What I do Not Recognize, I do not Like

First, let me just say that I can't explain just about any of the comments I've been receiving on this blog. They all look like spam as far as I'm concerned. They make no sense. Here's what they all sound like.

"This is most certainly exciting. Perhaps more color would be an addition. I very much enjoy the spectacle of earth. Buy some Levitra".

What?

Those of you who waited for a pithy Valentine's blog, well, I'm sorry, but I really didn't have it in me this year. You could've checked out my sad sack blog from 2008. Someone at work gave out those little cards that you used to give and get when you were in elementary school. My card had SpongeBob on it and that was the most love I got all weekend. In fact, on Valentine's Day proper I went and destroyed a double cheeseburger with bacon, a side or fries, a side of onion rings, and also a plate of fried pickled tomatoes. And of course a beer to wash it all down. Don't judge me for what I put in my body though. I'll leave the judging for those at work.

I like my new job, particularly the atmosphere. It's bright, quiet, and the people are young and nice. The only bad thing is that just about every morning at 9am the place starts to absolutely stink. Not stink, but reek of something that can only be described as sewage. The first couple days I just assumed it was the ventilation because I sit not too far from the bathroom, but then I noticed a number of people on the floor talking about it. Apparently it's been an ongoing problem. But then I started doing some sleuthing because my olfactory sense is better than yours. People would walk by our side of the floor and say out loud, "jesus, something smells like shit". Not so fast there ugly americans. The sense of smell is a very keen sense and it can stir up many emotions and memories, and after focusing a little bit I closed my eyes and was transported to a dusty, dirty alley in Ho Chi Minh City. Before me sat an old lady, smiling, hunched over a little push cart, folding spring rolls and placing them over the fire. Street meat. My friend and I were too hungry to pass up some fresh spring rolls so we sat on low, plastic, backless chairs, and pulled up to an equally low plastic table. The piping hot spring rolls were brought out with some greens and a side of sauce that smelled like something I wanted no part of...vinegary fish sauce my friends. I turned to the cube behind me to see my Chinese colleague tucking into some something from a tupperware that came from home. That was it.

I feel bad a little that people continually insult her breakfast without knowing, but she eats it all the time so she either has thick skin or fails to realize what she's doing to our side of the floor. I'm almost embarrassed for everyone in this scenario. I never saw an Asian eat cheese the entire 6 weeks I was away this summer so I'm going to assume they don't have an affinity for it. So I guess it would be like working in China, whipping out a grilled cheese sandwich (so tasty) and having everyone say how horrible it smelled. If I cared enough I'd offer some sort of diplomatic solution, but I don't care enough.

In other news, I went skiing this weekend for the first time in about 15 years and for the third time overall. It was a lot of fun, except for those few occasions when I felt I had little to absolutely no control over what was going on. A little scary, and at this age, I think first about how tremendously horrible it would be to blow out an ACL or something. But I survived. In fact I only bit it twice. But those beginner snowboarders...what's the point. They spend half the day on their ass. Strapping, Unstrapping. Strapping. Unstrapping. The falling I can understand, but what a production. I like skiing but I still like a sport where you just show up and you either have it, or you don't. There's not gear, no layers. It's just you. Although unfortunately there's no apres basketball, like there's an apres ski. Could you imagine. If you are trying to maximize your time on your feet learning you might as well ski. If you want to dress like an asshole and suck, apparently snowboarding is your game. I'm just reporting on what I saw. I'm excited to go skiing again. Maybe even...."out west"....which from everything I've heard might as well be Shangri la, ain't that right Lindsay Vonn?

Off to the gym to go for gold. Wish me luck.