Day 24 - Day Off "Betcha can't eat just one!"

Wednesday, March 24, 24th day of Blog. Ran 0/ Total so far: 60.4/ Miles to go: 939.6
Gambling status: Bought Weekly Grand and Lotto ticket - no prize :( Total invested so far in this habit: $6/ Winnings: $4/ Net: Minus $2. But there is always Saturday!

Hump days are hard days. My legs were sore after Tuesday night's 5 plus mile run. Lawyers Inn lunch set me back, again. We had a "Faculty Forum," which we have at least three or more a month. These are luncheon presentations by either a member of our faculty or a visiting scholar. The presenter talks about a research project in progress. Normally the paper in its current draft form is circulated before the lunch. During the presentation the audience asks questions. The point is to get critical comments during this time to help the author as they complete the paper. Some presenters appear to appreciate critical comments more than others.

In addition to these general faculty forums, we have colloquiums in various areas of the law with similar formats. This year the speakers are all talking about issues in tax law. Before that it was on immigration law. And then, of course, in the Fall there are "job talks" where candidates who are seeking faculty appointments come and present papers about topics that they are working on and which they hope will be accepted by prestigious law reviews. But here the emphasis is a little different, as they are trying to convince the faculty that they have the intellectual firepower to receive an offer. Of course, if they have the intellectual firepower, they generally receive more than one offer and so the law schools compete against each other like football powers trying to recruit the hot shot High School stars. All this is complicated by two career families where spouses need to also find gainful employment to entice candidates to accept offers.

Add to all of these forums the many faculty and committee lunch meetings and meetings for student groups, etc., and you realize that the bottom line (and it does impact the size of many bottoms here) is that there are far too many opportunities to enjoy Lawyers Inn catering. And Wednesday I could not resist the lemon pie even though it could not approach the pecan pie from the Tuesday lunch.

Wednesday night I taught my Property class again but before class I had to stop by my bank and make a deposit. The problem with this bank is that it is next door to Jack's Burger House, a local hamburger joint that opened in the 1950's and still has one of the best traditional burgers around, even though it has changed owners. I still remember walking down to Jack's when I was in law school for one of his famous chili burgers and seasoned fries. We called it the "Greek Burger" back then, even though the sign said Burger House, because Jack was Greek and the fries had that seasoning. Old Jack would make his own chili in the winter and whenever you ordered a burger he would ask in his accented English "Ya wants chilllleeee ons zat burrrgerrr?" And if it was cold I usually succumbed to the temptation and got the chili, and grilled onions, of course.

So after making my deposit and because I was hungry, I could not resist the smell of Burger House. I went in and sat at one of the 5 counter stools and ordered a cheese burger with everything. Of course, it is a different place now. The three men working there spoke to each other in Spanish and there was no pot of chili on the stove. But Jack's picture and some old newspaper articles (including his obituary) are still on the walls. I like to think that he smiled as I sat down, from wherever old Greeks go to make heavenly chili.

I had told a former student who has been encouraging me in my running that I would meet her and a group of runners Thursday morning at 5:30. They meet several times a week and I believe are training for a race. After class I decided I needed to take the night off and rest. Actually, I mean, not run and as for the rest, days I teach are long ones and by the time I got home it was 9:30. I was not particularly hungry but I did want "a little something".

I am sure that all families have their particular words, code language if you will. Mine certainly did. When we wanted a snack we would ask for something to "narch" on. I do not know where that word came from. And I did not know that everyone didn't narch until asking for something to narch on at a friend's house one time and seeing the blank look on everyone in his family's face. Another family expression we had stemmed from the fact that when my older sister was a baby she was often constipated. She would stand in her diaper and apparently it was very hard for her "to do her business" (another expression - right). One time mom or dad commented that going to the bathroom was "a real job for Joyce" and from then on, if anyone needed to go to the bathroom they would say then needed to "do a job" and of course the product of doing a job was called "a job." So I can remember when a rock and roll song came out in the early 1960's when I was in elementary school and the chorus was "Get a Job" I found it so amusing. Imagine singing about such a thing.

Anyway, Wednesday at 10:00 pm with a glass of box Cabernet wine in one hand I went looking for something to narch on. There it was, the half full not half empty - half full) bag of Lays left over from my Kroger shopping binge of earlier in the week. The owners of the company are right with their ad campaign. There is no way you can eat just one Lays potato chip. And my problem is that after a glass of wine and it being more than 4 hours since the the Burger House cheese burger (sans fries...remember I am on a diet) once I started narching I could not stop. When the bag was empty, I rationalized my gluttony with the justification that I had gotten that potato chip temptation out of the house! (something I do too often where I eat the offending food instead of throwing it away). The whole process reminded me of the story about the woman who went to the self help seminar where the speaker said that to reduce stress you should take a day and finish as many unfinished things around the house as you could. She promptly went home and finished the oreo cookies, the potato chips, the last piece of chocolate cake and the the bottle of red wine and, at least for a moment, had to agree with the speaker that she felt a lot better.

As I went to bed I realized that it would not easy to rise at 4:30 for my 5:30 run the next day. I questioned my sanity and wondered if I would really do it. My friend had informed me that even if it was raining, they would still run, telling me, "after all, we are not made of sugar." After all my desserts this week, I was not sure that was a correct statement, at least for me.

Check out Thursday post to see if I made it. Life is Good.