We're only calling people with Windows-based computers

Every once in a while I answer the phone when I don't know who's calling.  This time I was enticed by the message being left by what was obviously a noisy call center with an operator who didn't know his called had not been answered.  When I did answer, he asked for my wife.  I tried to get as much info from him as I could before ending the call.  When he asked about her Windows-based computer, I knew I could have some fun.  I informed him she has a Mac, so he asked if I was the one with the Windows-based computer.  I asked why and was told that I have a problem with my computer that I don't know about and no virus protection software could stop.  I said I didn't have any problems with the internet; he insisted I did and that is why he was calling.

During all of this time, my wife was trying to get me to get off the phone, so I told him I was not interested.  Rather angrily, he asked how could I not be interested in my own computer.  I had to get in front of the computer so he could explain the problem.  A few more times I said no thank you and he questioned how I could say that and then I hung up.

Within a minute the phone rang again and stopped when the answering machine picked up.  Then immediately again and again.  I picked up under orders to state not to call again and hang up.  I did  more than that.

Interspersed throughout the previous conversation, I kept asking what company he was calling from and kept trying to get specifics.  All I could get was he was in the department that dealt with online issues at a company called PC Wizard, "Maybe you've heard of us on TV?"  This time, I asked how he got my number and he said they were just calling everyone with a Windows-based computer to help them with this issue.  I replied that was most people and he got angry saying people had computers based on Mac and Apple (I liked that one) and Linux.  I again asked how he got my number.  He got mad again and said he didn't have that information.  I then asked him to stop yelling at me to which he responded that he was just trying to tell me about a problem my computer has.

At this point I decided to try to get more information from him, so I asked him what the problem was.  He said I had to be in front of my computer.  I asked him to describe the problem first.  He started yelling again that he was calling from PC Wizard about a problem on my computer that could not...blah blah blah.  I asked him how much it was going to cost to fix this problem and he assured me that there was no charge to diagnose, but if I thought my computer important there would be a fee to fix it.  At this point I asked him not to call again and he started getting very angry and just wanted me to confirm that my computer had a problem and that he didn't think I understood anything.  I asked him why he was insulting me and that he called me, unsolicited.  He said it was not an unsolicited call.  I informed him that I did not ask for him to call me, so that made it an unsolicited call and I did not appreciated being yelled at and insulted and I did not want him to call again.

He kept getting more and more angry and finally agreed not to call me again.  My wife thinks I'm crazy, but I had fun.

Then I looked up the phone number and saw the results were a PC Wizard scam.  Wow.  Totally surprised.

Goals (not resolutions) for 2013

I make it a point not to make resolutions.  Why?  Obstinance would be my best guess.  I do, however, have some goals.

Running goal #1 - sub 24 minute 5k
Running goal #2 - sub 4 hour marathon
Running goal #3 - log 300 miles this year.

Biking goal #1 - overhaul my own bottom bracket (it's been a long time and I need to find the right tools)
Biking goal #2 - be able to ride my bike after said overhaul
Biking goal #3 - make it up the hill in the Chilli Challenge

Race goal #1 - top 3 in River Towns Race Series again
Race goal #2 - improve Chilli time by 20 minutes (5 bike, 5 kayak, 10 run)
Race goal #3 - have fun

Fire and Ice cyclocross is in a couple of weeks.  I'm braving the full hour.  Two weeks later I have my first and unrealistic chance at the 5k goal with the Frosty 5k.  I, unfortunately, will be missing the Humdinger this year, but I'm going to add in the Mon-Tour bike race (not sure which distance).  I'm not sure if I'm going back to the Lancaster duathlon or giving the Lewisburg triathlon another try.  I really wish there were some local duathlons.

It's a new year and I'm ready to go!
If you're going to force a resolution out of me, I resolve to grill more (resolutions are so unquantifiable - goals are superior)!

Laps of Reason and the myth of the extra hour

Yesterday I ran a race.  This is nothing new.  I've run lots of races and I plan on running many more.  This one was different, though.  It was called the Laps of Reason ('e' left off intentionally).  It was a three hour lap race on a beautiful rail/trail conversion in Danville, PA.  Each lap was 4k (about 2.5 miles) and it ran similar to cyclocross where we were to finish as many laps as we could in 3 hours.  I went into the race without a lot of distance preparation.  I ran a half-marathon in May, but since then haven't done any runs longer than 7.5 miles.  Based on my few longer runs this fall (school really gets in the way of training), I figured I could handle 10 minute miles for the duration and get 7 laps (17.5 miles).  I was right, but my first four laps (10 miles) were run in 90 minutes, averaging 9:00/mile.  I actually finished a half-marathon distance faster than I did when I trained for it in May.

Of course, at this point, I started thinking, "I could do 8 laps for 20 miles."  Let's put this in perspective.  I once ran a marathon, but it has an asterisk next to it.  I made it 17 miles before ever so gently pulling hamstring and quad muscles in the same leg.  Being the culminating activity for a marathon class my senior year of college and I had to finish to remove an incomplete from my record, I walked the last nine miles to finish in just under the cut-off time to be listed in the official results.  So even though I finished a marathon, I didn't run it and the 17 miles I did run were the farthest I had ever run.  In the intervening 14 years, I've only had a handful of runs over 10 miles.  But I felt great and the pace seemed easy and my body wasn't telling me anything different.

Fast forward half a lap and my body found it's voice.  My mile times were still ok, but I was thinking of stopping (one of the neat aspects of the race - run as long as you want; then stop).  I made it through lap five and then lap six hit me.  The miles finishing lap five and starting lap six dropped to 11.5 and 10.5 minutes each.  I recovered in anticipation of lap seven and made it through.  As I finished lap seven, I saw the clock:  12 minutes remained.  I groaned.  As long as you start a lap before time ends, it counts.  I stopped to get my bracelet for finishing a lap and drank some Gatorade.  I had run 17.5 miles and still had time to do 2.5 more.  I couldn't stop.  My body sure wanted to.  For the first seven laps, I averaged 9:30/mile.  The last lap averaged 11:56/mile, but I did it.  I ran 20 miles

Right now I hurt.  My knees hurt.  My hips hurt.  My shoulders even hurt.  But I ran 20 miles in just over three hours.  Six more and I've got a marathon...

As far as that "extra hour" from leaving daylight savings.  It doesn't exist.  If you have kids, you know exactly what I mean.

My new bike shop?

I may have found a bike shop that I like.  It hasn't been easy.  The first shop I went into a few years ago (as chronicled in an earlier rant) felt a bit like the headquarters of a cult that I was invading, unknowingly.  There was just a creepy vibe and I really don't want to have to go back there.  The second shop was good until they did some work on my bike, overcharged me, and didn't tighten my rear bolts so that within a minute of riding, my wheel had slipped and the tire was rubbing against the frame.  I tried to talk to them about some things I'd like to do to my bike, but they didn't seem really interested.  The third strike was the fact that they closed about 10 minutes before the posted closing time when I had rushed to make it before then, but couldn't get my bike because they felt like going home.  There was absolutely no response to this when I mentioned it the following day.

Full disclosure here, I have a bike that is at least 20 years old.  It's a steel alloy frame and cost me $60 used. I used to work in a bike shop where the owner stressed the importance of the commuters and to treat their bikes and them just as well as the higher end bikes and their users.  I've been having a tough time lately dealing with bike shops that don't pay much attention to me or my bikes (or kids' bikes) and I've been getting tired of it.

Moving on, I wanted a shop close by, but I found one within about 30 minutes that I got some positive feedback about.  I went there today and returned with my bike, but it was actually a good thing.  The mechanic was upfront with me that it would be a while before he could get to checking out my bottom bracket, but things would slow down in a week or so.  I talked to him about the things that the other shop wouldn't consider and he gave me a couple of options and actually seemed interested in helping me.  Marty's Bicycle Shop has earned a new customer and I have a feeling it will keep me.

Lament from the outside of the IT department

I used to be on the inside.  I used to be the guy they went to to get something done.  Then I went and actually learned some things about computers other than what I picked up just by playing around with them which led me to the conclusion that playing around with technology is the best way to learn anything about it. I'm pretty fearless when it comes to playing around with technology because I know that it's pretty hard to mess anything up, provided you don't actually know too much.  In fact, I think there's an inverse relationship between how much you know and how much you can mess a computer up by playing around.  Actually, it's probably more of an exponential function because it takes a while before the damage really starts adding up, but that's beside my point.


I used to be on the inside, but then I was on the outside with very good connections to the inside, which was still a good position to be in.  I got what I wanted most of the time because I could be trusted to know what to do and actually kept a lot of lower level problems from making it to the tech department.  I have been cut-off for a couple of years now, and I feel like Dennis the Peasant from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  But I don't think the argument that "supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses" is going to get me back inside.


Three years ago I was trained as a CFF teacher (Classrooms for the Future), which gave me some benefits such as a projector and a laptop that I could put software on and take home and use to prepare lessons.  For two years, things were great.  I found a program I thought would be interesting and I tried it out.  If I didn't like it, I removed it and went on with my life.  If my printer needed new drivers or I got a new piece of hardware, I installed the drivers and went about with my business.  


This past year, all administrative rights were revoked from my account (along with everyone else, it wasn't just me).  While there was a very efficient tech help request protocol for getting things installed, it was still an irritation.  The worst part was that all laptops had been re-imaged over the summer, so every little program had to be reinstalled.  Still, the tech department was very responsive; I just needed to get organized so they wouldn't have to make multiple trips.


This summer it got worse yet.  I am going away and needed a printer to go with my laptop.  Even though my home printer drivers survived the re-imaging and the printer somehow remains as an option for my laptop, it is way too big to bring with me.  I got a cheap little printer (it might even be cheaper to buy new when the ink runs out rather than buying new ink).  I plugged it in to see if Windows 7 had the drivers;  it didn't AND I do not have administrative power to install them.  I checked with my tech department to see when I could bring it in to get someone to install them for me (Mommy, can you tie my shoes for me?) and did not get a happy reply.  The tech said, "we do not support personal software or hardware. We can only install what has been purchased or otherwise tested by the tech department."  How exactly am I supposed to work on a machine at home where there is no expectation of going into school in the summer and not be able to print!  They're printer drivers, not exactly risky software.  I've put up with all of the changes because I can understand where the head tech is coming from, but this is too much.


At this point, I think I'm going to have to buy a (relatively) cheap laptop that I can put drivers on.  I'm not happy about it.  I think it's ridiculous.  I miss being on the inside.  It's not so much the power I miss, but the ability.

Post Wisconsin Observations

Madison is changing - mostly vertically

They sell beer by the six pack and there has been no apocalypse - contrary to what the beer distributors here think will happen if Pennsylvania were to make that move

If you put in bike lanes, people will bike - trying the converse is neither practical nor responsible

Budget Bicycle Center's service department is disappointing - it shouldn't matter how fancy or unfancy a bike is, you give it the same attention as every other bike.  We took my daughter's bike (which we won in a drawing - it's not fancy) to get the chain tightened and the service guy couldn't even be bothered to get out of his seat to talk to us or even get the ticket.  When we picked it up, they hadn't even bothered to put the training wheels on in a way that the rear tire touched the ground.  I'm actually opposed to training wheels, but they might be right for her.  Either way, we were clearly treated with less than acceptable service because of the pedigree of her bike.  I will not return there on any trip.  I should have gone to the Yellow Jersey where I know the owner values any bike (or at least any customer) to come through his door.


Beer tastes better on the Terrace

The Dane County Farmer's Market is still amazing - how many different beasts can you get jerky from with one circuit?


You need to go to the source to get truly delicious fried cheese curds

There is an art to making a Brat

There is an art to making a Kringle


The best cart (name) I saw - FIBS:  Fine Italian Beef & Sausage (they went with the alternate meaning for that acronym)


There is a much wider variety of beers than just pale ales and IPA's

Woodman's is still the best grocery store around

My new favorite brewery doesn't distribute out of state

Oh Yes It's Honors Night and the Feeling's Right

We had our middle school's annual honors awards banquet tonight.  This is the sixth year I've been teaching at this school and the sixth time I've attended.  Is it a night of my free time that I spend to attend?  Yes.  Do I have to go (is there any mandate or official remuneration for going)?  No.  Do I attend grudgingly because of an unofficial expectation?  Surprisingly, no.  Is it nerve wracking being up on the stage to give the awards, even if I'm not speaking?  Yes.

Why do I go?  I go for the kids.  I go because this is one time during the year where the only expectation is to honor kids who go the extra distance to do remarkable things.  Is it geared towards academics?  Yes, but it also goes beyond.  There are kids who are invited because their grades have been stellar all year long, but we also invite students who have done something special.  These reason range from doing good things for others, being helpful, being a positive leader, basically just being awesome for the sake of being awesome.

That being said, I cannot understand why people would regularly not attend.  Sure, things come up once in a while, but aside from that, what message is being sent to the kids.  "I'll teach you during the day, but beyond my classroom doors, you don't exist to me."  It bothers me that there is not a better representation on a consistent basis.

Am I trying to put anyone on a guilt trip?  No.  I just don't understand why, if our primary responsibility and focus is on our students, everyone wouldn't make an effort to attend.  This isn't a night to make a statement that one doesn't feel valued by the administration or some other gripe.  We are honoring our best and that should go above politics and conditions that they have no role in or control over.

Every year I love seeing the reactions of different students to the awards they get and the public attention for something good that many often fail to receive.  We have some great students.  We need to let them know.  Being there is the first step.

Wine by mail, beer still by the case.

No, the title is not misleading.  It will make sense at the end.

Here is an excerpt from the recent Gene Yaw newsletter outlining how one can get a free photo ID which will be necessary for this fall's general election.

If you do not possess any of these forms of identification, you may obtain a free photo ID from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It is a simple process. First, you must sign an affirmation that you do not possess any forms of identification listed above (Voter Affirmation), then you must complete an Application For Initial Photo Identification Card (DL-54A). Finally, take these documents to your nearest Photo Licensing Center along with your Social Security Card, accompanying proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport, and two proofs of residency such as a utility bill, car registration or lease agreement.


I have three questions about this.

1)  If you have a passport, I'm pretty sure it satisfies the requirements stated in the first option of acceptable photo ID:  


Identification issued by the United States Government that includes your name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired. 


Even if a passport doesn't meet those criteria, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, that passports are far from free and as a possible supporting document kind of negate the whole FREE photo ID thing.

2)  As a second option for proof of citizenship, birth certificates aren't exactly free either.

3)  Is there any conceivable situation in which someone has no proof of residency, but is a resident (perhaps an elderly parent living with a child who is not responsible for paying any bills and doesn't drive)?

I checked the website, you can bring someone to vouch for you.  However, that seems to undermine the whole point of this new legislation

OK, only one of those was actually a question, but you know what I meant.

Then there's Senate Bill 10:


Senate Bill 10 - is a proposal that seeks to amend Pennsylvania's Constitution by allowing individuals the freedom to purchase their own health care. The legislation would prohibit the enactment of any law requiring a person to obtain or maintain health insurance coverage, except as required by a court; prohibit a person from or penalizing a person for making direct payment to a health care provider; or instituting any penalty, tax, assessment, fee or fine for a person's failure to obtain or maintain health insurance coverage.
On March 28th, this bill passed the Senate by a vote of 29-19 and will now go before the House State Government Committee for their approval. Since this bill is seeking to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution, it must be voted in two consecutive legislative sessions and pass a statewide referendum before it can be approved.

Yeah!  They are guaranteeing freedom.  That means it has to be good.  I can only guess this is in reaction to healthcare reform.  Is a constitutional amendment a bit strong?  I admit; I'm a bit confused by this.

Finally, we have Senate Bill 790:

Senate Bill 790 - is a proposal which amends the Liquor Code to allow for the direct shipment of wine from out-of-state to Pennsylvania residents. The bill would permit a producer, with a direct shipper's license, to ship up to 18 liters per month to any Pennsylvania resident who is at least 21 years of age.

The state is going to allow mail order wine from out of state, but we still have to buy beer by the case?

This state is confusing and disappointing me.

Pensions cost us paper!

It's that time of year again.  The school year is over 3/4 finished and supplies are starting to run low.  Today we get the message that we are going to run out of paper; please conserve.  Within an hour later we get the message that the two cases of paper in the copy room have gone and will not be replaced.  Now I know that everyone wants paper to make copies with, but raiding the only paper left so you can make copies in a couple of weeks is just lame!  Now all copies have to go through administration first to get approval.  Many thanks to the vultures and jackals that have made this possible.

But as you can read in our illustrious paper, the real culprit is the exorbitant pensions teachers are getting these days.  Why are education funds being slashed?  I think it's summed up best here (Click here).  Yeah, the rhetoric is getting hot again and it's our greed that has led to this problem.

Spring Training

Following the winter high of have a great time doing cyclocross, finishing 3rd in my age group for the overall points series in the River Towns Race Series, and having a blast (as always) during the Humdinger, I felt it prudent to sign up for the River Towns Half Marathon (I did resist the full marathon, for now).  While fully under the influence of that continued rush, I was also contemplating doing the 45 Miles of Mon-Tour, which is just 2 weeks after the marathon.

I used the rest of my winnings from last year's series to register for the half and started thinking about how soon it actually is and how long my current long run has been (past tense, I ran about 5 times in March) and realized that I couldn't go much farther than 5 or 6 miles after school and be able to pick up the boy from daycare.  "That's ok," I thought.  "I can do long runs on the weekend."  Then I started thinking how much time it took to train with 20 mile bike rides and how much longer it would take to get me, and my rear, in shape for riding 45 miles.  Combined with the hectic nature of spring and school and my time constraints, I decided not to do the 45 Miles of Mon-Tour.  However, now that I'm writing about it and seeing that I would have 2 whole weeks after the half...

The training for the half is going great, though.  I was thinking that I would like to finish in under 2 hours, which equates to about 9-minute miles.  While I've gotten my 5k pace down to 8-minute miles, I'm just about redlining to finish and that's only 3 miles.  So, last week I head out to do 5 miles and I average 9:27.  I felt like I was pushing, but not too hard.  A few days later I do 8 miles and average 9:50.  This week I go for a hard 4 and average 8:48 miles and today, I did 10 with a pace of 9:24 min/mile.  The best part about today's run was that I wasn't killing myself to keep the pace.  I think my goal is within reach and I have 5 weeks to get my mileage and speed up.

Maybe I should do the 45...

Humdinger 2012

Today was the Humdinger.  This has really become my favorite race.  It's not my favorite while running and I don't do as well compared to the field as I do in other races.  This race is just fun.  It had to be moved from its old location due to new restrictions or something like that, but the race organizers outdid themselves making a new course and a race that was better than ever.  They cut and dug all new trails for most of the entire course and added some interesting obstacles at the end.  It contained the usual fallen logs, completely slanted trails that make you feel like you're running uphill even when headed down, and stream crossings (leaps).  The very last of these was my favorite.  It was after about 5 miles and the stream itself was only about a foot wide, but the sloping ditch on either side opened up at least 6 feet.  I saw a young guy (high school) in front of me negotiating it and I just went for it and leapt the whole span without much of a run up.  I must have made it look easy because from behind I heard, "Nice f-----n' jump!"  That felt good.  After that we got to the obstacles.  We finished with a choice of a rock wall climb, board climb, cargo net, and hay bales up into the 2nd floor of the Pig Barn and a slip-n-slide down to the finish.

Above is the route and elevation profile of the course as I ran it.  Great job to the River Town Race Series!  You did a great job.  There's a reason I try to do as many of your races as possible.

A new low in my teaching career

I about lost it today.  Things were going well.  I'd designed an activity (Jojo's Cheese and BBQ Emporium) and was ready for some nicely hidden drill and repeat practice.  First class went great.  Then the next class came in.  Now I'd already moved a test from Friday to Monday because the kids were working hard and I didn't want to rush through anything just to get a test in.  I figured an extra activity (see Jojo above) would be good.  I stayed up until almost 2:00 AM making it.  We got through exactly ONE new example in an 84 minute period.  ONE!

Even that, in itself, would not have been so bad if it weren't for the complete lack cognition on my students' part.  We were using two formulas:  one for Interest and one for Balance and both for simple interest (I don't know what I'll do with compound tomorrow).  I say we because this class is co-taught.  There are two certified teachers in the room.  I asked everyone to write down the formula they were using at the beginning of each problem.  One of the students asked me for help (that is to say he was staring blankly at his paper doing his best not to attract my attention in any way).  I asked him to write down the formula.  He asked which one.  I asked him which formula matched up with the given information and he proceeded to point to a formula that had nothing in it that was provided by the problem.

Meanwhile, my co-teacher was asking a similar question of another student, but she narrowed it down by saying, "If you are choosing between these two and it's not this one, which formula are you using?"  Her student still picked the wrong formula.  Actually, that's not true.  Her student picked up her calculator to try to figure out the answer.

Back to my student whom I had told which formula to use by this time (maybe he'll choose right next time) and I ask him to write the formula down.  He copies it wrong (the equal sign isn't that important, right?).  I remind him to write it down exactly how it looks on his sheet.  He proceeds to switch around the order of the variables.  I remind him again, a little sterner to get my point across, "Copy it down exactly how it looks on your sheet."  Still not right.  Eventually he gets it, so we start filling it out.  I ask him if we know the first value.  No, so keep the variable.  What comes next?  No, you have to include the equal sign still.  Do we know the next value?  Yes, good, write it down.  No, don't skip it, you have to write it down.

I don't know what happened after that.  I honestly cannot recall.  I think I may have a stress induced mini blackout.

At one point, I just sat in a chair that I have at the front of the room.  Defeated.  If the co-teacher weren't there, nobody would have been teaching for a while.  I have never wanted a drink so badly while working in my life and I can't actually think of a time when I really did want one.

Tomorrow's a new day, by which I mean they will have forgotten whatever they gained and it will be a fresh start.  Cthulu would have a hard time stealing my sanity from this class.

FedEx is useless

I ordered something online on the 3rd.  It shipped the next day.  It was scheduled for delivery on the 11th.  Today is the 12th and it's still not here.  I checked the tracking again and below is what I found:

Jan 12, 2012 5:04 AM  Arrived at FedEx location  LEWISBERRY, PA

Jan 10, 2012 11:40 PMArrived at FedEx location  FEDEX SMARTPOST ALLENTOWN, PA

Jan 10, 2012 8:38 AM                                                WINFIELD, PA

Jan 10, 2012 6:52 AM  Arrived at FedEx location  MUNCY, PA

Jan 9, 2012 8:49 PM  Arrived at FedEx location  LEWISBERRY, PA

Jan 6, 2012 7:47 PM  Arrived at FedEx location  FEDEX SMARTPOST ALLENTOWN, PA

Jan 4, 2012 8:58 AM  Arrived at FedEx location  FEDEX SMARTPOST GROVE CITY, OH

Jan 4, 2012 2:21 AM  Arrived at FedEx location  GROVE CITY, OH

Jan 3, 2012 3:31 PM  Picked up  COLUMBUS, OH

To make this clear it went from Columbus to Grove City to Allentown, to Lewisberry, to Muncy, to Winfield, back to Allentown, and back to Lewisberry again. 

Once it got to PA it went from point E to F to C to D and then back to E and then F.

I called FedEx to see what was going on.  Once I gave my tracking number the very sorry operator informed me it was a SmartPost package and is being handled by the post office.  She understood that it was confusing that all of the tracking information is through FedEx and all of the packages locations are FedEx locations, but she couldn't help me in any way because FedEx has nothing to do with this package.  To make it worse, to other packages were both in Allentown on January 6, but they made it here already.

It's schedule for Saturday and I need it for Saturday night (I guess I foolishly thought that ordering on the 3rd would be enough time to arrive by the 14th).  

Arg.

40's and rainy and nothing better

I went for a run today.  This in itself was nothing unusual.  I go for a lot of runs; at least I try to.  I haven't been running in a while.  I checked my log when I got home and there were three weeks with 0 miles, one week with 3 miles, and another week before that with 0 miles.  I had been all geared up after my first cyclocross race (which was amazing), but then my inability to bifurcate kept me from doing the next race in the series.  After a series of weird and depressing situations at school and less than perfect weather, a week without running turned into a month.

Yesterday I took a day off from school.  No particular reason, I just wanted a day.  That would have been a perfect day to run.  It was even sunny.  I didn't run.  Today I did.  I almost didn't, but I did.  Again, the weather was less than perfect and I was about two steps away from not getting changed and heading home, but enough had been enough.  There has been too much crap going on at school and I was on the cusp of a long running drought that would last through winter break into next year.

So, I went for a run.  It was about 40 degrees (F not C), drizzly, and awesome.  You get to a point where missing runs starts to mess with your head.  The obvious cure is to get out and do something, but your head is so messed up, that it seems like too much trouble and you get stuck in a vicious cycle.  But the moment you break that cycle, all hold it had on you is gone.  28 seconds into the run, it felt like everything that had been hanging over my head was washed away by the cold near sleet rain.  30 seconds or so later and all I was thinking of was how good it felt to be moving.

Don't let life get in the way of what you want to do.  Life is what happens when you're not paying attention.  Living is what you do.  I let life happen for a month and it got me in a funk.  Now I've got another cyclocross race coming up in January, a nice 5k the day before my birthday in February, and, hopefully, the Humdinger in March.

It's just a little mud...

Yesterday I tried out my new tires on my bike for the first time in preparation for Sunday's cyclocross race.  I headed out to some trails to practice riding on grass and getting on and off the bike while going as quickly as possible.  I rode through some mud, made my wheels spin a bit, and got off and ran up a hill with my bike on my shoulder.  Of course, I came to stand still getting back on, so I lowered the seat.  No problems so far.

I was slipping around, keeping my balance through muddy stretches as I headed down a hill and saw a puddle.  I didn't want to ride back up the hill, so I went through.  The mud and standing water (with much algae growth and odd, oil-like patterns floating on top) was soon a few inches deep.  I was still upright and moving forward and it looked like the stretch was ending soon.  Then I turned a corner and it kept going.  I saw other trails and they were all flooded too.

Three things occurred to me at this point.  One, it's barely rained for the last two weeks; where is all of this water coming from.  Two, if I keep moving, I won't get wet.  Three, I've stopped moving and the mud is over my shoes.

I felt like Atreyu slogging through the swamp of sadness.  I was worried that I was going to lose my bike like Artax.  It was then I saw a trail to the side that seemed to have more tall grasses to step on, so I headed that way, lugging my bike with me through the mud.  This is where the giant, man-eating prickers attacked and the trail turned out not to be a trail.  I saw a clearing a little ways ahead and then made it to within ten feet of another, dry trail.  I couldn't get there.  The pricker growth was so thick I had to turn around an backtrack the whole way.  Then I had to go back up the hill I was avoiding in the first place.

I headed back today, but completely avoided the bog I found yesterday.  First I found the thorn that poked through my tire and put a pinhole in my tube.  Riding on grass is much more tiring than the road and I do not have easy gearing on my bike.  I don't know how people get on and off their bikes at speed, but I'm going to do the best I can.

All of that said, I'm really excited about tomorrow's race.  After my riding today, I think I have a little more reasonable expectations for how I'll do, but I'm going to have fun.  That much I know.

Cyclocross, here I come

I've got my first cyclocross race coming up on Sunday.  Academically, I know what to expect.  I'm prepping my bike as best I can.  I found slightly knobby tires to fit my road frame.  I'm taking off the bottle cage and computer.  But, I really don't know what to expect.  Even seeing pictures of the course, I have no idea how this is going to go.  The one thing I do know is I'm excited and can't wait to give it a try.  My wife keeps repeating one phrase to me, "Don't hurt yourself."  She says this to me a lot.  It means a lot to me that she cares for my well being enough to place that subconscious thought, "...hurt yourself" into my head to strike when I'm least prepared.  Hopefully it won't happen during the fire jump on the course.

Wish me luck.

Reflections on a 5k

Last night I ran the first 5k race since 1995.  I can't believe it's been that long.  In the past 3 years I've gotten back into racing, but I've been focusing on things that required more guts and pain tolerance than pure athleticism.  It's a nice way to avoid the question of how far I am fitness and ability-wise from when I was running Cross Country in high school. 

Last night, however, there was no hiding behind the difficulty of the terrain, novelty of kayaking for the first time, or the grueling nature of any multi-sport event.  Last night was a flat 5k course at a perfect 60 degrees with no wind, precipitation, or oppressive humidity.  No excuses for performance other than lack of preparedness.

I started the race with a colleague from school that I stumbled upon before the start.  We both had the goal of finishing in under 24 minutes.  The start was a fast run down Market Street, which was really cool at night with the lights and over 300 other people.  It soon turned onto the dark streets of residential downtown Lewisburg and the gut check began.  I hit mile 1 at 7:58.  The fastest first mile I've run since the earlier mentioned cross country days.  I had to guess at the split at the time because of the lag in the official start and the time when I crossed the mat for the timing chip.  I couldn't see my watch well enough while moving in the dark, so I just went with it.  With about a half mile to go, I picked up the pace.  At that moment, I was so thankful for the last few weeks I'd spent doing 400 meter intervals at about a 7:20 mile pace.  The last bit of the race felt like these last few intervals and the all out one at the end.  I still had a kick, the intensity of which tells me that I could have gone faster over that last couple of miles, but the kick was there.  I had lost my partner early on, but caught back up at the end and we finished within seconds of each other.

I finished in 24:43.  I was 5 minutes out of medal contention and didn't meet my goal, but when I found out that the course was actually 3.2 miles long (not 3.125 that is more the actual 5k distance), broke down my time to see that I'd averaged about 7:43/mile.  I'm very happy with that.  I've been struggling to build speed these last few years.  It's a far cry from my all-time best of 18 minutes, and I don't think I'll see that again, but I think that I can get that pace down to 7 minutes/mile and maybe even get below 20 minutes again.

Thoughts on Who - The Doctor, that is

Disclaimer:  for the purposes of this discussion, I am only discussing the new Dr. Who.  All and any comments pertaining to the original series will be out of place. 

I've finished the 5th season of Dr. Who on Netflix and am waiting for season 6 to become available streaming.  I'm not satisfied with the current Dr., Matt Smith.  When I first started watching, Christopher Eccleston was perfect and I was really upset when David Tennant took over after just one season.  However, within a few episodes, I got over that and really enjoyed him as the doctor.  But the arrival of Matt Smith, who isn't bad as the Dr., it's just not the same.  I know it's not supposed to be the same, but I still haven't fully accepted him as the Dr.

Even more than the Dr., I feel that they peeked with Rose Tyler as his companion.  I've like all of the others (Donna Noble took longer to accept), but none of them had the same connection as Rose and no one's ending(s) were as strong as hers.

I have to give it to the writers of Dr. Who.  They really get you attached to the characters and pull you in to make each season's finale that much more special.  Even with Matt Smith's Dr. and Amy/Rory as the companions (who I've accepted more than him), season 5's finish was spectacular.  Doomsday from season 2 is still tops, but they've all been great.
I've never known a Scifi show that could pull you so emotionally.  If you haven't watched the new Dr. Who, you should.  Give yourself a few episodes to get used to it.  It's one of the best shows I've watched - right up there with Battlestar Galactica and The Wire.

So glad I've gotten rid of Windstream

My wife and I had finally had enough of our current telephone and internet provider, Windstream.  A year or two ago, they bought out our local provider.  Up to that point, I actually enjoyed the few talks I had with customer service and always felt that I was treated well by the company.  Windstream bought them out and almost immediately, we started have connection issues with the internet.  Then our phone lines started getting extremely fuzzy.  It got so bad, that we could hardly hear the people we were talking to.  Windstream said they detected no problems with the lines, so it must be inside the house.  It also got to the point that we had to restart the modem at least 3 times a day to get internet access and often even that wouldn't help.  Windstream told me that our connection was fine.

We switched to the cable company for everything.  In order to do the switch, I needed a passcode to port my number.  I called Windstream and got a code.  A day later the cable company said the code was rejected.  I called back and got a completely different number, which this time worked.  I planned on shutting off the Windstream service a few days after the switch so I could get all of my email contacts switched to a new address when all of a sudden, I couldn't access my email anymore.  I couldn't even get to a login screen.  I called today to cancel Windstream and they had already cancelled when the phone number got ported.  I asked why that would cut off my email and got some BS answer.  Luckily I didn't use their webmail and have all of my old emails, otherwise, it would all be lost.

It's sad that a good, well-liked, local company that did it's job well was bought out by what clearly seems to be a large corporation that acts like a child when it doesn't like what you do.  Good riddance to Windstream and I haven't had to restart a modem all week!

I'm raising my daughter right

The girl has been going through a lot of maturation this past year.  Kindergarten has pushed her levels of independence to previously unknown levels.  She's taking showers and cleaning herself with minimal assistance.  And, she even has taken to choosing her own clothes, with her own style.  None of that is something I can take credit for.  However, I think I have had some influence on her current push for an identity.  She's been stating, ofter vociferously, that she loves rock-n-roll.  She treats us daily to her dance interpretations of whatever music is playing.  She's a big fan of Gogol Bordello.  She's been going through my CD collection asking to hear different things.  Last night was a watershed moment.  For a while now, she's been saying how much she likes drums and guitars.  Everything I put on, she said she wanted more drums and guitars and could I please turn it up.  A light bulb went off, I put on a particular CD, and she actually started headbanging.  It was Metallica, Master of Puppets.

I figured out that my 5-year-old daughter's particular taste in music may be metal.

The coolest thing is that she likes so many different things.  I was worried for a while because she was gravitating to things like Lady Gaga and K$sha (some tracks of which are cunningly catchy), but I kept hope because she liked Gogol Bordello so much more.  But after her repeated requests for more drums and more guitar, I can see that her musical tastes will be fine.

Rock on.