Things that might be decidedly odd…

Gas Panic

Well, it seems a gas panic has hit North Carolina as well as other areas. Apparently, 90% of our gas comes from pipelines impacted by the hurricane, which has reduced the available gas supply, at least for the next couple of days. Governor Easley has asked people to conserve gas and for state vehicles to put off any long trips (WRAL article). Consequently, people are freaking out and filling their tanks, which of course will only make the problem worse. Tonight while going to the grocery store, I noticed all three of the stations near the intersection of Main and Weaver in Carrboro were full of cars. People were even waiting in line at the Exxon and Citgo. This was at 10:30pm at night… There are rumors flying around that there is no gas in Charlotte, but I haven’t found any news articles verifying that’s the case.

I’ve got a half of a tank, which usually lasts me at least a few weeks, so I’m avoiding the mayhem for now. Prices today were at $2.89 and I’m sure they’ll only go higher as the panic ensues regardless of whatever NC state law says about gouging customers.

Swim

I went over to Kessing kind of late today, so that I could drive and park instead of taking the bus. Parking was a mess since it was around 5:30 and things were still fairly crowded. Still, it was a good workout. 1200 yards in 45 minutes, which is about as much as I’ve ever done (at least when I was keeping track).

It almost amazes me how much the personality of the pool changes between summer and fall semesters. The average age has dropped substantially. In fact, all the older people seem to have disappeared and it’s 100% students. Another strange thing I’ve noticed is that it now seems I am in the minority in wearing a racing suit. And I’m not just talking about guys wearing jammers or stuff like that. I’m talking about guys wearing swim shorts and full-blown knee-length board shorts. I guess younger people are really ashamed of their bodies (although most of these guys have no reason to be) or insecure in their sexuality or some such nonsense.

I know what you’re thinking… Wearing skin tight suits doesn’t really make a difference if you’re just swimming for fitness. I’ll give you that, but people wear special running shoes to jog, expensive spandex bike outfits to cycle, buy special discs for playing disc golf and so on and so forth. So, why not wear a swim suit designed for swimming when doing said activity? The right tool for the right job axiom and all that. I guess insecurity trumps function. Personally, I got over such nonsense after living in Germany I guess, so I shouldn’t be so judgemental of shame-driven Americans.

Hair Cut

Apparently in the transition to a new computer a couple of times over the years, I seem to have lost a bunch of pictures. That’s a bummer, especially since a number of people have wanted to see pictures of me with a mohawk (they would have been taken in that missing period).

Well, today while cutting my hair (sorry, I just couldn’t take it being shaggy for any longer), I gave myself a mohawk first and took a couple of pictures. Like usual, it came out a little bit crooked, but the width was fairly even. Then I shaved it off, because I’m supposed to be an upstanding adult or some such nonsense. Anyhow, here is one of the pictures, but there are a few more in this set too. Random people must like the mohawk, because as I write this entry, there have already been several views without me even linking them to the blog.

I will probably cut my hair again like this for Halloween. The above mohawk came from about one month’s worth of hair growth. Two months would probably be enough to actually spike it, but we’ll see if I have the perserverance to make it the two months without giving into the need to cut it all off.

Today was light

Not much going on, I suppose. I’m still recovering a bit from the day of strenuous hiking, although I did go for a jog this evening. I made a pizza for dinner, which is always fun. Tomorrow is the first day of class, which depresses me a little. I may sit in on a class, but I’m not planning on taking anything on Tuesdays this semester.

Camping and Hiking

Jason, Sarah and I went out to Linville Gorge in the Pisgah National Forest near Morganton, NC this weekend. We left Saturday morning, camped out that night, hiked this morning, then returned home this afternoon. I bought a tent, pad and sleeping bag, so I now have some basic camping equipment. Camping was fun, although it rained almost the entire time we were there after we got camp setup. Still, I now know my tent is waterproof, which is good. The hike was fairly strenuous. Basically, we went down the gorge fairly quickly, ate lunch, walked along the creek at the bottom, then hiked back up a considerably steeper and less well maintained trail. It was quite the workout, but I did have a good time.

A number of my pictures can be found here.

Swimming and Night Out

This afternoon I went for a great swim. 1100 yards in about 40 minutes, which means I’m definitely improving. Once again, the pool was fairly crowded, although I did go around 5pm which is later than usual. Afterwards, I headed back home for some dinner before dropping off a couple of new first years at their apartments after a departmental function which ended after the last buses.

I then picked up Stephen and Jeff to go to this graduate student thing at Goldie’s. There were a ton of people there, probably more than I’ve seen there before. We stuck around for a while, but I hardly drank anything (since I was DD). Montek eventually convinced most everybody to go over to Tallulah’s for dancing. I eventually went, but not before moving my car which was parked on the whole other side of Franklin Street. It was pretty fun though.

Tomorrow, I think I’m going camping with Jason and Sarah somewhere up in the mountains. I think Sarah’s getting some serious cabin fever and needs to get the hell out of the city. I, myself, need a day or two away from Chapel Hill/Carrboro as well, so it should be nice. I do need to go buy a tent and sleeping bag beforehand though.

NC Botanical Gardens

Today, I went over with some first years to the North Carolina Botanical Gardens which are near campus. A bunch of pictures can be seen here. It was pretty enjoyable as the weather was rather cool today (low 80s tops). We also ate the picnic food that was intended to be enjoyed last Sunday while at the beach (but it rained and we left before eating).

Afterwards, I ran back home to grab my swimming stuff and headed over to Kessing for a quick 800 yards in 30 minutes. Then, I headed over to the Kingswood Pool to hang out with the people I went to the gardens with. Overall, a nice day.

Rankings and Other Nonsense

Princeton Review has released their annual rankings of colleges for random things. UNC got #3 for “best college newspaper”, #5 for “students pack the stadiums”, #8 for “happiest students” and #16 for “jock schools”. Good and bad in there for sure from point of view, but nothing truly egregious. On the other hand, Cal only got #20 for “best college library”. Bummer, Cal kids.

Just when Dear Abby disappoints me…

a good letter comes in like this one:

DEAR ABBY: My girlfriend exposed her breasts in front of a group of guys at a barbecue. I was very hurt by it and no longer have any respect for her. I can’t forgive her for it, and I have broken off the relationship. She thinks I am wrong for feeling this way. What do you think? — UNFORGIVING IN LOVELAND, COLO.

DEAR UNFORGIVING: Your feelings are your feelings, and you are entitled to them. The girl showed poor judgment. My immediate reaction is she must have been drunk when she did it. If that’s not the case, she may be insecure and was making a bid for attention. Because you say you no longer respect her, I’d say it’s time to find another girl who doesn’t flash her headlights.

Weight Loss

An interesting thing has been happening over the past several years. My weight has changed dramatically a few times. My original driver’s license said I was 135 pounds and 5′10″ and it stayed that way until two years ago when I went into the DMV to renew my license in person. The next point I weighed myself after that had to be when I was in Cologne in May 2001. At the time I was 76kg (168 lbs) and 6 feet tall. Now, when I was living in Germany, I definitely gained weight because my whole body (especially my face) got fatter. That means, I had to weigh less than that before I left for Bayreuth and probably more when I got back to California in August. Drinking beer every day can do that to you… Fortunately, more time in Berkeley where I walked all over the place, normalized things out again (I think). Of course, I never keep track of my weight, so I don’t know, but I’m guessing I was maybe around 170. After moving to Saarbrücken, I think my weight may have gone up again since I was riding the bus more (and hence walking less).

Earlier this year, I went to the doctor because I had a persistent cold. The nurse weighed me in at 180 pounds and I think that was in May. I had started exercising in March or April of this year, so I probably weighed even more back then. The scary part is that apparently this level of weight put me right at the edge of the recomended BMI. Regardless, I was already exercising and trying to eat at least a little better. Well, since then I have lost now about 20 pounds, which is weird cause I never really intended to lose weight. I mainly just wanted to be in better shape. This morning, I weighed myself at the gym and the scale said I was 158 pounds, which even I find hard to believe. I think I may need to start eating more as that seems even too skinny for me. Still, according to BMI standards, it’s still well inside the healthy range. If I recall correctly, I could get down to something ridiculous like 135 pounds before it became “officially” unhealthy, but that would be way scary.