Six Rules of Hermithood

First of all, I want everyone to know that I adjusted the comments setting to require the "word verification" for comments. Of course I really don't want to do this, but the number of recent spam comments was getting quite out of hand. I may change it back sooner or later, but for now I'm going to use this feature.

So it's Friday evening and I'm being a total hermit. A few friends mentioned going out for drinks or just hanging out, but I declined. Just not in the mood for socialization beyond the barest minimum tonight. It was a long, long day at work and I have research tomorrow and Sunday, so I'm just in the mood to do my own thing tonight, to enjoy my own company.

Based on documented habitual behaviours, I have discovered several cardinal rules one must follow if they wish to progress along the path to Hermithood. I've practiced these for many years and will now share the Ancient Secrets:

1. You don't open your apartment door when someone knocks because you're not expecting company and don't want to be bothered. I'm rather bad about this most of the time and it's something to which new friends always have to adjust. I'm certainly not being rude (OK, maybe a little rude) it's just that I'm not fond of people dropping by unannounced. A simple call beforehand is sufficient. It's a courtesy thing, mind you.

2. You don't pick up the phone when people call. OK, I'm bad about this too and it kinda defeats the purpose of the "courtesy call" in #1. But then again, if I'm not answering the door OR picking up cell phone calls it means that I want to be left alone. And the home phone? Pfffffffft. Try to call that one. I never pick up anyway. Damn telemarketers.

3. Even if a friend offers to buy the alcoholic refreshments, you decline to go out because you'd rather stay home and read. This doesn't happen all that much, but there is historic precedent for this phenomenon.

4. It's late in the evening and you're sitting in the living room listening to music or watching a move. You hear someone coming up the stairs of the apartment building. As you live on the top floor, it's someone for either you or your neighbor across the hall and she's almost as much of a hermit as you are. A 50:50 chance someone is going to bother you. So you hit "pause" or turn the volume waaaaayyyy down in hopes that they'll think you're not home and go away. You listen to the steps as they climb the final flight to the landing. Are they heavy or light? If keys jingle, it's just the Hermitess across the hall. If they knock, see Rule #1.

5. You've managed to evade calls and people knocking on your door. You sign on to AOL to check email or catch up on the news. As soon as you hear "Welcome" and "You've got mail," you instantly enable your "away" message to avoid unwanted IMs. It's a competition really, as some friend familiar with this phenomenon will try to to beat you to the punch, to squeak a message in before the "Be Right Back," "I am away from the computer," or "Go away!" messages pop up.

And lastly....

6. It's Friday evening and you're sharing online the Great Mysteries of Hermithood.

Random Things

Perhaps I shouldn't have made a pot of coffee this late. I've just now finished a rather large and strong cup and am beginning to feel a wee bit too wired for this late in the evening. I foresee a late night. But at least I'll be able to get some reading in before I doze off to sleep sometime between now and Sunday.

Woe is me.

If I'm a total insomniac tonight, I'll probably do some online tire research as I'm planning to buy new tires for the Jeep sometime over the next few weeks. I'm certainly not going to get huge mudding tires (they can look too goofy and besides, I don't want my fuel economy to drop to 50 feet per gallon), just something slightly larger and wider than what I now have. This could still turn out to be an expensive venture since I'll have to get rims and as well as a full size spare.

Ah well...the price of coolness.

Woe is me.

The best laid plans.......

.....are easily ruined.

Ruined by a little black contrivance called the "emergency pager." Yep. You guessed it. Just as I was preparing for last night's dinner social, the emergency pager sent me scurrying out of the apartment in response to one of the most complex issued I've faced in my current position. Nearly six hours later I returned home and was left with no time to cook and, thus, the housewarming dinner thingie was cancelled.

Ah well. Such is life with the health department.

As "plan B," all those involved in the housewarming went out to the best Mexican restaurant at the oceanfront for dinner and margaritas. Not quite the same as cooking at home, but enjoyable nonetheless. As I still had with me the Infernal Contraption (the pager) I was mindful of alcohol consumption and had but one margarita which I nursed over the course of the evening.

So the housewarming will be next Sunday. And without having to worry about the pager either. I passed that off this morning to the next manager on the rotation list.

Schmoozing with Politicans

So much for getting started on the cooking last night. The social function I attended as a part of work ("other duties as assigned?") lasted much longer than I assumed it would. It was actually still going on when I left, but I had tolerated as much as I could tolerate. The more formal aspect was over and the dancing/social hour was beginning and the music as this point became painful. I took the horrid selection of dance songs as my cue to leave. And by the time I got home I had a headache (probably from the music), so I headed off to bed not long after walking through the apartment door. So that was my Saturday night: dinner with polilticians and local government leaders.

Once I finish the morning coffee, I'll make a run to the grocery store to pick up the essentials so I can get going on the cheesecakes for tonight's dinner party.

Coffee Break

Back a short while ago from a visit with the parental units. It was a pleasant visit and I came home with more vegetables than I can possibly hope to use unless I and all of my friends become vegan for the next two weeks. Even without resorting to this last-ditch measure, none of it will go to waste. I'll use what I can, freeze what I can, and give away what I can. And there's more vegetables to come next week. Damn their two acre garden.

I should start preparing today for tomorrow's dinner party thing at a friends house. Cheesecakes and bread to bake as well as the main course and various side dishes to prepare. I would start this evening, but I have a local "social" function to attend as part of work. My director bought a few tickets and handed them out various senior staff people. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to receive one, so I'm kinda obligated to go. The thing starts at six and I hope will be done no later than nine, which gives me time to get some preparations in for tomorrow.

I'm rather looking forward to spending practically all day in the kitchen tomorrow. Haven't done a cook-a-thon of this scale in quite some time. Sure, it's A LOT of work with preparation, planning, and cooking, but that's all part of the enjoyment.

Off to get more coffee.

Flag?????????

Seems that Blogger has implemented a new "Flag?" reporting system whereby readers can mark/report blogs they consider objectionable. This is troubling in at least two very important ways related to the freedom of self-expression.

First, how does one define "objectionable" in the context of blog posts where opinions and thoughts and world views will range across the spectum? There's a lot out there that each one of us could consider objectionable to one degree or another. In the context of freedom of expression wouldn't it simply be easier not to read something "objectionable" rather than report it to the authorities?

As an example: I am an atheist. The closest thing I have to a "belief" system is an adoption of various, rational aspects of Buddhist philosophy. I grew up in a hardcore fundamentalist Christian home and long ago cast off these beliefs due to their (in Jeffersonian terms) "tyranny over the mind." What happens if I decided at some point to post on what I see as the singular deficiences of fundamentalist Christianity in a rational, Enlightened world. This would be my opinion, yet it would also be an opinion with a "high offense potential" to funadmentalist Christians. I could very well be flagged for this one time or many, yet it's still my own opinion. Should I not post on such a topic out of fear of offending others? Should I post and be potentially damned? Where does one draw the line on objectionableness?

On the self-regulation side of things, perhaps bloggers will be hesitant to post thoughts and opinions (whatever they may be) out of fear of being flagged. The concept of flagging is a slippery slope and the degree of self-regulation will probably depend on how quickly and the degree to which this form of censorship spirals out of control.

Much danger I see in this "flag?" business.

Annual Assessment

My office staff managed to pull one over on me today. Somehow without my knowing (or even suspecting) they not only planned, but executed flawlessly a surprise bithday lunch thingie for me. This was a nice gesture and I was legitimately touched, though I cannot fathom how they pulled the affair off in such a clandestine way. The most surprising part is that I've never let them know my date of birth.

Sneaky bunch they are.

So I turn 34 today. Not a big deal at all, really and I'm quite content to let such affairs come and go with but a minimum of recognition. While I do appreciate the efforts of my obviously Machiavellian staff and various friends who have called, this is about as far as I like to take such things. Perhaps the only logically meaningful thing associated with such annual events is the opportunity for one to assess where they are in life now juxaposed to this point last year.

I'm very pleased with the personal progress made over the last year and I feel like I'm more or less where I want and need to be at 34 years old. Physically, I'm almost where I need to be, as greater attention to diet and exercise have certainly paid off. All of my clothes from last summer are too big and I'm enjoying the newfound self confidence and the joy of reinventing my wardrobe.

The world has also grown much smaller over the last year thanks to the three week holiday in Thailand. I love to watch people and such observations validate many trusths about the basic human condition, irregardless of where you area. I suspect the world will be even small this time next year once I spend time in Central America and return to Southeast Asia this fall and winter.

Work and school are going very well and I'm rather confident that I'm on the right career path. The future is sill wide open, of course, but that's expected in my field. There are many different direcitons the path may ultimately take and when the time comes to make the big choices, I should have sufficent insight to make the right one.

One thing that I've particularly noticed is that I have become more of an idealist as I get older. This relates directly to career and life-goals. The more of the world I see, the more experience I gain in the public health field (both domestically and on the international level), the more I want (and need) to make a difference in the lives of others. It was not but so many years ago when these things weren't even on the radar screen beyond basic recognition. A career in such an endeavour certainly wasn't even a consideration. But people change (at least some people so) and outlooks evolve over time if one observes, learns, and follows their heart. These three things will open up possibilities innumerable.

Peace Vigil

This evening I attended the Peace Vigil in Virginia Beach which was part of a national string of events this evening in support of Cindy Sheehan's ongoing protest outside of Dubya's ranch. The local event was attended by maybe 100 or so peace activists.

And there were counter-protesters as well. Three of them. But they had four signs.

In the grand political arena such demonstrations probably won't make any difference. But it was nonetheless a good (almost empowering) feeling to unite with like-minded people in the political process.

Stampede

Home from work at a resonable hour today. Laundry is drying and I'm working my way though a cup of coffee. In other words, a very typical afternoon. It's unlikely I'll wander off too far this afternoon as I have the duty pager this week. Would hate to be off at the Virginia Beach oceanfront sipping margaritas and have the fool thing go off.

I ran across this story in the local paper today and I just had to shake my head. Unbelievable. A stampede and utter chaos over used, antiquated laptops.

Must remember to give my friends in Richmond a hard time about this.

Modernization

I must be crazy tonight, or the vicitim of too much coffee. Depsite the late hour and early day tomorrow, I decided to try out a new French bread recipe that I discovered tonight whilst presusing cookbooks in preparation for a friends dinner party/houswarming this weekend. The dough has just begun it's first hour of rising and if the process stays on schedule, I'll be finished up sometime around midnight, or slightly later.

What on earth possessed me to start such a lenghty process this late, I'll never know. And NO I haven't been watching Martha Stewart Living again (is this even still on?). I don't have cable, nor can I get regular reception on my TV. So there!

The last time I actually watched television was when I was in Las Vegas back in April (Me: "Oooo. So many channels!") and the time before that was when I was in Thailand back in January (Me: "Oooo. So many channels! And I can't understand a word of what they're saying."). Sure I have a VCR and a DVD player, but even that is limited to the occasional movie. I am out of the loop on so many things and I suppose it wouldn't hurt to bring myself out of the eighteenth century one of these days.

Heck, I don't even have a microwave. This was an intentional choice on my part. When I moved into a new (but very unfurnished) apartment back in 2002, a friend made the point that one simply cannot live without a microwave. I begged to differ and thus began the experiment of microwave-free living which continues to this day.

But even without a microwave, a little modernization wouldn't hurt. I finally got around to getting a cell phone this year, so that's a first step.