This Sunday I’ll be joining Team Sconnie in the annual Madison MS Walk. I’m not sure where we’re going or how far we’re walking, but I’m happy to help raise money and awareness for such a worthy cause. If you would like to make a pledge, please visit my page, or our team page.
Follow up: Thanks to everyone who pledged Team Sconnie! Final results are not in yet, but 1,700 people raised at least $160,000 through the event. We had a beautiful day, fun t-shirts and a great lunch afterward.
In the midst of all things spring and planning for a move, I am turning a whopping 37 years old tomorrow. This realization came as somewhat of a shock, because 37 sounds ancient to me, and — I would assume — to anyone younger than me reading this. Due to preconceived and somewhat sheltered notions from my youth, there seems to be a disconnect between someone who could turn 37 and, well, me. I still have fun… I travel, I like to wakeboard, sail, bike and rollerblade, go out with friends, spend my days on campus, and am moving downtown largely so I can drive less and walk more. Which is not what old people do. Turning 37 I can not be.
There is some evidence to the contrary though. Despite my sense that age-wise life is much the same as it was 10 years ago, some recent circumstances suggest my contemporaries and I are in fact wandering out of the “youth” category and toward the dreaded category of “middle-aged”. I have a friend my age whose child will be entering college this fall. I occasionally have discussions about investments and my slowing metabolism. I have been caught uttering phrases like “I remember when candy bars were 20 cents.” The last two medical people I had appointments with looked “barely out of high school”. I am intimately familiar with current mortgage rates. My 20th high school reunion is looming on the horizon. I still go out, but the last time I was out we ended up discussing public health care. I suddenly like brussels sprouts. And recently, it has been often repeated that Schroeder and I went on our first date more than 17 years ago. These are not, after all, characteristics of the young.
So I’m celebrating the beginning of my mid-life crisis by drinking beer at Memorial Union and then cleaning out my garage. Having fun downtown Saturday morning and then researching home insurance quotes. Dipping chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot, followed by a drywall estimate. Youth, followed by age. Fun, followed by reality. Seems kinda fitting.
I’m always on the lookout for easier, less-expensive, greener ways to clean things — and doubly so now that I’m prepping my home for sale. After a series of cleaning sessions landed me in urgent care due to dust/chemicals/allergies/lack of ventilation problems etc. a friend recommended Borax as a natural, fume-free, low-cost alternative to bleach. As it turns out Borax is not only a good bleach substitute, it’s an insect repellent, fungicide, deodorizer, water softener and great general purpose cleaner. Following is a list of common uses for Borax:
Did I mention a box of 20 Mule Team Borax costs $2.97 at Woodman’s? It’s in the washing detergent section. I didn’t include measurements, but a search on “uses for Borax” or similar will provide all the info you need, along with several more suggested uses. Check it out. Just don’t eat it.
4:42 a.m: Did anyone else just notice an earthquake? I have dried flowers in the hall off my bedroom and they were shaking enough to lose leaves.
Wow, a little research finds it happened 19 miles SE of Olney, Illinois at 4:36 a.m. and was a magnitude of 5.4, which ties with an earthquake in 1968 for the largest historical earthquake in the region. Here’s a map and statistics from the 800 people (update: make that 37,000+ people) who have reported it so far.
Who knew insomnia could be so exciting?
In case you were wondering, “Kremvax” was the name of a fictitious Kremlin usenet site as supposedly announced by the Soviets on April 1, 1984… back during the Cold War, when the USSR had no connectivity and was not exactly friendly toward the U.S. In actuality, it was an elaborate April Fool’s day joke by Piet Beertema. You can read more about it on Beertema’s website: some of the responses he received were pretty funny.
So yes, that was my web nod to April Fool’s Day, although technically everything I wrote was true. Albeit somewhat misleading.
