I’ve been lazy with the blogging as of late. However, after a super fun dinner party last night, I’m reinspired to give it another go. Hats off to JordonCornblog for reminding me that they can be about anything, and they are fun to read.

Thing is, whenever I sit down to type an entry, I suddenly lose all the clever thoughts I have been thinking since I awoke. Any moment of the day could be blown out into a full entry… Some examples from this morning:

• On my way to work, I passed by Olympian Joanne Dow out for a workout. She is a speed walker who probably walks faster than most people run. She and I overlap with our standard routes, it seems. Although I am guessing she doesn’t notice me in the same way that I notice her. I’m just another silver Jetta, not an Olympic athlete.
• About three minutes after seeing what it takes to be an Olympian, a man on a Segway rolled on by. It isn’t uncommon to see these machines around here, as they were invented in our fair city. Still, they always strike me as sorta goofy. I kinda want one, but in the same way that I kinda want to walk Ari the Cat on a leash every day – that is, I think they are good ideas, but I’m not sure I want to be seen doing it in either case.
• We have some new security posters in the office. They have goofy sayings like “Loose Clicks Sink Ships” (with, of course, an image of a ship going down). You can see the full repertoire of posters here. A silly reminder that I work on the set of Office Space, complete with TPS reports. Yes, we really have TPS reports.

All this, and it’s only noon.

Trade the PC hat for a trucker's cap!

I was invited to go to a hockey game this evening - our local minor league team, the Manchester Monarchs. I like hockey well enough, so sure, I'm in.

Yesterday, I found out that this won't be just any night of hockey. It's mullet night!

Here's the official promo:

Mar 7, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Mullet Night: Redneck Edition
It’s back! “Mullet Night: Redneck Edition” will be filled with Redneck activities, music, on-ice entertainment as well as the distribution of 3,500 mullet trucker hats and Redneck teeth, courtesy of Sanel Auto Parts! So dust off your old mullet wigs, throw on your best hunting gear and join us for another unforgettable Mullet Night with the Monarchs.

Not just mullet night - but mullet night, redneck edition. Heavens.

What are redneck activities?

I'm bringing a camera, and a zoom lens.

First of the (long) season

This morning I had the opportunity to attend a small house party for Hillary Clinton. This was her third stop on her NH trip, stopping first in Berlin, then Concord, then Manch. I think she has another engagement or two prior to leaving the Granite State. Reason #1 I will never run for President: the schedule.

I'm sure she started in Berlin due to the recent paper mill closings up there, and used this as a platform to speak to the point that new jobs that could be created if the government actively supported more environmentally sustainable industries. The crowd at this morning's event wasn't hard to convince...

She was better than I anticipated - less soundbite and more substance. Even her sense of humor was on (ex: "why we can't find the tallest man in Afghanistan is beyond me").

One of the ideas spoken about both in her introduction by our host and during her schpeal was the reminder that this country is not an inevitability, but rather a fortuitous set of events. history really is the outcome of one decision following another. That concept is so often lost in the debates. Before things get too negative along the campaign trail, I'm going to keep reminding of this notion, knowing that we are large enough to be resilient from even the worst of decisions. If we ever want to have friends across the globe, we'd better be!

Social science and running therapy

Yesterday wrapped up one of the more frustrating weeks I've had at work in a long time. Pressure from all sides to give definitive answers on ideas that franky are not developed. Trying to manage projects without the authority to actually manage anything. I was pretty much ready to quit and start up a business selling other people's crap on eBay, or walking dogs (even in this freezing weather).

Perhaps it is connected to the recent pseudo-scientific study revealing this week to be the worst of the 52 in a year, with Monday the 24th standing out as the worst day. How do I know it to be true? It's simple math:

Worst day of the year = 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA

The key to the above formula is as follows:
W: Weather
D: Debt
d: Money due in January pay
T: Time since Christmas
Q: Time since failed quit attempt
M: General motivational levels
NA: The need to take action

There are several flaws in the formula, including the assumptions that one celebrates Christmas, one overspends on holiday shopping, and one creates some sort of resolution each New Year. In fact, I would imagine that Christmas actually causes more stress, given all the family obligations. And all that annoying holiday advertising... That said, I think I'd move T to the numerator, counting the time since Xmas as a positive operator.

Others agree with me that there are some flaws to be found here. Reading through some of the comments on the article linked above, there are some gems. My personal favorite: "Rubbish - I was born on this day and I light up everyone's life."

One of the things saving me this week was the simple act of running. Not only did it warm me up as the mercury dropped (and dropped, and dropped again...), but it also just helped to stop my mind from spinning out of control.

I tried to stay outside as much as I could, although yesterday I gave in and hit the indoor treadmill. To make that a little less boring, I started playing with the settings every 1/2 mile or so. Incline change here, speed change there... Definitely made it a bit more interesting. Here's the breakdown, according to my Nike+ thingy:

It's been a pretty good week for miles, and technically I could still add to this week's count if I was so inspired. Sitting here in my pajamas, however, I am not sure that will happen. The miles from last night helped to keep me on top of a little running challenge I'm part of. I post it here because it is shocking to me that I could be in first place. Yes, that is my dorky comment on the right...

I'm in two other challenges at the moment. Participants are from who knows where, and the top four people just blow the rest of us out of the water in terms of miles. While I clock in just over 200 miles, the top folks are closer to 850. How can that be real? Still, I'm happy that I'm closing in on the top 50.

While it's fun running with strangers, I sure wouldn't mind if some folks I actually know would get hooked into this. Or maybe we can create something outside of the Nike+ gadget. A little healthy competition amongst friends? Winner picks the restaurant? Anyone in?

Ending this post is a little piece of news I just got last night. I think I am going to a small house party next Saturday to meet Hillary Clinton. Ah, the benefits of living in Manchester, NH during presidential campaigns. I already had to turn down the opportunity to meet Barack Obama (which I'm still sad about). What should I talk to her about?

Mid Day History Lesson

I am a trivia collector. Random bits of info enter my head and don't leave. Want to know the names of Rocky's turtles? Just ask. How many ridges are on the edge of a dime? No problem. Sometimes I find myself randomly poking around for information. So I wasn't surprised when I suddenly had the urge to review some of my Manchester trivia. Knowing about the town in which I live is one of my hobbies (habits?) and I generally become a pseudo tour guide for people that come to visit. Whether or not they want this type of tour is not as certain...

That said, I found a few sites of interest. They listed facts I knew (first capital city of New Hampshire was in Exeter, our main street, Elm, is believed to be the only main street in the country ending in two dead-ends), and some I didn't (in 1828, about 400 mill girls walked out of the Dover Cotton Factory enacting the first women's strike in the United States, Levi Hutchins of Concord invented the first alarm clock in 1787).

I do love living New England, where there is a true feeling of where it (it being the America experiment) all began exists.

And Manchester, from a NH standpoint, is important for many things, if nothing else for being the town where General John Stark lived (his house is on Elm Street, sitting there sort of lonely looking). If you don't know him by name, you will know him by a toast he offered (via post) for an anniversary reunion of a Revolutionary War battle:

"Live free or die. Death is not the worst of evils"

Back in Manchester

Phoenix is come and gone. All in all, a great trip.

A brief recap of the race, and the surrounding trip:

1. The first day I arrived, I went to see Catie Curtis in concert. Totally different than seeing her on the east coast… The crowd was frustratingly sedate. Still, I enjoyed it. Catie is a good storyteller, and generally has an anecdote for each song. Sometimes they fit, sometimes they don’t, but I always find them entertaining, and definitely reminds me of why she is so good to see live. Prior to one of her songs, she looked out into the crowd, asking me to ID myself. She informed the room that I was in Phoenix, hailing from NH, for the road race. She then relayed a story of someone asking her on her plane ride if she was running in the marathon, saying “she looked athletic.” She indicated no, just playing a gig and laughed, as she doesn’t see herself as particularly athletic. (No one asked me if I was running the race on my way out… J ) That little shout out led to some words of encouragement from strangers after the show, which was nice. One guy identified himself as a Nashua native, and we had a little New Hampshire moment.
2. The morning of the race, I went with the rest of the cattle into my assigned corral. I was in corral 14 out of 30. Waited about 30 minutes there prior to starting our actual run – I can only imagine how long corral 30 had to wait… It was an unusually chilly morning in Phoenix – maybe 30 degrees? – and I watched lots of people hopping about trying to keep warm. I managed to find a patch of sunlight, and parked myself there to gather warmth. Between that and my determination to soak in every moment of this, my first ½ marathon, I was fine.
3. The mayor of Phoenix was in my corral. I saw his arms pop up in a political wave when it was announced just prior to our release, but other than that he was just another runner in tights.
4. For some reason, Born Again missionaries decided to post themselves along the first half mile of the race. There were four of them, staggered two to a side, and positioned far enough apart that when one left your site, another one appeared. They were easily identifiable given their enormous neon colored signs letting us know that if we didn’t accept Jesus into our hearts we’d burn in hell (one of my least favorite approaches to making one interested in any particular sect). The first two people were actually yelling at us to accept Jesus, warning us of the consequences laid out in their signage. The last guy was simply wishing us a good run, which I felt was at least a kind gesture.

That whole part was a bit weird, and thinking about it kept me occupied for the first mile of the race. Why here? Why at the start? Was it because we were a captured audience? Do sad, empty-feeling people (which, to me, seem like the most likely candidates for conversion via the neon side methodology) enter into marathons? I imagine this would be a low incidence conversion territory.

Mind you, there were a fair share of deeply religious types running. I saw shirts decorated with “Got Jesus?” or “Running every mile for Jesus” or similar slogans. That seemed innocuous enough, and heck, good for them. It is when it is so forced that it feels somehow desperate.

5. A friend suggested to me that I assign each mile to a person, which I did. It was a soothing exercise. Lots of shout outs to people who hold a special place in my heart. P got both mile 4 and the .1 at the end. J
6. At the 10k mark, I thought back to the Tufts 10K that I had run with P a few years ago, and mentally noted the difference in my conditioning, and simply how my body felt. I still think back to the days of awful back problems and eventual back surgery, and the brief moment where I essentially lost the ability to walk (thank heavens for my fabulous wife!!!). Every time I run I appreciate the various parts of my body working in harmony.
7. Around mile 8, I passed the pacer for my initial goal time. That felt good, and I knew I had plenty of miles ahead of me to methodically break away even further. My time was finally posted: 2:11:47. Works out to an average of 10:04 per mile, which is better than my initial goal of 10:15. Yay, me! My Nike+ thingy should have also provided me with this information, but due to my fussing with it in the early part of the race, I lost about .5 miles, and had to start the workout session on my Nano over again. After kicking myself for the next half mile, I let it go and instead stared out into the beautiful, red hued Arizona hills in the distance. That cured everything, and I was back on my way.
8. All the training really paid off. I felt a blister coming on around mile 10, but as of today I can only feel a little bit of soreness creeping in. My quads might need a little extra attention. But my post race recovery was quick, and I wondered how others prepared when I saw them cramping up. People that, on the surface, look like they would be in better shape than me. Go figure. Perhaps just a bad day for them.
9. I slapped a lot of kids' hands along the way. I have been one of those people that sticks out their hands and yells encouragement to runners from the sidelines, so it was a little like returning a karmic favor. Plus the little kids get a huge kick out of it. I heard a few squeals of pleasure after I made contact and moved on.
10. I did it! I can’t wait to run again.

Next up – the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

PS – the NY Times article on questions to ask before marriage remains on the top 10 most emailed articles. Crazy. As of today at 8pm, it is back up to #3!

Going Postal?

File this one under, "Did you know?

The Postal Service created a song with more staying power than Cher on a "farewell" tour. What started as a fun side project for Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello produced a law suit from the actual Postal Service. According to Wikipedia:

In 2004, the United States Postal Service sent the band a cease and desist letter citing their trademark on the phrase "postal service". After negotiations, the USPS relented, allowing the band use of the trademark in exchange for promotional efforts on behalf of the USPS and a performance at their annual National Executive Conference. Additionally, the USPS website sells the band's CDs.

I checked it out - it's true. You can purchase a few of their singles on the website. It seems quite out of place, sitting side by side with a Ben Franklin DVD and "Ultimate Mancini." The description itself seems that it may have been written by Sherman, the kind postal worker who has worked the desk of a small town NH post office for the last 25+ years:

"How do you form a band when you live miles and miles away from your band mates? Telephone? Videophone? Airplane? Train? Boat? Car? No, you use the U.S. Mail. Ok, that problem's solved; all the tracks are laid, the CDs are burned, now what do we call ourselves? This was the question for Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Dntel and Figurine's Jimmy Tamborello.

They decided since the United States Postal Service was the lynchpin of their collaborative efforts, they would name their band, Postal Service.

Using the name Postal Service under license from The United States Postal Service..."

Think they've sold any?

Tomorrow I shall sleep past 7

This week I felt like an actual New Hampshire resident. Yesterday I made the time to volunteer to help with the inaugural festivities of our Governor, John Lynch. My big political contribution? Handing out yogurt.

It was a fun job, actually. More than handing out local dairy goodness, it was more of a schmooze opportunity. Say hello and thank you to the state employees, try and foist a yogurt or three on them, make small talk. The only down side was that I had to be there at 6:30. Which meant getting up around 5:45. Psychologically, getting up before the first number reads 6 is tough.

The flow of the event was well done, with people entering the main hall (where I was) for coffee and yogurt, and then being directed either to a photo op line (with the Gov and his wife) or a breakfast line. Either the breakfast line was slow, or the photo line was fast, because it was clear that the wait was much longer for food.

In a weird way, I didn't want to leave the event. Between enjoying my minor task, enjoying the time I was spending with the other volunteers and staff, and just a general sense of happiness at being involved in a small way with our state government, I was feeling happy about being a New Hampshire resident. Maybe I don't need to head back to Boston after all... Ask me again in three years. :)