Too late now

10 hours and counting.
It's time to man up and put my big boy pants on.

I'm starting to get into the zone. I picked up my race packet at the Health Expo this morning. Lots of vendors/displays/things to buy. A lot of companies geared toward the marathoners. You can buy new shorts/shirts/shoes/running tights/hydration systems/gear bags/hats/gloves/energy food for dirt cheap. I have most of my gear already so I picked up some high energy gel shots and some Cliff Bars for the road. Coulda used the boost around mile 10 last year. Laying low tonight and taking it easy. Lite dinner and hitting the sack shortly. Weather is supposed to be clearing at race time with the temps in the mid 40s. That makes it a bit more interesting because I don't want to bundle up too much only to have to peal it off once I warm up. When you drop gear along the trail, there is no guarantee that you will get it back. Some of the old hands are decked out in black plastic garbage backs to keep warm prior to start only to peal it off once they gun goes off. Start time for my wave is 0710. It's kinda like hearding cattle at the start with a mob of people heading out across the start line. Takes about a mile for the crowd to a decent pace where you are not getting run over or you're stepping on someone. Hope to see Elvis along the trail again. Technology is pretty neat these days. We all have timing chips on our shoes that track our exact location on the course and give you interval times. Once you are on the course, it wil give you your pace, your position, and your ranking while running and lets friends & family track your status while you are on the road. 29453 if you feel like seeing my progress.

It's gonna be a long day tomorrow. Planning to head downtown around 0500 to find a good packing spot near the convention center. After I drag my sorry butt across the finish line (or get carried), the wife and I are going out to eat with my parents & brother and then we are going to see A Chorus Line.

Junior left for school this afternoon and is already back in his apartment. Holidays are finally over and he is ready to start the semester.

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Oh, and by the way, I was crusing the gear shops in the expo and saw alot of neat things to buy. Spotted this shirt on the rack and immediately thought of Abby.

Slave to technology

I has a blackberry, I has a cell phone.
Everywhere I go, they are sure to follow.

I dimly recall those halcyon days of my youth where I could jump in the car and head off to college with only a map and my clothes. No means of electronic communication. No GPS. No PDAs. Zip. Nada. Nowadays, I am in constant contact 24/7. Whether is is driving to work or flying out to Nevada, my electronic leashes are close by. I try not to become totally dependant on them, but some people at work expect me to be in constant contact. I have a boss (bless his heart) that will e-mail me throughout the day and expect an almost instantaneous response. Typically, if I am in an interview or meeting with an employee or conducting an audit, I will ignore my blackberry, much to my boss' chagrin. The other day, I was doing a mentor session with one of my buyers and my boss sent a query about some minor training issue. After about 5 minutes later I got a second message if I got the first message (??).

I thought all of this advancement in technology was suppposed to make life better?

Although my bb does have a rad GPS/Map program that practically negates the need for a TomTom...

Same song, second verse

Here I go again

For some reason, I keep signing up for things that are detrimental to my well being. You think I'd learn after last year, but, noooo, I have some sort of masochistic streak that keeps drawing me back. At my advanced age, I should be happy just getting up in the morning. But as they say in the movies: Stupid is as stupid does.

Just got my bib number (29453). We tee off in a little over 48 hours at 0700 Sunday morning. I'm not expecting to break any records this year, just trying to improve my time from last year. Given the amount of running I have done of late, I should be happy to make it across the finsh line upright. Typically, I'm jazzed up for this run, but this year I just haven't been fully into it. I just keep reminding myself I am running for a reason/cause. Weather is projected to be pretty good again this year.

Pot O' Gold

Did I ever mention how fanatical the group we got Grayson from was?

These guys are absolutely over the top when it comes to resucing Golden Retrievers and finding homes for them. They will scour the state for any and all possible goldens and bring them back to Houston to have them vetted and placed in foster homes (They've even gone as far as California to arrange for a dog's relocation). One of their guiding principles is that they want to get dogs into homes and out of shelters. Many of the volunteers will foster 1 or 2 dogs during their transition until they can find a "forever home". This weekend, one of the group came across a guy selling 8 purebred puppies in a Walmart parking lot and talked the guy out of all of them. Now we are scrambling to find homes for all 8. General concensus is that these little guys & gals will not last long.

We've had Grayson for about 9 months and I think he's about decided to keep us. We are pondering fostering a second dog to help the group place dogs in a good home and give Grayson chance to work on his social skills. Still early in the process but we are getting close to taking on a second (but temporary) boarder. As if life was not complicated enough already...

Deja moo: The feeling you've heard this bull before.

1.5 seconds of fame

Made it back home around noon without any problems. Actually, I made it to work for a few hours before I went home (details, details). I hate to fly but love nonstop flights. Slept most of the way, read the rest. Walked back into a chilly 30 degree temperatures. Forecast is for mid-20s tonight and through the weekends. I think the only one who is enjoying the "cooler" weather down here is the dog. Seems to make him more frisky. Of course, he was elated to see me back home (Walk? Can we go for a walk? Can we? Huh? Huh? Oboyoboyoboy). I think the poor mut musta missed me. Given the results of our extended frosty walk, I would assume he has not pooped since I left.

Anyway, while I was out in Phoenix, my son was attending the BCS conference game in Pasadena, California. I tried to catch the game in a local beer pub near the hotel but missed the opening hoopla. My wife informed me later (exitedly I might add) that our offspring was spotted on the TV holding the flag on the field. Our friend who made the sharp spot had TIVO and she backed up and advanced it frame-by-frame to capture the picture with her cell phone. Sure enough, junior was dead center in the picture with a shit-eating grin having the time of his life. Of course, momma has capture said picture and posted it on her facebook page.

Parents - if you don't embarrase your kids now, when will you?

Now I just have to head back to the airport at midnight to pick him up again...

You are here...

South Texas is on full alert. Seems like we have a nasty visitor headed our way today and our temperatures are forecasted to hit the mid 20s for the next few days. Mid 20s you say? I can already hear Terri up north (in her parka and fur-lined boots) thinking “pffttt”. Those hardy Minnesotans are scoffing at our cooler temps. I’m even sure that Abby would consider 25 degrees good running weather. But ya’ll should remember that down here on the Texas coastal plains, we rarely get below 32 degrees for any period of time. Anything south of 30 for more than a few days has people literally going bat shit crazy (to quote one of my favorite bloggers). The last time it got that cold for an extended period of time was back in January 1990. I remember that time because I was moving back to Houston around that time and about 1/4 of the houses I looked at had some freeze/pipe damage. Most of the homes down here were build with heat and air conditioning in mind and the pipes run through the attics. Not a lot of insulation for cold weather unless you have added it yourself. Newer homes are a bit better insulated, but old ones like mine are susceptible to freezing weather. Of course the new channels are projecting all sorts of doom & gloom. Protect your pipes, plants, & pets.

Now, given the crappy weather projections, where might you thing I should be? On the road of course. I am sitting in Phoenix, Arizona on aonther supplier audit. We have a lot on the books this year (24 and counting) but I don’t have to do all of them. Weather is a bit nicer in Phoenix .

And junior is off in California right now. He is attending the BCS bowl game in Pasadena tonight along with the rest of the rabid fans. Look for him in the stadium. He’ll be the one wearing orange. Actually, he scored a slot to hold up the gianormus Texas flag on the field before kickoff, so that's his chance to be on the field. A friend of ours has TIVO and spotted him for a brief moment holding the flag and posted his picture on facebook. In spite of the way the Horns are playing right now, for him, this is a trip of a life time. For momma, more gray hairs worrying about her son wandering around LA.

So long 2009!

Vaya con dios!

Adiós!

Hasta la vista, baby!

Auf Wiedersehen!

À bientôt!!

Ciao!

Shalom!

Yadalanh!

Sayonara!

Aloha nõ!

2009's been a long & bumpy year. Lots to be grateful for. Much to look forward to.

We survived the road trip to the country. Was wet and cold most of the time. Hard to enjoy camping with a wet dog who loves to run through puddles and ditches, regardless of how cold and windy it is. I almost renamed the dog ShamWow because he seemed to soak up all the water from outside. The rally wasn't as much fun when you are servicing as host and have to do all the cooking/cleaning/party planning. By the time New Year's rolled around, I was working on a serious headache. Way too much food/drink and everyone enjoyed themselves, but I am worn out. Four fried turkeys, two batches of Wassail, and 5 Dutch Oven cobblers. Glad to have the weekend of football to recover. Not looking forward to returning to the office after a 10 days off, but at least it will be a short week for me as I have another supplier trip planned to Phoenix. I am just not looking forward to the increased airport screening thanks to the underwear bomber. It's bad enough that I have to take off my shoes...

And, No I won't bore you with any New Year's Resolutions. How can one improve on perfection?