Glow

I'm in a good mood.  I'm not quite sure why, but I've been this way all day.  Actually, I've been in a good mood for a while now so I need to enjoy it while I can.

I paid off my car recently which is a big deal in my world.  NOT having a car payment is something I haven't experienced in the last 15 years so this is great.  Today my "Check Engine" light came on.  It's like they have a computer somewhere and know when you finally own your car so they can push a button somewhere and make things break.  Geez.  I was hoping it was just that the thingy wasn't on the gas tank tight enough but that doesn't seem to be it.  Sigh.

I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to cars I pretty much don't have a clue as to what's what, or why.  I've never been mechanical.  I've never wanted to be mechanical.  I've had other interests so knowing how an engine works or what a tie rod end does has never been a priority.  Until, of course, it breaks and I'm told that I need a new one.

The big news of my day is that I'm in the middle of re-designing my website and published it in a sort of "beta test" environment so I can see how it's going to look and work before I get too far into it.  For those who want a sneak preview, here's the link.

I haven't made major changes to it for quite a while and I hope to continue working on it for the next couple of weeks.  One of the things I'm particularly interested in seeing is some embedded video I've put on the "Training" pages.  So far it looks to me like most of them don't appear until they've finished loading which I don't like.  If that's true I'll got to plan B - getting them hosted on Vimeo or something and stream them although the downside of that is a degradation in video quality.  Anyway, it's nice to finally have it up and out there although it's still pretty much a secret.

Speaking about secrets, get ready for the annual Oprah transgender show.  If things unfold as I think they will it'll feature an interesting story involving a doctor in our community.  I'll leave it at that for now...

I went to the fitness center today and ran 4 miles on the treadmill in 38 minutes.  I wasn't looking forward to it going in, or during, but feel pretty good about it now that it's over.  I'm in pretty good shape so keeping my body "tuned" is just something that's part of my lifestyle.  It'll be a challenge to keep it up when I'm traveling over these next few weeks but make no mistake - I'll find a way to make it happen.

I went to see the Extended 3D version of Avatar last week.  It includes a number of scenes that were deleted from the original, which was already admittedly (a) amazing and (b) long.  I'll admit that I was surprised that a couple of these scenes ended up on the cutting room floor as they really helped fill gaps and set context.  I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but even though I've already got the Blue Ray version and have seen it at least 15 times there's nothing like watching it on the big screen in 3D.

Dana Beyers has been a good friend for a number of years and has been running for a Maryland General Assembly seat.  In tonight's primary she came up short and conceded a difficult defeat (details here).  My hat is off to her for her efforts, and the fact that she got as close as she did is an indication of her talent and passion.  You rock, Dana.

It's getting towards midnight so I'll end for today.  In this "good mood" thing I've had going I've been sleeping very well.  I didn't wake up until almost 8 this morning.  Good stuff.....