Jim's Guts

Quick hits…

George Carlin died on Saturday of heart failure. My folks where pretty great in exposing me to a lot of comedy; I grew up listen to the old classics like the "Jack Benny Show" to the newer stuff like Steve Martin, the Firesign Theater, and of course Carlin. While most people will point to his groundbreaking "Seven Words You Can't Say On TV" my favorite is off his first album, "Wonderful WINO Radio". RIP George.

I've never met Steve, but I read his blog regularly because he's funny and upbeat. He just seems to have a great outlook on life, so it was a little hard to read his race report on his struggles at "Grandma's Marathon" this weekend. That said, it's a great reminder that races don't always turn out the way we expect them to…

Saturday was the annual Susan G. Komen Seattle Race For The Cure which was well attended by our group of friends. The L&T was there with her mom, as was Fina with her son Michael, sister Sandi, and their folks Mr. & Mrs. Gray. Most everyone walked but as was my tradition (my mother was a 10 year survivor) I ran in the co-ed 5k event. My goal was to run 9:30 miles, which I did finishing in 29:20, but I was a little disappointed after I finished because I think I left 20 seconds out on the course. After the run/walk we went to Lola for breakfast which was great!

I got a couple of new bike helmets (yes, that's plural) – My old Giro helmet had one crash in it, and while it wasn't directly involved there were still one good mark, so it needed to be replaced which I did with a new Specialized. Then my quest to get faster in Time Trials led me to get my first TT Helmet, a Louis Garneau Rocket Air (black & white). So why the entry on bike helmets? To highlight a great column from David Hinckley, it's not that Barak Obama looks dorky in a bike helmet; it's that everyone looks dorky in a bike helmet. That said, dorky or no, I won't ride without one or ride with someone who isn't wearing one.

 

Cats and engineers...

I'm a dog person. Have been all my life. That said, I'm also a geek (try to contain your shock), and this is pretty dang funny. Make sure you watch the credits. Enjoy...

Quick hits…

Part of the lack of posting was due to the 5^th annual New York Get Your Guts In Gear Ride, which was great!! I got a chance to meet Mr. Suitcase in person and a to get to know him better as we did 2 days of route marking together. Chris – Thanks for making such a hard job fun!! Upstate New York is very pretty (it's not the Pacific Northwest, but it's still pretty), it was HOT and HUMID (you never understand the phrase "it's not the heat it's the humidity" till you experience it), and a great deal of fun. Chris has a great write-up on the weekend here if you're interested.

The Lovely & Talented Mrs. Smith now has a home on TypePad.

It's nice to hear stories about NFL teams doing something for their community, but it's even nicer when the story is filed after the fact, and not by the team. The New Orleans' Saints coaching staff felt that it would be a good idea to put in a day of work rebuilding parts the still ravaged city. The thing was kept quiet till well after it was done, and was then released by the organization that they worked with. Read the story here.

Politics has never been "clean". It's fine for the electorate to wish for "a simpler time" when the candidates talked only about "the issues", but the truth is that hasn't happened in our countries history. There have been personal attacks on candidates back to the time of Washington, and there always will be. What has changed is the way that those attacks are spread, and I think the Obama campaign has come up with a brilliant counter – Fight the Smears.

Thank God that at least 5 of the Supreme Court Justices had the common sense to rule that just because people don't like us doesn't mean that we can wad up the Constitution any old time we feel like it. The true test of this great country isn't how we follow our founding principles when things are good, but how we stick to them when things are bad. Here's a great snarky piece on why it's probably not the end of the world to reinstate habeas corpus

Quick, did you know that the Space Shuttle Discovery was in orbit? It was, and after 14 days it landed safely. This also lets me get in a plug for one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time – "In the Shadow of the Moon"

Oh – Fina, I promise to get back to regular posting soon, please don't pull me off your bookmarks ;-)

 

Best headline in a long time…

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post hits one out of the park;

Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens

2 people I admire…

I think the word "Hero" is used too often and too frequently used incorrectly, so with that in mind I wanted to spotlight two young ladies that I really have come to admire, and both are proof that when you set your mind to it, you can do great things.

First up is one of my CycleU coaches – Tammy. Setting aside the fact that she decided to give up corporate life and become a multi-sport coach and athlete (which in and of itself makes her pretty brave in my book), Coach T just finished her first Ironman – Ironman South Africa! Nothing quite says commitment (or is it saying she should be committed) like signing up to do a full Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) half the world away from your friends and family. We're proud of you T!

Last Friday I had the chance to meet an extraordinary young woman, Ms. Ally Bain. Back in 2004 then 14 year old Ally was shopping with her mom at an Old Navy store (I still won't shop at Old Navy) when suddenly Ally had to use the bathroom. Now those that have been out with me in the past know that when you have IBD and you have to go to the bathroom you have to go now, not in 30 minutes, or not when you get home. NOW! Well the same was true for Ally, but the manager at the store said that they didn't have public restrooms and there would be no exception, and sadly Ally had an accident. After some pressing Old Navy apologized and changed their policy, but that wouldn't help at other stores. Then Ally remembered meeting her State Representative while on a school field trip the previous year, and with the help of her parents, she got in touch with Rep. Ryg. Together they introduced and had passed the "Restroom Access Act" which is also known as "Ally's Law". When I think about the future of this country or even the world, then I meet kids like Ally, I think, you know what, we're going to be okay…

Happy Birthday to the L&T

Just wanted to take a minute to say Happy Birthday to my friend, my partner, and the love of my life, the Lovely & Talented Mrs. Smith.

Quick hits…

I've been in New York City & Brooklyn for the last few days, which is always a trip. I've been told that Brooklyn is a borough and actually officially part of NYC, but it also has 3 million residents, which seems a little big for a "neighborhood" to me. Anyway I've been in town for a Get Your Guts In Gear strategic planning session (all day Friday) and annual in person board meeting (all day Saturday), both of which went very well. There was some discussion about trying to do something this (Saturday) evening, but honestly I'm exhausted, so I think we'll find somewhere close to have dinner and call it a day early.

New York is a unique place, I mean if you're a west coast guy like me, you grew up seeing this place on TV and in the movies. You see the stereotypes of the "Italian Guy", and the "Street Vendor", the "Crazy Subway person" but then you get here and realize that they're all based on real people. I didn't get the "subway guy" this trip (I did last trip though) but I did go to lunch at a little deli run by two women who you'd swear just got off the Sopranos' set. I mean right out of Central Casting. Highly amusing…

Last NYC thing… I respect that public transportation system that New York has but had never ridden the subway at rush hour till this trip. Yikes. There was literally no place to move or go, you just get on, hang on and try to get off at your exit. It made me wonder about summer, it gets hot in NYC, so you get all these hot, sweaty people crammed into a little metal tube. That has got to be uncomfortable to as the least. Yikes.

I heard a great dating story that I have to share – Women goes on a 1^st date / blind date with a guy for dinner and drinks. The date is going well and drinks turns into a far amount of drinks, or as she put it "smashed". So they had back towards her place and stop at a local dive pub near her apartment. They order a round when he decides to go to the restroom. She sits there for a minute or two, wonders what she's doing in this bar of all places, gets and pays the tab and heads home, completely forgetting about her date. The guy comes back from the restroom, sits down thinking that maybe she had gone to the restroom, and waits for her return. After about 15 minutes he asks the bartender if he knows what happened to the women he had come in with. "Yeah, she paid the bill and left". D'oh! The post script is that they ended up dating for a couple of years after that. And women wonder why guys get confused…

Finally medical news – Part of the joy have having IBD is regular colonoscopies, and while anything that would make that easier would be a welcome relief, I'm really not fond of the idea of putting "self-propelled devices" in there. Some things I don't want done by robots, "3 laws" or no…

Awareness test…

The best messages are the ones you don't have to overly explain – Go try this.

Quick hits…

Brett retires – The greatest quarterback I've ever seen play is hanging them up. No doubt that Farve will be a first ballot Hall of Fame guy, but I'll just add my voice to the chorus that are saying thank you to #4 for making football a lot of fun to watch these last 17 seasons.

L&T got me Patrick McDonald's Mutts collection of Sunday morning strips called "Sunday Evenings" for Christmas and I was finally able to start reading it. The thing that has always impressed me about McDonald wasn't just the strips themselves, which are great, but the fact that he uses the "title" panel to tell a story within the story. Fantastic artwork and something that frequently makes you think.

Could we please put someone in the Whitehouse who can speak English? Heck, at this point I'd accept someone speaking American. Instead we get Mr. Bush:

"I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who were trying to defeat us in Iraq."-- George W. Bush to Lt. General Ray Odierno today, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Gary Gygax dead at 69 – Yep, I played D&D, and honestly I wish more kids today would pick it up. Besides the game, and fun, and hanging out busting on friends, old school D&D forced you to use math skills ("hit points", "roll for success"), to learn how to chart things ("where the hell are we", "how do we get back to that room"), to learn how to cooperate ("look we need to figure out what we're going to do"), and most importantly it taught us to use our imagination. It was up to the players to imagine the rooms they were in and the monsters they were facing. In the age of Xbox (and yes, I have one) and DVDs I'm not sure that kids are using their imagination much anymore. And I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks "Garfield" hasn't been funny in decades, but this site actually makes the strip funny and a tad disturbing by removing the cat (hat tip to the L&T).

What I’m reading…

There is a lot of really quality stuff out on the interwebs (and yes, there's a lot of crap out there too), so in what could quite possibly be one in an ongoing series, here's some articles and posts that I think are well worth a read, I hope you will as well…

"The thin I aways wanted to be" – When you're an athlete, whether it's a weekend 5k sort of thing, or a paid professional, it's easy to get caught up in always trying to be better, faster, stronger, thinner, the list just goes on and on… But sometimes it's important to stop and think not about where you're going, and what you still need to do, but about where you are and where you've been. I think this Athena Diaries post nails it.

"Defining Victory Downward" – Michael Kinsley can be pretty hot and cold for me but I think he nails it here. Is "The Surge" working? Well, some violence is down, but the original idea of the surge was to be able to bring even more troops home, and that's not happening. Or as Kinsley so accurately puts it:

"Imagine that you had been told in 2003 that when George W. Bush finished his second term, dozens of American soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis would be dying violently every month; that a major American goal would be getting the Iraqi government to temper its "debaathification" campaign so that Saddam Hussein's former henchmen could start running things again (because they know how); and that "only" 100,000 American troops would be needed to sustain this equilibrium.

"You might have several words to describe this situation, but "success" would not be one of them."

"Castro Resigns! Sanctions Work!" – Jon Swift at his snarkiest best.

"When all you have is Hate" – While I may be hot and cold on Kinsley, I'm almost always cold on David Brooks. And his attempt to write a witty article on how all us who are looking for positive change are just setting ourselves up for "Obama Comedown Syndrome" is just one of the reasons. Fortunately there are guys like Driftglass to author an excellent rebuttal.

"The printer is right here..."

This isn't the "Friday morning pick-me-up" but if you're not a fan of my music choices (the L&T) perhaps this will be a good substitute. Eddie Izzard is one of the funniest guys on the planet, and this is a great routine about technology...

Being an adult…

When you were a little kid you thought about what life would be like when you were a "grown-up". You thought about what you'd do, and imagine that there wouldn't be any stupid rules. You'd go to bed when you wanted and get up when you wanted. You'd eat what you wanted and however much if it you wanted. What you didn't realize at the time is that there would still be stupid rules, and you really can't go to be when you want to because you have to get up in the morning "gotta get up and take on that world, when you're an adult, it's no cliché it's the truth".

And then some time it's everything you thought would be. Last night I had a team meeting so I got a chance to meet one of my brothers at the always excellent Sand Point Grill. I had a drink, some excellent food, and got to laugh a catch-up. All "on a school night". Yep, sometimes being an adult is better than you thought it would be.

Quick hits…

…Indiana Jones Edition! The trailer for the 3^rd Indiana Jones movie ("Temple of Doom" never happened, do you hear me? It never happened) was just released, so how about an Indy quotes edition?

Sallah: Please, what does it always mean, this... this "Junior"?
Professor Henry Jones: That's his name… Henry Jones...Junior
Indiana Jones: I like "Indiana."
Professor Henry Jones: We named the *dog* Indiana.
Sallah: You are named after the dog? HA HA HA...!
Indiana Jones: I've got a lot of fond memories of that dog. – Maybe the best set of lines in the series, but I have to admit, the new one looks pretty good, you can see it here.

Marcus Brody: The search for the Grail is the search for the divine in all of us. But if you want facts, Indy, I've none to give you. At my age, I'm prepared to take a few things on faith. – When Coach T reads this she's either going to be amused or disappointed, but really, since when wasn't lactic acid what caused your muscles to fatigue? Apparently it's been a while, but now they think they know what's happening according to this New York Times article. Calcium ions being released in the cell, and they've figured out how to stop it (in mice). Science is always changing.

Marion: Well, Jones, at least you haven't forgotten how to show a lady a good time
Indiana: Boy, you're something – So how did the Smith's celebrate Valentine's Day? I went to InCycle and she went to a step class at her gym. We did share a dessert while watching "Countdown". Who said romance is dead?

Professor Henry Jones: My son, we're pilgrims in an unholy land – I've never met anyone more fearful than this President and his enablers. Everywhere you look it's "scary brown people coming to kill you". I refuse to let fear guide my action, Olbermann agrees.

Odd post script…

If you read my "report" of the day that the L&T and I scattered Mr. Stout's ashes then you know that a fair number of odd and wondrous things happened that day. Well, the L&T was balancing the checkbook tonight and noted that the bill from where we stopped for breakfast that morning (the one with the waitress who is studying to be a Physician's Assistant) hasn't cleared. We were the only ones in the restaurant, and we paid by debt card, it's not like a check was pocketed or cash lost, or even that it got lost in the bustle. The charge hasn't cleared.

In a very difficult week (I've been battling the flu and a change in my UC), it was a good reminder that things aren't always what they appear to be…

Hiring Heroes…

I've said frequently that regardless of your personal feelings about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the men and women who are, or have been, at the "sharp end of the spear" deserve all of the support that we can provide. Regardless of their own personal feelings or their reasons for joining, all of them raised their right-hand and swore to protect and defend our country and Constitution. Yet the current administration has shown, let's say a "casual" attitude towards our returning veterans, disabled or not.

Sometimes necessity really is the mother of invention*, and so like Vote Vets before them, a couple of disabled veterans decided the only way something was going to get done was to do it themselves, so they created Hire Heroes USA, a placement service for wounded veterans. There is no cost to the vet or the employer. If you know someone in HR, or your own company is looking, I recommend checking them out.

* I'm a huge believer in self sufficiency, and I almost always think that private citizens and organizations are significantly better than the government at handling most things. That said, veterans, and in particular disabled veterans, are kind of a special case. We (that is the people of this country) sent them into harm's way, it's our responsibility to make sure they're taken care of when they comeback.

And the award for…

…Most excellent use of greyhounds goes to! As I've said before, the web is a fun and interesting place; I got to the linked to this post through a comment on one of my coaches' blogs, but I'm stoked that I did. I can't even imagine getting our two Golden Retrievers, Eli and Toby, to sit still for a regular picture (Eli wants "pats" and Toby wants to retrieve a tennis ball), let alone pose them with books! And they're 13 and 8!

Bonus – Here's a little amusement from the one of my favorite Wingnuts, Michelle "Internment Works" Malkin:

So, Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain. He extolled McCain for "reach[ing] across the political aisle to get things done."
We'll hear that annoying platitude a bazillion and one times through Super Tuesday and beyond.

To which I say: When did it become the Republican Party's top priority to "get things done?"

Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up…

Quick hits…

…Bike edition

Well I've got at least one more season of racing ahead. My freshly renewed USA Cycling license arrived today (#266220 if you're scoring at home), and I entered the 2008 Frostbite Time Trial on February 24^th in Everett, WA. It's a 9 mile, out and back course, which looks mostly flat. We'll see. It does mean that I've got to get new tires soon.

Speaking of "new" how about a little bike porn courtesy of the fine folks at Orbea? I'm not totally thrilled with the color of blue (I prefer navy blue, go figure), but the rest of her is fantastic. And light, she comes with the new SRAM Red group and weighs 15.05 pounds. And the cost? Only $5,640.

I'm thrilled to be on a cycling team, really I am. I honestly believe that it can only help my cycling. That said, what in the hell are they doing calling for a team ride scheduled for the same time as the Seahawks' Divisional Playoff game? Hopefully I'll get to see the second half.

Finally, this is not the place to look for up to date Get Your Guts In Gear information, but I'd be remise if I didn't mention that we had to change the date of the Texas ride. That ride will now be taking place on October 17^th – 19^th. We found out in late December that this guy who won the Tour de France 7 times in a row had moved some charity ride he does to the same weekend we were originally scheduled for. We figured we'd cut the guy some slack and change our dates, you know, so he wouldn't have to compete against us. Because, you know, that's how we roll…

Friday, January 11, 1991…

17 years ago today, at 5:30pm on a snowy Seattle winter's eve (actually it was in Shoreline) I married the Lovely & Talented Mrs. Smith. 17 years sounds like it should be a long time ago, but it really isn't. Don't get me wrong, if the old saying "it's not the years, it's the mileage" is accurate, well, then we've put on the mileage. Sickness and health, births and deaths, travel, adventure, good times, great times, and yes, some bad times too. The longer I've been married to the L&T, the harder it becomes to remember what life was like without her.

After all this time I'm still not sure why she said "I will" that night, but I'm grateful for it every day…

Quick hits…

Vacation photos – I’ve kind of avoided the whole post your pictures online thing, figuring “who’d want to see my vacation photos except us”. But I was talking about it with classmate while spinning the other day and came to the rationalization that I love seeing my friends’ photos online. I really enjoy getting to see them, what they did, where they went, and the like. So I’ve posted our San Diego trip pictures on Flickr. It’s a public album and you can find them here if you’re interested…

The hardest birthday party I’ve ever been to – One of my coaches had a birthday party last night, but it wasn’t you typical cake and ice cream sort of event, or even an adults go out for drinks thing. It was a two hour, kick your arse, spinning class, complete with rolling hills and a time trial. Maybe the hardest spinning class I’ve ever done, but it was a blast. Oh, and for the record, we went out for beer after…

Global climate change – It’s snowing again in Western Washington. And while that alone isn’t too big a surprise, the fact that it’s the 3rd snowfall of the year is. Historically, Seattle got one or maybe two snows a year (and not every year), but over the last couple of years that’s been changing. Western Washington is now seeing more frequent and greater quantities of snow than previously recorded. Global climate changes isn’t a hoax, and it’s not just a vast liberal conspiracy, the climate is changing, and while you can argue the long term effects and what it means for the planet and humanity, you can’t really argue that it isn’t happening…

Cool Christmas gift – I need to, as the kids would say, give a shout-out (because I'm hip like that) to our “niece” “m” (of M & m) for one of the cooler gifts I’ve received in a while. I had hoped it was going to be a Boise Youth Rider Development Squad jersey (BYRDS is the team "m" rides for). And it was, but at first glance it seemed way too small for me. Then I noticed the left shoulder had not only been signed, but personalized, by former World and multi-time National Champion Kristin Armstrong! Click on the thumbnail for a better view. Thanks again M & m!

“Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K…”

As days go, yesterday may have been one of my most surreal in many a year. To set the stage I should mention that in addition to going to the Poinsettia Bowl, the larger more overarching reason for our trip to San Diego was to scatter Mr. Stout's ashes. I decided to do that yesterday…

We started the day by cruising up the coast roads from Mission Beach (where the L&T and I are staying) up to La Jolla where we decided to have some breakfast. The spot we stopped had a nice view of the La Jolla Cove, and while chatting with our extremely perky waitress she mentioned she had just completed her finals the previous night. That prompted the usual "Where are you going, what are you studying" line of questions. At that point she mentioned that she was studying to be a Physician's Assistant. Umm, that's great, odd coincidence that it was Eric's profession, but still…

After breakfast we went up to a place Stout and I spent many hours and countless numbers of quarters, University Towne Center. Saturday mornings were usually spent with breakfast at The Broken Yolk (the L&T and I will be having our pre-game breakfast there later today) then up to UTC for a movie, hanging out, and playing video games. Besides the fact that it has gotten a lot bigger and the video game place was closed, it was pretty much the same UTC we left 20 years ago.

I wanted to spread Stout's ashes that afternoon, so we went to Sunset Cliffs, another frequent stop for us. The L&T stayed up on the cliffs as I made my way down a bit, and after a bit of pondering, I finally said my San Diego goodbye. I worked my way back up, and we got in our car and prepared to take off. The song that was just starting as we left? "Dead Man's Party" by Stout & Smith favorite Oingo Boingo (we must have seen them in concert 10 or 11 times). Like I said, surreal…

Next stop was the former Naval Training Center, San Diego (soon to be called, and I'm not making this up, click the link – "Liberty Station") where Stout and I went to boot camp. It's now a sub-division home, middle and high school, and commercial complex. Except for one thing – Back behind a Courtyard by Marriot still stands the U.S.S. Recruit, a plywood "ship" that was used to teach us how recruits how to get on and off of ships, how to "dog" hatches (shutting watertight doors), and other arcane bits of seamanship. Weird…

We went to the Navy pep rally onboard the U.S.S. Midway, formerly an aircraft carrier it's now a floating museum. It was kind of fun to show the L&T what life onboard a ship was like. The rally itself was short but fun. Before the rally we went to Seaport Village (another location of much hanging out, hey, we were poor) and while looking in one of the kitsch stores the L&T was looking at surfboard key chains and in the slot for "James" was an "Eric". Odd…

To finish the evening, we took a couple of "kids" to dinner. We had met Ens. Rigney almost 5 years ago in Houston at the EV1.net Bowl, she's the niece of our friends Sharon & Gemma, and we hung out briefly before that game. When I knew we were coming down to SD, I got in touch with her to see if she'd be available for dinner. So Ens. Rigney, and her friend a Midshipmen 2^nd Class (that's a Junior to most of you) met us at Island Prime (great steaks). I was struck at dinner by the fact that I was there celebrating the end of two Navy careers with two "kids" just starting theirs. It was a nice way to finish an excellent adventure…

Quick Hits…

Thoughts from the "City by the Bay"…

I'm in San Francisco visiting with friend J. I love SF, the sights, sounds, and smells remind me of my youth (the folks and I came over to SF at least once a year). That said, I feel the same way about SF that I do about NYC – It's a great city to visit, but there's no way I could live or work here. The food is fantastic though.

Speaking of food, here's a good omen… So I know what I said about Army v. Navy a couple of days ago, but the truth is that of course I want Navy to win. While waiting for J I decided to have a little breakfast so I walk a block or so and saw Lori's Diner and knew I had to eat there. It was at this same Lori's dinner that I had breakfast before the 2004 Emerald Bowl in which Navy won. Probably had the same thing too (French toast with a side bacon [Mmmmm…bacon]).

I've seen more fixed gear bikes here than any place I've ever been. I know the bike messengers in Seattle are pretty "hard", the San Francisco guys are no slouches.

I left the bike at the in-laws in Sacramento while here on the coast, which means running instead of riding. I hate to run.

In addition to the Army v. Navy game, the Stanford v. Cal "Big Game" happens on Saturday. One of the taller office buildings was flying giant Cal and Stanford flags. Gotta like that. Go Cal.

Don't know if I'll post anything on the Game or not, but till then GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!

Being Thankful…

The trails and tribulation of this year have been documented previously (and probably will be again at the end of the year), but as we in the United States approach our yearly holiday of giving thanks, it seemed an excellent time to reflect on the things I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful that Mr. Stout and I reconnected. We were exactly estranged but with his new wife they did what all newlyweds did and cocooned themselves. But the upside of his tumor was that we were able to remember why we were friends in the first place. It allowed us to relieve old memories, and shore up support for one another. Together we covered a lot of tough miles, but those last three weeks made sense of a lot of it. Of all the things I'm thankful for, this would (both literally and figuratively) be at the top of my list.

I'm thankful for family and friends, and I'm especially grateful that the line between the two has blurred for several of us. I doubt I could have made it through the last year in nearly as good a shape if it hadn't been for the brothers I weren't born with.

I'm thankful for new beginnings; the L&T's new job, friends getting married, children being born, and friends starting new and varied adventures. Being part of these renewals is an excellent reminder that life is constantly changing, and it's the changing that helps us most to grow.

I'm thankful for the fact that all things considered, my life is in a pretty good spot right now. Sure there've been some real challenges this year (and probably will be next year too), but my health is pretty stable right now, I'm getting to ride a fair amount, I'm getting to see friends on a regular basis, life is actually pretty good (now if I could only win the lottery…)

Finally, I'm thankful for the L&T, this year has seen a host of challenges, and she's been there for me every step of the way.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And remember to be more grateful for the things you have, than regretful about those you don't.

Grief…

Mikey posted this in the comments section of a Sadly, No! post about the anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. At the time I read it, I was moved by how accurate and yet succinct it was, now that Mr. Stout has died, I agree with it even more;

We measure our lives by the love of others, for that is what gives us purpose.
But we trace our history by the prices we pay.
It's hard, sometimes, to saddle up your shit and just keep going.
And it's ok, sometimes, just to remember, and to weep.
But then, in spite of the burden, we go on, for it is the pain that makes the joys real.

Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, love, and support which have meant the world to the L&T and me. Thanks also to Mikey for allowing me to use his eloquent words.

“The Prank”

Eastside Family Medicine, where Eric practiced, held a wonderful memorial for him last week. They closed the clinic for an hour and had everyone share thoughts, memories, and stories about Eric and his impact on them and the clinic. It was very touching, but knowing Eric, I'm sure he'd rather that it was a celebration instead of only sad memories, so during a quiet time I asked "Did he ever pull pranks on anyone", which lightened the mood slightly and led to a host of great stories. It also reminded me of the single greatest prank I've ever been involved with…

The medical facility at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a very large single building with various departments spread throughout. In addition to an Emergency Room, there was a small inpatient wing, x-ray, lab, and pharmacy departments, regular medical offices, recruit processing offices, an area for sick call, and most importantly for this story, a psychiatrist office. For reasons lost in the mists of time young Mr. Stout and I had a running gag exchange going with the "head-doc" (I think it started when I ate one of their gold fish, but that's another story), and one day we heard him tell someone that the one thing he missed from private practice was wall to wall carpeting. Hmmm…

With that knowledge in hand Stout and I started looking around for carpet. Well, not just carpet, but carpet remnants, you know the stuff, those little 1 to 3 foot squares of carpet samples. We collected a lot of them, mixing colors, styles, length, the works, as loud and as mismatched as possible, and then we waited for the weekend. Saturday evening we went into the doc's office, made notes about where things were, and then removed everything except the light fixtures. Now a good prank would be to lay down the carpet on the floor, but this wasn't a good prank, this was an epic prank so not only did we carpet the floor, but we carpeted the walls and the ceiling as well using a staple gun and a ton of staples. When we were done we put everything back where it was, desk, file cabinet, pictures, and degrees, the only thing different was that he had the "wall to wall" (not to mention floor to ceiling) carpet he wanted.

When doc got in on Monday we could hear him yelling from the other side of the clinic. The epilogue on the story is that of course we got busted, I think the punishment was to remove it all, fix the staple holes, and paint the office. In short, our Chief had to discipline us, but as everyone except the doc thought it was funny as hell (and though he couldn't admit it, I think the doc thought it was funny too) he didn't want to come down on us too hard.

To this day, it's the greatest prank I've ever taken part of, one of the best I've heard…

Quick Hits…

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Smith household, and as I'm sure everyone understands blogging has fallen pretty low on the list of things that need to be done. I've been typing at this post for a few days now, but because I'm having a hard time focusing on work right now (lots of projects in various states of hold, and waiting for additional data) I thought I'd try to get it published…

Obviously the biggest thing going on right now is Mr. Stout – The pathology report from his surgery confirmed the diagnosis we had expected, Glioblastoma multiforme or GBM. Currently Stout is still in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, trying to regain use of his left side, the arm and hand are coming along nicely, but the leg is still a little weak. He's getting around very well with a wheelchair, and pretty good with the walker. Thanks to everyone for their help, concern, thoughts, and prayers.

It's good that the weather has turned because I don't feel quite as bad about having not been on the bike in the last couple of weeks. There have been a couple of spinning sessions, but nothing that I could call truly training, mostly it's just turning the pedals around on the trainer. I've gone on exactly one "meet the team ride" (Team Cucina Fresca), but I'm really hoping to go to Saturday's Team Cycle U ride. I'm trying to convince myself that taking October off will help recharge my batteries so that I'm ready to go when my InCycle classes get underway.

Speaking of cycling and bikes, SRAM has finally come out with their newest "double-tap" gruppo, the SRAM RED. I have the entry level set (the Rival) and love it, so you can imagine what I think of the same basic functions for less than half of the weight. Also RED allows you to make individual adjustments to the shifter paddles and brake levers, the rear pulleys now have ceramic bearings to reduce drag. To further lighten the setup, the cassette upfront is actually machined out of a single piece of alloy and appears "hollow" when cut in half. I know it's going to be really expensive, but as far as I'm concerned you can have your Shimano or Campy, I'll take SRAM any day of the week.

I took a brief break on Friday to go see "The Kingdom", which is fantastic and I highly recommend it! The director and writers give the story time to grow rather than trying to load an entire back story in 15 minutes so you can have car chases for the rest of the movie. Instead, the story is grown organically, you're given time to try and figure out who are the "good guys" and who are the "bad ones" and by the time the movie reaches its peak, you've become vested in the story. From start to finish it's one of the better movies I've seen in a long time.

One of the things I'm really sorry I haven't had time to write about is Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" debacle. There are plenty of great posts on the matter (see here or here for a small sample), but it occurs to me that like with so many things in life, this would have been DOA had Mr. Limbaugh just taken a bit of personal responsibility. Right after this story broke, all he had to do was say "I'm sorry, I can see how it could have been interpreted as it was, but that wasn't my intent at all." That's it. Just that little sentence and this would be a non-issue. (Aside – Why is it that the right has "nothing but respect" for our veterans right before they disrespect them? A topic for another post…)