random detritus

Weird Dream

2011-11-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

I dreamed that the family and I went to NYC for a visit and befriended Paul Krugman, his wife Robin Wells, and John Cleese in a bookstore. They invited us to a birthday party, but we could not go.

Man

2011-11-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

It's been quite quiet here. I haven't had much to write, and have been sort of busy. Things slowed down there for a couple of weeks in September. October was fairly calm except for our longish excursion West. November is dawning crisp and calm. I expect the calmness could pass soon (Super Committee-related scurrying may be in order around the end of the month).

Occasionally I'll think about life before we moved here and it seems so long ago. Strange how just a couple or a few years can make for so much distance.

Useful Website

2011-08-18T09:30:00.001-04:00

Council of State Governments database

Still Here

2011-07-31T16:52:00.001-04:00

Alive, hanging in there. Just a busy bee.

Song

2011-07-06T09:55:00.003-04:00

The song "Carolina" by Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kenny is pretty but dark.
You never learn.
The rules have changed
since we were nine.
This isn't school,
boys don't assault
the girls they like.
The taste of blood,
the claim of love;
these two will hereon
cease to be
sprouting from
your fists and tongue:
this Carolina waits for me.

Fantastic Quotation

2011-06-30T19:11:00.000-04:00

“Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.” — Joyce Carol Oates
See Futility Closet

Some Charts

2011-06-01T11:42:00.000-04:00

Handbaskets.

Top Shot

2011-04-30T19:10:00.002-04:00

Pretty amusing program. In one challenge they use a Barrett M82A1. I shot that some time ago, at 400 yards. They did it at 1000 yards. Wow! Cool!

Spring?

2011-04-20T09:44:00.000-04:00

So it seems to be spring here. How about there?

Such a Sap

2011-04-13T19:44:00.001-04:00

Saw an ep of "Premier League World" that had a segment about Shaun Wright-Phillips. He's heavily involved in a charity for children. They showed him playing silly games with the kids. Awwww.

Swimming

2011-04-12T19:51:00.002-04:00

Since I returned to the exercise routine a couple of weeks back I've been swimming, rather than running. The pain in the joints and the tedium was not too attractive, so I opted for a change. I've done 1200 yards Saturday, Sunday, and this evening. Was very tired about half-way through, this evening. Not too bad, over all. Would be nice if I was *better* at swimming, though.

SACK UP

2011-04-12T19:31:00.002-04:00

From here:

[America] housed four hundred thousand Nazis on American soil during the war. We wet ourselves over housing one hundred seventy-two miscellaneous troglodytes from Afghanistan… many years after the war. It’s just too dangerous!

Now, I'm not some "Good Old Days" apologist, but apparently we were made of sterner stuff back when.

Effin' is True

2011-04-01T19:16:00.002-04:00

There's a show on G4 called "Effin' Science." In the space of minutes, there was about a dozen examples of them effin' it up. OTOH, they did some chicken cannonades and other fun things. On yet another hand, they were desperately unsafe with a couple of things they did.

Memory Fail

2011-03-31T19:10:00.002-04:00

There was a Comedy Central special (years ago), that featured female comedians. There were two really hilarious comedians: one (Sharon Houston) did a really funny bit about her fabulous wedding... there was another really funny lady, but I can't remember much other than she was funny as heck and sort of reminded me of a younger Brett Butler. So it's impossible to track her down (try googling "comedian who likes pot").

Break

2011-03-29T18:44:00.002-04:00

Since the last month or so of work has been busy and somewhat unpleasant I've taken a break from blogging and from exercising (more or less). Today I had a fortuitous meeting out of the office to end the day, so I got home early. I went to the pool and swam 800 yards. It was not too bad. I'm holding steady at 160 lbs, down from 178 at the New Year, so that's pretty good (since I've also taken a break from the improved eating habits we've been instituting here in the household since 1 Jan 11).

Yummy

2011-03-28T19:37:00.002-04:00

Made some simply delicious biscuits and gravy for dinner. Susan gets those frozen pillsbury biscuits, and I ovened up some of them. While I was doing that I was dicing about one medium large onion (actually a half medium white and a quarter large red) and one large orange pepper up, then sauteeing in a bit of oil and salt and pepper. Then I added about a half cup slice mushrooms and let the cook up a bit. I then popped four chicken thighs into the pan, having cleared some room so they'd get a nice sear on. I seasoned the side facing up with a bit of garlic, salt, and pepper and flipped them for the same treatment on the other side after about a minute. Then I added about half a cup of white whine and half a cup of veggie stock. Agitate a bit, then when you've got a medium bubble going again, flip, and stir. When that achieves a medium bubble again, reduce heat and simmer. After a few more minutes, the chicken is done. Pull the thighs out and puree the braise. Pour that over your chicken and biscuits and enjoy. It was very tasty and super easy.

Hmm, Maybe Not

2011-03-22T19:54:00.002-04:00

Busy streak resumed 1 day after I thought it was to end. Put some things to bed today, have a whole 'nuther effort to start, yesterday. Had an interesting experience, not actually at work, but work-related. Nice to be in demand, sometimes. Sometimes, though, it is just scary (what if you mess up?).

Busy

2011-03-11T07:40:00.002-05:00

Hit a pretty busy streak there in mid-February. May be letting up for a couple of weeks, followed (possibly) by some more franting (frantically working). It's funny, because we're about 180° out of phase with the rest of our organization.

The Measure of America

2011-02-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

A cool website. here. Lots of maps and data about human development in America.

Fascinating

2011-02-10T09:18:00.002-05:00

The Punic Wars began in 264BC. In 1985, the Mayor of Rome signed a peace treaty with the Mayor of Carthage, formally ending their hostilities after 2248 years.

Add Just One Thing--But You Have to Take One Thing, Too

2011-01-31T11:18:00.002-05:00

Kids these days are so unprepared for college/the real world! They have no skills/critical thinking/knowledge base! Aack! I recall reading (somewhere) of a litany written more than one hundred years ago deploring the decline of the admissions requirements for some elite college. The writer was incensed that Latin and Greek were no longer both mandatory (possibly provided proficiency in one other modern language).

Truly, things are always already in decline.

I would agree, however, that there is a serious problem: a small portion of high school graduates are either functionally illiterate. That's just unconscionable. Another serious problem: too many kids these days (!) can't do math. More problems: no knowledge of how things interact with one another in the world, etc.

Most people would agree that these are significant ills. But what to do? Lots of people have great ideas about how to fix things... "if only they could add a class on estimating!" or "what they really need is training in life skills!" or "why don't they just..." Fine. I agree! But there are only so many hours in a school day (and only so many school days in a year [and both hours and days cost money, people, and you have to pay the dreaded taxessss to fund it-oops, guess that'll be the day, right?]). So: what would you add, and what would you take away to make room?

Overlay County Boundaries onto Gmap

2011-01-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

Here

Amusing

2011-01-24T19:40:00.003-05:00

We watched Portlandia the other day. Susan had seen ads and so TiVo'd it. There was included a funny little music video called "Dream of the 90s is Alive in Portland." I enjoyed it. Of course it underscores how great Portland is.

All Right, You're a Good Cook. Can you Farm?

2011-01-20T08:50:00.001-05:00

Whoa.

Useful Websites

2011-01-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

Demographics

Whaa?

2011-01-10T11:12:00.000-05:00

Just what the hell is Brooks trying to say here? Has to be read to be believed.

One of Nature's Iron Laws

2011-01-07T13:19:00.003-05:00

Susan gave me a mandoline for Christmas. Within a day of receipt I cut off a hunk of my thumb. Because I is smrt.

Conflicted

2011-01-03T11:01:00.003-05:00

As you might now know from Susan's blog, we went down to Charlottesville for a quick trip last week. We saw James Madison's home, The UVa, and Thomas Jefferson's home. It was interesting, and generally very nice.

However... as I think more and more about it, I find that whatever their other virtues, it is almost impossible to admire "The Founders" on any personal level. They may have been diligent, intelligent, and full of righteous abstemiousness, but they owned other people. Bought and sold them, often without regard to their family or other attachements. They almost certainly engaged in illicit and ethically problematic relationships with them... And I find it impossible to believe that they didn't know it was wrong (obviously some even acknowledged the practice was evil, but didn't stop).

It's pretty "icky," for lack of a better word. I also am not at all sure that I can excuse it based on the norms of the times. Clearly the people we're talking about thought long and hard about ethical matters-and hardly lacked either insight or the fortitude to engage in perilous change.

Played

2010-12-20T09:26:00.002-05:00

Went last night at 10 to provide some cover for that indoor soccer team I sometimes associate with. My play was "meh." I got a goal (which was nice) and an assist (which was merely OK) and broke up a lot of plays coming towards our goal, mostly settling and putting the ball to an outlet on our team. Towards the end of the game, though, my concentration was a bit lax and I had a couple of errors that caused goals :( Boo.

Still, I didn't get hurt (though may revise that opinion later, if minor aches become major ones), and had some fun.

Italian Soccer

2010-12-16T20:31:00.002-05:00

Soren has apparently seen too much; he keeps kicking the ball and then laying down upon the floor.

Progress

2010-12-13T08:42:00.002-05:00

What is the root of improvement in mankind's lot?

Hostage-taking for Fun and Profit

2010-12-10T08:48:00.002-05:00

But we've proved it again and again, That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld You never get rid of the Dane.

Soccer Wave Home Game Dimensions

2010-12-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

Dad asked me for the dimensions when I was there. Here you go. At 1 inch intervals from the ground (I'll give the vertical height as the X and the distance from the very back to the surface of the ramp as the Y in an (X,Y) format).

(0,36)
(1,25)
(2,20 1/4)
(3, 15 3/4)
(4, 12)
(5, 10)
(6, 8 1/4)
(7, 7 3/16)
(8, 6 3/8)
(9, 5 3/4)
(10, 5 1/4)
(11, 5)
(12, 4 7/8)
(13, 4 3/4)
(14, 4 7/8)
(15, 5)
(16, 5 1/4)
(17, 5 1/2)
(18, 6)
(19, 6 7/16)
(20, 7)
(21, 7 9/16)
(22, 8 1/4)
(23, 9)
(24, 9)

The thing to remember, though, is that this is a bit rough, and you'll want to experiment a little. The top half of the return curve may lean just a tiny bit too far forward. Only a bit, though.

What to do About FIFA?

2010-12-08T09:31:00.002-05:00

Their bizarre and Machiavellian choice to have Qatar host the 2022 World Cup Final is like a poisoned dirk lodged in my breast. I have nothing against the Qatari (is that right?) people, but apparently FIFA's ExCom do: the "government" of Qatar is apparently on the hook for tens and tens of Billions of dollars worth of extravagant construction--luxury items like giant stadia (which will somehow be climate-controlled and Carbon-neutral and disassembled after the WCF and shipped to a variety of deserving nations) as well as infrastructure (airports, rail, and roads) that will be dramatically out sized to their population (and therefore subject to decay immediately) and hospitality amenities that will go unused after the WCF--for which they will have just evanescent use, at tremendous opportunity cost!

I am hopeful that a short while in advance it will become apparent that this millstone is too heavy for Qatar, and FIFA will discreetly approach one of the few countries able to host a WCF on short/no notice (the US, UK, a few countries in Western Europe--maybeAustralia) and either be rebuffed, or have their disgusting manipulations turned back on them.

Imagine the US saying "Absolutely! We're all in!" and then threatening FIFA with canceling the tournament 26 days out unless FIFA charters/incorporates in the US. Then we introduce the fabulous ExCom to our little friends: RICO statutes.

Chilly

2010-12-07T18:07:00.002-05:00

I've been running home from the train station again. Since it has been colder out, it has been pretty uncomfortable. Generating my own (very modest) windchill in addition (sometimes) to whatever there is already tends to make the nose and all other exposed skin surfaces very very cold.

Like Falling off a Table

2010-12-01T20:05:00.003-05:00

The temperature when I left for work (around 8:00am today, due to a brain fart involving muting my alarm clock last night) was over 60 degrees Fahrenheit. By 3:00pm it had dropped around 16 degrees! In any event, it was brisk running home tonight.

A Warning

2010-11-29T21:09:00.004-05:00

Don't feed Soren cake after... say... midday. He had some bites of my cake (no frosting bites, mind you) and he's completely off his rocker. Also, I ran home from the train station again. It was nice, but I got caught at two lights, so it seems sort of less awesome.

Chilly Morning

2010-11-29T07:53:00.001-05:00

A wee bit chilly this morning.

Treed

2010-11-27T17:57:00.002-05:00

Obtained a nice looking tree. It is now mounted in its stand and chilling on the balcony. We'll light that sucker up tomorrow. Such nice smells, the various fir tree aromas.

Unusual

2010-11-26T18:24:00.002-05:00

It's not yet 6:30pm, here, and my entire family is asleep. Up to and including cats. Susan and Eleri had a rough night with El's coughing and waking up (I'm a bad man, taking advantage of the extra bed in Soren's room, on a school night) throughout. Soren is also sickly. So I sent Susan for a nap, then lulled Soren to sleep singing Christmas carols with youtube, and conked Eleri out thereafter. No explanation necessary for the cats, I trust.

Fugazi vs. Destiny's Child "Independent Room"

2010-11-25T22:46:00.001-05:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhTjiOHP0g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Fun Times

2010-11-24T17:04:00.001-05:00

Set free early, today! I used part of my early release to go swimming. I did 1000 yards, all at once. Whew.

Nearly Enough to Make One Cry

2010-11-24T10:39:00.002-05:00

This slide show from Foreign Policy depicts Kabul in the 50s. They went dramatically backwards in time after that, with all the horror and deprivation that entails.

Pessimism

2010-11-24T08:31:00.002-05:00

From wikipedia (though the source is US Census data). The lowest annualized growth rate there was the median percentile (though the 10th, 20th, and 50th percentiles all grew more slowly than the 80th, 90th, and 95th percentiles.

Strange

2010-11-24T07:36:00.002-05:00

We moved office again, to a different suite in the same building. One of the folks in the office (who usually gets in at 0630) was, when I arrived (and still is), power-sanding a small table.

Exercised

2010-11-23T19:51:00.002-05:00

I ran home a bunch of days while we were working our little civil servasses off. It is only a mile and a half, but there's about 150 feet of climbing involved. A couple of hills. Tiring.

I also managed to sneak a swim on a Saturday. I did 800 yards, all without stopping (the lifeguard was about to go on break, so I figured I had to wrap it up quickly).

Of course I now have a cold. Not loving it. Little germ-riddled monkeys gave it to me.

The Handball on the Goalline not Enough, Suarez?

2010-11-22T12:02:00.002-05:00

Wow--apparently he bit a dude in a recent match.

Navigation is Never a Problem with a GPS Unit, Right?

2010-11-21T19:38:00.002-05:00

Well. Not exactly. More about that later.

We drove out to a place called The Applehouse, a restaurant in Linden, about 65 miles away. We met our friend Alice for lunch. The Applehouse was chosen because they make sparkling cider (and donuts, which is apparently a thing with cider mills) and have a BBQ smoker and what looked like a super tasty, super reasonable, menu. Alice wanted to get some locally-made sparkling cider for a cool "themed" Thanksgiving celebration her cousin is hosting. So we drove out there.

Lunch was every bit as delicious as I'd hoped. The donuts were very tasty as well. After, it being a beautiful day, we thought we might hit a park to let Soren run off some of his energy. Consulting the GPS, we saw a likely candidate and started off on the way.

This was the point at which things got silly with the GPS. There was a sign showing freeway access nearby, off to the left. The GPS said to go right. That still looked okay, because the frontage road and freeway ran parallel, and the GPS map showed an on-ramp off to the right. We followed the GPS, and drove past what might have been the on-ramp during the Eisenhower era.

So the route we took was... somewhat circuitous. We drove 10 miles to reach a park located less than 3 miles away. Through the little town of Front Royal. Eventually along a one-lane road sharing both traffic directions (via a timed traffic light). Into a strange residential area. Past some dilapidated, kudzu swallowed, old houses. In the middle of nowhere, with nothing at all to indicate the presence of a park, the GPS chimed in "arriving at Owl Park on the right." Yeah. No. No dice at all. Alice and Susan and I laughed about our quality scenic drive to the non-existent park, and decided to head out (us to our home, Alice to hers).

Again following the GPS (because why not, right? In for a penny...), we head back. This time we apparently took the short portion of the long circle and... ran into a park. About a mile away from the Applehouse. We pulled in and played with Soren for a while. A fine time was had by all. After all that trouble.

It was a fun day, nevertheless. Always nice to hang with Alice, and it was really lovely out in the VA countryside.

Big Yawns

2010-11-19T07:11:00.003-05:00

I'm sleepy this morning. Soren's little vaccine reaction made him a whimpery, squiggly lad who wouldn't fall asleep in his bed alone or with me in the spare bed. Finally brought him into our room and snuggles with his mother did the trick. Still, he was not well settled, which ate into my sleep.

Mom, Dad, you have my deepest apologies for the whole Night Terrors thing.

Fun Movie Line

2010-11-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

Lloyd: I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.

Does "data" count?

Game

2010-11-14T20:05:00.002-05:00

Played some indoor soccer today. Team had only one woman, who had to play the whole game. Fortunately she's very skilled and healthy. But as a consequence of having just one woman, we had to play down a man. So we rotated subs in regularly and eventually figured out a working strategy. By that time (halftime) we were down 8-3. Implementing our improved strategy worked! We won the second half 8-1, taking the game 11-9. I didn't do awesome, but at least okay. No injury, so I can't complain too much.

Another Adventure

2010-11-12T07:41:00.002-05:00

A bit after 2 a.m., Soren came running into our room last night, hoping to climb into our bed and sleep between us (because he loves to do that, and does more nights than not). It seems (I say this because we really haven't done the forensics necessary to tell exactly what happened) that he tripped and fell and whacked the bejeezus out of his forehead on the bed frame. A loud "THUMP!" followed by crying and confusion.

Susan pulled him up onto the bed to try and calm him, but after a scant few moments noticed either that there was too much fluid for it to just be tears, or she felt the big gash on his head, and carried him to the kitchen to discover it. Cue application of cold pack, and direct pressure for the bleeding. Baby Motrin for swelling and pain. "Gee that's pretty deep, I think he might need stitches." "Let me see. Yep."

So Soren and I, he now with cleverly dressed wound and I with sandy-and still probably wild-eyes, drove down to the nearby Emergency Room for some stitches and accusing glares (respectively).

Just kidding, nobody thought I'd beaten him. Far as I could tell.

He was a pretty good trooper through it all, though he did not like being wrapped in a sheet and strapped to a child-sized spineboard for restraint. And nobody likes stitches. It took 5, I think, though I wasn't counting that so much as trying to comfort him and hold his gaze. We checked out, drove home, and were sitting in bed by 4. Weirdly, the parking space I vacated at 2:20 a.m. was taken when we got back.

So, how was your night?

Persistent

2010-11-10T13:53:00.001-05:00

I stil--STILL--cannot believe California ever elected Arnold Schwarzenegger. Baffling.

Something You Don't Want to See (On Your Calendar)

2010-11-09T08:38:00.003-05:00

Meeting scheduled: $XYZW-UTC (UTC means until completion in this context). Going to be another marathon meeting from 1:30pm until we finish everydamn thing.

Yikes

2010-11-02T22:09:00.001-04:00

Running home stinks. I forgot how much steeper things are when running.

Work

2010-11-02T12:17:00.004-04:00

Have something special going on at work which is necessitating early mornings, evenings, and working nights at home. So I'm busy. And already so tired. Boo! I did manage to vote this morning, so hopefully $MyCandidates will win. Unfortunately this work will really cut into my exercise time, so I'm planning on running home from the metro station for as many evenings as possible. Wish me luck (and wish me no side-stitches--always a danger in brisk weather).

Correction

2010-10-31T19:27:00.001-04:00

My swimming calculations were off. I swam 600 yards last time. Today I swam 800 yards. Tiring.

Swimming

2010-10-28T19:55:00.002-04:00

Back to exercising today, after quite a long layoff. About three weeks since I've been regularly going. I've switched to swimming for the season. I'm starting easily, and did three sets of 150 yards. Still, that was tiring.

Surprises

2010-10-26T09:12:00.000-04:00

I guess I like them, sort of. If I don't have to wait for them.

Grown Up

2010-10-24T09:49:00.001-04:00

One of the ways I know that I've become an adult is that I have yet to attempt to make myself a bow-and-arrow out of the dowels I have in the closet (it would be awesome).

More Advice

2010-10-21T08:13:00.001-04:00

The introductions "I'm not a bigot, but..." and "It may sound petty, but..." leave very little room for error on the dismount. Consider avoiding them.

The Girl With the Stolen Laptop

2010-10-20T11:48:00.001-04:00

Wow. Honor ~~among~~from thieves?

Dental Update!

2010-10-19T11:11:00.002-04:00

Had another one in my endless series of appointments. A few fillings, pretty quick. One close to the root, so we'll see if it is okay. The next one (I guess by implication, two) should be more exciting, what with a for sure crown and probable root canal. But after that, my chompers should be back into decent repair.

Pac-12 Alignments

2010-10-15T22:48:00.002-04:00

It sure looks like the Pac-12 may go to a North-South split. It seems clear to me that a zipper schedule would actually be, you know, fair. Arranged correctly it could even preserve the Cali games. But, no, apparently the commissioner thinks that anything other than geo-based divisions would be "too confusing" to people outside the conference.

Here's an idea, commish: cultivate the best option within the conference. Jerkface.

Check out the "Pac-12 cooler" if you are interested in a conference alignment that makes sense.

Terrifying

2010-10-13T14:18:00.002-04:00

Thanks so much, Masters of the Universe. From here:

Adam Levitin, a Georgetown University Law professor who specializes in, among many other financial regulatory issues, mortgage finance. Levitin says the documentation problems involved in the mortgage mess have the potential "to cloud title on not just foreclosed mortgages but on performing mortgages."

The article continues...

Real estate law requires real paper transfer of documents and titles, and a lot of the system went electronic without much regard to that persnickety rule. Mortgages and property titles are transferred several times in the process of a home purchase from originators to securitization sponsors to depositors to trusts. Trustees hold the note (which is the IOU on the mortgage), the mortgage (the security that says the house is collateral) and the assignment of the note and security instrument.

The issue is in that final stage getting to the trust. The law demands that when the papers get moved around they are "wet ink," that is, real signatures on real paper. But Prof. Levin tells me that's not the worst of it. Affidavits assigned to the notes and security instruments are supposed to be endorsed over to the trust at the time of sale, but in many foreclosure scenarios the affidavits have been backdated illegally.

Further...

So with the chain of documentation now in question, and trustee ownership in question, here is one legal scenario, according to Prof. Levitin:

"The mortgage is still owed, but there's going to be a problem figuring out who actually holds the mortgage, and they would be the ones bringing the foreclosure. You have a trust that has been getting payments from borrowers for years that it has no right to receive. So you might see borrowers suing the trusts saying give me my money back, you're stealing my money. You're going to then have trusts that don't have any assets that have been issuing securities that say they're backed by a whole bunch of assets, and you're going to have investors suing the trustees for failing to inspect the collateral files, which the trustees say they're going to do, and you're going to have trustees suing the securitization sponsors for violating their representations and warrantees about what they were transferring."

But I thought that financial innovation was supposed to benefit both the producers and the consumers!

Wave Update

2010-09-30T19:03:00.001-04:00

Finished putting that thing together; it worked better before I finished it!

TomWave, 90% complete?

2010-09-29T20:22:00.001-04:00

Pretty cool.

Wave

2010-09-26T20:16:00.004-04:00

Not done yet. Bending the hardboard takes some time. But, plenty of progress, and I think it looks pretty cool. On the other hand, next time remind me to actually plan it out. Particularly if I'm going to be salvaging warped plywood previously cut to inconvenintly-sized pieces.

If you happen to see an 18V Black&Decker cordless circular saw anywhere, let me know, or pick it up for me and I'll reimburse you ;) I've been looking, but they're thin on the ground.

True Confession

2010-09-26T19:36:00.002-04:00

I also robbed a bank with a merman during my guest stint on Meerkat Manor.

Project

2010-09-25T20:01:00.003-04:00

Since I saw an ad for the SoccerWave training aid, I have wanted one. But it costs $200 and is backordered anyhow. So I have set out to build one. I had some plywood from an aborted attempt at making a collapsable picinic table for Soren (wood was too thin), so I've repurposed it, and all but the curved ramp and the very top (I have supplies for both) are done. Should finish it tomorrow, hopefully. Would be easier with a circular saw.

Who is Snakebit Now?

2010-09-25T19:52:00.002-04:00

Was walking along a parking median at the grocery store today, stepped in a hole concealed by grass and took a tumble. I'm sure it looked funny as hell, but I torques the ever-loving crap out of my ankle. Not so bad for straight-ahead walking in shoes, fortunately for the shopping list. Got home and took 'em off, though, and found that it is still pretty unpleasant. So, lucky, right?

Second Verse, Same as the First

2010-09-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

Ran 2 miles at 9.3 mph, again.

Season Changing

2010-09-22T08:43:00.002-04:00

Well, it isn't fully into fall (yet), but it surely is beginning. It has been lovely out the last several mornings, and well into the day.

2/3 of the Way There

2010-09-21T18:49:00.002-04:00

Did 2 miles tonight at 9.3mph. Now to extend that to 3.1 miles.

Draggin'

2010-09-20T08:51:00.001-04:00

Wow. Since yesterday evening I've been just epically tired. Dunno why.

Snakebit?

2010-09-18T12:38:00.001-04:00

Watched Real Madrid bs Ajax this morning. That Ronaldo just could not score. Hehehe. Poor Widdle Baybee.

Diane Rehm Show

2010-09-17T10:29:00.003-04:00

I don't know who this guest is, but he just made the asinine claim that Peter Orszag's recent op-ed in the New York Times (where he argued that if the only way to extend the currently-scheduled-to-expire-per-the-legislation-passed-under-the-previous-administration middle-class tax rates is to also extend the (blahblahblah) rates for the rich, they should go ahead and extend the rates for the rich) might possibly be the reason he is now the former director of the OMB.

So stupid. He did the job for about 2 years. The average tenure for presidential appointees is less than 3 years. Dude has like 3 kids and juggles his many scandalous relationships all the time. He quit 'cause he was tired!

Not Getting Much Easier

2010-09-16T21:54:00.001-04:00

Did 2 miles of intervals (30s/60s at 12mph/8mph) with a half mile on either side at 7mph (part of warm-up and cool-down)

My Invention

2010-09-16T13:24:00.001-04:00

Imagine a set of billiard balls with various types of hair/textures. The gameplay would be bizarre and interesting.

St Louis Fed

2010-09-16T11:00:00.001-04:00

Illustrates the data.

Reading

2010-09-15T09:13:00.002-04:00

I'm following Susan in reading "Love in a Time of Homeschooling: A Mother and Daughter's Uncommon Year," by Laura Brodie. It is interesting, if overly precious.

Looking Silly in Public

2010-09-14T18:37:00.002-04:00

Ran wind-sprints again, today. 8x70 yards, jogging back for recovery. Split a mile on either side, for warm-up and cool-down. People look awfully silly sprinting unless they're actual athletes. So I'm sure folks walking by or driving in the parking lot had a few chuckles.

Coronation

2010-09-14T08:34:00.000-04:00

Got my permanent crown put in today. Took a long time for not much. I scheduled this one for 0730, though, so at least I still was at work and such when my boss arrived.

I Don't Care

2010-09-13T10:00:00.001-04:00

NPR, could you please do fewer stories on opera/tango singers who have been dead for 75 years? That's 7 minutes of input I'll never get back.

Slowly Lowly

2010-09-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

Ran 4 miles, in 27:25, today.

Exercised

2010-09-11T15:45:00.001-04:00

Did some stationary bike, ran a mile (in 5:40 not a typo, I was hauling butt) and then some elliptical trainer. Whew.

Intervals are Unfun

2010-09-09T18:51:00.001-04:00

Did 2 miles of 30s/60s at 12mph/8mph. 12:40.

Useful Link

2010-09-09T10:18:00.001-04:00

Total Economic Database

Nerves

2010-09-07T19:46:00.002-04:00

Stomach has been fluttery, sleep disturbed, of late. Possibly because a briefing my boss and I wrote is going to very high levels of our hierarchy quite soon.

Laborious

2010-09-07T18:54:00.000-04:00

Ran 2 miles, 12:50.

Roughly the Same Age

2010-09-07T16:50:00.001-04:00

Let's Go Faster!

2010-09-06T10:49:00.000-04:00

Ran 2 miles today, in 12:40.

Run run run

2010-09-05T10:45:00.000-04:00

Ran 2 miles in 12:55 today.

Interesting

2010-09-03T08:25:00.002-04:00

Total compensation to labor over time is... constant?

Stinks

2010-09-01T08:09:00.001-04:00

Dear Madam,

Perhaps you were unaware that spraying yourself with perfume on the bus is not a nice thing to do!

Thanks

Did I Stutter (step)?

2010-08-31T19:58:00.000-04:00

Ran 2 miles in 13:15 this evening.

Strikes

2010-08-31T09:36:00.002-04:00

Dear Sir,

Perhaps you did not know this, but there are some situations where paying with exact change is awfully inconsiderate. For your edification:

when your purchase is based on weight
when you are unable to correctly estimate the likely cost
when you don't know how much money and in what denominations you have
when you are at the head of very lengthy line

Best,

Tom

Awesome

2010-08-28T16:30:00.003-04:00

Susan's Mom gave Susan and me the gift of an evening out last night (her last here on her visit). We went to dinner and a movie. That was the first time we've gone to a movie together in 2.5 years (each of us went to a movie independently a bit more than a year ago). We saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It was outstanding.

Wheezy Gonzales

2010-08-26T19:12:00.002-04:00

Ran intervals tonight. 8 x (60s at 8mph & 30s at 12mph). It was 2 miles in just over 13 minutes. Inordinately tough, not sure what my malfunction is.

Winded

2010-08-24T18:58:00.002-04:00

Ran windsprints again this evening. 8x70 yards up a small slope, jogging back for recovery. Very tiring. Maybe too much, despite the fact that it was easier during the running.