Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Various Notes

Cycling Update

Well, I seem to be on the mend. The recovery week and the judicious training schedule I've set up seem to have done the trick in terms of getting me back to a more well-rested state. Last weekend I went and rode the final event course and felt strong throughout the ride including the killer, long climb at the end. I did three laps and felt like I could have done one or two more so that was good. I'm still trying to decide whether to take one more good look at the course this weekend. Knowledge is always good but do I want to spend four hours in the car to get that knowledge which will come from 2 hours of riding? Hmmmmm. Anyways, the days here are perfect right now with temps in the upper 70's and light winds. To all those suffering up north; neener, neener, neener.

Advertising

OK, I'm fed up now. I feel a rant coming on about this so be on the lookout in the next couple of days. The lovely wife and I were watching TV (non-cable) Sunday evening to wind down from a long weekend filled with fun and drama (literally). I must have seen three of four commercials that indicated that all those watching the advertisement were entitled to some luxury item such as a $30,000 a year car or an exotic vacation or some other similar thing. Argh! I had to use the "finger of scorn" several times to express my opinion on this. Let me be clear on my take on this: you and I are NOT entitled to any mode of transportation much less a car much less a $30K SUV of death and destruction. Get a bike. An expensive one is an order of magnitude less in terms of cost and a bunch more heallthy. Be forewarned, I feel a rant building.

Mother Teresa
Now for something positive here. I was pleased with the coverage of the beatification of Mother Teresa for the most part. I was really pleased to see that she now stands a good chance of emerging from the shadow of the other person who died at nearly the same time. Nothing against the former Princess of Wales, I suppose, but I was outraged when the media decided to go hog wild over her death in an orgy of sensationalism. They so far as went out to say that we were more affected by Diana's death because we related to her better. I'm not so sure which "we" the media was talking about but I struggle just as mightly dealing with the idea of royalty as I do with that of impending sainthood. I just don't have much context in which to place either. No, I think that more people were affected by Diana's death because the media never seemed to let her and the story of her life be out of the media spotlight. Now, six years later, it seems that people are seeing the truth that the tiny Albanian woman had a much deeper and more profound effect on this world than any troubled member of the British royal family has ever had. Again, that is not to diminish Diana or the good she did in her life. Still, the work of Mother Teresa is among the most amazing stories of the 20th century. There should be no one who stands in the way of the recognition of what Christ has done through His willing and humble instrument.

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