Involuntary Inhaling

"The debate is over. The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard …….."stay away from smokers," Carmona said.

So I’m not much of a soap box type, but this is one thing that really gets to me. Even after statements like these there are people that CHOOSE to smoke. First, you are killing yourself, but more importantly you are killing other people! Still, people complain that they are not allowed to smoke in bars where bans are in place. Are you freakin serious? Would it be OK if I was in a bar and went around and spit in your drinks while being infected with hepatitis? Or what if I simply had a cold and sneezed around/on you (I mean your smoke ends up on me)? I know there are people who would be appalled at the chance of catching a simple cold from someone but are more than happy to light up around strangers. If you want to smoke fine, just keep a ¼ mile or so radius between yourself and the nearest non-smoker, or just never exhale.

Monday nights are great, getting burned out is not

So last night was our weekly softball game. We took our worst beating yet, though the team we played against was really friendly and fun. I’m pretty sure we will end the season defeated. The weather has been great the last few games, so it just makes for a great night outside. I was playing third and took a mean grounder right into my left knee. It will be interesting to see how it feels during my run tonight. I have pretty intense workouts tonight and tomorrow before backing off in preparation of the Minneman race this weekend. This was the first race that I did in MN last year so it will be interesting to see how much I improve. Hopefully there are no real issues with the knee.

After the race we are heading to Chicago for the 4th. It should be a great weekend. A lot of the dudes from Columbus will be there in addition to Becca and Jay. Jay, my brother in-law, is flying in directly from China. It will be interesting to see how long he holds up. He may be OK as his internal clock will be around 12-13 hours ahead, making him wide awake for prime time drinking. It should be a pretty big debacle overall. Stucke will be there, who I haven’t seen since Christmas, not to mention TD who I saw last during football season. Man I can’t wait for football season.

On the ride home from the track last weekend I was telling Steve that I was getting burned out on racing. It seems like every year I hit a point where I loose my motivation and just want to sit back and relax. Last year it was perfect timing as it happened when we were heading to France for “The Tour”. So to help give me some new motivation I talked to my coach about getting ready for a Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) in September. It sounds bizarre that training for a race way longer than what I’m doing now would give me the motivation that I need, but it does. Once my season of racing sprints starts they become a little bit repetitive (Not to mention this season was plagued with travel for work which really kills your fitness). If I throw in something that I’ve never done before it gives me a goal to shoot for, something unknown. I guess I like to push myself to see what I can and can’t do. Besides at the end of last year I really enjoyed the marathon training. Those really long runs on weekend mornings were really soothing. There is a great sense of satisfaction that comes from being able to make your body run for 3 or more hours at a time. The real challenge for me will be the swim. Well not really the swim during the race, but the pool time getting ready for it. I just really can’t get into long pool workouts. The time goes by really slow and I always feel out of shape in the water. I’ll have to do more swims in the lakes I think in order to keep my sanity. I haven’t committed by registering yet. I’ll keep you posted

Its all downhill from here

Happy Belated Solstice. Yesterday was absolutely perfect weather. I left work early and got a swim in before heading home to let Louie out into the yard. I changed clothes and headed to the Edina HS track to get a speed workout in. It was a pretty tough workout to begin with, throw in the wind that was kicking around yesterday and by the end of the interval set I was pretty much ready to puke in my soup. Anyway I made it back home, showered and then G and I headed to Chipotle for dinner. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the weather and copious sunshine. Later I dropped her off at the airport. She’s in Vegas for the next few days for her sisters 21st birthday. They have a total of 8 women (mother, aunts, sisters, etc.) which makes for roughly 8 bachelors this weekend. I wonder who will have more fun? After getting back from the Lindberg Terminal, Louie and I played in the backyard until it got dark. Overall it was a great day to be outdoors. They only get shorter from here on out so take advantage ‘em suckers.

We got our new chimney on Tuesday and they dropped off the roofing materials this morning. We should have a brand spanking new shield for our little hern (no misspelling here, that’s right I said hern) in the next few days. It should do wonders for my anxiety levels the next time it rains like it did last weekend. I plan on riding with T-3 this weekend, repainting the bathroom, and my fair share of relounging. It should be nice.

Let’s Go USA and Italy. We gotta make it out of the first round!

Dial up the Bullpen

Last night was our weekly softball game. When we got there we found out that both of our pitchers were not going to be there. So right before the game started we had last minute try outs. I was unlucky enough to win the spot. Things started off OK, but then went South in a hurry in the 4th inning. The team we were playing had some real pricks on the team which added to the frustration. They knew I had never pitched before so they told all of their batters to take pitches until I threw strikes. If you walk a batter they get to go directly to second, so if your pitching is off the runs can start coming in fast. I think I may have walked in 2 or three runs (not to mention the 4 that were batted in) before finally getting out of the inning. We managed to stay close and forced them to their last at bat (we were the visiting team) and they won 14 to 13. After the game there were some words exchanged between some layers on our team and their pitcher. He was totally one of those pathetic dudes who is still stuck in High School and feels like being a bully to others will compensate for his lack of self esteem. Going through the line to shake hands with them, the dud started running his mouth to one of the girls on the team and then slapped her on the ass. The girl got super pissed so he started to explain that he was trying to pay her a compliment on her play. Yeah, let me check, I don’t think anyone in my office would like it if I rewarded them for their hard work by slapping them on the ass. Hey Tina, nice formatting on the new TPS reports, here's a nice smack on the ass for your efforts. If you keep up the good work maybe I'll slip you some tounge in the bathroom. What a toolbag!

We ended the night with some cold beers while we watched the second game. Man the weather was perfect for sitting outside and watching some softball. That’s one thing the locals up here have to look forward to, soon they’ll be able to watch the Twins play outside on nights like last night.

Hotels are for couch potatoes

So this weekend was the Lake Minnetonka triathlon. I was pretty skeptical on how I would do going into this race since I had been on the road for work a lot lately. I could tell that my fitness level was dropping but I couldn’t get a handle on just how fast. I went into the race looking at it as a way to gauge where I stood physically and to let me know where I needed to focus training efforts to get ready for the Minneman in two weeks. The swim was unique in that it was a point to point swim rather than some type of “loop”. Luckily it was with the wind so that was in my favor. About 100 yards into the swim I started to swim up someone’s back and ended up catching a foot in the chin hard. I saw stars for a little and felt like bagging it. I regained composure and kept heading away from shore. I got boxed in by two swimmers that were quite a bit slower and swam a line that looked like a Z. I put in a pretty hard effort to finally break free from them and then was in open water for the rest of the swim. The swim definitely took the biggest hit from my travels. I finished up the half mile swim in just under 15 minutes, a good bit slower than Owatonna.

The bike was an out and back on a pretty hilly course. The good thing was that it was mostly in town so the wind was not much of a factor. I got really pissed at one point when a guy was sitting on a faster rider’s wheel for about two miles. For the non-triathletes drafting is illegal and you should be penalized for it. I wanted to say something to him, but I kept things to myself. This was not by choice, but rather because of being incoherent. I passed both of them at some point, though I don’t remember it. It’s amazing how little cognitive ability you have when racing. Low oxygen supply to the brain leads to crazy things. Anyway, a little later on the dude starts to pass me, but never makes it all the way around and just kinda hangs out on my left. We were coming up on another rider and this douche bag was going to end up boxing me in because he would not fully pass me. We were on a climb and I was pretty gassed but hammered a bit and cut between the two riders and then started to bomb the hill. I wish I would have known the route better because at the bottom of the hill was a 90 degree left hand turn. I didn’t want douche bag to catch back up so I took the corner way to fast, close to 30 mph. I thought I was going to tag the curb, but made it through safely. Over the 15 miles I averaged right around 22 mph.

The run was pretty uneventful and disappointing. I managed to squeeze out a 6:56 pace, much slower than the last few races and what I’m capable of doing. I looked at my workouts for this week and they seem to be pretty tough. A tri club that I am part of is doing a century this weekend that I may do, we’ll see.

Two strikes and you're out…

So we just got back from Monday night softball. My first at bat was a big K. I totally forgot that you get to the plate with one strike and one ball. It helps speed the game, and catch people like me sleeping. The last few games I found myself swinging at anything close and not being patient. So I thought tonight I would shop till I found just the right one. First pitch, a called strike. Second pitch, a swing and a miss. Number 22 please take a seat on the bench. I made up for it with my next two at bats with a single and a double, scoring both times. G played freakin phenomenal, a virtual vacuum cleaner at first base and hitting decent going 1 for 3. She saved a lot of extra bases from bad throws to first. This was all after a weekend at the MS 150 and being sick for her. She is a total jock.

Being away from the office for another week made for a busy day today. I’m out again tomorrow, though promise to give better updates on the weekend (G’s ride) and a prelude to my race weekend (Lake Minnetonka). I hope to get on a boat cruise after the race Saturday.

Canton Rocks, Canton Rocks, Canton Rocks……OHIO

This week I am staying in the armpit of the universe. No, not Pittsburgh, that was two weeks ago. This week I am in the vibrant Canton, OH, home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I really wonder how long it will stay here. Seriously, who cares about the tradition that may go along with it? Get the damned thing in a place people actually go so that it has some respect and visitors. Just move it 50 some odd miles up the highway to Cleveland. A lot of people may argue that Cleveland is a shit hole, well they’ve obviously never been to Canton.
Get this, after my training today I headed over to the YMCA. It was the second time I’d gone since I was here so I knew what to expect from the surrounding neighborhood. A nearly abandoned downtown, in a once prosperous industrial downtown, with homeless individuals and all around sketchy folks noticing an out-of-towner in a heartbeat. Well today topped any story I could ever hope to fabricate. Directly across the street from the front entrance was a dude passed out in a doorway with a wet yellow piss stain all over his white undershirt. The thing is it wasn’t really all over his shirt, but focused around his head. I put my head down and picked up the pace into the Y. Once inside I changed into my suit and started my swim workout. My first length in the pooll is usually underwater for the length of the pool. The downside to this is that you get to see how clean or dirty the pool is right off the bat. Today I was able to see no less than three band-aids, two hair scruntchies, and multiple other unidentifiable floaters. I thought, no big deal chlorine kills everything just don’t go overboard with swallowing any water. After several 50’s I noticed that the swim aerobics class was getting started in the lanes next to me. Between sets I saw that the instructor had the skimmer out to remove some of the unidentifiables mentioned above. Then I faintly heard her murmur something to her apparent friends in the pool and I almost pissed puked in my soup when I heard it. Being in the pool I thought better of it. I heard her friends say to each other if she said what I think she said I would rather not have heard it. This had confirmed my fears, she said “That was a little turd ball.” FUHCK! I jumped out of the pool, headed to the showers and vowed never to go to an unknown Y in a shitty town with piss covered bums outside the front door for the rest of my life.

Goin' Againt My Mind

Are there other people out there that can’t stand to work at their desk? Of course there are but I'm really feeling it right now. I mean I could easily do my work elsewhere, its all done on a computer for fucks sake. I really would be more productive if I wasn’t restricted to this damn cube staring at the same shit all day long. I work harder trying to find things other than actual work to do. We have no work form home policy however. That means the work that I actually do from home (where I feel more productive) doesn’t get credited to my weekly hours, unless I get creative on how to bill them without getting pinched. God damn the man. I don’t think that Ray reads this site but I’m sure this is what he meant when he was talking to Tuffy about not hiding it when you are flipping the bird.



You want flair Mr. Bossman….. OK here’s some goddamned flair for you, alright! Everyone needs a picture like this, you'll never understand how useful it is and how often it will come in handy until you have one.