Corner of Bourbon & Division

So I'm at the gym today for a session with my trainer, when a guy in a fluorescent yellow t-shirt goes by as I'm working on my bench press. I've seen this guy once before, shared the bench with him so we could both get our training in. I don't think we exchanged more than three words.

Today, the guy is obviously spitting mad. G, my trainer, sees that he's in a bad mood, and asks what's up. YellowShirt!Guy is banging the free weights about, looks up, glares and says something to the effect that someone at the front of the gym was rude to him and told him to "shut up." He added that he wasn't accustomed to being talked to that way in a gym.

I was surprised, because the staff at the gym are usually super nice and super polite. I couldn't imagine anyone telling this guy to shut up. When G asked him who it was, he continued banging his weights about and said angrily: "I'm not telling you." He repeated this even when G took him aside to try to calm him down.

Nothing to do except shrug and move on. So we did, except that the guy was taking up a lot of space with his anger management problem. Eventually G asked him again who it was who'd been rude to him as he was walking by, and he turned, pointed right at me, and said: "It's HER!"

O_O

My jaw dropped. You could seriously have knocked me over with a feather, and the same went for G. I have NO idea where this guy got that idea. I hadn't seen him at all that day, let alone spoken to him (in fact, I don't think I ever spoke to him directly), but here he was convinced that I had been inexcusably rude to him.

So G left me to do some pull-ups and took the guy aside again to set him straight (since G knew perfectly well where I'd been the entire time), which resulted in YellowShirt!Guy storming off and leaving the gym after kicking up another fuss at the front desk.

No fewer than four people, three of them staff members (and one the gym manager) came to see what the hell was up after that, and they were all equally as perplexed. I'm pretty well-known at the gym now, and since I'm always friendly and unfailingly polite, they all came to the conclusion that the guy was obviously mistaken and might well be either crazy or high on some sort of substance. YellowShirt!Guy is known for doing really intensive weight training, and a lot of the trainers think he might be taking something (I'm guessing steroids) that make him act really crazy.

Nonetheless, I was unsettled. If G hadn't intervened, it seemed a lot of them were concerned the guy was actually going to go off on me and commit some sort of random act of violence.

Did my CBRN training this morning, and it wasn't nearly as challenging as I was led to believe. The instructor was a nice guy, but his course was a weird lesson in spoonerisms, malapropisms, and how to mispronounce every third word in the French language. It was kind of funny, actually.

The "gassing" part turned out to be a dud. We just stood there while they sprayed a teeny tiny bit of gas at us so we'd be able to recognize the smell, and then we had 15 seconds to don our equipment and be ready. Unexciting, let me tell you.

So now I'm back at work, and I have seven hours of my regular shift ahead of me. Eesh. I could really use a nap.

If it continues to be quiet at work *knocks on wood* I am going to take the time to plan out what I am going to do with my Weekend To Myself. :)

I have no idea what happened to me in Ottawa. It can't have been that earth-shattering, because I mostly remember finding my course kind of boring. ;)

I'm here, but still feeling oddly disconnected. I've been reading a lot, though, which is a nice change. I kind of had to give up on the tons of reading I like to do in favour of all the other things in my life like knitting and gardening and seeing friends. Maybe my brain just decided it was time to go back to books for a while.

I just made my way through a re-read of all the Dresden Files, except the last two which I haven't obtained yet. I actually kept an eye out for what someone told me were editing discrepancies, but I think that the person who told me about them is mistaken: the text is ambiguous, but not contradictory. However, the books are riddled with typos in some places, which was a bit annoying.

I'm now mostly through the second novel of the Téméraire series by Naomi Novik, and am enjoying them tremendously. I preemptively got all the books so I wouldn't have to wait in-between readings. Not that I have trouble with instant gratification, no. I have a stack of books to read, and so I don't foresee any lack there.

It's a bit early for hibernation instincts to be kicking in. I think I may just have ended up being over-socialized during my course, surrounded as I was by fifteen or so relative strangers all week with whom I had to make nice in spite of various personality issues. It was fun, but also exhausting.

Okay. Gotta go take a shower and get cracking.

Later, everyone!

What a week. I am very, very tired. Lots of stuff happened, most of it only of interest to me. More painting today! The kitchen and dining room are now yellow! I am very excited. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're getting there.

My place is sort of a shambles, since I had to clear my stuff out of the kitchen and the paint is still drying in there. It will doubtless all look much better when the place is tidy.

Training the newbie today was an exercise in sarcasm. She's... very different from the last newbie. A whole lot less tractable. I think I mentioned that. She's several years older than me, and I'll confess to finding her not a little intimidating. Luckily I know more about the job than she does, which gives me a tactical advantage.

Had dinner with the parental units who are back from their trip to France. They told me all about their trip in exciting detail, and we had magret de canard, which was delicious. They're coming by tomorrow to see the new paint job.

Okay, I'm off to bed. I keep nodding off over this entry. Sheesh.

Okay, what the hell?

I am practically bouncing off the walls, and yet I can't quite focus enough to do the online training I could be doing.

I blame the gym, and Aaron in particular. I haven't worked so hard during a workout in quite a while. There was a LOT of cardio. There was the elliptical, then running, then freaking running up the stairs, then suicide runs, and then more on the elliptical (all of this interspersed with various strength excersises).

I expected to be tired after that (and I was), but I appear to have gotten a second wind about forty minutes ago, and I'm still going strong. Colour me perplexed.

luvenditti, I did mention your play to him (and mentioned that you and he had bonded over Robot Chicken back in the day), but he said he likely won't be able to attend as dress rehearsals for and/or the actual performance of Cobra: The Musical will be taking place the same nights.

Okay. Must try to focus. I am currently attempting to learn proper interviewing techniques. I'm going back in.

I decided not to go to the gym today. After yesterday's minor breathing debacle and today's subsequent exhaustion, I am giving myself a break.

Today I will be getting out of work, and maybe doing some groceries, and then finishing up with tidying my home. Yesterday's tidying session was short-lived due to the aforementioned breathing issues. I honestly don't know how people with chronic/severe asthma get through their days. I really don't. Kudos to you.

Right now I really want a nap.

I have just completed what must be the most boring online training session in the history of mankind. Three hours of my life I'm never getting back, all so that I can be allowed access to a non-secure database that I'll likely use twice in the next five years.

*sigh*

I suppose I should go look at what other courses are available online. That one was mandatory and boring, but maybe I can find one that's optional and interesting.