While taking a walk under some high-voltage power lines to find the message an associate left me in the arrangement of some discarded construction material, I remembered a former work colleague of mine named Roger Bolton. Roger was a computer software programmer, if my memories of him hold true. He was also a long-distance road bicyclist.
Roger exemplified the persons I admired while growing up - dedicated to physical feats for personal enjoyment.
I saw Roger and his wife a year or so ago after he'd finished the Rocket City Marathon. He was no longer making long-distance bike rides, having switched to long-distance running.
In Roger's biking days, he'd eat five small meals a day, making sure his nutrition intake and processing were running at optimal levels.
Roger is like many friends of mine who've devoted themselves to physical wellbeing, seeing their bodies as engines that run best when well-maintained.
Perhaps we could all learn a lesson from them. I recently pulled a ligament in my knee area because I thought, after years of physical neglect, I could jump on a rowing machine and pretend to row across a large lake. Start with a small pond first, I found out!
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
18 February 2010
06 January 2010
While I'm At It...
Having spent the past year pondering the stereoscopic view of the world from the tip of my nose, I suddenly find I am with you in the western calendrical world of 2010. But I am also in 4707 in the Chinese calendar system, 5770 in the Jewish calendar system and in the Aztec calendar system, today is 11 - Tochtli (rabbit) 1 - Tecpatl (flint knife) 3 - Xochitl (flower).
Numerical day-counting systems aside, today, the moment somewhere between waking up after sunrise and going to sleep after sunset, I note the local scalar system which indicates my gravitational pull onto this planetary body. A metal contraption containing a spring and a dial told me today's lucky number is 235, five digits less than the number 240 which appeared three days ago.
I don't know the magic number I'm trying to hit but I do know the effect I want to cause as the days disappear behind me. Having jogged/walked and completed a marathon in 2004, a little over five years ago, when my specific gravitational equilibrium read 195 (seven pounds heavier than what my general practitioner (i.e., family doctor) called my "ideal" weight to body type ratio (medium build, 6'1" height, good health in my early 40s)), I believe it's time to put exercise practices back into practice.
Walking 30 minutes a day, using the in-home rowing machine, and memorising Tai Chi movements will occupy parts of my days this year. A balanced diet of protein, fiber and other tasty treats will accompany my eating routines.
I'll post updates on what I've accomplished by adding general fitness routines to my daily habits.
I have no goals other than to vary my habits from one set of seasonal changes to another. Of course, I have a long-term goal - to float around the dark side of the moon on an outer space cruise/spa ship - where every pound/stone has a high price in fuel. Now's as good a time as any to reduce my future fuel use while I see what the rest of the seven billion members of my species is up to.
Until later...
Numerical day-counting systems aside, today, the moment somewhere between waking up after sunrise and going to sleep after sunset, I note the local scalar system which indicates my gravitational pull onto this planetary body. A metal contraption containing a spring and a dial told me today's lucky number is 235, five digits less than the number 240 which appeared three days ago.
I don't know the magic number I'm trying to hit but I do know the effect I want to cause as the days disappear behind me. Having jogged/walked and completed a marathon in 2004, a little over five years ago, when my specific gravitational equilibrium read 195 (seven pounds heavier than what my general practitioner (i.e., family doctor) called my "ideal" weight to body type ratio (medium build, 6'1" height, good health in my early 40s)), I believe it's time to put exercise practices back into practice.
Walking 30 minutes a day, using the in-home rowing machine, and memorising Tai Chi movements will occupy parts of my days this year. A balanced diet of protein, fiber and other tasty treats will accompany my eating routines.
I'll post updates on what I've accomplished by adding general fitness routines to my daily habits.
I have no goals other than to vary my habits from one set of seasonal changes to another. Of course, I have a long-term goal - to float around the dark side of the moon on an outer space cruise/spa ship - where every pound/stone has a high price in fuel. Now's as good a time as any to reduce my future fuel use while I see what the rest of the seven billion members of my species is up to.
Until later...
09 November 2009
Warm Weather Wren
Maple leaves the colour of bananas. A wren a few feet from my head building a nest in the garage. Tree limbs trimmed to a uniform height as if by deer.
Linear thinking. Imagining a product design while walking to the other side of the box, hidden in the box walls' shadows. Feature creep. Perfecting the design.
Sweeping the driveway of dry leaves, fingers of a hurricane not too far away. Not too far? As opposed to what? Compared to whom?
An unknown bird, like a large black swallow, a few trees away from a redheaded woodpecker. My version of twitter much more appealing - titmouse tweets.
Sitting in Big River last night, using a beer coaster to play with their logo - "Rib Giver, Grilling and Brewing Workers Since 1994" - Vanessa and her CV in play. Five years to settle a car smashup lawsuit. Had to repeat her ten-grand vacation (i.e., finishing her college degree in the second round). More of a college veteran than a college alumna. Decided life in the cubicle next to those having heart attacks was not the last view of life she wanted to have. I'm there with you, sister. You've got what it takes to see life outside the box. But more on that later...
Overheard conversations on the weekend:
Sentences outside of metronomic rhythms. Inside the box. Thinking... nonalliteratively. Iteratively.
We know the politics of dancing. We see the slate of our dance cards. We scan the dance floor for partners even if we don't dance. Chickadees and finches sharing the same trees. Us sharing the same roads.
Creative thinking is not thinking creatively. Discovering fire is not inventing the fireplace.
Leaves falling in bunches like bananas. Leaves the colour of...what? Not red. Not orange. Not peach. Not salmon. Not, not, not! The opposite of not what? Burnt orange? Close. Light rust? Maybe. A colour repeated over and over, fall to fall to fall.
How many times have I been "bitten" by a mosquito, tick or spider and turned into an agar-filled petri dish for bloody parasites?
How many times have I seen the solution to one problem while contemplating a problem somewhere else? Why do people not write poems and odes to poison ivy leaves in fall?
Business consultants should work, at least partly, on commission, their "guaranteed solutions" dependent on their customers' success. Politicians should not be financially rewarded for seeking or achieving election, their income dependent on society's success, success a matter of public whim.
The sound of squirrels chasing each other through the leaves. The click of a mimosa leaf falling apart when it hits the ground. My belly sticking out from typing too much and not exercising enough.
Holding a chunk of agate and seeing the volcanic history of our land. Knowing at once what you see through your eyes as I see what you see with my thoughts. History is not the formation and the reformation of political entities. History is outside our time. Being a millionaire or billionaire (by dollar standards) is nothing. Being a potentate or president is temporary and forgotten in another era. Knowing, in full conscious action, that what you do is all you've got, robber baron, monopoly winner or factory worker.
A chipmunk at my feet, being chased by another. More unknown birds migrating nearby. If you aren't successful right now in this very moment, you're never successful, no matter what you say or what or who you say you own.
Vanessa got my business attention because she sees life with no box. She is alive in the moment. She sells without selling because she gives without receiving and gets back more than she can repay. A provincial life is providential when one moves in deliberate steps unknowingly. Monica taught me that. Ann-Marie is reteaching me. Babli is teaching me anew. Julia and Jennifer use poetry and thankfulness to express the same thought. JJ keeps my moral compass pointed at a right angle because solutions are rarely straight ahead.
What is the wasp digging into the leaves beside me for?
I just gave you the solution to a problem. It's not a riddle. There's no rhyme or reason. You hold it in your hand when you hold out your palm. The squirrel and the chipmunk and the wasp and woodpecker already know what's going on.
We want the housecat to think inside the box within the box. How many of us are housecats thinking we're mustangs? A maverick with a saddle or tethered to a carriage? How many of us are headed to the glue factory before we ever started our lives?
We don't live in a box. We live on the outside of a teetering sphere. Teetotaling and totaling tees. I'm successful because of you. I'm successful in this moment because we can think outside of the realm of influence that ties us down. Providing solutions rather than adding to problems.
Of course, we do whatever we want to do, comfort zone or demilitarised zone. Freedom is what the moment is all about. Freedom to be and free to be with others as we please. I freely choose to spend my free time with you. Wanna be free with me? You already are. You're you. See you when you see me.
Linear thinking. Imagining a product design while walking to the other side of the box, hidden in the box walls' shadows. Feature creep. Perfecting the design.
Sweeping the driveway of dry leaves, fingers of a hurricane not too far away. Not too far? As opposed to what? Compared to whom?
An unknown bird, like a large black swallow, a few trees away from a redheaded woodpecker. My version of twitter much more appealing - titmouse tweets.
Sitting in Big River last night, using a beer coaster to play with their logo - "Rib Giver, Grilling and Brewing Workers Since 1994" - Vanessa and her CV in play. Five years to settle a car smashup lawsuit. Had to repeat her ten-grand vacation (i.e., finishing her college degree in the second round). More of a college veteran than a college alumna. Decided life in the cubicle next to those having heart attacks was not the last view of life she wanted to have. I'm there with you, sister. You've got what it takes to see life outside the box. But more on that later...
Overheard conversations on the weekend:
- A group of folks faking a conversation about who had spent more time in jail
- A young woman deciding to completely change her MySpace page
- A young man who eats Krispy Kreme doughnuts in two big bites
- A homeless man bumming money from bar patrons in order to buy a beer but refused service because of his patron-bugging habits
- A set of Firestones and nice rims in hell instead of hellfire and brimstone - a comic street preacher
Sentences outside of metronomic rhythms. Inside the box. Thinking... nonalliteratively. Iteratively.
We know the politics of dancing. We see the slate of our dance cards. We scan the dance floor for partners even if we don't dance. Chickadees and finches sharing the same trees. Us sharing the same roads.
Creative thinking is not thinking creatively. Discovering fire is not inventing the fireplace.
Leaves falling in bunches like bananas. Leaves the colour of...what? Not red. Not orange. Not peach. Not salmon. Not, not, not! The opposite of not what? Burnt orange? Close. Light rust? Maybe. A colour repeated over and over, fall to fall to fall.
How many times have I been "bitten" by a mosquito, tick or spider and turned into an agar-filled petri dish for bloody parasites?
How many times have I seen the solution to one problem while contemplating a problem somewhere else? Why do people not write poems and odes to poison ivy leaves in fall?
Business consultants should work, at least partly, on commission, their "guaranteed solutions" dependent on their customers' success. Politicians should not be financially rewarded for seeking or achieving election, their income dependent on society's success, success a matter of public whim.
The sound of squirrels chasing each other through the leaves. The click of a mimosa leaf falling apart when it hits the ground. My belly sticking out from typing too much and not exercising enough.
Holding a chunk of agate and seeing the volcanic history of our land. Knowing at once what you see through your eyes as I see what you see with my thoughts. History is not the formation and the reformation of political entities. History is outside our time. Being a millionaire or billionaire (by dollar standards) is nothing. Being a potentate or president is temporary and forgotten in another era. Knowing, in full conscious action, that what you do is all you've got, robber baron, monopoly winner or factory worker.
A chipmunk at my feet, being chased by another. More unknown birds migrating nearby. If you aren't successful right now in this very moment, you're never successful, no matter what you say or what or who you say you own.
Vanessa got my business attention because she sees life with no box. She is alive in the moment. She sells without selling because she gives without receiving and gets back more than she can repay. A provincial life is providential when one moves in deliberate steps unknowingly. Monica taught me that. Ann-Marie is reteaching me. Babli is teaching me anew. Julia and Jennifer use poetry and thankfulness to express the same thought. JJ keeps my moral compass pointed at a right angle because solutions are rarely straight ahead.
What is the wasp digging into the leaves beside me for?
I just gave you the solution to a problem. It's not a riddle. There's no rhyme or reason. You hold it in your hand when you hold out your palm. The squirrel and the chipmunk and the wasp and woodpecker already know what's going on.
We want the housecat to think inside the box within the box. How many of us are housecats thinking we're mustangs? A maverick with a saddle or tethered to a carriage? How many of us are headed to the glue factory before we ever started our lives?
We don't live in a box. We live on the outside of a teetering sphere. Teetotaling and totaling tees. I'm successful because of you. I'm successful in this moment because we can think outside of the realm of influence that ties us down. Providing solutions rather than adding to problems.
Of course, we do whatever we want to do, comfort zone or demilitarised zone. Freedom is what the moment is all about. Freedom to be and free to be with others as we please. I freely choose to spend my free time with you. Wanna be free with me? You already are. You're you. See you when you see me.
21 October 2009
Weedy Decision
As a frugal spender, I look for ways to conserve spending. If it also conserves resources, so be it. Here's another person's take on one area to conserve:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/21/DDS51A378K.DTL
My lawn is not a meadow but the edge of a suburban forest. My lawn mowers, including a hand-pushed reel mower, hand-pushed motorised mower and a small tractor, have sat idle for years - I could sell them but then it means I'm promoting someone else's lawnmowing. Anybody have a creative use for former grasscutting machines?
Time for lunch and class prep - have a great day!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/21/DDS51A378K.DTL
My lawn is not a meadow but the edge of a suburban forest. My lawn mowers, including a hand-pushed reel mower, hand-pushed motorised mower and a small tractor, have sat idle for years - I could sell them but then it means I'm promoting someone else's lawnmowing. Anybody have a creative use for former grasscutting machines?
Time for lunch and class prep - have a great day!
03 October 2009
Family Entertainment
New version of sitting around the television with family during gatherings, reunions and parties - watching YouTube. Some phrases thrown out last night while participating in this new old-style event: "Windows Song," "Miranda," and "Frozen Munich"; also, videos of wedding dances, laughing babies and crying cats. Thanks to Steve, Jennifer, Anna, Tory and my wife for suggestions (others, too, I'm sure).
And congratulations to Steve and Amy for tonight's main event. The best is yet to come!
And congratulations to Steve and Amy for tonight's main event. The best is yet to come!
14 September 2009
Thirteen and Seventeen Years
I...there's that word again. Me. Mine. Everybody wants. Every body lives. Taxing outbursts. Attention. See. Hear. Every day, every second. And yet it takes some broods thirteen years and some broods seventeen years to appear in our trees around here. All to find mates and reproduce. Magicicada. Imagine a life like that.
No wonder my heart and lungs hurt. I molted too soon. I'm still supposed to be a nymph, living underground, spending my time with grubs and earthworms, not out here with all the counterproductive birds, bees and rodents.
I was sad all weekend without knowing why. Now I know. We are cicadas, our lifecycle broods out of sync, the males screaming to be heard, the females clicking with timed wing-flicks.
Some people live in and promote the world stage, expecting millions or billions to watch and respond in sync. I don't. I barely have time for watching myself, let alone others who attracted my attention when I wasn't paying myself enough. If we look at people's livelihoods and compare that to their behaviour, we'll see who's sincere and who has something to sell. I trust the opinion of Doris, the daughter of a sharecropper, who's working hard to raise her family and J.O., the honest gas station owner and war veteran who died last week and took an era with him, over politicians and entertainers any day. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press also mean responsibility to one's media power. The people around me who have to make a living are the ones who mean the most to me because they take the most responsibility for our society, their lives not protected by media interests.
Others want to put up barriers again over raw materials and finished goods. Human folly. Like kids in a boat maliciously poking holes in the side making it sink, taking the lives of all aboard down with them. Those of us with life preservers are still trying to patch the holes as quickly as we can, knowing it'll take all of us to survive in the long-term.
Enough with the distractions. The sun's out and the bluejays are calling. Time for a walk in the neighbourhood, the middle of real life, and think about how to cut headlines out of my Internet walks. I used to be interested in weaving characters into the near-future but I'm not getting paid enough to write stories about my species. If people can't be responsible for each other's health, let them eat cake with high fructose corn syrup icing!
After a couple of false stops, I lay down the pen of this blog and leave the weaving to other people more interested in seeing the fun in all of us. I'm having too much trouble finding humour in world events. We're all going to die no matter what. I want to die laughing on my feet, seeing an armadillo, raccoon and skunk race across the street, the local entertainment around here we call Roadkill Valley. Last one to the guardrail loses!
No wonder my heart and lungs hurt. I molted too soon. I'm still supposed to be a nymph, living underground, spending my time with grubs and earthworms, not out here with all the counterproductive birds, bees and rodents.
I was sad all weekend without knowing why. Now I know. We are cicadas, our lifecycle broods out of sync, the males screaming to be heard, the females clicking with timed wing-flicks.
Some people live in and promote the world stage, expecting millions or billions to watch and respond in sync. I don't. I barely have time for watching myself, let alone others who attracted my attention when I wasn't paying myself enough. If we look at people's livelihoods and compare that to their behaviour, we'll see who's sincere and who has something to sell. I trust the opinion of Doris, the daughter of a sharecropper, who's working hard to raise her family and J.O., the honest gas station owner and war veteran who died last week and took an era with him, over politicians and entertainers any day. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press also mean responsibility to one's media power. The people around me who have to make a living are the ones who mean the most to me because they take the most responsibility for our society, their lives not protected by media interests.
Others want to put up barriers again over raw materials and finished goods. Human folly. Like kids in a boat maliciously poking holes in the side making it sink, taking the lives of all aboard down with them. Those of us with life preservers are still trying to patch the holes as quickly as we can, knowing it'll take all of us to survive in the long-term.
Enough with the distractions. The sun's out and the bluejays are calling. Time for a walk in the neighbourhood, the middle of real life, and think about how to cut headlines out of my Internet walks. I used to be interested in weaving characters into the near-future but I'm not getting paid enough to write stories about my species. If people can't be responsible for each other's health, let them eat cake with high fructose corn syrup icing!
After a couple of false stops, I lay down the pen of this blog and leave the weaving to other people more interested in seeing the fun in all of us. I'm having too much trouble finding humour in world events. We're all going to die no matter what. I want to die laughing on my feet, seeing an armadillo, raccoon and skunk race across the street, the local entertainment around here we call Roadkill Valley. Last one to the guardrail loses!
21 August 2009
Email Abstraction
"Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you tonight the greatest wordsmith known to mice, unable to communicate with people, but willing to appear ridiculous for you this evening. The one, the only, Email the Abstracted!"
"Wow! Who thought anyone would show up. That'll put the fear of success into my agent's heart. If he had one! Hello, Gentle Ladies and Men of Dubious Desires. My name is Email the Abstracted. Subtracted. Retracted. Redolent. Refundable. You wish...
"From the emails you've sent me comes the following news:
"The Pelosi political machine, born of California grapes, turned to raisins, fermented sometimes, too, has tilted the planet so that the United States balances on the scales of the tomb of Tip O'Neill. The goal, of course, is to eliminate all citizens' pensions, GM setting an example that TVA, being a jealous acronym, longs to follow.
"Government employees that they are, tapping kegs of American products made in Malaysia of Indonesian materials forged in Turkey and mined in Africa, know their jaundiced days are lily-livered and soon to fade. Thus they trip their way across the planet, feeling the pain of growth in China, a loose association of diverse populations joined in sorrow crying over poisoned children and rotten rivers.
"And that's just in this morning's news!
"Next, they'll save from you from themselves or will they save the savings and loans? Wait, that's the previous verse to this song! I forget my place sometimes, too, you see.
"Next, they'll bring on stage a lovely assistant, isn't she lovely, wants to look 20 (but really, she's pushing 40 daisies), diverts the lot of you, envious or lustrous, while a few still watch the hand you thinks holding the magic trick.
"Fools! Every one of me! Watch me pull out the collapsible umbrella, my electable magic wand, and POOF!
"Did you see it disappear? Of course not, it's still right here. And here. And here.
"Think I'd hide just one copy of your taxable returns? Not rich enough!
"And what's more crucial to you than money? I don't mean your mistress, sir. And by the way, your wife's sitting with hers on Row XXX. You get what I mean? Of course you don't! He's too proud to wear his hearing aids, dear lady. Make sure he's got his pick-me-up pills or it's a hot, sweaty, sonorous sleeping bag in bed with you another night, sweet applecake.
"Did I say crucial? Did I mean crucible? Maybe medical, instead? Is that my pocket watch I hear? No, it's ticking, though. A timebomb, perhaps? Ah, I tricked myself this time. Simple Simon met a pieman going to a fairy tale.
"Enough dancing around the subject. But you see, that's the point, isn't it? Dance. Dog-and-pony show. Smoke and mirrors. Divert, divert, divert. The river's running dry. Make 'em do the rain dance one more time. Meanwhile, hitch up the horses, we're heading to better pastures. Let them keep the promised land for their bones to dry upon. Hard to milk the cow when you're cutting off its udders to pay the rent.
"When one assistant's not enough, bring out the Ziegfeld Follies. Oh, but you don't know what I mean, do you, being the mice they told they wouldn't use for lab experiments. No cats or dogs, either. Only primates. Primates? That's you! Oh, ho, ho. Silly me. I've lost my notes again. One moment, please.
"Last but not least. I've got your tax refund ready but before you say another word...keep your hand back, ma'am. I have diseases unknown to modern medicine. See that door over there. And that one. And the third one where the Follies are being performed. Now, don't forget the first two doors. Sir, yes, their legs go all the way up their bodies but part of their legs they call a torso. Leg men! Where do they think the brains are kept? Of course, in their drawers. And how do they draw drawers to begin with? Never mind.
"I was where was I? Oh yeah. Back at the line I was drawing. Power's in the word I haven't said, isn't that what I haven't? Yes, no, maybe. But here's your check. Twelve dollars isn't much but it's worth as much as anything behind these three doors.
"Let's take a look at door number one.
"Yes, it's a lovely trip to South America. First stop, the hills of Columbia. We wanted Juan Valdez to offer a tour but being held as he is for ransom right now, we offer a self-guided romp through the coffee fields. Coughing. Coffin. These words! Let's take a closer look, shall we. Why do these plants look like plastic or silk? Why, that a coca leaf? No, can't be. Anyway, your next port of call is Venezuela. We'll announce your arrival ahead of time so the people will want to welcome Americans with open arms. Or outreached arms. Or another company of yours to give to the people. Chavez, Valdez. You'll be greeted by someone I'm sure, doubt they'll be wearing a fez. All the same. We had planned a swing through Chile and Brazil but our plane doesn't run on sugar cane. Maybe next time.
"And door number two?
"Oh, you don't want that one. It's 'be a world leader for day,' where you'll be promised all sorts of leadership opportunities. But then you'll be trained to read a teleprompter, follow a tight schedule, go nowhere without an army of security guards and have no say in what you do, staying up all night to memorize scripts, scripts and more scripts, like a door-to-door sales jockey riding Sancho Panza's sanchismos. However, you'll get to enjoy such fun events as announcing the annexation of Japan and Germany and the relocation of their people to make way for the first republics designed for those with unrecognizable DNA heritage. Purity's no pâté, you know.
"But I can see you want door number three.
"Ladies, step aside. No more follies for you, you know. The audition for A Chorus Line is taking place next door. Good luck! If you're short and thin enough, try the Fame tryouts.
"And here we are. For your twelve pieces of one-dollar linen cloths, this is what you'll receive. Ta-da!
"For the full effect, put on the 3D glasses stuffed with care in the gum-covered seat pockets in front of you. And we want you to plug in your home theater chairs at this point. There. Everybody ready?
"Feel the rumble. Smell the smoke of the bass shakers moving your jelly bellies around. This is what you've paid for.
"For the next stretch of hard time, you'll get your own cell. Or rather, your own cube. Sorry, I get the words confused sometimes. After you plug in, we want you stay focused on the mesmerizing screen in front of you. And we can see what you're doing, so no hiding in the bathrooms to take a smoke. We've got detectors in there that sync with your security badge. We don't dock your pay. We increase your health insurance.
"Yes, that's right. You've just bought yourself the health insurance plan. Was twelve pieces of colored paper all that painful? Come on. Be real. You can take the kids to the carnival and still have money left over to take your spouse to Carnival in Rio.
"But wait, there's more to this showcase. You knew that, didn't you? I'm no Drew Carey but then why would I want to be?
"Here's what I've got for your tax return. To begin with, can you feel the massaging action of your chair? Do you feel comfortable? That's the benefit you get with this plan - home massages. We wanted to add acupuncture to the prize list but haven't nailed down the pressure points just yet. Thumb screws are optional for those of you with children or misbehaving spouses. Just kidding!
"While you slowly fall asleep, we're going to ease your troubles with a little ambient space music and some pleasant scents tuned to your personality profiles gleaned from your Internet browsing habits. You may feel some slight discomfort while we slip medical ID chips under your skin. Don't worry - we won't sell your information to the lowest bidder. We've gone retail and upscale! Only the highest price will do.
"Those of you still awake are enjoying the symphonic, stereophonic, trumpet calls with me, aren't you? Bet you always wanted to know if you snored louder than your neighbor. Now you know. Not!
"Well, time's up. You've got to pick your choice. I don't have all evening to barter with you over dodecadollar decisions. I'm sure you want door number three. In fact, I bet my agent's salary on your choice. Right, Sarge? See his head shake up-and-down as I marionette his marinaded puppet strings.
"Don't say I made the decision for you. You had plenty of time to agree with my rewarding offer and not a single one of you got up from your chair after we locked your arms and legs in place, did you? I'm kidding. Look at yourselves. Safe as golden pupa in your chrysalis."
"Folks, give a big hand to Email the Abstracted! He's going to appear at the Social Services Center for two shows nightly this weekend. And as you leave, please verify your name, date of birth and identification number, so we can make sure you had a nice time when we call or email you about your opinion of tonight's show. As always, without you this place is just a front for money laundering. Have a safe time getting home!"
"Wow! Who thought anyone would show up. That'll put the fear of success into my agent's heart. If he had one! Hello, Gentle Ladies and Men of Dubious Desires. My name is Email the Abstracted. Subtracted. Retracted. Redolent. Refundable. You wish...
"From the emails you've sent me comes the following news:
"The Pelosi political machine, born of California grapes, turned to raisins, fermented sometimes, too, has tilted the planet so that the United States balances on the scales of the tomb of Tip O'Neill. The goal, of course, is to eliminate all citizens' pensions, GM setting an example that TVA, being a jealous acronym, longs to follow.
"Government employees that they are, tapping kegs of American products made in Malaysia of Indonesian materials forged in Turkey and mined in Africa, know their jaundiced days are lily-livered and soon to fade. Thus they trip their way across the planet, feeling the pain of growth in China, a loose association of diverse populations joined in sorrow crying over poisoned children and rotten rivers.
"And that's just in this morning's news!
"Next, they'll save from you from themselves or will they save the savings and loans? Wait, that's the previous verse to this song! I forget my place sometimes, too, you see.
"Next, they'll bring on stage a lovely assistant, isn't she lovely, wants to look 20 (but really, she's pushing 40 daisies), diverts the lot of you, envious or lustrous, while a few still watch the hand you thinks holding the magic trick.
"Fools! Every one of me! Watch me pull out the collapsible umbrella, my electable magic wand, and POOF!
"Did you see it disappear? Of course not, it's still right here. And here. And here.
"Think I'd hide just one copy of your taxable returns? Not rich enough!
"And what's more crucial to you than money? I don't mean your mistress, sir. And by the way, your wife's sitting with hers on Row XXX. You get what I mean? Of course you don't! He's too proud to wear his hearing aids, dear lady. Make sure he's got his pick-me-up pills or it's a hot, sweaty, sonorous sleeping bag in bed with you another night, sweet applecake.
"Did I say crucial? Did I mean crucible? Maybe medical, instead? Is that my pocket watch I hear? No, it's ticking, though. A timebomb, perhaps? Ah, I tricked myself this time. Simple Simon met a pieman going to a fairy tale.
"Enough dancing around the subject. But you see, that's the point, isn't it? Dance. Dog-and-pony show. Smoke and mirrors. Divert, divert, divert. The river's running dry. Make 'em do the rain dance one more time. Meanwhile, hitch up the horses, we're heading to better pastures. Let them keep the promised land for their bones to dry upon. Hard to milk the cow when you're cutting off its udders to pay the rent.
"When one assistant's not enough, bring out the Ziegfeld Follies. Oh, but you don't know what I mean, do you, being the mice they told they wouldn't use for lab experiments. No cats or dogs, either. Only primates. Primates? That's you! Oh, ho, ho. Silly me. I've lost my notes again. One moment, please.
"Last but not least. I've got your tax refund ready but before you say another word...keep your hand back, ma'am. I have diseases unknown to modern medicine. See that door over there. And that one. And the third one where the Follies are being performed. Now, don't forget the first two doors. Sir, yes, their legs go all the way up their bodies but part of their legs they call a torso. Leg men! Where do they think the brains are kept? Of course, in their drawers. And how do they draw drawers to begin with? Never mind.
"I was where was I? Oh yeah. Back at the line I was drawing. Power's in the word I haven't said, isn't that what I haven't? Yes, no, maybe. But here's your check. Twelve dollars isn't much but it's worth as much as anything behind these three doors.
"Let's take a look at door number one.
"Yes, it's a lovely trip to South America. First stop, the hills of Columbia. We wanted Juan Valdez to offer a tour but being held as he is for ransom right now, we offer a self-guided romp through the coffee fields. Coughing. Coffin. These words! Let's take a closer look, shall we. Why do these plants look like plastic or silk? Why, that a coca leaf? No, can't be. Anyway, your next port of call is Venezuela. We'll announce your arrival ahead of time so the people will want to welcome Americans with open arms. Or outreached arms. Or another company of yours to give to the people. Chavez, Valdez. You'll be greeted by someone I'm sure, doubt they'll be wearing a fez. All the same. We had planned a swing through Chile and Brazil but our plane doesn't run on sugar cane. Maybe next time.
"And door number two?
"Oh, you don't want that one. It's 'be a world leader for day,' where you'll be promised all sorts of leadership opportunities. But then you'll be trained to read a teleprompter, follow a tight schedule, go nowhere without an army of security guards and have no say in what you do, staying up all night to memorize scripts, scripts and more scripts, like a door-to-door sales jockey riding Sancho Panza's sanchismos. However, you'll get to enjoy such fun events as announcing the annexation of Japan and Germany and the relocation of their people to make way for the first republics designed for those with unrecognizable DNA heritage. Purity's no pâté, you know.
"But I can see you want door number three.
"Ladies, step aside. No more follies for you, you know. The audition for A Chorus Line is taking place next door. Good luck! If you're short and thin enough, try the Fame tryouts.
"And here we are. For your twelve pieces of one-dollar linen cloths, this is what you'll receive. Ta-da!
"For the full effect, put on the 3D glasses stuffed with care in the gum-covered seat pockets in front of you. And we want you to plug in your home theater chairs at this point. There. Everybody ready?
"Feel the rumble. Smell the smoke of the bass shakers moving your jelly bellies around. This is what you've paid for.
"For the next stretch of hard time, you'll get your own cell. Or rather, your own cube. Sorry, I get the words confused sometimes. After you plug in, we want you stay focused on the mesmerizing screen in front of you. And we can see what you're doing, so no hiding in the bathrooms to take a smoke. We've got detectors in there that sync with your security badge. We don't dock your pay. We increase your health insurance.
"Yes, that's right. You've just bought yourself the health insurance plan. Was twelve pieces of colored paper all that painful? Come on. Be real. You can take the kids to the carnival and still have money left over to take your spouse to Carnival in Rio.
"But wait, there's more to this showcase. You knew that, didn't you? I'm no Drew Carey but then why would I want to be?
"Here's what I've got for your tax return. To begin with, can you feel the massaging action of your chair? Do you feel comfortable? That's the benefit you get with this plan - home massages. We wanted to add acupuncture to the prize list but haven't nailed down the pressure points just yet. Thumb screws are optional for those of you with children or misbehaving spouses. Just kidding!
"While you slowly fall asleep, we're going to ease your troubles with a little ambient space music and some pleasant scents tuned to your personality profiles gleaned from your Internet browsing habits. You may feel some slight discomfort while we slip medical ID chips under your skin. Don't worry - we won't sell your information to the lowest bidder. We've gone retail and upscale! Only the highest price will do.
"Those of you still awake are enjoying the symphonic, stereophonic, trumpet calls with me, aren't you? Bet you always wanted to know if you snored louder than your neighbor. Now you know. Not!
"Well, time's up. You've got to pick your choice. I don't have all evening to barter with you over dodecadollar decisions. I'm sure you want door number three. In fact, I bet my agent's salary on your choice. Right, Sarge? See his head shake up-and-down as I marionette his marinaded puppet strings.
"Don't say I made the decision for you. You had plenty of time to agree with my rewarding offer and not a single one of you got up from your chair after we locked your arms and legs in place, did you? I'm kidding. Look at yourselves. Safe as golden pupa in your chrysalis."
"Folks, give a big hand to Email the Abstracted! He's going to appear at the Social Services Center for two shows nightly this weekend. And as you leave, please verify your name, date of birth and identification number, so we can make sure you had a nice time when we call or email you about your opinion of tonight's show. As always, without you this place is just a front for money laundering. Have a safe time getting home!"
10 August 2009
Fireside Chat
You know who your friends are after a 50-mile hike. Days without bathing in the heat of summer, sharing the load of food, water and shelter.
Along the way, you stop for meals and overnight slumber. In between, you sit by the campfire and talk.
In the talk, you strengthen the bonds that link you together.
I hiked along the Appalachian Trail with such friends. We discussed many issues, including who creates and who consumes the popular music of our time, what it means to be a nation-state and whether we should let mosquitoes bite us rather than coat our skin with chemical sprays/lotions.
Do you consume popular music?
What is a nation-state?
Are you part of the ecosystem and thus willing to let a mosquito take your blood?
Questions like these provide entertainment for days, all while you pick your way across boulders, tree roots, creeks, and ledges, identifying familiar plants and animals along the trail and recording new species for later dissemination.
One issue that creeps into conversation right now is the debate in the U.S. over national health care coverage. If the U.S. wants to claim leadership on world-worthy projects, should domestic issues dominate the local news? Should the president bring the fight over health care to the people or bring the people to the fight? In other words, should the president waste his time explaining, as a politician (and politicians rate rather low on the scale of trust in this country), the details of a national health care plan or should he let others more trusted by the people show the benefits of the plan, people who can demonstrate to individual citizens how they will profit from the plan? For example, tell the truth that the health care plan will increase the size of the government as health care costs rise, but at the same time people's 401(k) or other investment portfolios will grow as the private companies in which they invest will find ways to spend the government health care money and increase their bottom line.
I don't care which way the nation-state goes in national health care. Either way, people will profit and people will suffer. The condition, or mindset, of individual members of our species will still run the gamut from greatness to sloth. Health care coverage is like the word diabetes or cancer, meaningful and meaningless at the same time, affecting some people gravely and not making a dent in the lives of others.
Instead of looking at the national health care plan from a macroview, let's put it on the shoulders of our peers and advisors to define exactly the costs and benefits for individuals. If my private insurance premiums go up, can I, as an individual, continue to increase my holdings and get wealthy through the medical industry, even if I have to temporarily give up conspicuous consumption items in the near-term? What are the side consequences? Will outdoor megagrill backyard entertainment centers go by the wayside while our 401(k) accounts go up?
It's the same argument about mosquitoes. There's some risk, almost infinitesimally small in this part of the world, of contracting a deadly disease from a mosquito. Therefore, it benefits the ecosystem by my letting a mosquito take my blood in exchange for a day or two of itching, with my risking a small chance of getting sick or dying, so that the local food chain stays healthy and I can see not only mosquitoes but hawks, bees, flowers, and other forest/meadow benefits to my general wellbeing.
While the pop music industry faces a general decline, I benefit from the decreased overexposure of plastic-coated bands by hearing new acts and new sounds from local bands who get my attention through MySpace, YouTube, last.fm , lowemill.net and other sources. Similarly, a nation-state is an idea perpetuated by those who think it's the only way to keep the global economy together, by having a set of nation-states mutually opposed to each other while keeping hands in each other's pockets. We like diversity on one hand while touting conformity with the other.
The world's not coming to an end. Sure, it's changing but that's okay. Who wants a forest of the same thing over and over again? Trees fall in the forest without anyone hearing them, turning into food for bugs and fungus. We, too, shall die one day, turning over the world to a new generation.
Instead of waiting for the government to bring news of change to you, see what you can do to enjoy the changes of the world around you, including a woodland hike. Make sure you go with friends as well as people you think you disagree with, to enliven the conversation while you all carry each others' food, water, first aid kits, sleeping bags and tents. Have fun. Stand at the top of a mountain and scream out your beliefs. Listen to your voice die in the wind. Listen to your opponent's voice have the same effect. Then sit down and share an apple and trail mix and see how alike we are. Finally, see how you can benefit from each other's differing views. I know you'll both change for the better. Only you can decide whether you'll swat the mosquito off the other person.
Along the way, you stop for meals and overnight slumber. In between, you sit by the campfire and talk.
In the talk, you strengthen the bonds that link you together.
I hiked along the Appalachian Trail with such friends. We discussed many issues, including who creates and who consumes the popular music of our time, what it means to be a nation-state and whether we should let mosquitoes bite us rather than coat our skin with chemical sprays/lotions.
Do you consume popular music?
What is a nation-state?
Are you part of the ecosystem and thus willing to let a mosquito take your blood?
Questions like these provide entertainment for days, all while you pick your way across boulders, tree roots, creeks, and ledges, identifying familiar plants and animals along the trail and recording new species for later dissemination.
One issue that creeps into conversation right now is the debate in the U.S. over national health care coverage. If the U.S. wants to claim leadership on world-worthy projects, should domestic issues dominate the local news? Should the president bring the fight over health care to the people or bring the people to the fight? In other words, should the president waste his time explaining, as a politician (and politicians rate rather low on the scale of trust in this country), the details of a national health care plan or should he let others more trusted by the people show the benefits of the plan, people who can demonstrate to individual citizens how they will profit from the plan? For example, tell the truth that the health care plan will increase the size of the government as health care costs rise, but at the same time people's 401(k) or other investment portfolios will grow as the private companies in which they invest will find ways to spend the government health care money and increase their bottom line.
I don't care which way the nation-state goes in national health care. Either way, people will profit and people will suffer. The condition, or mindset, of individual members of our species will still run the gamut from greatness to sloth. Health care coverage is like the word diabetes or cancer, meaningful and meaningless at the same time, affecting some people gravely and not making a dent in the lives of others.
Instead of looking at the national health care plan from a macroview, let's put it on the shoulders of our peers and advisors to define exactly the costs and benefits for individuals. If my private insurance premiums go up, can I, as an individual, continue to increase my holdings and get wealthy through the medical industry, even if I have to temporarily give up conspicuous consumption items in the near-term? What are the side consequences? Will outdoor megagrill backyard entertainment centers go by the wayside while our 401(k) accounts go up?
It's the same argument about mosquitoes. There's some risk, almost infinitesimally small in this part of the world, of contracting a deadly disease from a mosquito. Therefore, it benefits the ecosystem by my letting a mosquito take my blood in exchange for a day or two of itching, with my risking a small chance of getting sick or dying, so that the local food chain stays healthy and I can see not only mosquitoes but hawks, bees, flowers, and other forest/meadow benefits to my general wellbeing.
While the pop music industry faces a general decline, I benefit from the decreased overexposure of plastic-coated bands by hearing new acts and new sounds from local bands who get my attention through MySpace, YouTube, last.fm , lowemill.net and other sources. Similarly, a nation-state is an idea perpetuated by those who think it's the only way to keep the global economy together, by having a set of nation-states mutually opposed to each other while keeping hands in each other's pockets. We like diversity on one hand while touting conformity with the other.
The world's not coming to an end. Sure, it's changing but that's okay. Who wants a forest of the same thing over and over again? Trees fall in the forest without anyone hearing them, turning into food for bugs and fungus. We, too, shall die one day, turning over the world to a new generation.
Instead of waiting for the government to bring news of change to you, see what you can do to enjoy the changes of the world around you, including a woodland hike. Make sure you go with friends as well as people you think you disagree with, to enliven the conversation while you all carry each others' food, water, first aid kits, sleeping bags and tents. Have fun. Stand at the top of a mountain and scream out your beliefs. Listen to your voice die in the wind. Listen to your opponent's voice have the same effect. Then sit down and share an apple and trail mix and see how alike we are. Finally, see how you can benefit from each other's differing views. I know you'll both change for the better. Only you can decide whether you'll swat the mosquito off the other person.
28 May 2009
The Philosophy of Aging
I shared an online article with my father:
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/professors-guide/2009/05/20/17-ways-college-campuses-are-changing.html
He commented that he has already experienced at least part of the changes, with more to come. Some of his colleagues, "old-time profs," are bowing out because of the changes -- they don't want to change. He added, "Change is not comfortable to one desiring stability in life and an unchanging personal world. I appreciate that point-of-view at age 74!"
The philosophy of aging is interesting to me, also. I have concluded that as we age we find ways to succeed in daily living that work no matter what happens in the ever-changing marketplace, so "change for change's sake" becomes less and less necessary as we age; at the same time, there are aspects of our lives that we enjoy changing, which may or may not coincide with our successful daily habits; therefore, aging and changing meet only when we find the intersection of the two a fun learning experience. Even I, who grew up during the heyday of the computer revolution, find some technological changes unenjoyable simply because they don't add anything useful or fun to my daily habits but that doesn't mean it excludes enjoyment for others. Live and let live, respect each other's differences, etc.
I have three new books to read (in addition to the used books I haven't finished and the Linux texts I'm reading to prepare for the Linux course I will teach this summer):
During my freshman year in college, at Georgia Tech, a residence hallmate of mine was a long distance runner. He grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, and told us about an interesting habit of his. He'd run along the beach, using sand as a form of weight resistance training. During tourist season, he made sure he ran before tourists typically got up in the morning. Then he'd "rest" in a tourist beach area, wearing a sad look on his face (remember he was 15 to 17 years of age at the time). Young women would come up to him and ask him why he was so sad. He'd concoct a story about breaking up with a girlfriend and how despondent he felt, thinking about drowning himself in the ocean. Inevitably, he'd end up making out or having sex with the women. Another habit of his I still remember - he distrusted the sanitation of public toilet seats so he'd stand on a toilet seat and squat over the toilet bowl to defecate. We laughed that when we walked into the men's toilet and saw blond hair sticking up above a toilet stall, we knew who was taking a dump. I wonder if he still has these habits in middle age.
Back to my stack of reading!
But first, a thanks to Zazzy's on Airport Road in Huntsville for carrying copies of Huntsville Event magazine where I'm featured on page 40 of the May/June issue, in the section named An Irish Evening. You can see me wearing a Guinness hat I bought in a shop next to the O'Connell Street bridge in Dublin, Ireland, on St. Patrick's Day (I'm also wearing a green Celtic-patterned tie my sister bought me in Ireland).
Hard to believe my oldest niece gets married in two days ("the day after tomorrow," she finally gets to say today!). She's marrying a great fellow - a secondary school football/baseball coach and history teacher. Seems like she was just born yesterday! Or maybe the day before yesterday, anyway.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/professors-guide/2009/05/20/17-ways-college-campuses-are-changing.html
He commented that he has already experienced at least part of the changes, with more to come. Some of his colleagues, "old-time profs," are bowing out because of the changes -- they don't want to change. He added, "Change is not comfortable to one desiring stability in life and an unchanging personal world. I appreciate that point-of-view at age 74!"
The philosophy of aging is interesting to me, also. I have concluded that as we age we find ways to succeed in daily living that work no matter what happens in the ever-changing marketplace, so "change for change's sake" becomes less and less necessary as we age; at the same time, there are aspects of our lives that we enjoy changing, which may or may not coincide with our successful daily habits; therefore, aging and changing meet only when we find the intersection of the two a fun learning experience. Even I, who grew up during the heyday of the computer revolution, find some technological changes unenjoyable simply because they don't add anything useful or fun to my daily habits but that doesn't mean it excludes enjoyment for others. Live and let live, respect each other's differences, etc.
I have three new books to read (in addition to the used books I haven't finished and the Linux texts I'm reading to prepare for the Linux course I will teach this summer):
- Out of Our Heads: why you are not your brain, and other lessons from the biology of consciousness by Alva Noë
- The Ego Tunnel: the science of the mind and the myth of the self by Thomas Metzinger
- Selfless Insight: Zen and the meditative transformations of consciousness by James H. Austin
During my freshman year in college, at Georgia Tech, a residence hallmate of mine was a long distance runner. He grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, and told us about an interesting habit of his. He'd run along the beach, using sand as a form of weight resistance training. During tourist season, he made sure he ran before tourists typically got up in the morning. Then he'd "rest" in a tourist beach area, wearing a sad look on his face (remember he was 15 to 17 years of age at the time). Young women would come up to him and ask him why he was so sad. He'd concoct a story about breaking up with a girlfriend and how despondent he felt, thinking about drowning himself in the ocean. Inevitably, he'd end up making out or having sex with the women. Another habit of his I still remember - he distrusted the sanitation of public toilet seats so he'd stand on a toilet seat and squat over the toilet bowl to defecate. We laughed that when we walked into the men's toilet and saw blond hair sticking up above a toilet stall, we knew who was taking a dump. I wonder if he still has these habits in middle age.
Back to my stack of reading!
But first, a thanks to Zazzy's on Airport Road in Huntsville for carrying copies of Huntsville Event magazine where I'm featured on page 40 of the May/June issue, in the section named An Irish Evening. You can see me wearing a Guinness hat I bought in a shop next to the O'Connell Street bridge in Dublin, Ireland, on St. Patrick's Day (I'm also wearing a green Celtic-patterned tie my sister bought me in Ireland).
Hard to believe my oldest niece gets married in two days ("the day after tomorrow," she finally gets to say today!). She's marrying a great fellow - a secondary school football/baseball coach and history teacher. Seems like she was just born yesterday! Or maybe the day before yesterday, anyway.
25 May 2009
Free Pain
Today, I joined two-thousand, one hundred persons and ran/jogged/walked/shuffled 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). I guess the fastest runner covered the event in about 30 minutes, which means that as I was crossing the two-mile mark, the finish line was in sight for the front group. When I crossed the three-mile mark, the winners were cooled off and deciding whether to stay for the awards ceremony or leave. When I crossed the four-mile mark, the organizers were getting ready to start the awards ceremony. When I crossed the finish line, the official time read one hour, nineteen minutes and some seconds.
I beat my goal of one hour and 20 minutes. I would even have celebrated one hour and 30 minutes since I had not trained and only decided at the last minute to register for the race last night. Thus, my late race entry means I don't have a posted race time this year because they had run out of "ChampionChip" timing devices - as I told the person at the registration table, my competition days are over and I'm just glad to have feet that can carry me 6.2 miles.
I weigh 30 pounds more than I did when I ran a marathon a few years ago. Where did the time go and how did I find all this weight? "Teacher! Teacher! I know the answer! You spent too much time in front of the computer screen!" Indeed, I did. Lifting weights for a few minutes every other day will not help you lose weight - in fact, I think it added a few pounds.
Last year my wife and I played spectators and cheered the runners. I snapped photos and shot some video of the event and posted a small tribute on YouTube. This year, I was the overweight runner and let others cheer me on.
In the running crowd, I saw a neighbor of mine, Linda Christian, a former coworker, Pete Engler (?), and a few familiar faces such as a fellow season ticket holder for a football team. She and I stood around a while and talked about the new head coach and what this season might be like. She also told me she planned to finish the 10k course between 40 and 50 minutes. A coworker of mine from my GE days, Bob Gustafson, sang a song before the start of the race. The new mayor spoke a few words and a local politician, Parker Griffith, stood at the halfway point and waved. I also saw a trumpet player who teaches music at UAHuntsville, Carolyn Sanders.
I saw thousands of happy, smiling faces, on shouting sidewalk supporters and even on those of us who dragged ourselves across the finish line after the throngs of supporters had thinned out.
Along the way, I was offered water by Boy Scout troops, frozen tubes of flavored ice by neighbors, beer and mixed drinks from some holiday revelers (who also offered to let me sit with them and drink a while - now why am I here, instead? hmm...) and cool sprays from water sprinklers. Members of the police department and medical emergency units stood in traffic intersections to keep civilian vehicles out of our way so I made sure I waved and thanked every one of them for using their holiday to secure the road for serious runners and casual joggers alike.
I spoke with a few runners, enjoying the roving party atmosphere, like moving from room to room at a social gathering, never spending more than a few minutes with any one person and sometimes running into the same person again 30 minutes later. I would have talked longer with a few guys and gals I met but our jogging/walking paces rarely matched up. One woman said many things to me but my tinnitus blocked much of what she said - life is full of missed opportunities and deafness cut out anything I could have learned from her. Oh well.
One nice thing about road races in town - I finished the race at 8:20, returned to the car at 8:25, walked into my house at 8:45, and showered, ate a snack, played with the cats, kissed my wife and got here by 9:15.
= = =
I ordered five copies of my book, Are You With The Program?, to give to the five best students/customers in the spring quarter course I taught, Strategies for the Technical Professional. All the students/customers in my classes need to know they can do anything they set their minds to accomplish but I don't have unlimited funds so I've selected the top five in one class to plant the seed of success in them and hope they grow and share their successes with others.
= = =
Time to rest, relax, drink a beer and enjoy this holiday with my wife! Adios, amigos!
I beat my goal of one hour and 20 minutes. I would even have celebrated one hour and 30 minutes since I had not trained and only decided at the last minute to register for the race last night. Thus, my late race entry means I don't have a posted race time this year because they had run out of "ChampionChip" timing devices - as I told the person at the registration table, my competition days are over and I'm just glad to have feet that can carry me 6.2 miles.
I weigh 30 pounds more than I did when I ran a marathon a few years ago. Where did the time go and how did I find all this weight? "Teacher! Teacher! I know the answer! You spent too much time in front of the computer screen!" Indeed, I did. Lifting weights for a few minutes every other day will not help you lose weight - in fact, I think it added a few pounds.
Last year my wife and I played spectators and cheered the runners. I snapped photos and shot some video of the event and posted a small tribute on YouTube. This year, I was the overweight runner and let others cheer me on.
In the running crowd, I saw a neighbor of mine, Linda Christian, a former coworker, Pete Engler (?), and a few familiar faces such as a fellow season ticket holder for a football team. She and I stood around a while and talked about the new head coach and what this season might be like. She also told me she planned to finish the 10k course between 40 and 50 minutes. A coworker of mine from my GE days, Bob Gustafson, sang a song before the start of the race. The new mayor spoke a few words and a local politician, Parker Griffith, stood at the halfway point and waved. I also saw a trumpet player who teaches music at UAHuntsville, Carolyn Sanders.
I saw thousands of happy, smiling faces, on shouting sidewalk supporters and even on those of us who dragged ourselves across the finish line after the throngs of supporters had thinned out.
Along the way, I was offered water by Boy Scout troops, frozen tubes of flavored ice by neighbors, beer and mixed drinks from some holiday revelers (who also offered to let me sit with them and drink a while - now why am I here, instead? hmm...) and cool sprays from water sprinklers. Members of the police department and medical emergency units stood in traffic intersections to keep civilian vehicles out of our way so I made sure I waved and thanked every one of them for using their holiday to secure the road for serious runners and casual joggers alike.
I spoke with a few runners, enjoying the roving party atmosphere, like moving from room to room at a social gathering, never spending more than a few minutes with any one person and sometimes running into the same person again 30 minutes later. I would have talked longer with a few guys and gals I met but our jogging/walking paces rarely matched up. One woman said many things to me but my tinnitus blocked much of what she said - life is full of missed opportunities and deafness cut out anything I could have learned from her. Oh well.
One nice thing about road races in town - I finished the race at 8:20, returned to the car at 8:25, walked into my house at 8:45, and showered, ate a snack, played with the cats, kissed my wife and got here by 9:15.
= = =
I ordered five copies of my book, Are You With The Program?, to give to the five best students/customers in the spring quarter course I taught, Strategies for the Technical Professional. All the students/customers in my classes need to know they can do anything they set their minds to accomplish but I don't have unlimited funds so I've selected the top five in one class to plant the seed of success in them and hope they grow and share their successes with others.
= = =
Time to rest, relax, drink a beer and enjoy this holiday with my wife! Adios, amigos!
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