August 19th, 2011 - Day 41 of 60

I am not very good with surprises.  Let me clarify that: I am pretty good at surprising people, but people, as a rule, are not very good at surprising me.  Now I am not talking about someone jumping out from behind a bush and shouting.  That isn't surprising someone or witty, that is being a jejune ass.  I am talking about the sort of surprise where you find the right gift, throw a nice party, pick the right food, etc.  I find that, most of the time, people try hard to surprise me, but don't.  I am an odd duck, no doubt about that, but if you bumped into me at the store or while riding on the train, there is nothing unusual about me and I fit in like everyone else.  So, I am not sure why it is that people are not very good a surprising me.  You have to know someone fairly well or be very perceptive to be able to surprise people.  And, the longer you know someone, the harder it is to surprise them as you know each other so well you either use up your surprises or you just can't fool the other person as they see right through you.  I don't need to be surprised, but I am just stating this as a fact (from my perception) about myself.  Still, a good surprise is one of those things that stick with you.

Now a bad surprise, well they stick with you, too.  Not in the way you'd like, but they do stick with you.  Take my last few days at work, they've been full of a few surprises, to say the least.  This is my busiest time of year for work, so I am working a lot of overtime and my pace is whatever the next notch above "frenetic" reads on the knob that controls my body.  One surprise was not too horrid, but it required me to postpone a job for a day in order to secure the proper software.  Today's surprise, however, was not as benign.  As I was seeing to some system in the downstairs portion of the building, a heard a knock at the door and found a woman with a rather concerned look on her face peer at me.  She asked if I was doing anything that would cause her computer to turn off.  While I may have such powers, I was not exercising them at that time.  After I questioned her, it sounded as if her machine did, in fact turn off.  Once that realization hit me, I must have turned a lighter shade of white (and I am pretty fair-skinned).  At that time I had a large number of machines churning out a process that takes hours.  I bolted up the stairs to find that my worst fears were realized.  The power was out and it took out my machines as well.  In the end, it looks as though a person making a copy was the straw that broke the camel's back and the power went down.  I always seem to be the person who discovers when the electrical service isn't quite robust enough for an area.  I'm sure they will be putting in a new service in the near future, but that didn't help me today.  Hours of work were gone and I had to start over.  Needless to say, I wasn't happy.

Once the whole thing was begun again, I decided to go have lunch with my partner.  We'd been working very hard these last weeks on many systems and lunch was becoming a luxury rather than a necessity.  Add to that the fact that I don't think I've eaten lunch out since I started the Reboot and that made it all the better.  I've had a few smoothies and juices out, but that is it. We were heading down the road when I stopped in a place we'd not frequented.  The place had the decor that would remind one of a swanky 60's movie.  We decided to sit at the bar.  The first good surprise of my day was that I didn't feel in the least bit tempted to drink.  The thought of filling up with beer wasn't at all appealing.  I opened the menu and it was a very nice selection, but there really wasn't anything raw and vegan on the menu.  I saw a few lovely salads, but they all had meat, cheese, grains, etc.  I picked one that sounded very good and asked if they could make it vegan.  "Absolutely," our bartender told us, as if they did it ten times a day.  It was a delightful salad whose picture I've included below where I normally display any food I remembered to photograph.  Tons of fresh veggies, some tropical fruit and a fruit dressing.   Quite a nice surprise.  My friend had a salad as well, but with chicken and a more Asian theme. He was very happy (and he is quite a foodie).  When he was finished, he must have pushed aside a quarter pound or more of chicken that he couldn't eat (that is above the chicken he did eat).  It is nice to be surprised, especially after a morning of.. well, surprises.

After lunch things went slowly, but we plowed through them.  I have to say, I was full of energy and didn't slow down at all.  This is my last surprise for the day:  I am feeling so good on this Reboot that I don't want it to end.  I feel light (not as light as when I am on liquid-only, but pretty light), energetic and that HUGE hill walking up to my office doesn't seem so difficult.  These last couple weeks have been hard and I'll be doing lots more overtime in the next couple weeks as well.  But I feel like my Reboot, some fruit, some nuts, some water and some luck will help me sail through with flying colors.  Of all the surprises I've had over the last year, this Reboot has been the most amazing.  To feel so good is a blessing.  I know I can do better and it will take time, but the distance I've come in the short time I've been doing this is nothing short of miraculous.  That makes any difficulties or inconveniences all worth it.

So, while I am not generally a fan of surprises, the last few have not been too bad.  I could've done without the bad one, but I think that led to the other good ones.  I think the karmic wheel has righted itself again in my favor.  And that is  the sort of surprise I will take anytime.

Progress:

I am 65% through the 60 days.

Weight: 150.0 lbs.

Went down again.  That was a nice surprise. :)

Food: Cherries (lots of them), banana, almond butter, lovely salad, broccoli slaw, raw cacao/goji/seed chunks

It was piled up, but I knocked it down to photograph it.