Dispatches from the Abyss - Sunday, Feb. 10th

Both Saturday and Sunday were good days and beautiful days. On Saturday I decided it was time to man up and see if I could actually make it the two miles to the comic store and back on foot. I left the house about 1:15 Saturday afternoon and was back home by about 3:30. Along the way I stopped in at Daniel Boone Cycles and took a look at a couple of commuter bike options. They have a Bianchi in there that I really like but it runs a little over $600. I think one night this week I may try walking over to Kroger to see how that works out for me. It should be easier than Nan's as it is a little closer, however my concern about walking to the grocery store is carrying everything home. Perhaps I need to look into a backpack that I can carry on my belt until it is needed. Oh yeah, the trip home from Nan's I was carrying a 14 pound pack as I had picked up a couple packages of boards so I could begin bagging and boarding the comics from last year. (I need to remember to ask Charlie if he can pick up some Drawer Boxes before he heads to Houston this weekend.)

I had forgotten how pleasant a nice walk could be. There is a very nice neighborhood between where I live and the comic store and once you get off of Bissonnet and back in to the neighborhood you could almost forget you were in one of the largest cities in the country. North Blvd. and South Blvd. are a joy to walk, particularly on a pretty afternoon. On the way there I had my iPod in as I wandered down the street. The trees have been there long enough to where they arc over the street and median so you are walking beneath a canopy of branches and down a hall of trees. On the way home I forgot to put my iPod back on and instead just listened to the sounds of the neighborhood. Despite being less than a mile from one of the major freeways the only sounds I heard, beyond the occasional passing car, were the sort of nature sounds one would expect in suburbia. Birds hidden in the trees chirping away, though there were some Robins searching for whatever it is Robins search for in a yard. Towards the end of the street the random bird noises coalesced into the cooing of doves. All too soon I reached the end of North Blvd. and headed back into the world. It was a nice escape and one that is available to me at any time. Hopefully I will not forget the simple pleasure of a walk again.

Sunday morning I met several friends over at Brian O'Neill's for brunch. While I managed to stay on course with the whole nothing but tea, water, milk, and fruit juice thing, I think I might have gone over the wall on the dieting thing with breakfast. Oh well, not a big deal as I only had some chips and salsa and a salad to balance out the day AND I am going to hit the gym tomorrow morning before work. (We'll see how that goes.) I had a lot of fun! I also think we were the loud and obnoxious table because we, well, we lack any sense of decorum whatsoever. I think that is one of the reason's I love us.

Oh shit! I keep meaning to write about this but I am not certain what to say but my Metro Q card was activated on Feb. 1st which means I no longer have to pay for commuting to and from work on the train. The company will put up to $75 a month on my Q card and as I only use between $40 and $50 a month, I am golden. Plus I will be saving about that much a month. I have really grown to like riding the train in to the office in the morning and I really wish we had a better train system here in Houston. I think an elevated system would be the way to go as there is minimal footprint for an el and a subway is just not an option here.

Finally in a "I HEART Hockey" segment check out the action from 2:22 through 2:37 in this highlight clip from the Stars-Wild game on Thursday. Damn, just damn.