Earthday, Cats, Cows, and Dinner

Last week, I found out the cat food - the REALLY freakin' expensive cat food - I feed my girls was recalled. It's the same issue as the previous large-scale recall of pet food, although this time the chemical was found in a rice protein and not in wheat gluten. So much for being careful by relying on small batch, natural suppliers.

This morning, I was making my eggs and Mr. Zips commented on the "stuff" floating around in the yolks. While I was fishing said "stuff" out, I reminisced about the amazing eggs I used to get from my CSA in New Hampshire. And how I was hoping I could get eggs at my new local CSA.

Later, I was listening to NPR (shocked, I know) and they are doing a multi-part series on MA dairy farmers and how local farms are really struggling. In part, because of subsidies and price setting that the government, in my all-time favorite piece of legislation ever, passed, the Farm Bill.

And, it got me to thinking. About how Mr. Zips and I spend so much time discussing what we're going to do for dinner. Order in? Eat out? If we order in, I'm hyper conscious of the amount of "stuff" I've got to throw away. Plastic utensils (which I ask them not to include but they do anyway), containers, bags, etc. If we eat out, I know that my food is prepped in a kitchen where they're probably not composting the scraps, recycling the beer bottles, or washing off the lettuce to the best of their ability.

So, the right thing to do is cook my own food. But unfortunately, I get home at 8 p.m. and by then I'm too exhausted to turn on the oven. And, Mr. Zips, while wonderful, probably wouldn't know what to make for me if I asked him.

And, while I feel guilty about this, at least I read a post on Earth Day that made me feel a little better: Eat Air - A Vegan Food Log: Stop Global Warming.

When the CSA harvest is crap this year - as it may very well be (NorEasters after Easter) - maybe I'll think twice about not recycling or taking a Sunday drive instead of a Sunday cycle. Because the less I do to stop Climate Change, the more I'll have to spend for less at my local farm. Cuz ya just can't grow tomaters in torrential rains.

Hopefully if we all take little, small steps toward a positive change, they'll add up...

Force of Friendliness

I am sick.

But you knew that already.

What I meant to say was that I am ill. Hit me on Saturday night. I tried to laugh it off, saying it was just allergies after my first longish bike ride of the season. But by 10 p.m., it was very clearly more than that.

Yesterday, despite it being 77 degrees and sunny, I could barely force myself to go outside. I just wanted to loll around on my bed and moan, "ugggghhhhh." My nose is red and drippy, my head is pounding, I'm hot and cold, and everything aches.

Would have been a great day to stay home.

But, alas, I had our weekly Napoleanic call - all 2 plus hours of it. I missed last week's event, since I was in Hotlanta setting up for the tradeshow. Even then, Napolean was miffed that I didn't call in. (Um, high, elbow deep in Skyline Exhibits anyone?) So no way I could beg off this week.

So, here I was, at 8:25 a.m. in a congestion-induced haze, barely tasting my coffee but sucking it down nonetheless in the vain hope that it would help me focus. I'm barely aware of being alive (except dead people's heads don't hurt this much) much less know what's going on around me.

But this clearly upset the woman who works in the other office on our floor. She was (apparently) riding the elevator with me - and four or five other people. And when I got off, she got off behind me, clearing her throat. Loudly. "Good morning?" It wasn't a greeting. It was an accusation.

Now, I'm all for being nice to strangers. I let people in front of me in traffic, I talk to people in the checkout line at the grocery store. But I don't think it's my place to force kindness or friendliness from others.

I wasn't actively ignoring this woman - I was genuinely oblivious of her existence. But that said, I have no desire to have this woman in my life, no longing to be friends with her. So why did she feel it incumbent upon her to force friendliness out of me?

I should have walked up to her, given her a great big hug, and then coughed in her face.

Full Contact Cycling

It's almost 70 degrees today and perfect weather for cycling. Also, it turns out, perfect weather for almost killing a kid.

I'd decided to go onto the rail trail because last time I went road cycling I nearly got creamed by a car. This wasn't your garden variety near miss. The damn van was so close I could have grabbed its back bumper and gone for a ride. Shook me up pretty badly, so this time I decided to stay out of the way of big, heavy objects.

So, off I went. I made pretty crappy time, this being the first time I'd done any real riding since last summer. But all in all, it was enjoyable. I made it out to Bedford and back to Arlington without incident.

And then, not one mile from the Alewife station and the end of the trail, it happened.

She was cute - probably about six or seven, long ponytail, streamers on the handlebars of her pink bike. Unfortunately, she was also on the wrong side of the path.

Despite crying out HEADS' UP! and slowing down to nearly a crawl, she still barrelled right into me. I'd clipped out of my pedal on one side, so luckily I was stable enough not to take her down with me. But I wrenched my knee fiercely and will definitely have a bruise on my shin.

Makes me wonder sometimes why I bother enjoying the beautiful weather from my bike. Walking would be much safer.

Applause and Perspective

I thought I had it bad.

Stuck in the airport, listening to a download of Wait Wait in an attempt to stay sane. And all of a sudden, applause erupts throughout the terminal.

Like lemmings, we all got up to look. Did a stranded flight make it out? A flight with engine trouble land safely?

And then I saw them. Two men in army fatigues, desert tan, and looking both exhausted and exhilarated.

I've had a long day, for sure.

It ain't nothing compared to what they've been through.

She Sleeps with the Fishes

Actually - I don't. Delta airlines overbooked my flight to Hotlanta. And I tried to do the good karma thing by voluntarily giving up my seat and taking a later flight.

And then I immediately destroyed all that good karma by whining about it and basically being miserable. Sometimes I can't stand myself.

Because the only thing I really wanted to do in Atlanta was go see the Aquarium. And now that's shot to shit. It closes at 6 and I land at 5:49.

I'm cranky and overtired and have a miserable headache and I'm stuck in the airport until 3 p.m. I need to do something to make this situation a little easier.

I wonder what the TSA would do if I went over to a corner and started doing handstands...?