Soggy Monday

It has been nice to have a "down" weekend for a change.  They don't happen that often, and I've enjoyed it.

Last week at this time I was driving from my mom's in  Dallas to get my pups in Austin and then turning around to do it all again backward.  I see that there is a nasty storm across the middle of the country at the moment and I'm glad that the timing of things worked so well.  Thankfully, weather wasn't one of the challenges I had to overcome.  It's rainy outside here now and they're calling for potential flooding through tomorrow.  Yuck.

I expect that there are lots of people watched the Academy Awards last night.  With all the "pre-game" coverage and the prognosticating it reminds me of the Super Bowl, except without the commercials.  I was not one of the viewers, although the fact that it was a good night for  "The King's Speech" was not much of a surprise.  Instead, I watched "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" on Netflix.

One of the biggest upheavals at the moment is watching the price of gas go up faster than a rocket.  It was only a matter of time - I remember when we had gas shortages and prices at $4 or more a few years ago and everyone was going crazy.  When the prices went back down a bit people quickly forgot the pain and the vulnerability - but here we are again.  Where's going to end?  Who knows.  The only good news for me right now is that the last time gas was this expensive the distance from my house to work in North Phoenix was almost 50 miles each way.  Now, it's 3.  And once the weather gets a little nicer I'm hoping to be able to bike it.

I weighed myself this morning, and my body is exactly where it likes to be.  Unfortunately, that's a dozen pounds more than I'd need to be at in 6 weeks if I decide to compete.  We'll see what happens.  I'm feeling the effects of a cold deep in my chest at the moment which is no fun.  Anyway - we'll see.

There has been quite a bit of visibility on girls wrestling lately.  The situation in Iowa last week where a boy competitor refused to compete against a female opponent made big news (details here).  And there was an article on the NY Times about the challenges that many girls face simply to compete (see it here).

Anyway - it's a fairly emotionally charged topic and I don't expect that to change any time soon.

Speaking of kicking the hornet's nest - it will be fascinating to watch reaction to the 7th version of the WPATH Standards of Care currently being considered and drafted.  Based on discussions I've had and recent statements from WPATH about the de-pathologization of Gender Variant expressions and the need for non-surgical pathways it promises to provide some interesting discussion given current sensitivities.

Anyway - time to get the day going.  Right now - I need a cough drop....