things i dislike

"the market"
making intangible money off "the market"
consulting about how to make intangible money off "the market"
outsourcing
pretending to care about local economies and still outsourcing

chemicals that are bad for us
chemicals that are bad for us in things we ingest
the approval of chemicals that are bad for us in things we ingest

unsafe practices
unsafe practices with heavy machinery

"the system"
routing "the system" to harm others

not doing something about aforementioned things i dislike

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i'll add to the list if i come up with other things later

happy 2011! let it be a healthy year.

at the end of 2010, i smugly remarked during some conversation
that i had managed to avoid getting sick all year.
then i got the flu. (i really thought i had knocked on wood!)

it was awful; it set in right before i had to fly back to the bay.
6 hours cramped into a window seat, choking down recycled air,
trying not to sound like a biohazard while coughing uncontrollably.
adrenaline got me through the airport and i managed not to collapse.
thank goodness for those moving walkways!
no thanks to having a duffel instead of a wheeled suitcase..

then i crashed hard. several days worth of mostly laying down.
drinking soup and relying a lot on nicole to keep house and my head up.
it had been so long since i'd been this sick, i had forgotten what fever felt like!
though after a few days i certainly had a better grasp of them;
so well that i can almost guess my own temperature (when it's high).
100 degrees just feels slightly warm. can still do most things.
102 degrees makes sudden movement a little tough. and starts aching the neck.
104 degrees is stifling. pretty much bedridden (or couchridden, as the case was).
luckily i'm fairly tough and 104 did not last nor hospitalize me. yay!

now after a week and a half i am nearly a normal person again.
i can teach my classes without coughing up my throat,
and ride my bike (though nearly coughing up my throat in this weather).

fortunately the rest of my time spent back east was mostly pleasant.
i trained a lot with my guro and ironed out some key elements in my training.
got to spend time with just a couple friends who i happened to bump into.
my brother's family brought a new life into the world, my second niece!
she is little and gorgeous and pink and i can't wait to get to know her.
that was amazing, as she was originally expected after i was to leave for ca.
i also got to walk through a blizzard and shovel lots of snow!
then go back inside to spend time with mom and dad.
the house was the haven.

so now we're back west and getting back into the groove.
i plan to ride more, train more, teach more, and shoot more this year.
hopefully i can tell you and show you more this year too.
be well.