Bluegrass in my Cadillac and new shoes

Another week of work down in the DC area... This week, when I was renting my car (Avis), a popup asked me if I wanted a "Cool Car" -- for $332(for the week), I could get a Pontiac G6 (or similar); for $338, I could get a Cadillac.

Oh, why not.

It's as ridiculous as I'd imagined - the seats are heated and air conditioned[1], it's ENORMOUS, and it's quite fast. It also came with XM radio, so I've been amusing myself by driving around with the windows down and Bluegrass Junction cranked up on the (quite potent) stereo. I'm weird.

I'm in the midst of a serious weight-loss effort, and part of that is a running program -- I'm doing the Couch to 5K program from Cool Running. I'm now down around 210, but that's still a lot of weight to be smashing down on my knees. So I decided I ought to go ahead and spring for some running shoes that are under five years old. I went to Potomac River Running, not far from where I work. I was really impressed. Danielle was knowledgeable and helpful. After a Video Gait Analysis (I have "normal" feet, hooray!) and trying on four pairs of shoes, I settled on a pair of Nikes. I tried them out this morning[2], and they are GREAT! It's a HUGE difference from my old shoes.

That's all for now... I think I'm going to try to have an early night.

[1] Heated seats are teh awesome. You'd *think* that "air conditioned" seats would be equally awesome, but, um, no. At least, not initially. I thought it would be nice, but mostly, it feels like you're sitting in something wet.


[2]Actually, I tried them out last night. One of the cool things about this store - they actually insist that you go out and *run* in the shoes. Not "take 'em around the store", not "jump up and down", but "go around the block once or twice and MAKE SURE they feel OK".