you gotta do the truffle shuffle

I’ve joined a special club.


We don’t have secret decoder rings, or a super cool clubhouse (YET!), but I know it’s a club. Because every time I pass one of the people in my club, they give me the special “club salute.” And when I pass people in the club when I’m in my car, I think “gosh, that person is doing a great job.” And that makes me feel like being in the club is totally worth it. It makes getting out of bed to go to meetings more worthwhile. It makes my membership in the club more important to me.

What’s the club?

The early morning runner’s club.

See, Matt and I have new training programs, so I am running before work 3-4 days a week. And at first I just thought “well, I’ve got to do it then because I’m too lazy and it’s too hot any other time.” And that’s still all true, but now I have a secondary motivation… the club.

Because when you’re running in the morning, and you pass another runner, you feel a bond with those people. You feel like “you got out of bed instead of basking in that morning happiness too, eh? Well done us.” And you wave and say “morning” and then go on with your run. PLUS, when you pass another runner, you don’t want to look like the weak-link of the club, so you run. You run harder, you run faster, and you make sure your running skirt isn’t being weird and un-flattering.

And if you’re on a military installation, you pass members all the time.

And that’s good because now (at least in my head, which is where I live so it’s where it counts), I am a more motivated, diligent, fast and attractive runner. All thanks to the people in my club!

And for that… I think we should get a pizza party or something…



BONUS RANT:

Here’s something nobody talks about that it’s not okay to do at work.

Steal pens off other people’s desks. I mean, I get it… you’re important and need to use a pen/pencil/highlighter. But why do you steal it? It throws everyone else off.

Yes, I understand that you are currently ten feet from a communal desk, and thirteen feet from your own, but that doesn’t mean you can take your co-workers pens/pencils/highlighters. What if they have a system? Or are color-coding something with that?

I was at a communal desk yesterday working on a project when a co-worker of mine GOT INTO THE DRAWER of my desk and stole my pink highlighter. Later I saw it sitting on his desk. I am still plotting revenge. And just this morning, I tried to write in my calendar (which I only do in pencil because EVERYONE knows that your calendar stays at your desk always, but your plans change, so you should probably write things in pencil to keep things tidy) and my mechanical pencil is gone. GONE! Without a trace. I guess I’ll walk past everyone else’s offices to get another one out of the supply cabinet. (maybe I’ll get two since there are thieves about.)

(Note: this rant closely resembles my “just take your damn cart to the cart stalls instead of leaving it there for it to run into someone else’s car” rant. Just take the same level of civic unrest I feel towards pen/pencil/highlighter stealers and alter it slightly to fit a different kind of lazy and thoughtless.)