20061130

Turkey Trot update, belated

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving and in Columbusm OH there was at around 9am a crowd of several thousand people waiting to start running down Lane Ave. I was one of them, along with my aunt, uncle and their two fourteen year old boys. The weather was excellent. Just cold enough you did not mind wearing the layers but not so cold you lost feeling in your toes and fingers. And there was clear skies and no wind to top it all off. There were 1000 pies each for the first 1000 men and women that crossed the finish line. While I did not get a pie, I did do better than last year.
My time was 0:57:30 which is a minute more than the last time I ran on the treadmill, but more than six minutes less than last years Trot.
So, I have an average of 0:11:30 for a mile. If I really want the pie, I need to get that down to around 0:09:30 or so in order to have any kind of a chance. I also think that means I need to get off of the treadmill and get outside more often.
It is good to have goals.
It also helps to brainwash yourself by repeating them frequently. *grin*

I hope everyone is doing well and as I said before I will try to post more often once classes end in just over two weeks.
*smiles*

20061114

radio silence

The radios silence will probably continue until the middle of December. Nothing bad going on, just life.

I hae found that if we do not spend a few evenings together each week, my wife and I start to get annoyed with each other very quickly. It only took five years of marriage for that one to sink in for me. Never said I was quick.

Two graduate classes takes up a lot of time in the evenings and weekends. Neat stuff. IT law and a class in Leadership. The law class has been a real eye opener into how things like copyright and trademarks work. The leadership course is mostly fluff, but it does get me thinking about the concepts even though I frequently disagree with the author.

Our son also keeps us jumping during the daylight hours. I am not home too often during his waking hours so I do what I can to help out as much as possible when I am around during that time. For some reason my wife likes to be able to take a shower and feel like a normal human once in a while, go figure.

I try to work out three times a week in anticipation of next weeks Turkey Trot. I am still under an hour for the five miles and my ability to run without having to take breaks is also improving. A year ago it really did not feel like I would ever be able to run two miles with no walking breaks but I can now.

I do still play DnD once a week. That is about it for the activities on my list of hobbies. *sigh* All those comic books going unread and robotic legoes unassembled, it is truly sad.

My reading (not a hobbie any more than breathing is one) of late has been going back through the fifty or so linear feet of fantasy and science fiction books in my office and re-reading ones I have not looked at in many years. Plus the almost annual re-reading of all things Pratchett. Good thing I hate getting rid of books I enjoyed reading!

Much more than I expected to write, back to the grind.
*smiles*

20061102

fiction part 2

Dark smoke and light morning fog swirl between the trees. The bulk of the wreckage is scattered in the distance but even this far away there are pieces of debris and torn tree limbs strewn about. One section of woods does not seem quite right. Instead of smoke or fog it appears as though one of the clouds is spilling out of its own crater. He tastes the electricity in the air at the same time he sees a flicker deep inside the cloud. He tentatively approaches, no longer sure if it was a flash of light or of movement within the cloud. The crater is more a scar, a line made by something driving into the ground at an angle, ending suddenly at an out cropping of stone. The stones themselves have been toppled. The cloud seems to be flowing out from behind and below the stones. Flickering light and the taste of static get stronger as he makes his way almost by feel through the tumbled stones. A sudden gust of wind reviews a figure trapped among the rubble. The cloud quickly reforms, obscuring the stuggling figure. Not sure he can trust his own eyes, he calls out to let them know help is on the way. The static is getting worse as he scrambles down the stones. A sudden flash reveals the area as lightning seems to dance among the stones, causing him to shield his eyes and drop to the ground. He hears stones being moved as he starts to stand up. The wind is stronger now, pulling the strange cloud away faster than it can form. As his vision clears he sees that the figure is not longer trapped but is struggling to move itself out of the crater away from him. Maybe it is the after effects of the lightning flash but he can not see any detail on the figure. There are two arms and two legs and a head but its entire surface is a uniform pebbly grey. He rubs his eyes in disbelief and slows down his approach through the crater debris. The stones and trees around him are in perfect detail. He looks again to the struggling form. Its limbs do not seem to want to support its weight as is drags itself over obstacles. Lightning is dancing around one fist, grounding itself with small pops against anything it touches. Wisps of cloud are forming on its pebbled surface. He moves closer to it, not sure what he is doing there. Again he calls out to it, gently, as he is almost on top of it now. The figure stiffens and starts to spin around to face him. The fist covered in lighting swings toward him in an awkward arc. He does not even think as he lifts the crowbar to ward off the wild strike. A brilliant blue flash fills his eyes as the crowbar meets the arm just below the fist. Both he and the figure are knocked backwards and left sprawled on the ground, electricity dancing over them.