Comments (39)

By kilax, December 18, 2009 5:35 am

How do you find new blogs to read and what makes you subscribe to a blog? Or is your feed reader maxed out with “no vacancies”?

I love having a lot of blogs to read. I spend 2.5+ hours on the train on weekdays and it keeps me entertained.

And I feel like I have been finding a lot of great ones lately! My method on finding new blogs is by reading the comments on the other blogs I subscribe to (when I have time or the topic is really something I want to see what people are saying about)… if someone is saying something I can relate to, I go check out their blog. And often, when I am there, I may find links to other blogs I may enjoy. Sometimes, I can’t even remember how I ended up at a blog in the first place!

The first thing I do when I go to a new blog is check out their “About” page. Then I usually check out their writing style and see if the topics they talk about interest me. If they do, I put their blog in a “TBD” folder in my reader to check out for awhile and see if enjoy their blog.

Of course, from time to time, I get new commenters, and I always go check out their blog as well, and often, I end up subscribing.

I go through phases where I am looking for new blogs to read, just for fun, and then I go through phases where I cannot stay caught up with reader, and am not looking at all. And of course, I continually purge – I unsubscribe to those that ended up not suiting my taste. If I didn’t do that, I would get way too overwhelmed. Reading blogs is supposed to be fun, after all!

I have been continually updating my blogroll, and may move it to its own page at some point in time. I’ll keep you posted. (Does anyone else look at blogrolls besides me?)

Comments (12)

By kilax, November 4, 2009 6:02 am

I did something I haven’t done in awhile – brought an actual book with me to read on the train! Since I bought my baby computer back in March, that is really all I have brought with me for entertainment during the hour and twenty minutes (x2) commute. I use it to check emails, and surf the internet, but mostly, just to read blogs. I try to get all of that done on the train so that when I get home I can just chill with Steven, and leave the computer off.

I feel bad though! I have so many books at home (loaned to me), and here I am, choosing to read blogs during my commuting time, instead of books (to my credit, I try to read books at home, right now, it’s Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life). Blogs and books both keep me engaged and entertained, but is one better for me than the other? Hmm…

Anyway, that is not what I came here to write about today (on my commute, on my baby computer). Last week, I read on many blogs (ha) about the new book from Jonathan Safran Foer – Eating Animals. A small excerpt from the amazon description says, “Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting.” Check out the amazon site for a full description.

A lot of bloggers were writing about Natalie Portman’s post on the Huffington Post about how reading it made her vegan (if you have an hour or so to kill, the comments on that post are pretty heated and interesting). I was somewhat intrigued with her post, but didn’t think much of it.

But mention of the book keep popping up everywhere! Someone even pointed out that three vegan books, including this one (the other two are on my wishlist, wink wink), are in the Amazon Top 100 list. And yesterday, another blogger mentioned that the author of Eating Animals was doing a tour. I excitedly clicked over and saw that he would be in Chicago on November 18th, at the library that is two blocks from my office! (Event information is here).

I love, love, loved seeing speakers when I was at Iowa State University. I went to see Obama, Michael Moore, Morgan Spurlock, and countless others. I miss doing things like that! Steven was really enthusiastic about going to the reading as well, so he picked up a copy of the book for us to read before (and hopefully get signed!). Last night, I told Steven I hope there are some debates in the audience – it will be interesting to see what people have to say about this book!

Whoops. That story ended up a bit LONG.

So the big question is, am I going to read this, or use the baby computer to read blogs? For this early morning commute, it looks like the book wins – this pos computer didn’t charge last night!

Comments (18)

By kilax, September 9, 2009 12:25 pm

When I clicked on yahoo’s “Most Stressful Cities” article yesterday, I expected Chicago to be on the list, but I didn’t expect it to be #1! (Duh, it was last year too. I am just a bit slow. A bit.)

I think this list is kind of bullshit, but it did get me thinking about what stresses me out about living here*, and that is the COMMUTE. 50 miles and an hour and twenty minute train ride both ways to the office.

Yes, it is my choice to live far away from my office. Yes, I could move. Yes, I could (try to) get a new job. But I don’t want to. I really like the area we live in. I really like my job. If we move, it won’t be closer to Chicago. It will be to a different state.

So, I don’t really have any room to bitch. It’s my choice. I understand that. And I don’t want to move.

But jeez… am I ever worn out! How do people do this their entire life? I don’t view this as a permanent situation for me. I can’t continue to waste three hours every day in transit, and try to get by on less than six hours a night of sleep. That is TRULY bullshit.

Do you find the area you live in stressful?

I DO NOT live in Chicago. So I am aware that I cannot truly understand the stress of living in Chicago.

Comments (14)

By kilax, June 24, 2009 12:42 pm

I didn’t get home until 8:45 last night. I was a little bit frustrated that my train was late, but all of that frustration washed away when I opened the door and smelled… fresh chocolate chip cookies! Steven decided to try this vegan recipe. How awesome is it to come home to fresh cookies? Steven is such a sweetie. I am so lucky to have a husband who loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen.

They turned out very thick on their own. Steven pressed down the second batch, but I liked the big, thick, chewy ones.

Nom Nom Nom

Steven had to make some substitutions to the recipe. We didn’t have unbleached flour, so he used all-purpose. And we didn’t have raw sugar, so he used half white and half brown sugar. He found out that most white sugar is not vegan, as it is often filtered using bone char – an animal product. I am sure as I continue on this vegan journey, I will discover lots of interesting tidbits like that. I will have to accommodate them when I run across them.

Anyway, he thought the cookies were a little bland, that they needed more flavor. He thought they just tasted like sugar cookies with chocolate chips in them – that they were missing that “buttery” (?) taste. I liked that they didn’t have a overpowering taste, as I generally do not consider myself a chocolate chip cookie fan. As you can see, they weren’t laden with chocolate chips. He only used a half of a cup. I don’t like it when chocolate chip cookies are overloaded with chocolate chips. Blah.

With all of that being said, I scarfed down three cookies. Then went almost immediately to bed. These cookies sat like a brick in my stomach, and had me tossing and turning all night. I don’t think it is necessarily the cookie’s fault. I think it is MY fault for eating too much, too fast, too close to bedtime, on an already full stomach.

I got into a bad pattern for awhile in the end of May and beginning of June where I was eating too much in the evening and sleeping very poorly at night. I’d wake up because I feel so uncomfortable and gassy. I would still feel gross when I woke up in the morning. That’s not a good way to start a day.

And the dumb thing is, I couldn’t figure out why I was tossing and turning all night. I just kept repeating the same actions over and over. It wasn’t until I actually slept well, that I looked back and thought, “Hmm, what did I do differently yesterday?”

So, while I’ve always laughed at the theory that you cannot burn off calories you eat in the evening* (because you go to bed), I think I will be making an effort not to eat so close to bedtime.

*I think the advice to “not eat after 7:00 pm” is meant to help people cut back on mindless snacking done after dinner. But it seems to have turned into this belief that calories you eat after 7:00 pm will never be burned off.

Comments (16)

By kilax, June 5, 2009 6:01 pm

When you’re driving, and your lane ends (because of construction or a natural merge) do you get over into the new lane as soon as possible, or do you ride in your lane until you’re forced to merge?

Of course, this question was brought on by travel. We traveled through Rockford, IL, for Memorial Day weekend, and the highway merged to one lane because of construction.* It seems like in Chicago, when you have to merge, most people wait until they absolutely have to merge. If you don’t, you just end up sitting in the lane watching everyone pass you.

So, that’s is what we normally do – don’t merge until the lane ends.

But in Rockford, when we tried to do this, there was only one car in the lane in front of us, and we didn’t merge for another mile. And instead of driving to the front of the lane, the driver was a big pansy and just stayed next to the same car the whole time, then merged in front of it when the lane finally ended.

In Chicago, people would be honking at this car, but almost everyone was in the merge lane already… which weirded me out. It just made traffic all backed up. I think this is more common in small towns (even though Rockford isn’t that small).

*The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is really great and all, but it is affecting 50% or more of the roads we take with construction. It’s wasting so much time.

Comments (16)

By kilax, May 28, 2009 6:23 am

My neighbor and I are running a 5K together this Saturday at a forest preserve in Libertyville, a town about 12 miles from where we live. He wanted to run the course before the race, so we plan to run it tonight after we pick up our race registration packets.

All of those stupid details don’t matter. The point is, I woke up at 4:20 and left the house by 5:00 so I could drive to the Libertyville train station instead of my normal train station. Theoretically, I could hop off the train in the evening, pick up my packet and drive right to the forest preserve.

Only, I get to the Libertyville train station this morning and all of the parking spots in the main lot are permit only before 8:30 am with a $500 fine for offenders (WTF?!). I remembered there was another lot so I drove to it and saw that all of the pay slots for parking were boarded up, and a sign was put up telling commuters to drive to ANOTHER TRAIN STATION.

Are you fricking kidding me?! I actually called the police station to ask if there was anywhere I could park and they told me to go to the other train station, which would be back-tracking from where I came, and make me miss the train.

I was so pissed. I didn’t want to park at that other train station and miss my train AND have to back-track YET AGAIN in the evening to get back to Libertyville. I could have asked my neighbor to drive me there after our run, but I left my alternate running outfit (I took the one I plan to wear with me) and some running gear in my car and I wanted it with me and I DIDN’T want to carry it to work.

I just started driving, and called Steven, to bitch a little bit about it (what a great way to wake up, right?!), and asked him if he remembered how to get to the next train station, in Lake Forest. He was nice enough to get out of bed and look up the location for me on the computer. I got off the phone with him and sped my way there. Let me just say, I love my husband and I love my new car. I wouldn’t have made the train without his guidance and that V6. Lake Forest had permit parking AND regular parking (it was $3.00 though – I pay $1.50 at my station).

This really shouldn’t make me so angry, BUT IT DOES. I got up extra freaking early to save myself time in the evening, and all I got was STRESS. Now I have to deal with traffic tonight as I try to get back there.

And how was I supposed to know there was no non-resident parking? It doesn’t say it anywhere on their website! I guess I learned my lesson – do MORE than plan ahead. I thought I was pretty smart getting up early to drive to this station, but I guess what I REALLY need to do is start planning things like this a week in advance so I can call the parking contact and figure out where the HELL I am supposed to park.

Yay, happy day.

Comments (33)

By kilax, April 5, 2009 7:44 am

Seems like Steven and I are developing an April trend here… buying a new* Infiniti.

Infiniti FX35

You may recall that I’ve been debating the pros and cons (half seriously) of buying a new car for some time now. I really wasn’t planning on buying one this month, but the Kimbot** started having some starter problems. It would start after awhile, but I made an appointment to have it checked out and told Steven, seriously, that if it cost more than $500 to fix the car, I was just going to buy a new one.

Well, every Tuesday, I have to get up extra early to make it to a reoccurring appointment at my office, so Steven and I don’t carpool. Last Tuesday, I was all ready to go, I got in the car, turned the key in the ignition… and nothing. I tried to be patient. I gave it time, and kept trying. The clock was ticking, and it was about 7 minutes until my train was going to leave, and my car wouldn’t start. I got so frustrated, and just laid my head on the steering wheel and closed my eyes and started to cry a bit (I know, so lame). Then I saw the garage light come on. Steven was sleeping, and heard me trying to start the car, so he got out of bed, put some clothes on, and tried to help me. No luck. But he did drive me to the station. What a sweetie. He made my day that morning.

And that was when I decided I didn’t care so much about the $500 anymore. I didn’t want to put up with it. I loved the Kimbot when I lived at home, within a 100 mile radius of my mechanic father. But now? Sorry, I am too impatient to deal with it.

I decided it was time to buy my first “real” car. I decided I deserve it. That doesn’t mean I need it, I know that.

So Steven did all the research for me, because he loves to, and I don’t, and he was excited about getting another new car. This isn’t actually the model or make I was going to buy, but I won’t go into THAT story. It all comes down to salesmen playing games, and us deciding not to give in.

We only stopped at Infiniti because Steven wanted to talk to the service department. But I asked if we could go in to look at the SUVs. I’ve always loved these models, but didn’t think I could afford one. Guess I can. Mostly.

I love that it sounds just as beautiful as Steven’s Infiniti, and drives just as smoothly. It has more space and all wheel drive, but still looks curvy and aggressive – which is something I like. And we’ve had great experience with Infiniti so far, which makes me feel very comfortable.

So yay. I pick it up on Tuesday.

Steven has that “what did I get myself into?” look on his face!

We had some good times Olds, but now the FX35 is the new Kimbot!

P.S. The Olds was going to cost $1200 to fix (they found a few other problems).

*That would be new to me. I am too poor to afford this car brand new (and I HATE what they did to the ’09 model).
**Kimbot is the name of my car. I even have the vanity plates. Yep. Dork.

Comments (15)

By kilax, February 25, 2009 5:50 am

• I’m awake on the train ride to work and read the paper
• No one gets in my way on the walk to work
• I ride the elevator alone on the way up to my floor
• There’s no wait at the microwave to make my oatmeal
• No emails/phone messages at my desk
• My pants and shirt are hole-free (unlike yesterday…)

Hmm, makes me seem a bit anti-social, but that’s how like I like to start my day.

What’s your perfect start to the day?

I have a lot on my mind lately. There are some other things I want to post about, but I am going to split the topics up into two scheduled posts later today. I hate to bombard your reader, but I don’t want my topics to get lost in a “bullet list of topics” post.

Comments (21)

By kilax, December 19, 2008 5:26 am

If you could receive one non-tangible item for the holidays, what would you choose?

I would like my train to be on time, every night.

No more “mechanical problems,” “signal problems,” “accidents not related to this train” (yeah, that was an excuse for one of the delays on Tuesday), no more leaving the station late, no more sitting on the train not moving, with no explanation…

Yeah, I know that is too much to ask for. I think my train is on time in the evenings 20% or less of the time when I take it. I think if it is ALWAYS going to be late, they should just adjust the schedule to accommodate the later time. Then I wouldn’t get as upset, because I would expect it to arrive at that later time.

This may seem like a dumb answer to this question, but it takes me a long time to calm down from the anger the late train causes. Steven can attest to that! It’s silly to let something like that upset me, but it does. I have limited time in my evenings, and I want to make the most of them. So, I would love to get rid of that anger, and anxiety, of wondering when I will EVER get home.

I love riding the train, I really do. But I hate feeling like my evening is out of my control when I get stuck on it. (I hate feeling like anything is out of my control…)

Comments (15)

By kilax, September 10, 2008 9:37 pm

How would you feel if you got to the train station parking lot, after a long day at work, and an annoying commute, to find someone had broken the driver’s window of your car, and possibly stolen items from inside?

I can’t imagine.

Someone broke into a Jeep Cherokee parked two spots away from me at the train today. I saw the glass all over the ground, then noticed the window was gone. I didn’t see anyone go to the car. I can’t even imagine walking to your car, tired and worn out, ready to go home for dinner… and finding a broken window. What a way to ruin someone’s day. Or week.

Last year, someone keyed the rear driver’s door on my car. It still makes me angry. People not respecting other people’s property is a big problem for me. Especially when it comes to cars. And nothing was even stolen from me.

What is wrong with people?