Sick

one of my least favorite things is being sick. but i guess it's better to be moderately sick instead of bed-ridden. still no fun. it could always be worse. having someone to take care of you makes you feel a little better. i don't have that.

Immodium

Ever take more than the recommended dose of Immodium AD only to be frustrated 3 days later when you can't squeeze one out? Oh, Ecuador!

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Ben Franklin said that a penny saved is a penny earned. When I was in school, I was taught that this meant that putting money in your piggy bank was earning money...or perhaps your bank account, where the money would accrue interest. Just like a lot of things they teach you in school, I decided that this was a load of crap upon later reflection. What Benji was actually telling us became apparent after I spent some time in outdoor markets where items don't have UPCs. Ben meant that if you can lower the price of an item through negotiation, then you have earned the extra consumer surplus as a result of the lower price. Maybe this has been lost on us because of the radical differences in market structure in America between the 21st century and the 18th.

Swahili

For a while now (about a year and a half), I have been thinking about picking up a third language. For the past year, I have narrowed it down with Swahili being always on top of the list. Yesterday, I decided to make Kaswahili (what Swahili is called in Swahili...like español) my 3rd language.

Jack helped me make the decision. He speaks at the very least: English, Spanish, Swahili, and Mandarin. He said that Swahili is relatively easy to learn if you know Spanish. Today, Mkunde gave me a "teach youself Swahili" book. It's not a phrase book, but more like an introductory text. Lots of examples. I read the intro tonight. Rock.

Time Flies

I have been finding that time starts to fly the second I take my eyes off a clock. Tonight, I looked at my watch and it was 10:30. Next thing I know, BAM!, it's 12:15. What was I doing? Economics. Normally they say that time flies when you're having fun. I haven't even been having fun when the hands accelerate around the clock. Maybe it's because I've been wearing long sleeves and my temporal vigilance is impaired...who knows...

They say a watched pot never boils (but it does when its vapor pressure equals the atmospheric vapor pressure). I've never heard anybody talk about the opposite end of that saying, maybe it's implicit. I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes on the time.

Normally I wouldn't mind time getting away from me (not like I can control it), but I've been meaning to get in bed earlier when I have 8am and 9am classes. Sorry about the rambling, but my brain thinks it's late now.

Pick #10

Ben Kweller - "In Other Words" off the Sha Sha album. I mean, how great is it that he says that butterflies are passive aggressive??

Triathlon

People have always told me that I should do a triathlon. They didn't know what they were talking about. Although I was a decent runner, I was a slow, if not inept, swimmer. Not to mention that I had NEVER been on a road bike, let alone possess the kind of bike-strength needed to do one of those 3-event races.

Recently, all that has changed. I've been riding my bike to school every day and using it to ride trails on the weekends (sometimes). I learned how to swim in college (I mean, I learned how not to drown when I was a child, but I mean swimming for distance/time without mask & snorkel or flippers). I started going to the school pool this semester, swimming once a week for an hour.

My neighbor behind me told me that there's a triathlon put on by a local running group. I looked it up, and it's a "sprint" triathlon. You swim 1/3 of a mile, bike 16 miles and run 3.107 miles. I can totally do that. The worst part is going to be the swim in COLD water...the race website recommends wearing a wetsuit!!! That and the entry fee is $55.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this new thing to do in my life. I'm working on the swimming end of it. The rest should be fine. Last week, I timed a 600m (roughly 1/3 of a mile) at 12:44. We'll see what kind of progress I can make before the race starts. I'm not going to even try to place in my age group or anything, I'm just doing this race to finish it (and for the experience).