“Really? Seriously?! You’re going to give me a ticket for jaywalking?!?!“
That is what was going through my mind on one fateful morning back in February before I’d had my coffee.
It had started like any typical day, up early to workout, get the kids ready for school, hussle to the bus stop to catch the metro #111, and wake up in time to hop off in front of the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
All was going well until the light at this crosswalk changed to a red hand just as my foot hit the pavement.
Now keep in mind that most crosswalks in Seattle countdown from 10 or as high as 17 to allow for pedestrians to safely make it across the treacherous street and avoid being pancaked by maniacal bus operators or absent minded drivers.
No such luck, the red hand blinked it’s ominous warning and I bolted for the opposite curb. The rubber of my sneakers hit the edge just as the light turned green. My gray area offense might have gone unnoticed by the boys in blue if it hadn’t been for some uptight bus driver who decided to blare his horn in protest of my successful dash.
After waving over my head quickly at the bus in a half-hearted apology I proceeded to power-walk to catch a shuttle to the Starbucks office. All of a sudden a Ray Ban wearing motorcycle cop skids up onto the sidewalk directly in front of me and proceeds to give me the Nth degree for being reckless. Always respectful of law enforcement I politely apologized and assured him I would be more careful in the future.
No big deal, right? An intimidating warning, well faked apology and I’m off about my day. DING! Wrong!
He writes me a ticket! While I am flabbergasted this guy is obviously not to be trifled with so I take it in stride and figure it’ll be easy to get out of or might pay a small fine.
Nope, it’s $56! But since I called the municipal court twice in a month and it hadn’t been filed yet I figured the cop was bluffing and I’m scot free.
Wrong again. He finally filed it, but since I didn’t do anything they tacked on a $52 fee so now jaywalking in Seattle while bums are smoking weed and harassing passersby all around costs me $108 today.
Ever wondered why your spouse or significant other drives you so crazy, is impossible to figure out, or just might be completely off their rocker?
This guy comically explains the difference between men’s brains and women’s brains with pinpoint accuracy. I guarantee you’ll laugh out loud while the light bulb above your head clicks on with an audible “Ah ha! Now I understand!”
I’ve been home sick with Emily today and learned another lesson in fatherhood. Despite how independent and fiesty a toddler may be while developing her own personality, when the coughs and sniffles have her down for the count she’ll always need her daddy.
I can’t help but feel bad for how miserable Emily is right now, but when she calls for me and snuggles close for comfort it gives me joy to be her dad. Even if she did keep us up half the night with her hacking.
New Year’s resolutions never pan out. Okay maybe not never for some people, but definitely never for me. I start out with the best of intentions and sooner or later I haven’t lost a pound, those cookies look delicious, and stacks of books go unread. Actually doing better on the book part having read 4 books in February. But I digress.
My goal for March is to lose 10 pounds. I currently weigh 180 (yikes! – was 165 in college) and while my body fat % is below average due to a recent regiment change (phew) still need to work on the bicycle tire built up over the holidays. The candy from Valentine’s didn’t help either.
Leanne thoughtfully bought a subscription to Men’s Health for me that I use frequently to vary workouts and this month’s issue is no exception. This morning’s workout completely kicked my butt.
An article titled Ultimate Fat Fighting provides a 5 groups of exercises including lunges, squats, pushups, chinups, pikes, etc. Readers are instructed to select only one from each group and perform each consecutively for as many reps as possible within 60 seconds or a total of 5 minutes. The idea is to repeat the 5 body weight exercises (with the exception of the medicine ball ab options) 2-3 times.
Sounds simple enough right? Haha!
Let’s just say I thought I was all that and a bag of chips and selected 8 of the exercises to repeat 3 times on a circuit. I made it through 2 cycles and called it a day. Overall a great whole body workout that gets your heart going and provides enough variety to keep even a gym-rat from getting bored.
