House Projects

This just in: my house will be sold!

I think it's funny that we have to clean our home before hosting a large party or gathering. Sure, it makes sense to have it in tip top shape, but the funny part is that post party it will sure be in worse shape than it was before you began cleaning pre-party! All that work for one point in time. Very funny. In much the same way, when selling a home someone will put in much time and effort to make it perfect even though the entire time they lived in that home it wasn't worth the time and effort to keep it that way for themselves. It's hilarious when you think about it, but so true. That is the situation in which I find myself currently. We've decided to put our house on the market. What does that mean? It means that every project that I've been putting off is now a priority. It means that all the dirtiness or messiness that I've not liked but learned to ignore will now be worth actually cleaning up or straightening up. Clean it up so you can move out. Hilarious. Such is life!

On my agenda:
(1) Redoing the kitchen: new counter tops, fresh paint on the walls and cabinets, and new hardware!
(2) Tearing out at least one more heat registry from a main room. If you've been a reader for a long time, you know what a project the first two registers were. Here we go again!
(3) Re-latticing (is that even a word?) the underpinning of the deck and the privacy wall of my carport.
(4) Repainting a few rooms, which will include spackling and sanding in more than one of those rooms!
(5) actually doing massive cleaning and straightening both inside and out (crap, that means straightening the basement too!)
(6) oh, and eventually trying to figure out how to disassemble those loft beds that were built in the room with no intention of moving later!

There will be much fun to be had over the coming weeks... and by fun I mean physical and mental work in hopes for financial gain. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?!

End of a Season

As I've said before, I'm coaching both of my boys basketball teams. The season was originally scheduled for 6 games each. Mid-season inclement weather caused one game to be canceled. Last Saturday was supposed to have been the last game of the season for both of them. Sure enough, more crazy weather came our way. This time it was worth it though. It was SNOW!!! In fact, the most snow in Columbia since 1973. It was amazing and the kids loved it. The only negative was that another game was canceled... or so we thought. As it turns out, the powers that be didn't want to cancel two of the six games. That would just be too many. Therefore the games were rescheduled for mid-week.

Jackson's team, the Gators, played last night and played wonderfully. He had an outstanding game, finishing up with either 12 or 14 points. I'm not sure which. The team as a whole played well and held on to a 27-26 victory to end an undefeated season. Awesome! Go Gators!

Alex's team, the Longhorns, get their opportunity to play tonight. In this age group there is no score kept, but trust me when I say that the kids know the exact score because they keep up with it! Anyway, as evident by our team's own stat-keeping abilities it appears that Alex also has a chance at a perfect season tonight! Incredible. I really hope they can pull it off.

Friday night is the final gathering at the church for this season. There will be a show for the kids, with a message of course. Also, the kids will probably receive some memento for playing. Last year it was an Upward book bag and Jack loved it.

Now that the seasons are ending, looking back, it has been great. I hope the Longhorns can complete the perfect season tonight giving both my boys undefeated seasons. To be honest though, win or lose, it has been an outstanding season for both teams and I've loved coaching all of the kids. Not to mention I love being in that role for my two boys. It means a lot to them and the impact that I have on them means so much to me. I want to stay involved in their pursuits with school and athletics, much like my parents did for me and I want to be the parent to Jackson and Alex that my parents were and continue to be to me.

Lack of Direction

My friends and I have discussed on numerous occasions the discrepancy between all of the agendas that President Obama wanted to pursue versus his involvement in actually pursuing them. It's funny that he was called out for this very thing by an outspoken member of his own party. Check this out. Senator Al Franken of all people laid into the administration for pushing for this Health Care bill, but not providing any direction as to what should be done to finish the job. hmmm, that sounds eerily familiar to many of our local conversations! Check out the Politico writeup here.

Funnies

Here are a few good jokes from the past month as told by the late night comedians. Enjoy!

Jay Leno: "President Obama last night ordered 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, but on an 18-month timetable. In a related story, the Taliban announced they are on a 19-month timetable."

Jay Leno: "The good news, Obama said he expects to start bringing our troops home in two years. ... The bad news, Bush said the same thing seven years ago."

Craig Ferguson: "Everybody's talking about President Obama's speech last night. ... He's sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Right now, in Scandinavia, the Nobel Committee is really rethinking the whole peace prize."

Stephen Colbert: "Yesterday, the Dems officially dropped from the Senate healthcare bill both the public option and an alternate plan for 55 to 65 year olds to buy into Medicare. At this point, the only reform left in the bill is government-mandated post-appointment lollipops."

Conan O'Brien: "During an interview last night, Oprah Winfrey asked President Obama what grade he would give himself for his first year in office and he said a 'B-plus.' ... Then, Oprah shook her head and said, 'I didn't pay for a B-plus.'"

Conan O'Brien: "A new poll asked Americans who their ideal next-door neighbor would be. The number one answer was the Obama family...mainly because the Obamas are the kind of neighbors who would lend you a cup of sugar or a trillion dollars."

Jimmy Kimmel: "Congratulations to President Obama on becoming an uncle. His brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, and his wife just had a son in Oregon. Or so they claim. Lou Dobbs is demanding to see the birth certificate."

Jon Stewart: "I know that the Yemen thing complicates the war on terror, but on the plus side, getting attacked is really the only way we Americans learn about world geography."

Jimmy Fallon: "Everyone around the country is still focused on healthcare. President Obama recently said, 'We've spent so much time talking about the House bill versus the Senate bill that we haven't been able to talk about how great the bill is overall.' Then someone asked him how great it was and he was like, 'Not that great.'"

Jay Leno: "Well, this is kind of embarrassing. At a speech to school kids in an elementary school in Virginia, President Obama used the teleprompter. He had a teleprompter set up to talk to the kids. The topic of the speech: Never taking the easy way out by bringing a cheat sheet to school."

Jimmy Fallon: "Well, the Oscar nominations were announced today, you guys. Best Actor nominees included George Clooney for 'Up in the Air,' Jeremy Renner...for 'The Hurt Locker,' and President Obama for the 'State of the Union.'"

Jimmy Fallon: "I read in 'The New York Times' that the Obama Administration is planning huge changes to President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' law. The new law will be called, 'Let's Face It, Some Kids Are Just Duds.'"

Jay Leno: "Here is a historical fact. It was on this day in 1690, the first paper...money was printed up in the colony of Massachusetts. The pilgrims realized that when they ran out of money, they could just print more. Thus, the Federal government was born."

David Letterman: "President Obama's having a big Super Bowl party. This is very shrewd. He has invited a group of Republicans to come to the White House for his Super Bowl party. He's going to seat the 'you lie' guy next to the 'not true' guy."

I hope you enjoyed these, had a laugh or two, and that it brightens your day!

The Computer Guy

How many of you are "computer people"? What do I mean by that? Trust me; if you are one, you know exactly what I mean. You may have a job that deals with computers; you may just play on them so often that people realize you have a little knowledge of some computer related subject. Either way, once you're dubbed a compute guy (or girl), at that point you become tech support.

Some of my friends and I have discussed this subject on many occasions. It's funny to me because I have been dubbed a computer guy by some. The truth is that although I understand programming and database work, I don't have a clue when it comes to hardware and much third party software, nor do I set up networks or anything of that nature. Yet I am dubbed a computer guy, so I'm asked questions all of the time about how to get around some problem or I'm asked whether I'll take a look at something that is broken. I always agree to take a look and my typical response after "checking it out" is, "I really don't know. You'll have to talk to someone else.". hahah. Of course there are occasions that I can offer some assistance but in reality those instances are few and far between.

The truth is that a computer is not a single all encompassing subject. In much the same way that I can't profess to be a car expert just because I can change the oil or rotate the tires, I also can't profess to be a computer guru just by knowing what I currently know. It's funny how people realize that fact when it comes to vehicles but it does not even occur to them in regards to computers.

I stumbled onto a cartoon on the web today that I thought was perfect for this post. Check it out: Very funny.

Travel Plans

I love to travel. Whether it be for a major vacation or a quick trip to a nearby city, I love to hit the road for an adventure. So far this year it appears that 2010 will provide much in that arena. Nothing over the top since I am on a budget, but right now it looks as if I'll end up an average of one fun trip per month.

Surely other trips will pop up as the year progresses, as will numerous trips to the lake, but for now the first four months of the year appear to be off to a nice start. Last month (January) it was a trip to Atlanta for a cousin's birthday. This month (February) I'm headed to Myrtle Beach for the Alice in Chains concert. AIC is one of my favorite bands of all time and I cant wait! March brings the Bridge run in Charleston, followed by a return to Myrtle Beach for a golf trip in April. What to do in May? hmmmm. Only time will tell.

Running Update

I'm currently 3 weeks deep into my 11 week running schedule. How am I doing? I guess that depends on who is doing the judging. I think I'm doing very well, although I have not stuck completely to the schedule.

The one negative so far is that I've not stuck to my schedule completely. However, on the flip side of that is the fact that when I have strayed from my plan I've done so on an "easy" or less important day by skipping a 30 minute jog or in one case a tempo run. To me, the most important parts of my training schedule are the long runs and the interval training, which account for 3 of my 6 training days. For those days, I've done well. On the other days, when I've been busy or sore, I've slipped a little, but I still consider my training a success thus far.

3 weeks down. 8 weeks to go.

State of the Union follow-up

The State of the Union address last night went as could have been expected. We saw that inspirational speaker from the election, which we haven't seen in a while, make a return to the stage. Whether or not you liked everything he said, he did give a good speech. Personally I liked some of it and some of it was not my favorite. Overall, I was happy with what was said and the focus of the speech.
That focus: jobs. Let's hope that when we look back in the coming months, that we will see growth in that area. If it truly is # 1 on his agenda, results will surely follow.

The Republican Response last night, given by governor Bob McDonnell, was probably the best response I've seen. The last one given by governor Bobby Jindal was lacking to say the least. I was happy to see that McDonnell stepped up to the plate and delivered the way in which he did. In his response he mentioned some items contrary to Obama, but I was happy to hear him also give due attention to the job market. If we have both sides pushing for full employment, we're in much better hands.

I would say that it was a good night from both parties and came across as a success. It was nice to see it play out this way. Now the coming months will be the true test.

State of the Union

Tonight is the State of the Union Address. I always enjoy these speeches, as well as the opposing party's response which follows. Tonight's lineup will include both current president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, giving the State of the Union address, and current Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, giving the GOP State of the Union Response immediately following the Obama's Address. Call me a dork, but I love this stuff and can't wait to see how it plays out. Rumor has it that the focus of this year's address will be a proposed spending freeze. I find this extremely interesting for a couple of reasons. Not necessarily bad, just interesting.

The first glaring reason is that Obama himself was against this very approach back during the election when Senator John McCain was endorsing an "across the board spending freeze". Does anyone remember the hatchet vs scalpel analogy? Anyone? Anyone? I do. At the time I actually loved that analogy and was eager to see how he would use that scalpel to enact his plans. Recall that quote from November of 2008,

"We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way."

I digress, but there are two points. First is that I've yet to see that scalpel in action. By the way, I'd still really like to see it used! Second is back to our topic of the spending freeze; why the hatchet now? I'm not against it, but it's against some of the very principles and positions that got him elected. Why now? Why following the tremendous bailout? The two don't seem to be in the same line of thinking.

The second reason I find this approach interesting is the application of the spending freeze. Granted, I have not heard every detail of this plan but from what I have gathered, it makes many cuts (which may be worthwhile or not) but avoids some of the major spending areas. Those areas include Entitlement spending and Defense spending. Who would not agree that these are some of our largest cost buckets?

Those are two reasons that I find tonight's upcoming speech interesting and am quite eager to see how it plays out during both the original address and the Republican rebuttal. Can I reiterate what a dork I am?! hahaha. I can't wait!

Talking the Talk

Since he busted onto the scene not too long ago, I have been very impressed with the comments and speeches made by Barack Obama. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that he is a very good speaker.

However, it sometimes seems that there needs to be a little more walking the walk that follows the talking of his talk. Granted, he was and is faced with some monumental decisions. I'm not taking that away from him, but I do wish that his actions would follow closer suit to his inspirational speeches.

Obama continues to say the right thing. In an interview yesterday he made a few comments that I really liked and thought were worth repeating. Regardless if you align with the Left and like what agendas he is pushing or whether you align with the Right and want him out of office soon, you have to like these comments that he made:

"I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president"

"You know, there is a tendency in Washington to believe our job description, of elected officials, is to get reelected,... That's not our job description. Our job description is to solve problems and to help people."

Vehicular Woes, part II

Excellent news!

The immediate problem was a blown fuse to the fuel pump. Considering what could have been the problem, I am quite happy with that result! That being said, there is a reason that the fuse blew. They told me that the fuel pump is probably running hot and it could happen again with the age of the vehicle, etc..., etc... So there may be a root cause that rears it's head later, but for now I'm up and running. Woo hoo!

Vehicular Woes

Like most of you, I take my vehicle in every 3000-5000 miles to get the oil changed. I tend to rotate my tires every 10,000 miles or so. When I get it serviced, the fluids are topped off for me. The only items that I actually do myself are pumping gas and replacing wiper blades. Well, I guess I also clean it on occasion, but that is different.

My grandmother always filled her tank before it reached the half empty mark. That is probably a good practice, but I tend to wait until right about the time that the pesky little gas light pops on. Of course that light was designed to be there for people like me. When the light turns on, I know I still have time to fill up. The key is remembering to do so.
In my 16 years of driving, I had never run out of gas... until yesterday in Columbia. Or at least I thought I ran out of gas yesterday. What a fiasco!

Here is a play by play of how it went down:

Monday morning I notice my gas light. After grabbing breakfast, I didn't have time to stop for gas so I planned to get it that afternoon on the way home. That afternoon I was on my way home from work, with plans to meet friends out at 6:00. No problem. I had plenty of time. There was no rush. I should have stopped for gas, but of course I forgot.

Just after I passed Greystone Blvd (the Zoo exit), I noticed that my truck was losing power. I immediately glance down and see that I'm below E. Uh oh, I'm empty! My truck began to cut out and I ended up coasting to the side of the road. By this point I had no power steering since the engine was off. Kind of scary, but luckily the traffic was minimal. At that point it was 5:20.

I was on the side of the road, just where Huger St splits off from Elmwood Ave. I had intended to meet Stacy at the house to give her a few items, so she should have been there waiting on me at that point. That worked out perfect, so I called her and ask her to grab my gas can and meet me. I'm sure she had other plans for the night, but jumped to action to help and I really appreciate that!

Stacy and boys showed up with gas. I put the gallon in and... no luck. Surely there is no need to reset anything to get the engine running again. My mind was racing. I know absolutely nothing about vehicles... nothing. I thought that perhaps the one gallon was not sufficient and the fuel lines need to be filled. I hopped in her car and we filled up the 5 gallon tank, and repeated the process. No luck.

Oh, it's also worth noting that I had talked to my parents a few times as well and they reaffirmed my thoughts that the dang truck should crank once gas was added. The next step was to call Chevy to see if there is anything that needs to be reset. Doubtful, but worth a try. After over half an hour talking to some helpful people and some idiots, it was evident that adding the gas was all that should have been needed. Oh, one funny point. The last guy I spoke with was going through manuals and trying to be helpful. After 5 minutes of 'helping me', he says, "now, when you say gas, you do mean fuel, don't you?". Uh, seriously. It's obvious this dude would not be able to help me.

I decided that it may be something besides the fuel that caused this. Perhaps being low on fuel was just coincidence. I popped the hood and looked inside. Of course I had might as well have been looking at the inner workings of a nuclear bomb. As I said before, I don't know anything about vehicles. One thing I do know is how to change the oil, so I decided to check the oil levels. The dipstick proved to be dry. That is never good. I jump in the car with Stacy again (at this point, the boys are getting hungry) and we head back to the gas station to get a quart of oil. Back to the truck. Added the oil. Still no luck. I checked the dipstick again and seeing that it was still dry, the oh shit moment set in. This was suddenly beyond just getting the truck cranked again. It was time for a tow. Stacy leaves to take to boys to eat while I handle the tow.

Let me pause for moment to say two things:
(1) I had a road trip to Atlanta this weekend. I am so thankful that this did not happen there, or even worse, somewhere between here and there. That would have totally sucked!
(2) Last Thursday when I drove to lunch, my check engine oil light came on. I would have followed up on that, but when it went off moments later I assumed there was nothing to worry about. Not the best idea in retrospect.

So back to the events of evening. I called my insurance company, USAA, and they ordered a tow for me. They said it would be 30 minutes. I swear it was like 8 minutes later that the truck pulled up. I was very impressed with the service. By this point it was 7:30. My truck was being towed. I was hungry and annoyed. I kind of left out the part of the story where all though this process I was getting very annoyed and really pissed at some points, but somehow after the tow truck arrived, my annoyance was alleviated. I accepted the situation and moved on. The drop-off of the truck was easy. Very quick in fact. Then I hitched a ride home with Stacy and after 2 hours of this fiasco, she was actually able to pick up the things that she was originally dropping by the house for. She had no idea what she was getting in to. hahaha.

I wish this story had a great ending but in reality the story is still not over. I have not heard from the shop that is checking out my truck. I don't know what to expect but I am eager to find out what the deal is. I'll update this story as it unfolds. On a happier note though, after all of the dreadful events of the afternoon, I was still able to go out with friends for a little while and enjoy a nice dinner. I guess that is the happy ending to the dreadful afternoon.

Good, Better, Best

I am not unlike many people when the new year rolls around.
I, too, want to get my act together.
I, too, want to achieve the things that I have long desired.
I, too, am inspired by the seemingly fresh start that the calendar rollover to a new year provides.
Granted January 1st is not all that different than December 31st was. Well, except for maybe that hangover from a little too much partying on New Year's Eve! The dawn of new year is symbolic, but it seems like most of us jump on that symbolism and make it more by believing that it is. Our belief in it, really do make it a fresh start. Diet programs, workout regimens, work pursuits, and even social goals all reset and every new day is a step closer to what you are driven to achieve.

Of course, we all know the status quo. We jump head over heals into our New Year's resolutions and make real progress... for a few weeks. After that, the flame of burning desire to better ourselves begins to fade. Fast food starts creeping back in the diet, the gyms get a little emptier, and the same ruts at work that you fell into in the later part of the previous year start tripping you up yet again. Hey, that's life, right? We get excited about something, we devote ourselves to it, and then we lose the drive. Before long it is nothing more than something we laugh off, "yeah, look at me now. Better luck next year! hahah". Why must it be this way?

2010 doesn't have to be like every other year. It doesn't have to follow the same script. For me 2010 is a new beginning in many ways and I started on 2010's journeys long before 2009 was ever over. I started laying the groundwork for the future well before the new year and because of that, I feel better about my direction, about my drive, and I guess you could about my New Year's resolutions. Although I do not actually set New Year's resolutions, having something to strive for when January first rolls around basically defaults into that being a resolution, doesn't it?

I am so excited about this year and I'll tell you why. Yes, this is the part where I talk about myself, but who doesn't like to talk about himself? haha. Okay, I'll keep this part short. Just two topics:
(1) I've mentioned before that I'm learning so much professionally and coming into my own. Before long I will no longer feel new to this position. For now I still feel like a newbie and that's ok, because... well, I am, but I know what I'm working toward.
(2) In addition, the groundwork that I began to lay down at the end of last year physically is beginning to come to fruition. I am arguably in the best shape of my adult life and have my sights on achieving so much more.

Those are just two aspects of my life that I'm working on. As I approached the new year I told myself that there comes a time when you have to decide whether you want to be good and many things or dedicate yourself to becoming great at one or more of them. I chose the later.

2010 offers that symbolic fresh start. What that means for me is a directed pursuit of something more. Pursuits/goals that deserve my devotion will receive it, and receive it completely. Put concisely, concerning things that are important mediocrity is not an option.

As I was writing this, I had a thought. It was a totally random thought that came out of left field. What struck me was a memory from high school; actually from my high school graduation from Ninetysix High School in 1995. One of the graduates read a short poem as part of what they had to say during the ceremony. That poem, which I could not find the author of, is quite appropriate for this topic and provides another very generic way to restate my goals for 2010:

Good, Better, Best
Never let it rest
Until the Good is Better
And the Better is the Best.

To all my friends, don't forget that you get what you truly work for and may 2010 bring you all that you want and deserve!

Since I've had a few friends inquiring about my running schedule, I decided to post it here.  As I looked around I noticed that plans varied a good bit depending on whether you considered yourself a novice, intermediate, or expert.  I ventured into the intermediate territory and found that within that group there were still many options.

Some schedules focused on really pounding out pavement, ensuring you get many miles under your belt during preparation.  On those plans, the weekly long runs tend to be much farther than your target race distance.  That is not the type of plan I was looking for.  Rather, I wanted a plan that varied routine day to day.

In the end, the one I chose gave me the variance I wanted.  It may include running nearly every day of the week, but it also changes up the expectations by varying between interval, distance, and tempo runs, not to mention the cross training day.  Anyway, here is the one that I decided to go with.  It was an eight week plan that I found on running.com.  I only made minor alterations to stretch it to 11 weeks.

* I apologize for the pain, but to make it fit on the page I had to shrink it to this size.  Just click on it to open up a full size picture.

Political Shout Out

If you know me well, you realize that I do not claim a party affiliation. I support candidates, not parties and I always vote a split ticket.

The latest politician to storm onto the scene deserves a shout out for sure. Scott Brown just seized the 41st Republican seat in the Senate. That was quite a task considering who recently vacated that spot. The seat in question was not only held but basically owned for 47 years by the late Ted Kennedy. If you don't know who that was, you may stop reading...

Brown's victory marks a huge shift in the power struggle in Washington. The "super seat majority" held by the Democrats is no more. When that majority was originally established, I was happy about it due to the fact that I assumed that some items may actually get passed. The gridlock that typically exists in Washington, although very necessary, is quite annoying because it seems that nothing ever gets accomplished. I thought that the super seat majority would be beneficial to help alleviate some of the gridlock and push some items through, but after seeing the way things have progressed I'm happy to see that majority dissolved.

Perhaps Brown's victory is more of a testament to people wanting to stop the Health Care Bill than it is to his own merits, but either way the seat is his. Congratulations to him for that. In addition to the actual victory, I have to say that the one item that deserves a little attention is his statement concerning who that seat belongs to. It was one of the best comments I've heard from a politician in a while and deserves repeating. When asked if he would be the one to sit in Teddy Kennedy's seat (to block the Health Care bill), he responded:

" with all due respond, it's not Kennedy's seat and it's not the Democrats' seat. It's the people's seat.."

Awesome! That is why Scott Brown deserves today's political shout out!