That was dumb

I'm not sure what I was thinking this morning...

I'm usually chilly when I wake up. It's just how things have always been ever since I was just a nipper. Upon waking up, my first instinct is to find some clothes and throw them on. This morning, my usual thermals and cargo pants went on, and then I found my Guinness hoodie. Ah. Sweet Beer-Touting Warmth.

Now, on with the show... somehow I ended up leaving the apartment in a hooded sweat shirt AND my ski coat. Maybe the hoodie and a windbreaker or my ski jacket shell (the windproof, water-resistant outer companion to my ski coat), but not the fluffy ski coat itself. It was only 24 degrees out, not nearly chilly enough for a ski coat at all.

So, when I got to the bus stop, I ditched it and lashed it to my rack. The hoodie alone was much more comfy. I'm still befuddled as to what in the world I was thinking this morning, though.

A little off-topic:
I'm smitten with "Hydraulics" mode in Need For Speed: Pro Street on my Nintende DS. While I've never actually gone and played Dance Dance Revolution, as far as I can tell, the Hydraulics game is pretty much a DDR ersatz. The premise is that if you hit the right button at the right time (usually landing on a beat of whatever song happens to be playing), you score more points in this imaginary car-show hydraulics competition. The more correctly-timed button-pushes you manage to pull off in a row, the more exponential your points get. Missing just a few hits in the middle can be the difference between 8,000,000 points and 2,000,000.

The entire bus trip, I did nothing but play NFS:PS in hydraulics mode. Seriously. The reasons that it's so hypnotic for me are simple: First, most of the tracks that you have to play to are decent, and secondly, it is kind of like a puzzle that brings quick thinking, quick reflexes and good coordination into the mix. While I know I'm not exactly piling on the IQ points playing this thing, it's a fun way to jog my brain and engage my tactile, visual, and auditory senses in the morning.

Once I got to Starbucks, I threw the guys for a loop when I ordered a Venti (20 oz) instead of a Grande (16 oz) Mocha. I always get the Grande. They see Das Blinkenlichten (my DiNotte 200L and Mars 3.0) strobing and they are already working on making my drink. Then, they tossed in a plastic re-usable cup (one with a somewhat holiday theme, mind you) so that I don't kill the trees with their paper cups anymore. I asked Wolfgang (yes, that's his name) if he knew how many tons of carbon were emitted during the manufacture of the plastic beads and the injection molding process that went into making this mug. It was a rhetorical question, but a valid one all the same.

For those that don't know my stance on this whole environmental thing, I take a "spiritual stewardship" stance. I'm definitely not an environmentalist, but I don't like to litter, I think simplifying things is good, and all that. You won't find me losing sleep over the number of trees that have been unceremoniously decimated to provide me with a paper coffee cup, or the state of "Peak Oil", or the pollution that a certain kind of vehicle is belching out. I believe that many people doing a lot of little things adds up quickly, and I don't think anyone in their right mind would call me on the carpet for being environmentally phlegmatic.

Random Tunage:
Sarah McLachlan - Possession
Spirallianz - Heiterheute