Whole Foods Ramble

Not about Whole Foods. That's just where I am sitting, resting, eating, and writing.


Yogurt. I got hungry and needed some food. The downside to Whole Foods is that they carry nothing with artificial sweetener. All the yogurt has sugar, syrup, honey, etc. Except plain. I don't really like plain, but I bit the bullet. I bought a peach and ate the yogurt. Plain's not so bad. Continental Nonfat. It even tasted like it had fat in it.


People. A guy comes in and sits at the table opposite me. He is waiting for something. He just sits there. No reading. No eating. No sleeping. Just sitting there. Looking at the space in front of him. Just past that space, is me. It's uncomfortable. Also, it reminds me of Putty, on Seinfeld. Putty sits in his airplane seat and does absolutely nothing but gaze at a seatback for the whole flight.


Coffee. Whole Foods has good coffee. Used to be, you had refills when you get it "for here."

One day, Security Bob comes up as I'm sitting down after I get my refill and asks "Did you pay for that?"

"Yes."

"Okay, cuz you only get one refill."

"I didn't know it was one, but this is my only refill, so I'm okay."

He rolls his eyes and leaves.

Three weeks pass. Security Bob comes up as I'm sitting down after I get my refill and asks "Did you pay for that?"

"Yes."

"I saw you not pay for it," he says.

"This is the refill."

"They don't do refills." Bob scowls.

"What do you mean?"

"That was a while ago. No refills. You have to go pay for that." He stands there.

I apologize and tell him that I'll go pay in a minute. He shakes his head. "Now." What an ass.


Peach. That peach that I ate with the yogurt? $1.58. How can one peach be worth $1.58?

Atheist with a Safety Net

My parents were Catholic, so I was baptized. That was basically my last day in church with my parents, other than the odd wedding or funeral.

I grew up never thinking about religion much. As I became a teenager, I became an atheist. I stayed an atheist throughout my college years. My friend knew I'd been baptized and joked that I was an atheist with a safety net.

Side note. Everyone thinks atheists are bitter, angry people with some anti-religious chip on their shoulder. That wasn't me. Those ones are just the atheists that people know about, because they don't shut up. I knew several who just lived life and didn't advertise. The more public ones give the rest of them a bad name. I was always pro-religion, I just didn't believe. In fact, my best friends in college were my friends at the Newman Club.

Times have changed and I'm no longer an atheist. I identify with Christians, but I really don't know where to start with religion. It's been a while since I read The Bible, but the last time I did, I was not inspired.

Here's my problem. I like what God has to offer. Christians and Jews are it. They are obviously onto something. But, I'm not getting the whole "Jesus is savior" vibe. I get why Christians go there, but I don't have that faith.

I refuse to be spiritual. I know it's a catch-all, but please. Spiritual says patchouli, incense, organic foods, and Prius. They all have their places, and aren't bad, but I refuse be defined by some stupid term that elicits that image.

I asked my friend Ed about this whole thing. Ed seems to know The Bible inside and out, like he's some sort of scholar or something. He's a very devout Coptic Christian (which apparently just means that he gets to got to all the Christmas Sales BEFORE their Christmas celebration, instead of after!). He has an air of realism about him and puts regular life into religious perspective quite easily. Ed's a good guy, too. But, good guy and smart shopper aside, he couldn't explain to me why Jesus is the guy. Apparently it's self-evident or something. Must be a faith thing. Which I don't have.

So, to ramble on, where does that leave me? I'm not really sure of my choices, here. I'm not even convinced that a savior is coming, so I don't think I can be Jewish, either. I think there are minimum requirements.

But, maybe I just don't know enough to know yet. Is that it? After more studying, will something just "pop" into my head and I'll be a believer? What do I study?

I can tell what I don't want to be. I can tell the kind of person that I want to be. When I fill out a form or survey, I check "Christian." That's what I identify with. But, why?

Valentine's Day

Things were great. Mexican food, then Starbucks for some dessert. Plenty of talking (especially the 10 year old girl). I guess I do have stuff to talk about with my daughter. It was just the pressure... Nothing to stress about.

Nervous On Valentine's Day

Big Valentine's dinner tonight. I'm kinda nervous. I'm not all that good, one on one. I freeze up. I'm shy. She's shy. This could suck.

Luckily, it's my daughter. I just hope she doesn't end up thinking her Dad's boring.

Blogged via Blackberry, where backspacing is more trouble than it's worth. Please forgive any typos.

Stinks

1st of all, how does this guy NOT know he stinks? It's 6:30am. Why does he stink, anyway? He's a 'pacer,' too. Hard to avoid...

Know what else stinks? My arm hurts. I thought it was just sore, but I think it's more. I had to scrap half my workout. I'll take a few days off from pressing, I think. Not happy.

Crap.

Blogged via Blackberry, where backspacing is more trouble than it's worth. Please forgive any typos.

Is it raining in there? It's raining out here too. - Pooh

It's really hard to complain about the rain in Southern California. It hardly ever happens. But, when it does, it's on the weekend.

I was a little sore from EDT, Sand Challenge, and some sprinting, so I got up early to hit the Sand Challenge one more time. But, there's the rain.

I'm sure they're still doing the Challenge anyway, but I'm not doing it with them.

One Dry Pit

You know how to tell when a solid deodorant is about to runout? Me either. It will run out with one pit to go. You'll see.

EDT Heaven (or is it hell?)

I don't care, as long as I get results.

In a nutshell, I just got off the phone with Julianne from Charles Staley's team. Julianne has offered me the chance to work with Charles!

I'm sure it will be far closer to heaven than hell, but I'll go as close to it as Charles tells me.

Something tells me this will be a step up from my previous 'Joe Trainer' experiences!

Absolutely amazing!

Why? (2)

Why do you back into parking spots?

It takes longer to back in than it does to back out and it just annoys the normal people that have to wait for you to back in.

Plus, we normal people can't tell when you are coming out of the spot. There's a reason cars have backup lights!

What, do you need a fast getaway?