's parents and brother!

Preeeettttt-zels! Preeeeetttt-zels!

Note: The preceding sentences should be read aloud like Cookie Monster says "Coooooooo-kie".

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Hera Mifflin Infinity

Once or twice a year my employer holds what are essentially feedback sessions. One or two staff members from each department are sent as a representative of their office to the discussion group. The idea of the forum is that mid to lower level staff members are given the opportunity to meet with the president of the organization and the head of Human Resources and discuss any items they would like to see changed, are concerned about, have questions regarding, etc. without fear of their immediate supervisor being present, should they have the desire to air a concern about their boss/department. If the item at hand is deemed appropriate to take action or discuss with other upper level management staff members, it is then taken back to their monthly meetings and discussed without mention of the staff member who brought it up.

In theory it's a good idea and it works...most of the time. I have seen it backfire on staff members though. Their name was in fact brought back to their boss and it wasn't exactly a pretty situation. No one was relieved of their job out of it, but things were definitely tense for awhile.


Given that, when I was designated to represent my department at the last panel I sat tight lipped throughout the entire meeting. One idea was presented though that I thought was a rather good one. A suggestion box could be placed in each office location so that staff members can leave items they would like to see addressed while truly remaining anonymous.

Yesterday I went to the mail room as I needed to check my office mail and also make some copies. Upon my entry into the room I noticed the above idea had been put into place.


Behold (names and logos have been blacked out):


Up close and personal:


Your eyes are not deceiving you. It is in fact a shoe box covered in construction paper, Scotch taped down (on the front of the box), hand-written in pen, with a free-form square cut out for the oh so inviting place to "drop your ideas here". Not to be missed--hiding under that big blacked out square in the lower right hand portion of the box is the company logo cut out of construction paper and drawn on in pen as well.

I've said in the past that I really do like my job. Like everyone else in the world, I do have days that are very frustrating and stressful, but overall I'm happy. I like my boss/Vice President very much, I have two great friends on the staff (one is leaving in a week though, boo!) and am uber thankful to have employment that provides food and shelter.

However, there is one particular VP in the organization (not my own boss) who is just in a class all their own. Now I can't say that I saw this suggestion box being made or know for certain who made it, but I have a very strong inkling whose idea it was and which department it came from. The aforementioned VP comes to mind. After all, this is the same VP who has given us things such as the Going Green Committee, the Safety Committee, the Fun Committee (yes, a real thing), a team building rah-rah breakfast that was not only funded by the staff members but also cooked by staff members in our board room during what should have been productive office hours, and even Diversity Day.

Yep, there's a VP in my organization who HAS to be a direct descendant of Michael Scott.