"Oh! You're a bleeder"

That's on the short list of things you don't want to hear from the person giving you your flu shot.


"Oops," I imagine, tops the list.


(Was at Costco today.  For some reason, I didn't trust the evening shift at my local grocery store pharmacy.  I'm sure they're totally capable of giving me a flu shot; but they always seem so bored.)  I went with the theory that Costco probably does a high volume in flu shots, so their flu shot person is likely pretty good at it.)


Costco lady was not particularly talkative.  (The woman who had me fill out the flu shot form was quite friendly; the woman who took my twenty bucks equally so.  The woman who actually had me in her office with the alcohol pad, cotton ball, injection and band-aid -- all business.)  Pretty much the highlight of the conversation was "Oh!  You're a bleeder!" as she rather quickly reached for the cotton ball.  She then volunteered that she's done tons of these and I'm her first bleeder.


Somehow, this does not make me feel special.


Just hoping I didn't bleed out all the good flu vaccine.  I've never gotten a flu shot before, but after last year's experience with the Worst Sore Throat I've Ever Had, I'm thinking that perhaps an ounce of prevention (or a couple of cc's, or however they measure it) is the prudent way to go.


In retrospect, I probably could've gotten it done for less money had I gone to someplace that took my insurance.  Still, I was there.  It was an impulse buy.  Besides, I promised myself that if I was a good little girl and got my flu shot, I could get one of them free sample brownies the lady in the back of the store was handing out.


By the time I was done with the flu shot, free sample brownie lady had packed up and left.  :(  

Things That Make Me Happy

- I'm playing with my new computer, which came with a bunch of games.  There's a chess game on it.  I lost twice.  On level 2.  This annoys me.  I used to be fairly decent at chess; but haven't played in forever.  In each of the two games I lost, I could pinpoint the stupid move where I lost the game, but that didn't stop me from making it.  I really hate the idea that I've lost whatever chess-playing mojo I had.  Just played again, gave the whole thinking ahead thing my full attention, and managed to checkmate the computer.  (I knew it was going well when I took out its Queen fairly early in the game.)  Go me.


- Haven't exercised in forever.  I saw this coming; really, I did.  Back when I first got my elliptical machine, I used it each and every morning -- no matter how late for work it would make me, there were simply no excuses.  (I started at 12 minutes a day, and ultimately worked my way up to 45.)  Well, over the past few months, I've allowed excuses.  Figured that I needed sleep, too, so allowed myself to sleep in when I needed to, rather than exercising in the morning.  Result:  Very little exercising.  I realized I had to go back to the No Excuses plan (especially since I haven't lost the weight I picked up eating all that strudel on vacation).  Today was the 7th day in a row I actually got on the damn elliptical.  (And I can manage about 25 minutes without feeling like I'm dying.)  Now I have to get the sleep back in there while still exercising every morning.


- Am also working on the whole Eating Healthy thing.  One thing I managed to do (and keep to doing) was cut the frozen dinners out of my diet.  I'd gone for them because of the ease and the low calories, but all the sodium (and the processedness of it all) had been getting to me.  There are also two meals per week that tend to cause trouble for me.  One is a salad which I adore from a nearby restaurant.  It's probably over 1000 calories, and I generally split it up between two meals.  This week, I split it between three meals, without any noticeable hunger pangs.  Second problem meal is a Friday lunch at work, where I always get French Toast.  I left one of the four half-slices on my plate, again, without any noticeable hunger.  So, yay.


Haven't actually seen much improvement in my actual weight from these latter two things, but I'm at least feeling better about myself.

The Perfect Day

I bought a Groupon for an interior designer.  Having finally finished unpacking all the boxes in my house from moving in (YAY!), I figured it was time to schedule an appointment.  (Well, that and the Groupon would be expiring soon.)

So, I e-mailed and set up a time to meet.  Prior to our meeting, the designer has asked me to answer several questions so that she'll know a bit more about me and the sort of things I like.  (She also said to write as much as I want -- something you should never, ever say to me.)  Some of these questions were easy, like what colors I like and dislike, or how I'd like to be able to describe my home.

But then there's this one:  Please describe a perfect day.

Really?

I got nothing here.  I've thought and thought and decided that this question does not warrant a serious answer.

So, this is what I have so far:

I am rudely awakened by the phone, but it's OK because it's the Nobel Committee with good news.  My invention of an easily-synthesizable vitamin-enriched non-fat chocolate analogue that cures cancer has actually won in three categories (medicine, chemistry and peace).  Besides, it's a good thing they called as I needed to get up anyway, as I have to address a joint session of Congress.

After a lovely breakfast (pastries filled with my very own chocolate-analogue) at my hotel, I drive over to the Capitol.  (My invention in its liquid form? You can run your car on it.)  At the joint session, I set forth my economic plan, which immediately earns bipartisan support and is passed by acclamation.  I have another 10 minutes left, so I get them to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, fully legalize abortions, and let that Deaf dude serve in the military.

For lunch, I'm invited to join the President at the White House.  He's arranged a command performance (in my honor) of highlights from all of the good musicals running on Broadway.  


When I take my leave, my (very zippy) private jet is ready to whisk me back to Los Angeles in a couple hours.  My boyfriend, that guy who played Thor in the movie, fills the time with two hours of mind-blowing sex.


Arriving back on the West Coast, we immediately go to Disneyland where they give us super-secret passes that let us cut to the front of every line.


Afterward, I return home, to find that magical elves had cleaned everything while I was away, and my cat did the New York Times crossword.  I have an idea about time-travel which I jot down before bed.  I'll need something to work on tomorrow.

What?  Too unrealistic?


OK, a perfect day is me waking up before my alarm clock -- and this unusual event is occurring not because of an earthquake or my cat barfing on my bed, but because I've actually had enough sleep.  I have time to exercise for a full 45 minutes, which makes many happy little endorphins course through my brain.  I get to work on time (no traffic!) and find:  (a)  my boss is very pleased because the state Supreme Court denied review on a case we worked on; and (b)  somehow the Judiciary found it in its budget to not only cancel furloughs, but give us all Cost of Living Adjustments for the first time in, like, a decade.  I cheerfully zip through the rest of the day at work, and head off for a blind date with some dude I met on the Match.com, who does not look like that guy who played Thor, but, amazingly enough, actually does look like his online photographs.  (And he's even as charming and intelligent as his profile suggests!)  He buys dinner; I take him to the theatre (as I'm reviewing that night).  At the opening night party, one of the actors pulls me aside to thank me for my last review, as the constructive criticism helped him change his performance for the better.  I say my farewells to Dude Who Isn't Thor, but we've had a great time and we're both filled with the excitement that this could possibly, maybe be the start of something good.  I go to bed thinking happy thoughts, and looking forward to another day without cat barf.

Today's Thousand Words

Wiped Out

Dudes.  I took, like, 80 pictures today.  That's got to be some sort of record for me.

Also:  exhausted.  Started with a walk to the Estates Theatre (where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni).  Our guide told us photos were not permitted but he didn't care what we did when his back was turned.  So, I snapped this when he looked away:

Then, we started the Architectural (walking) tour at the Municipal House, which is an art nouveau number that looks something like this:

It houses a main concert hall, a few restaurants, and a bunch of small "salons," used for anything from political meetings to music recitals to dance lessons.  Although the rooms fell into disrepair during the Communist Era, they have been painstakingly refurbished (and, in some cases, downright recreated).  Each room was more beautiful than the last, and this was where my camera really got a workout.  I ended up being unable to capture the essence of the rooms, so I chose to focus on details.  Here, for instance, is a small photo collection of the chandeliers in the different rooms:

OK, ok, here's a whole room.  This was a "ladies' salon," apparently used for drinking coffee.

The building was created right around the dawn of electric lighting, so some of it was a Celebration of the Light Bulb.  You can sort of see this in the "chandelier" in the main concert hall.  To wit:  there isn't one.  Just a glass window for natural light (with a bit of stained glass for detail) encircled by individual lights.  It gives it an almost circus-like feel.

We then walked over to the Old Town Center, and this time took in the rooms inside some of the historical buildings there.  Continuing on the ceiling theme, here is a Renaissance ceiling -- that's wood it's made of:

 Then we went under the main buildings.  The Old Town Square in Prague is built on old Romanesque buildings (dating, oh, 11th or 12th Century) -- think of it as the Older Town Square.  Smells musty (and smells like it has always smelled that way) and looks kinda like this:

Finally, we came back to the hotel (and crashed).  Tonight we had our farewell dinner in Lobkowicz Palace.  What we hadn't known is that the Lobkowiczes have the largest private art collection in Europe -- a part of which we got to tour before dinner.  (Had I known, I probably would have crossed 100 photos today.  In addition to some cool paintings from Artists You've Heard Of, they also had stuff in Mozart's handwriting, the largest set of Delft dinnerware (anywhere, I think) and various other collections.  Very impressive.)  After walking around the Lobkowicz Palace Collection, we then got fed, and I am way ready to crash again.

(So far, to my mother's relief, it looks like a no-go on the AK-47 tomorrow.  But I'm so wiped, I'm not even sure I'll be able to remain vertical on a horse for a couple hours, much less aim an assault rifle.)

Photos from Prague

We may have hit the part of the trip where I just take lots of pictures.  There isn't much to say here -- just some awesome stuff.

We started this morning by going up to Prague Castle, which is (allegedly) the largest castle (in Europe or the world, I forget) but only if you're counting the gardens as well.  Still, it's big.  Here's one of the guards in front of it (and one of the buildings).

Most impressive building inside the castle is the cathedral, a gothic number named for St. Vitus.  Here are exterior and interior.  It's something like the third-largest gothic cathedral in Europe.  Whatever.  It's gorgeous.

As we walked through it, our guide explained a lot of the history of Prague -- religion played a big part in the history, and we were able to learn about the place through the stained-glass windows, the saints honored there, and the rulers who claimed the place (and built, or didn't build, parts of the cathedral).  To the extent I have anything even remotely profound to say about today, it's this:  in the course of walking us through the cathedral and telling us the history of Prague, our guide noted that, during World War II, the Germans had plans for Prague in that (based on certain historical facts), the Germans had a claim that Prague was a German city.  Of course, Hitler also wanted to exterminate all the Jews and deport all the native Czechs.  And when our guide told us this, and mentioned Hitler's name, I sorta got squicked out, because this is a house of God, and it just felt wrong to mention his name in there.

Also in the castle was this long hall used for jousting.  Indoors.  (Mom always said, don't knock someone off his horse in the house.)

The castle, being up on a hill (like all good castles) had a nice view of the city.

Then we went to a monastery, home to some Norbertine monks and (rather more importantly) home to a really beautiful (and quite old) library.  You've got two rooms, the theological and philosophical.  They look like this:

Any book would be proud to be in either of these rooms, but the walnut walls of the latter just can't be done justice with a photograph.  But I tried:

That's about it.

(Then, we went and spent money.  I bought some Bohemian paper.  Because I am a geek.)

I have an Architectural Tour tomorrow -- gotta make sure there's still room on my SD card.  That's the last day of the tour itself.  We've got one extra day in Prague, and I'm on my own for that one, so am trying to find something to do -- I've largely overdosed on beautiful things to look at (and certainly will have after tomorrow) as well as Jewish history, so I asked the hotel concierge to find me something different -- maybe something a little active.  Apparently "active" is the magic word; he immediately brought out the brochure with 16 tours/activities ranging from tandem skydiving to playing a round of golf.  It's a bit complicated because there's only one of me, and most of these tours won't take just a solo traveller (without an additional 100% single supplement), so I'm at the mercy of whatever other travellers in Prague sign up for.  I'm currently confirmed for a nice horseback ride through Bohemian countryside in the morning and, er, they'll let me know tomorrow whether I can go shoot an AK-47 in the afternoon.  :)
 

A Word About Hotels

I apologize for not taking photos of my hotel rooms (other than the wacky safe location in the room in Warsaw).  But the room in Warsaw wasn't particularly impressive.  What I hadn't realized is that, on this particular tour, the room quality would improve with each successive city.  With the result that my room here in Prague is better than at least one apartment I've lived in.

Vienna was no slouch either, although, there, we're talking "old world elegance."  My room had a chandelier, for crying out loud.  And, although they were small, five closets.  (I imagine putting one ball gown in each.)  It was all elegance and beautiful mouldings (and, honestly, I've no idea why there was what appeared to be a cup holder next to the bidet, but I'm sure it made perfect sense a hundred years ago).  It was clean, but not pristine -- there was a certain beigeness to all the whites that says "come on, there's years and years of use here; we can just shine up the top layer."  Gorgeous, though -- don't get me wrong.

We drove to Prague today where, upon checking into my room, I declared, "I'm not giving it back; you can't make me."  The hotel is very new -- everything is absolutely pristine, full of totally modern tech I need a Caltech graduate to explain to me.  (The phone has a screen with a menu.  The PHONE.)  And the room is huge -- more like a suite, with bedroom, bathroom, living room, entryway, and kitchenette.  I have two TVs.  There's a chandelier in here too, but it's surrounded by a cylindrical black shade (yes, a shade on a chandelier) which makes it look all cool and modern.

If I wasn't in Prague, I'd never leave the room.

Of course, I am in Prague, and after having had a 90-minute orientation walk (which took two and a quarter hours), I now feel (vaguely) oriented.  (Enough to wander off on my own in the vague direction of the nearest "Laundryland."  Which is not the Disneyland of laundromats.  But at least I found the damn thing.)  I'm confident that I can find Old Town Square all by myself, and I'd put the chances that I can make it from there to the Charles Bridge (via the uncrowded "shortcut" our guide taught us) as high as 75%.  We've got two days of touring ahead of us -- actually, two mornings of touring and two free afternoons (I see shopping in my future, and perhaps a museum or two).

I have Friday to myself.  My parents are taking a tour out to Terezin and I am opting out, due to being (for lack of a more sensitive way of phrasing it) Holocausted-out.  (I'm even opting for an Architectural Tour of Prague rather than a Jewish Heritage Tour on Thursday -- the synagogues are already starting to blend together.)  Which means I've got a day to fill in (or around) Prague.  Anybody got any ideas?