Not that I run anymore, but I remember the awful feeling!
From Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s site:
When you get a ’side stitch’, stop running immediately, reach your fingers into the right side of your belly and push your liver up. And breathe out with you lips pursed at the same time. Then you can resume running without feeling any pain.
%#&@!!
Do you often wait to make decisions until you make considerations in the case of deciding or needing to change course? I myself find it hard to imagine that I’ve already made a bad decision and I find it especially infuriating to play devil’s advocate with my own future while trying to make a decision now. But in general, the considerations that will make me change course are the same. And buried deep in Fidelity’s own information pages, I found them spelled out.
For investment advice, if you are so inclined to do your own research, I recommend that you check out The Motley Fool website. Or pay a tax attourney, accountant, and/or financial advisor to help you. Remember that you are responsible for the outcome and they are responsible for their advice. Big difference.
On the Fidelity webpage that tells me how to get my money out of L-3’s 401k, which is filled with information for people who’ve already decided to exit, are these three bulletpoints introduced as “considerations” for leaving the money IN:
| • | You may have more restrictions than active employees (such as limited number of annual transactions) |
| • | You may be charged fees |
| • | You may have limited investment options |
Points one and three are essentially the same. Fidelity lightly reminds you that you “may” want to leave your options open. And that you “may” be paying fees along the way no matter what. I assume that for most people, this info generally isn’t what you’re looking hard at the time you decided to get into this. Hey, me neither. I had just heard that Fidelity is like, the best place for a bourgeoise like myself to “invest.” Now I know that just like any other choice I make, options and fees are the main themes to get more information on when deciding what to do. It’s all the same.
So how about thinking through these sentences next time you’re deliberating:
- “This may restrict me __how_”
- “This may cause me to pay __what_”
- “This may limit my options __where__”
The use of the auiliary verb “may” is both a present and future possibility! Just keep it in mind.
I thought setting an eye appointment for 10 am near work would be ‘wham, bam, thank you (Dr.) Ma’am’ and off to the office but nooo. I went to the eyeball clearinghouse of the Underground. Crystal City Underground, that is.
The first thing that was crazy is I was led behind a cubicle divide by a chain-smoking lady who seemed a bit undead for 10 am. Her dry, gutteral voice ordered me to sit on a chair, which she remotely adjusted to a lower height. It was loud and vibrated like you wouldn’t believe and as she apologized for it, I told her it was kind of fun. Well, that made her think that meant I was up for disturbing jokes. Like that the thing that she aims at your face and has flying saucer-looking lights scares the you-know-what out of little children “but even though it’s sad it makes me giggle.” Yeah lady, you scared ME and I am only giggling now, after it was long over!
The next thing that was crazy was the actual doctor. She was having a WTF morning where nothing went right. Like the virtual paperwork program on her computer that she was about to update with the results of my traumatic experiences behind the wall. She confided in me that she “hates technology” and was born into the “wrong century.” Yeah, that’s “EXACTLY” what I want to hear from somebody about to not touch my eye but push a one ton piece of machinery startlingly close to my understandably, naturally dilated pupil. It was fight or flight at this point!
What happened after was cool actually. The doc knows her stuff. I asked if appointments were required to be on a yearly basis as part of a conspiracy by optometrists and the like to get my money. She said no, it was so they could make sure nothing funky happens to eyes while sucked onto a piece of plastic for a year. She also explained that she was making my right eye’s prescription the same as my left eye to get them both to work better together. Mrs. Undead Arthur outside told me “even if one of your eyes got shot out of your head, your brain wouldn’t know the difference and be just fine with one.” ?!
I guess. After almost two hours I was happy to have my free pair of contacts and hope to not to have to see either of them again ’till next year.
This past weekend I attained the rank Master Sergeant II @ Call of Duty World at War. I did it with the Thompson machine gun, which I am a dead shot with ever since I earned the aperture for it. The other weapon I’m getting good at is the Springfield sniper rifle. It is kind of disturbing now that in my daily life, I notice slight movements made by human shapes far away. Like the couple making out on their apartment building porch we drove by on Saturday night or the dude on the roof four blocks away I peeped while having a conversation with someone at the office. If I had had the scope, I could totally have gotten 30 points. But I’m just saying…in the game.
Saturday night was an island-themed party thrown by a couple who “realized we have 5 bottles of rum.” Michael and I were happy to oblige their offer to drain their liquor cabinet and flit around in island garb. Oh wait, that was just me flitting (in a turqouise blouse and white capris, bright pink nail polish, golden sandals and large jewelry); Michael said “theme parties are for frats and dorks.” I resemble that comment! (I lived in Phi Kappa Psi my junior year – and only got into ONE drunken fight with a meat head, which I won).
On Sunday, I watched Letters from Iwo Jima. Ok, I unapologetically slept through most of it as they were clearly all going to die from the start. I didn’t know that only because my parents are Marines and have indoctrinated me with the histories of famous battles of USMC muscle; they did. But it really was obvious in the movie that the Emperors’ loyals were going to die for His Majesty’s honor- or kill themselves trying.
Michael and I walked around Georgetown in the evening and stopped at a sushi joint off M Street called Chopsticks. This wasn’t white man’s (or victor’s) guilt but the forces of hunger and dress code driving the meal selection.
Chopsticks - Not ah so goood
The food wasn’t all that great (and most other Yelpers agree) but the green tea ice cream was a nice way to top off the night. On Monday night to redeem sushi and former Axis members. Michael is reminding me about the Buglarians. “Everyone forgets that the Bulgarians were a part of the Axis.” Okay but I don’t think that has anything to do with this post.
Anyway, I’m about to upload some more amazing hot dog pictures. Enjoy the week!
I’ve been sick for over a week and poor Michael caught it, too. So while we’re moping around nights and weekends, struggling to avoid sunlight and chores, we’re also pretty hungry for something other than delivery food. So this weekend I made a gallon of hot and sour soup.
Most of you know that I don’t cook much. Don’t worry that’ you’ve missed a milestone in my life and this isn’t a new leaf turning over; I consider anything that is cooked in boiling water to be “heating.” It was easy and delicious and I might just heat up all these ingredients up again together:
*mushrooms *thinly-cut pork *scallions *whisked eggs *white pepper *sesame oil *rice vinegar *soy sauce *tabasco sauce *corn starch
Really, just throw the shrooms and pork in a pot of boiling water with vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil (2x soy as oil). Once the pork looks cooked, take it off heat, add scallions and start stirring. Drip the eggs in (about one egg for every three cups of water) so that they get stringy in the swirling water. Mix in some cornstarch for a bit of thickness (1tbs per 6 cups).
For some heat, splash in the tobasco sauce and white pepper to taste. If there isn’t quite enough bite for you, start by adding more vinegar. Rinse and repeat.
A nice side bonus to being sick is I feel like a damn hero for going to the gym and have had more time to become a virtual hero in Xbox live’s Call of Duty: World at War. The soup just makes everything else bearable.
