The Not-So-Daily Ramble

A video blog

2012-01-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

The first video blog of the year.

Knowing how poorly I kept up with that last year, it may also be the last video blog of the year. One never knows.

Yeah, I know

2011-12-25T20:21:00.000-06:00

Even for me, I've been slacking off here, so I thought I'd make a holiday appearance.

We had the Smith clan at our house today for the Christmas festivities. Angie and I got each other the exact same gift (Nook Tablet) without any prior consultation and neither of us had mentioned that we wanted one. We're referring to this as the "Nerds in Love" syndrome.

The kids had a blast and we had Chinese food a la "A Christmas Story" as that has become our family tradition.

Definitely nice to have everyone at our house today and nice to have weather in the 40s (sorry, I'm not a fan of winter, so white Christmases are not my thing).

I'll try to get the now-super-de-duper overdue report on our trip (uh, 2.5 months ago) posted soon.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

I was BORN for this day

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

I still owe you a journal of my recent trip to Honduras, Belize, and Mexico and the rest of the cruise, but

It's 11/11/11 at 11:11!

My brain just exploded.

I Think I Am Broken

2011-10-14T07:45:00.002-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since the marathon and I ... I think I am broken. I think it was the marathon.

Granted, it takes a few weeks for your body to recover from the "holy crap, what did you just do to me?" feeling, but the runs I've done since the long race have been horrible. I feel like I'm slogging along in combat boots. My legs have been pretty tight and just don't feel "right."

I suspect that things will get back to whatever-passes-for-normal...I just hope it is soon as I have this half-assed idea that I should do another marathon while I'm still trained up. I hear Indianapolis and Kansas City have one in November....

The Road To The Lakefront Finally Ends

2011-10-02T17:38:00.001-05:00

This morning was the 31st Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.

I had put in the miles, running through winter storms, spring rains and summer heat, with the hopes of completing the marathon in under four hours. The other day, I suggested that although that was my goal, that if I were to be in Vegas and the oddsmakers were taking bets on this, I said to bet against me.

That bet would have paid handsomely.

The first half of the race (literally through 13.1 miles) had me running at sub-2:00 and all was going to plan. It was literally as I started the second half of the race (just after entering Milwaukee County after zipping around Ozaukee County) that I felt weird. My fingers started tingling and I got a bit dizzy. The weird part about this is when it happened in the race. At or after 20 miles? Sure, I can see that. However, I've done the 13.1 mile distance a dozen times and with the exception of the experience at the Summerfest Rock & Sole Half Marathon in July, I've done it without issue. The problem that day was the intense heat and humidity. Today? The conditions were damn near perfect. And yet, as my friend NJ says, you put in the miles, you have the endurance and you still sometimes bonk on race day. That's what happened to me.

I was running with the 3:55 pace group in hopes that I would still have a little wiggle room for when I started to fade. I just didn't suspect I would fade as hard or as fast as I did. By mile 17, I was having to walk stretches and then jogged on as long as I could.

The pace groups kept passing me: First 4:00, then 4:05, 4:10, 4:15, 4:20 and 4:30. By this time, I was pretty depressed as I wouldn't have minded missing the goal by a few minutes, but as it ended up, this run slaughtered me. I crossed the line at 4:39 and some change. I went from at 8:50 minutes per mile pace at mile 13 to finishing at a 10:40 minutes per mile.

Coming into the finishing chute, however, I saw my family there. Sasha leaned over the railing and gave me a "high five" as I passed. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to have Sasha, Aiden, Angie and my dad there to see me finish. The time was disappointing, but I finished the marathon. I avoided the dreaded "DNF" (Did not finish) tag. I got my finisher's medal. My son told me he was proud of me. I saw my friends who had finished the marathon (as much as an hour earlier) standing there waiting for me.

All in all, I guess it was a pretty damn good day after all.

Another Lakefront Post, But Not That Lakefront

2011-09-30T20:05:00.001-05:00

No, this isn't another post about the Lakefront Marathon. Just some cool pics I took this morning of MIlwaukee's actual lakefront. We had strong winds overnight, which whipped up the waves on the Lake Michigan shoreline pretty well. Just for reference, the lighthouse pictured below is 53 feet tall.

Click the pic to enlarge

Road To The Lakefront: The End Is Nigh

2011-09-29T18:40:00.002-05:00

I have run close to 1,000 miles since this wild idea about running a marathon came into my head.

In less than three days, it's my first shot at running 26.2 miles...without stopping, that is: the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. The route begins at 7:30am in Grafton, Wisconsin, and ends in Downtown Milwaukee. My goal is to run this thing in under four hours. I am well aware that this is a rather ambitious goal: In 2005, the men's average completion time for a marathon was 4:32:08*; I'm going to try and best that by at least 32 minutes. With any luck, I will cross the finish line at approximately 11:30am.

I have no idea if I am going to do it. Frankly, if you were in Las Vegas, I would tell you to bet against me finishing in under four hours. I have been told time and again by other runners that the goal should be simply to finish the first marathon** and not to worry about a time.

Yet, I am going for a time.

Truth be told, as long as I finish when the course clocks are ticking (under 6.5 hours), I will be satisfied; each minute under 6.5 hours will make me that much more satisfied. Should I manage to break my four hour goal, I'm going to be damn near ecstatic.

If you're interested in seeing how I actually do during this run, you can sign up for email updates on my progress or watch my Twitter account.

It should be interesting.

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* - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon

** - This, of course, assumes that I will want to run another marathon like all the other crazy people do.***

*** - Of course, there is this little specter in my head that wants to run the Quad Cities Marathon in the future, but maybe I'll just settle for the half-marathon.

The Road To The Lakefront: The Final Stretch

2011-09-24T12:30:00.002-05:00

This morning was my last marathon build-up run with the Badgerland Striders. It was "only" a ten mile run today, as I am now in the taper period prior to the run, which is only eight days away.

To say that I'm wishing this was over is a bit of an understatement. I think it's more of the suspense prior to the race and all the unknowns: Will I get a time that I'm happy with? Will the weather cooperate? Will I even be able to finish? Will I be able to keep up with the pace group I plan to run with? Will I be completely shot after this race? Will I even want to run again after next Sunday?

Next Sunday will be one of the most challenging days I've had...at least for that time while I'm running. Even though I am very excited to be taking part in a marathon, I have a lot of anxiety over how it is going to go.

Stay tuned, I guess....

Road To The Lakefront: The Longest Run

2011-09-10T21:37:00.002-05:00

Today was the longest run of my life...well, so far at least. This was the final "super long"* run prior to the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon which happens 22 days from today. Ironically, enough, the run was 22 miles.

It was cooler and less humid today than last Saturday's 20 mile run and it was a better run overall. Don't get me wrong, it still egregiously sucked. I think it clocked in at about 3:30 or so. That's actually somewhat bad news for my unrealistic goal of doing 26 miles in less than four hours. Yeah, I knew that was going to be tough back in April when I signed up for the marathon. I have been doing my long runs at the 9:09min/mile pace, but I will admit that I haven't been as diligent about doing the intervals as I should have and as it turns out, that may make the difference in meeting -- or rather not meeting -- the four hour goal.

The next two weeks will be glorious by comparison as I am heading into a taper. Next week will be a few 3-5 miles runs during the week and a 14 mile run on Sunday. The long run the week prior to the marathon will be about eight miles.

Then October 2, 2011, the run will be 26.2 miles.

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* - my term

Another Benchmark Date

2011-09-01T20:32:00.060-05:00

Throughout my life, one of the meaningless fleeting thoughts that occasionally crosses my mind is 'how old am I vs. how old was *such and such a celebrity* when s/he died?'

Sid Vicious (21)
Buddy Holly (22)
River Phoenix (23)
James Dean (24) [Did you know Lee Harvey Oswald was also only 24 when he died? I didn't]
Randy Rhoads (25), ex-Ozzy, Quiet Riot guitarist
Otis Redding (26)
There is that group of "27s" (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, blues guitarist Robert Johnson, Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, Pigpen from Grateful Dead, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff, and newest member Amy Winehouse)
Brandon Lee, star of "The Crow", son of Bruce lee, Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon, Heath Ledger (28)
T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan (29)

Def Lep guitarist Steve Clark (30)
Rapper Eazy-E (31)
Flo Ballard (Supremes), Keith Moon (The Who), Karen Carpenter, Keith Moon, Cass Elliott (Mamas & Papas), Led Zep drummer John Bonham, Brittany Murphy -- all 32
AC/DC's Bon Scott, John Belushi, Sam Cooke, Chris Farley, and ...uh Jesus (33)
Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, Jayne Mansfield, "Facts of Life" actress Dana Plato (34)
Stevie Ray Vaughn (saw his last concert, BTW), Wu Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard, Andy Kaufman, Mozart (35)
Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, Bob Marley, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Di (36)
Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, Michael Hutchence, Bobby Darin, astronaut Christa McAuliffe (37)
Toto's Jeff Pocaro, JFK Jr, Harry Chapin, "Dimebag" Darrell, track star Florence Griffith Joyner, Corey Haim (38)
MLK, Malcom X (39)

Edgar Allen Poe, John Lennon, "Rock Me Amadeus" singer Falco -- did you know he was dead? -- (40)
Jane Austen, Paula Yates (TV presenter, ex of Michael Hutchence, Bob Geldof), model Margaux Hemmingway (41)

That was a really long and pointless build up to the fact that as of today, I will be 42 years, 7 months, 9 months: The age to the day when Elvis Presley died.

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This completely overdone list brought to you by this website.

Spam of the Week!

2011-08-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

Here is another great spam.

My name is Mr. Mike Barry I am an FBI foreign agent we discover your funds the sum of $8.5m, all I need from you now is to provide me your home address and telephone numberand also let me know how you need your funds, is it cheque or cash? You can call me now
fo r more details: [phone number removed]

Waiting for your urgent respond

Regard
Mike Barry

*sigh* ok. Here we go:

He is "FBI foreign agent." Isn't that CIA, not FBI?
His spelling is atrocious.
How do they know they "discover [my] funds"?
The phone number was a toll...not collect. Like I'm gonna call without a collect number. Sheesh.

Road to the Lakefront Runs Through Davenport

2011-08-07T23:09:00.001-05:00

On July 30, I took the running on the road, so to speak. Angie and I traveled to her hometown of Davenport Iowa for the 37th running of the Bix 7. This was by far the largest run I've participated in. Approximately 18,000 people participated in the events surrounding the Bix. It is part of the Memorial Jazz Festival that commemorates the life of jazz pianists/cornetist/composer (and Davenport native) Bix Beiderbecke.

The Bix 7 is a hilly course and of course it was hot and humid on the day of the race.*

The Bix is an "out and back" course that starts and ends with a pretty big hill.

I was starting in the fourth corral back (much to my annoyance). Angie did manage to find me among the crowd however:

I'm the idiot in the yellow shirt in the middle of the mass of humanity.

It took me 4+ minutes to clear the actual starting line when the gun went off. It was amazing to see the masses of runners surging up the Brady Street hill.

After the gun: The massive crowd of runners heading up Brady St. in Davenport.

The course was lined with spectators, plenty of bands and very kind residents who were stationed out on the course with sprinklers, hoses and even a few "slip & slides" (including one really big one at the turnaround spot on the course). There were no water-related issues such as happened a few weeks earlier with the half-marathon I did in Milwaukee.

My biggest problem was that I started in the back of the pack and had to work my way around people that were more in the "fun run" category than the "running this trying to get a good time" folks like me.** I finally found some room to run around the 4.5-5 mile mark, but I didn't get in under at hour like I had hoped. I did cross in the finish line in 64 minutes, though, so the time wasn't horrible by my goal.

Once I crossed the finish line, I had my finisher picture taken and met up with Angie and her stepdad, Tim.

Very happy to be finished with the Bix 7.

Once I met up with them, they pointed out to me that I had suffered a bit of a physical mishap related to not putting on Body Glide or other protective barriers before the race started. Notice the blood staining my nice Wisconsin Marathon shirt.

Lesson learned: won't be forgetting the Body Glide before a race ever again.

Whoops.

We didn't stay around for the post-race party as the boys weren't with us and there were other plans for the weekend -- and it was pretty hot and I wanted out of the sun. This is definitely a race I'd do again, though, despite the heat and the crowd: The atmosphere around the race really makes it worthwhile.

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* - This should not be a shock to anyone familiar with the weather in the Quad Cities the last week of July.

** - Aside from the elite runners at the front and although I am a decent runner, I'm nowhere near that category.

Hey Lindsay: This Probably Moves You To The Top of The Death Pool

2011-07-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

Amy Winehouse was found dead today. Since this will be beat to hell all over the news, I'll just point back to this post I made in 2008. I'll admit I was wrong on the timing.

Watch Your Back

2011-07-17T20:02:00.001-05:00

This is a few summation of the past few weeks, broken up into sections with musical soundtracks. Please play the music along in your head while you read.

i. Crash Into You - Dave Matthews Band
Well, if there is one thing I've learned from my marathon training is to watch your back. Two weeks ago, I was out running on an off-road section of the Oak Leaf Trail with a few guys from work. We had hit the two mile mark and since we were going to run four miles that day, it was our turnaround point. While the other guys circled ahead, I slowed and then start backing up when I was hit from behind by a guy on a bicycle.

I understand this is a multi-use trail and one does see bikes all the time, but this asshat did not call out his approach (the "On your left!" or some variant) or signal with a bell or horn. Just plowed into me. According to the guys, he was moving at a pretty good clip when he clocked into me.

I stumbled across the trail, into ankle-deep mud, and hit the brick retaining wall. I had a scratch down my leg and ankle from where his had hit my leg. I was stooped over with my hands on my legs looking down, not so much because I was hurt, but because I was pissed. I literally did the "count to ten" thing before looking up.

The guy that hit me flew off his bike and had made an impressive splash into a full mud puddle. He got up and just picked up his bike and walked away without saying a word. Did not apologize, did not ask if I was ok... just started walking away.

I continued the run back with the guys and a slighter quicker pace than the first two miles -- despite the throbbing ankle and back from where I was hit, the adrenaline was doing its thing apparently.

Morale: If you're on a bike and approaching runners, don't assume you've been sighted or otherwise sensed. Signal the runners.

ii. Hot Time...Summer in the City - Lovin Spoonful
On July 10, I ran in the Summerfest Rock 'n Sole Half-Marathon and 10K Run. If you live in Milwaukee or Wisconsin or follow running at all, you probably heard about what happened. It was friggin' hot and humid on the day of the race and it was rough going for the runners. I finished the run before it was "black flagged" or halted. It was my slowest half marathon time at 2:08:53, but I was also pretty damn happy to finish at all as it certainly was the toughest conditions in which I had run that distance.

Since I had been watching the weather all week prior to the race, I knew it was going to be a bit of a tough one and it certainly was all that I expected and more. I had been hydrating like crazy the few days before the race and I think it worked out well. Although I didn't feel great during the run, I certainly didn't feel as badly as some of those I saw on the side of the roads getting oxygen and IVs.

Morale: Running in the summer is fine; running half-marathons in July is a bit kookier than I plan on doing again.

iii. Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction
I noticed some weird pre-authorizations showing up on my bank card and after a day or so, it was obvious that somewhere along the line, my card information had been compromised. No, I didn't sign up for Netflix six times in the course of a day, nor did I buy a ton of designer clothing on some fancy-shmancy website. My favorite, however, was the pre-authorization for Aeromexico tickets.

I stopped by the local branch of my financial institution and much to my shock, everything was handled in one fifteen minute visit. My old card was zapped, all the disputed charges eliminated and I walked out of there with my new card in hand.

Morale: Uh, don't leave your card numbers around? Only shop at reputable websites? I don't know what the morale is, as I don't know where the information was compromised.

"Where Are We Going?"

2011-06-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we took the kids down to Iowa for the first time to visit with Angie's parents. At the same, time, we didn't want them getting too hyper prior to the trip, so we didn't tell them ahead of time.

I covertly packed some things for them in a suitcase and put it in the car the day prior to the trip. When we were ready to go, Angie told the boys we had to "run some errands" and that they should grab a few toys and head to the car.

I will admit, we made it 40 minutes out of town (long than I thought we would have driven) before Sasha asked, "Where ARE we going?" Angela raised a hand and said, "Don't worry about all that," which only caused him and Aiden to wonder more, so we finally told them. They were happy and surprised for the little adventure.

A few hours later, we crossed the Illinois-Iowa border at the Mississippi River on Interstate 80 and stopped just over the over the bridge...and then I saw more bugs in one place than I think I have ever seen. It was the caddisfly hatching season and it was pretty unbelievable (In fact, I cut short a planned 7 mile run to just over four miles over the weekend as I was just eating too many bugs on the run).

We made it to the hotel without issue (aside from a car caked with caddisflies) and then had the unenviable task of trying to get the boys to settle down to sleep. Sasha spent about 45 minutes tossing and turning on the bed like a bag of snakes while Aiden kept complaining about Sasha stealing the covers. Eventually, though, they succumbed and slept.

The following morning we stopped at Angie's parent's place. Her mom has had some health challenges, but has been doing extremely well lately. It was great to see her looking and feeling good. Angie's dad took the kids to a nearby park with water slides. We hung out with Angie's mom and ran some errands.

The kids were wiped out Saturday night and had a much easier time going to sleep.

Father's Day meant we had to head back home, but we were able to spend more time with Ang's parents before we left. We even got Aiden to smile nicely for a family picture.

A Quick One ... for a change

2011-05-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

And now for something completely different...I ran a 5K race this morning. It was the Salus Wisconsin Corporate Challenge, which was held at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. I had the support of Angie and the kids as they were able to join me. I was part of a 16 person team who participated from my company.

The last time I had run a 5K was in 2009 for the Hank Aaron State Trail 5K run. At that time, I posted what was my personal best time of 27:12 over the 5K. So that was my time to beat. Of course, I've been running much more since I did that race, but still, there was a bit of pressure for a personal best.

The weather was great for the race: mostly cloudy and mid-50s. This wasn't a huge race: Only 403 registered runners for the race; there was also a fun walk/run for people, but I don't know how many were registered for that.

One of the guys on our team was shooting for a 23 minute race, so I figured he'd be good to try and follow -- at least for as long as I could. The race started and we were off through the grounds of the Harley Museum and off onto Canal Street and the Hank Aaron State Trail.* I knew I was going faster than I was used to running; for the half-marathons I run around a 9 minute mile, but since this was significantly shorter than the 13.1 miles of a half-marathon, I figured I could suck it up for the 25 minutes. I looked at my watch at following my pacer (my coworker) and I was at a 7:30/mile pace.

Somehow, I managed to hang in that neighborhood for the majority of the race. At about the 3 mile mark, I was passed by another coworker, who was busting his ass. At that point, I threw it into "sprint mode"** and charged after him. I don't think I got that blessed "runner's high" that people talk about, but I had the "runner's oh-sh!t-everything-hurts" going on instead.

Sasha saw me first coming towards the finish line and the family cheered me on as I crossed the line at 23:45, one second behind my coworker, Jason (the one who blazed by me at the three mile mark, at right in the picture below).

One of our teammates finished in the Top Ten for all racers with an awesome 18:20 (5:54/mile) time.

So far, I've had pretty decent luck in the races I've done this year: All have been personal bests for the distance. I'm sure my string of bests will run out soon, but I think I'm doing alright for an old fart.

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* - Not the same part of the trail from the aforementioned 2009 race.

** - I like to refer to it as "I think my heart is going to explode" mode.

Road to the Lakefront: 2

2011-05-11T15:00:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, I ran in the Wisconsin Marathon in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I participated in the half-marathon, as I'm sure as hell not ready to run a full marathon yet. This was my second race at that distance and although I will never be someone that will ever win one of these races, I have this thing where I want to do better every time I try.* My time from the first half-marathon was 1:55:28 or something like that, so that was the time to beat.

The weather was great: Sunny and about 50 degrees at 0700, when the race started. I had a good pace (8:28/mile) going through the first ten miles and then I pretty much hit a wall. About the same time, the clouds rolled in and a wind kicked up off the lake. I felt like I was running through glue. Although I wasn't having any problems with my cardio, my legs were just shot. Nonetheless, I did manage to creep in a bit faster than my first half-marathon. My official time was 1:53:44 (8:41/mile).

One of the thoughts I had around the Mile 12 mark was "if I feel this crappy at 12 miles, how in the hell am I going to run 26 miles in October?" Granted, I was running faster for this race than I suspect I will run the full marathon, but it's not that much slower.**

I have 144 days to train for the marathon and my "official" training doesn't start for another month, but this weekend's race really reminded me of how far I've yet to go.

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* - At least until my body refuses to allow me to do so based on age...I figure I have 3 or 4 years left max before my times start going down instead of up.

** - I am planning on trying to run it in under four hours (9:09/mile); as I pointed out in an earlier post, I have no idea if this will be possible, but that's what I am going to shoot for.

Road to the Lakefront: 1

2011-04-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

Fresh off of beating my personal goal at the South Shore Half-Marathon a few weeks ago, I decided to do something (which in my mind I still consider) stupid: I signed up for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October.

Angie is teasing me about the fact that even training for the half-marathon, I kept claiming I would never run a full marathon. I guess this is one of those "Bucket List" things for me: I want to do one and "thank you very much, good night!" cross it off the list and never think of it again. Admittedly, I want the bragging rights more than I want to run the race.

So far, my longest run has been 16 miles, so between now and October, I've got to figure out a way to crank out those extra ten miles without completely blowing myself out. Complicating this a bit is the fact one of my ankles is a bit pissed at me for all the running lately. I actually had an x-ray done this week to rule out a fracture, but that was negative. I believe the doctor, but it sure doesn't feel negative.

Nonetheless, I now have another goal to beat. I have no idea if I will be able to pull off what I'm going to try in terms of completing the marathon in a certain time. One of my running buddies tells me the goal is to merely complete the first long race; of course, I have a goal set for myself. It's based on the goals I had for the half-marathon (finish in under two hours and finish in the top half): There are 3050 spots available in the marathon and I hope I can finish in the top half and hope I can do it in under four hours. This means I've got to average 9:09 minute miles over the 26.2 miles of the course.

I have no idea if these goals are even remotely obtainable, but I plan to find out. It is entirely possible I'm going to crash and burn on this, have a horrible time, finish last or get the dreaded DNF (did not finish). At the same time, for me, it's good to have some sort of seemingly impossible goal to try and beat.

My body is still flipping me off in terms of this idea (my ankle, is leading the charge on this score), but I have six months to train for this. I have [wisely/stupidly/?] signed up for three additional half-marathons and a seven mile run prior to the Lakefront Marathon. I'm running about three times a week now and will start the "official" training program 16 weeks prior to the marathon in June.

Hopefully I'll still have legs to walk on when this is done.

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Lakefront Marathon Website

LFM Facebook page

LFM Twitter page

Mission Accomplished

2011-04-10T12:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, April 9, I ran my first half-marathon. Although realistically my goal should have been to just finish the run, I had a specific goal in mind: Run that sucker in less than two hours. Never mind the fact that a) I had never run 13.1 miles before* and b) I didn't know if I could maintain a 9:10/mile pace for that long.**

The weather turned out to be just about perfect for a longer run: Cloudy and low 50s. Three of my friends from work decided to waste a Saturday morning along with me. The race started at 8:30am and for the first mile it was the usual chaotic jostling around as the initial jam at the starting line moved along. After that, coworker John and I set off at a reasonably fast (for me, anyway) pace through the first four miles. We were averaging about 8:30/mile pace and I mentioned to him on mile 5 that "we may have made a tactical error here" in terms of our pace. Right about that same time, the lead runners passed us heading back the other way (as the course was a loop).

As I got closer to the 9th mile, I was still hanging around 8:30-8:45/mile pace. I started to realize I was ahead of my two hour goal and at that point, I was hoping I would be able to hang on and not have some sort of colossal collapse in my remaining mile times.

At Mile 12, I was chanting to myself in my head "the faster you finish, the faster you can stop running" and "this is what you trained for" and all sorts of other things that normally I would ridicule were I not in the midst of a run. I was definitely feeling it by then and was thinking to myself that I had no idea how people could actually run a full marathon (26.2 miles).

Once I could see the finish line, I started looking around for Angie and the boys. I saw them about 100 feet from the finish line and it really did mean a lot to me that they made it down to see the finish. My finish time was 1:55:28.

With Sasha and Aiden.

With Angie at the finish line after the race.

Afterwards, the four of us from work commiserated briefly on the run and took a few pictures before we all headed off to clean up.

Mark, Kara, Scott & John at the Badgerland Striders South Shore Half-Marathon, April 9, 2011

Frankly, I'm amazed that I did as well as I had hoped I could. I know I owe a lot to Mark and John, who have run with me for the past two years and helped me get to this point. Now the hard part: I am registered for another half-marathon later this year, but I'm not sure that I will be able to do any better than what happened yesterday.

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* - prior longest run was 12.0 two weeks ago

** - I hadn't managed that to date

Spam of the Week is Back!

2011-04-07T18:32:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I don't post spam (or anything else) much anymore, but I loved the tortured first paragraph of this fine, fine phishing attempt:

Dearest Beloved,
I write to you with tears dropping down my eyes, most times when I look atmyself in the mirror I ask myself "am I going to die and leave thisworld". I told my private doctor once not to let me die but life and death isnot in his hands to decide as I even feel I am going to die.Thepain,the trauma, the psychological effect am going through make me reject thiswicked world. Crying in the night has become a part of me as i canteven sleep pondering the hospital roof .Feeling bad on the inside because Inever believed such thing could happen to me.
I am Mrs Kathy Newmann.I don't understand why life has beenso good to me and at the same time been so cruel to me. I expect even if I amdying, my kids should come to see me in the hospital where Ihave leaved now for more than 8 years. But too bad I have no kids to help orto give me hope. I was diagnosed of cancer since 8 years now I havebeen suffering in the hospital, friends have refused coming or even write meemails as I am not allowed to use the phone any more.
Please I cant go further to share my experience. What I ask now is somebodywho can come up to inherit my wealth and do as I ampleased.

I have $ 7.1 million USD lying somewhere . I want this money to beinvested in any business of your choice but with 45% of the monthlyprofit from this money sent to charity in Africa and the tsunami affectedareas or to the less priviledged homes in your area.
I want a trusted, God fearing person who can fulfill my heart desires.If you think that you can honestly do this for me,Please reply with your fullname and contact address. I will need to know you very well and also pray over this before i can hand you over the particulars of my inheritance for claim.
Thank you for reading and hope to hear from you.
Mrs Kathy Newmann

I love the part where "she" claims she has "$7.1 million USD lying somewhere." As in, "Oh biscuits, I've misplaced the car keys again."

New Beginnings And All That Rot

2011-03-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

In my last entry, I mentioned that I will be doing a half-marathon later this year. In the time since my last entry, I (and my equally crazy friends) have decided to do an additional half-marathon which is one month sooner than the previously scheduled one. So I have just shaved one month off of my training time. Oh, and I'm going to try and run the previously scheduled one as well. We'll see how that goes.

Along those lines, I've been running for about two years, but haven't really seen any sort of weight loss. Angie convinced me to try using one of those calorie counter things and admittedly I pooh-poohed that idea at first, but for the last ten days or so, I've been using it and it is making a serious difference. Since I started watching the portions and the calories (and have not ceased to wonder at how much I must have been actually eating previously), I've lost six pounds. Ideally, I need to lose 40 pounds, based on my BMI, but I'm not sure it's possible. In order to get my BMI into the "normal" range (as opposed to the "overweight" category), I need to lost 31 more pounds.

We'll see how this goes.

Of course, I don't see any difference in the mirror, but there is a lot to get rid of and I suppose it will take some time before I start seeing changes...as long as I stick with it.

This Gets Easier, Right?

2011-03-19T18:46:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason, I had it in my stupid, stupid head to sign up for a half-marathon this year. Of course, the longest race I've gone recently is 5K (3.1 miles) and the half-marathon is 21K (13.1). It's funny because last year, I had thought that the idea of running this far was utterly ridiculous, especially for fun.

In any event, in order to be able to finish this is less than the time it would take to walk it, I've been running throughout the winter...also something I've never done previously. There were days that I (along with equally insane friends) have been running through snowstorms, bitter winds, and temperatures more suited to polar bears.

I still haven't run the distance I need to do in the race later this year, but I'm getting close. Today's run was 11 miles and that's basically within striking distance of the 13.1 miles I'll need.* At least Spring is almost here and with it weather better suited for this sort of thing has been making an appearance.

Of course, doing this sort of exercise would make one think I'd be losing weight, but so far, the increased hunger seems to be outweighing any caloric burn these longer runs are having.

---
* - Tell that to one of my ankles, which appears to be a bit pissed off with me right now.

How Politics Killed Facebook (at least for me)

2011-02-26T15:25:00.004-06:00

The past few weeks in Wisconsin have been, to say the least, interesting. The state's new governor, Scott Walker, is proposing a budget repair bill to patch a shortfall in the state's current budget. As proposed, it would require public employees to pay more for health care and benefit coverage. In addition, the unions representing these employees would not be able to engage in collective bargaining (save for police and firefighters).

At the State Capitol in Madison, there have been (at the time of this writing) two weeks of protests against the proposed agreement. In addition, 14 State Senate Democrats have literally left the state rather than vote on this bill. [20 Senators are required for a voting quorum on budget bills. Since there are only 19 Republicans in the majority, at least one Senate Democrat needs to be present for any vote on bills that contain a financial component.] As of today, the Senators, including my State Senator, are reportedly in Illinois, doing heaven knows what, leaving one chamber of the Wisconsin Legislature virtually paralyzed.

The Democrats have said they will return when the Governor removes the collective bargaining aspect from the budget repair bill, claiming that union rights will be destroyed. The Governor states that removing the collective bargaining will contain costs for the end of the 2009-2011 Wisconsin budget, which is facing a budgetary shortfall of over $100 million.* In addition, Wisconsin is estimated to have a $3.6 billion budget deficit for the 2011-2013 budget period. Governor Walker has said tax hikes are out of the picture and so the budget will have to be balanced through spending cuts.

In the meantime, Facebook (or at least that part of it that I am exposed to) has gone insane. Along with the articles posted (pro and con on the Governor's proposal), people post their opinions, which have varied from the benign, to the "Ban Union Thugs" and "Governor Walker is a Douche" groups.

On my own Facebook account, I posted a number of articles (without editorial content) about what was happening in Madison. The comment wars were incredible and in once instance caused someone to have a complete meltdown and threaten another commenter.** Apparently, I'm not the only one that has experienced this, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's lead article today was on friendships taxed by the budget issues.

I just decided it wasn't worth it.

Although Facebook was great for keeping in touch with people, it became a bit much. So I'll stick with my smaller audience here.

-----
* - I have my opinions on how that budget shortfall occurred, but that is beyond the scope of this rant.

** - The second commenter was baiting the first, but still....

Plowed

2011-02-02T14:04:00.004-06:00

Happy Groundhog Day!

We took a huge shot to the gut from one big bad-ass blizzard over the past day. The latest video blog deals with a pretty impressive amount of snow.

If you are viewing this via email or mobile device, go here for the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYqUgHlzO98

UPDATED: Link to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story on the blizzard.

Another Damn Birthday

2011-01-24T20:57:00.000-06:00

I know I still owe you a more serious video blog from last week but I have some audio editing to do on it, so I will throw something else your way instead:

[If you are reading this on a mobile device or email go here to see the video]

You had to know...

2011-01-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

You had to know I would post now, although this isn't as cool as 11/11/11 @11:11 will be.

Still, I like all the repetition. I can't wait for 33/33/33@33:33!

On Second Thought....

2011-01-09T19:23:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to post our next video blog today but Angie asked me to hold off a few more days. I will explain this when I post it...she just wants to talk with someone about the content first, otherwise it is going to spoil a surprise.

In other news, the four of us spent most of the weekend together. Today was a homework day and Angie and I were helping the boys with their respective homework assignments and watching the NFL playoffs (at least, I was...I don't think Angie saw a down). I'll admit I turned it off with 1:45 left in the game, ostensibly because it was dinner time, but also because I thought the Packers were going to lose at the last minute. :)

I don't really know how this work week is going to pan out, but my Spidey Sense is telling me it's going to be a big week or a really busy week, so I am going to wind things down here to make sure I get to bed at a reasonable hour. Five a.m. comes awfully early.

Ahhh....

2011-01-08T02:22:00.008-06:00

I'll admit that even taking six days off from blogging didn't seem to be enough after finishing my 365 project last week. I probably could have taken a month off, but here I am.

Angie and I will be working on another video blog tomorrow...probably will be posting it on Sunday and this topic will be a bit more serious than the last one. I'll leave that as a teaser, rather than posting a spoiler.

For tonight, although it doesn't really count as a video blog, here's an adventure starring Sasha in the kitchen.

Happy 2011 To You

2011-01-01T00:32:00.000-06:00

Well, with the 2010 365 blog project behind me, Angie and I decided we would try some video blogs this year. I don't know how often we'll do one...probably when we have something worth doing.*

So let's just do one and get rolling.

----
* - Our definition of "something worth doing" anyway.

No More "Post A Day" Nonsense!

2010-12-31T23:59:00.013-06:00

As you might have figured out by now, I have been attempting a "365 post" project in 2010, where I post an entry a day. It has been more daunting than I expected and I am glad to be done with it, frankly. I also didn't post anything about my intentions earlier on the off-chance I screwed it up (hey, it happens). On a technicality, I have screwed it up a few times by hitting "save" and not "publish," but I'm sticking with the idea of "spirit of the law" not "letter of the law."

As for next year, Angie and I are going to try and do a bit of video blogging. We'll see how that turns out.

Thanks for hanging around here this year. See you in 2011.

Some Things I Discovered

2010-12-30T22:25:00.001-06:00

Getting to the end of the year, aren't we?

Oh, devoid of other ideas, here is some music I discovered this year...most of these weren't released this year, but this is when I found it.

Tired Pony (2009): Mix up Snow Patrol, REM and other folks. This is what you get.
Minipop's "Ask Me A Question" (2007). I found myself listening to this stuff and getting a lot of work done as the groove just seemed to work for me.
Ulrich Schnauss: "A Letter From Home" (2003). See reasoning under Minipop.
Azure Ray's "Sleep." (2001) The title pretty much sets the mood for this one. Ironically, the Wiki article on one of the members refers to Azure Ray as "dream pop."
Dave Sills: "Life Without Love" (2010)
Justin Currie: "Can't Let Go Of Her Now" (2010). I have always been a Del Amitri freak, so I was happy to have more solo material from the Dels' lead singer. Now with banjo!*
Paper Tongues (2010). The entire CD is great, but "What If" stood out for me. (sorry, live version here)
One of the boys' favorites this year (judged by the number of times they played the video) was Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead" (2010).
The Naked and Famous: "Young Blood" (2010).
Due to Sirius/XM's holiday season "Band on the Run Radio," (which played nothing but Paul McCartney material for a month), I became reacquainted with some of the songs from that release, including "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" (1973). Again, sorry, live version...the studio version is awesome.

Ok, fine...that's enough. I'll wrap up the year tomorrow.

----

* - Not much of a banjo fan, but I do dig it in this one.

Keep 'Em Busy

2010-12-29T17:55:00.001-06:00

It's a day of hanging out with the boys. They are staying with me full-time for a bit and I admit it's really nice to have them here. It's fun to see their interpretation of whatever is going on in the world, their always-entertaining interactions with each other and their interactions with Angie and me. Sasha will come out with things such as "Aiden wants to change his name to 'Bleu Cheese'" or something like that. Aiden will fire back with some snappy retort designed to embarrass Sasha...someime it hits the mark and sometimes Sasha just blows him off.

Angie is very good about giving the boys chores do to (in fact that is Aiden's main complaint when he stays with us: He doesn't like chores) and as time goes on, she has been giving them more responsiblity for various tasks. Sasha is in charge of doing the boys' laundry; Aiden seems to take a particular delight in cleaning the toilets (hey, whatever...knock yourself out, kid!) and if we can get their tendency to clutter resolved, I think life would be grand.

Of course, I am a bigger clutterfiend than either of the boys and Angie is working on that as well!

Wandering About

2010-12-28T21:22:00.002-06:00

The boys spent part of today with PoppaDon and their cousin while Angie and I were out. Tonight, the boys were playing in their room and didn't have much need of our company. Some days are like that; they will disappear into their room and we won't hear a peep coming out of the room. Angie and I worked on building a PC for my brother tonight. I think I could get used to the being on vacation thing...now if only there was a way to make a living on permanent vacation....

Vacation! Woot!

2010-12-27T08:51:00.001-06:00

I'm on vacation from work this week and aside from spending time with the kids, I think the big thing I need to work on is projects around the house. Of course, a week from now I'll probably be writing about how I blew the week relaxing instead of getting these other tasks done, but for now at least, the week is full of promise.

Tonight I'll be seeing a friend in from out of town and tomorrow Angie and I will be running around on various tasks, so I will take advantage of today to relax.

Christmas Leftovers

2010-12-26T21:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas was good for the family; the boys seemed to enjoy their time with the family and had fun with gifts. It is especially nice as Angie is also off for the better part of a week, so we'll get to spend it together. PoppaDon received a Kindle from the family and he seems pretty fond of it so far. There will be a bit of a learning curve, obviously, but he really digs it so far.

It was a white Christmas in Wisconsin this year (at least my little corner of it) and I made it to my little victory: Past the shortest day of the year; the days are getting longer again and although it will likely be a long time until it feels like spring, at least we're on the way. I suppose if I had more liking of winter sports, I'd be more inclined to enjoy winter, but since running and biking are the things I like to do these days, this isn't my favorite season. I have still been running, but it's definitely more work getting bundled up and feeling the air sear one's lungs. I do think the fact I'm still running is helping me, though; last winter I pretty much stopped (as I prefer running outdoors to on a treadmill) and it took a while to get things rolling again in the spring. Hopefully I can avoid that problem this year.

Still, the warm weather can't return soon enough for my liking.

And So This Is Christmas, 2010

2010-12-25T09:04:00.000-06:00

Sheesh.

2010-12-24T18:41:00.000-06:00

Just watched the feel-good movie of the decade*: Steam

It stars Ally Sheedy, Ruby Dee and Kate Siegal and chronicles the lives of three woman battling various demons. I'm not sure how I ended up with this one in my queue on Netflix, but it was a good movie...just don't expect to walk out of this one feeling great.

There are some despicable characters in this movie and some strong performances by the main characters. I wouldn't play this before a children's party or anything, but definitely wasn't a waste of time.

----
* - Not.

Lazy, Busy

2010-12-23T21:47:00.018-06:00

It was a (purposefully) slow start to the vacation, but things picked up into high gear quickly. The kids and I ran out on errands and were gone most of the afternoon. I then introduced the kids to George Webb's and Aiden declared it awesome. :) Shocking that he would like food. Afterwards, I had some wrapping to finish, so I sequestered myself away.

The boys seem under control as far as Christmas as concerned ... they will be with their mom on Christmas Eve before heading back here on Christmas day. We'll see how under control things are by Saturday afternoon. :)

This Is The Best

2010-12-22T17:12:00.000-06:00

It was the last day of work in 2010 for me today. I have 11 days away, which, frankly, I need. It has been an extremely hectic and busy few months for me, topped off by a week of starting at 3am. I am definitely in need of some decompression.

I am looking forward to Christmas this year; sometimes it is hit and miss with me. I hope it turns out to be a great day for us and the kids.

In This Respect, I've Got It Easy

2010-12-21T19:54:00.000-06:00

According to an article in the local excuse of a newspaper, the average commute time to work in Milwaukee is 22 minutes, third-best in the nation among metropolitan areas. In the morning, my commute is less than that at about 15 minutes. Coming home it is about 25 right now, but that has more to do with a huge-ass construction project that is rebuilding part of my route home.

In this respect, I know I've got it good compared to folks in other larger cities (I think of the gridlock I hear about in Atlanta and LA for example)...it's nice to know Milwaukee is doing something right.

Short Week!

2010-12-20T16:39:00.000-06:00

After last week's long week, it's nice to have a short one this week to balance. Three days of work this week and then it is eleven glorious days off. I'm looking forward to spending time with Angie and the boys.

Saturday we'll be with my family and I have a few things planned for the boys over their break, but overall, I'm just looking forward to spending time with them.

What's Up, Lady WhiteFinger

2010-12-19T10:56:00.008-06:00

Well, Angie freaked me out last night.

She came home from work and after a few minutes of talking, she looked at her hand and gasped: One of her fingers had gone white and numb. As in "white like in this picture." I felt her hands and they were cold, but every one of her fingers was cold, not just the white one.

I had her run her hands under warm water and we watched as the color started creeping back in from the base of her finger up to the tip.

It hasn't happened again, but ... wow.

Saturday night

2010-12-18T22:56:00.002-06:00

Sleepover. We're outnumbered 4:2 here. Pray for us.

Arrrrrgh

2010-12-17T22:06:00.001-06:00

Angie informed me that one of the garage door springs snapped and dropped to the garage floor. Luckily, my car wasn't in it at the time.

This means that I have yet another home improvement task (that I've never previously done) on tap for tomorrow. I don't suppose I can put this one off too long, as the garage door isn't working correctly as of now.

Tricky Math

2010-12-16T21:09:00.009-06:00

One of our friends sent me a link to Vi Hart's website. She is getting a lot of press this week...even the Washington Post weighed in on her unique way of explaining math. Check out the site, watch the videos and try to keep yourself from attempting what she does. I had a pencil in my hand before I had finished watching.

I showed Vi's site to the kids and they were busy drawing away last night.

Almost There

2010-12-15T20:18:00.007-06:00

In another week or so, I will obtain my yearly moral victory: The days will begin getting longer in the slow march towards spring and summer. I know technically it is also this same day that winter (my most dreaded season) technically begins, but who am I fooling: We've had snowstorms and single digit temps. It's freakin' winter.

It's funny how your tolerance does reset itself somewhat, though, as season goes on: During winter if the temp breaks 30 degrees, it feels like a bloody heatwave. Try that same temperature in July and I'll go insane.

I'm going to try and make the best of things...no reason to spend one-quarter of my life miserable.

I Think We're Done

2010-12-14T15:55:00.001-06:00

Here we are ten days before Christmas and I think all the holiday shopping is done. I think that's partially due to the fact we are scaling back this year and partially due to the fact that I started earlier this year.

I'll admit I'm looking forward to the holidays this year. I suspect, however, that is because I'm actually taking some vacation from work. After this week is through, I suspect I'll be pretty ready to start vacation, but I have a few days left next week before I can go into lazy mode.

Hey Ho, Here We Go!

2010-12-13T19:51:00.001-06:00

Working 12 hour days again this week. That in itself isn't horrible, but that 3am starting time? Yeah, that's a bit rough. Especially since that means I need to have my rear end in bed by 8p ideally, but earlier for more "luxury sleep time" this week.

I last pulled this in October and I was, in a word, punchy by the end of the week. We'll see how it rolls this time.

Yeah, More On The "Blizzard"

2010-12-12T11:50:00.000-06:00

Well, unlike Minnesota, we didn't get much snow where I live. In fact, between the lack of snow and the high winds, I didn't even have to shovel.

Of course, it's now freakin' frigid out there, so I'm not going anywhere regardless. I have sequestered myself in the house with Angie, whining whenever she suggests we venture out. I'm trying to convince her the day would be better spent rotting our brains watching football.

Wish me luck!

Yeah, About That Blizzard....

2010-12-11T21:17:00.004-06:00

Well, so much for the Stormaggedon predictions:

It's been raining here all day...so far, so good: no snow.

I'm told it's still coming, but at least Angie and I were able to get to the store to buy supplies (read: food) and get some other shopping done.

It may be a temporary reprieve, but I'll take it.

Oh This Should Be Fun.

2010-12-10T19:42:00.004-06:00

This is another whiny post about the inevitable (at least where I live) onset of winter.

Tomorrow there is a blizzard warning, or winter storm warning, or stormaggedon warning...some such crap. This will be followed by temps dropping into the single digits.

The only thing I'll say about single digit temperatures is I like them more than I like having surgery.

I've already said it ten times this year, but: When my children are grown, I am *SO* outta here. :)

Two Days, Two Teeth

2010-12-09T22:16:00.000-06:00

Aiden lost both of his front teeth in the past two days. Tuesday night, Mom assisted in removing an extremely loose tooth on Monday. Sasha "assisted"* removing the other front tooth for him. Given the fact Aiden had already knocked one out when he was 18 months old, he has quite the gap in the front now.

---
* - knocked out with a knee

Never Thought To Do THIS When Teaching

2010-12-08T23:59:00.000-06:00

Of all the interesting ways I tried to come up with to keep students interested when I was teaching college, stripping in class was not one of them.

Not so for Raymond Taylor, who, shockingly enough, no longer has a job.

Can't Wait? Maybe You Should Anyway

2010-12-07T02:11:00.000-06:00

If you have had access to any sort of electronic media, you've probably seen advertisements from various wireless carriers touting how fast the new 4G networks are.

Well, technically, that is true. The standard for 4G networks is a speed of 100Mbps. That's pretty stinkin' fast.

The only problem is that the wireless networks' versions of 4G aren't quite that fast.

Maybe I'll stick with my boring ol' 3G phone a bit longer.

What Th'?????

2010-12-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

I leave for work around 0530 and as one can imagine, I'm not always the most awake at that hour.

Imagine my surprise to go get my coat out of the front closet and see this:

Now, if you're like me, you're probably wondering, "How/Why is Aiden's shoe hanging up on someone's coat instead of on the floor with its twin?"

Yeah, I'm kinda wondering that myself.

It's A Wisconsin Thing

2010-12-05T18:24:00.000-06:00

Tonight St. Nick comes to visit. Well, theoretically...I don't have the kids tonight so I doubt St. Nick will stop at my place.

I live in one of the few areas in the United States that the custom is still observed. If you're not familiar with it, the premise is basically....uh..."Christmas Lite." St. Nick leaves a stocking full of small toys or treats for the good children of the world.

I, instead, celebrate the year-round feast of St. Angie, who takes care of the adult male of the house.

I think I have the better deal.

Gylne Tider Promos

2010-12-04T19:08:00.001-06:00

These videos are going viral and I'll admit it was a guilty pleasure to see some of these folks from the 80s.

These are promotions for Gylne Tider, a Norwegian television show.

Sasha Down Again

2010-12-03T17:51:00.002-06:00

Sasha has pneumonia and we thought he was getting better, but he's down and out with fever again today despite antibiotics. He ended up missing three days of school (so far). When Aiden had something similar last week, he missed two weeks of school. Hopefully Sasha won't be down as long.

Ideas For Next Year?

2010-12-02T21:24:00.010-06:00

As I've been plowing through this year with an average of a post a day, I though to myself, "What in the hell am I doing?" Aside from a number of posts that were, even by my standards, pretty worthless. Although it has been (to say the least) a challenge to get the posts up (or, in a few cases to remember to actually click the "post" button when I'm done writing), it's been mostly fun to try it.

Next year, however, I will be going back to my usual slacker self, however I will (with the help of Angie and various others, I'm sure) try to post at least one video blog per week. What this means I'm not yet sure, but it seemed like a decent thing to try.

If anyone has better ideas, let me know.

Crud...Here It Comes

2010-12-01T17:14:00.005-06:00

The first winter storm of the season is headed this way this weekend. This means we are under a "Blog Whining Watch" is in effect from now until May 1, 2011. This means conditions are right for weather-related whining in this blog. Please stay tuned to this blog for news and official information.

How Would I Deal?

2010-11-30T21:14:00.000-06:00

The title of this post could easily be "How Will I Deal," I guess.

I was reading a blog earlier this evening of a woman who is dying of cancer. She has a Caring Bridge blog dealing with her illness and this week was discussing the funeral arrangements she had made.

While knowing that being human means I have to confront my eventual death, it's something that is (thankfully) still off in that "someday" category and not something I spend (too) much time thinking about.

As I read this blog, I was struck by how well the person seemed to be dealing with things. Of course, I know this may not be how it really is, but there is really something to be said about handling a death with dignity. Whenever and however I go, I at least hope it is dignified.

Ah Krap. I Wanted A Kardashian Kard.

2010-11-29T21:21:00.000-06:00

Krap. I wanted to be kool and get a prepaid kredit kard with the pictures of Kim, Khloe, and/or Kourtney Kardashian on it. Unfortunately, I kan't do that anymore as the kard has been kancelled by the Kardashian klan after kids komplained about kard fees kosting them a lot of kash.

You kan read about the Kardashian kard kancellation at knn.kom....errrr....I mean cnn.com.

Stop Calling Me Shirley

2010-11-28T20:46:00.001-06:00

Aw man...drag. Actor Leslie Nielsen has died.

Officially Christmas Season

2010-11-27T20:38:00.000-06:00

Apparently, since we're after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, the Christmas season is officially off and rolling. In Milwaukee, Candy Cane Lane is open for the season. Angie's parents are visiting and we took them to see the neighborhood. Not all the houses appeared to be up and running in terms of the holiday decorations; in fact, we saw some homeowners working on putting up the lights as we were going through the displays.

Less than one month left to overdose on holiday tunes.

Somewhat Of An Off Day

2010-11-26T20:33:00.000-06:00

I worked until noon today (the office closed when the stock market closed) and strangely it feels like it was an "off day" altogether. I saw the boys for a bit when I came home and Angie's parents arrived for a visit minutes after I got home. The boys went off to celebrate a late Thanksgiving with their mom and we hung out with Angie's parents.

We went out for dinner, watched Alabama *almost* take out Auburn in college football and make our plans for tomorrow. Angie and her stepdad will be out hitting up flea markets and antique shops and her mom and I will be bumming around elsewhere.

It's nice to have them here for a few days.

No Casualties...So Far

2010-11-25T16:38:00.000-06:00

Despite the fact I did some of the cooking for our family Thanksgiving meal, there have been no reported incidents of gastrointestinal distress.

Yet.

Everyone said that all turned out well, but I was very critical of the things I created today. I didn't think it was my strongest performance as holiday chef. Of course, the ultimate victory is if no one gets sick from my cooking.

Stay tuned.

Let The Preparations Begin

2010-11-24T23:18:00.009-06:00

We started work on the meal for tomorrow's Thanksgiving festivities. The family will be coming over to our place.

One thing I am thankful for is the fact that we aren't having 40 people over to the house as one of my friends is doing. We will have eight people here, including three kids and that's it.

Angie's parents will be coming up on Friday for the weekend, which will be nice for us.

I'm off to bed...early rising tomorrow.

No Tornadoes Today

2010-11-23T16:03:00.007-06:00

As predicted by the weathermen, the temperature dropped thirty degrees and it's in the 30s today. There was damage from storms (specifically a tornado or two) 20 miles or so south, but aside from some good wind, we didn't have much from the storms.

Of course, now, it's likely the warmer weather is gone for a good long while. I know I've said it before, but when those boys of mine are grown, I think I'm out of here.

It's Almost Thanksgiving, So...

2010-11-22T18:56:00.000-06:00

It's almost Thanksgiving, so of course, we had tornadoes in the area today. ((shaking my head))

Typical Wisconsin weirdness abounding in terms of the weather: We had 63 degrees (17C) today. By Wednesday, we will have a daytime high of 29 (-1C) by Friday with lows expected to hit 19 (-7C) Friday night.

Have a ever mentioned I hate winter weather?

Bet He's Wishing He Had Retired Now....

2010-11-21T15:53:00.005-06:00

The NFL's Packers and Vikings met in a division rivalry today, which the Packers won 31-3 or something like that. At the time of writing, the Packers are 7-3 and tied with the Chicago Bears for first place in the division. The Vikings are 3-7 and are a team in a bit of disarray. Brett Favre isn't quite having the season he had hoped for when returning for his 20th season. I think his placement in this week's power rankings says it all. Note the number next to his name.

Frogs!

2010-11-20T23:25:00.002-06:00

[I see I have a number of posts that didn't published as scheduled. Sorry about that! Posting them as I find them.]

The kids and I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum's exhibit on frogs today. Here are some of the stars.

The exhibit runs through the end of 2010.

Aiden The Videographer

2010-11-19T20:59:00.002-06:00

[I see I have a number of posts that didn't published as scheduled. Sorry about that! Posting them as I find them.]

Aiden has taken himself to be a bit of a videographer lately. He has been using a Flip camera and recording little vignettes and wanting to publish them on YouTube.com. I have let him put things up, but I'm sure that people think that I have put these up for whatever reason.

Here's one I expect will be nominated for Best Original Short next year.

"Normal" Hours

2010-11-18T17:52:00.003-06:00

[I see I have a slew of posts that didn't publish at the scheduled time, for whatever reason. Apologies for that!]

Today I'm back on (what passes for my) normal hours. I felt like a king because I was able to sleep in until 5:30am. Pathetic.

Work remains busy, which I think is good, although admittedly, I am pretty wiped out by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to the weekend with the boys...not sure what we're going to do yet, but I think we may go hit the exhibit of exotic frogs at the museum.

After I get caught up on my sleep, of course.

3:19am And I Am Already Behind

2010-11-17T03:37:00.001-06:00

I'm working a weird shift today (0400-1300) and so I needed to get up at 0300 to get myself in order.

Of course, I didn't hit "enter" on my phone's alarm, so it didn't go off as I had planned...At 3:19am I woke up on my own* and realized I was already behind the 8 ball for the day.

Better get moving ... don't wanna be late(r).

----
* - troubling in its own right

Bonus!

2010-11-16T20:13:00.000-06:00

Angie worked day shift yesterday and today, which means that I actually had the chance to spend time with her so far this week.

Normally, as she is on an evening shift, we don't see much of each other during the week, so the fat that we were able to spend time together almost made me feel like I was getting away with something.

All good things come to an end and all that rot, though, as she's back on her "normal"* shift for the rest of the week.

----
* - Not so "normal" as far as I'm concerned!

Not To Complain TOO Much

2010-11-15T16:28:00.001-06:00

I don't what to sound like every cliché you've ever heard here, but Mondays are (for me, at least) just rough days. I'm sure it is partially the psychological baggage that goes along with it, but work has been somewhat chaotic lately and the mode of the day seems to be "Each thing I rush through so I can do something else."*

I'm hoping this is a temporary thing, as even for my ADD-like mind, there is too much happening too fast!

---
* - "Pursuit" by Stephen Dobyns

Well That Was Interesting

2010-11-14T18:54:00.003-06:00

Angie and I tackled putting some protective film on the hood of my car today to try and prevent the paint from being damaged in the normal course of daily events.*

It was definitely an interesting experience and I can see why businesses charge a good amount to do this.

After fighting with it for a good hour, we did get it on to our satisfaction.** Now I just have to get up the nerve to do the bumper, fender, lights and mirrors with the remaining material.

----
* - I recently changed vehicles and had the new one two days and noticed a paint chip on the front of the car. The dealer touched it up, but suggested I look into the "clear bra" or other things like that.

** - Of course from the "after further review" department, there are some bubbles in the film that we missed and some slight lines from stretching the material after it had started to set.

So Much For That Diet

2010-11-13T14:12:00.000-06:00

Angie comes home from work last night with....

...two entire freaking cheesecakes.

How is a weak-willed person such as myself supposed to deal with that?

If you answered "with a knife and fork," you are dead on target.

Oh Friday, My Love For You Grows

2010-11-12T18:48:00.000-06:00

I was pretty glad to get home from work today. It's been busy (nothing new) lately and I've been heading in early than usual on some days to try and get things done. Some days I think I would be the most productive person ever if I worked in that office on 3rd shift and no one else was there!

Definitely looking forward to spending this weekend with Angie. We have some things planned around the house and around town, but the main thing is I'll actually get to see her for a few days.

[Walks away muttering about working different shifts from Angie.]

One Of Those Days

2010-11-11T11:11:00.017-06:00

Yeah, it's another one of those days that has repetitious numbers. It takes so little to make me happy.

Welcome to 11/11 at 11:11.

Some factoids about 11/11. According to the Wiki page:

Some dude figured out that y=f(x) thing in 1675
Atlanta was torched in the Civil War in 1864
It's also Lāčplēša day. I'll let you figure that one out.
It's the 95th anniversary of the birth of Bill Proxmire

It is, of course, also Veterans Day in the United States.

Enjoy your 11/11 11:11 goodness!

(Lisa, I didn't forget this time)

The Boys Are Being Boys...I Hate That

2010-11-10T19:37:00.000-06:00

The boys have been back here four hours and I'm already trying to figure out the perfect mix of over the counter meds I can take to not remember tonight.*

Lately, they are picking on and at each other constantly. It's driving me batsh*t. Trying to get them to work in harmony in terms of cleaning their room or anything else turns into a "he's not cleaning!" "No, HE is not cleaning." Then they start wrestling or fighting or throwing televisions at each other.*

I think I'd rather carve a design into my flesh with an electric needle than sit and listen to this.

---
* - If you're new here, that is an exaggeration.

Brain Freeze Continues

2010-11-09T20:27:00.000-06:00

I'm still in a funk in terms of what to write these days. Perhaps I've finally hit the bottom of the seemingly-endless barrel of things to say on the blog.

Actually, I doubt that very much, but will be glad when the ideas start flowing again.

Completely Tapped?

2010-11-08T20:01:00.000-06:00

I have absolutely no idea what to write about today.

Even this post saying I have nothing to say is ludicrous. Yet, I'm still trying to do that "post a day for a year" thing, so here it is.

Yeah, technically this isn't much of a post. I know.

Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away

2010-11-07T21:09:00.000-06:00

After I dropped the boys off with their mom tonight, I came home to an empty house, as this is Angie's long week to work. The weather was decent here today* and I had planned to go for a run this morning, but my body said it wasn't in the mood this morning. By tonight, however, I was ready to go. I had planned to try for a personal-best distance today, which meant I needed to run farther than 7.1 miles.

I loaded up the mp3 player and the first thing I put on was a Kevin Smith podcast, which I knew would go for about an hour. Since I figured I'd run about 10 minute miles, I would need to run for the entire podcast before I even worried about even beginning to think about stopping.

I felt (as far as I feel when running) absolutely great. I hadn't even glanced at how far I had run, as I knew it wouldn't be near the distance I was looking for. The podcast went 65 minutes and as it wrapped up, I looked down to pull up some music from the mp3 player.

Then it happened.

There was a piece of sidewalk that was jutting up and I didn't see it...because I was looking down at the mp3 player. My toe hit it head on, causing me to stumble and then fall.

As far as falls go, this was right out of "The A Team." When I realized I was falling, I tucked my shoulder and used the forward momentum to hip-roll this right back to my feet without stopping. I wasn't hurt, so I just kept running.

For about 100 yards.

It was at that point I decided to look down at my watch (which was in night mode with the light turned on) to see how far I had gone.

Only problem was that the watch wasn't there.

I should mention the watch is a Garmin Forerunner and it was a gift from Angie for Father's Day last year.

I cursed a streak that would make a sailor proud as I jogged back to where I fell. The only problem was I couldn't tell where I fell. All I knew was I had hit a high stop in the pavement and had hit leaves when I fell. I was pissed for a few different reasons:

I had to stop running on what was (in my mind) one of the best runs I ever had.
It was dark and even with the glowing face of the watch, it might be covered with leaves or otherwise missing.
I had no idea how far I had run to this point and if I couldn't find the watch (obviously a minor point if I couldn't find the watch), I'd never know how far I had run.

I spent five minutes going through the leaves near the sidewalk where I thought I fell. I should point out, it was dark and I was wearing a dark hat, dark shirt, dark pants, and dark gloves.** I was waiting for someone to come out of the house thinking I was a prowler or something.

After about five minutes of apparently fruitless searching, I decided that I needed to run home, get a flashlight and drive back to look for the watch. Hopefully, I would find it. I started running back and ... there it was in the middle of the sidewalk, about 25 feet before the jag in the sidewalk. As near as I can figure, my action figure hip roll probably flung the watch away from the area that I actually crashed down.

Nonetheless, I snapped the watch back on kept running, wondering how much time I had lost*** and cursing the fact that if I did actually beat my distance record, it would have to have an asterisk, much the way Barry Bonds home run record has a steroid asterisk next to it in the minds of many fans. After all, I had a break in the run...would it still count?

I did manage to beat my record and then some. By the time I made it back home, I had run 9.25 miles in about 90 minutes.

---
* - decent for November in Wisconsin

** - Yeah, I know, I should wear light reflective clothing when running at night. If you have any you'd like to donate, I'm listening, otherwise shush.

*** - Per the stats from the watch following the run, about five minutes. See the sudden stop? (Also, see the sudden drop in heart rate--the red graph-- every mile or two? WTF is up with that?)

Run The Energy Off

2010-11-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

Angie and I have been talking about how we need to get the kids exercising more, so this afternoon, I took them out for a run to see how they would do. Sasha trotted along fine...for a tenth of a mile...before he started complaining of a side-stitch. Aiden made it a quarter of a mile before he started howling about some issue or another. They kept plugging along, though, and we made it 0.8 of a mile before Aiden couldn't go farther. Admittedly, I was surprised that Aiden made it that far. The kids did great all things considered and they are pretty mellow since then.*

I think we'll have to do this again.

---
* - As opposed to their usual hyper antics on the weekend.

Glorious Weekend

2010-11-05T16:32:00.001-05:00

Although Angie works this weekend, so it's not a perfect situation, I am very glad to have a few days to chill out. It's been a bit of a down week for me...not really sure why, just haven't felt like doing much. I did force myself out for a six mile run today. I was hoping I'd feel better afterwards (in terms of mood, anyway), but it didn't help so much.

The sun is supposed to be out tomorrow, so maybe that will help.*

---
* - probably not, as I typically despise the later fall, all of winter, and early spring season

Spam Of The Week

2010-11-04T16:53:00.001-05:00

This one was awesome. My knee replacement was recalled according to the subject line. Only problem that I came up with is that I haven't *had* a knee replacement.*

I have disabled the links. :)

-----
* - yet

Kill The PolitiFact

2010-11-03T21:29:00.001-05:00

The local newspaper has been running "Truth-O-Meters" on the recent political campaigns, using whatever biases to determine if a local political candidate was telling the truth in campaign materials. Here is the main page for this feature.

I find this thing incredibly annoying as I don't necessarily come from the same biases as the newspaper so that old adage ("There are three sides to every story; yours, mine and the truth") comes to mind. Well, at least the elections are over, so the fact checkers will finally go away, right?

Wrong.

I know I don't *have* to read these things, but I find it's like that "car accident" mentality, where you just have to look, no matter how disturbing something might be.

Is It Over?

2010-11-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Normally, I love staying up and watching election coverage on television on election night, but since I have to haul my sorry ass out of bed at 0500 to get ready for work, I will have to pass on that tonight.

I'm heading off to bed before the two big races in Wisconsin (one Senate seat and Governor) are decided. I just don't handle the nights of "not enough sleep" as well as I used to do.

Wisconsin's unofficial motto: "Vote early, vote often!"

One More Day

2010-11-01T18:03:00.004-05:00

I've mentioned in previous posts how sick and tired I am of political ads, attack ads, lawn signs, phone calls and anything else related to the election.

I just need to make it one more day.

I'm hoping I won't have to wait too long: Projections have been made saying 50% of eligible voters will turn out tomorrow.

Davenport

2010-10-31T22:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, my weekend of glorified garbage picking continued today as Angie, Tim and I headed over to another flea market...this one in Davenport, IA. Among the things that jumped out at me:

Can of orange juice from 1955

Trippy 3-D version of the Abbey Road poster featuring the Beatles. As you walk past it, the background appears to move.

Is it just me or aside from the hairdo, does Vicki Lawrence look exactly the freakin' same as she did in 1973?

This one is classic: "Bowling Fun by Dick Clark."

Boxing mag from 1939 featuring Champ Joe Louis and challenger Tony Galento.

This stand had a serious Shirley Temple thing going.

This was an old drawing, but Angie and I thought it more resembled Helena Bonham Carter.

I was afraid to open this one and read the "funny" stories: "So I killed this guy, right, and...."

Time to clean out the cupboards, I guess.

I'll admit it was a very interesting weekend in terms of what people consider to be antiques and what people consider to be valuable.

Coal Valley

2010-10-30T21:03:00.018-05:00

Angie and I are hanging out in the Quad Cities this weekend visiting her parents. Angie's stepdad Tim loves hitting the auctions and flea markets around the area to see what he can find.* We headed over to Coal Valley, Illinois, to the Country Fair Mall and browsed around the true and pseudo-antiques.

Some of the finds:

This one, however, was my favorite: It was in a bin of old pictures and as opposed to being a photo of a celebrity, this one was simply titled "Some Guy."

One more flea market to hit tomorrow at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds...who knows what we'll find there.**

-----

* - Specifically, he collects marbles.

** - I think I'm turning into one of those crazy people that hit these sorts of things all the time. Luckily, I'm not buying much, but it's fun to judge the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" thing.

So Much For Resting Up

2010-10-29T23:40:00.000-05:00

Today I may have had a day off from work, but it was not a restful one. Angie and I were up early as we each independently had morning appointments scheduled. I had a refinancing appointment, then a quick stop at the auto dealer, and then had a few hours before running Sasha to an appointment. Once I was home it was time to pack up for the weekend trip to Iowa, but luckily Angie had taken care of much of that in my absence.

This weekend will likely be pretty busy as well. Can't wait to get back home so I can rest up. :)

Long Weekend

2010-10-28T20:17:00.016-05:00

Although I'm writing this on Thursday evening, it won't be published until Sunday or Monday. Angie and I are taking a trip down to see her parents this weekend and my inherent sense of paranoia about posting things that could compromise one's belongings is keeping me from posting that before the trip.

We are both off of work on Friday and I have a few things to do tomorrow (namely, closing on a re-fi of my home and a doc appt for one of the boys). Once those things are done, Ang and I will be hitting the road for the weekend.

I think we're both really looking forward to the trip, even though it's not a very long one!

Aiden May Survive

2010-10-27T18:44:00.003-05:00

Aiden came back from his mom's today and although he still didn't go to school today, he has (I hope) turned the corner on this pneumonia thing he's had going for the past two weeks. His fever has been down and once he gets rid of that nasty cough he has going on, Aiden should be back to whatever passes for normal.

This was a pretty spooky one for us, as typically Aiden doesn't get very sick. This was about as bad as he's ever been, so you can imagine our relief that he's finally getting better.

YOSHI!

2010-10-26T22:14:00.013-05:00

Angie has had a tattoo of Yoshi since she was 19 years old. Over time, as occasionally happens, the tattoo began to fade out and it finally got to the point she wanted it redone.

Thanks to Greg at Custom Tattoo, Yoshi is bigger, better and stronger than ever before.

This Could Get Interesting

2010-10-25T20:03:00.000-05:00

A storm system is blowing in tomorrow which is promising "near-hurricane force winds."

Can't wait to see if I still have a roof when this is all over.

Really? Still?

2010-10-24T16:01:00.002-05:00

Aiden is still running a fever and this has me concerned as he should be getting better by now (or at least I would think so as this is starting his third day of antibiotics). He has the dry, rattling cough you'd associate with a lifelong smoker with lung disease. Lying on the couch is about the extent of what he wants to do with the occasional exception of checking in with his computer once in a while to play a game.

I suppose it's a matter of just giving it time, but dad worries, y'know.

Fever's Down...I Guess That Is A Start

2010-10-23T21:56:00.000-05:00

Aiden is doing better today in terms of his pneumonia, but he is still running a low-grade temp and his cough is still pretty ragged. He is, however, acting much closer to "normal" than yesterday. He is not a fan of the lime-flavored medicine he'll be taking for the next ten days, but hopefully after another few days, he'll be healthy again.

It's been a long week for him.

Pneumonia

2010-10-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

Aiden has been sick all week and today we got him seen and he has pneumonia. This is the second time he has been diagnosed with it (the first time he was three years old). He received two meds (albuterol to help with the coughing and augmentin to hopefully kill off the bugs).

Of course, he started getting sick after taking his first dose of medication but he seems to have settled down since. In the last two hours, he has improved greatly and I hope that's due to the medication.

Here's hoping we don't have a late-night ER run.