2006-12-12
conundrums
|Today I have a couple conundrums I am pondering. None are earth-shattering and for that I am extremely thankful.
Now on to the minutia. First, and foremost, I am having no success with HaloScan. Oh how it taunts me with its free code and detailed analysis. What I am after is a simple comment section after my posts. That's all I'm asking for.
I have no idea what trackback is, though I have seen it on many sites. I'm not trying to be greedy. I'll forego the trackback. I just want some comments. A measly little word to click on and open another screen where folks can write down random thoughts. Apparently, that is too much to ask for.
I have been all over HaloScan's website like Mario Lopez on his "Dancing With the Stars" partner looking for the solution. I pasted the code between head and /head with no luck. I pasted the code after percent sign percent sign entries percent sign percent sign on the older archives page. No luck. I titled my description with underscores instead of spaces. Still NOTHING! Grrr.
Yes, I am looking for affirmation from my fellow readers. Yes, I will admit it. I want to know that someone, anyone, is looking at this stuff and enjoying it. Yes, I will check my comments obsessively, if I ever GET comments.
Maybe God is saving me from myself by not allowing me to have comments. I would be checking them crazily. Don't we all want to be affirmed at the end of the day? Doesn't it get tiring being your own cheerleader? I say yes, it does get tiring.
I just want to be loved.
Okay, problem number two. I am trying to decipher the correct amount of water to freeze in my 32-ounce water bottle. I am a picky mofo when it comes to food. I won't bore you with unnecessary details, but I like my water ice cold, especially during a work out. So I have taken to freezing roughly one-quarter of my bottle of water then filling the remainder with water before I leave in the morning.
My cardio workout lasts about 35 to 45 minutes. In that time, I would like the block of ice in my bottle to release itself from the confines of the container and float freely like a gigantic ice cube inside the bottle. Now, one might surmise that this wouldn't be difficult to achieve. But one would be very, very wrong.
If the block of ice is too small, the ice cube will melt before the workout has finished. That's no good. If the block of ice is too large, it will not be released into the fray and I will only have half of the water to last the entire workout as the block of ice will not melt in time. That's no good either.
And the strangest part of this is that the amount of water that is frozen is very fussy. If I freeze the bottom quarter (about 4 inches) that's too much resulting in a solid cube. If I freeze about 3 inches that's not enough resulting in a floater that melts too soon.
So it would seem that the answer is to fill it 3.5 inches. It's actually hard to eyeball the correct amount and one-quarter of an inch seems to make a huge difference and, at this time, I cannot see myself pulling out a ruler to measure the bottle.
In pondering this situation, I have stumbled upon one improvement in the ice freezing stage. If I fill the bottle and lay it on its side in the freezer, I have a long block of ice similar to a cigar that runs the length of the bottle.
Now there is one caveat with the laying of the bottle. When the bottle is on its side, there has to be enough space up by the cap to let new water in. If you fill the bottle too full, while it freezes on its side it will block the opening and that is not helpful at all.
I know, it's hard to be Cardiogirl. These issues are not for the faint of heart.
I have heard of those long round ice cube trays that are made especially for bottles. But I'm sure I couldn't get enough of those cubes inside the bottle to last the entire workout.
So for now, I will try more unorthodox measures in my quest for the perfect ice cube. We have to have goals in life, people.
2006-12-12 at 9:02 a.m.
