I’ve become hooked on a new vice: hot chocolate. Specifically, hot chocolate from Panera. Yeah, I know. As far as personal vices go, I’m boring. (But my ho’s and dealers still bring me my money on time ’cause they  know I’ll put my boot in they ass if they late.)

I was never a big hot chocolate fan, except during my week in Sweden a couple years ago. But when back here in the States, I again became just “meh” on the stuff. But a few weeks ago, I was told I should try some Panera hot chocolate.

Wow, good stuff. If food was physical activity, Panera hot chocolate would be warm, slow, morning sex. Now I’m addicted to a couple cups a week, especially since it’s been unusually cold in this area so far this winter. I’ve tried a cup of chocolate from a couple other places, as well, but only Panera’s blend of chocolate syrup and milk really turns me on. (Those other hot chocolates conjure up the coyote ugly delimma.)

But what is it with heating the drink to a scalding temperature? I presume this is an issue with coffee drinkers, as well. They make the stuff so damned hot I can’t actually take a taste of it for 20 minutes.

I went in Panera one time with Calfgrit9 and got two cups — one for me, one for Cowgrit waiting back at home. The cashier apparently thought one of the cups was for CG9, so she asked if I wanted one of them “Not so hot.” I said, “Yes, make both of them not so hot. Thanks.”

This was a good option. I could drink my warm chocolate immediately, and it stayed warm enough right to the last sip. But I’ve thrice since requested this “Not so hot” temperature, and although the fixer said, “Okay,” they were still far to hot to drink right away. Again, I had to wait at least 20 minutes before letting any of the liquid touch my tongue.

That’s rather frustrating, having a really good treat in hand but knowing if you even take a sip of it any time too soon, you’ll burn your tongue and nothing will taste good for the rest of the day. <insert joke tying in this statement to the “morning sex” comment above>

Bullgrit

Leaving Calfgrit9’s Cub Scout Pack meeting, we had to walk up stairs to reach the ground floor exit. While walking up the stairs, I asked CG9 if he had counted the steps he goes up and down in his school (his classroom is on the second floor). He hadn’t counted them, but he guessed there are probably 20-30 steps.

At my office building, I always take the steps rather than riding the elevator. I said, “You know how many steps I go up in my office building to get to my office?”

“How many?” he asked.

“Ninety-six.”

“Wow,” he said. “That’s almost a hundred.”

“Yep,” I said. “Ninety-six up to go to work, down to go to lunch, up to go back to work, down to come home. That’s almost four hundred steps up and down every day.”

We exited the church school building, and walked through the parking lot to our van.

“That’s a lot,” he said. “That’s more than I walk up and down in a week. Why don’t you just take the elevator?”

“I can use the exercise,” I explained.

We got in the van and went home.

96 steps up, twice a day (plus down twice a day). It sounds like a lot, but it’s just four flights – 1st to 5th floor. Judging by how I feel once I reach my floor, I doubt I could make it up to a 10th floor without having to sit down and rest. I’m not completely winded, and I’m not sweating, but I figure another couple of floors would be difficult.

This is rather pathetic and disappointing to me. I was in excellent physical condition less than 10 years ago –- I earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do just before Calfgrit9 was born. As little as 5 years ago, I would have said I was in decent physical condition. But now walking up four flights of stairs wears on me.

I can run and play and climb with my boys at a park, but I can’t keep it up for as long as I used to could. I have to beg off the play after 15 minutes or so. Watching Calfgrit5 dash at full speed for the full length of our neighborhood street amazes me. His little short legs have to run four strides for every one of my own, but he just goes and goes after I’ve had to stop and slow walk at just halfway.

I haven’t had a really good, extended exercise session for many months. Maybe more than a year. Sometimes I think I can feel my body getting older by the minute. When I get up off the floor from building Legos with my boys, my bones crack, my muscles ache, everything just screams, “You’re closer to senior years than youth.”

Man, if I’m feeling this now, at just 42, what will I feel like at 62? Hell, I couldn’t imagine what 42 physically felt like when I was 22. I’ve got to get my shit together and get back to exercising regularly.

Maybe I can start something this weekend. It’s been unusually cold the past few weeks, but it’s warming up a bit, now. So maybe me and the boys can get to a park and run and jump and climb to get me back on the exercise fun.

Bullgrit

Last night I paid our first bills for our new house. We’ve been in this house for one full month, now, and we’ve received our first examples of what a bigger house costs in the way of utilities.

Aggravatingly, none of these “first examples” are actually useful to accurately judge the true monthly costs. They’re either charges for just a partial month (like December 16 to December 31), or they’re a partial month plus projected next month (December 16 to January 30), or they’re some form of these plus various installation or origination charges.

Nothing says, “we love our customers,” like charging customers extra money to set up an account. If most of these utility companies were not virtual monopolies with their services in this area, they wouldn’t charge set up fees. Yeah, this bugs me.

And then there’s going through the numbers and finding something wrong — a rate different than what we were quoted, a charge not mentioned during our setting up, and/or a service added or missing from what we agreed to. Dammit. Yeah, utility companies in general bug me.

And mixed in with this stack of bills are half a dozen mortgage refinancing or insurance offers. We haven’t paid our first installment on our current loan, and here are offers to change our mortgage, already. Plus, our real estate agents (selling and buying) have sent us the forms we need for our taxes.

Taxes! Oh that’s going to be a joy this year. <- I don’t know if this is sarcasm or honesty. I’ve never sold a house and bought a house in the same year. I’ll be satisfied if it all just breaks even and we don’t owe anything extra because of the transactions.

Between monopoly utility companies and government taxes, owning a home is frickin’ expensive. Yeah, I paid these same bills and taxes in our old home, but I had gotten used to it after several years. And then going four months with no direct utility bills spoiled me.

Well, I’m back in the home owner’s saddle, now. And I have to get reaccustomed to the sores and blisters, again.

But they seem to put the horn right in the middle of the seat.

Bullgrit

Friday night when I tried to check my email, I found my computer not connected to the Internet. Checking the network icon in the system tray, I found “Unidentified Network, No Internet Access.”

My new computer has Windows 7 on it, and I’m not yet familiar with it, so trying to figure this out proved maddening. (I know my way all around Windows XP.) I moved my computer to the other network outlet in our house (where we have the boys’ computer connected) and tried the connection there. It didn’t work there, either (although the boys’ computer was and is connected fine, there). I brought over the boys’ computer to my desk connection and tried it here. It worked fine (though my computer still wouldn’t connect here).

I took my computer in to the store where I bought it in hopes the tech there could fix it. He hooked it up to their connection, and my computer connected to the Internet perfectly. The tech had no idea why it wasn’t working for me at home. He, of course, went through the list of things I should (and did) check.

Back home, I used the other computer to search the Web for a solution. I found lots of similar problems, with lots of solutions (simple and complicated), but none of them fixed my computer’s disconnect. It was driving me crazy. I could find no reason why my connection wasn’t working. I couldn’t find anything wrong with my computer or my home network other than my computer simply wasn’t connecting.

Then Monday morning, I went to my computer to print out a document. While sitting at my computer, I noticed the network icon on my system tray was showing a connection. So I opened my browser and got right on Google, immediately and easily. What the hell?

So, I solved my connection problem how? I don’t know. It just works now.

* * *

This weekend, I was pulling some last items out of our moving/storage boxes, and I came across my old Rubik’s Cube. I’ve kept my Cube from the 80s when it was a big fad, and I like having it sit on my desk.

I usually keep my Cube in completed condition, (all colors arranged correctly on all sides), but it was messed up when I pulled it out of the cardboard box, Saturday. <sigh> I was never able to complete more than three sides by myself. Back in the late 90s, I finally managed to complete it by following instructions I found on the Web. Seeing it all mixed up this time, I knew I’d have to look those instructions up again. (And my Internet connection wasn’t working this weekend.)

Looking over the Cube, I noticed that two sides were nearly complete, already. I had put the Cube in the storage box back in August when we were packing up for the move out of our old house, but I didn’t remember its condition. Looking at it all messed up, I figured one of the boys got ahold of it at some point and messed it up. I must have fiddled with it some after that, before sealing the storage box, to get two sides nearly complete.

Before putting it on my desk again, I tried finishing the two sides. With five or six twists of the Cube, I had . . . Oh My God! I solved the whole damn Cube. All six sides were complete! How the . . . ?

I have no idea how I did that. I guess its “messed up” state was just from someone twisting it a few times away from completion. I must have just turned it all back to solve it. However that happened, it totally surprised me. Looking it over briefly like I had, when I took it out of the storage box, I didn’t notice it was that close to completion.

So this weekend, I solved two very complicated puzzles by just blindly fiddling with things.

If only all things in life could be fixed so easily.

Broken arm? Just let me twist and turn it. There, all better.

Bullgrit