Mile High and Four Pounds Lighter

Last Monday I used up my Southwest miles (only ~9500) to buy ticket to Denver. Went straight to 16th Street mall and after a shitty breakfast at Market Street Café I bought some edible pot and a joint. I’m not getting the same results as I did a few years ago (lost 7lbs in 10 days) but I have lost 4lbs. it’s a start. And that’s after eating out a few times.

Really weird experience this time. I ate approx. 50mg(?) over the first 20 minutes or so. Then got bored so I went to see Jupiter Rising (pot didn’t help this dud of a movie become interesting after first 20 minutes, it’s that bad.) Ate the rest during the movie. Once the movie was over i felt a minor, minor buzz, so I high-tailed it for the bathroom. Found a stall right next to one that someone graciously left his mess in. Bonus, who’d smell the pot over that mess, right? So I was sitting there and un-packaged the joint. Holy smokes! I don’t know if it the smell was really that powerful or if it was the TCH I ate talking, but I panicked. Stricken with the fear of being caught, I ripped the off the plastic tip and shoved the rest in my mouth, started munching on it. Quickly my mouth got dry. Had to wash down with the little water I had, approx. 3 oz. All I could smell was the pot. I was certain I’d soon meet the manager and a security guard. I grabbed anything pot related and flushed some down the toilet and the rest shoved in the waste bin. Drank a bunch of water to try to get the rest of the pot down. It took a lot and the rest of the day all I could taste was pot.

Left the theater and went to Barnes and Noble (didn’t have much to do until flight that night). I was certain everyone could smell the pot on me so after just a few minutes I left. Shit, really wanted to peruse some magazines. Checked the time. It was 5hrs ‘til boarding time. Boy, do I not want to miss my flight! And what if the bus driver smells the pot! I better try now and if he doesn’t let me on I’ll catch some fresh air and try the next bus. Left for Union Station for the bus as I routinely looked over my shoulder expecting a cop to come up to me. Was certain people were looking at me so I popped in a Walgreens and got some eye drops. Man, I was so certain people could smell the pot on me. Walked out and looked for a secluded spot to do the eye drops, secluded because I did not want anyone to suspect why I needed the drops.

That was the longest bus ride I’ve ever taken. I swear in my daydream minutes if not an hour of daydream-time elapsed but the bus had only traveled a mile. What the F? and yeah, I was starting to really feel it now. Looked around, some people looked back, they must have smelled the pot on my cuz I sure did, it was all I could smell or taste. Crap! I forgot to get something to drink at Walgreens. Mouth was real dry. How long was this bus going to take? Daydreamed several more day-dream hours but real-time only several minutes. I was convinced I’d never reach the airport.

Made it to the airport. One huge victory. Only two more to go – the TSA checkpoint and the flight attendant. Would they let me on if I smelled like pot? It’s legal in CO after all, but TSA works for the Feds, not CO. Shit. Could I lose my PreTSA status I’m caught?

I needed to sit down and after filling up my coffee mug (aw man! There was still some coffee in it!) with water, I gulped it down and filled it up again. Found a spot on the floor overlooking the checkpoint line and set my phone alarm for an hour. Not sure if I dozed as all I could think of was getting by the TSA man. In my mind I went over the contents of my backpack, ensuring I had no incriminating evidence (other than the proliferous pot smell emanating from me.

I could have waited an hour yet but I needed to go through the line now in case they brought me to detention room, I’d need some time to explain and sober up and maybe they’d let me on the plane. Yeah, buzz was still kickin’ and time still passing in slo-mo. I chugged the water in my coffee mug and went through the line, thinking about some tv show episode where people were talking about how cool they think they looked as compared to how their friends saw them. Was that me? Shit. Bend over and show me your ass. I was ready. But I cruised right through the line and after a double take, my backpack made it too.

Not sure of what happened between the terminal and the gate, but I do remember riding on the train hoping the pot didn’t smell too obvious. When I was at the gate I set my phone alarm again and half-slept, worried I wouldn’t hear the alarm and miss my flight. Flight attendant let me walk right on board.

Sat between two big women. Wouldn’t you know it? The one by the window got sick during the flight (2^nd time in past four flights someone next to me got sick). Shit, was it the pot smell? Shit. The woman to my right was a nurse so we switched places. Very uncomfortable flight the rest of the way. At least no one brought up the pot smell. I probably had BO as it was quite warm in Denver and I was dressed for the cold.

Buzz was quite gone by now so I drove home. Next day I was still certain the pot smell still lingered. No one at work said anything.

The Expanding Universe

The Expanding Universe

All must denigrate to its simplest form for it to become great

If the universe is expanding and matter cannot be created nor destroyed, thus the distance between all things is increasing. If I take a ruler from today, hold it outside the universe for 24 hours then return it to the universe, then compare the ruler of yesterday (ruler that was removed then returned to the universe, thus becoming the ruler of yesterday) next to a similar ruler of today. The ruler of yesterday will be smaller than the ruler of today. A mile measured with yesterday’s ruler will be greater than 5280 feet. On a smaller scale, when measuring the hydrogen atom, the distance between electron and proton will be greater. The space between the sub-atomic particles in atoms of today’s ruler are further from each other as compared to the ruler of yesterday. What is the significance?

The One Big Bang

When this universe was smaller, when it began, all things were closer together, thus the four fundamental forces were exponentially stronger. Knowing that matter is made of energy and energy’s influence is much greater when held in close proximity to other energies, the potential power when the universe began was at its greatest. But then an explosion happened and the tightly compacted energies reacted and the explosion occurred like a room full of mousetraps and ping-pong balls, brief (relatively speaking) chaos ensued.

As the universe expands, the distances between all things increases, the influence each particle has on another weakens until the distance between them becomes so great their attraction effectively becomes zero. The particles are now drifting in nothingness. Once particles worked together, now they are alone, drifters in an infinite ocean.

What if there are other universes? And those universes are undergoing similar transitions? Millions of universes growing so big they fade away.

After Silence, Little Bangs

All that is left is energy, existing only in and of itself, drifting in nothingness. (Is this dark matter – the expensed, neutralized energy?) Like a balloon filled with smoke and then pops. The smoke becomes undetectable, but it is there, only too small, for and singular to detect. All things that reach this point appear to be lost, gone, but it is there. Too week too far to attract another.

Fret not! There are other universes have natural laws that are both shared or, more importantly, unshared by our universe, how will the drifting particles of each interact? By chance two lost survivors of different lands crash into each other. Is this how new universes created? By random crashes of singular particles the fundamental forces impose their might on these strangers until the particles become masses and the masses become elements and the elements’ hotbeds of new stars and more. New entities unique unto themselves, entities not yet witnessed, modeled, nor theorized as we’ve known them before? Is this what Agathos meant when he said “...the sole purpose [of infinite matter] is to afford infinite springs.”? Matter is not infinite but the cosmic dance never ends.

PFFFFTTT

What a blah and exciting two weeks - at work anyways. Working on a solution to bring in-house a process currently outsourced for $350k per year. Additionally found errors in the bills we paid. Upper management used to just pay the bill without verifying the amount and work was performed. Cripes! Got to be kidding me. They may want to stick with the status quo, but I'm going to force the new process down their throats if I have to, else they can do it themselves whilst throwing away money. RFO put it in words I couldn't express - "If operating margin is 3% and you save $350k, that's like bringing in $11.6M in sales." Shit, what a salesman I am and all I do is EDI! Yep, it's my way or the highway (for me).

What this really highlights is the over-importance brass puts on sales over savings. They'd probably laud and bonus desk jockey who brought in $3M in sales but who gives a crap about someone who saves $350k when the net benefit of the savings over sales in this example is four-fold.

Time to ask for a raise. Six months and still waiting for Singapore to determine if a promotion is warranted. Began selling possessions - donated a bunch of goods to Goodwill and sold dining table. Bedroom set needs to go too. May be out of a job before summer if things don't go my way (see paragraphs 1 and 2.)

While reading today a theory I had but forgotten reappeared, this time I wrote it down. Will post it on other blog, maybe here too. It's about the expanding universe and what will happen next. This is the shit that runs through my head when I'm in the right frame of mind (or wrong as some may opine.)

Got plans for tomorrow, following through on my theory on how to lose this excess weight. Need to get under 160lbs.