I can't stand car freaks. You know the people I'm talking about. The people that worship their cars and devote half of their waking hours to keep them free of dust, dirt and dings.


One such freak is a guy who lives in my apartment complex. I'm not sure if he's in my building. Anyway, this guy has a red Toyota somethingorother sportscar. It's really not attractive to me, as far as red sportscars go, but it does seem to be in nice condition. In the winter he covers it with a tarp, and in the summer it's outfitted with an aluminum sunshade, so as to keep out the destructive rays of the Texas sun. Anyway, this guy's obsession with keeping his car in the shade is monumental. There is one tree near the building that provides significant shade for one legal parking spot. This guy will go to any length to get that spot. If someone else is in it, he'll park in the fire zone. ("Fires be damned! You wanna talk about hazards? Imagine that black interior fading!")


So the latest episode occurred yesterday. I was working from home for the afternoon. I parked beside the building and stayed for a while, had lunch, and then left again to go to Randalls and get some stuff for my flan. I came back and saw that the shady parking spot was open - something that made me very happy, especially since my AC was not working and the car needed to be as cool as possible. But as I got closer to the spot, I saw that an orange construction-type cone had been placed right smack dab in the middle of the spot. No repairmen were anywhere to be seen. There was no damn reason for that cone to be there, other than the fact that Sportscar Asshole wanted to "reserve" the spot till he got back from his afternoon workshop on Effective Auto Waxing or whatever.


I started to pull in somewhere else. But then I got mad. I backed up a little, opened my car door, and moved the cone to the grassy spot beside the tree. I pulled my little, dirty, old Civic into the coveted spot. And I walked inside, feeling really good about myself.


From time to time I checked on my car, to make sure Sportscar Asshole hadn't keyed it or smashed in the taillight - so great his rage must have been when he discovered that he lost "his" spot. Later I went outside to throw out some junk and the infamous red vehicle had been parked In The Sun. Sunshade up, of course.


Then later I left to meet Mark at the mechanic and drop off my car. When we got back the car was right there in the shady spot, with the orange cone behind it. AND a whole other parking space across the way was blocked off with a series of cones. Why? Because the owner of two motorcycles (painted lime green and orange, by the way - this guy is obviously a Hell's Angels reject) didn't want anyone else parking beside his bikes. I felt like knocking both of them over. A single jerk of my leg would have sent both of them down, baby.


But I didn't. However, I am going to take down their license numbers, all three vehicles, and report them to management. I hope they're banished to the far parking spots beside the dumpster.

Jen from nowhere @ 4:28 PM

Okay, so I didn't go to yoga last night. Mark wanted to watch the DVD we got from Netflix, and the class doesn't end until 9:30 p.m., so we compromised by going to the gym around 7:30 and exercising for 40 minutes. (Actually, I exercised for 45 minutes - Mark got off the treadmill after 40 but I stayed on the elliptical an extra 5 while he fumed. Oh well...sometimes 5 minutes can make all the difference.)


My clothes are fitting very well and I really like what's been happening with my body. One of my coworkers recently took a picture of me for the company directory, and I was stunned by how skinny I looked! I compared the photo with a photo of me a year ago, wearing the same shirt. Total difference. I look "narrower," and my face looks skinnier. I've gone down an entire pants size. I've got one more pants size to go before I reach my goal...so I figure I'm going to have to up the intensity of my workouts. If I'm going on my own, no biggie...I can just do 50 or 55 minutes and it'll happen.


But it's when I go with Mark that I have problems. He is usually dead set on doing 40 minutes, max, and going home. And he's WAAAYYY behind me in terms of fitness - there was a period recently where he didn't feel like working out at all (anxiety problems and busy at work) so I was going alone, and he fell behind. You know how it is - you stop going and your fitness level plummets quickly. I haven't been to yoga in a week and tried to do a downward dog, and it almost killed me. Bodies are weird, fickle little things.

Jen from nowhere @ 11:38 AM

No working out occurred Wednesday night. We had to pick my car up at the mechanic's ($1100 by the way) and I was pretty drunk when Mark came to get me, because I'd done a couple of shots at a nearby bar with a coworker for her birthday. (I know, I'm bad. Sue me.) So we had to hang around town for a while until the booze wore off, and by that time everyone was too tired to work out. So we didn't.


Tonight, however, is yoga. I plan on going to the gym twice today - once to do cardio, maybe around noon, and once for the class at 8:30 tonight. So that should make up for the skipping yesterday.


I feel good to be writing in my diary again on a regular basis. It used to be the first thing I'd do when I got to the office. Now I have joined a message board for newlyweds (they're great girls) and I spend a lot of my time on there. I've gotten good recipes from many of them and may even meet one that lives in Austin soon. Life is good, I guess.

Jen from nowhere @ 10:36 AM

I skipped the kundalini last night and I don't feel a bit bad about it. Mark and I whooped it up at the gym, on the treadmill and elliptical, and we were good and sweaty and tired afterward. I love that feeling. Tonight we'll probably go back and do more of the same. Then on Thursday it's real, physical yoga - not some kind of spiritual mind exercise.


I feel honored that Heather is still reading my stuff, sporadic though it may be. For the past few months I've assumed that my blog is just a tiny speck in cyberspace, seen by no one. It's nice to know people are still out there.


One diet blogger I really miss is Lori. She's all in love and stuff and just doesn't have time to update us on what she's doing...plus some assholes were mean to her about her new dress. Hope she's not mad!

Jen from nowhere @ 9:40 AM

And now...just because I feel like reposting it:

Jen from nowhere @ 4:23 PM

I've decided to skip the kundalini yoga for tonight. I feel bad missing it, especially since I've already paid for it, but I just can't take it anymore. It feels like I'm wasting my time. I get no real exercise from it, and that's the main reason I signed up for it...to expand my strength, flexibility and yoga experience.


Now I'm sure that if I really tried and believed, kundalini could open up new planes of existence for me or some crap. But honestly, that's just not what I'm looking for right now. Life is too short to do stuff you don't wanna do. So I'm going to the gym with Mark. Do a little sweatin' and workin' of the body.


I wonder if anyone reads this anymore. I've stopped posting on a regular basis, so I wouldn't be surprised if I found out I was only getting 2 or 3 visitors a day. But that's OK, I'm cool with that. My life isn't totally focused on being fit or thin anymore, so it's only natural that my posting frequency would decrease. For now, I'm holding steady at anywhere from 130 to 135, and I'm fine with it. But I am continuing on my fitness routine and it feels great. I'm thinking about adding weight training to the mix pretty soon, and seeing what that does.

Jen from nowhere @ 4:07 PM

Don't you hate it when people shut down their blogs for no other reason than to attract attention and make their readers send tearful e-mails? Like "Don't go! We love you! Your blog gives me a reason to live!" Blah blah blah.


I'm speaking of this chick, who has made big dramatic "I'm leaving" announcements oh, about a million times, and the latest one came today. I initially found her page because I was looking for bloggers from Alabama, where I'm originally from. Not only does she have a pretty high opinion of herself (girlfriend, just because you're blond you ain't all that), her writing sucks. I much prefer blogs like Omar's and Weet's, which are actually funny, or Sarah's, whose stuff is actually useful. It was just mindless comedy for me, but drama queen stuff like this bothers me to no end.


I have never called anyone out in the blogging community before. But shit like this just irritates me, and this is something I've wanted to say for a long time. And it's not just about this girl, but about a lot of folks out there. But anyway...time for coffee...

Jen from nowhere @ 8:52 AM