Permutations

 

I have been tied up with numerous projects and issues that have kept me from having the time to post:

1.  Proofs of my book revision have come back to me and I have been feverishly trying to scan through them carefully to try to avoid any problems as it needs to go to printing.

2.  Book listings for the classes coming this Fall have been due and I needed to precisely get this information to the Bookstore.  It is more cumbersome in the last few years than previously to do this because of wide array of different permutations of books, electronica, and packages that the book publishers offer these days.  It used to be rather simple.... you selected a textbook and adopted it.  But, most publishers now offer 4-5 different versions of their textbook, each with a different ISBN number, and then whether or not any electronica are going to be coupled with the textbook further adds additional ISBN possibilities.  So, it takes a helluva lot of time to make sure what the bookstore gets for students is what they need for each of my classes.  

3.  Family challenges have erupted and have dampened my mood somewhat and for a large part of Wednesday, I simply slept to avoid thinking about the issues.

4.  Orders are arriving left and right for materials that had to be purchased using U funds for the end of the U's financial year (June 30th).  So, I have been having to do a lot of hoofing around with materials that have arrived to get them to their correct locations in my lab.  

In terms of my exercise, this too has had to be compromised to a degree:

1.  On Monday, I failed to complete the normal 10 miles I typically run, and did not run until very late evening on that date and only completed 7 miles.  

2.  I have been trying to play catch-up ever since.  My motivation has been very low however, as I have been extremely sore from all the grunt work I did during the weekend for the relative's celebration I dedicated my weekend to.  I think my efforts in moving, sliding, and positioning a variety of extremely heavy (~250 lb) picnic tables wrenched my back and hips a bit and they have been rather tender.  Special note for AC... fortunately the relatives I helped *were* very appreciative of my help and support for them.  They deserved every ounce of energy I could give them.... and more. 

3.  Today, I was still feeling sore, and only ran 6 miles, so I have to force myself to do more when I get home... if I am to have any hope of hitting my normal goal of 53-54 miles (85-87 km) of running in the week.  This is going to be a damn tough week to hit the goal, so I have to push harder and get some gumption and damn dogged determination or I will fail.  

4.  I feel a real need for new shoes for running.  I have roughly ~1,500 miles (~2,450km) on my current pair and I am feeling it a bit.  They are damn expensive though and I also haven't had time to get to the shoe store with all the other things happening.  

My PCS scores have been fluctuating wildly too:

I started out the week at a 6.  Then it fell to an easy to manage 3 for a day, but then yesterday was really rough and it was around an 8 or so.  Today, it has fallen back to about a 6.  At night in bed, before sleep, after I read a chapter or so in a novel to help me feel a bit more ready for sleep.... I have been spending 10-15 minutes perusing what my wife facetiously has called "pipe porn".  I have been visiting a few sites of artisan pipe makers who publish absolutely beautiful images of the pipes they have been carving or turning out on their lathes.  Some of them are truly works of fine art, and even though I never would need anything so fancy or artisian.... I do admire looking at the photographic images of what the rich and wealthy can afford if they so choose. 

Two other small thoughts:

1.  My TMJ is still a bit on the aggravating side at the moment.  It is nowhere near as rough as it was last week, but I can still sense it quite a bit.  

2.  I am also in a period of time where I tend to be especially noise sensitive.  Extraneous noise has NEVER been something I enjoyed or desired to be around.  Whirring of machinery noise (especially the motors of leaf blowers for instance), the deep, thumping sounds of damn loud audio systems in vehicles, etc have been especially prominent and distracting to me the last several days.  I have taken to wearing earplugs several times in the last few days when it is has been especially rough for me.  Staticy noises, "white noise" generating devices, etc are enough to set my teeth on edge (hah... perhaps inducing more TMJ).  

PipeTobacco