Life on the Road

I probably have a hundred stories about traveling, as I’m sure anyone who travels does. There are so many that I don’t remember them until something reminds me. For example, this week I was traveling visiting customers all week by car. I did not have a chance to go running due to rain and a busy schedule, but finally I caught a little time before I had a dinner appointment. So I trudged down to the hotel treadmill only to find it making sounds and shaking like a washing machine on spin. That’s OK, I’ll just run around the area…there is a small college campus near buy so it should be runner friendly. So off I went I had my tunes and no destination or distance in mind. I watched all the college students walking home from class and checked out the campus feeling pretty good about myself…until I tripped on a crack and nearly did a cartwheel into oncoming traffic. I regained my balance and continued to run in an ‘I meant to do that’ kind of way, but I was red from embarrassment. It reminded me of a similar trip to Raleigh, NC.

Once I had to drive to Raleigh to meet customers, I usually fly with such long distances, but often (like this recent trip) it just made sense to drive. I made it there while it was still pretty light out so I thought I would take advantage and work off the long car ride with a jog around my hotel. I thought it would be a great way to scout out a restaurant for dinner and also get my bearings for my meeting the next day. So off I went, much like this recent jog however I did not have an MP3 player to listen to (I don’t think anyone did at the time), so I just listened to the sounds of the town. Well I didn’t go very far when I realized it was getting dark quicker than I thought it would due to the recent time change. So I started heading back when it happened. I actually got hit by a car!

Well not completely, but I did have to do a movie stunt dive out of the way from some idiot who did not even look as he turned onto the street I was crossing. My foot actually hit the car as I dove out of the way. I don’t even think he saw me because he just kept driving away. Tons of others did see it; I mean it wasn’t dark yet, not even dusk really. Many cars stopped and people asked if I was alright, do I need an ambulance or something. No, I was fine really. Just a lot of adrenaline and some scraped palms and knees from breaking my dive. I would have loved to see the replay, I probably looked like a belly flop, but in my mind it played like a James Bond movie…I could have rolled and come up firing if I had a gun.

But like most bad days this one did not end there. I sort of jogged/limped back to the hotel and decided that going out was out of the question…room service with a few beers is what the doctor ordered. I had to sneak thought the hotel because the place was packed with very well dressed people; there was an election going on and I think I was at campaign headquarters of the Governor or something. So I ordered my food and got ready to take a shower, but the food arrived before I could…that was quick, maybe the day wouldn’t end so badly after all. I sat in front of the TV eating and drinking beer feeling pretty good. I even forgot about my skinned palms and knees. I finished eating and went to put the tray outside when I noticed the room service guy a few rooms away; so I stretched towards him one hand on the door to other on the tray when…clunk. You guessed it. The door shut, with the key inside. I thought no problem, he can let me in. “Nope,” he said, “I work in the restaurant.”

What a day. Now I’m in the elevator on my way to the front desk as I take a look at myself.
• Sweat matted hair.
• T-shirt with bloody handprints from where I wiped off my palms.
• Skinned knee with dried blood all the way down to the socks that were stained with blood.
• Not to mention that smell of recent exercise with a little fear of my life mixed in.

I thought things couldn’t get much worse when all of a sudden the elevator door opens and I walk right through the Governor of North Carolina’s acceptance speech on my way to the front desk. No kidding, I could even see myself in the background on the 11 o’clock news that night, as the crowds heads turned towards me. When I finally made it to my room I think I took the longest shower of my life.

A Nice Relaxing Trip

Have you ever taken a vacation day that you will need a vacation from? My wife and I are famous for this. A trip snow skiing, weekends in Vegas or a trip to Europe are some of our usual vacations. All of them involve walking, partying or physical activity to the point that when we get back to work, we are exhausted.

Our latest get away was only a 2 hour drive, but it took me the better part of the week to recover from it. My parents came up to watch our daughter and my wife and I rented an RV and drove it to Auburn for a relaxing weekend…well it may not have been relaxing, but it sure was a fun trip to watch the UGA game.

When we arrived in Auburn we thought we would be able to park then walk into town for a relaxing lunch and a little shopping, before the rest of our crew arrived. Well, Auburn was a little more crowded than we anticipated. We weren’t allowed to park the RV in a space until after 4, so we pulled into my fraternity house and decided to have that lunch downtown. The only problem was it wasn’t relaxing because we were so worried about getting a parking space due to the crowd. So we headed back to the lot and started saving spaces. Then April and Brett arrived to help us save spaces, and of course the drinking began in earnest. We needed to get a bunch of spaces saved for friends and such, but mostly we needed 4 together to put the RV in. It was not happening. After about two hours of waiting for students to get back from class (and about a case of beer) we only had 3 spaces together. After some careful measurements by Brett, we knew that the RV would take up exactly 3 spaces, but we would need 4 to be able to parallel park it. Eventually the beer started talking…we can fit it in there. So by pulling forward and back about 15 times, we fit an RV that is 3 spaces long into……….exactly 3 spaces.

Well now it was time for dinner and the Niffer’s Corn Nuggets that Sheryl has been craving, along with the fishbowl drink that April had been craving. Of course there was about an hour wait for a table, but that didn’t bother us because beers were only $1…you gotta love Auburn. When we finally got seated we ordered a round of corn nuggets for everyone and a fishbowl…only to find out that we couldn’t get the big bowl because we didn’t have enough people at our table. Well we ordered two mini bowls as April tried to recruit an eight-year-old to sit with us so we could order the big one. Well it was time to head back to the RV for more drinking and some poker.

We were joined later in the night by Steph and John who quickly settled in for a relaxing sleep…well they did feel the need to put on seatbelts due to angle that the RV was on. No matter how we slept though, because when we awoke it was GAME DAY. The city had been packed since the night before, but somehow more people found a place. We awoke to chants of War Eagle and the sound of cell phones ringing as people asked, “did you save us a space?”

Well we showered and filled the ‘black water’ tank as Brett cooked up some pancakes and sausage. Then the girls went up to the Fratunity house to dry their hair (they kept blowing the circuit in the RV) as we prepared for the rest of our tailgaters to arrive. When they did the beer, bourbon and food started flowing. After that my recollection of events starts to get fuzzy. I remember helping Brett cook steaks, eating Amy’s Tortilla soup and the girls all making a cheerleader style pyramid (for some reason). After that we walked over to the Game to watch a great one. The team did just about everything right, but we were all still nervous…we didn’t need to be. The party continued all the way back to our tailgating spot and well into the night. My memories started to get fuzzy again, but I remember Sheryl and Cari off riding in another tailgater’s golf cart, then us finding them (after about an hour) and going into town to see the sights. Toomer’s corner was filled with toilet paper (an Auburn Tradition for those who don’t know) and the bars were packed.

Somewhere during the course of the weekend I lost my voice, oh well, I guess I can just go back to work to recover. Yet another relaxing weekend, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pathetically Competitive

It’s sad really. I mean tons of people go out to run and enjoy themselves. They smile and wave at fellow exercisers. I’m normally like that, I swear. But every now and then I snap.

I went running today, as I did yesterday, just to ‘work out the kinks.’ I had my big race this past weekend and I got a personal best time. It felt good, I really felt like I’m reaching my potential. The only problem is that I think I might be getting close to my limit. I have been shaving off time with just about every race, but I don’t know if I have much more speed left in me. That was evident this past week as my calves have needed constant stretching. So after taking a few days off, I decided the best way to recover is to work it off. I’ll just go for a nice jog; nothing too fast, or with too many hills. I thought I would hit my old stomping grounds the Trail. I figured since I was taking it slow, I would jog over to the trail, run along it for a mile or so than break off and wind through a neighborhood then home. This was a route that I used to think was pretty tough…now it is a piece of cake. So I ran that route yesterday without incident and it seemed to help my legs. I figured I would put in another day to teach my complaining legs who was boss.

So I jogged the mile or so over there working through a little stiffness, but otherwise enjoying my music and the cool morning. Then I got to the trail, where I usually enjoy seeing others, especially since I have been running elsewhere for so long. Then it happened. A spandex clad girl whizzed by me like I was standing still. I tried to tell myself that it was no big deal, this was just a jog. Then she stopped to tie her shoe and I passed her…until a few seconds later when I was almost hit by her ponytail as it flipped from side to side.

Now there was no reason for this to bug me. I mean I’m not fast by any means…I get passed by people all the time in races. I’m a middle of the pack runner at best. And the fact that she is a girl doesn’t change that at all. By no means am I sexist, but I’d be lying to say that it doesn’t get the competitive juices flowing. There are tons of girls faster that me, but it helps to use that as motivation. The reason I got a PB time on this last race is because I followed a girl who was running a perfectly even pace. I’m sure she was running to beat me…it was a race after all.

So when Miss Spandex stopped a third time on the trail to stretch, I finally admitted that it was starting to get to me. It felt like she was just stopping so that she could pass me. I started making up all these excuses as I sped up a little. I was running further than her (of course she might be on mile 1 of 20), today was just a slow jogging day for me (of course she might be having an off day too, maybe her off day is that much faster than mine), I just got through running a Personal Best on a 10K this weekend (who’s to say that she didn’t get a PB on a marathon over the weekend). I mean how pathetic was I? I even considered jumping off the course earlier instead of tacking on an extra half mile before jumping off. That way she wouldn’t see me turn around and think I was only running 3 miles. I finally realized I was being stupid…who cares what she thought. But I did detect a smirk when I passed her going the opposite direction after my turn. At least I didn’t let her pass me again.

In Other News

I always complain about others doing bone headed things, so I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t call myself out when I do. I was so preoccupied with all of this competitive drama I just wasn’t thinking today. As I was jogging along the trail today trying to make sure no one passed me for a third time, I got ready do jump off the trail on and wind my way home. I slowly moved to the left for a sudden turn on a sidewalk and up a steep hill. Then I heard a biker say, “On your left” to warn me that he was about to pass me. Well instead of moving to the right and letting him by or even staying where I was; I became an idiot. Instead, I glanced, realized I had enough room, and hopped off the trail. No damage was done, I don’t even think he had to slow down, but I’m sure he rode by thinking, “What an idiot.” And he was right. I mean it would have been like 5 steps out of my way to let him pass. Was I just so caught up being pathetically competitive that I didn’t want to let anyone pass me? He told me he was “On your left” for a reason. So Mr. Biker if you are out there…I realize I was an idiot…it won’t happen again.

Speaking of Competition

I would be remiss if I did not mention this pass weekend’s football game. I know there were a few, but in my household there was only one that mattered: Auburn vs. Tennessee.

College Football holds a special place for me. I know others would disagree, but College Sports seem so much more genuine. I know, I know, Division 1 football is just as big a business as the NFL is. And all the scandals and money generated makes it a joke to call it armature sports, but to me it’s still different.

If you’re from Philly, sure it’s easy to say you’re a life long Eagles fan. But it’s just as easy to disown your teem when things get rough (although a real fan wouldn’t do that…then again a Philly fan would even boo Santa, and has). But when you are a fan of a College Football team, you just have to take it when things go bad. You can’t change where you went, you can’t change who you give your money to, you just have to listen when others have a great season and you are having a “rebuilding year.”

And don’t get me started on rivalries. They always try to invent one in Pro Sports, but they just don’t work. In College there is a lot to be said about rivalries. You may disagree and say there are different players involved, and you are right; I mean they only have 4 years to play in College. But let me tell you, I don’t care if Auburn is beating every team by 50 points and Alabama is losing to every team by 100 points, when those two play (cliché warning) Throw the record out the window.

That is why it is so hard to be a fan of a College Football Team. You wear your passion for your team on your sleeve, so everyone can rib you when things go bad. Last year I cringed every time someone mentioned our high ranking and our chances for a National Championship. Then we came out and played like a high school team.

Things seem different this year, and not just because we are winning. The team was not expected to be great, they lost a lot of Defensive players and our quarterback has never seemed stellar. But Auburn looks like they want to prove everyone wrong. The Defense is playing above themselves…Jason Campbell looks like a pro quarterback at times. I should be rejoicing, and I am, but after last season I’m worried that something might go wrong.

Anyway, the Tennessee game was a great one; I just hope we can play like that for the 2nd half of the season as well.

Some thoughts while I run

I have a race coming up this weekend that I have been looking forward to for a while. It is a 10K that is billed as being a fast race due to the flatness of the course. So I have been running pretty often, hoping to improve my time by about a minute or more. My plan is to run hills, so that when I run the flat course, my body will think, “hmmm, this is easy…I can go faster.” I have no idea if this will work, or even if this is a good training practice…I probably should read up on that.

Anyway, this week, as I look forward to my race, I caught a cold. I mean what timing. It’s not a bad one, but it does leave me feeling lazy and weak. I’m still planning on running the race and I’m still hoping that I run a personal best, but it does get you thinking.

I wonder about all those athletes who train all their life for an event, say the Olympics and something like this happens to them. They can try as hard as they can, but their body might just be having an off day. I mean I am just some weekend jogger who can enter in another race, but for those professional athletes it all comes down to one day. It just might be a day that they don’t have their “A” game.

Of course if I don’t get a good time, I have my built in excuse, “I did pretty well for having a bad cold.” And I guess I have that in the back of my mind to give me doubt. But it also makes me think of the professional athletes who don’t use that excuse. Can anyone forget the image of Michael Jordan on the sidelines of the NBA finals with a towel over his head ravaged by the flu? He said he was so sick that standing made him nauseous and caused him dizzy spells. He almost past out several times during the game, but still he played because it was the finals. Jordan scored 38 points that night to help the Bulls win the game and eventually the series.

We’ll see how I do this weekend, I’m sure I’ll be saying, “I did pretty well for having a bad cold,” on Saturday night (more like Wednesday when the official results come out). But I’d rather look at my time after the race and not use my built in excuse. After all, Jordan didn’t get his highest point total, but I’ll always remember that game as his best performance ever.

Ehlersism #109

It’s a very simple rule: Slower Traffic to the Right

Right after man created the second wheel he thought to himself, “how am I going to get around this slowpoke.” So he developed the simple rule of passing on the left. Life was great, everyone knew that if someone was going faster they should stay to the right. This rule applied to everything involving motion. Let me tell you those caveman moving sidewalks at the Caveman International Airport were so orderly (walk to the left, stand on the right).

Well somewhere along the way we forgot that rule. I could go on and on about the idiots who are camped out in the left lane on the Interstate doing 5 under the speed limit while humming to themselves and wondering why you are glaring at them as you pass them on the right with a line of 40 other pissed off cars….deep breath. I mean I know everyone didn’t take Driver’s Ed, but don’t you think they would figure out they might be doing something wrong after getting flipped their 20th Bird. And why exactly do they think we are flashing our lights when we come up behind them? Just to say “Hi.” If these people ever drove in Europe they would end up a smear on the side of the Autobahn.

But it is not just driving. I know not everyone spends as much time at the airport as I do, but how lazy do you have to be to just stand there on the moving side walk. And if you are going to stand, do you not notice that most people are trying to walk…move over. Some airports even have a line drawn down the middle with “walk” printed on the left and “stand” on the right…and people still don’t get it.

Races bug me the most. The very definition of a race is to go fast. Trust me, I know that fast is relative to each person…I probably couldn’t run one mile at the pace professionals can run a marathon. But I know if someone is going faster than me; I should try to move to the right. And I’m not saying that is easy to do in a big race that, but common sense should tell you if you are walking you might be going slower than everyone else. And if you are going slower than everyone else, maybe the left is not the place for you. They tell you during the race: Walkers to the right. Most of the time you can hear a runner politely remind them, “Please walk on the right.” But still they walk on the left. Why?

LSWho?

A view frm my seat 

In the grand scheme of things who are we to complain. I mean Hurricane Ivan killed people, destroyed houses and left thousands without power. So my wife and I couldn’t complain when our plans to visit her parents in Pensacola fell through because of the storm. Here her parents worried about when they were going to get their power back and when they would ever get their yard cleared. My wife and I worried about how we were going to go to the Auburn v. LSU game without our trusty babysitters.

First we wondered if they would have the game at all. They didn’t decide until Friday that it would not be postponed. So we searched for a replacement babysitter, but we felt guilty about asking someone to watch Ains for the near 12 hours or so we would be gone. Then we toyed with the idea of brining her…nope, you do not bring a 2 year old to a game that big. Finally my wife (who will henceforth be referred to as MRS. WONDERFUL) insisted that I go to the game alone. She said it’s stupid for both of us to stay home, I mean we already have the tickets.

So off I went to Auburn to meet up with my friends, tailgate for a bit, then sell our extra ticket and watch the game. Sure I felt a little guilty that she was home watching on TV when she would rather be there, but I knew I would never forgive myself if I didn’t make it.

Our tailgate is still suffering from some problems: What used to be a wonderful, organized and fun Tailgate; now is scattered, thrown together and missing our tent and a good location. We made the best of it though; many were missing because of the storm and everyone had a story to tell about damage and power outages. I even had to sell our extra ticket for face value (unheard of for a game this big) because the storm had changed many people’s plans. But all was forgotten come game time.

I was a little late getting into the stadium because I had to sell the ticket, but I caught the buzz in the stadium from the eagle flying. It has been a long time since the eagle flew, but if you ever have a chance to see it, you’ll know why there was a buzz. We just felt like we had a good chance to win this one.

The game was nerve wracking. The Auburn Defense dominated and kept us in it; so much so that it felt like we were ahead, instead of behind. I just knew we were going to score again, but I wondered if the Defense could keep up their pressure for the rest of the game. When we finally scored we missed the extra point that would have put us ahead, but a penalty was called and we kicked again for a one point lead. At that point it felt like it was our destiny to win, but we still sweated out the last 1:40 on the clock.

I raced out of the stadium and ran to my car. Usually a win like this would be celebrated with my fellow tailgaters for a while, but I was anxious to get home and celebrate with my wife and daughter. As I faced the 2 hour ride home alone, I tried to call home, but the cell towers were busy with others discussing the victory. I did get a message on my voice mail from Ainsley saying simply, “I wuv you Daddy.” So I raced home and arrived before she went to bed and told her all about the game.

The Celebration begins 

Ivan Leave us Alone

Well I was just traveling in Florida on business and while driving from appointment to appointment I was getting drenched by rain. So I turned on the weather report only to discover I was traveling through the reminisce of hurricane Ivan. Hurricane Ivan! The same storm that scared my parents (after having survived Francis and Charley), then pounded my in-laws leaving them without power and with a lot of yard damage (thankfully no structural damage). After playing around with my family, Ivan set it’s sights on my friends that live in Birmingham including 2 day-old Ella. Then of course Ivan made his way to Atlanta to have a little fun with me.

My hurricane story is pretty comical compared to the rest of my family. I mean my in-laws had to evacuate then try to sleep through the pounding of 130 mph winds. After that they had to wait days to make it across town to see if they even had a house left. Thankfully everyone and everything turned out alright; well they did have about a week worth of yard work to do. Then Jeanne battered my parents and my sister (The 4th storm to do so) and had them without power for a day and damaged their pride and joy, their boat.

Me, well when we lost power during Ivan I immediately raced to the corner store for ice and beer. I mean you can get through just about anything with cold beer. Then I drove to pick up my daughter early because I figured things would get worse. The drive over to pick her up normally takes 5 minuets, instead took 40. Lights were out, roads were flooded and trees were down. By the time I got home the neighbors were calling to see if I had any beer (I have a bit of a reputation I guess). So everyone congregated in my garage with flashlights, beer and cell phones. Poor Sheryl had to drive from downtown, a trip that usually takes 20 minuets, took her 2 hrs. But she was a trooper and stopped for a bucket of chicken on her way home.

As the night wore on, everyone went to their houses for change, cards and more candles. We decided that poker was the best way to ride out the power outage. While eating our chicken and dealing the first hand of Texas hold-em, the power came back on. I know it is awful to say, because many were without power for weeks, but we seemed a little disappointed that the excuse for a party had ended so soon. So no one objected when Julie quietly got up, turned off all the lights and we continued to play poker in the dark…we did turn on the TV though.

TV Blackout

Carnell Williams was named the Offensive Player of the Week for an SEC-record eighth time
 

Well I gave it a shot this weekend. Most sports fans have tried it at one point or another, with very limited success. It’s called the TV blackout, where you record a game and avoid at all costs finding anything out about the game until you can watch it.

For me it was an easy prospect. I had a children’s birthday party to go to where I watched the first half of the Auburn/Miss State game, then I had a 30 min. drive home where I was recording the second half. No problem, listen to FM radio and turn it off if they show any hint of commenting about sports, don’t answer your phone and don’t look other divers in the eye incase you have to wonder why the guy with the AU license plate is cheering or crying. This will be a piece of cake…and if anything fails, I’m really only missing 10 or 15 minuets.

I have had friends who have attempted a much more ambitious TV Blackout. In an attempt to convince his wife that he understood there was more to life than Auburn Football, one friend agreed to go to a concert on the night of a game. He carefully thought out his plan taking pains not to wear any Auburn gear for fear that someone might say, “Hey, that was a great game today,” or something of the sort. Then he spent the next day running from any newspaper, radio, internet sites and coworkers (I believe he had to resort to fingers in the ear “I’m nooooot listening,” more than a few times. He was successful, but with his obsession, he failed to convince his wife of anything. Now she knows that, at least to him, nothing is more important than Auburn Football.

Thankfully my wife is of a like mindset as me. She was fully onboard with the plan; however, she wasn’t quite as worried about missing 10 minuets or so of the game as I was. After we saw that Auburn was up 21 to 0, she really couldn’t understand my obsession, but she played alone. We drove home in TV Blackout mode, drove through the neighborhood without acknowledging anyone (our neighborhood is populated with many College Football fanatics), and rushed inside settling down to watch the second half that was being recorded on Maggie. We were surprised at how easily we avoided any mention of the game as we turned on the TV to find….I had messed up in scheduling the recording somehow and the game didn’t record. Oh well, the game was a blow away and we only missed 10 minutes of game time. Calk this one up to lesson learned. Hopefully I won’t have to do that again (I’m usually at the game), but if I do, the most important element of the TV Blackout plan…is make sure it will record.

The Evolution of a Tailgate Crew

Game Time!. 

Finally, Football season is here. After a long hibernation, Auburn fans slowly emerge from their summer caves anxious to forget about the bitter dream that was last season. Just as important as the football season however, is the tailgating season. And this year looks to be as challenging as any.

Way back in the mid 90’s our illustrious Tailgating Crew started out on the Drill Field as novices. Sure we tailgated in college some, but then a home game was just that…at our house. We could walk to the games, and when we did travel to away games we were happy to eat pizza out of the garbage (Derek Roh’s famous quote: “I can’t tell if those are black olives or cockroaches.”) We just enjoyed seeing our fellow, recent graduates and we were glad to have an excuse to get together.

As we approached the new millennium our Tailgate crew had grown in size, but soon we faced our first challenge. Our gathering spot was now for RV’s only now. We were being forced out. We tried to find new spots, but we were unorganized and were forced to resort to the Intramural Field. Wile the Intramural Field was familiar ground in it’s proximity to our old college home , the Delta Chi House, it felt cut off from the rest of campus. So we searched, organized and eventually found a new home near Drake Medical Center. Our new home did not come without a fight: we battled with another tailgate crew that claimed Drake as their turf for the past 30 years. Like two rival army’s we tried to establish a beachhead by getting there earlier and earlier. It was as natural as evolution; eventually we prevailed and even learned to coexist with the old generation of tailgaters.

The Drake spot became ours; and we couldn’t have asked for better. We were in close proximity to shopping and many food choices. We had parking for almost everyone, even room to camp or park an RV once a year. We also had room for the kids that suddenly emerged from our tailgating crew: The Next Generation. We evolved into a group of Professional Tailgaters, with all the right tools, including coolers, tents, chairs, loveseats, trashcans, even grills. The Drake Spot was our Utopia; we have many memories filled with happiness, sadness and a lot of drinking. But things do not evolve in a vacuum and once again our Crew faces another challenge: Our spot has been closed off once again.

So, much like the first time we were evicted from a spot, we met this first Saturday in September at the Drill Field. While this time the drill field offers us more room, even space for The Next Generation to run and play we also face the same problems. Once again we are cut off from campus; very far from shopping, food choices and worst of all far from the stadium. We also have new problems with a lack of parking spaces…this threatens our very nature: For what is a Tailgate Crew with out a Tailgate. We made the best of the situation, although the group was small (I don’t know if that was because not everyone came to the game, or because our group had…gasp…fractionalized). The tailgate was short due to the early start, and the game even shorter, with almost all of the action in the first half. But it gave us a chance to see the team in action (even though it was against an inferior team) and it also gave us a chance to see the tailgate in action. I personally think that both need improvement. I would like to see the development of a passing game to compliment our running game, as well as and improvement in both the location of our Tailgate and the number of participants.

Both our Tailgate Crew and our Team have overcome challenges in the past, and hopefully this year will be one that we remember for its positives. Here’s hoping that we return to the glory of the Drake Spot, as our team returns to SEC glory. WAR EAGLE.

Reed and Abby at Game 1. 

Gadget Addict

I throw the word addict around a lot, but this time I’m not too far off. You see I’m addicted to gadgets. I mean it really has all the signs of addiction. I start to crave something new. I obsess about a particular product. I research to make sure there is not a better one out there. I decide that I need it and search and search for it until I get to the point where I have to have it. Then I buy it and get that rush. I play with it for weeks and weeks. I discover every option. I tell others about it to the point that I could be a salesman for the company. Then, while I’m not one to stop using something, the rush wears off and I start thinking about my next fix.

While I do have a lot of toys, almost all of them serve a great purpose. My wife scoffed when I wanted to put Maggie, our Media Center PC, in the bedroom. She thought we should keep it in the guest room, sort of like a second office. Now even she gets frustrated watching live TV, “can we skip the commercials.”

Then there was my MP3 player. Yes I had one, but it was old and buggy. Besides, I run about 4 times a week and to me the music is as important as the shoes. So I had to get a new one.

Well don’t even get me started on my pocket pc. I use this thing all the time. It is my daytimer, my bookreader, and my music player when I travel. I couldn’t live with out it and rarely do you find me with out it in my pocket. My wife even saw the value of it, using my old one when I upgraded until it died. Now she always asks me for someone’s phone number (because she knows I’ll have it) while muttering that she needs to get a new one.

I usually do a good job of holding off from needing the next generation for at least one cycle. I am also pretty good about finding the right gaget for MY needs, not just the neatest one out there. A few examples are buying a flash music player instead of an ipod or iriver that had more storage. I needed it for the durability of running.

So when the new pocket pc’s came out…I resisted. Sure they were faster than mine. Sure they had better storage than mine. But mine still works fine (although the battery is a bit buggy and the d pad is showing strains of constant use). But I did have a problem. I had a cell phone number that I had for about 10 years and didn’t want to give it up when my new job gave me a cell phone with a long distance area code. People still called my old one even though they knew that they would be leaving me a message. So I took to carrying that cell around sometimes, at least on the weekends. But I also had to have my work cell, but I could leave that at home on the weekend. And I always had my pocket pc with me. So sometimes on a Friday night I could be carrying 2 cell phones and a PPC. I may be a geek, but I try not to look like one.

Then came the new pocket pcs with a phone built in. I use the pocket pc for work, so I had no problem justifying it in my mind. And the addition of a phone made it that much better…I am back to carrying only two things! Only one on the weekend! Isn’t it amazing how us addicts can justify everything? Well now I’ll start obsessing over the new Portable Media Centers.

Live Music

I love live music. I have often said all it takes for a bar to be a good one is some good live music and cold beer. Well the only thing better than that is a concert.

This past weekend we went to the John Mayer Concert with Hunter and Mindy and had a blast. We got a babysitter and planned on eating before hand, so we called each other to coordinate the plans. Originally we were going to go to a restaurant, but because the concert was on a Sunday, and we would be a little pressed for time (we did have to work the next day), we suggested tailgating beforehand. My wife thought this might be a little strange, “I’ve never heard of Tailgating for a John Mayer Concert.”

Blasphemy, I can’t believe my wife could say such a thing. I mean I keep camping chairs in the trunk of my car just incase a tailgate breaks out at the mall. So it was settled, we bought some chicken, chips and beer and my wife made dip and cookies. Off we went to the concert, parked in VIP parking for free (I don’t really know how that happed, we just parked). And lo and behold there actually were a lot of fellow tailgaters. We had a great time eating (except for me forgetting the Dip), and missed the opening acts to enjoy the cheap beer and company.

I consider it a practice run for College Football season. Sort of like a preseason game. We worked out all the kinks (now I know not to forget the dip) and shook the dust (and bugs, one in particular that I hope is no longer residing in Hunter’s Car) our of our equipment. We are ready for the big time…I’m just happy the College football games are on a Saturday…it’s pretty hard to make it to work after a Sunday night concert.

Date Night

Remember when you were dating your significant other? Things were exciting; there were a lot of unanswered questions. Would we have fun? What would she be wearing? How would she look? Would we make out? Would she have a good time? Would she enjoy spending time with me? This feeling continued on late into the relationship although it had some changes. As the relationship progresses questions such as “would we make out?” turned to “Will she stay over?” And things were even more exciting.

Well as much as we don’t want to admit it, things change. When you are married for a while a lot of this excitement gets replaced by day to day things. And you try hard to keep things exciting, by life gets in the way. There are the exceptions such as Valentines Day, Anniversaries and Trips, but they are few and far between. Then when you have kids things are even harder. Spontaneity is gone. Even sex has to be scheduled between nap times and locked doors.

Then comes your savior….Date Night; with a babysitter and everything. You start to feel like a dating couple again. You cherish things as simple as having a few drinks with some friends in a bar (a real bar, with no family sections). A meal where one of you doesn’t have to scold the little one for throwing the salt shaker then chase her back to the table. You get to wonder those questions again (now it’s “what is she wearing underneath” and would the little one stay asleep after the babysitter left so you could find out) You actually broke out the old cologne (even though you had to blow dust off of it).

Well this Friday night we had Date Night thanks to one of our neighbors babysitting for us. We had a blast at our local bar with all of our friends and even had a few beers back at home with our neighbors. Then as everyone left and my wife and I jogged back to the bedroom…..my daughter woke up teething with her 2 year molars. She then proceeded to keep us up all weekend long. When we finally did get time for each other late Sunday…we just wanted to sleep. Poor her. Poor us. Oh well there is always the next Date Night to look forward to.

Confessions of an Olympics addict

Auburn Athlete Kirsty Coventry is swimming for Zimbabwe in the Athens Olympics.


I confess, I am a bit of a sports junkie. I have found myself watching the 9 ball tournament on the Duce (if you don’t know what the Duce is, your fortunate enough to not share my problem) at 2 a.m. on a weeknight on more than one occasion. And forget about college football. Last year my wife and I had a conversation something like this:

HER: “Is there anything else on other than football.”
ME: “Yes, but this is a really good game.”
HER: “Oh, who’s playing…I didn’t even know they played college football on a Tuesday night.”
ME: “This is the ’89 Tennessee/Alabama Game”
HER: “This game didn’t even take place this decade? Don’t you already know who won?”
ME: “Yes, ummm, No errrrrr”
HER: “I’m going to see what else is on.”

So it was no surprise that I took to watching the Olympics with almost a zombie like devotion. I mean most people get excited about the Olympics and enjoy watching the prime time coverage and cheering for Team USA. So why would I think I have an addiction?

I think the first clue came to me while watching team table tennis. I mean part of the fun of the Olympics is being exposed to different sports, but I was arguing a call made by the ref…and I wasn’t even watching the Americans.

That brings us to my next clue. You see, this year NBC has done a great job of offering tons of coverage. Which is great, but if you’re going to be an addict; you can’t limit yourself to watching just Team USA. So I started searching for other teams to root for and low and behold there are a ton of my fellow Auburn Alumnus participating in the Olympics this year. And many of them will be doing so for other countries. So now I have 11 more countries to cheer for…well only when they are competing, and I can’t cheer for them to beat Americans…wait this is getting confusing. I need to make rules:

1. Cheer for Americans
2. When no Americans are competing Cheer for Auburn Alumnus
3. When no Americans or Auburn Alumnus are competing, Cheer for The Underdog.

Then of course there are exceptions. For example, last night I cheered for American Natalie Coughlin to win Gold (which she did) and Auburn senior Kirsty Coventry, who swims for Zimbabwe to get the Silver (which she did). So it was fun to watch, although it did dawn on me that when you make detailed rules such as this…you have a problem. Well I can’t worry about that right now; I have to watch Men’s swimming while recording Women’s Soccer and watching pre-recorded Rowing.

For you fellow addicts:
TV Listings
Results
Newsweek’s Athens blog
Auburn Athlete Kirsty Coventry's Olympics Diary

Sorry Charley

Well today we are going to hear from a guest blogger, my sister. This past weekend my sister was supposed to visit us for my daughter’s birthday, but the weather did not cooperate. She was stuck in the path of Hurricane Charley and her flight was canceled. So she had to brave it out (by herself, because everyone was up here for the weekend). So here are her thoughts on this past weekend:


Ask Anyone - I've always been a weather freak. I don't know what it is but I love the weather. My family often teases me that the Weather Channel is my favorite station (I admit - it is). So this weekend I was in my element
- I live in an area where I literally dodged Hurrcane Charley.
Starting approximately Monday of last week I became "aware" of tropical storms Bonnie & Charley(btw in my opinion he should have been named Clyde -don't you think that's more appropriate?) To be honest the only reason that they "hit my radar" was the fact that I was scheduled to fly to Atlanta to participate in the birthday party for my 2 year old neice, Ainsley over the weekend. However, on Thursday, Charley truly became part of my life.
On Thursday the Hurricane Center predicted that this storm would hit somewhere between Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. To put this in perspective - I live in Pinellas and work in Hillsborough (btw 2 of the most populous counties in the state of FL). The forecast continued through the day and everytime continued to place the bulls eye of the storm directly between the place I live and the place I work.
O.K. so maybe I wouldn't have reacted the way I did if I wasn't a first time homeowner but for the amount of time I have lived in FL (approx. 28 years) I have never been in the direct line of a hurricane. I knew it was serious when my firm closed on Friday (they never close for anything). I rushed home on Thursday and did all the things you are supposed to do - buy the water, fill your car with gas, batteries (thanks mom and dad for your supply of "D"
batteries), pet supplies and of course beer (not Lucky beer - but that's another story). So Friday morning came and I was ready although very nervous - I've never gone thru anything like this on my OWN.
I have to say that I've never been so happy in my life when all of a sudden Charley took a turn toward the northeast taking a direct path towards the Punta Gorda area. I truly feel sorry for the people of Punta Gorda but tomorrow I will happily put back all of my patio funiture (apparently I have a lot of it- I can attest to that cause I took it off my patio yesterday
evening) and be happy that I live in FL where we can actually PREDICT disaster.
On another note, I have to tell you that when you are in the direct hit of a hurricane you tend to tune to a favorite station. Well, I found one - the local ABC channel. Funny side note - several years ago the meteorologist for this station was caught gambiling (several years ago this was a big deal). Well, this forecaster turned out to be my favorite. He made bets and predictions that turned out to be more accurate than what the hurricane center was predicting - well on top of that - he actually had a personality and a funny one at that.
So the fear is over and the relief sets in and once again we realize that we choose to live in PARADISE and as a result sometimes we have to deal with storms like Charley .

The Amazing Race

I love this show. I have traveled all my life, for work and for pleasure so I can identify with the concept. I know how they got the idea (I guess it was Affleck/Damon) sitting around after missing a Eurail train and laughing because they couldn’t understand the hotel employee that gave them directions. Then after they finally got on the right train they found out the hard way that the rail car they were on got left behind as the rest of the train went on to their destination. They sat there and said…this could be a show.

Everyone who travels internationally has a funny story or two from every trip they take. That is part of the charm of traveling: to experience new things and to learn. I just wish the show would teach them some of the real world lessons, like before you drink 10 beers while crossing the English Channel, you should know that they close the bathrooms while they dock the ship. Or, no matter how drunk you are, you really shouldn’t tell a bar full of Englishmen that in the U.S. soccer is a girls game…men play football. Know that in certain parts of Spain the phase “Hamburger” is taken very literally. If you need directions in Italy, ask three people not one, then take the majority opinion. And when you decide to walk to save money, find out just how expensive the cab really is, you may be surprised.

No, the show doesn’t really catch the true lessons you learn while traveling. And you never see them in the bar after making mistakes; laughing about it over a beer. But all-in-all, it is entertaining TV.

My wife and I go back and forth on whether we would be any good at this show. Most of the time I think we would rock. We know each other’s strengths, and we can usually agree on a good course of action. Other times we worry we would kill each other. If a mistake was made (and it will be made) we would Monday-morning-quarterback each other (I would have gone that way).

I think I would prefer to do it the old fashion way: I’d rather laugh at the mistakes at a bar over beers then be sent packing.

Another Friday Night at the ER...

Well my week was not going well.  Work was a grind where I was not getting anything done.  My Social life consisted of staying home all week.  But all that was about to change…here comes the weekend.

So late Friday afternoon I decided to quickly mow the lawn so that I wouldn’t have to do it over the weekend.  I had just enough time to get it done before I had to pick my little one up, so a mowing I went.  I was done with the front yard in no time, it must have been the running music on my player that spurred me along, none the less I just had to change the height of the mower, finish the back and it was O’beer thirty.  Hmmmm, the tab to change the mower height was stuck…I’ll just give it a push….

Now when I tell this story, it is important to note…I did not chop my finger off on the blade.  The mower was off and the little rubber grip you use to change the mower height pulled off as I tried to push it…not my fault…OK maybe I am a bit klutzy, but not this time.  No mater how it happened there was a good amount of blood, and I was wondering if I needed stitches.   I did my best to stem the flow of blood, bandage my wounds and finish the mowing (I’ll be damned if I let this stop me from getting it done).

After I picked up Ains, I began to wonder if I needed stitches and (mostly) if I needed a Tetanus shot.  So off I went to the Emergency Room.  I tried to talk myself out of it 5 or 6 times:  “I’m fine,”  “It’s not that bad,”  “who needs and index finger anyway.”  So I sign in and wait.  And wait.  Let me tell you, if you are ever staved for entertainment, the ER on a Friday evening is full of it.  Some old guy just wanted to talk to anyone who would listen (I think he was a patient).  Another guy had just been in a car wreak…I wondered if he looked that much different before the wreck.  And some poor guy was there because his pee looked like coffee…I don’t even want to know what his problem was…the nurse said enough when she said, “he is in bad shape.”

Then there was little old me, “Oh I just cut my finger a little, might need a tetanus shot.”  So when the triage nurse saw me and said she didn’t think I would need stitches I started feeling better.  Then she said I was smart to come and get the shot, but I did have 72 hours to get that done, I felt a lot better.  I figured I had waited long enough and I already had everything I needed:  1. A professional Nurse’s opinion that I did not need stitches.  2.  Information on how long I had until I needed a Tetanus shot.  I beat the system.  I told them I had to get home to my daughter (Sheryl was home watching her, but it sounded good at the time) and left the ER.

So the cut was a pain, the wait at the ER was a pain (1 ½ hours of my life I’ll never get back), but as I said I felt like I beat the system.  I probably would’ve had to wait another 1 ½ hours not to mention what my insurance would have thought of the whole endeavor.  On Monday, I went to a walk-in clinic and got the shot.  In and out in less than 45 minuets and only a $10 Co-pay.  The doctor did mention that he might have given me a few stitches…Everyone is a critic.

The prize 

All my rowdy Friends…

It’s funny.  When you have a kid you are so excited for them to hurry up and do things for the first time.  There is the first time they roll over, first time crawling, first words and of course the first steps.  I remember how happy I was that day, but what I didn’t know then was:  that was the last time my wife and I would enjoy a meal together in a restaurant.  One of us is always entertaining our child, chasing our child, or otherwise wrestling with her. That is unless she is asleep or at home. 
 
To have a baby sitter is a great thing.  Especially one you don’t feel guilty about how late you are gone.  Where do you find one like that?  Well Family of course.
 
This past weekend my parents came up to help us build Fort Ainsley, and we took advantage of them by going out on Friday night.  It was great, since they were staying at our house, we did not need to be home by a certain time and best of all, it was free.  So we were defiantly in the mood to have fun.
 
Off we go to meet some of our college friends, who we have not seen in a long time because; well they are single and don’t have kids and basically have a life as opposed to us.  When we arrive the first thing we see is a Thermos grill/cooler   that Samuel Addams is giving away as a promotion. 
 
So we seek out the beer girl and ask her the deal, she said, “with every Sam Addams you drink you get to keep the glass, get a cozy and a raffle ticket for the grill.” 
 
Well to a couple of suburbanites who don’t get out much and could use a device like this for tailgating…this is a challenge.  I mean you might as well wave a red flag at a bull.  Even my wife, who is not a fan of Sam Addams, can smell competition.  We start ordering beers like we are using them to put out a fire.  We down two before our friends even arrive (we were a little early because we were so excited to get out).  Then when our friends Mason and Alexandra do get there, we quickly dispense with the pleasantries and immediately fill them in.  They’re in…Another round of Sammies please.
 
By the time we get a table, the free glasses and cozies are starting to pile up.  By the time we order our food we need an extra chair to hold all the freebies.  Well by now we have made great friends with the beer girl who is dispensing the raffle tickets and she has a proposition.  She is running out of cozies, can she trade us raffle tickets for them.  Well this plays right into our hands.  I mean I have a whole cabinet full of cozies (I know, I have a problem, but that is a topic for another time), all I need is one or two as a keepsake (as I said, I have a problem) and more raffle tickets.  We need to win.  We start to calculate how many rounds we can get in before the drawing.  Drinking Sam Addams has turned into a competition sport.
 
As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, we did not win the cooler/grill.  We were one number off and the guy who won it had not even had a Sam Addams – he got the winning ticket from someone who was leaving.  So while we were a little bitter, we were also drunk and we didn’t let a little thing like losing get in our way of a good time.
 Off we go to our favorite watering hole where Alexandra was as well known as Norm was at ‘Cheers.’  I mean they practically yelled her name when we walked in. 
Bartender:  “Pour you a Cosmo, Alex?”
Alex : “Alright, but stop me at one.....make it one-thirty.”

Sheryl and I were a little jealous; I mean that used to be us.  But we did feel better when we saw our friend Glenn, the executive chef…knowing people who have access to free beer trumps knowing patrons.
 
So although we may have been the losers of the grill/cooler, we had a great night out.  Not to mention we had a huge set of Sam Addams glasses to remember the evening by; well that the hangover and Sammie gas…

If anyone is wondering Murphy’s Law is alive and well

Have you ever been driving down the highway and seen someone on the side of the road, in the poring rain, wearing a suit, changing a flat tire…and thought, “Sucks to be him?”  Well let me tell you about my day.
 
On my last business trip, everything went wrong.  My broker had a family emergency and could only make the first day’s appointments, meaning I would have to do the next two days on my own.  That was not a problem. I do this often so I don’t really need someone to hold my hand, but I had to shuffle hotel reservations and I didn’t have all of the files I would have had if I knew I was on my own.  None of this bothered me though, I adapt.  It just meant I would spend some more time on the cell, as I drove by myself.
So there I was about an hour into a 3 or 4 hour drive constantly on the phone trying to re-organize my schedule when a torrential downpour breaks out.  So I hang up to concentrate on the road, not to mention my cell was about dead anyway, when it happened.  THUMP! REEEECK!  It’s got to be a flat.  So I get to the side of the road and step out to take a look when I notice, “Wow, It really is coming down.”  One wheel is completely shredded and the other doesn’t look to happy either.  Not a problem, this is a rental car, I’ll just call them.
 
So starts about the most infuriating call I’ve ever had.  I mean, you would think this had never happened to anyone driving an Avis car before.  I was very succinct and full of information,
ME: “I’m Southbound on I-75 about ½ mile from exit 423 about 10 min. from Lake City and I have one possibly two flat tires.”
AVIS IDIOT:  “What?”
ME:  “I’m Southbound on I-75 about ½ mile from exit 423 about 10 min. from Lake City and I have one possibly two flat tires.”
AVIS IDIOT:  “What City is that near?”
ME:  “I’m sorry is the connection bad”
AVIS IDIOT: “No I can hear you fine”
ME:  “I’m about 10 min South of Lake City”
AVIS IDIOT:  “What City is that near?”
ME:  “Look my cell is about to die, I’m maybe 40 min. North of Gainesville.”
AVIS IDIOT:  “Oh, Gainesville.  And what is wrong with the car?”
ME:  “I said I have one, maybe two flat tires, my cell phone is dieing and it is raining.”
AVIS IDIOT:  “That’s right, you did say a flat.  Can you tell me what exit you are near.”
ME:  “Could you get a pen or something…I have very little time left on my cell.  As I said, I am about ½ mile from exit 423.”
AVIS IDIOT:  “Hang on…4…23??”
ME: “Yes”
AVIS IDIOT:  “I’m going to put you on hold”
ME:  “No I can’t…my cell is about to die.  Take down my number and call me back.”  Then I give her my number
AVIS IDIOT:  “Hang on….let me get some paper….OK….what was that again.”
ME:  “ARRRRRGH!”
 
So I hang up and think I got two choices fix it myself or call AAA.  I look at the rain.  I look at the cars passing within inches of me at 90 mph.  I call AAA.  As soon as I get through and start to give them my card #, my cell dies (of course).  So I get out of the car and open the trunk…then take another look at the cars speeding by.  Now, I like to think I’m a bit of a handy guy.  I’m no wuss.  I can change a tire.  But, It’s only ½ mile to the exit, and I’m a runner.
 
So I change into my running shoes (a suit with running shoes is a good look), grab my cell charger (my car charger had a short in it…I originally thought the plug in the rental car didn’t work.  Of course that made me that much happier at Avis) and sprint through the rain to the nearest gas station.  The looks I got at the gas station were priceless, but finally, I charge my phone and call AAA (who by the way, were great).  By the time I make it back to may car AAA’s truck is there.  In 20 min. I’m on my way again and and I get a call from Avis suggesting I call AAA…I hang up on them.
 Anyway, what did I learned from all this? A AAA membership is invaluable, Avis Roadside assistance sucks and I can make pretty good time running in a suit.

Fort Ainsley

Looks like she likes it 

Ehlersism # 108

No matter how carefully you think you are following directions, there will always be pieces left over when ‘some assembly is required’
 


And

As size and quantity of the left over pieces equals the concern you should have. Example: 1) a few extra screws and washers…probably just included incase you lose a few
2) a giant 4 x 4 post and whole packages of bolts that look like they are used to construct suspension bridges…maybe we should read the directions again

This bit of wisdom comes to me after my parents came up to help assemble their birthday present for my soon-to-be-two-year-old. We spent last weekend carefully constructing a monstrosity of a swing set. My family is not the sort who enjoys paying for labor, when you can do it yourself. Call us cheap, but there is something to be said for building it yourself. I enjoy deckzilla that much more because when I sit on it, I know that I put it together (with a LOT of help from my family). So with that in mind, instead of buying the pre-fab swing sets, my parent bought a kit from Home Depot and drove from Clearwater, with tools in toe, to put it together.

My Dad and I went to Home Depot to buy the lumber (from a list in the kit) and then he got started cutting all the lumber to the proper specifications (again as laid out in the kit) while I…had to work. But early Saturday morning we started to put it together. Yes it was hard work and a little confusing at times (there is nothing worse than having to unassembled a part and start over because you looked at the picture backwards and put a board on the wrong side), but slowly Fort Ainsley started to take shape.

Late in the afternoon, when the heavy lifting was at its pinnacle, we came to the realization that we might not get it done in one weekend. But that is when (insert trumpet sound here) the reinforcements arrived. The great thing about my neighborhood is the people that live there. When someone has a project, be it laying sod in your lawn, building a deck or building Fort Ainsley, people just show up. The men all brought out their tools, the women fetched supplies, the kids and dogs play to the point that our yard looks like an Amish barn raising.

Now it is customary to provide beer and pizza if you are the recipient of such neighborly good will. And as the beer flows, and the men plan, Fort Ainsley gets more complex. We varied from the plans and fortified Fort Ainsley to the point that it could withstand a real military assault. But no amount of beer and pizza could thank my neighbors for their help, as a matter of fact; I seem to be the recipient of neighborly goodwill more often than not. Maybe that is why I always try to ‘build it myself’…because I never really do it by myself. Now if I can just figure out what I’m supposed to do with all the extra lumber and all these bolts…anyone building a suspension bridge?

�Arrrr! Behold the bounty of the Sea��.Glenn just needs an eye patch and a parrot. 

Hooray for Boob shirts.
 

Mindy says, "Now eat your veggies." 

Well no one blew off their finger…

The Race is over, the Keg is Tapped. 

We had a great party on Deckzilla for the 4th of July. As mentioned before, a large group of us ran the Peachtree and then we raced home to join the others for the festivities. In the past we have barbequed pork (many of my friends compete in the Memphis in May Barbeque competition so the food is always good), but this year we wanted to do something different. So our friend Glenn, who is the chef at a local restaurant, was able to secure a ton of quality seafood so we decided to have a “low country boil.” By the way, I highly recommend having a talented chef as a friend and neighbor. Glenn slaved away over a boiling pot (much like a witch) and produced some of the best food I have ever had.

A great time was had by everyone. Crab legs were eaten, keg beer was drank, dogs played we even had a pool set up for the little kiddies to frolic in. Of course the real fun began when the little ones went to bed and the adults only had the responsibility of the baby monitors (one of these days I have to do a post about the sheer volume of baby monitors in the neighborhood…I mean Deckzilla looked like mission control with all the monitors plugged in).

As the title to this post indicates there were no injuries, but we did come close. Rich, tired from the morning’s race not to mention the exuberant drinking shortly afterwards, had a brief moment of concern. After lighting a firework of some sort, he threw the lighter instead of the firework. He quickly realized his mistake and threw the firework, but we didn’t find the lighter until morning. Of course that act earned him our ridicule for the rest of the night.

But the truly amazing thing is, none of the little ones woke up for more than a second even with things exploding right outside their window. Ainsley came the closest. After a very loud and bright explosion I went up to check on her…she sat up in bed, pointed out the window and said, “Uht Oh.” But apparently the long day of cheering the racers on and playing with all her friends in the pool and yard was too much for a not-yet-two-year-old, and she promptly fell back asleep.

Well, I’m looking forward to the next party…that is once we get finished cleaning up from this one. Thanks to everyone who helped out with time and money.

I wouldn�t cross this line for another hour and 17 minutes.  

56:33 (Unofficial)

I'm the guy in the white shirt... 

Well some Kenyan did it in 28:04, but I was still pretty proud of my time for my first Peachtree Road Race. My Goal was to get under an hour, so I’m happy. Really I did not know what to expect. I have timed myself at various distances and thought I could break an hour, but you never know what the course, the heat or the crowds will be like. And let me tell you for my first race (I did a few 5K’s when I was a kid) this one was interesting. If you live in Atlanta and run you have to do the Peachtree, and at least for me, once you do you are hooked. I’m now frantically looking up other 10K’s that I can register for…I have truly caught the bug.

All in all it was a fun event, Sheryl Dropped us off at the start then went to a friend’s house nearby to watch on TV. Misty, Rich and I wanted to run together, so we lined up with the last group, but it was so crowded it was too hard to stay together. Then after the race, we met up (after collecting our coveted T-shirt of course) with Sheryl, Ainsley and their friend Candice in Peidmont Park. They provided us with a few celebratory beers while we exchanged race stories.

One thing I was not prepared for was the crowds. I mean everyone told me, and common sense dictates that the “World’s largest 10K” might get a little crowded. But I figured that after the first mile or so, the walkers would thin out…Or at least MOVE TO THE RIGHT. Sorry to shout there, but you wonder what your time might have been if you didn’t have to constantly play Frogger with the walkers. People were constantly asking them to move to the right, some were polite about it, others where not. Peachtree is a big road, 6 lanes in most places, how hard would it be to keep to the right.

By the way, my playlist was just about perfect: Rocky Theme going up Cardiac Hill, Machine Head after it (breath in, breath out). The only problem was I didn’t give myself enough credit. I made it 1:15 long just in case my time was worse than I thought; I figured I could skip ahead near the end but I didn’t really feel like it at the time. In fact, I didn’t pay attention enough to know that there were marker along the way telling me how far (I never saw them, but my fellow neighborhood runners told me about it after the race). When the finish came up…it kind of surprised me. Next up the 10K Classic.

Ehlersism # 107

The only thing worse than listening to your own breathing while running is listening to 50,000 other people’s breathing.

When I go running I like to immerse myself in my own little world. I like to reflect on things, plan things, and just plain old think. But I hate listening to myself breath when I run. To me it is distracting and boring. I know, I know, most runners say that this is essential for keeping your pace constant and that listening to music is dangerous (other cars, bikes, runners etc.). But I don’t care, I enjoy listening to music and letting my mind wander. It is one of the few times I get to myself to listen to new and old songs and decide what to put on my next CD. Not to mention, it motivates me when I feel myself slowing down.

To this regard, thanks are due to my Bride for the perfect Father’s Day Gift, my new Digital Music Player(new name for it pending). I have been listening to the radio the past few months because my previous player was acting pretty quirky (see The Gadget gods are against me). The radio was OK, I got caught up on news and sports, but morning shows don’t play a lot of music and there is nothing like turning that last mile and hearing a song you like. This new player is great, it is sporty, has an arm band and also has a radio so if I still need to catch up, I can.

Having said all that, I still have a dilemma: The Peachtree Road Race is on Sunday, so I need to come up with a play list. I need songs that are peppy, keep me energized with out making me kill myself and most of all that I like. I have just started to jot a few things down so far, but I’ll try to edit this list later.

1. Run Around- Blues Traveler Fun song that I don’t get sick of and the title fits the theme
2. Song 2- Blur Wahooo! Need I say more
3. Fall Down- Molly’s Yes Great uplifting song…if you have not heard it do your self a favor
4. Born To Run- Bruce Baby we were born to Run…can it be more obvious
5. Run- Collective Soul Well the race is in Atlanta, this song is a requirement
6. Fast as You- Dwight Yoakam A little country
7. Beautiful Day- U2 I always envision the bright lights from the their concert on the chorus…very motivational

Well It’s a start…I have to get hoppin’ though, the race is Sunday.

Trail Characters

When I go running 4 times a week or so, (if I’m not on the road) my path usually crosses our local trail. You see we have one of those old rail-road paths that have been paved over giving us a great fitness trail that travels some 30 some odd miles. I personally only run about a mile of it if I am working on hill running or 3.1 miles if I am getting some distance in (3.1 up and back). I really enjoy it. It makes running easy without having to worry about cars, or jumping over curbs or ditches. And to me it is easy to just start running and determine how far I will go based on how I am feeling. Then there are all the people you see on the trail.

If you go running on the trail often enough you see the same people over and over. That is part of the charm of the trail. Since I have been running on the trail for years, I have started naming them and wondering about them based on what I have observed for the 10 or 20 seconds that I see them.

Most notable is the ‘Berry-Picker.’ She is a quite normal looking girl who walks the trial often with her dog (I wonder where he is other days…does she share custody of him or does he just say: “I had a rough night, you go on without me”). The strange thing is, she stops all the time and starts picking berries from the trees and bushes along the trail. While as strange as this seems to me, I have come to get used to seeing it. I am even used to seeing her pop them in her mouth. The thing that has me concerned is when she eats the low lying berries. She is not the only one who walks a dog on the trail.

Then there are ‘Unfriendlies.’ One of the unwritten rules of the trail is to wave, smile, nod or say hello as you pass by someone on the trail. Everyone does it, so it seems very noticeable when you don’t. There is this couple that walks together everyday and has great conversations. They are always talking to each other and smiling, until someone walks by. Then they avert their eyes, look at the ground and frown. It is like they are trying to win a bet by not smiling to anyone, but they do it everyday. I have taken upon myself not to give up at trying. I always say “hello” with as much exuberance as I can muster, I try to get a little familiar, “see you tomorrow,” I even commented when the girl switched her hair from brunet to very light blonde, “I like the hair.” All to no avail; they never even look at me.

There is the ‘Competitor’ who runs about the same time as me and at about the same speed. Because we run similarly we don’t see each other too often, usually we cross paths once. But on those rare occasions when we both start out at about close to the same time we push each other. When I start first, I can usually hear feet pounding behind me the whole way and I work hard to keep up the pace, mostly because I don’t want to get beat by a girl (OK so I admit it…but she is in great shape). Other days when she is first, I do my best to pass her.

I also see ‘Visor Lady’ this little old lady who walks about 4 or 5 miles everyday. She walks faster than most people a quarter her age and she is there rain or shine every day.
There is ‘UT’ guy and his friends. He is one of the friendliest people on the trail. I talk to him just about every time I see him. His kid is getting ready to go to Auburn and during football season we always discuss the games. He owns his own business in a similar profession as mine and we share a few customers. From time to time I pass him a leed (although I’m waiting for him to return the favor).

“Cell Phone Girl” is also pretty regular. Every time she walks she is talking on her cell phone the whole time. I always wonder if the person on the other end is walking too. I guess she likes the idea of walking and catching up on her gossip, but none of her friends live near. There are actually quite a few people talking on their cell while they walk, but none as regular or as animated as her.

There are a lot of others on the trail, some not as regular, some only on certain days. There are the soccer moms in their pushing a jogging stroller. There are the young girls in coordinated spandex work-out cloths that make sure that their pony tail swings perfectly from side-to-side. It’s funny how when they go buy the guys all act like the run is just the warm up for he real exercise, like swimming the English Channel (myself included).

I have been running the trail a little less now a days, because I have been trying to get a little hill training for the Peachtree. I’ve also had to run on treadmills at the hotel when I travel. But even when I run hills I make sure I stop by the trail for a bit, just so I can see my friends.

MIA

Well I have been letting that pesky work get in the way of my Blogging….what was I thinking. Well no whit today, just a few updates.

For Father’s Day I went to surprise my Dad. My wife, daughter and I few down to Tampa and stayed at my sisters on Thursday. Then my sister had arranged to meet my parents for breakfast and when they walked in…tada. Well actually it was a heck of a lot more difficult than that; between arranging a car so that we could fit a car seat and our luggage and just managing a flight with a not-yet-two-year-old girl. But it all worked out and we had a great weekend.

I spent the weekend on my parents boat, in the pool, at my parents club, in the pool…hey who was this present for anyway. My wife and I both freaked out to be able to eat at the same time while my parents watched Ainsley (those of you without kids: The day your child learns to walk is the last day you and your spouse eat at the same time).

Well I’ll be a better blogger in the next few days now that my personal and work travel schedule had calmed down.

Dad's Day

Airplane! 

Well Father’s Day is on the way and that got me thinking. This is my second Father’s Day as a Dad, which means nothing to my daughter. At this age the burden of Father’s Day falls to Mom, (who by the way bought me a certain little MP3 player I have been wanting and had some great pictures taken (see above)). I’m sure there will be a time when my daughter actually understands the meaning of it and appreciates it. But let’s be real…she better get Mother’s Day first. Right now all I have to do to be a good Dad in my Daughter’s eyes is make sure her shorts are clean and swing her around and throw her up in the air every now and then.

My Dad was an Airline Pilot and after everyone got over the “cool, do you fly for free” question they always said, “it must suck having him gone all the time.” Well not really. I mean don’t get me wrong, he didn’t always make my birthday party and I never knew when Christmas was (24th…27th, something like that). However, when he was home – He was home.

It was great. We would wake up in the morning to find Dad, who was still on Tokyo time, had been up for an hour making us the most lavish breakfast. He was so eager to talk to us we would be late to school. Then in the summer, he would be home in the middle of the week (all the other Dad’s had to work) and he would wake us up telling us we were going out on the boat that day. Of course there was also the travel. I remember coming home from college for Christmas break and my Dad asking me if I wanted to go Frankfort and Paris. Just imagine my answer to: “So what did you do over winter break?”

So, anyways…I hope I do as good of job with my daughter that my parents did with me. As for my Dad I’m giving him a Father’s Day Gift I know he is going to love. More details next week.

The Bug Dance

Well I went running today (OK I guess jogging better describes what I do) and I am settling into a pretty good system now. Generally I am running 4 days a week and sticking to a routine I like:

Monday: about a 5 mile run with limited hills
Tuesday and Wednesday: about a 4 mile run with hills
Thursday: a day of rest
Friday: a combination of the two about 5 or more mile run with some hills

Then I take the weekend off. It is a fun system for me, building up then taking the time off. I hope it will get me in good shape for the Peachtree Road Race.

My route takes me through a little bit of a wooded area, so when I got home and sat down to check my e-mail; I wasn’t too freaked out to find a little spider crawling up my let. I grabbed it with a Kleenex and threw it in the trash can under my desk. Well a few minuets later I felt something crawling up my leg again and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t the same spider. Only this time I knew that it wasn’t a little spider, but a tic. It had escaped the Kleenex and hopped onto my leg (I checked). If you have ever tried to kill a tic, you know that the gentle squish that you give to a spider does nothing to a tic. Now I was a little freaked out. Every time I even think I feel something on my leg I immediately look and scratch and check the floor around me. That has been happening about every 5 minuets all day.

Jerry Seinfeld used to do a joke about what people looked like from a distance after they walked through a spider web. I always think of that when I remember the time I ran over a yellow jacket nest with the lawn mower. I’m mowing along as I feel a slight sting on my leg, then my back, then my thigh (over 10 in all). I start flicking them off my leg as I worry about the one that just flew up my shorts. Next thing you know I run towards the house, arms and legs flailing, shedding clothing, making noises like a little girl (AAAAAAAYYYIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!!!!). I wonder what someone would have thought if they looked out the window at just the right moment: “What the…Is that some kind of a dance?”

By the way, if you have never been stung by a yellow jacket, consider yourself lucky. They are much worse than a bee or hornet, not to mention you usually have more than just one sting. Well I just checked the trashcan again after vigorously showering and I don’t think I see the tic. I guess its time to take that trash out and resume the bug dance again. What was that?

The Change game… (Caution rant ahead)

I’m Traveling again and that means hotel rooms (smoking room without high speed internet access as opposed to their advertisement) and all of the fun that goes with strange towns. Actually I enjoy traveling, I mean this trip is an exception (I think I’m going to have words with the manager about deceptive advertising), most of the time you see new places, meet new people and get to spend time catching up on your reading. While traveling there is no trash to take out, no laundry to get done, but there is work and all of the troubles that go with life on the road. Delayed flights, boring car rides, rude people and high speed runs through airports are just some of the things you encounter on your way to your destination.

But the thing is I’ve gotten good at it. I’ve even come to take pride in the fact I’m good at it. Of course I have had a lot of training. My Dad was an airline pilot; so when other kids were driving that summer to the state park…we were off to Europe (after all it was the same cost to us). So I learned the art of travel. Negotiating through airports, trains, maps and taxis in foreign countries. I’ve gotten to know London, Paris and Frankfort as well as most people know their grandparents home town.

So without a doubt I have the travel bug. Neighbors ask me where to park at the airport. Friends ask the best hotel to stay when in Boston, New York or Charleston. And I usually know the answer. But with being good at traveling also comes a little bit of annoyance with those who are not. People in Airports who try to impress others with their knowledge of airplanes (when they don’t have a clue) bug me. People who walk out of airplanes and just stop, oblivious to the rest of the departing passengers bug me. People who don’t know the ‘stand to the right, walk to the left’ rule when on escalators and moving walkways bug me.

But most of all, in the post 9/11 age, people who delay, don’t understand and unnecessarily complain about security bug me. Most people stand in the security line for hours, not even thinking about what is to come; then almost act surprised as they slowly empty their pockets. They place their coins, cell phones, gum, shoes, keys, watches, rings, PDA’s, beer tabs (how did that get there), lipstick, and everything else in their pockets into a bin (one bin for each item, it seems). While I, who have placed everything metal in my briefcase (take note…this is the proper thing to do…put it into your bag…you have the whole line to put it in there and the whole rest of the trip to get it out…do we really need to watch you count your change into individual bins…), wait for my turn to go through the line. And they wonder why the line takes so long.

Of course my obsession with being a seasoned traveler is not without its own faults. I finally emptied the pocket of my suitcase that I always put my pocket change into. I could have paid off a small nation’s debt. I’m wondering how I carried that bag around without noticing the extra 34 lbs. worth of change. The jingling noise alone should have been deafening. Well at least traveling will be easier now that I have gotten rid of that extra weight. Now maybe I can use the money to buy some internet access at a Starbucks…or maybe I could just buy a small phone company.

Two Thumbs Up

I have a buddy of mine who does these really great movie reviews. These are like real world reviews from someone who has similar tastes to mine. I mean these were nothing like what you read in the paper or that I could find on line. He used to send out an e-mail every few weeks or so with a bunch of new DVD or theater releases and his and his wife’s comments. They would include things like “this movie sucked, but for the guys there was a great lesbian scene about 30 minutes in” or “If you have to watch a chick flix with your wife…this one is tolerable.”

The reason why I am missing his reviews so much now is that my wife and I are doing Netflix. A friend of ours recently gave us a gift subscription and we are loving it. It is nice not to have to worry about returning them and their User Interface is great. I love how you just keep a running list of what you want to see.

We used to love going to the movies, I think we went at least twice a month. That all changed after having Ainsley, now we prefer to watch movies at home. And with summer reruns here now is the time…the only problem is once we catch up to the movies we missed – what then. Netflix does an OK job of recommending, but there have been plenty of Dogs too. I personally love finding those movies that were not huge releases and after watching them you can’t believe that they weren’t. I mean most people would have never heard of Swingers or even Pulp Fiction if not for video.

So anyone have some recommendations? I guess I need to talk my friend into doing a Guest Blog Movie Review.

The best Gift I ever got…

No not the most expensive, or the most needed, but one that you remember forever. For some I guess it was that bike they wanted when they were kids. Others, maybe it was the first car they got. Mine was a gift that I hated when I got it.

When you are a kid about the worst thing you can get is clothes (why do parents bother wrapping sox as a gift…if we need them put them in our drawer). While this wasn’t that bad it was probably a close second. I loved toys, airplanes, action figures or remote control anything. That Christmas when I opened that box of books, I thought, “books…I must have opened someone else’s gift.” I soon forgot them, pushed them to the side and continued to play with my new remote control whatever (see you forget those toys).

A few days later, after the newness of those shinny action figures wore off; my Dad sat down with me and asked me what I thought of the books. At this age I hated reading. Reading was something you were forced to do for a report at school or even worse a test. So I had not even really looked at the books…they sat in their boxes under the new clothes I got. So I asked my Dad what they were about. He proceeded to tell me that they were a series of books that he read when he was a kid. He loved them so much that he thought it was time to pass them down to me. He spent weeks trying to track them down through used bookstores (obviously no Amazon or Barnes & Noble then) and put together as much of the series as he could.

So more out of guilt than desire I thought I would at least pretend to read them. I sat where my Dad could see me and flipped through the first few pages of the first book of the Hornblower series. Well around page 10 things had changed. Suddenly I was interested in what would happen next. This was new for me – instead of being forced to read; I WANTED to. After that I was constantly reading. I was always looking for a new book. I read all my Dad’s old books until I caught up to him and soon we were fighting over new ones (“You can read it when I’m done,” “No YOU can read it when I’M done.”)

Nowadays anyone who knows me knows my appetite for books. I love to read. I love things that are well written. I even appreciate TV shows, songs and movies that I think have good writing. There is no better way to kill time while traveling or waiting in line. To me there is nothing better than sitting in my hammock, music on in the background, reading a new book by one of my favorite authors. Maybe it’s a little sentimental, but with my Dad’s Birthday and Father’s Day approaching I thought of this: I love to read…and I guess that was the best gift I ever got.

Maybe he should have had 3 Oats?

While watching the ‘pre-game’ footage before the race this weekend my wife and I were curious about something. How big is an oat?

Before any big sports event it seems humorous the amount of coverage they try to fill just before the event. The Super bowl is the worst: “Next on Fox…’The History of the Coin Toss’ followed by our in-depth special ‘Game day Cleats.’”

So as we sat in a local bar (Date night with a babysitter and all) we noticed the Belmont Stakes was no different (almost worse when you consider the race only lasts a few minuets). There was a graphic posted about Smarty Jones’ schedule for the day: “8:01 am Wake up….8:15 a.m. morning rub down…8:45 a.m. breakfast 2 oats…” Two oats? Did they mean 2 bags of oats? I mean I don’t claim to have a vast knowledge of oats, but I didn’t think they were that big. I know he doesn’t want to fill up before the race, but surely he needs more than 2 oats. I think before a big day like that he should have been carb loading. At least give the horse a power bar or something. We can only wonder what might have happened if Smarty had had a proper breakfast.

Weekend sports schedule

USATODAY.com

Weekend sports schedule listed above. Make sure you watch Smarty Jones on Saturday because if it happens you don't want to lie to everyone ten years from now and tell them you saw it happen. Post time is 6:38 p.m.

Ehlersism #106

The ability to gauge distances while running is inversely proportional to how many beers you had the night before.
 

While on vacation I thought I would break in my new shoes with a run along the beach. Well I had just gotten there the night before and I really didn’t have any idea where I was, but we were on the beach and the land was flat…so I set off. Well it was pretty hot and I was without my normal equipment (no watch or MP3 player…see the post about the gadget gods for more info on that), but it was a straight shot in one direction. So I ran and took in the sights of morning on Panama City Beach. It was kind of tough going, but I blamed that on the heat and lack of music (I’m going to need to start an MP3 player collection or something)…there was also the wind (can’t forget that).

But I ran on feeling good about working off some of those calories I was going to build up on vacation. Well I run pretty often, so after what felt about the half way point of my normal 5 miles I decided to turn around. On my way back to the house I played that little game that everyone does in an unfamiliar area…”is my turn around that corner…maybe that corner.” Finally I got back to the house sweating a good bit with the feeling of accomplishment. We packed up for the beach (a work out itself) and later that day I thought I would clock the distance that I ran with the car.

3.9 miles! That can’t be right. It felt like a lot more than that. Maybe it was the lack of music that threw me off…It couldn’t have been the beers I had the night before…had to be the music.