Halloween at SWA

Before I started with SWA, Halloween was just another minor holiday. It was mostly uneventful, except for the occasional great costume party. But since coming here, it's skyrocketed to one of my favorite days of the year. Here's why.

Every year, Southwest Airlines headquarters here in Dallas essentially shuts down, except for those folks who are critical for the operation to continue, like dispatch and crew scheduling. Nearly every department gets in on the fun in one way or another. Most either do a walk-through haunted house or carnival; the rest do full-on production shows. They're amazing.

And on top of that, nearly everyone dresses up in costume, hopping from show to show. People bring their kids. It's a hoot. I love watching new people watching the chaos, completely wide-eyed. It's certainly a celebration of fun and of all the hard work put in throughout the rest of the year.

When I first got here 6 years ago, Technology's skit was just pathetic. We tried to do a variety show based on TV shows. We thought it was pretty good, but then we got a peek at the one the Executive Office was doing and theirs was Broadway compared to our high school quality skit.

The next year, the gauntlet was thrown and we brought it on!

We finally figured out that the winning shows required a lot of musical productions. Believe me, none of us can sing worth a hoo-ha, but man, this group of computer geeks can really get the enthusiasm of the crowd going. For 4 years running we won first prize among all the skits.

Last year was especially hard with many huge projects going on, so we only put together a walk-through. It didn't win a darn thing.

After a year's hiatus, the Technology musical skit is back; this year titled, "Not Another Southwest Airlines Technology Department Halloween Musical!" And yes, it's filled with campy musicals and wit. And men in drag.

Men in drag? Yes, it's true. Some of them(straight and gay) manage to find a way to get in drag every year which should set off some kind of alarm, don't you think? Around here, it's almost second nature. Scary, isn't it? I mean, if Gary Kelly, our CEO as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray last year, can do it, why can't everyone!?

The lineup this year includes quite a variety from favorite musicals (SWA-fied of course) past and present including:

Grease (something about fuel hedging)

Airspray (a song from Hairspray)

West Side Story ("I like to be on American")

SWAmma Mia (mine)

Rocky Horror Picture Show (yes, it includes pelvic thrusts!)

High School Musical finale including a well choreographed basketball sequence

Parts of it are hilarious. Others are just meh, but the ending should be enough to get the audience full participation. It builds well and the costumes are really going to rock this show.

I can't wait to tell you more as the week progresses and hopefully post some pictures shortly afterwards.

Why I love my cat

She could smell fear.

She stared at me, taunting me of the night to come.

That sweet little coo and giggle while her parents were around was all a ruse. I think she's an Eddie Haskell in the making.

The fun started as my brother and sister-in-law (SIL) were getting ready to leave for a wedding Saturday afternoon. I was holding my 7-month old neice, Chloe and trying to get to know her a bit before they left. Geula (the SIL) ran down the list of dos and don'ts, most of which I promptly either ignored or forgot. I mean, I had a rather successful babysitting business as a teenager, how hard could it be? Pfftt!

Let's just say, I think my tolerence threshold for noise has gone down considerably over the years.

She started fussing a little early, so I took her outside to enjoy the pretty afternoon. We stooped it on the front porch for a while, her back to me so she might forget that she was with a relative stranger (pun intended.) I saw my neighbor, Debbie, out in her yard, so Chloe and I wandered down to say hello. Deb told me that if I wanted, we could take the baby and her new granddaughter out for a walk later and I thought that a great time to kill some time.

Deb had to finish her lawn so we wandered back to the house thinking it might be time for a nap (the baby, not me at this point.) I figured I'd feed her, according to Geula's guide to baby care, and put her down. Well that's when the howling really started. I must've looked like Frankenstein to that child because every time I had her on my lap or would look at her, she'd cry. And we're not talking just a whimper, folks, we're talking full-on, blood-curdling scream. She would neither take a bottle, nor any solid food. Crap. Now what?

Oh crap! Crap! That could be the problem. I checked her diaper and it was a bit wet, so we got that changed . Did that help? Nope. But one thing was checked off the pissed-off baby list.

No food for her. No nap in sight. I consider whiskey...for her, not me.

Thankfully, my other neighbor, Marsha, who also has a 2-year old grandson, loaned me a stroller. I strapped Chloe in the seat, strapped her in and headed out for a lap or two around the block. Things calmed down and life was good for a few short moments while we enjoyed the fresh air.

No sooner had we gotten back to the house that the howling started again. I gave her toys, which soothed her for a moment or two. I tried feeding her again. No luck. I tried even just putting her in her crib for a while (blowing off the whole swaddling crap Geula tried to tell me about.)

While she was screaming in her crib, I called my mom who was a pediatric nurse and all around good source for anything baby related. And she knows the over-protective nature of my SIL .

She threw a couple more ideas at me, including trying to give Chloe a bath and play with her. I heard my step-dad, Jim pipe in from the background, "Don't put her in head first!" Yeah, great advice, Jim! But it made me laugh...and consider putting her in head first... She also suggested I put Chloe's back to my chest and try to disguise who was feeding her.

Alas, none of that worked either, and they'd only been gone about 2 hours at this point. I called Debbie to see if she was ready for that walk. Nearly the minute I put that kid's butt in the stroller, she stopped. We took the babies for a nice, easy walk around the neighborhood, checking out a new development; then finishing up through the park and home. Were gone about an hour and thankfully, Chloe sacked out for about 30 minutes or so and it was pure relief.

So now we have about 4+ miles of walking in so far. Really. As I take her in the house yet again, I try to hold her and the crying starts up again. I try to feed her and it continues. I try to put her in her play-jumpy-thingy and still no luck. I wonder if she's ever going to stop.

I text my brother, "CALL ME!". This is at about 7pm.

I put her back into the stroller where she calms a bit, but when I look at her, the crying starts again. I begin to understand how people can get to the point of shaking a baby. I step away.

Are you getting as agitated reading this as I probably felt that night?

I leave a phone message for Bob, nearly in tears, "I'm done. She hasn't eaten or slept since you left and you can hear what she's been doing since you left. Please, please call me." This is 8pm.

Mom calls again and can hear the screaming in the background. She's laughing softly. "I'm thankful for birth control, mom," were the first words out of my mouth. I don't know how people do this. She and I chat a bit more about some ideas, then she tells me to just put her down in her crib. "The baby is so exhausted, she'll probably just cry herself to sleep," she tells me.

As it turns out, this is the best advice of the night. By 9:15, the crying turns into tired sobs, which turn into silence. I grab a glass of red wine and plop down on the couch.

I'd planned on possibly taking her to a party with my old TWA friends, but once that was scrapped, I hoped to even possibly work on my resume for a job that might come open at work. Nope, couldn't get to that. The only thing I could do was type a few frantic notes on my Facebook account. Apparently people thought the updates were funny. In hindsight, they were.

Bob finally called around 10:30 (good thing there wasn't a real emergency) and asked how things were going after he saw my messages. I told him that she'd finally fallen dead asleep, but needed food when they got home. They asked if they might stay out longer or if I wanted them home. I was pissed at that reponse and said, "Well if you want your kid fed..." and I think he understood the tone. They were home around midnight, partially relieved to have gone out for once together and frustrated that the night went so bad for me.

Bob woke up Chloe to give her a bottle and the pint-sized terrorist in pink who had been torturing me all night was all coos and giggles once again. She didn't even scowl when I looked at her, but smiled. It was like some mental horror movie to me. He fed her, then she dropped off for the night, sleeping until after 8 the next morning.

Let's just say that the babysitting door is shut until she's at least 3.

I love my cat.

Survivor analysis and commentary

I had to get the previous topic moved down a little, so I'll just prattle on about other stuff today.

Survivor: Gabon started last week with a bang and two episodes. I was stoked! We finally got to see more than a little of the tribes and got a flavor of more to come.

I've been reading some of the message boards out there, trying to stay away from spoiler information, but focusing on analysis. There are two themes going on this season. The first is all about Earth's Last Eden. Given that clue, which I can't remember when it was coined, I wonder if we'll have a male/female final two.

There also has been an underlying theme started possibly by some of Jeff Probst's commentary that there is an underlying current of Good vs. Evil. We've seen a lot of the characters this season who can readily fit into one of the two categories, and not necessarily all on one tribe.

Putting these two simple concepts together along with some of the editing we've seen during the show, I'll go on record right now to say that I think this might be a final two of Corrine (Eve/Evil) and Marcus (Adam/Good).

Corrine is a self-described bitch. Jeff agrees with her. One of her first quotes, and it may end up being the subtle "money quote" for the season, was, "I'm going to be a total bitcha nd I"m going to get rid of who I want to get rid of and hurt people's feelings and gonna laugh when people cry and gonna own it."

Contrast this with the relative hero's edit we're getting with Marcus. He's smart. He's beautiful. He's a doctor (though he said he was merely in the medical profession during the you-pick-em). He has the ladies and even the gay guys fawning over him. That could be a lot of power to weild throughout the game. Jeff, though, said that he can be arrogant. This may be his downfall.

Marcus has created "The Onion" alliance, keeping Corrine and Charlie close to him. He's planning to bring Jacquie into the fold and then round it out with Professor Bob. New clips out on the CBS website show hidden clips with Corrine and Marcus talking early. They bond quickly, then bring in the rest. I wonder if he will lose by taking a bite out of the apple and trusting Corrine to the end? Temptation is yet another theme this season, though it may apply more with just the Exile Island stuff.

None of the rest of the survivors really pique my interest this season as far as strategy is concerned. I don't doubt we'll see a fall of the Fang tribe similar to that of the Ulong tribe in Guatemala. I think our winner will come from the Kota tribe and probably from the Onion Alliance.

I hope Bob turns out to be this season's Yau-Man. That man is amazing and again, if you take a peek at the CBS extras, he's one whose mind is always turning. He's my sentimental favorite for the year.

Be sure to check out articles online at http://www.realitynewsonline.com/ . I post a "Who Will Go" column each Thursday morning with my picks as to who will fall next.

Difficult topic...avoid if you're having a bad day

A dear friend's brother took his own life this morning.

It wasn't a surprise to any of us, but still, it's a shock knowing that someone you knew was so despondant that s/he felt the need to leave life.

He was about 63. He spent about 20+ years in prison; then got out about 3 years ago. He started his own house painting business and was actually talented when it came to faux finishes. He did good work and was getting to the point where he was supporting himself for the most part.

He'd been having problems working, climbing ladders and having enough energy to do his job. Recently, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with lung cancer and had an extremely nasty blood clot in his thigh. He could live 6 months. He could live 3-4 years. He wasn't able to work or have insurance, and his family was already supporting him through some tougher times. He felt as if he was a burden to them.

He called my friend Saturday night crying and telling her that he was going to end things. He didn't have much quality of life left and postponing it possibly a couple of years by having chemo and going to the county hospital. He asked if she would understand if he did it and admittedly, she did. She loves him, but she knew that he might just do it.

A friend of his was up all night with him Saturday and prevented him from going through with it. Finally, after a long night, she too, said that she understood his dilemma and left him.

He made a few more calls to family, telling them goodbye in different ways.

My friend woke up this morning to a phone call from her brother's roommate. His car was running in the garage. The roommate was afraid, but knew what she would find there. My friend had her call the police. They confirmed what we all expected, that he took his life.

So now it's a question of wondering if he did the right thing or not. Did he do it so he wasn't a burden to his family to support him? Did he really have only a meager life left? Could he have been pulled out of this spiral? We'll never know.

You know there are some really good reason why Dr Kevorkian should be able to do what he does. In this instance, I can see where it would be the right reason.

Paceline

Holy cow, riding in a cycling paceline is a blast! The rush of speed and of bodies working in harmony is exhilarating!

One of my friends at work and volleyball partner in crime recently started riding his bike again after a long, 10-ish year hiatus. He knew I rode to work regularly and wanted to get back into the sport again.

A few weeks ago one evening, I got a text from him, "Wanna ride at lunch? Bring your bike to work." The cooler fall weather and an opportunity to get out of the office for a while made this an easy choice. I loaded up my steed and couldn't wait to get out of a meeting to go play.

The first time out we rode around the lake, then headed over to the "rich" part of town near Love Field and just rode around the neighborhoods. He struggled to keep up and I enjoyed an easy pace. We did 10-ish miles in that hour and both came back grinning.

Last week, I had a meeting cancel so it was my turn to text him. He'd ridden a longer ride over the weekend and was tired, but jumped at the chance to again enjoy the crisp, fall lunchtime ride. As we went, I asked him if he'd want to go do a 44-miler that weekend in Bonham. He thought that if he could do this lunchtime ride and recover well, he would do it.

Sure enough, Friday he said he could go and wanted to give it a shot. This was my first road ride ever the year before and I made it through. He plays sand volleyball regularly and is in shape. There was no doubt in my mind he could make it through, maybe being a little tired at the end.

So Rick picked me up early on Saturday and we met up with his friend, Linda, on the way in McKinney. We raced to get registered and just start.

Rick was like a jackrabbit for the first 10-ish miles, and I silently wondered if he'd burn out at about 35 miles. I had a tough time keeping up with him, especially with all those hills early on. We decided to skip the first aid station and move on.

About 12 miles in, Rick spotted a guy with a "classic" bike; one that was about 20+ years old and struck up a conversation with him. Turns out Wayne, originally from South Africa, was here from China on business and some friends conned him into doing the ride. It was a great bike in its time, but a little old technology compared to today. He was enjoying himself despite the older frame and getting a good view of the Texas countryside.

After a while, we realized we were all pacing about the same and decided to try a paceline. Rick started us out, then Wayne pulled for a while. I stayed trailing. I noticed a shadow behind me and realized that someone else had jumped onto the train. He introduced himself (John maybe?) and chatting. Nice guy. Before long, we had several others. Through this point, we were averaging about 17-18mph

We decided to stop at the 2nd rest stop, just to get the butts out of the seats for a few minutes and grab some ice for the bottles. Four of us continued on the paceline and it started to get hilly. Just as we started to get into a small hill, dang Rick, who was up front at the time, piped up and asked everyone to raise hands to see if it was Kari's turn to pull. Well crap! I didn't think I could go fast enough for these guys, especially on hills, but what the heck. They all raised their hands in agreement.

We'd already started up the first small hill and I broke to get to the front. Turned out I sped up too much because Rick, who was behind me at that point, told me I'd dropped a couple of them. Ha! I slowed down a bit so they could catch up, then led the pace for a few miles. Fun! I didn't think I could do it, nor did I think I was fast enough for it. The guys were really encouraging.

We continued swapping out spots until about the 33 mile mark and averaged about 18-19 the rest of hte way. An extremely nasty car accident split us all up. Rick and I stopped to help initially; the other two stopped for a few minutes then went on. I won't go into the details, but it was bloody and required 3 medical helicopters to come take some of the vicitms away. There hasn't been a news link to see what happened to them.

On a brighter note, I'm so freakin' hooked on pacelines now! Wow! Fun stuff. It makes me think I might be able to move up into the next group in the Corinth bike riders. Whee!!

Biomimicry

I'm a science geek at heart. Always have been. I found these articles today on biomimicry and thought some of you might find them interesting. Biomimicry can be described as finding a way to make things more efficient by looking at counterparts in nature. One of these articles, Mercedes takes a look at the box fish, a fisht that doesn't look streamlined at first glance, and uses some of the same "design" to create a concept car with amazing results. Enjoy!

http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-7154-1-503504-1-0-0-503518-0-0-135-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-1.html

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13501_23-236571.html?tag=homeCar

Random thoughts popping through my brain

On TV: There are only two days left until Survivor starts again. Yay! It's my favorite season of all. I'm struggling to figure out who will win the $1M this season as none of the "characters" pop out at me . Usually, there is one, or two even, who you can pinpoint to make it to the end.

On the Season: My favorite time of year, though is fall. I love the warm days and cooler mornings. The colors are rich and vibrant, unlike the pastels of spring. There's a certain smell in the air, maybe anticipation of the holidays coming up soon. It's almost time to start firing up the oven to bake cookies and warm treats.

On Fall: Warm treats are great, but not when you're at the top of your tubby scale. Wow, I dropped about 10lbs a year ago and somehow it's creeped back up and even has added a few more. I'm off to Belize here soon and need to get down to a shape that doesn't involve popping out of my bathing suit. Ugh!

On Exercise: Tried running (more like joggling) this morning since the weather is cooler. Well, it's cooler, but is still humid. I did only 2 miles and man, it was a struggle. In my early morning shadows, the legs and arms just didn't look like those of an athlete. They looked like a bird flailing after being hit by a car. Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture. It was neither graceful, nor pretty. I miss the days when 5 miles was an "easy" run. The mileage will come back soon enough, as long as I get my butt back into it.

On Work: I'm so frustrated with my job right now. I LIKE to be in the middle of a lot of motion. When I moved teams back in February, I thought it might be a great opportunity to learn just one thing and learn it well. Well, I'm learning that I don't do well with only one thing (hence 2 jobs, writing online, sports etc.). I'm frustrated and bored. I'm starting to shake the trees to see what else I can do in the company without taking too big of a pay hit. I'm hoping I can hang on until January when the new budgets hit.

On Change: I'm excited for my friend, Becky. She has been frustrated in her job in the mortgage industry for quite some time now and has made a concerted effort to get out of it. Wow, when she does something, she does it BIG. She took some tests last week to become an insurance auditor. She passed them and gave notice on her job over the weekend. She literally could leave any moment now to go take care of business along the Texas Coast in the aftermath of Ike. Wow! I know this is a huge change for her, especially knowing she has to leave her wonderful boyfriend, Mike, behind, but I'm so proud of her for jumping in with both feet. She's smart and resourceful. I know she'll do well.

Link to Ike

This is such a cool story to link to one of my best friends, Deeann, who was flying Ike yesterday (9/11). I've done exactly what Scott Blair (mentioned in the article) was doing in this storm many times. Between eye passes, it's nap, reading or food time.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_re_us/eye_of_ike

Hurricane Ike, bumpy ride with bird's-eye view
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 12, 7:07 AM ET
INSIDE HURRICANE IKE - Amid the engines' roar, the Air Force Reserve pilots and navigator worked calmly as their huge plane neared the eyewall of Hurricane Ike.

The gray cloud, looming 50,000 feet into the sky like a colossal concrete barrier was four miles thick, and the Lockheed WC-130J was hurtling into it.
"It's a big one, and it's going to get bigger," said Lt. Col. Mark Carter, 54, a pilot who has chased storms for 31 years. "It's off land now, and feeding on the warm water down there while it gets itself back together."
"Down there" is 10,000 feet below, where the swirling dark water and foaming waves of the Gulf of Mexico are only visible intermittently through the clouds.
Carter, and his fellow Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, were finishing a fourth trip across Ike, during a 10-hour, 3,000-mile trek to monitor the storm taking aim at the Texas coast.
The aircraft carved a 210-mile giant "X" pattern through Ike and its eye, just off the western tip of Cuba.
"We're the only military aircraft that has permission to fly through Cuban airspace," said public information officer Maj. Chad Gibson. "We share the information we gather with them."
Using high tech equipment aboard the $72 million plane, the crew gathers data on wind speed, barometric pressure and other information for the National Hurricane Center.
"The plane makes two observations a second," said Maj. Deeann Lufkin, 35, a meteorologist who stood behind a bank of screens as she monitored the storm.
Lufkin, who has more than 50 hurricane flights behind her, took the jostling of the storm as easily as a New York City subway rider handles rush hour.
Like everyone on the crew, Lufkin, of Northfield, Minn., is an Air Force Reservist — a civilian who works summers with the Hurricane Hunters, based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.
"I love this job," said Lufkin, whose husband is also a Hurricane Hunter. "It is endlessly fascinating, and it is also extremely important. We provide information the satellites can't get. And we provide something satellites will never have — a human eye and brain."
The C-130 has been a workhorse of the U.S. military for nearly five decades, is a squat, broad aircraft, painted dull gray, with four black propellers curving over the wings like exotic flowers.
Inside, it resembles a high-tech auto mechanic's garage. Metal grids on the floor offer secure places to stash equipment, insulation covers most of the walls and ceilings, wires shake everywhere, red mesh behind the armless seats offer something to grab onto when the plane starts bucking and tilting in a storm.
Despite its plain looks, Tech. Sgt. Scott Blair, a big man with close-cropped gray hair and tattoos running up his arms, calls the aircraft his girlfriend.
"I've been married 21 years," said Blair, 38, who runs Fat Boy's BBQ restaurant in Picayune. Miss., when not flying into storms. "She's never had call to be jealous until I started flying on this plane. Now she calls it my mistress."
Flights can run as long as 15 hours, not counting preflight and post-flight briefings.
Once ordered into a storm, the 10 crews made up of six people each, fly on a rotating basis, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
The flights go into everything from developing tropical storms to Category 5 hurricanes. But they don't fly into a storm over land because of the danger of tornadoes.
Since the flights officially began in 1943, only four Hurricane Hunter planes have been lost in the bump and grind through the clouds — the last in 1974.
It doesn't take much to draw out stories of the storms that have tilted the plane at dangerous angles, sent shudders down its metal spine and through its human occupants, banging untethered people against the ceiling as ride-along journalists scramble for plastic bags amid lurching stomachs.
Blair, who dozed in free in-flight moments with a copy of the book "Unholy War" spread across his stomach, was nonchalant about the Ike flight.
But he remembers others that were more eventful.
"Hurricane Charlie, what was that '03, '04?" Blair said. "That almost beat us to death. We made a pass through it as a Category 2, and 45 minutes later, when we went back through, it was a Cat 4. Every reporter on board had a bag up to his face."
The storms are most dangerous as they build or break apart, Blair said. That's when a potentially deadly microburst of wind and huge up-and downdrafts threaten the plane.
Dangerous or not, the flights, with their combination of boredom and adrenaline-pumping moments, appear to be addictive.
"I'm going to keep doing this until I get too old or my hearing goes," Blair said. "Then I'll just sit up in Picayune (Miss.) and drink beer and eat barbecue and dream about it."

Making changes

I just got back from another trip to MN to visit my dear friends Greg and Deeann. Getting time to visit with special people with whom you can be yourself is such a wonderful feeling. I'm fortunate to have them in my life.

I read a book in the past year about friends and it got me thinking about relationships I've had over the years. Some of my best and longest lasting friendships have come out of the military, partly because we've shared so much time together in odd situations and places.

The friends I've made since coming to Texas have been very satisfying as well. I'm lucky to have gotten in with a set of girlfriends (and their hubbies) who share a lot of the same interests and we've collectively grown quite a bit in the six years I've been here. It's amazing how some of them you can just give a look and they know what you're thinking (which can be good or bad!)

It has also been a delight to meet new people who give you a new perspective. I recently met a lady down the street (well, she actually tracked me down, but that's another story). She enjoys being active as well, and I can't wait to have her meet some of the other girlfriends. She also is such a warm, exciting person. I've learned to think about being a little more open because of her already, though I still have a ways to go.

I've learned so much from all these people over the years. Many have given me great advice and even have told me when I'm being to anal about something! (Laugh). We've leaned on each each other when we're going through rough spells. It's incredible to watch this group pull together when we have to.

But at the same time all of this is going on, I've also learned to let go of relationships. Some of these are with people who are energy-suckers. These are the people with some kind of drama always happening and they need to be bailed out or reeled back in from their personal struggles. Some just don't give a rip, so why bother? Some you just grow apart from. It hasn't been easy to let go in some cases, especially when they live close to you, but with others, it's a relief.

I truely enjoy the friendships I have now. They keep me grounded and at times, pull me out of the house when I'm down. They are blessings to me. Thank you!

My first storm...on the ground

I love tropical weather!

I miss flying in hurricanes, but I sure don't miss the other 9 months of the year where the squadron is spinning out of control...you know, the ARTs bitching about the Reservists and vice-versa. The 3-ish months of storm season were always my favorite.

I've been watching Gustav the past few days, The Weather Channel on in the background at my house all weekend. It hit the coast on Monday morning and by the evening, the first few bands of the cirrus sheild from the storm was evident here in the Dallas area. It was beautiful.

All day Tuesday, I flipped between the radar and satellite images of the remnants of Gustav as it approached. By the time I left SWA that afternoon, I was in heaven. The clouds were in a banded pattern with a distinct arc. There were showers peppering the view towards the east. And the wind really picked up. I could see and feel the wind gusts hitting me.

All I could do was grin.

Can you believe that after 11 years and flying through close to 50 named storms, this is the first tropical storm I've been in on the ground? Amazing!

Great definitions

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. (My favorite!)
Glibido: All talk and no action
Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people, that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The Bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an a ** hole.

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners. Read them carefully. Each is an artificial word with only one letter altered from a real word.

Big Butt Day

I know I probably shouldn't complain, but yesterday was a big butt day.

I went shopping, taking advantage of a few Labor Day sales at some of my favorite stores and found some fantastic deals! I even had a 20% off coupon for the entire purchase at Loft. Whee! I was in for good times, yeah!

Sunday, I had some awesome Pad Thai from Pei Wei, which I'm sure, made me retain a bit of water...or at least that's what I'm going to use as the excuse this week. Man, I had a helluva time getting into my "normal" pants size and really got grumpy with the lumps and bumps.

I really, truely have to get about 10lbs off this butt (and that's where it all is) and get into fighting shape for races and for Belize. UGH! It's just so hard.

Gas...

Woo hoo! Bought a tank of gas for under $45 yesterday at $1.29/gal.

Isn't it sad to get excited about gas that is STILL over 3 bucks a gallon? Sheesh.

The Time Capsule

Today I took a sick day and managed to make it fairly productive. Recently, I'd done a lot of filing and had a pile of paperwork I wanted to put into a storage box. I kept those boxes in the garage and they're full of records from the Air Force, taxes and other paperwork I decided to keep.

I took them into the living room and decided to go through them to see what I had in them. It was amazing! I had file pouches for each year I was in the AF Reserves (back to 1996), taxes back to 1998, credit card and utility records back to 2002 when I moved to Dallas from St Louis, and even found a package of photos mom sent me a few years back. There were even 4 notebooks of notes I'd taken during chemistry classes back in Germany. What an amazing find!

I realized that I really didn't need all this stuff so I sorted through it to figure out what could be shredded. I ended up with a stack of file folders about 2 feet tall. I kept only the past few years tax records and some house records. Everything else had to go.

So as I sat on the floor, watching bad morning TV and shredding, I found myself going through a pile of memories. The bulk of the paper were travel vouchers and pay statements from my time in the Reserves. Occasionally, a large packet would bring me back to my trips to Germany, Barbados, Panama and Honduras. THere were the many trips to St Croix, Florida and Hawaii.

There were records of being in my favorite room at the Buccaneer in St Croix. There were the numerous quick trips to Biloxi from both St Louis and Dallas. I even found some of the paperwork from my brief time in the IL Guard as a Boom Operator.

I had saved every one of my LES's, Leave and Earnings Statement, (pay stubs for your civilians). Those too, got shredded. Well, all except my very first one. I kept that first pay stub from my time in basic training, just to see how far I'd come. It was for around $300 for my first 2 weeks of service. I think I spent that much today just running errands. It's amazing how much changes in 22 years, isn't it?

Each one was its own little archive of memories. I almost hestiated to shred them, but realistically, there was no reason to save them. 2 large garbage bags are now by my back fence, waiting to be sent away. It's a sad way to say goodbye to memories, but at the same time, it's a clean feeling to be rid of stuff I just don't need.

What are in your personal archives?

Hotter N Hell 100k

Oh heck yeah, the biking bug is firmly planted in my core. I'm loving it!

Last weekend was the Hotter 'N Hell 100. The main race/ride is 100 miles, IN AUGUST, IN TEXAS! Normally, it lives up to its moniker, but this year, a week of cooler weather sure helped out the heat. It still was close to 75 at the start, but by the time Maribel, Pierre and I finished at 11:30, it was in the low 90's.

What an amazing sight it is to see nearly 12,000 riders of all shapes and sizes saddled up and taking off. It started off with the sound of clips attaching to pedals and the excitement of the riders as they chatted and warmed up with the slow pack. It took about 25 minutes from the time the gun went off before we crossed the starting line and there were still thousands behind us. Incredible.

The night before, the girls and I all camped out. INstead of hitting the large grassy area behind the convention center, we just decided to park near a grassy flat spot in the parking lot. We looked like squatters and in a sense, I suppose we were. But the good thing was that we had great parking close to the center! It was noisy and bright that night, but we managed to eke out about 5 good hours of sleep before the rumble of cars started coming in around 5.

So during the ride, there were several times where large yawns came around. I was tired, but thoroughly enjoying the ride. There was a crash about a mile or two into the ride. Bikers slowed and passed the woman being loaded into the ambulance. It was a lot like rush hour traffic in Dallas on a Friday, sadly enough.

I tried to keep up with Maribel and Pierre for a while, but the traffic jam of bikes slowed me too much. I'd left Debbie behind me in about 3 miles with April, Dianna and Mitch coming in behind Deb. I hit the first aid station near 10 miles fairly quickly despite the crowds and decided to pass. It was crazy with people. I love hearing the whir of wheels on the ground when people are more quiet.

I stopped at the 20 and 30 mile aid stations, but didn't linger. They too were crowded and crazy. I refilled bottles and grabbed some cookies. After the 30 mile point, 3 girls crashed ahead of me. It was a tangle of bikes and bodies, and fortunately none were seriously hurt. I stopped to help pull bikes off of them, but they had plenty of help so I moved on.

A few miles after that was a temptation. The 100k I was on continued straight ahead after a railroad track crossing while the 100 miler turned left. For a moment, I seriously considered turning towards the 100 miler, but thought about having people waiting for me at the car. In hindsight, I wish I'd have done it now. It was a cooler than normal year, I felt great and as it turns out, most of our group came in 2 hours behind us. Maribel went through the same dillemma with the same outcome.

I skipped the 40 mile aid station and just grabbed some ClifBlox out of my pocket. Mmmmm! These taste like margaritas and I love 'em! Somewhere around the mid-40's, we turned onto a service road which parallels a highway. The pavement was awful chip seal which just bumps the crap out of you. What speed I had going was lost. It was frustrating and the heat was starting to kick in. My back was starting to tighten and knots formed.

Finally, the 50+ aid station came into view and I stopped to grab a quick treat and some cold drinks. As I turned the corner, I was excited to see Maribel and Pierre. I didn't think I'd catch up to them. Pierre had just gotten there and Maribel had been waiting for him for a while. I was really excited! We probably stopped for about 15 minutes, grabbing icy cold water, cookies and a few pickles (perfect for the heat!). And in a matter of minutes, Maribel said that it was time to go. We only had 9 miles or so to the finish!

She hopped on her bike and sped off. It was all Pierre and I could do to keep up with her. We did for maybe a mile, then it was just he and I. He sped ahead of me at one point, but I decided to give him a good chase. At the top of an overpass, I pushed hard to pass him. I told him to latch on and I'd pull him for a while. That lasted a few minutes, until we got to Shepard AFB.

Now going through the base wasn't going to be a big deal for me. I'd been there once long ago and have been on many bases otherwise. The course was on beautifully smooth road and even wound through a static display of some planes. We even passed by a beautiful C-130H and I grinned. The best part of the ride was yet to come.

I tuned onto a street and could hear a thunder of young voices yelling. Sure enough, there were about 200 of the students along the side of the road. The crowds voice died down somewhat so I bellowed, "Lemme hear you! Go Air Force!" and they roared again! It was sooo much fun! I put my hand up to high-five them as I passed by, nearly getting toppled near the end. What a delight. I grinned the whole rest of the way to the finish.

My 100k adventure ended without much fanfare. I spotted Maribel who'd finished just ahead of me. Pierre soon followed and we dashed over to the open fire hydrant to cool off. Amazing ride. I felt great and was hardly sore the next day.

Next year, 100 miles!

Inspiration

I found this blog through another blog. http://jonnyoworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/media-friends-and-rain.html This triathlete is mildly retarded and battles Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis. A friend's son has the same disease and it tears him up.

"Now, millions of km later, after 14 years of sacrifice and small and tiny consistant improvement, ... i had a exceptionnal day and crossed the line at ironman canada in 8h39 minutes. Instantly, jonnyo the geneticly retarded athlete was now see by people that dont know him as a gifted elite athlete that as a special genetic inside of him to make him go this quick. Well, people just dont see the big picture, only the 2007 version of the athlete that i became. They dont see the other 13 years behind..., the coaches that have try to turn me away as i wasnt a good enough athlete......these 13 year where no magic....just consistant work. .."

This kid is amazing. The link itself is to one of his blogs from last year. I read some of the recent postings he has where he's getting ready to head up north for Ironman Canada. Amazing.

kk

Run training

Let me start this blog by saying, Indian Food for lunch makes for heartburn later while running. LOL!

So last night I was just in the mood to do something physical after work and I really need to get some running in for a race up in MN soon. I grabbed my bag of running gear that morning and had forgotten that I had my swimming gear already in there. So what the heck, I decided when I got to the gym to do both.

The run actually felt really good! About a week ago, I did a fast mile on the treadmill to get warmed up for something else and didn't do much walking to start. It was fast and furi0us and fun! Last night, I tried to do something similar and I'm liking the results.

2.5 min warmup/walk
5 mins at 6.0
5 mins at 6.5
5 mins at 7.0 (whoa! didn't know I could do that!)
3 mins and 7.5 (even better!0
1 min at 5.5.
Ladder intervals at 30 seconds, recovering at 5.5 between. 8.5, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0.
Finished the last 1/2 mile at about 6.5, then did a cooldown.
Fun workout and I feel so much better about still being able to do a 5k at a decent speed, considering all I've really been doing is biking lately. Yay!

Once the heart rate recovered, I changed for a quick pool workout. Since the old-lady water aerobics crowd would be showing up at about 6, I had about 20 minutes to spare before they descended upon to pool.

After a brief 200yd warmup of the arms, I did 10, 1-minute intervals of the 50yds, concentrating on form more than anything. Did 4X25yds at 30 secs, then a quick cooldown.

I can really feel the speed when I know I've hit the stroke correctly. I'm also experimenting with kicking to see how much it actually adds (especially after watching the Olympic swimmers!). Also tried keeping my head a little further down and not have it pop up so much.

Fun stuff. Now I have all winter to figure out the good stuff. Watch out! I'm hooked on this triathlon sport! :)

More great riding moments

Wednesday morning I woke up early, checked the weather and decided it would be a great day to ride into SWA again.

Sunrise now isn't until about 6:45, and I need to leave around 6 to make it into work at a reasonable hour, so it was time to dig out the lights from my adventure racing box. My old front bike light didn't work anymore, even after recharging it, so I jury rigged a headlamp to stay on the handlebars. I did find my old taillight and with a quick battery change, it was up and running.

It was a cool 72 that morning. It was almost chilly in short sleeves and I wished I'd have worn my arm socks. That's a note to self for later.

The best part of the early morning darkness was seeing about a half dozen shooting stars. The first one came just as I was going down my block. I wasn't sure what I saw but thought it might be one. I saw another just a few moments later and remembered an article I read recenly about the Perseid meteor shower happening now. As I rode I saw more and just loved it.

The sunrise came and it was both beautiful and disappointing. The next few days will be covered in clouds so I figured this had been my best view of the meteor showers. I wonder if Greg and Deeann out in Guam are seeing them in those clear skies?

Olympic influence

I've been glued to the TV this weekend watching volleyball (indoor and sand), gymnastics, cycling and swimming. I watch the athletes move in each of their sports and it inspired me to get to the gym this afternoon. I hope this wave continues.

With volleyball and swimming, Tivo has been a luxury. I slow down to watch the precise movement of their bodies. I'm looking at the fluidity of the swim strokes or the accuracy of passes. Maybe someday I can improve because of watching their technique.

4 baseball stadiums in 4 weeks!

Last night I went to a Ranger game and completed a pretty cool accomplishment. I've been to 4 games in 4 weeks and each time, the home team won. Neat, huh?

Here's the rundown:
July 5, Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins - Free game for military members. Great evening with Deeann and her son, Chris. I'll have to go back when the new stadium is built.

July 19, San Diego Padres vs. St Louis Cardinals - Quick trip to St Louis with Mom and Jim. I was rooting for my Cards and they for their Padres. I love what they did with the new Busch stadium.

July 27, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres - Once again, it was my first time in the new Petco park. Mom and Jim took me and we had a great time and even got to see "The Closer" take the game to the end.

August 5, NY Yankees vs. Texas Rangers - What an awesome game, though the pitching left something to be desired. Went with the girls and had great seats hovering above homeplate, way up in the nosebleeds. We laughed while watching a poor pigeon trying to get out of the field. The wind from the dying Edouard made all kinds of eddys within the stadium.

River Cities Triathlon - Shreveport, LA 8/3

Sorry it's been a while since posting. I went out to San Diego for a volleyball tournament, then spent two days at work trying to recover from time away. Then it was off to Shreveport this weekend for the triathlon. It's been a busy month, so I'm glad it's all finally over and behind me.

This was my second triathon and I was excited to experience this one with highly trained athletes and men as well. This is in comparison to the Danskin Tri back in June, where it was all women, many of which were doing a tri for the first time. It was a great warmup experience to get to the race this past weekend.

I didn't do much training again for this one, honestly. I've been biking a lot, but it's been about distance, not speed. Outside of that I swam once or twice and only ran at the Afton Trail run in early July. It's sad, but true. Next year will be a different story, though.

Based on my time and knowledge of what I did at the Danskin Tri in Austin, I figured I could do this one in under 2:15, with a decent chance of doing it in 2:00 even. The difference was that the ride was 18+ miles as opposed to 12 in Austin. With those resonable goal times in mind, I set out.

There were 4 other people in this race I knew - Yvette, Rob, Jennifer and Jeff. Yvette, Rob and I came with a posse to cheer us on - April, Becky, Mike and Martha. It was great having them there to help cheer us on! All but Martha had also signed up for the race, but dropped because they weren't ready.

The swag on this race is pretty incredible, so there is a reason even the dropped folks came out for it. We got 2 shirts (1 was tech, the other cotton), a cap, race poster, sunglasses, beach towel, socks and an awesome tri backpack to carry all the stuff in. Wow! It was worth the $100 entry fee for sure.

The race started at 8am with the first wave of fast males. There were about 11 waves after that, each going out in 4 minute intervals. I was in the 3rd from the last wave, so there were plenty of opportunities for catching people ahead of me.

The gun...or cannon really...for my wave went off at 8:32. I'd set up in a direct line with the first bouy, but paused for a moment, lettting some of the faster chicks get started (a trick learned at Danskin). I kept a good even pace, not panicking this time, and managed to pass quite a few people on the first leg. By the time I turned the corner, I was starting to see caps for the wave in front of me. I passed quite a few from the wave in front of me and even quite a few from my own. I pulled out of the water and noticed that I'd done the swim in about :18, which blew me away. I'd planned on close to :25! Whee!

I ran up the ramp and passed Yvette, who was in the wave in front of me. Little did I know it, but I was only about 90 seconds behind Jennifer, who's a serious triathlete!

I changed as quickly as I could and headed out on the bike. The bike portion is mostly flat with a few minor hills thrown in. I stayed in my big chain ring for most of the race, only dropping down to the middle chain ring twice for hills. The wind was tough on occasion, but I managed. I eyeballed some of the aero bars as faster people passed me. Hmmm...

I've been reading a Triathon Training Blog with some frequency lately (see it to the right?). This lady has some great ideas and thoughts around her training. I'll never get to her level of analysis and training, but there are some interesting reads. One of her blogs recently talked about how many cyclists tuck their knees in as they ride, I suppose to cut down on wind resistance. I noticed a few who passed me were riding like this and made a mental note to at least give it a shot someday.

For the most part, I hustled on the bike, but I did hold back just a little so I had some leg strength leftover for the run. In hindsight (and with Di's suggestion), I should've probably gone out a little harder to make up more time. In the end, I did the bike in 1:04. I think I can cut that closer to 1:00 or less next year without much difficulty (and maybe with new aero bars!).

The run just sucked the life out of me, unfortunately. It was mostly flat and even a bit was on trail. The heat was really starting to kick in and make its affects known to me. I struggled a bit the first 1/2 mile or so, then seemed to kick it in gear okay. But by about 1.5 miles, I was struggling again. I walked and jogged the remaining 1.5 miles, though I knew I was very close and capable of finishing in under 2:00 if I'd have jogged the whole thing. Finished the run in :35 and wish I'd have pushed that a bit harder.

All in all, I came up with a 2:02 overall. I have no doubt that next year with a little training and perserverence, I could get under 2:00 and maybe even under 1:55 if I push it. Of course, you'll have to remind me of this next year!

My new moniker

I just left SWA this afternoon on my bike commute and was waiting at a light to cross Northwest Highway. In the lane to my right is the line of cars waiting to turn right. Next to me is a big truck with a burly Mexican dude in it. I nod and say hello, as his window is open and he looked over.

It starts "How far ju goeeeng?"
"26 miles or so."
"Eeen one day?"
"Yup, one way. I rode in this morning the same mileage."
"Where do you leeeve?"
"Lewisville"
"Lewisville!! Reeeeelyeee??!!"
"Yup"
"Oh leeedy! Ju haarrre whan creeezy gringa!!!"

I guffawed and he laughed with me. I caught myself chuckling to myself a couple times on the ride home.

So now I'm the creeezy gringa!

Bike mileage this week...

Sat - Peach Pedal - 40 miles
Sun - Ride to Little Pete's 16 miles
Tues - Commute to work - 54 miles (missed a turn)
Thurs - Commute to work - 52 miles (shaved 10 mins off my ride in!)

Total (drum roll)-
162 miles for the week!!!!

A downside to bike commuting

I should've known not to trust Jennifer Lopez.

No, I'm not talking about the singer, J Lo, but our newest meteorologist for NBC5 who just moved here from Atlanta after finishing her stint on The Weather Channel. The girl hasn't quite learned about Texas weather yet. Or maybe her skills on localized meteorology just need some polishing. I'll cut her some slack though, as she's only been on air here for about 2 weeks. And I know what she's going through.

In any case, ol' Jenn told us that thunderstorms for Tuesday would be very scattered and west of Ft Worth. So I believed her; trusted her, and took off on my commute to SWA that morning thinking all would be good with the world on the way home. Cool even.

At about 4:45, I was closing up shop here at work and decided to take a peek at the radar. Sure enough, there was a huge storm which looked as if it might be just east of my route, but there was more light rain all over my route home. Surely, I didn't mind a little light rain. Still, I thought it might be time to high-tail it out of the office and try to get ahead of some of it.

The first few miles through the neighborhoods were just fine, thankfully. I was enjoying the relative cool of the afternoon and not having to try to duck under as many trees as possible to enjoy brief moments of shade. But by the time I got to 635 (about 6 miles into the ride), I knew I was toast!

It started to sprinkle, yet I still thought I might miss the bulk of the rain. I peddled furiously as the sky darkened and I heard my first rumble of thunder. Sure enough, I topped a small hill and saw that there were sheets of rain coming up and I had to find a place to get cover soon.

The rain started coming down heavier, so I pulled up to a laundromat on Josey with a good overhang to wait it out for a while. There, I chatted with an older lady who had coke-bottom glasses and a cigarette dangling precariously out of her mouth. Back in the day, her car broke down once and she was too scared to ask her co-workers for a ride, so she walked about 10-12 miles home one night. Wow. What can you say?

The rain appeared to lighten up a bit, but I could see trees still blowing hard with wind. It was getting to be about 6:05, so I decided to brave the wind and light rain and just go anyway. I was already wet, but worried about running out of daylight before I got home. As I rounded the corner of the building, once again, I could see a sheet of rain pouring just ahead of me on my current path. Sure enough, within about 100 yards, I was again in the middle of a downpour so I dove into the next shetered area, the awning of a gas station. As my neighbor Marsha would say, "It's a gully washer. It's a turd floater". Crap!

Here, I was "lucky" enough to have Pedrrrrrrro come chat with me as he exited the gas station. Pedrrrrrro had a beautiful way of rolling is r's, but his accent was thick. But that's not the most interesting thing about him. Nope, Pedrrrrro had about 1/4" of a big ol' hanger-downer from his nose and it was all I could do not to make eye contact or even stare at it as he yammered on and on. Now don't get me wrong, he was a very nice fellow, but holy cow, it was awful! It would teasingly wave at me with every exhale he did. "Hello, Kari! You can't ignore me! Look at me, while still trying to maintain a conversation!"

He rambled on and on about some things, occasionally asking a question to which I'd vaguely respond. He soon realized that I wasn't reciprocating the conversation much and told me that he didn't want to wear me out and that his girlfriend Marrrrrria also chatted a lot. So much chatting that he had to limit her to his 450 minutes a month. I had to laugh at that one. After about 10 minutes, Pedrrrro went on his way. It was one of those places where you wonder if a Candid Camera person is filming this interaction somewhere.

By about 6:15, the bulk of the rain had passed enough that I was ready to just get going again. I was thankful that I'd just bought a great Brooks shirt at Run On recently for safety - it's one of those day-glo greenish-yellow numbers that you can't miss. I took off and stayed on the sidewalks until I could get to side streets off Josey. As cars passed puddles, they'd spray a wall of water on my already drenched body. Im' sure a few thought it was comical.

The side streets werent' nearly as bad and I really only had one last leg of the ride that was a bit scary which was on Sandy Lake. I made it through that fine and by the time I hit the intersection of Sandy Lake and 35E, the rain stopped. I kept watching the sky, though, wondering if I'd finally found a breaking point or if I was in for another round of misery. EIther way, the motivation to get my butt home was high and I found myself making up all kinds of time the last 1/2 of the ride.

The streetlight fairies were who tortured me with red lights while I was in the rain decided to cut me a break and I managed to hit nearly all the lights green the last hour of the ride. It was a relief. Finally, I made it home about 7:30, unscathed and starting to dry out. I'm not sure my shoes will be dry enough for another ride to work tomorrow.

We'll see what miss Lopez has to say in the morning.

Peach Pedal - Weatherford, TX

How often can one ride go straight into the wind?

Now I was a meteorologist at one time, but still can figure out which way the dang wind is blowing. All the flags in TX indicated a steady south wind Saturday morning.

We started out the ride heading south for quite a few miles. I thought that would be perfect, because that meant, at some point during the ride, and hopefully towards the end of it, we'd have a super tailwind to help blow us back home. Well it did seem as if we hardly had a tailwind at all. Oh well.

The ride started out at the Weatherford High School along I-20. We (friends, Donna, Mike and I) thought we would arrive in plenty of time to finish registering and getting our bikes in order to leave at 7:30, starting with the 100k folks, as Mike needed to be finished earlier for other stuff in the afternoon. There were 3lengths for this ride, 26m, 40m and 100k. We chose to do the 40m

The traffic flow to the school wasn't great at all and we weren't the only ones late. IN the end, we were parked, registered and headed out just before the 20m people left at 8am. It was a late start, but we made up some time.

We nearly missed the first turn west, as did many other folks. There was only a small marking in the road with colored arrows pointing the way to go. Of course, we had no idea what course color we were on, so we went with the correct choice of going with 3 out of the 4 arrows.

The course itself has plenty of rolling hills. There aren't any that are particularly steep, but there are a few that get you into the granny gear temporarily. Mike, Donna and I paced together well up until the 2nd aid station, where we did our first stop.

Donna was thrown from a horse about a month ago and thought she was doing fine enough to get back on the bike again. She's a good rider, but the angle at which she was sitting on the bike must've triggered some muscle cramps in her back as she struggled to catch her breath and be comfortable. Mike helped her stretch a little before heading back out.

The aid stations are full of enthusiastic volunteers who were quick to fill bottles with water or gatorade. They were cheerful and encouraging. The best treat was that there were massive bowls of cool, fresh peach chunks. I'm sure this is part of the grand plan to get us over to the Peach Festival!

All in all, it's a easy-moderate ride, despite the wind. Next time we'll either plan to be earlier or just camp out somewhere close. We didn't get to the Peach Festival in Weatherford after all, but did find a stand along the road and scored some fresh peaches. Mmm....!!

What I love about Minnesota

These aren't necessarily in order, but they're all true. A recent visit to Deeann and Greg's house just punctuated this!

- Deeann, Greg and the rest of their family
- Beautiful countryside
- Nice airport (MSP)
- Twin cities; double the fun and the character
- Super-duper BINGO!
- Fried cheese curds
- Gosh, darn nice people
- Four full seasons and summers cooler than TX
- The fun accent
- Did I mention fried cheese curds
- Cribbage tournaments with The Marges

Afton, MN 25k

Dear Friends,
I've decided to run off with a lumberjack (or NWA pilot, or cheese farmer) and stay in MN. Please help me by sending a parka and some snowshoes. :)

If you're looking for a beautiful, yet challenging, summer race I have one for you. Afton State Park is about 1/2 hour west of the twin cities, Minneapolis-St Paul and right on the St Croix river which separates MN and WI. There is a ton to do while in the MSP area afterwards and the people are just so darn nice! I'm coming back next year and would love to bring a contingent from TX.

http://www.aftontrailrun.com/index2.htm

The race reminds me of Bandera, challenge-wise, but that's where the comparisons end visually. There are a bunch of relatively steep climbs, blissful downhills, flat straightaways along the river and nearly the entire race is covered by a ceiling of giant trees to keep you cool in the 75-80 degree weather. Aid stations are plentiful and situated about every 2.5-3.5 miles. The shirt was a really nice Marmot short sleeve, tech shirt. It's also a decent race for family to come to as there are easy spots to catch up with your racer at aid stations.

And to top it off, everyone here has the delightful Minnesota lilt which you can't help but smile when you hear them talk. If I could find a job up here, I'd stay and brave the winters.

I originally signed up for the 50k in February, but life got in the way of training so I wrote the RD to bump me down to the 25k. As it was, most of my training ended up being regular, long bike rides to work a few times a week. I was pleasantly surprised at how that was enough to not make this race too miserable. I posted a time similar to that of my average Bandera years and was content with the results. I'll train harder next time.

The 50k folks got an early start at 6:30. The average to slower folks would need that time later as the heat and humidity kicked in later in the day. There were two folks from San Antonio here for that race. The 25k started an hour later and only did one lap compared to the two the 50k people would run. The temperature was deliciously cool, around 68 degrees.

The RD, who looks more like a skateboarder than ultrarunner, gave us the quick rundown before sending us out for the day. At the "go" I somehow got wrangled near the front of the 250 person pack, but fortunately, the trail was wide and I was easily passed by the jackrabbits.

We dove into the trees and down a hill for nearly a mile immediately. I kept thinking that the only bad thing about downs are that htey are nearly always followed by ups. Sure enough, we hit a section aptly named, Steep Climb, that had steps carved into the side of the hill. Oh and I passed a ski lift along the way.

Not too long afterwards though, we popped out of the cool woods and into a beautiful, green, grassy field where we stayed for a few more miles. We'd see other portions of this field later in the race again. This was about the only place that sunglasses would have been nice to have. I wore some, but honestly, I wouldn't wear them again to this race unless I was doing the 50k and running into the mid-late morning. You really don't need them with all the shade.

A wide swath had been cut through the grasslands and tiny purple flowers created a patchwork of bright color woven into the green. The trail continued on after the grassy knoll, diving back into the woods. It mostly was a wide jeep or horse trail covered in soft dirt and leaves while in the dense coverage. At one point, a giant, white-tailed deer bounded across the trail less than 30 feet away.

I love the solitude of trail running. I occasionally chat with someone for a few minutes, but mostly I enjoy the quiet time away from the real world and really take in the sights and smells of a different place. This was the perfect escape.

The trail continued through it's ups and downs until about the 7.5 mile mark where it dumped to a flat spot along the St Croix river for less than a mile. It was welcome relief for the legs for a few minutes. I took the headphone out of my ear and just listened to the river lap up against the steep bluffs. This section was short lived, though and it was back into the trees for another climb.

Then at mile 9.5, we popped back out to an aid station where my friend, Deeann was there waiting to say hello and take a few pictures. She'd never been to a trail run before and was just in awe of the carb buffet and how much fun people were having - runners and volunteers alike. Maybe I can convert her someday. :)

From there, it was another blissful, flat mile along the river again. I'd stayed behind a tall man sporting a shirt that said, "There's a nap in my future" for most of the race. He managed to catch a good break here and slowly left me behind.

The next 3.5 miles were more grasslands and trees, though the hills weren't bad. THe first 50k runners were starting to lap me at this point. The male and overall winner was blazing fast. He won with just over a 6.5 minute average. Wow! The woman who won could be Letha's twin sister. She was fast and looked great! Both offered up a "good job" as they swept by.

The final aid station came at 12.5 miles and I knew there was really only one big hill left to the finish. What I didn't remember is that most of this last few miles was basically a gently downhill. What a way to go! This is where the trail turned into a singletrack snowshoe trail. It was narrow and more like what we're used to in TX. It was quiet but for the sound of footbeats, breathing and myriad of birds cheering me on to the finish. The one steep climb on this portion was enough that it helped to grab onto trees to help pull you up. The 6th place 50k runner passed me in this area also grabbing trees to get himself up. He looked tired, but still had enough to finish up.

FInally, at the top of the last small hill, I saw the cars parked on the side of the road and knew the end was near. I could hear the crowds cheering for their runners. I came across the finish line to find Deeann grinning and happy to see me still upright. The finish line had hot burgers waiting for us at at 11:15 in the morning, it was still only 80 degerees!

I chatted with RD for a few minutes and he actually remembered me registering early and thanked me for coming all the way up. I got a personal e-mail from him later that evening again. Nice touch.

Overall, it's just a really good race and because of the beauty for the entire time, just nudged the Shadow of the Giants out of the top spot for my favorite race. I will definitely come back for this one and suggest you take a look at it.

Off for a nap, a Twins game, fried cheese curds and beer! I'll throw in some pictures when I get back...IF I come back. :)

Afton MN 25k - Elevation profile or EKG?

I never should have looked!

The other day I was downloading a bunch of information for my upcoming trip to Minnesota and found an elevation profile for the 25k I'm doing on Saturday. Holy carp! Is this an elevation profile or the last EKG?!

When I originally signed up for this race, I was planning to do the 50k and was training for it well. An injury and then a virus knocked me off my training plan so I relented and had the RD lower me down to the 25k.

I still haven't been training much with all the work lately and with biking. I'm hoping that with all my distance biking the past 6 weeks or so, I have the endurance to make it through this race. I know I'll finish, but this certainly won't be my best race...especially if you look at these hills!

I'll post more after the race. Enjoy your 4th of July weekend!

Survivor 18 open casting

Survivor is one of the most intriguing shows around these days. People sneer that it's not really about survival, and surely it was never really set up to be that way. It's all about the social game - testing limits and testing trust. By far, it's my favorite show around and I haven't missed a single episode! Friends know this and have been trained not to call me between 7-8pm on Thursdays. I just don't answer the phone.

One thing I love about Survivor is that anyone can apply to see if they can be selected to be on the next cast. In some seasons, few if any applicants were actually cast; while many were just found on the street by casting agents mainly out in CA. That, however, hasn't stopped thousands of people from still trying to get on the show.

I love going to these things as you see people of all shapes and sizes trying to get on as well. One that caught my eye while I was waiting to go was a HUGE man, probably a biker, who sported a big mustache and was wearing a bandana. He had a huge, boisterous laugh that caught my attention. Knowing the physical limitations of the show, he wouldn't last long, but he would be fun to watch, possibly.

Last season was a good one with true fans getting an opportunity to play against some recent favorites. It was a great idea and great for getting real fans back on the show. I'd have killed to be on that season.

In years past, I thought about applying and had many friends say that I should, but commitments to the Reserves and my "real" job made it difficult to get away. Now that I've retired from the Air Force, an 8 week trip away to an undisclosed location doesn't seem nearly as much of a hurdle as it had in the past.

Last Friday there was an open audition again out at a local Honda dealership, so I figured it was time to give it a shot again. I'd done one last year and knew I'd blown it as soon as I walked out the door. This year, I had a better plan and idea of where I wanted to go with the plea for a callback. Did it work? It remains to be seen, but it felt much better this year.

I think I spoke way to quickly in order to get everything into the 2 minute requirement. I tried to make a point that the usual 35-45 year old woman they cast is either a wallflower, UTR player or one that is too old to help out much. I want to actually play the game agressively, rather than let it play me, y'know? I have a plan and want to win this sucker, not just show up and be one of the cast, only to go home.

Lynne Spillman and the rest of the casting team, please call me! :)

Things I like on the ride in...

I'm loving these morning rides to work.

Things I like:
Hearing birds waking up and chirping wildly.
Watching the sun wake up and warm the sky.
Seeing people walking their dogs.
Riding over bridges with water underneath...especially the Sandy Lake bridge over the dam.
Saying "hi" to joggers and other riders.
Cool mornings...or just cooler than the afternoon heat.
Endorphin buzz all day!
Lots of calories burned...LOTS!
Seeing manicured lawns.
Getting ideas for the yard.
The housing development east of Marsh and south of Forest Ln.
Making it up hills easier each time (and not in the granny gear).
Tailwinds
Sound of sprinkers... chh chh chh chh chh fttttfttttfttttftttttttt chh chh chh chh
Squirrels playing in the trees and lawns.
Passing under the freeway; looking up to see all the cars backed up to a crawl. I win!

Things I don't like -
Traffic and scary drivers
Glass
Stoplights
Headwinds

Swimming discovery

"Swimming is not a sport. It's a way to keep from drowning."
--George Carlin, comedian

This morning I went to the pool before work to get in about 25 minutes of swimming. I want to be prepared for the next tri and not panic again. Yikes!

During the Danskin tri, I noticed that I had a hard time catching my breath, even after I'd settled down. I think this morning I figured out part of the problem.

As I was doing laps, practicing breathing on both sides, I realized that I was starting to lose my breath again. I just felt as if I couldn't catch in enough air between strokes. I realized that I was blowing out my nose instead of both the nose and mouth. I found I was still exhaling when I should only be inhaling. "When I run, I breathe through my mouth more, so why shouldn't it work the same when swimming," I thought.

Sure enough, I started blowing out more air from my nose and mouth and was able to go longer and felt as if I could breathe easier. I found myself going back to the old habit, only to correct it shortly afterwards. It's definitely self-critiquing. :) It may take a while to get into the new habit again, but I figure if I swim twice a week from now until the next tri in August, it should work itself out.

Cheers!

Tasty summer treat with rum!

I had a watermelon smoothie last summer and had completely forgotten about it until this weekend. I picked up a seedless watermelon for Greg and Deeann's visit, but hadn't gotten to it. Since it was hot again this weekend (welcome to TX), I figured I'd see if it was still good, and make this treat out of it.

Here's what you do.

Cut open the watermelon (it's key that this is a seedless melon) and scoop out the flesh into a blender.

Blend that sucker up until it's frothy. I like mine with small chunks in it. You may have to do this several times, depending on how big your blender and the melon are. Just move the juice into another container to blend more.

Pour the watermelon juice over ice in a tall glass.

Add rum (mango rum tastes great!) or vodka. Add a lime to cut the sweetness.

Suck it on down. It's low calorie, refreshing and a crowd pleaser!

More riding!

Woo hoo! Made it home safely last night, another 26 miles, but was pretty wiped out with the heat and ride earlier in the morning. SUrprisingly enough, I wasn't hungry when I made it, but knew I had to chow down something. I stumbled on a pair of scrumptious crab cakes left over from Greg and Deeann's visit. Ah, it was a slice of heaven!

Needless to say, I slept like a baby last night, that is, until Tweak woke me up at 5:20 this morning. I don't know how she knows it, but she wakes me up nearly every morning 20 minutes before the alarm is supposed to go off. Nearly every day, the alarm goes off at different times. I think she knows.

In any case, I got up this morning early to do another ride with Debbie up in Corinth. We met up with the Corinth Cycling Club and a few friends. We rode another 35 miles today and though it was tough, we had a great time! We stopped for breakfast at a great little place in old Denton called Fuzzy's! Wow, what a treat!

So I'm up over 300 miles on the bike since I got it about a month ago! Wow!

26 miles to Love Field

Yay! I tried my first bike commute to SWA this morning from Lewisville and had a blast, figuratively and literally! Maybe I'm just still riding high from the endorphins.

Here's the route: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/SWA-to-Lewisville

I left around 6:10. Official sunrise is at 6:20 right now, but with the early dawn and some cloud cover it seemed bright enough to leave. This morning was cooler and less breezy than it has been lately, maybe around 75 degrees or so, which is much cooler than when I've been commuting to REI in the late mornings.

The route I take overlaps with the first half of my route to REI, so it's becoming somewhat normal now. I have a couple of spots where I know I should be at a certain time. My friend Rob, for instance, lives in Coppell at the 9-ish mile mark. I got to his house about 8 minutes sooner than I have been lately, this time at about the 37 minute mark. My next checkpoint is the hour mark, which is usually when I cross under 35E. Today, I hit that same spot at 50 minutes. WHee!! I must be getting stronger and this doesn't feel like work!

Where my paths to REI and SWA diverge is right around Josey and Beltline. The roads through this area all the way to 635 underpass are busy and have a lot of traffic. Fortunately, it was still only about 7:10am so I'm hoping the traffic was a little light. I tried to stay on sidewalks where I could, but it seems as if there was a lot of glass on them.

I made it past that hairy part and was on the last 6 mile home stretch. This takes me through some pretty neighborhoods north of Love Field and east of the 'hood area. I felt safe. Next thing you know, I was popping out on Northwest Hwy and thinking I'd make it to work in about 1:45 or 1:50 which is under the 2 hours I'd estimated. Sure enough, I hit some glass, heard a popping sound that didn't sound like a rock, and as I crossed Northwest Hwy to Bachman Lake, I noticed that the back tire was flat. Damn!

Fortunately, that spot is about 1.5 miles from the back door of work. At that point, I weighed the option of changing the tire there or walking it in. Either way, it was going to be about hte same amount of time, so I opted to just walk it. I secretly hoped someone I work with might see me and throw the bike in the back, but no luck. Or maybe they did see me and kept going. LOL!

In any case, it went well and I love it. I have a spare and will change it out before I leave today. Actually, I need to make sure I can get a ride if I don't get it changed out. LOL! The ride home should be interesting as well as it'll be warmer and probably more traffic. Hope to leave around 5-5:30 to make it home.

Oh and there's another ride tomorrow morning. 30 miles with Debbie and Donna. Yay!

HAPPY SUMMER, everyone!