Running Up That Hill

Fed up with constant hamstring and knee issues, I decided to try a new running style - barefoot, landing on the balls of my feet (not striking with the heel first as most runners do), knees slightly bent and legs never fully extended, and always making sure my feet land directly below my hips.

This running style was awkward at first, and I got some strange looks from fellow gym members, but after one session I felt a remarkable difference - my knees and lower back didn't ache, I was able to run 2 miles at a 10:30 minute clip at a 2% incline, but my calves feel like they have gone through a wood chipper...but that is to be expected.

Running in this manner is what makes the Tarahumara Indians of central Mexico (State of Chihuahua, actually, where my mom is from) some of the finest long-distance runners in the world...we are talking ultra-marathon runners, 100 mile long foot races over brutal terrain.

I'm planning on a follow up run today, but my calves may need another day of rest. All I know is that I am pleased to have run 2+ miles at an incline with no knee pain...

Here Comes The Suck

How do you know when you are creatively bankrupt as a songwriter? Probably when you are planning to release a collection of songs you previously recorded as 're-imagined versions'....which is exactly what Art Alexakis of Everclear is doing. I'm guessing 'reimagined' means more acoustic guitars and keyboards as I doubt Alexakis will record a polka version of 'Santa Monica' or 'Heroin Girl' backed by the USC marching band...but, you never know....oh, Art...you had such promise as a songwriter earlier in your career, then you started taking yourself way too seriously and churned out treacly dreck like 'Father Of Mine' and that stupid soccer mom song...I'm wishing Mr. Alexakis the best of luck, but I remember what he did to 'Brown Eyed Girl' and really don't have much faith in this latest project....

Random Randomness And The Beatles!

Spent the last two days caring for a 14 month old with a wicked case of the flu and a three year old enduring the discomfort of 2 molars cutting through her gums. The flu-ridden child slept a lot, but would only sleep when being held. Three year old child has been hypersensitive and touchy, plus she will not eat because her teeth hurt. That makes her even more difficult...in short, it's been a rough week for yours truly...and I picked the wrong week to stop ingesting caffeine by the bucket.

Lamar Odom, self-proclaimed candy addict, is marrying Khloe Kardishian, she's the Kardishian with a touch of gigantism. Frankly, if all the Kardashian's disappeared and were never heard from again, I'd be just fine with it. I mean, they are only famous because Kim Kardashian filmed herself getting pounded by some C-list black dude...and that is pretty much her only talent outside of having a gigantic ass. Kim dragged her less attractive and even more retarded family members into the spotlight created by her self-leaked sex tape...and then I blog about I much I hate her and her stupid family and how I wish they would all die in a tire fire. Anyhoo, Khloe and Lamar's baby will be hideous and the size of a wooly mammoth, but should provide the family with additional revenue stream from freak show appearances.

So, how many people have been thrown through the windshield of the Matt Forte and Steve Slayton fantasy football bandwagon this year?

If anyone out there is currently using Clearwire, hows 'bout dropping a line in the comments to tell me about your experience?

Here's another group of males I will never understand - any male that says they prefer Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' to 'Pyromania' - 'Hysteria' was made for female listeners, it's the audio equivalent of a Lifetime movie. 'Pyromania' is a classic early 80's hard rock album that I can still listen to without being an ironic hipster doofus about it.

I'm kind of wondering how The Beatles 'Rock Band' is selling...and kind of wondering how many units of the remastered albums have moved as well. I am one of the bigger Beatles fans around, but even I couldn't be bothered to pick up any copies of the remastered CDs...and I sure as hell won't drop $60.00 for a copy of 'Rock Band', let alone $250.00 for the full blown version of the game. While I'm certain the albums and games sold well, I have to kind of think that the overall state of the economy plus rythym based games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band falling in popularity have acted as a drag on sales. I could be wrong, but lots and lots of copies of both the games and CDs have been stacked at the local Toys R Us and Wal-Mart...could it be that the release of the game and CDs happened too late? The Beatles have tens of millions of fans, but do the remastered CDs, especially the mono versions, appeal only to hardcore fans, collectors and audiophiles? Personally, I loved what George Martin did with the 'Love' soundtrack...he took what was familiar and made it new...the remasters don't really do that, which is why I haven't picked any of them up....but I listen to 'Love' quite a bit because it is a different take on some classic songs...

On the other hand, the Jay-Z/Beatles 'grey album' is just plain stupid.

How long before the NFL bans hitting a quarterback when they are diving forward? It is already illegal to hit a QB once they begin to slide feet first, but two high-profile QBs in as many weeks are going to miss time with fractured ribs...ribs fractured when they were hit in the back while diving head first into the end zone. I am willing to wager a remastered Beatles CD that the competition committee at least visits the topic this off-season....

Have I mentioned lately how I loathe my job at times? Ugh.

Java Stop

I quit drinking coffee and coffee based drinks today...no more runs to Starbucks or stops at the various espresso stands on my way to work. The reasons are two fold:

1 - It simply doesn't make sense for me to drop $15-20 a week on coffee when at any moment I could lose my job. While $20 a week doesn't appear to be that much on the surface, over time that $20 adds up. I would much rather up the amount of money I am tucking away into savings for a family trip next year than slam down an iced americano to 'wake me up.' Which brings us to the next reason...

2 - I have a crazy theory that my coffee consumption goes hand in hand with my various muscle cramping issues. There is nothing for me to really base this on, aside from the caffeine in the coffee being a diuretic. Could I be dehydrating myself early on in the day by knocking back a quad americano, meaning I am playing catch-up leading up to my afternoon run? I think so. I also think the caffeine is blanching my system of electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals, so there is an imbalance that is never remedied...regardless of how much water I drink before I run. Again, this is all wild speculation on my part, but I am tired of worrying about my hamstrings seizing up when I push the pace or my calves knotting up like a stored away strand of Christmas lights.

So, day one with no coffee....and I have a searing headache. It could be coffee withdrawal related...or it could be from a raging case of tetanus. I sliced my left index finger wide open yesterday wrestling with a bag of organic weed & feed and hedge clippers. Now, this is the same finger I smashed black & blue with a framing hammer a few weeks back, so it was still about 40% numb when I managed to cut it. I didn't realize how bad I was cut until I started bleeding all into the bag of weed & feed (now even more organic!). I ran into the house, ran the cut under tap water, rinsed it some more with peroxide, and then slathered a concoction of Neosporin and super glue into the wound to prevent infection and to seal the cut. Then I wrapped some gauze around it, taped it off, and called it a day....not until this morning did I think, 'Hmmmm, those hedge clippers were kind of gross...maybe I should have gone to the ER for a stich or toe (the cut is almost bone deep) and a tetanus shot.'

If I come down with a case of lock jaw, we'll all know I should have gotten the tetanus shot....

Another Addition Of....

....Bank Fail Friday is upon us! OMG, OMG, OMG , which banks will bite it today?!?!?! Any more local banks (I'm looking at you Frontier!) going down in flames?!?!? What about a big player, like Wells Fargo? Karl Denninger certainly thinks WF is in trouble....

In related news, the company I work for received a non-compliance notice from the NYSE because our stock is trading for less than hobo pocket change. Again. We x number of days to make things right or it is off to the pink sheets. That would not be a good thing....

Guacamole Doritos

Hey, what happened to the totally awesome guacamole flavored Doritos that totally made me forgive the Doritos folks for changing the taco flavoring recipe? Now I hate Doritos again for ruining the original taco flavored Doritos AND taking the guacamole Doritos off the market.

You've got a lot of explaining to do Doritos people...a lot of explaining to do.....

Cedar Cove

This weekend I discovered two things - one, my fantasy football team is a non-TD scoring disaster....and two, a series of books are set in my hometown of Port Orchard, WA.

I'll get to my FF team later...

So, yeah - I was kind of surprised to learn about the Cedar Cove series of books. I try and keep a pulse on the goings on over in Port Orchard, so this caught me unaware that a best selling series is loosely based out in South Kitsap country...until I saw that these are basically romance novels. I'm not putting down the romance novel, they just aren't my cup o' tea, especially since I am a coffee man...yes, well...um. Moving right along.

The author, Debbie Macomber, is a Port Orchard native, but I'm not sure if she still lives there. With over 100 million books in print (holy Jeebus, that's a lot of books!!!) I kind of doubt she's still hanging out in the PO, but you never know...

Anyhoo, I've often thought of writing short stories based out of Port Orchard, but I think they would fit into a different genre than Mrs. Macomber's...and I think I would chose different landmarks...although I used to work at Tweeten's Lighthouse restaurant, now Gino's, back in the day...and there are some stories I could tell coming out of that place...

Bank Fail Friday!

Posting this a little late, but Friday are now officially called Bank Fail Friday because in most cases that is when the Feds shut down financial institutions.

We had three failures today, a light docket since the FDIC has been average around 4 a week since January.

The big failure was Corus Bank - this one is going to leave a mark.

Not to be outdone, Washington had Venture Bank shut down by the federales this afternoon...and Rainier Pacific Bank is now operating under a cease and desist order.

Good times!

I Can See Clearly Now

Suddenly, many of Shelvis's conspiracy theories have begun to make sense. Government is indeed attempting to use Swine Flu as justifaction to pass new legislation giving even more power to the so-called authorities:

"A "pandemic response bill" currently making its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow authorities to forcefully quarantine citizens in the event of a health emergency, compel health providers to vaccinate citizens, authorize forceful entry into private dwellings and destruction of citizen property and impose fines on citizens for noncompliance.

If citizens refuse to comply with isolation or quarantine orders in the event of a health emergency, they may be imprisoned for up to 30 days and fined $1,000 per day that the violation continues."

What better way to round up dissidents and 'enemies of the state' than saying they are diseased and they are being quarantined/imprisoned for their own good?

Also of note is a link from Drudge to the Updates On Iran blog. The blog is reporting that recent declassified documents link Iran to the Lockerbie bombing. Of course, that particular terrorist act is front page news again due to the inexplicable release of the Lockerbie bomber by Gordon Brown. Could it be that a 'case' is being made for military action against Iran and their nuclear ambitions? Hard to say, but it's all kind of convenient, no?

I hate thinking like a conspiracy theorist though, because there are so many legitimate reasons to dislike this current administration. However, the way authorites are reacting to flu outbreaks makes me think something is going on....

Thoughts?

Freefallin'

As stated earlier, the company I work for is no longer going to contribute to our
401k accounts. What I want to know is if I should continue contributing without the match, or should I stop my deduction and up the amount I set aside at an ING Direct savings account?

I realize that there are some real advantages of saving pre-tax dollars, but I also believe we are about to see some serious stock market cliff diving...so I'm also seriously leaning towards keeping my money in a old Maxwell's coffee can buried in the backyard.

What to do, what to do.....