The Cold, The Wet, and The Muddy

Jonnene and I are not as warm as we look...there be a whole lot 'o shivering going on!

Saturday was one of those days where I only did a smattering of activities but it took a long time to do them, so the day felt busy although you could count on hand everything you did but still have fingers left over. It was definitely not a waste of a day however I can look back and think "is that all I did?"

It started out getting up early this morning to walk the dogs in 33-degree temps and giving them only a short walk at that because Jonnene and I had to be at the 10-mile Trail Run at Lake Bistineau State Park by 7:30 latest. Jonnene is still nursing her shoulder so she would be a volunteer but I had to run the darn thing. Rain had passed thru late Thursday evening into Friday morning and the trail was a muddy, wet mess. There were over 70 people doing the 10-miler (over 80 were doing the shorter 3.8 mile run) and none were looking forward to sloshing thru deep puddles in freezing temperatures. So this race was not a matter of when you were getting wet (it would be very soon), it was a matter of how wet you got. I was slightly overdressed but that's how I race and I would be quite comfortable throughout the run...probably could have done without the vest but that was no problem. The start was a mass/mess of bodies flying down a wet clay hillside and eventually stringing out into a single-track trail. I got behind Denise Cook and let her pace me for the first two miles before she finally left me (she's a fast runner and ended up third woman overall). Only one mile into the run was our first big puddle and it was three steps through KNEE-DEEP freezing water which certainly woke me up. This would be first of at 25-30 such crossings of various lengths and depths...the most memorable being a virtual mini-lake when I made at least 13 steps in water just below my kneecaps...there was no avoiding it, you had to go through it. Eventually you just ignored it all and ran through most everything. Sometimes you got surprised by a puddle that didn't look like it could be that deep and it was. The water and trails were churned up and mushed up by the runners ahead of me and you would get muddy one minute and wash it all off the next!

Eventually, everyone was spread out over the trails and for a long time I was running by myself. I got lost one time which really messed up what little rhythm I had and it took nearly a mile for me to settle down and get my head back into the game. As soon as I felt I was recovering, an ankle got snared up in a vine and I went heels over head down on the trail. I remember grunting as I hit the ground but I popped back up again and kept running, noting that there was nobody around to see my fall....no witnesses but I wasn't embarrassed by it, that just happens on these runs sometimes.

The last three miles were the worst...nothing but water and mud everywhere and there was no getting around it. Lifting my feet out of that mess was a chore and really slowed me down (seemed to slow a lot of people down). I caught up with two other guys in the last 1/2 mile but couldn't get around them when we hit the last quarter mile across a field to the finish.

Finally crossing the finish line at 1:39:48, about 15 minutes slower than I wanted to do. However, what I wanted to do involved much drier conditions and that didn't happen either.

I was glad to be done and Jonnene was there to greet me. She had been helping to remove timing chips from the shoes of finishing runners (probably because those runners mostly had frozen fingers and couldn't do it themselves!). I finished with a 9:59/mile average but like a friend said, with the conditions you couldn't concentrate on a personal best, you had to just survive to finish. I was the 4th Grand Master (50+) out of 16 to finish and 30th overall. When we got home Jonnene had to soak my clothes to get most of the mud and filth out before they could put in the washer! Every time we drained the bucket there was nothing but brown water going down the drain!

After getting home and cleaning up I had to go to the women's basketball game at Centenary. Two of my cycling kids are on the cheerleader and dance squads and I had promised to go to the game to see them perform. It was a lot of fun and the women's team lost a close one to North Dakota State 67-61. I think Jonnene enjoyed it more than I thought she would and I was glad she came along. Afterwards we ate a VERY late lunch at Newt's before heading home for a quiet evening of just vegging. Busy day indeed, not a lot to show for it but that's okay. I'd like to get a ride in on Sunday but it's going to be a cold day, too. I'm ready for some warmth!

Newest Helicopter Paint

Here's the newest paint scheme I turned out for LifeLine Arizona. It's really simple but the bright red color really pops! I designed a new logo for LifeLine that works well on the side of the aircraft along with the "Arizona" name under the star of life logo near the tail boom. I also did an outline of the state around the aircraft number on the vertical stabilizer at the rear. I think it came out pretty nice.

Cold Weekend

Not much to report on the home front. Went out this morning to log 5.5 miles on a run in 27 degree air and that went pretty well. Ran a tad faster than I expected but when the sun is out and there's no wind, a cold day isn't so bad...as long as you're doing something to generate a little body heat. I'm going to register for the Trail Run at Lake Bistineau on January 30th, 10 miles of running on trails and I want to be ready to do well at that. I did it back in 2008, going 1:29:53 or about 9 minutes a mile. I'd like to knock that down to 8 minutes if possible and if the trail conditions are good.

Jonnene is doing remarkably well in her recovery from shoulder surgery. We've been out and about every day, she's done housework, walked the dog, and other things that I keep getting on her case about...I want her to take it easy and she can't seem to do that. Every night she's slept in our big easy chair with lots of pillows around to support her and I've slept on the couch next to her. Tonight she wants to try to sleep on the bed so we'll see how that goes. The chair is waiting just in case.

I've got plenty to do this week. First meeting with the Centenary cycling club for the semester. Two big graphic design jobs, one of which has to go to the printer sometime Monday, the other needs to be done as soon as the client has made up their minds. Bills to pay and a quarterly estimated income tax check to be mailed to the Feds. Some new parts for my bike and trying to decide if I want to repaint it before that upgrade takes place. Yep, lots to do. I'm only one man.

Let's Get Surgeried!

Thirty hours after the operation and Jonnene is home reading while seated in a pile of pillows in our comfy chair in the den.

The dogs, Sophie and Coober, visit often.

Yesterday Jonnene went in for surgery on her left shoulder and everything went fine. She'd been having problems with it for the last couple of years but things went south rather rapidly during the last 3-4 months. She was hoping that surgery wouldn't be needed, trying various things to alleviate the pain like kinesio-tape and certain exercises. But she knew that she'd have to go under the knife or orthroscope eventually and Wednesday was set as the day.

We got up at 4 am, walked the dogs in the cold air, then got back to gather up what we needed before heading to the surgery clinic near where she works...literally across the hall from where she works! Got the paperwork finished and was shown to our exclusive prep room. Jonnene put on the surgical gown (open in the back!) and we were visited by all the folks who would be working on her, including the surgeon. He's very experienced in this kind of thing, specializing in shoulders, knees, and various other things like that. He is a former team surgeon for the NFL New England Patriots and a couple of other pro football teams. He's also a nice guy and he told us what was going to happen during the procedure with a professional air, followed by more relaxed conversation. I felt good about him after that, especially since Jonnene knew him from work and did PT with many of his patients.

She then got the "good meds" and was soon feeling very good about things. So, as they wheeled her out, I kissed her bye and I drove back to the house to check on the dogs and get the car fueled up. I returned to the clinic and did some work on my laptop, read a magazine before the doctor came out to tell me that things went great. Her shoulder was not as bad as it was first thought and he was happy about that. Her recovery time was still going to take up to 4 months but she will be close to or better than normal in six months. In another hour I was allowed to go back to the room to see her and get her ready to go home. After getting her dressed we chased down some prescription meds for her on the way home, then got her settled in.

Sunday, 2010

Got this photo today from a friend who's wife was taking pictures at the duathlon. Here I am screeching to a halt so I can enter the transition pit and go out on my second run.

Today was the only Sunday we've had so far in 2010. It was a cold one! However, it looks like next weekend will be even colder! We're talking mid-to-high teens with the possibility of rain/sleet (slight, but still there) and all this week won't be much warmer. In other words, this entire week will be one of the coldest we've had in some time! I don't know if I'll get much of anything done outside for a while. Might have to visit the Centenary Fitness Center to run the treadmill or something like that.

Jonnene and I went to a matinee showing of "The Blind Side" starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. A most excellent flick...I'd recommend it highly. Earlier we went out for a 2-mile run and kept the pace under 9 minutes per mile. I was most proud of The Wife for getting after it when it wasn't a race. It'll probably be the last run she does before going under the knife on Wednesday for her shoulder. Hopefully she'll be back outside doing that crazy running or biking or pilates stuff in 3-5 weeks after surgery but we won't rush anything. She'll know when's she ready to start up again...after a couple of weeks couped up in the house she'll be begging to do anything!

First Race of 2010

Jonathan and Chelsea, two of my Centenary cycling club kids, take their warmup run into the fog that was out on the course this morning. It was also 28 degrees out there! Brrrrr!

Jonathan shoots out of transition to begin his bike split. He had the fastest finish of the club members, thanks mostly to his run splits. The boy is FAST!

Of course, I did the race, too. Didn't do too badly.

Jacquelyn, the club president, talks over her race with her dad, Jim, who drove over with the family from Fort Worth to participate.

This morning was the Dustbuster Duathlon and my first race of 2010. I didn't think I was in as good a shape for it as I was last year so I approached today as a training race so there wasn't really any pressure on me. It was a very foggy morning and the temperature was officially 28F...but the good thing was that there was no wind so the cold was tolerable, sorta. Four of my Centenary kids were participating in the race and they would garner two first places, one second place, and one third place in their age groups, so it was a good day for them! I did okay...got second place in my new age group: the men's 55-59 (ouch!) that I moved into this year. However, I held my weight against the youngsters, getting 18th overall of 106 finishers in a time of 57:18. My runs were faster than the previous two years but my bike split was almost 75 seconds slower than last year. Cranked out a 6:47/mile the first run and a 7:15/mile the second time...can't be too upset with that.

Friday night Jonnene and I went to Macaroni Grill, a nice classy Italian restaurant in town. The place itself is classy and the staff are dressed in white dress shirts, ties, and black pants. Jonnene looked great as usual and I could have been a little better dressed but our decision to eat there was kinda last minute so I didn't have a chance to change into a sharp-dressed man. There were a number of customers there who didn't even have as high a dress code as I did...one guy kept his baseball cap on his head the entire time though his date was dressed rather well. Some folks just don't know how to dress for the occasion anymore, even if it's informal. Sometimes I wish guys still wore hats with their suits. It's dated, of course, but it was still a smart style.

As to New Year's Eve, we stayed up until eleven to see the ball drop in New York. Earlier we had been at my Dad's house to celebrate his 76th birthday. I gave him a book called Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin. I think he'll like it. We ate tacos, had some brownies, and visited with some of my "step" relatives. Then it was back home to wait out the end of 2009 and sleep late into 2010. Hope the new year is a good one.

A welcome to the new year!

November 2006: I won the Grand Masters category in the half-marathon during the Louisiana Trails races. Can I do a full marathon in 2010? Hmmmmmm.

We're just about 2.5 hours away from the new year as I write this...will probably go to bed in a little while. I'll take everybody's word that when I wake up in the morning it'll be 2010. Right now it's miserably rainy and dank outside but you can still hear some fireworks going off here and there in the neighborhood. Probably they're being fired out from under a back patio or carport around the area...keeps the powder dry until it's time to unleash the ordnance. One of our dogs, Sophie, is not pleased with the noise while our new dog, Coober, is curious about the sounds but I'm not sure if he's scared. His ears are definitely perked up!

Some end of the year numbers: I totaled up 5142.3 miles on the bike and 259.3 miles running for all of 2009. I would have liked to do some more but the weather the last 3-4 months has really curtailed my activities (I did run in the rain once last week and between storms last Wednesday). Tomorrow...New Year's Day...I'll put in a ride with the local bike club to Waskom, Texas and back, about 26 miles total and a nice run afterward (depending on the weather again) but nothing too hard since I'm participating in a duathlon on Saturday and I don't want to wear myself out. So I'm aiming for a nice start to the new year. I intend to run a marathon sometime in 2010, mainly because I've taken an interest in doing one while I can and before my legs eventually crater. I'd like to be able to say I've done one. I need to pick out a locale, something unique and not the usual fair that many of the runners here usually do. Like the marathons in New Orleans, Houston, Dallas White Rock, or Cowtown (Fort Worth). I'm looking at other possibilities...like the race in Missoula, Montana or the marathon that honors the bombing victims in Oklahoma City. A friend has been suggesting the Commanders Marathon in South Africa (probably not) and Big Sur in California (sounds too hot for me). We'll see where it goes.

I hope all who read this have a good New Year's celebration and that you've got plans or aspirations for 2010. Something to look forward to. I'm going to hang out with my wife and see what life brings and see what it is about life that I can affect. Just another adventure. Let's enjoy the ride.

Happy New Year to you all!

Oh, man, what a holiday....

It's the evening of December 26th and I'm kinda worn out. We woke up early but not as early...Jonnene has to work this weekend and we had to walk the dogs so we had to get up early enough, but I was dragging. After she went on to make people healthy again I attached my new Look pedals to my TT bike and switched out the cleats on my shoes. I adjusted the tension but will need to ride it a few times to get the pedals just right. Then I went to the local building supply stores to get a few items for Mom's bathroom....still have some renovation to finish up, to install the medicine cabinet, some accessories, and the faucet. Then it's all detail work after that. At least it'll be a functional bathroom that she can use again. Jonnene spent the time after getting off work with house stuff. Tonight we went to Newk's for supper and went over to Kohl's to do some clothes shopping and get some comfortable pajamas for Jonnene to lounge around in while recovering from her upcoming shoulder surgery.

Christmas Eve was mostly composed of a few last minute errands. I took Mom around to check out bathroom items, including choosing the medicine cabinet. We got it to her house and found that two corners of the mirrored door had been chipped, so I would have to make an exchange after Christmas (see above). I cleaned up when I got home for our trip out to Dad's for Christmas Eve supper and opening some presents. Both of Gladys' daughters and their families came over and the supper was pretty good. I brought over my laptop and at around 7:30 that evening we were able to watch Jonnene's family in Perth, Western Australia open presents on their Christmas morning. We used Skype to make the audio/visual connection and it worked great. The picture below was taken by Jonnene's niece, Michelle, on her new camera where everyone posed, including ourselves on the big screen TV, for a family portrait (below).

Jonnene and I are on the screen in the back for this family picture!

Christmas Day saw Jonnene worked the morning at the hospital while I got in 4-mile run in below-freezing temperatures. Walking the dogs earlier that morning in the dark was way too much fun but there was no wind, so the run was easier to handle and halfway through I was nice and warmed up. When she came in around noon we packed the car to head to my brother's for a family get-together. Again, it was good food all around and I can tell you that I've gained a few pounds over the last 72 hours!

Miasses Draggin'

Finally trying to get back to being serious with my riding and I picked a heck of a day to start. This morning the temp was 38 degrees (wind chill of 31) with a nice 9 mph wind out of the northwest that we were going to be heading into. This ride was one that Mack put together for a distance of 100 miles and I was hoping I would be able to do it. My plan was to make a decision at the 30-mile mark as to whether I could do the whole ride or not...at that point I would end up with at least 60 miles anyway, a decent distance to cover at the beginning of my "serious" training. We had seven riders at the start and we were going to try to stay at a good 17-18 mph pace...after all, this is not a race and the main goal at this time is to get some saddle time and some miles in our legs. No need to rip them up when it doesn't matter. However, my legs were not in the mood and I knew that about 10 miles into the ride. Sometimes you have days like that. Even pushing a measly 18 mph seemed like the greatest effort and I was getting more flustered. The wind in our faces was not helping and its speed was increasing as the morning went on...at least we had some nice sunshine instead of the depressing clouds that seemed to stick around all last week.

I got dropped at one point about 22 miles in but caught back up, strangely enough feeling better by then and was able to climb a couple of hills with better effort, but then my legs started feeling bad again, working way too hard to keep up with the group for the effort they were putting out. When we got to the 30-mile point, Roland and I decided that it was better to head back home than try to be heros. So the two of us headed back to Shreveport from wherever we were in East Texas while the rest of the group went on (I heard later that they were plenty wiped out from their longer ride!). The nice part of our return was that the wind was now at our back and we would find ourselves cruising at 22-24 mph with little effort. I ended up with 63.1 miles and a tired pair of legs. I'll try again tomorrow but will only do about 40 miles with a mile run immediately after I finish. Hope the legs hold up!

Later in the day Jonnene and I took the dogs to the groomers' to give them a bath. Coober has probably never had a proper bath in his life so that was an experience for us all. He wasn't amused and would try to fight it but many times he'd just succumb and stand there dealing with it. When we used a blow dryer on him he's just scrunch up and bury his head into the crook of my arm and keep it there, probably going to his "happy place" in his head to get away from that loud thing constantly exhaling on him.

Sophie (at right) looks on as Jonnene washes Coober. He's not happy.

But he's clean and shiny and smells good now. Hopefully the more we do this he'll start to settle down and understand that he's not going to get hurt and that there's nothing to be afraid of. He actually was quite good, considering, because I wasn't sure if he'd just go nuts or be too submissive. He got to sniff at some of the other dogs there as well as the groomers on hand.

On The Run

Last night Jonnene and I participated in the annual Downtown Christmas Run, which is running four laps of a four-corner course in downtown Shreveport so that it totals 3.4 miles. We got there around 6 pm when it was already dark and the temps were already down to the upper 40's...not bad but the wind was blowing and that could put a tingle in your running shorts. I had already decided to run with Jonnene the whole way or until her knee started giving her problems. It turned out to be just fine as we ran the entire route and she had no knee problems at all! We averaged 9:16 per mile, coming in 127th and 128th overall...there were 330 finishers with timing chips, about 300 more without them. On the slightly downhill finish, I had her go out ahead of me and encouraged her to pick up the pace the final 200 meters. She kicked it and cruised in like a champ! We did the run at her pace which was good enough to put her into 4th place in her age group! I got 10th in my age group but if I had run my regular race I might have gotten 3rd or 4th. It didn't matter, this was for fun and I got to spend some fast time with my wife and it was all good. Afterwards, we had dinner with our friends Elka and Daniel, both of whom won their age groups in the race.

The week has been kinda hectic with some last minute free-lance jobs to finish up, trying to get the permits submitted for a time trial the Centenary club is putting on this February, working with our new dog so he can understand ALL of our demanding demands, and just trying to keep up with Christmas! I'm hoping to get a ride in Thursday morning but it's going to be a cold one!

Getting used to the new dog

I set another new personal best during this morning's ride: most miles in a single calendar year on the bike...5,027 miles! That's with 17 days left in the year and more miles to be added. I hope I can do another 200 miles depending on the weather and I might hitch onto a 100-miler that Mack is planning for this weekend. This morning's ride was in a low overcast, sorta foggy, mild temperature sort of event. Mike, Roland, and Dick were the only other riders to show up although conditions demanded that a larger crowd should have been there. It's just going to get colder as the week goes on.

Our friend, Jamie, came by last night to take our Christmas card picture with all the animals...ALL meaning both dogs AND the cat! That was interesting in its own way. What was nice for me was Jamie, Jonnene, and I remembering stories about Farley, talking almost as if he was still here. His drinking habits getting the most laughs since he was famous for leaving half of the water he gulped up strung out across the floor. That was really nice. Jamie is officially the first person that Coober has met since we brought him home and he was a little anxious/nervous meeting another person. He barked and backed off but in about five minutes he was getting friendly with her. We need to have him meet more people so that he doesn't become afraid of people he doesn't know. We're taking him on walks twice a day and Jonnene got this harness/lead that wraps around Coober's nose and makes him behave a bit better on these walks. So far it's working pretty good but he is challenging it, which we expected. We have to remember that Coober has spent most of his life at a shelter so walking on a leash is not natural for him (but he's doing very well considering). But we've survived our first week with him and we really like him. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks and how he takes to training.

Tomorrow night we will be at the Downtown Christmas Run, a 3.4 mile 3-lap run in downtown Shreveport. Hope it won't be too cold! I'm going to run with Jonnene the entire way or until/if her knee starts to act up. If the latter happens I will go on and get a faster run over the remaining distance. Otherwise we'll run together and just enjoy the crowd and the evening. Maybe we'll wear Santa hats!?

Cold Outside!

We got our Christmas tree up last night! It's the best one we've done so far...of the two Jonnene and I have ever done together. Looks great!

Man, it is cold out there! Jonnene's feeling under the weather and will be taking today off from work after leaving at noon yesterday. I've got some kind of crud in my eyes the last few days...thought it was pink-eye at one point but I don't think it is...so we're doing just fine right now! I had to take the dogs out for their morning walk, one at a time, and it's really cold outside. I think it was about 29 degrees but, fortunately, there was no wind. Still spent nearly an hour total walking around the neighborhood. We decided on a name for our new pet: Coober. As in Coober Pedy, a small town in South Australia. He gets his first vet visit this Saturday and we just received his previous vet records. Looks like he's closer to three years old since it says he was neutered in April, 2007 and he'd have to be a few months old for that to happen.

Coober, myself, and Sophie get together for a team meeting.

Jonnene sent me a photo of Farley that I had taken soon after we had moved into the new house...early 2008...that I had forgotten about. He's totally laid out on his side staring at the camera with those big old brown eyes. It's not a well taken photo, some slight movement with a slow shutter speed, but it didn't matter. I realized as I was looking at it on the computer screen that I had a big smile on my face.

Blah

Man, it is dreary outside. There's been so much rain this fall...usually I like rain but I want more sun now. The ground is saturated so we're getting more puddles in yards. The gray skies don't exactly enthuse me to go run or bike. I'm wanting to do both but I'm not that hard-core and the idea of constantly cleaning my bike after nearly every ride or watching my new Asics turn a dingy brown isn't appealing. But you know what will happen...eventually we'll start getting days and days of constant sun, and the rain will start looking good again.

The dog with no name....yet...running through the backyard of our house.

We got a new dog last Sunday! Still trying to come up with a name for him. He's about two years old and we rescued him at a local shelter called Pet Savers. Visit their website and think about making a donation for the good work they do. Anyway, our guy's a lean, energetic dog, however his maturity has made it easier to deal with him...so far. In a perfect world we'd all want our dogs to start out with us as puppies but there are so many older dogs that need homes. And many of them are already house-broken or just need some love. Sure, you might have them for a shorter time but, with patience, they'll show you how much they appreciate the gift you've given them of a home, food, and that needed attention!

We're hoping to come up with a name for the fella tonight. We pulled out a few maps of Australia to see if any towns or landmarks may be good candidates for a name. We've found several that are appealing.

Last Saturday I went riding with a couple of other guys to do my first 50+ mile ride in several weeks. It was special because the temperature at the start was 21 degrees! After three-and-a-half hours the temps had risen to a balmy 42 degrees. We were rugged up fine and actually enjoyed the ride although my legs definitely felt like they haven't done this in a while. Jonnene rode later in the morning but you still had to dress for it. It helped that the sun was out.

That night we went to the annual Christmas party that our triathlon club holds and I did a mighty fine job NOT stuffing myself with all the great food that was on hand. Oh, I ate alright but managed to hold off. The food was great! During the awards ceremony and speeches later on, I scored by winning three of the door prizes that were being given out (and there were a LOT of people there). Even Jonnene won something!

Cali Thanksgiving

Yeah-huhhh, we went to California for the Thanksgiving holidays, visiting my aunt and uncle in Fresno. Got there Wednesday night after flying in from Dallas (we drove there) and spent Thanksgiving Day with some of the family up in Modesto. Ate too much, of course. Jonnene and I spent some time both Friday and Saturday mornings running to work off the calories! On Friday we went up to Sequoia National Forest to check out the giant sequoia and redwood trees, do some hiking, and experience driving at night for 6,000+ feet downhill as a storm front was moving in, turning the road into a fog bank as the clouds rolled in! We flew back on Saturday and got home very late that night.

Jonnene stands inside the "Fallen Monarch", a giant sequoia that fell over 300 years ago (estimated to have been around 1,500 years old) and was used as a shelter, a stable, and a saloon in the past 130 years.

These trees are BIG. Jonnene stands near the base of one of the "younger" trees, probably only a few hundred years old!

While we were hiking on one of the lesser traveled trails in the forest, we were treated to seeing a group of five mule deer grazing. We all watched each other for about 10 minutes before continuing to hike on and the deer went on about their business.

Just to give you an idea of size: That group of tourists is standing about 50-60 feet away from the base of that huge redwood to the left. They're checking out the fallen tree at center.

Up In The Air

While we were at DFW waiting for our flight to California, we ran into Lindsay as she was getting off a flight from Indiana! We bought our house from Lindsay and her husband, Scott, when they found out they had to move "up north". They visit Shreveport when they can and Lindsay was on her way to see family for Thanksgiving. It was a real surprise and pleasure to run into her!

Hey, I'm putting a post on my blog while riding in a MD-80 ("Super 80") at 32,000 feet somewhere over deep west Texas! Jonnene's trying to catch a few Z's while I type this. The flight's been real smooth so far and it's really dark outside. We're dropping in on my aunt and uncle in Fresno, CA for Thanksgiving. The pilot thinks we'll be 20 minutes early getting into Fresno which will be great for us. In the meantime we have a cranky baby a couple of rows ahead of us...well, I guess not everything can be perfect.

We're All Racists (again)

More insightful commentary from Greg Gutfeld:

FRIDAY'S GREGALOGUE: WE'RE ALL RACISTS (AGAIN)

So apparently Sarah Palin sold over three hundred thousand copies of her book in one day - and as you can guess - they were all purchased by racists.

At least, that's what the sociology professors over at MSNBC Community College believe. Check out Hardball guest Norah O'Donnell, impersonating a talking puffin...

"This is a largely white -- almost no minorities in this crowd. And they`re here because they love Sarah Palin. I think it`s an emotional connection, Chris because they feel, too, that they`ve been beat up on, whether it`s the economy or they feel like outcasts. They like the outsider, if you will, in Sarah Palin. And that`s why people have been willing to wait, 1,500 of them, since 7:00 AM this morning to just get a glimpse of Sarah Palin."

So let me get this straight: people appreciate Palin because they've been picked on by a big bully. It makes me wonder if Norah ever psycho-analyzed Obama supporters this closely... or called them "largely black."

But hey, I guess that's better than calling them a tribe or something. Chris?

"I think there is a tribal aspect to this thing, in other words, white vs. other people. I think she is very smart about this. Here she is on the issue of -- of what happened down at Fort Hood, obviously, an ethnic issue, as many people see it.."

So, imagine for a moment, if during an Obama rally, Matthews described it as "tribal." How fast would he be fired, and then ending up on Oprah issuing a tearful apology?

Boogla moogla, I might say.

Which is Greg-lingo, for "pretty fast."

But here's the real issue: I used to think this race-baiting tactic was a political ploy. But now I believe they mean it. They do think that if you're against the policies of Obama, you must be racist. And that's because in their profession, they don't know anyone who's against the policies of Obama! Surrounded by likeminded lackeys, they're convinced that everyone beyond the tinted windows of their black cars must be card-carrying members of the Aryan Book Club.

The real truth: Whether it's Norah O'Donnell or Chris Matthews - they're just too scared to question a black man over policy.

And that's authentic bigotry.

But what can you expect from a bunch of white people?

And if you disagree with me, then you're probably a racist.

Busy Week

Well, I should be depressed this morning...my ULM Warhawks lost a game last night that they shouldn't have and will most likely not be in any post-season bowl game. Plus the U.S. Senate voted to begin debate (with exactly the 60 votes the Democrats needed) on that stupid montrosity of a health care reform bill Congress is trying to force upon the people of the United States. Want to really screw up health care in this country? Congress will find a way to do it.

But, instead, we had our Aussie Film Fest and belated house-warming party for our friends last night at the house. We ended up with about 30-31 people dropping by to visit and watch Australian movies with us. Jonnene made a number of genuine Australian treats along with other food items that were a hit with the crowd. We started at 3 pm and by 8:30 pm everyone was gone. Jonnene and I were a tad exhausted...from thorough cleaning of the house, moving things around, getting things ready, yard work, and such. We slept great last night! We'll have to do it again sometime.

Last weekend I took a group from the Centenary College Cycling & Multi-Sport Club to Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the Bronda's Du (duathlon) that was held at the Texas Motor Speedway, one of the NASCAR venues across the country. The course was a 2-mile run, 16-mile bike, and 2-mile run with the runs entirely in the infield area and the bike portion leaving that huge stadium into a 5-mile loop outside that we had to do three times. I think everyone had a good time. We grabbed up a couple of awards as two of the kids got third place in their age groups. I picked up lunch for all of them after the race and I was proud of them. Our next race is January 2nd, another duathlon here in Shreveport.

Here we are, gathered up under the Texas Motor Speedway sign in the pit area...way too early on a Sunday morning.

Jacquelyn begins the second lap of her first run. Both 2-mile runs were on a 1-mile lap course in the infield of the auto race course. She got third in the women's 20-24 group with a 1:21:59, a 4-minute improvement on this same course in a race back in February!

While our race was going on, there were race cars doing practice laps! The bike course left and re-entered the infield through a tunnel that went under the race track.

Here's me crossing the finish line in 1:15:41, good enough for 41st overall of 226 finishers and first place in my men's 50-54 age group.

Jonathan talks over his race with Jonnene. He had the fastest time overall of the entire Centenary group. Even though he got fifth in his 20-24 age group, he had the fastest second run of the group with a 6:03/mile average. He was 33rd overall with a 1:14:01 time.

Here's the gang after the race: Chelsea, Jonathan, Jacquelyn, Bekah, and Christopher (who got third in the 16-19 age group in his first ever multi-sport race). They look pretty sharp, don't they?

New Look for the TV Room

Well, what do you think? It's finished and it's hanging up on the wall over the couch. That's Jonnene there watching the TV....she's watching NCIS and I can't blame her....good show! Since this picture was taken we've repainted that wall in a lighter color, sort of a creme d'mint or something like that. I think it's interesting and makes the room look different, matching the furniture and really setting the painting off.

The painting is based on an existing work we came across and liked. My canvas is 4x4 square as opposed to the other's rectangle format and I adjusted the work to fit. I added my own touch to it and changed some things around, especially a different look to the background which I made more mottled and textured. It's supposed to reflect the red dirt of the outback in Australia. The kangaroos are supposed to be going to the future or something like that and you can see where I put the mountains in the corners to say that the 'roos are hopping in a valley. I like how it came out and I'm going to try a few more in the months to come.

Here's a detail of one of the kangaroos:

Here Comes the Sun

After several weeks of semi-continuous rain, the sun came out over the weekend and it was definitely welcomed. Normally I like rain....it makes me sleep better, I like the look of the sky (but only as a change of pace from clear skies), and we can turn off our lawn sprinklers to help lower our water bill. But the recent downpours and storms were getting ridiculous. And last Thursday's storms with tornadoes tossed for good measure were the grand finale and frustration. A guy I know, who's also a graphic designer and artist here, was nearly killed when the 100-foot tall and 12-ton steeple on the downtown First Methodist Church was blown over by high winds onto his new Lexus, crushing it and leaving him with severe injuries. Fortunately, Michael will survive, minus an amputated (by surgery) right ring finger, but will have to deal with a couple of surguries and a body cast for a while. His sister-in-law, Paula, said that his new nickname should be "Steeplechaser" but I think it should be "Steeplecatcher". Here's a LINK to the most recent news plus you can find some links to photos of the steeple/car collision.

We got our share of water around here...literally, around here. Our carport and back patio had about 2" of water during the worst of the rains. There had been so much rainfall during the previous weeks that the ground was totally saturated and couldn't absorb any more water. Fortunately our front yard is lower and all the water could run off around the sides of the house and go to the street but I still had to put some bricks and boards out from the back door so we could get to our cars without getting our feet soaked!

What's been and going to happen

• Ran in the rain this past Monday morning. It was sprinkling a bit heavy and there was more rain coming according to the radar so I told Jonnene I better get out now since rain was predicted for the next two days. So I got in 3 miles, got a light rain in the first mile and not much at all the rest of the run. About a half hour after I finished the bottom fell out.

• We're going to Dallas and the surrounding area three times in November in a two-week period. First we have to go to the immigration offices there on the 10th so Jonnene can apply for her permanent green card...a nice day trip. Then three days later we go back to Fort Worth with some of my Centenary kids to participate in the Bronda's Duathlon at the Texas Motor Speedway. I might have as many as 8 kids racing, some doing their first ever multi-sport event. I'm doing it because I need one more race in 2009 to be ranked in my age group in the region (part of why I'm running). THEN we go back to Dallas the day before Thanksgiving so we can fly out to California to see relatives for the holidays. That's a lot of back-and-forth on I-20!

• Last Thursday we went to one of our local theaters to see "Race Across the Sky", a film about the 2009 Leadville 100. It's a 100-mile out-and-back mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado that starts at 10,200 feet in elevation with the halfway mark at the top of Columbine Mountain at 12.500. Lance Armstrong won the race this time but the real reason we wanted to see the movie (a one-time showing, BTW) was that two of our local racers also did the event. Mat Davis finished 22nd overall (973 finishers out of 1400 starters) and David Potter got 60 miles into the race before he had to retire due to mechanical problems. We managed to catch a few glimpses of both of them in the movie where we had 150 in attendance. It was a lot of fun. Besides, it was raining outside and a movie was a good idea! There's supposed to be an encore showing on November 12th...check your local movie house for times.

Getting ready to watch the movie. Jonnene is at the far right.

Beverly, Heather, and Jason are ready for the movie to start!