Peace

Things always seem to be crazy don't they? Does anyone ever really have any down times these days? We wish for it and we say we want it but our actions always seem to tell a different story. You know what I mean. You are enjoying a wonderful quiet evening at home. You haven't had one in months. It is a luxury that seems too precious to let pass. Then, the phone rings. You tell yourself not to answer it. To just sit where you are in your solace and relax without any of the outside world interrupting. Instead, you look at the caller ID. Crap. You know that if it weren't important, this person wouldn't be calling to begin with....what do you do?

Once Again - Anonymous

We here in the Land Of Blog all know about the cowardly types who post negative and/or foul messages on ours or our friends' blog posts. Well, the world of cowards is not limited to your posts or mine. Here is a band of Liberal Cowards who think that breaking the LAW is acceptable and they believe because they remain "Anonymous" they are untouchable.
I DESPISE cowards. Regardless of their political affiliation. Conservative or Liberal. Hold your head up if you are willing to shred another person either personally or politically. Anonymous people are despicable wastes of good oxygen.
I read this post this morning and I am sharing it with you- NOT as a political statement but rather as a statement to just how low some people are willing to go to try and "win". Win with honor for crying out loud. Otherwise, take your sniveling, "I am a victim" attitude and slink back into the sewage you crawled out of.

EDIT: I am adding this little addition to my original post because I did not expound enough on why I posted this article.
Running for public office does not mean that you are no longer protected by this countries laws. This piece of crap group is NOT entitled to violate ANYONE's personal rights as an AMERICAN CITIZEN. IT IS NOT OKAY. Without exception. Hands down, no way, no how, not today, not tomorrow and not yesterday. NEVER. This doesNOT fall under the mistaken idea that being a public figure exempts you from a private, personal life. In additon, there are many, many times that government officials HAVE to communicate outside of their "govt network" because of the restrictions and requirements used for the internet highway the govt provides. This issue is NOT about what was exchanged between Palin or anyone else. It is about the violation of her "certain inalienable" RIGHTS. SHE IS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN!!!!! Now, lets pretend just for a moment, that you are the subject of this disgusting display of cowardice. Lets pretend that someone hacked into your life. They stole everything they could get their hands on and broadcast it to the entire world. I'll pretend that it's okay...

Left Wing Group Hacks Palin's EmailBy Caleb HoweSep 17th 2008 3:30PM

Filed Under:eBreaking News, 2008 President, Scandal, Media, Sarah Palin

The ill-defined protest "group" known as Anonymous, famous both for their campaign against Scientology and their strange protest activities, has hacked Gov. Sarah Palin's private email account and posted some of the contents online.

Internet "griefing" is a key component of the activities of Anonymous, and this is no exception. The full text of two private emails, as well as the screenshot of Palin's inbox and some of her family photos were added to the site wikileaks. The purported reasoning is that they are blowing the whistle on Palin using private email addresses for public business. However, as pointed out at Network World, the two example emails do not support the assertion, as they involve political material not permissible for use with a government email address.

Anonymous may be unaware, but elected officials not only may use private email addresses to correspond with other public officials, they actually must if it is material deemed not appropriate. For example, if Nancy Pelosi wanted to send the latest Michael Moore video to Howard Dean, she'd have to use her yahoo email address to do it, not her house email. So a bunch of addresses of people like Arnold Schwarzenegger showing on the list is evidence of nil.
The face of the controversy could change as the contents of the remainder of the emails are parsed ad nauseum by the online left, as you know they will. The current takeaway is clear: as the last two weeks have shown, the online left and their traditional media enablers will stop at nothing, not even the law, in their bloodthirsty quest to tear Gov. Sarah Palin limb from limb. It will be instructive to see who, if anyone, can be bothered to condemn this hack job.

UPDATE: The McCain campaign has issued a statement: "This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."

It is amusing to see, this week, a half-hearted attempt by the DNC and media outlets to paint the McCain campaign as playing dirty. Obama's religiously devoted followers, including on blogs and in the press, have been doing his dirty work for months, and much dirtier than the McCain campaign could ever hope to stoop to. It's a neat trick to try and avoid getting Obama's hands dirty, and I recall a lot of people earlier this year whining that surrogates were doing McCain's dirty work for him. Yet the most significant Democrat blog online openly admits to doing so on behalf of Obama.

The number of lines willing to be crossed in the Palin witch-hunt the last few weeks continues to grow. From spreading rumors about her children to questioning her as a mother ... hacking her private email account and posting her private family photos online fits in perfectly. I have no doubt we'll soon hear a defense of the importance of this illegal activity to the political process. Steal personal email, don't steal press release prayers. Claim Palin's children are fair game because they are with in her public now and then, claim Michelle Obama is not fair game despite being a speech-making, event-hosting part of the campaign.

Anonymous may be anonymous, but their tactics are as plain as day. It's Obama Supporter 101. Do as he wants, not as he pretends not to do. Anonymous broke the law, but they kept the spirit of the left perfectly intact.

Update: Tonight, Unusable Signal is live on the air at 11pm. Unusable Signal is the number one progressive/liberal talk show at blogtalkradio, and I cohost on Fridays and Saturdays. Tonight it will be hosted by Tom Fitzsimmons and AOL's Tommy Christopher. I'll be calling in and taking questions as well. I'm persuadable on the definition of Anonymous as left wing.

If you are not as furious as I am about how this person's Rights as an American Citizen have been violated, maybe we as a country should be re-examining why we even BOTHER to elect our officials. From now on, let's just draw straws because after all, if you don't care about the flagrant violation of a fellow citizen's rights, why bother.

Open Up My Head and Let me Out

I am sure someone out there knows what I am talking about. I am pooped. Exhausted. Slam Tired. When does it end?

This year has been a crazy year for me. Not a bad year, just tons going on. The bad...well, it could be worse and it's not. The good has far outweighed any bad. I just feel as though I haven't had any real down time. Time to sit in quietude and let my thoughts gather a little dust. You know the dust. That dust that I am supposed to be wiping off of the TV and it's cabinet. The dust that covers the bathtubs in both guest rooms. The dust that accumulates everywhere you tend to look. When the hell does dust show up any way? Who opened the door and invited it in? Wasn't me. Hell no, I would have slammed the door square in it's face, no hesitation, no remorse. Unless of course it wanted to find refuge in my brain for 10 days...

I have filled my brain with quite a number of literary works this past year. Branched out with a couple of new authors. Totally dig it when I find a new author that I like. Call me a bit of a snob about reading a good yarn. When reading a story, I like a nice tight, cohesive story. No "whoops" allowed. I mean, come on, don't try to slip crap in the story that you(the author) have already discredited in a previous chapter. What the hell? Am I stoopid too? Tired and stoopid, that's me. Yes, I know stupid is spelled incorrectly, just trying to drive home a point.

Okay - I'm done D.U.N. done. No more moaning. Good books, love them I can usually devour 2 or 3 a week. Anyone have some interesting fodder for the brain to recommend? I am currently not reading any self help or DIY books. Hold those recommendations for later times. Historical reference style books, also off the list. Give me witty, cleverly written, "this has absolutely no societal connotations whatsoever". Show me some good dark mystery or sci-fi or scary stuff or mind benders. I have read everything out there by S.King, D. Koontz, A.Rice, N.Demille, T.Clancy, Grisham, Chrichton, and many others. Show me someone new who has the ability to spin a good yarn.

This photo has absolutely NOTHING to do with my post - It's just a freakin' awesome shot. Go here to see more of Todd Gustafson's work.

Particpate or Observe?

Which are you? Do you participate in life or do you tend to observe life? I have always considered myself the type who participates. I don't do well sitting on the sidelines and observing. Lately though, I am not so sure I can say I am participating. In anything. I am not having a pity party or sitting around feeling sorry for myself. Not at all. I just don't have the push or the drive to do anything that involves having to interact.

Most of you know, there have been a lot of changes here at The House of Bigun. My company has closed. I have found a job with another Design Firm. It's a good company with a good reputation and it's weathering the economic slump. I work with great people and the owner is a jewel. Truly. So, what's my problem?

Bigun is pushing to get his Installation Co. up and running. He is so far past wanting to do lawn care now. Who can blame him? Not me.

I have been hanging out in facebook a lot lately. Playing a game, Space Raiders. Actually, it's more than just a game. It's a habit forming addiction. I can't help it. Me. The non - video/computer game player. It's not even as though it has any virtual reality to it. When Bigun first "recruited" me, I thought it was utterly stupid. So stupid in fact I was slightly insulted that he thought I would be even remotely interested in it. Humpff! I guess the joke is on me. I can't pull myself away from it. Well, it is waning a little. The developers of SR have now come out with a bolder, fresher game called Clan Wars. It's cool. Just not the same.

So, I am making my way back to being a participator, I am. I don't make a very good observer. Where's my kayak......?

BTW -Which are you?

I saw this on a friend's blog - OMG!!!! LOVE her!!

Here We Are

I know, it's almost a month since my last post. A full month since we left for Ironman CdA. So much happened. Most of you know because you were there. Maybe that is why I have had such a hard time putting this post together.
I am thinking most of you are familiar with the term F*^#!d up. Yep, that's me. Totally.I have been out with the girls tonight and just getting home. Yep. Gotta say, I had a GREAT time!!! Really. Fun. Can't type, but I still had a freakin' blast. We went to a country bar. They all line dance. Okay, not so fun because i didn't really know all of the dances. The ones I did though, totally rocked. Can you say country rocked? Just asking.
I am now a member of Facebook. Are you? Bigun blackmailed me into it. He did. He said that if i didn't set up my own page he was going to do it for me. Didn't fly. he sucks. So, now i am a facebook member. Honestly, I don't really like it. I like the word games. i do. But, the rest of it, just not me. It's so... i don't know the words, but just SO. In your face. IE: facebook. I guess.
IMCdA was awesome. I know, awesome is an overly used word but honestly, I can not think of a better adjective.
A majority of our creepy Internet friends seemed to find their way to one central location. How weird is that?!?!? It is weird in the most Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousway!!! LOVED IT!!!!
People who I didn't think really "got me" got me. Live and in person, well, I am a little different. Not much, but a little. Gratefully, like I said, everyone was supercalifragilistic. I noticed the subtle differences between the bloggy peeps and the real life peep but it was so subtle, you "got it". Really, you did. I discovered that the people who I have grown to know and love through the Land Of Blog, I know and love in real life. I couldn't help it and I couldn't hug anyone tight enough. I am still finding myself wanting to squeeze everyone till they pop. I can't help it. Call me a weirdo. I had a small glimpse of this last year when we went to Chicago and we got to meet J-Wimm and Big Mike. I truly thought it was an isolated thing. I did not believe it could happen again, times 40. But. It.Did. And now, here i am trying to find the words and they simply do not exist in this continuum. They don't. I wanted to post a ton of pictures, and I will. The ones that really captured not only the athletes but my heart and my soul. The heart and soul that made Ironman CdA all that it truly was.
I'll do it soon, just give me a few days.
I love you guys.
XOXOXO
Di

All Packed and Ready to Go

Shuh.

It's Monday, the 16th of June. Bigun and me will be hopping a plane in 20 hours. Sounds like a long way off doesn't it? NOT. I have to sleep somewhere in those 20 hours, do a little more laundry in that time frame, pick up and deliver 2 chairs for a client, tie up loose ends with the studio, Oh! yes, and still pack.

Personally I am not planning out my outfits like other girls, uh sorry I mean guys - Bigun. I just know I need a lot of crap that has to go into one bag. A single, lonely bag. How is that going to happen. Crap. 10 days worth of clothes in one bag? Reality check please...

I bought these bags last year so that I could easily find my bags at the luggage rounder

I am pretty certain I'll need two of them. I bought the whole set though so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll give Bigun the biggest one, he's going to need it for all of his tops and such.

Bigun is going to need a camel for all of his crap.

So, I better quit blogging and get my fanny in gear so that I can get the list completed in less than 20, wait, make that 18 hours...need to be at the airport 2 hours early. Who's brilliant idea was that!!??!!

See you guys soon, can't wait!

If You ordered a shirt, please read this

Okay, shoot me later, after the IronMan okay?

Here is what I have
These are folks who will not be at CdA I am mailing out your T's today

BigMike -white 2X non sherpa
Duane -2 one white, one black
IronTriTim - one white med
Dan -one white
GEl - one white

Folks who will be there - I will have them with me at the Athlete's thingy on Thursday and hand them out. I am mailing them all from here to CdA today so that I won't miss anyone who leaves in the next day or two.

Wedgie - med non sherpa blk (I ordered white but your's and Iron Eric's came in black)
IronEric -2 med non sherpa in white (sorry they sent all 3 whites in black)
Fe-Lady -blk xxl sherpa
Mrs Greyhound- 1med child white non sherpa & 1L white non sherpa
Momo-2Med white sherpa
Tea - 3 shirts all blk sherpas a 2X, an XL a L
IronJenny- 1 sm blk sherpa
Blink - 1med blk sherpa 2 sm blk sherpa
SWTGirl - 1sm blk non sherpa and 1 med blk sherpa

What's in Your UBK?

As if I didn't have enough to do. You know, Blog (which in all honesty I haven't been doing much of lately), email, close up my business, look for a new job, try to catch everyone up on these major life changes (my friends all want to know everything that is new with me. ie:friend)try to keep some semblance of a neat home (Not happening right now), empty the contents of my studio, find someone to rent the space so I don't get sued by the owner, list crap on eBay, attend Tri's still try to have a normal life AND Bigun wants me to list myself on Facebook. I told him I didn't want to. I am honestly too busy for it. I check in on his occasionally to catch up on everyone. So, I told him "No Thanks". He said, "Okay, I'll put you on there." So, I figured I better jump on it before he could. Bastard. So, I'm on Facebook now. No promises on constant communication. No promises on all of the good Karma stuff, or sending mixed cocktails. But, I am there. So there you have it Bigun. Now, go send out your good karma stuff.

On another front,

There I was, standing in line at the the local Chinese Restaurant. My friend, lets call her DAWN, is busy chatting about things. Life, the weather, what she's going to eat...I'm drifting. Listening to all of the other conversations going on around me and yet still being attentive and fully aware of Dawn. She was telling me about her son, her future trip to Egypt this summer, life in general. Finally, it's my turn to order lunch. I finish ordering and walk over to the chairs at the front of the restaurant and wait for my "to go" order. As I am walking to the chairs by the door i overhear a fellow talking with two others. he says..."No, really, it's totally an American dish. If you go to China and order it, they won't know what you are talking about." I laugh to myself and i think, he is talking about Egg Foo Young. Dawn joins me a moment later. I turn to her and say "Guess what?" you know what her reply is..."What?"

So, I point at the fellow I overheard talking and said "He has a UBK too!!" Dawn starts laughing and asks me how is it that I know he too has a UBK. Before I continue on let me explain what a UBK is for those of you who haven't heard me use this term before. The UBK stands for a Useless Bank of Knowledge. Mine, it's full of all sorts of things. For example, the Egg Foo Young thing. BTW, DAWN is the same girl who barely escaped death at the hands of a serial killer rapist. Actually, she barely escaped death by TriSherpa Di to be more accurate. That is another story though. Getting back to the UBK...

DAWN and I have been friends for about 6 years. She always laughs at me and my little bits of trivia. I am a trivia junkie. It comes naturally. I don't work at remembering little tidbits of information. I read it somewhere, or I hear it and it just sticks. You know how some people remember Historical Dates or every one's birthdays or sports stats. I remember minutia. Stuff that the average person doesn't really care about knowing but find it somewhat interesting none the less.

Allow me to give you an example.... not only is EggFooYung an American dish, so is General Tso's chicken and Chop Suey. True. Sorry. They came about when the Chinese who immigrated to the US started creating dishes using the local fare. Hence, if you go to China, don't expect to see these dishes offered on the menu.

What is a Bobeche? It's that curved round glass(or metal) disc with a hole in the center that fits over a candle to catch the wax drippings.

Did you know that baby venomous snakes are far more deadly than adults? It is true. Want to know why? Because an adult strikes and removes it's fangs after one injection of venom. It may strike again, but that's something different. Baby snakes strike and their fangs are so small often times they cannot remove them from the victim. This means they continuously inject venom, over and over again. When that happens, it usually means, D.E.D. Dead.

The Osprey is a bird of prey that plunges into the water to capture fish. Ospreys are large birds, black-brown on top and white below. Sometimes people confuse them with Bald Eagles. Ospreys feed primarily on fresh panfish. They search for fish while flying 30-100 feet above the water. If they spot prey, they hover, then plummet down, plunging into the water feet first. Strong, curved talons and specialized spines on the bottoms of their feet help them hold onto the slippery fish. If they catch the fish, they quickly take off, juggling it in their feet until its head is facing forward into the wind. Then they fly to a perch to eat it. Ospreys can’t swim and have been known to drown, especially if they get their talons stuck in too large a fish and can’t take off. They can't take off because their talons "lock" into the fish and they cannot remove the locking talons to free themselves. The spiked talons either get ripped out or the bird drowns.

Hey Jude -When John Lennon left his wife, Cynthia, for Yoko in 1968 Paul McCartney didn't let that stop him from visiting Cynthia and Lennon's son Julian. Paul has maintained a great friendship throughout his life with Cynthia and her son Julian. One morning as he was driving out to see Cynthia and Julian, Paul began humming a tune and singing "Hey Julian..." Later the song became Hey Jules and eventually turned into Hey Jude. The song has always been about and for Julian Lennon.

Trivia aside, I also know the lyrics to more songs than I can remember. I know, sounds like an oxymoron. Truth is, I hear songs that I haven't heard in years. In fact I have forgotten the songs even existed. They come on the radio and I can remember the lyrics, from 10, 15, sometimes 20 years ago. That show with Wayne Brady -Don't Forget The Lyrics, well, I could rock it.
I remember stuff. I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, or what might have been said to me 5 minutes ago, but I remember Stuff. Hence, my brain being coined the UBK.
What's in your UBK?

I Want Truffles

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Where did I hear that? Right. Well, Forest's Mom was right. And let me tell you, right now, I must have the cheapest, crappiest box of chocolates out there because they pretty much suck. I am over it. I am pitching out the rest of this crappy chocolate and I am headed straight for the truffle counter! Give me dark chocolate filled with raspberries. Give me creamy chocolate with a dark fudge center and while you are at it, roll that son of a bitch in some bitter sweet chocolate powder. 'Cause that's how I play it. I want to choose what I'm going to get, I am tired of it being handed over to me with out any say so on my part. Dammit. Life, you can keep the crappy stuff, give me the good stuff. And that's all I got to say 'bout that.

Okay, so maybe I have a little more to say. Can you say cathartic? I am already feeling that way and I am just getting started. My posts have been few and far between lately. My plates have been full and instead of saying enough, I have just been taking it. So, it's time for a change.

Sure, there are some things in this life you are powerless to do anything about. My dad and his many health issues. His insistence that he knows better than his Doc who diagnosed him with Diabetes. Hello, you have diabetes, you take your medication. Am I right? Well, I can't do anything about the choices my Dad is making but life insists that I still have to deal with the consequences. He just came out of spinal surgery May 20th. I was there, in NC ,for his surgery. I stayed for a week. Discovered that he has not been taking his medication for almost a year. His going blind has no correlation to his diabetes and it going untreated. No, of course not. His relentless pain cannot be solved by physical therapy, just ask him, he'll tell you. His poor circulation and bad ticker don't benefit from exercise. Again, ask him, he'll give you, me and anyone who'll listen an earful. I am tired. The love I have for my Dad is true and it's deep, but he doesn't hear anything I have to say. I am helpless to help him. I am too tired now to keep trying.

The day after I got home from North Carolina I learned that a friend of ours had died. He left 3 young boys and a loving, adoring wife behind. Yes, he left them. He was a good man, someone I admired and respected. Tom suffered from incredible pain left over from a Pro Football career. To help with the pain he took pain killers. They just never seemed to help him though. Each and every day for him wasn't about whether or not he would be in pain but rather it was about what degree of pain could he manage. Most days, the pain won out and he succumbed. Finally, in the end, he has found relief. We attended his funeral last Friday.

The day before the funeral my business partner and I agreed to a divorce. My company is closing. All of the hard work I put into building it is gone. It's done. Over. The doors will close permanently at the end of this month. In the mean time I am watching everything go out the door to be pedaled away for pennies on the dollar. I am heartbroken. I am lost. I am sad. I am tired.

There are a couple of options open to me. I know there are. One seems really great, but it is still not an absolute. One possibility may take me out to Momo's neighborhood...still, nothing solid. Things in my life are headed for definite change. HUGE change. Hope I can make my car payment in the mean time.

So, as for the frigging box of chocolates, I am done with it. My stance is like I said earlier, front and center at the truffle line, choosing what comes next. Maybe I'll have some lovely choclates filled with rum...

EDIT: BTW - I AM an ENTJ!!! Dammit.

I Think Too Much

When does good sense stop being good sense and become wishful thinking? How do you decide when to ignore your intuition and move forward with what seems to be the facts? BTW, the facts contradict your gut feeling. Are you really as savvy with the ways of the world as you thought - or are you just wishing on a pipe dream? The world around you and everyone in it, are telling you the very opposite of what you believe. What you believe, with every fiber of your being. So there you are. Back where you started. Your gut feeling, fact or fiction? Are my rose colored glasses getting in the way of the stark non -technicolour of real life?

Who knew this was me?

Cocktail of the Hour

Some of you out there may already know about this. For those of you who don't....

Mix this

with this

Here is how it's done, sip a little off the top of the Corona so that the neck is clear of beer. Then, tip the Bacardi O and pour it in to top off the Corona. Place thumb tightly over opening, turn upside down to mix. Place upright, slowly remove thumb. Enjoy. Yumma yumma.

If you don't think you'd like the fresh taste of orange try this instead....

Mix one of these

With This. Same directions as used for the Bacardi O just substitute Absolut Citron. Both drinks are light and refreshing. For less calories, substitute with Corona Light.


This is a great Sherpa beverage. Minimal ingredients and no manual mixing. Use it for your own enjoyment but please share with your athlete post race.

You Decided

Sorry about torturing you with a vote. The Shirt company will do black or white for your shirts, we have reached a quantity that will allow a combo of the two colors!!! YAY!!


here are the samples for the shirts.

Here is who I have so far for shirts-----------

Tea - total of 3 Sherpa black
Blink -total of 3 Sherpa Black
JohnnyTri -total of 4 no sherpa black
Iron Eric -total of 2 no sherpa -waiting for color
Duane -total of 2 sherpa -black
GEL -total of 1 no sherpa white
IronJenny -total of 1 sherpa black
SWTriGirl -total of 2 one sherpa one no sherpa
BigMike -total of 1 no sherpa white
Dan Seifring - total of 1 sherpa white
IronTriTim -total 1 sherpa white


I know that there are others who wish to order- please email me at Art2Di4@aol.com with your qty, size and color. The shirts are $21 each (we didn't reach the next discount level) plus $5.00 for shipping. The $5.00 Shipping will cover up to 4 shirts. I will send you an email with my mailing address. I believe we have a paypal account too, I have to check, only thing is, with paypal there may be addl. fees. These shirts are quoted at rock bottom cost. Honest to goodness.

Thanks for everyone's support!! I love you guys!!!
Di

My Week

I was reading Geek Girl's post. It was a great breakdown of her week. I read it and thought, wow, she had a week of weeks I think. Mine, pretty boring. Really boring. Then, I realized, maybe it wasn't so boring.
Monday was a good start for the week. My company is growing. This means I need a Consultant. I need someone who has already grown a couple of businesses to help me out. So, my partner and me met with this guy who believes he can help us. It's not the growing that worries me. It's the bleeding of profits. I want to be sure that the growth isn't hurting our ability to grow financially.
Monday night, I went to Yoga. Yes, yoga. Again. I loved the class. Loved the workout. (is yoga considered a workout?) I don't know if all Yogi's do this or not, but ours has you lie down and relax at the end of class. Breathe and purge sort of thing. She turns the lights out, lights a candle or two and starts telling you to clear your mind, breathe, fall into nothing. You get the picture right? I actually hear a couple of short snores. Yes. One or two folks were really listening to her, or not, based on your perception. Me, well I tried. I did. I couldn't get comfortable. Something about lying on the hard floor (yoga mat did not help so much) trying to relax. I kept tossing and turning. Just trying to find a comfortable position. Then, when the snoring started, I felt the giggles coming on. Not to mention, I was still giggling over the little fart that slipped out when I did the splits on the floor. Come on, farts are funny. Even in yoga class. I Could not clear my mind. The whole place was dark and sort of quiet. Except for the snoring, the yogi talking softly, a few other heavy breathers and me. Giggling. Quietly. Trying not to. That made it even funnier. I am not sure I am going to be allowed back in to yoga.
On Tuesday I fought off a serial killer, rapist. Single handedly. With a knife. He had a gun. This is how it unfolded...
Tuesday we had our weekly meeting at work. Had a contractor come in and give us information on his business and talk about our building a professional partnership with him. Only one problem. One of my colleagues didn't show up. She didn't call, she wasn't answering her home or cell phone either. She would have called if she were able. That's her. That's what she does. My colleague is also one of my dear friends, lets call her DAWN. At about 1:30pm I finally track down DAWN'S sister. It took me about 30 minutes to find her. I only knew the sister's first name and I only knew she worked for an office supply company. So, I start dialing the yellow pages. A few companies later, I hit the right one. I talk to DAWN's sister (who also happens to live with DAWN). Sis has also been unable to reach DAWN. So, I get in my car and head over to DAWN's house. My other 3 colleagues are all just as worried as I am. They asked me to call upon my arrival and to keep them posted on what's happening.
On the way to her house I begin to think of what might have happened. What if she was in a bad wreck on the way to work. Well, if her car wasn't at home, we'd call the FL HP and see what we could find out. At which point we would also start checking with the hospitals. My thoughts though, lets see first if she is home.
To give you a little background, my friend is newly single. She is back out on the dating scene. I knew she was going out to dinner Monday night with some friends. I thought, what if she met someone. What if in her trusting ways (she trusts everyone) she maybe, just maybe met someone and brought him home. You know, to watch a movie or something. Well, what if Mr.Friendly turned out to be Ted Bundy JR. For crying out loud!! What if Mr. Friendly turned out to have a fond admiration for The Green River Killer. You see where this is going don't you? My fears aren't baseless though. It just happens that years ago a friend of mine, one of my closest dearest friends, was kidnapped, beaten, raped, stabbed, and left for dead in her van as the attacker set her van on fire. The attacker left, my friend didn't die. She survived, barely. You can imagine what was going on in my head at this point.
When I arrive at DAWN's neighborhood, she doesn't answer the call from the gate. I get out of my car and flag down a neighbor who was leaving, briefly explained I have a friend who I am worried about, answered her questions of who and where, she let me in the gate. When I pull into the driveway, there is a strange car parked there. It's about 2pm now. I ring the doorbell, knock loudly, shout, pound. Nothing. Nada. No one. Shit. Shit. Shit. I walk around to the back of the house because I can knock on the door to her bedroom(in FL we all have doors from the master to the outside). I knock and shout. Nothing. No response. DAWN is the kind of person who would come to the window. Even if she was naked. No DAWN. I look down at the patio table and there is a knife. I big knife. Swear, it's true. I couldn't make it up.
From where I am standing I can pretty much see into every room in the house. Except the bedroom, the blinds are all closed tight. As I am looking into the kitchen I notice DAWN's purse is there. I also see many of it's contents laying out on the kitchen Island. WTF? That's not normal. Ladies, how many of us pour our purses out at night? Things are not looking good. I pick up the knife. The knife looks like something DAWN's brother might have sent from Abu Dhabi. It's in it's sheath. Removing it from it's cover I note that it is very sharp and curved and should be easy enough to handle. All three of the back doors are locked . I couldn't get any of them open. I walk back to the front of the house. The mystery car is still in the driveway. From the front door I can see through to the back patio. The house is a very open floor plan with lots of windows. I start to look for a key. As I reach up above the door I step on the door mat and hear a tiny "chink" under the mat. Sounded like metal against cement. I lift the mat. Can you believe this? There is a key. To the front door. Who does that?!?! See what I mean about trusting? DAWN is trusting. Before I enter, I call the studio and tell them what's going on and that I am going into the house.
When I enter the house, my heart starts pounding. The sound is loud in my ears too. The house is quiet and dark except for the light coming in through the windows. I am yelling quite loudly now. No answer. There is DAWN's wallet, open, her driver's license is there, her social security card is out, on the island. Not right. A glass is sitting in the middle of a paper plate on the island. It still has coke in it and a few ice cubes. I am standing in the center of the house here. The answering machine has 11 calls on it. I turn back to the front door, make sure it is unlocked, leave my keys by the door in case I have to run. I didn't want to drop my keys and fumble to pick them up. In my mind, I am actually pretty calm. Oh, BTW, I am wielding the knife. A line from a movie pops into my head - something about bringing a knife to a gun fight. But, that's all I have. I just happened to forget my pistola at home today. Dammit. I turn towards the closed bedroom door.
Seriously worried that I could be out gunned here I actually reach across the door from behind a small wall to open it. Pushing it in as I shield myself behind the little outcrop of drywall. I ease my head around the corner after a 15 or 20 second delay. The bedroom is pitch dark. Instead of placing my body in the door I reach out to flip the light on with the knife. The bed is messed up but no one is in it. No blood. That's a good sign. My brain is very calm. I cross over and go into the bedroom. There is no body on the floor either. I turn to the bathroom. Lights are out. My next thought is I need to check the shower. I turn so that my back is on the wall opposite the bathroom mirror. This way, no one can come up from behind and surprise me. I turn on the lights, again using the knife. I am about to ease my way into the center of the bathroom to look in the shower and I hear a voice. It's sort of muffled. The voice says "I'm in the bathroom". (this means water closet aka toilet). Then the toilet flushes.
Through all of this, DAWN had been sitting on the John with a bad case of diarrhea. Yes. The cha cha chas. So -I stabbed her.
No, I didn't stab her. But, I thought about it. Briefly, for a millisecond. I put the knife back in it's case and keep it close by.
Turns out, DAWN did try to reach me that morning. She was really sick and wasn't going to make it. The message never came through on my phone. Thanks for the great service there VERIZON. The calm left my body and I began to shake, uncontrollably. Then I started to cry. Then I stabbed DAWN. Okay, again, I didn't stab her. In real life. In my mind though...
I had to call the studio and tell them everything was okay and that they could call the state troopers and tell them never mind. Then, I got in the bed and laid there for a bit to let my heart rate come back down. Dawn and I start to laugh. It was a sick, you are crazy, demented laugh. I asked her "Who's car is that in the driveway?" She asks, "what car?" I describe it. Turns out it belongs to her sister's boyfriend. He was in the house the entire time. He never bothered to answer my calling out or my knocks and poundings on the door. I yelled "HELLO" and "DAWN!!!" more times than I can count when I entered the house. We went out to the kitchen, Dawn checks and the coward's car is gone. Without a word.
A few minutes later I realized I was STARVING. Not just hungry, but so hungry I would gnaw off anyone's hand that managed to find it's way between my mouth and my food, hungry. We go for Chinese. After eating my little asian snack, my phone beeps. There's Dawn's message saying she won't be in to work today. It's 4:50pm the message is tagged at 9:24 AM. VERIZON SUCKS!!! Just sayin'.
When I arrive home I tell the story to Bigun. He was none too pleased with me. He was very unhappy with the fact that I entered a home believing there might be a killer inside...he was right. But. What are friends for? We kill killers and bury ex's, right?
Wednesday was uneventful.
Thursday, Betty Lou got some new shoes and an adjustment. Bigun and I went to the beach while BettyLou was getting her makeover.
Friday, Busy day of meetings and appointments. Today should be quiet and tomorrow is St.Anthony's
That was my week. Pretty boring, I know.

Meet My Neighbors

This one is an odd bird, he kind of hangs out with a different group.

The strong but silent one...mostly

Sneaky bastard. He's the one who creeps through your yard when he thinks no one is looking...you know the type









There he is again, all smiles, like nothing is going on.










You know those neighbors who "see" everything? Yep, we have one too.








The big Teddy Bear












The recluse

The HOA Architectural Committee is headed up by this guy

This is the couple everyone is jealous of, you know, both tall, both thin, ultra sexy. The couple we all love to hate and hate to love.

Our local chatty Cathy - well, in this case, Vern

He always wins the lawn competition.

seems quiet enough, but everyone is always trying to figure out just how he lost his "ear"

The twins do everything together. They dress alike, they always have the same cocktail.

just passing through actually

Every day she walks her kids to the bus stop

Those are my neighbors. If you ever come to Florida we'll go get to know them and we'll enjoy a beer or two courtesy of my other neighbor Anheiser. Just call and book a room at The Bigun B&B. See you soon!

Kayak Support?????

Have you guys seen this?

Great Clermont

First of all let me start by saying....lucky we made it to Clermont. Okay, TriDogmom and Momo, I know you both know what I am about to discuss. Pre-pre race night partying. WooHooo. Wow. I know Momo and TriDogmom are both table dancers when they drink...or so it has been assumed. (JUST KIDDING!!!LOL) I didn't do any table dancing pre -pre race night but i did do a little "cage" dancing. Yep. Girls' night out and the scotch was flowing... and flowing... I am 99% sure I had a great time. At least my girlfriends are saying I did! I believe them.


So, needless to say, after getting home at 4 am on the day before the race, I kind of took my time getting ready to head to Clermont the day before the race. I was draggin' ass to say the least. I didn't have what you would traditionally call a hangover, I was just tired. WAAAAAAAYYYYY tired. Finally though, after Bigun had BettyLou all packed up and ready to go I figured i should get my fanny in gear and get packed for our overnight stay in Clermont. Geez Louise. How do you pack for only one day?!?!? I don't know!!! Shouldn't someone, a woman in the know, give classes for that? I packed enough clothes for three days. You know, just in case. Hell, it was supposed to rain on race day. What would I do if I got totally wet while watching the race and then wanted to go somewhere afterwards? AND if we did go somewhere else, what did I want to wear? These are all important points when a woman packs an overnighter. Right? Finally, I get packed, enough for three days, throw the bag in BettyLou and we hit the road.


By the time we get on the road it's pretty obvious we'll roll into Clermont around dinner time. Bigun and I are pretty hungry. Afterall, I was too sleepy to bother eating all day Saturday and Bigun, well, I don't remember why he didn't take a break to eat, I was busy. Sleeping. We call GreenEyedLady and ExcelMan to find out their plan. After much deliberating we decide to all meet at the Italian restaurant we enjoy, Bruno's. It's good eats and it's on the way. It's all good.
Dinner is fun, GEL drinks, and drinks, and drinks and well, you get the picture. Okay, I am exaggerating, I just didn't want you to think I was the only one of the group that liked to drink. So, GEL had two glasses of wine. I stayed with water. After the night before, it was a wise choice, hydration and all that.

Finally we make it to our Hotel. If any of you ever stay over in Clermont, stay at the Fairfield Inn. It was really nice. Bigun and i had a super room!! Fantastical as a matter of fact. Supercalifrag...wait, that's a movie I saw. Never mind that train of thought. So, we're checked in and all comfy and finally decide to crash for the night.
Because we are so close to the race site I don't have to get up at O'Dark:thirty with Bigun. He and ExcelMan head out to the race site sans myself and GEL. Wow, who would have ever thought that sleeping in means getting up at 6:30am? That's what I did though, I slept in until 6:30 race day. UN. BE. LEEEEV. ABLE. Truly. Loved it.


After getting a coffee, checking out the breakfast line, drinking some orange juice, chatting about plastic bottle vs wax carton....we head over to the starting line. Parking for a change was actually pretty easy. Even though we didn't arrive until 5 minutes after the first wave. Whoops. GreenEyedLady and I were having a nice leisurely stroll down to the beach. I notice all the women lined up waiting for their start. So I start yelling, really yelling, "CINDY!!!", "CINDY JO!!!", "ANYONE HERE NAMED CINDY JOVANAVICH?!?!?!?" Everyone is turning and staring but no one is raising their hand. I am yelling to a line of blank faced chicas. Nothin. Finally one girl turns and asks.."What does she look like?" my answer..."I don't know." now, just imagine this, an entire line of women staring at you like you have 2 heads. That's what happened. I almost started to put that second head in my hat. Jeez. So, I proceed to say" She's one of my creepy internet friends." The entire group just about fell on the ground laughing. They wished me luck and then the gun went off and they hit the water. I didn't find Cindy Jo until much, much later.

In the mean time GEL and I wait for our guys to come out of the water. Bigun's wave went off first, 5 minutes later, ExcelMan's wave and 5 minutes after him, the women. So, GEL and I are waiting, and we're cheering. Then we cheer some more and wait some more. After a bit GEL and I look at each other. We don't say anything but we are both beginning to think the same thing..."Where are they?" Then, we see the first woman come out of the water. Our guys, both of them, just got chicked, Majorly, in the water. Still, no Bigun and no ExcelMan. We start to worry. Ofcourse, we had no knowledge of the 2 egg mcmuffins that were scarfed down. Finally, huge sigh of relief, ExcelMan comes out of the water. Phew!!! Thank Goodness. Wait, he took off AFTER Bigun. Crap. Worried again. A couple of mintes go by and then we see Bigun making his way on shore. THANK YOU JESUS!!! We crossed ourselves, said a few Hail Mary's, snapped some pictures and hit the path for the bike ride. It was all good.


This race is always a good race to go to. I like it alot. Fred Sommer and his crew do a really, really nice job. GEL and I settle in our chairs on the bike route and commence to more cheering. This is where I dropped the ball. In my foggy stupor of psuedo hangover the day before, I forgot to pack the booze for the race. No. Bloody. Marys. I know. I. Suck. Moving along...
The guys do great on the bike portion. Their timing was right, we cheered, whistled, clapped, etc. (I don't actually know how to whistle but I always imagine myself whistling). It's cowbell time on the run portion. After staking out a great spot just this side of the finish line we start ringing. It's funny how when we start off with the cowbells there are all sorts of people around us. 5 minutes later, not so many. When we start ringing cowbell, we can clear a spot at the finish line faster than a bad case of IBS. We raucously cheered everyone in over the finish line. It was a lot of fun. Not only did we get to cheer in our guys, we also were able to cheer in first time Triathloner John, our blogger peep Moonpie, and blogger peep Cindy Jo. It was fun. Except for the big emptiness left by the lack of Bloody Mary's it was a great time. Swear.

Sommer Sports always has a pretty good post race spread. This past Sunday was no exception. As a Sherpa however, I don't partake in the post race food. I would hate to have an athlete miss out on a plate of much needed nourishment because of me. As I told Moonpie, sometimes I will pilfer a banana or a bottle of water but otherwise, I don't eat the Athletes' food. Wait, unless there are cookies. I will snag a cookie, or two. On occasion. So, it's lunch time for us. Outback is sounding really good and especially fulfilling in the beer department. An added bonus is that it was Happy Hour. 2 for 1. We could drink all day. Until 7 pm atleast. That's when Happy Hour was over.


Gel, Excelman, Bigun and myself all enjoyed a really good lunch. With beer. Moonpie and Cindy Jo were held up at the race but they joined us later. Because of their time schedule GEL and ExcelMan had to leave but the four of us, Bigun, myself, Moonpie and Cindy Jo enjoyed a few hours at the bar laughing and having a good time. We may have even buzz texted TriRob a little bit. Can't really call it drunk dialing like we did to 21CM at IMFL because we weren't yet drunk and we were texting, not dialing. Poor TriRob...lol we are all still laughing pretty hearty about it.


BTW, did I mention that the West Point Triathlon Team cleaned up at this race? They did. Here's a shot of a few of their team members. These guys will be America's future leaders folks. Sharp. Easy on the eyes too!!

IMCdA '08 shirts for Sherpas or Athletes

T's are $18 each if we get minimum order of 37 shirts. Please let me know how many you would like to order.
Art2Di4@aol.com or call and leave a voicemail. please send an email so that I will have your email address to confirm order and totals. Thanks so much!
813-990-0951 if you would like to call.










You can delete "Sherpa" if you like.

What I Did Last Weekend

Last Saturday Bigun and I did a little grocery shopping. You know, stock up on a few staples and pick up a few perishables. Grocery shopping is never an activity that I look forward to doing. I don't hate it, it's one of those automaton type chores for me. In addition, it is inevitable that I forget to pick up the one thing I most wanted. Here's a few of the items we picked up... fresh fruit,

some light refreshment ( I LOVE this stuff)

Bigun needed some Gatorade and also chose some lovely cashews. Cashews don't last long in our home. Costco has a big tub they sell. It lasts about 3 or 4 days.

I walked away from the cart, being minded by Bigun, to grab a few items. When I return I went to place said items into the basket I noticed a couple of new additions to the cart...

But wait...Twizzlers weren't alone. They were accompanied by these -
I was only gone for about 40 seconds. Not even a full minute. All of that Tri-training has atleast paid off for the Bigun in the grocery aisle. He can speed his way through the donut and twizzler section faster than I can turn and grab a gallon of milk!

Bigun had an earache so I told him to rest while I put away groceries. I caught him on camera "resting".

Grocery Shopping is what I did on Saturday. I know, my last post made my weekend seem much more ...involved. Sad to say, most of you will be disappointed. (feel free to click on the pics for a better view) Last Sunday I hung out in my neighbor's (Orlando) backyard. Here's who I met...

I met a Mime at the pool.

A diver named Seymour

A couple of shady characters, I didn't get their names. Probably kin to the ones ExcelMan will be meeting in June during the Escape From Alcatraz Tri.

A surfer chick. She was pretty cool.

A few Acrobats

They were far too busy for me to catch their names.

But, you know how there is always that one, really big, guy who splashes around and jumps around in the pool? You know the one, always manages to soak everyone sitting poolside. He was there too.

I did get his name. He was actually a really likable fellow. His name was Shamu. Great guy.

There you have it. Now you know what I did last weekend. I hung out in the neighbors yard and met quite a few interesting characters. Any time you head this way, let me know. I'll introduce you. I'll fill you in later on what I did Wednesday. Wednesday I stayed home and played in my own backyard. It's pretty WILD.