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

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Salt Lake...and all that surrounds it

So since I'm here in Salt Lake City I thought I'd share a few impressions of the environment on this Christmas Day to help you unwind from whatever life might have brought your way.

Seagulls
The weirdest thing you notice when getting to Salt Lake is not the multitude of blonde-haired, blue-eyed, freshly-scrubbed kids that are surprisingly well behaved and free of piercings or tatoos but rather the seagulls. Here you are, something close to a thousand miles from any ocean, and what do you see wheeling through the skies waiting for some poor, unsuspecting target? Seagulls. Lots of seagulls. At first you kind of look at them like any other bird until the part of your brain that's charged with the responsibility of telling you that something's wrong starts to send you that "Danger Will Robinson, Danger, Danger!" signal. At some point you begin to realize that sea birds this far inland is just "wrong." I understand how they got here geologically and all and I understand that with the Great Salt Lake nearby and loads of human trash from the city why they stick around and survive. It's still really, really weird.

Ale
As with many western cities, Salt Lake has a thriving microbrewery culture (though the Mormons aren't too keen about it...kind of like Baptists and Hooters but that's another story). As I type this I'm enjoying a Squatters Polygamy Porter and I'll probably have another because, as one might wonder historically, why have just one? If you don't get the joke, you'll have to ask me later. Other ales are Orphan Abbey belgian style ale, Golden Tail ale and Prove Girl (formaerly know as St. Provo Girl until a well known foreign brewery threatened lawsuits and the like). All in all a very nice addition to the Christmas palate.

Kids
The big thing over the last couple of days has been spending time with our nieces and nephews. As you might surmise they are, at least in our eyes, about the cutest kids on the planet. We've really enjoyed our time with them. the hard thing is there are times when the lovely wife and I question our lot in life. Usually we are content with our lives, childless though they may be. We feel a great sense of fulfillment with what we do but it is during these times that we miss having kids, sometimes very much.

Anyways, I'll sign off now. have a Meryy Christmas and remember that we celebrate the Light of the World. Hold that close for nothing can ever overcome it.

Thanks for Reading.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004

A White Christmas

As vacation continues, the lovely wife and I find ourselves in Salt Lake for a portion of the holiday season. For the most part we've finished the local shopping and have just a bit more to wrap and place under the tree. As if to reward us for the completion of our tasks, Mother Nature has decided to lay down a layer of snow to cover the landscape beautiful. The weatherman has called for about two inches, let's hope he's right.

The snow is a reminder to me that it takes so little to render what seems dead and lifeless, clean and pure. It also serves to remind me to be greatful that I am herre spending the season with family. While everything certainly isn't perfect and storybook, it is filled with enough love and laughter to cover over the bad spots for a time and to draw all of us into a sense of gratitude and belonging.

Thanks for Reading.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Vacation Time

Finals are over and I now have a few weeks of well deserved free time to pursue some things besides those of teaching and evaluating my students. Probably the biggest thing on my agenda is to catch up on some of my reading. I have a huge backlog of books to look over covering everything from Tycho Brahe to small groups in the Emerging Church movement. I love having the diversity of reading as it keeps my mind going along several different tracks and allows me to continue to make lots of different connections.

Another big aspect of vaction time will be training. One of the things I love about my schedule for cycling is that I get lots of time to train right at a time when I need lots of time to train. Between the long, steady distance rides and the weight room time I can chew up abobut three hours a day right now. Having the free time to schedule that in is very nice. I feel like my body is making some pretty big strides right now, especially in terms of my strength training. I have up and down days on the bike but I guess that's to be expected. The important thing is not to push too hard and get myself in a fatigue situation.

The third thing is getting some rest. By the end of the semester I'm pretty behind on my sleep. This week I've been trying to get rid of the bags underneath my eyes with an extra nap each day along with a good night's sleep. Monday night my body mugged me and made me get even more than that but it was good. I'm guessing it was a case of biological give an inch, take a mile.

Anyways, I'll update more later on but as always,

Thanks for reading.

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Thursday, December 09, 2004

New Car

We bought a new car yesterday and thus ended the Outback saga. We had finally received word that the engine had completely failed, at least that's what the mechanic told us. We tried to deal with the dealership but they weren't interested in doing anything but gouging us so I wonder a bit about the diagnosis. Anyways, we decided that we really wanted a less expensive car. We loved our Outback but to replace it would have cost us $35,000 and we didn't want to spend that kind of money so we began to consider our second option; a hybrid.

The lovely wife did some research and decided she liked the Honda Civic Hybrid and called a dealership up in Huntsville. She then found that the Honda dealer in Macon had one we could test drive. On the way down I had a realization. Why not just be straight with the salesman and tell him what the dealership in Huntsville was willing to do and see if he would match or beat it. IF he could, we'd buy from him; if not then we'd go to Huntsville. He made us a deal and we now own the hybrid.

To me, the interesting thing is how different being totally straight made our relationship with the three dealerships involved. Had the Subaru dealership in Huntsville looked at us as something beside poor, stranded motorists to take advantage of then we would likely have bought an Outback Sport from them. They looked at the situation short term since they didn't see any advantage in looking at it long term and thus lost the whole deal. They'll get some income from their maintanence department but they've lost the several thousand dollars from the sale of a car. The other two dealerships looked at us as potential long-term Honda customers and did what they could to get us into a car. They worked hard to make things happen for us and we decided to go with their product. In fact, we're thinking of investing in a Honda Element when a hybrid version of that comes out we're so pleased with our experience.

The moral of the story is that the dealerships had different views of the goose and the golden egg and that made all the difference.

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Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Not too fat but a little too fat

Well, I did my first fitness test of the new season yesterday. It's something our local health sciences faculty can do. The numbers weren't too bad for the beginning of the season but there's a lot of room for improvement. My VO2Max was about 50 but I'm sure that'll improve once I get a better handle on my real max heart rate. The more interesting number for right now is my body fat percentage which was 15%. That's great for a regularly active person but a bit too high for a competitive athlete. The number I'm looking for is something down below 10%, so that means I've got to lose about 10 lbs prior to March. That's not a really big deal since 153 seems to be my normal spring/summer weight. The big relief is that I've been feeling like I weigh too much at that weight for some time now and to find out that almost all of the 10-12 lbs I've added over the last few years has been muscle is a good thing.

I'll take the test once a month over the next season and see if I can get a good sense of how my body changes and adapts to the work load I place on it. THe data won't give as clear a picture as something like a blood test but it will help me keep track. The big question is do I want to try and get a PowerTap to begin to do training based on how much power I produce rather than just heart rate which is only telling me how hard my cardiovascular system is working during a workout. The power data is a lot more insightful but the equipment will set me back about $500 which is a pretty penny (or is that "Penny Pretty" for all the Buckaroo Banzai fans out there).

So about a pound a week or a 600 calorie a day deficit should get the job done. The only problem is that I have to try to do this durign the Xmas season which isn't the best time to try to restrain oneself from an overindulgenece of food.

Thanks for reading.

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Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Long Overdue Update

Sorry about being gone for so long. The recent perfect storm of activites, chores, teaching responsiblities, committee meetings and training have sucked most of the free time out of my life. This will be a brief update of the things that have been going on over the last week or so.

Training
Off season is over and I'm back on the bike again. Everything is slow base miles so the rides aren't really exciting and I have to keep telling myself that the fact that I'm riding fives miles per hour slower than I'm used to is actually a good thing. Over the break I did some upgrading of the road bike to give stiffer, more efficient cranks and better brakes; go faster, stop faster I guess. The most difficult thing is that when folks see that you have some time in your schedule they decide they have the right to fill it and then not givethe time back. I fight this some every year but this year seems to be a bit worse, probably in part because I decided to doa little more with my off time. I'm also in the weight room three days a week right now doing some power lifting (well, at least power lifting for a cyclist). Trying to do a long, relaxed base miles ride after a weight session is really an interesting thing.

Car
Well, the car's timing wasn't actually bad but the engine is. So it's still in Huntsville at the Subaru dealership. The dealership has been most unhelpful in getting us some options in terms of cost of repair or replacement or trading in for a new car. They have us over a barrel to an extent and I think they know it. I want to think that this isn't a Subaru thing but a dealership issue. Like a lot of Subaru dealerships this is really a Chysler/Jeep dealership that sells Subaru on the side. I get the imression that these guys are more on the stick-it-to-folks wavelength than the first Subaru dealership we visited. So we're slogging through trying to sort that out from 300 miles away in a borrowed Jeep Grand Cherokee. I really appreciate Kathy's brother helping us out and I'll never look a gift horse in the mouth but I don't think I'll ever be real interested in buying a Grand Cherokee. the thing drives like a barge and feels like it's going to rollover anytime we try to do anyhting the least bit radical. I miss my Outback.

School
Finals week is here which is always interesting. Watching 18 year olds handle stress is always an interesting endeavor. I don't mean to poke fun at them but many are still in the mode that every little thing is a crisis and they don't realize that very often it is mostly their attitude that creates these little "explosions" of stress. The sophomores aren't as bad but they still carry around some bad habits. I think the worst is the idea that finals week is just like any old other week. They still schedule long meetings with friends, extra hours at work and extended leisure hours. I guess I did some of the same things a few quarters at Southern Oregon State ( I went to the beach for one whole day in the middle of finals week once...) but usually the idea that the final was between 25-35% of my grade seemed to motivate me to pare back my other commitments. I still try to do the same now.

Anyways, enough for now. I'll try to update a few more times this week.

Thanks for reading.

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Thursday, November 25, 2004

Timing

In automobiles, just as in comedy, everything is timing. While the idea of internal combustion is a rather straightforward one (as long as one doesn't try to describe the thermodynamic heat engine cycle which, in a fortuitous bit of engineering wordplay, is called the Otto cycle), the devil is, as they say, in the details. Most importantly, everything has to happen in just the right order at just the right time. In comedy, the pause between the set-up and the delivery has to be just right or the joke is flat or forced and doesn't work. In cars this timing is insured by a nifty little thing called the timing belt (if only some actors had one of these handy devices).

Why the interesting but seemingly irrelevant discourse on the relation between comedy, cars and timing? Well, our car seems to have lost its timing; or at least its timing belt. Fortunately, its timing in doing so couldn't have been better. It waited until after we had gotten to Huntsville here instead of failing somewhere along the way, say on one of the backroads detours we ended up taking to get here becasue the 15" of rain in these parts washed out or closed section of two US highways. On this day I'm thankful for that. Deeply, truly thankful.

I wonder if God is trying to tell us as a nation to stay home and slow down. Travel seems to have been difficult across much of the nation. Snow, rain, flooding and, in Colorado, rockslides that are going to close I-70 for over a week forcing detours of over 200 miles; which translates into about 4 hours given the nature of the mountain roads if conditions are reasonable.

If you're with family and friends on this weekend; give thanks. There are a lot of people who are stuck, unable to get home. They're held up by closed airports, bad roads, floods for sure. But some are not with their families due to war, estrangement or death. Take time this day to pray for them. Not a little prayer but really reach out from your heart. Remember, the Lord told His disciples, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." In that same prayer, give thanks for what you may have, even if those things seem simple and not worth much. Maybe we should be most thankful for the things in our lives that are the most simple; for often they are the most beautiful.

In Him.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Recovering

On Thursday I finally took the plunge and had my wisdom teeth pulled. At 38 years old you'd think it would be too late for this but not for me. My 3rd molars came in when I was 18 (I remember that week very clearly...I couldn't eat and lost 10 pounds while suffering from some really nasty virus) but never really gave me much trouble. Every now and again I would feel them scrape my inner cheek but that was it. I never saw a dentist because I didn't have dental insurance and I wasn't going to mess with soemthing that didn't seem to be a problem. When I went to the dentist last year to have a cap replaced, he mentioned that I should have them removed because they were close enough to my second molars to cause decay problems. It was the middle of race season and I used up my benefits with the cap so I decided to put it off a year. After race season ended, this was the year. Prior to the end of the season though, one of my second molars fell apart, just as the dentist said it would. That was fun. Four ibprofen every four or five hours to deal with the pain of the nearly exposed nerve and get through race season.

Right now I'm recovering from the procedure. My jaw is sore. They had to cut a good deal of the second molar out I think because it probably disintegrated on the surgeon. He had to leave a piece in because it was too close to the nerve that runs through the jawbone so I'll deal with that several years down the road. Right now I have a dull ache and pain thing going on. I was taking Vicodin (not Rush jokes please) but I hated the slightly "off" feeling it gave me so I've switched to extra-strength acetomeniphin (Tylenol). The only problem with that is that is coats my mouth with this weird feeling and slight taste. The only real cure for the pain, as always, is time and rest. That's what I'll try to do, but I feel antsy to get out and see people and mingle and have a beer or two and what not. I'm guessing that I'll work to get some chores done instead and get some much needed rest by taking naps went I can. It's hard because I have to sleep upright which always makes my sinuses grumpy but maybe if I take short naps it won't be so bad.

Thanks for reading.

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Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Absolutely Unbelievable

So I'm getting ready to catch a little Monday Night Football last night on the local ABC affliate, hoping that the rabbit ear reception will be clear enough that I'll be able to make out the players from the static. My MO on such evenings is to tune in a bit earlier so as to make the necessary antenna adjustments so that the signal comes in with slightly more clarity that a George Bush policy speech on the environement. On this particular station, one of those trashy entertainment "news" programs is aired just prior to the game and usually I just hit the mute button and focus on getting the picture as clear as possible while avoiding brain damage or blindness. Unfortunately, due to my post weekend ride fatigue I wasn't quick enough with the remote and heard two words that grabbed my attention like a pit bull on a mail carrier's calf and wouldn't let go; "Butt Facial".

Yes folks, that's right. Apparently, ET or whatever was doing some sort of segment on what the stars in Hollywood do to "enhance" their appearance While I found out things about Tom Cruise that make it even more unlikely that I'll ever spend a dime of my hard earned money to see him "act", what really floored me was this idea that the stars take time to have other people actually do all the things to their hinders that they might have done to their faces so that they might look younger and, well, firmer. I swear to God that I'm not making this up. They call them butt facials and they cost on the order of $500 a piece and are done monthly for the average Hollywood star or starlet. Now, that adds up to around $6000 per year just to have someone message, cucumber wash, hot stone treat, exfoliate and whatnot the one part of your body you're most likely going to cover up and then sit on.

Perhaps you saw the Jesusland Map (http://members.shaw.ca/ianking/junk/usa.jpg) that was floating around the web just after the election. I remember taking a look at it and getting sort of depressed that some people thought that there was this great divide in the country based on whether one holds a position of faith that might influence who one votes for or not. I thought that we aren't that far apart as a country that we have to make fun of the "red states". I was wrong. We are that far apart. How many kids would a year of butt facials provide health coverage for? How can anyone actually think that spending that kind of money on your ass would do anything but make you seem like one? Are the values of most of the country different than those in the parts of the country that endorse and encourage the butt facial? Yes, absolutely. I can't imagine anyone in Ohio (Florida is another story) going to get a butt facial. In fact, I imagine that if I asked most Americans what they thought a butt facial was they wouldn't think of some cosmetic enhancement but rather they'd imagine some rather sophomoric prank one fraternity brother might play on some poor pledge. Even more stunning is that the upkeep of the average Hollywood personality is around $130,000. Now we know where Madonna's take from the Bush tax cut went.

The only problem I see with the map is that I'm pretty sure the Canadians don't want these guys either.

On a related note, George Will has once again put it so perfectly in his "Last Word" column over at Newsweek that to try to say it any other way would be to dilute the message. Check it out at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6478819/site/newsweek/. My favorite point is that the party that thinks that Americans are too stupid to know how to invest is the party that supports a woman's right to determine whether or not to terminate the life of her unborn child regardless of how ignorant or uneducated she might be.

Nice.

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Monday, November 15, 2004

Hard Hat

This weekend was the annual Claxton "Cruisin in the Country" century ride (that's 100 miles for those not in the know) down towards Savannah. This is a ride I've done every year since I've lived in Georgia.m I did my first century there and I set my fastest time PR there as well (4:27 for solo ride). This weekend was not that kind of ride.

Before I give an account of the ride let me say that the century was as well organized and as pleasant as it has ever been. I really was made to feel welcome and enjoyed every aspect of the weekend that the folks from the Evans County Cahmber of Commerce could control. Unfortunately, the one thing they couldn't control was the weather. Saturday morning the wind was at 10 mph out of the north and as the day went on it just got worse and worse. The last forty miles were spent fighting a headwind that just killed all the riders. Around the campfire, us not-so-old-timers agreed with the old-timers that this was the hardest the ride had ever been. I'm sure the only thing that got some of the riders through were the great rest stops and the encouraging volenteers.

Still though, I managed to earn my hat (given free to every century rider) so my collection is up to five now. My only other complaint has to do with the two guys who drafted a volenteer SAG vehicle for most of the century. NOt only was it dangerous but it just seemed awfully darn unfair that they got hats for drafting a car and never having to take a real pull. I don't know who the two guys are but one was wearing shorts from the "At The Hub" shop. Pretty darn feeble if you ask me.

Now I'll spend the rest of the month off the bike doing a few weights and trying not to gain too much weight, if you know what I mean.

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Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Must...Control...Finger...of...Scorn...

So, I'm watching a little Monday Night Football last night. Sort of the end of an long day, wind down kind of thing for me. I never get to see how a game turns out because I live on the East Coast now and I'd like to actually be able to get up in the morning but I can usually catch the first half if I don't fall asleep. Well, I'm watching and the new Nissan Pathfinder commercial comes on with a bunch of 20-something looking athletic, fit types driving through a scene from the American West somewhere when the announcer comes on and says something like, "you can't tell stories about the mountian if you haven't been to the top." The next shot in the commercial is of the Pathfinder at the top of some overlook with the fit, active 20-somethings coverting around a bit. Cut to the next shot and you have the Pathfinder rolling down the highway and the announcer saying, "Get better stories."

Now, here's my problem with this from my admittedly "Left Coast" point of view. YOU DON'T GET TO TELL THE STORY UNLESS YOU DID IT YOURSELF. I actually yelled this at the TV while unsuccessfully attempting to control the finger of scorn. As I'm sure will surprise some of my more tender readers, I also used a bit of colorful language to express my opinion of the Madison Avenue firm responsible for this ad.

I mean, what kind of story are you going to tell here, really? "Dude, like we were totally flying down this broad American highway when Dusty saw this turn off up to the top of the mountain so, like, he took it and the road got kind of rough. At one point we were bouncing around so bad that I actually spilled my double latte expresso on Buffy who was, like, totally bummed. But man, the view from the top was so cool! Yay us! Then we got back in the TrailDestroyer and headed out to some other relatively unspoiled place to leave huge tire tracks to enhance erosion so those who actually walk somewhere will have their hike ruined...." But I digress.

Note to Nissan: Your ad is stupid. I mean that with all the possible strength I can muster. Your ad is really, really amazingly stupid and ignorant. Even if I had been interested in driving that monstrosity you call a vehicle, your ad insulting my ability to create my own stories based on my own effort and my own will just convinced me never to drive your vehicle. I think you need to "SHIFT_paradigm" and realize that we don't need you to be able to create our stories. Especially when they are a lot more powerful when you're not part of them.

Rage subsiding...Blood pressure falling...civilization safe...

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Monday, November 08, 2004

The fallacy of "easy."

At CoffeeHouse the other night a group of students sat around talking about classes and what they were going to take. One of the students in particular was having difficulty putting a schedule together because every time someone mentioned a class she would exclaim, "but I heard that it was hard!" Finally, one of the other faculty members shared his perspective that part of the college experience was to be challenged beyond one's means and so be forced to grow to become a better and more well-rounded person. The student expressed her skepticism verbally while a number of others shared her opinion, at least if their facial expressions were any indication of their beliefs.

It would be easy to parody this student were her views not shared by so many of her colleagues. I often hear of students at Gordon who change their major so that they don't have to take physics from me. I also hear that they go on to other schools where they don't succeed because they couldn't pass their upper division classes. It would be easy to parody the group if it weren't for the societal outlook that says that "owning your own x is easy!" and "no money (or effort) down and no payments (or work) for twelve months!" We're a get something for nothing society. Everyone wants the degree but they don't want to sacrifice to have it. Maybe this generation is incapable of sacrificing.

Let me give you an example. As a country, we are at war. Now, as a citizen I've not been asked to sacrifice anything for this war. While some have sacrificed children, parents and loved ones most have not been bothered by or affected by its prosecution. In WWII there was rationing and tightening one's belt. Throughout the Cold War we knew that we paid higher taxes to fund the military. In this war we get $300 tax cuts and run up a massive debt with no plan to pay it back. When we have a war caused recession we refinance our homes at lower interest rates and spend the extra cash remodeling for a more comfortable life. We sacrifice nothing as a society to make this happen; we get something for nothing or so we think. But the bill will have to be paid sometime. Just like the student who keeps putting off the hard classes will eventually be forced to leave college with nothing to show for her effort, so shall our society have to pony up to cover the tab sooner or later.

David Wilcox wrote a song for the Big Horizon album titled, "All the Roots Grow Deeper When it's Dry." I think that adversity develops character in people and in society. The greatest generation was the greatest because they endured the Great Depression and fought a great war. They passed down to us a sense of America as a place where dreams could be achieved through hard work and enterprise. What we seemed to have heard was only the first part and we have decided that the second is entitlement. The thinking goes, "If they had it, why shouldn't I?" The answeris obvious. The knew what they valued and they worked to secure it through sacrifice of the less important things. When I speak with my grandparents about what life was like I'm always struck by how clearly they understood what was important and what wasn't. I wish more of today's thinkers and decision makers could do that. More importantly, I wish more of us could force ourselves to see beyond our own limited horizons. I don't object to a war in Iraq, especially if it liberates an oppressed people. I do object to being given a tax cut I'll have to pay back someday with interest while fighting that war. How many Americans would support the President if he came out and said, "The war will cost the country $68 billion. I'll be expecting a $225 check from each of you this year in addition to your regular taxes. You can pay this now or volenteer to do some of the work the government will have to cut out to save this money. With $10/hour I think we can get away with about 25 hours per citizen."

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Thursday, November 04, 2004

Getting Back to Business or the Process of Healing

The elections are over and the chief executive for the country has been chosen. The dire "end is near" predictions that the media made to sell newspapers and ad time never came to pass and we knew that George Bush had won by 11 pm Tuesday night even though the process of sorting out Ohio would take a little longer than that. But you already knew that and that's not what you came here to see, so on to analysis.

My hope is that now that the election is over we can get back to the business of our lives. More importantly, I'm hoping that in doing so we can practice a process of healing. In surfing around to this and that blog or livejournal I've seen some pretty mean-spirited invective from both sides of the political fence. To those people allow me to quote Jon Stewart; "Please stop." I know that you did your research and carefully considered all the options to come to your decision. Respect that others went through the same process as you did and might have actually reached different conclusions than you did. This doesn't make them stupid or brain dead or knee-jerk or anything other than what you are: someone who cares about their country and went through a process to reach a decision they thought would best benefit it. Express your disappointment or joy over the result but don't take a self-righteous tone in condemning those who didn't see it the same way you did. I know very bright, well educated, good people who voted for each candidate (I work at a college, they all have Ph.D.s and know how to use the skills they learned in getting them to find and process information from sources beyond CNN and FoxNews). It would be judgmental and self-centered of me to name call or bash those who didn't vote the way I did. They saw things differently that I did; looked at the world through different lenses; had different priorities. Thus they came to a different conclusion. I can and do respect their position even if I don't agree with it. Moreover, I can and do deeply respect the fact that they participated in the process and added their voices to the chorus of democracy (didn't that sound corny?).

What we all need to do is back away from the politics of disinclusion and partisanship and reach out to those who felt differently and say thanks for being a part of what took place. For those who read this and who voted, thank you (or maybe, given that I just saw Bubba Ho-tep, "thankyouverymuch..."). Keeping asking the questions and keep demanding the answers. Maybe just tone down the stridency a bit. Let's enter into a civil dialogue where we look at each other as agents of good, not robots or clones of the "evil other side". Tell the media to shut up and report on the events and to stop making them up to sell papers. Wouldn't it be nice if on "Crossfire" they actually looked at a dispute where the various people came together and worked out a solution in a respectful manner instead of shouting and yelling at each other theatrically?

To those who didn't vote, stop complaining about being disincluded. You had your chance and you didn't take it. Those of us under 40 are being screwed by the Baby Boomers and your apathy towards getting involved in even the simplest way betrays us all. Get off you behinds and mobilize. Let's find our candidate for four years from now, not someone a bunch of party hacks decide will be our candiate. Let's find someone who cares about our issues and let's give that person our time and money and support. Let's not only get a candidate for President who will carry our banner but let's find some candidates for Senate and Congress who would be willing to enact our legislation. Let's stop thinking of news as a means of entertainment (did you think Cobain didn't mean news?) and take the media by the lower extremities and make them listen to our point of view.

I'll get off my soap box now. Thanks for reading.

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Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Here We Go

So, it's Election Day and by all accounts Americans are turning out in large numbers. I applaud this even if I'm not too enthused about voting myself. Before someone gets all self-righteous on me let me explain. As I've written before, I have a very few issues that motivate me...tax reform, paying off the debt, education reform and independance from foreign oil. I guess it has to do with my Left Coast roots but I'm all about independence from outside influence. No candidate has run on platforms that are even close when it comes to this, probably because to hold the positions I support would mean no chance of election. So I have to vote for someone who doesn't even vaguely represent me on any of the issues that are really important to me. Bummer. This makes it hard to get up the motivation to go and stand in line in the rain instead of doing something useful like getting my hair cut.

This means I have to vote on vague, squishy things that are hard to measure or clarify or on things have little to do with the process of governing. As an example, I really like Bush's strong devotion to his faith and his willingness to submit to a higher power and to seek wisdom through prayer. What's unfortunate is that this has little effect on those who pass the legislation that may or may not affect me. Thus, I feel like my vote supports a system that I don't support to some degree.

So here's a shout out. If there are any candidates for the office of President or who want to run for the Congress or Senate in 2006 or 2008 that support paying back the debt as a fundamental platform plank, who want to reform the tax code to a simple income tax along with a sales tax and who want the government to support the development of alternative sources of enregy generation please contact me. I'll do whatever I can to support your candidacy in and around Georgia. I might even give you money if I've got a little extra. If nothing else, I'll ride my bike around the region with a placard that tells people to vote for you.

Thanks for reading.

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Monday, November 01, 2004

Fin??

Well, this weekend was going to be my last race and I was planning to step off the bike for the month of November. I was hoping for a good race at Dauset Trails and I did well, netting my best result of the year with a 6th place finish. The problem is that the good result combined with the double points value for the race most likely moves me up into the top ten in the GAP series for my class (sport protogeezers). Now I have to decide whether I'm going to race a race next weekend that was postponed due to one of the hurricames that roared through the region back in September. What a problem to have. It's unlikely that I'll do well enough to move up significantly in the series but if I don't race I'll probably drop out of the top ten. The team sponsors would probably like a top ten finish but I'd really like to take a long rest from riding. We'll see...

The season's ending (maybe) has put me in a reflective mood. More than any other the year has been up and down in terms of results with great successes (two podium finishes at State Time Trial Championships) and some pretty dismal failures (23rd and 16th at GAP races and a DNF at the Lagrange Ga. Cup race). I'd like to find a bit more consistency but overall I'm really happy with how things turned out. I stepped up into some really serious competition and, fo the most part, I was able to hold my own and even make a bit of a mark. To go any further I'll probably need to get a coach which should be an interesting endeavor due to my independant streak but that too should be a real growth experience. Right now the next season starts in the weight room as I'm going in for the first time today. It's weird to think that it didn't seem that long ago that I was writing about doing this for last year.

Anyway, happy November and thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Institutional DNA

One of the things a person occasionally sees is the rise of what I call institutional DNA. This is where an individual is so deeply intertwined with an organization that the organization's success goes hand-in-hand with the individual. The most obvious example of this is Apple Computer and Steve Jobs. The company was founded on Jobs' vision and the company rises and falls on its ability to adhere to it. Those who ran the company between Jobs' two stints didn't understand the vision so the company floundered. When Jobs return the company was refocused on that vision and seemed to really find its feet. The question with the company is whether or not that "DNA" can be transferred to another leader or if the DNA can be modified or mutated by another leader whose vision is close enough to the original that the company will still thrive.

For me, the saga at the University of Florida fits this. Is Spurrier the only guy who can take the program to true success? Alabama has had real problems replacing Bear Bryant for just this reason with (until this year maybe) only Gene Stallings, a former palyer and coach under Stallings having success. If Florida decides to go with someone besides the Ol' Ballcoach it risks messing with the DNA...

I wonder how often we do this with things in our life. Is my ministry infused with the "DNA" of the lovely wife and I? Probably. Tot he point where no one could run it? I'm pretty sure that right now it is. The goal is to find people who can lead that share our vision fully enough that if we are no longer able to continue to run the ministry, they can pick it up and be successful in modifying it int he right ways that will fit their leadership style and yet holds to the original vision.

Something to think about.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Monday, October 25, 2004

Refreshment

So worship the last several weeks hasn't been such a great thing. I've been to several services and haven't felt at all connected and have only rarely worshipped. In part I feel like I've returned to the desert though only in this one aspect. The Bible study and Coffeehouse for GCF have been really uplifting. Went to a church yesterday that was so not me and I was pretty disappointed when I got home.

Then GCF got together for our evening worship time and it was exactly what I needed. The entire time was praise around some themes in Rev. 4 and 5. Master Weiss led with some guitar and harmonia and I got to play a Djembe for the first time. For those who don't know, a Djembe is a big African drum that allows for tonal variation depending on where the drum head is hit by your hand. I wasn't very good but I actually felt like I got to create in the praise time. I got to interact with a community of worshippers to create a unique expression of my and our devotion to God. We got to offer our praise to God and I felt deeply connected to the other worshippers and to the Lord. It was a really refreshing and connecting experience. Even with the rhythm deficencies I showed at times I just enjoyed what we got to lift to Him.

If you read this and are or have been a part of GCF you should join us on Sunday nights for worship. It's so much better than somuch of what I've "experienced" lately. Instead of sitting in a seat and having worship thrown at me or done for me I get to be part of the entire creation of worship in a very deep way. I haven't felt this good in worship since the trip to Cheaha Mountain many years ago when I sat with abobut 50 other college studnets and worshipped God on the side of the mountain with just the beauty of our voices and the devotion of our hearts. When the cloud descended around us we all felt liek we have recevied the blessing of God through a sort of baptism. Last night was like that. I so much hope that we can do it again.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Friday, October 22, 2004

Mark Knopfler

Here we are back on this again but since buying Shangri-La I've been listening to a lot of Knopfler's music. So much so, in fact, that I had to go out and buy Saling to Philadelpia. Just a few comments about what I think after listening to music from these two albums and the music from Knopler's solo debut, Golden Heart.

Like many people my age the first I heard of Knopler was with Dire Straits and Sultans of Swing. I remember the first time I heard the album and though what a cool tune it was. I mean it just captured what it must have been like to play in small English pubs and clubs as a sort of eclectic, folky band. The guitar work was great but the thing that really drove the tune was this laid back rhythm that made the song sound so totally effortless. So of like Steeley Dan but British and quirky.

The next thing I heard was "Money for Nothing" which was, of course, an MTV rock anthem back when they actually played music. I remember the uproar the lyriccs caused with the homosexual community and I remember Sting's killer background vocals. I listened to the whole album and I remember thinking that the best track was the haunting "Brothers in Arms".

Fast forward to the 90's and grad school. The band sort of broke up so the label released the greatest hit disc which I decided that I needed to have. It was OK but I wasn't too impressed with a lot of the stuff other than Twisting by the Pool. Then the On Every Street album came out and I was floored. What a cool album it was. From Calling Elvis to How Long every tune had a story to tell and a point to make. Ticket to Heaven was especially good but the best was the seven minute Planet of New Orleans with its simering blueish thing going on.

After that I didn't hear anything until I was managing the radio station in Kansas and we got Knopler's first solo disc, Golden Heart, sent to us and I gave it a listen. We were a contemporary hits radio format station and I pretty quickly figured out that this album wouldn't ever get played because it was just too darn good to appeal to 18 year old rural college kids. I'd play tunes from it on my evening radio show and the students would call asking me what this **** was and why didn't I play the pop flavor of the day that they'd already heard about 10 times that day. I'd suggest that if they liked the song so much they might want to consider buying the album and they could think of my show as something to broaden their horizons. Their response usually involved either questioning my parentage or suggesting various aerobic activites I might consider engaging in. I usually thanked them for their kindness and ended our conversation with a hearty cheerio...but I digress.

Anyway, Golden Heart was just about the best album I'd heard in years with Celtic and Acadian and folk and blues flavored mixed into what I kind of thought of as a musical gumbo. Great stuff with history thrown in and great characters with great stories. Gone was the rock hero side of Knopler. What replaced it was this sort of restrained virtuosity that was just effortless and threaten to break out and overflow but instead added just the right spice to the stew. The title track and "Darling Pretty" sounded like they'd been inspired when Knopfler wrote the Princess Bride soundtrack and several other tunes had to have been written on a tour through the bayous of lower Louisianna.

Then I lost him again. Golden Heart was one of the first albums on my iPod and was a piece that I'd return to like a sort of musical touchstone; especially when I became curmudgeonly about the state of music in America. Then out at the iTunes music store they had Shangri-La on the first day of its release. I looked at it for a few minutes and decided to buy it unheard and I found Knopler's other solo albums. Big risk for me as I'm still a poor kid at heart and I can't just go buy a bunch of music without at least hearing a song or two. I'm so completely pleased I did. I've listened to the album a couple of dozen times now and it just keeps getting better. I have to make myself choose other music so that I don't wear out the sound, if you know what I mean. Songs about Ray Kroc and McDonalds, Bush the Elder talking to Bush the Younger, a blues tune for Sonny Liston, a Trawlerman's Tale, Elvis and Clambake and so much more. What a great musical landscape it is. So back out to the iTunes music store and Sailing to Philadelphia is purchased. The title track is tune of almost heartbraking beauty, a duet with James Taylor about Jeremiah Dixon and Charlie Mason and their line. The rest of the album is more of the same, great laid back, low key storytelling populated with eccentric characters in amusing situations. As the lovely wife says, Knopfler has the most amazing way of spinning lyrics that you wouldn't think would work that really do. To compare him to another musician might not be quite right but lyrically he has that same ability to create gold from seeming disparate pieces like Paul Simon did on Rhythm of the Saints.

So, after all this, I hope you'll give mark Knopler a listen. Great music if you like it intelligent, low key and really, really smooth.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Second Class Citizens?

Not so long ago there was a lot of noise about how those in the religious right were denigrating women who made the choice to join the workforce while they had children at home. Many felt that the domestic conservatives were impuning the moral fiber of those women who wished to continue to make contributions to society through their careers as well as through what they did at home. I believe that those concerns were justified and I'm glad the discussion was brought to the fore. While each woman would have to make a choice based on their experience and conscience; no fat, white male had the right to condemn a woman for seeking to do what men had done for centuries.

Lately, though, the tables have turned as evidenced by the recent comments of the wife of the democratic presedential candidate. In an interview she implied that she would be a better first lady because she had workforce experience while her counterpart did not. Leaving aside the striking inaccuracy of her summation of the First Lady's work experience (Ms. Bush was a excellent public school teacher for 9 years...which may actually qualify her for sainthood in some districts), the assumption that having entered the work force makes Ms. Heinz-Kerry better qualified bothers me. Their are more issues here that I can shake a stick at but I'd like to look at two.

First, are we to the point now where certain segments of society are saying that those women who stay at home are inferior in some way? Apologize though she might, Ms. Heinz-Kerry certainly said that in her interview. You can see her world view very clearly through what she said in a moment when a politcal advisor wasn't camped next to her. I thought we'd settled this. No one gets to judge a woman's choice on whether to remain in the workforce or stay at home with and for her family. Or, if one side gets to judge, then so does the other. I like the first one better but I'm deeply distrurbed by the fact that a woman of Ms. Heinz-Kerry's standing would think such a thing.

Secondly, who are we electing here, Senator Kerry or Senator Kerry and his wife? If the latter's the case, do we need to have a First Ladies debate? I always assumed that I was voting for the Pres/VP combination but from her comments she thinks she's better qualified to be married to the Pres by reason for the skills she acquired by being a billionaire heiress. This makes me very uncomfortable and has likely solidified my voting choice. I won't vote for someone who thinks they'd be a better First Lady than a stay-at-home mom and who can't seem to get the facts straight before she says something ignorant. Ms. Heinz-Kerry implies that we, as voters, need to look at the whole package. For me, she's too big a drag on the Kerry, Heinz-Kerry, Edwards ticket.

That just my opinion, I could be wrong.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Uhhggghh! Blech! Arrrghh!

Wow, what a sucky ride this last weekend. Actually, it wasn't the ride but the rider that was sucky. The ride was actually pretty nice except for the rollers just after the Florida border. The thing was that the orginally forecast tailwind turned into an actual headwind on Saturday morning. Now, on a normal century you're riding a loop so headwind early in the ride turns into tailwind later. This means if you push early, you'll be OK later. In this case, the headwind just got worse as the day went on so when I pushed early, I paid later. My legs "blew to the world" as Paul Sherwin might say at about mile 80 and I ended up limping the rest of the way in but I still made it. I haven't ridden that poorly in a long time. So, I'm taking this week off. Obviously my body needs some recovery time so I'll just chill this week and see if I can find a way to ramp up for Dauset and Gainesvill in a couple of weeks. What may end up happening is that I take the rest of October off and then start training for next year in November. We'll just have to see. Right now though, I'm toast.

The rest of the weekend was interesting. Most of it was sort of a mish-mash of misplanning and forgetting trivial things like all my clothes back in Enterprise. It made for a very odd weekend at the beach where I got to sort of not really worry about anything since there was really nothing I could do about it. No clothes, no car, no personal items, really sore legs so no riding...so I just chilled a bit. It probably good that there wasn't any tequilla laying around or I might have ended up with a tatoo with no recollection of how I got it. Panama City isn't Key West but there are definitely similarities. Still, it was good to spend time with the lovely wife's sisters and their families.

Job #1 now is to get caught back up on my sleep and let my body rest and rejuvinate. With the amount of work work I have to do, this is a good time for some extra time.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Friday, October 15, 2004

Short Week/Long Week

Due to fall break, we've only had a three day week here at the College. Yet, the week has seemed pretty long right up until today. I guess my brain thinks it's still Wednesday and with all the stuff I've had to get caught up on I've been really rushed.

The project did come together though I'm hoping a lesson was learned about trying to remove paint from wooden objects in a 116 year old house. If they painted it the first time, they might have had a good reason. Even if they didn't, old paint is really, really persistent stuff. If we had had several months to "restore" the old baseboard to their "original" condition (that is assuming they weren't painted from the get go) the process would likely have been a great success but a four day weekend wasn't enough time.

It looks like some of the outside on the house work was successful. We had a windy, rainy evening and none of the leaks reappeared so we may have dealt with those issues. Of course, in doing so we found other issues we'll have to deal with so I guess the neverending battle against age and deterioration continues.

This weekend I'll be doing some riding down in south Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The original plan was to take part in an organized century ride but the ride didn't get any riders so it looks like I'll be sort of doing my own thing and meeting folks at a beach house in Destin. It'll be interesting to see how the trip goes as that area was pretty beat up by Ivan and I'm not sure how well it has recovered. I'm a bit surprised that there was a place in Destin to go hang out in but I'm not complaining about a trip to the beach, even if I have to ride a hundred miles to get it.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Long Weekend Project

For me this weekend has been one of multitasking, project planning and breathing paint fumes. Over the course of the last year or so, the lovely wife and I began to realize that we were underutilizing part of our home. We live in an old Victorian sytle house with the separated room floor plan commoningly found in such structures. If you're familiar with Voctorians you already know the layout but if not I'll explain. In our house you don't come in the front door into a room but rather the entry hallway. You have dorways on your left and right, stairs leading to the second floor and, if you go straight you head back towards the dining room, the guest room and the kitchen. The roonm on the left we use for our Bible study and hangout room, the room on the right is the traditional "sitting room" complete with fireplace and the back bedroom has been turned into a library and bike room.

We realized that we never used the living room for a variety of reasons. Additionally, the library was trying to do too many things and, because of this is always cluttered. The living room had kind of become a place to dump everything abd looked like a disaster. So we decided to repurpose the room. Why not turn the sitting room that we never sit in into the library and return the back bedroom to that function along with a dual focus towards it being the bike room. So this weekend's project has been to do this. Why this weekend? Mainly because for once during this year we both have the same days off. It is fall break fo both of us and we have four days in which to work. Normally I would have wanted to go somewhere to get away, but we really felt like this had to get done.

I struggle with projects liek these because there are both serious time constraints and clutter problems. In every project, there is a point for me where things get just a bit too messy and a bit to complicated and I have to struggle with giving up. I was determined to avoid that this time. So, leading up to the project, I decided to do some extra cleaning to make some clutter free space available to retreat to when I needed a breather. It seems to have worked though no quite as well as I have hoped. Last night when the bookcases in the living room had to be emptied and moved so the wall behind them could be painted I was struggling. The other hard thing is that while all of this is going on we have to eat and get our laundry done and all the rest since we don't have a lot of catch up time this week and next weekend to do that.

Hence, I've been multitasking: edge something here, fold a load of laundry there, run to the store to get some forgotten tool, make a decision on some problem we hadn't anticipated, etc. I'm pretty sure we'll pull it all together today, though there's a lot to be done still. We'll be moving a lot of books around which is always tiring as well as trying to get the new room's arraingement set. This usually isn't a big deal since you can generally moving things around as needed to get it the way you'd like, even a few months after the fact. Unfortunately, you can't do that with eight foot tall loaded bookcases, so we've got to get close with those. We've got two possible set-ups; so we'll see which on we go with.

Thanks fo reading and wish us luck.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Saturday, October 09, 2004

More advice for aspiring politicians

Since the Kerry campaign seems to have read my earlier post on how to save its bid for the Presidency (or ran out and hired Clinton's campaign team...whatever) here's some more unsolicited but deeply authenic political advice for those running for office.

Security isn't the real, big deal. Not really. Sure the media likes us to think that and all because stress sells papers but what it comes down to is the kids. If you want to get elected you've got to show people their kids will be better off down the road after you've had time to do your thing in the city commission, the state house, the Oval Office or wherever you might find yourself. Americans will pays taxes through the nose, go without luxuries like iPods and even drive fuel efficient cars if they can be convinced that their little ones will definitely be better off.

There are two basic places this is most important. Most immediately; schools. Then, long term job growth. Since the second one requires long term thinking, subtle, multiple point plans and studies by groups with acronyms you're not going to get too far with that in an election year. So you've got to look at education. Now everyone has a plan for education but what most of them don't understand is that their plan is pretty much stupid. Why? Well, most of them have never been teachers and have never worked in a school run by an administrator beholden to board of citizens elected on their popularity more than their credentials. So here's primer for the budding politician:

1) Teacher accountability is good, but only when accompanied by parent accountability. If Johnny's falling behind maybe we should look just as hard at Johnny's home life as we do at the teacher's lesson plans. I wonder what would happen if, when a child misbehaves in class, the parent had to serve detention along with the student?

2) Taking tenure away from teachers doesn't improve accountability. In states where that is done the kids figure out pretty quickly that the teacher has no protection and Mom and Dad will believe them over the total stranger in the building they drop their kid off in. Teachers have to pay their bills too and most are pretty good at the mental calculus. Pass all your kids and you keep your job. Everyone's happy, at least until Johnny gets to college or has to compete in the world marketplace. Protect your teachers and make the kids responsible for their bad behavior. See point 1 above. When a teacher is unprofessional, convene a hearing board and censure the educator just like the American Bar Association does with lawyers (see point 4 below).

3) Local tax support of schools is inequitable, plain and simple. Poor districts turn out poor students more often than rich districts. The idea is "no taxation without representation" not "all of our dollars stay here". The higher ed system in the US works because everyone in the state bears the cost of educating the students. In two-year college systems, those that run the best (California, New York, Georgia, Florida) are state supported, not local control. It's time that every kid got the same education.

4) Make teaching a profession rather than a sideline or a hobby. Require licensure and review of teachers. Put educators on twelve month contracts with year-round duties. Require advance degrees. Pay teachers like professionals. Look at the professions like law, medicine and engineereing and move education in the same direction. Starting pay should be $75,000 for a person with a Master's degree on a year-round gig. Ten months in the classroom, two months doing serious professional growth and development activities such as taking a college course, workign in a related job field or working on a strong curriculum development team. A lot can be paid for by discontinuing the external feeds into the schools via TV programming and paid consultants. Colleges do a lot with their professionally trained staff, so can your schools.

5) Create programs where kids give back to their communities either through existing civic organizations such as Boy Scouts or 4-H or those school based programs. Teach the kids to be good citizens.

6) Return physical education to all schools. We are teaching kids to live lives that are unbalanced; stop it.

7) All administrators have to have been teachers at the level they administer for at least five years. No more ed. admin. majors who spent one semester in a Kindergarten class running the local high school.

8) Give up the "No Child Left Behind" mantra. Kids are going to drop out for reasons beyond the school system's control. Instead of dumbing down the curriculum for everyone else just to keep some kids in school, let the students and their families who think they know better leave the system. Just be sure to provide an avenue for them to return when they find out that those who stayed in got the better jobs.

I hope this provides some insight into how to win your election. Should you get elected by using this advice I expect a cushy staffer position with afternoons off for long bike rides, I mean, brainstorming sessions.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Midterm

This the a gut check time of the year around the campus scene; fall semester mid-term.

For the freshman class, which hasn't had to consider failure since tenure was taken away from their high school teachers, this is a very disturbing time. For many, the idea of failure is much like telling them that they've got cancer or HIV. It just hits 'em like a ton of bricks and then they go through the somewhat predictable stages of denial (I can bring my grade up even without going to class...), anger ( the professor is the worst professor at the College...), begging and pleading (Please, please, please, don't fail me...I promise I'll come to class, I promise I'll make time to study, I promise I'll do my homework...) and, finally, acceptance (can you sign my drop sheet?). For those who are only taking 12 hours and are staying in the dorms this means that they are now on dorm probation for too few hours and any little thing that they do wrong can get them kicked out. Many of them are absolutely terrifuied to go home to their parents for our short fall break and dealing with having to break this disturbing news to them.

For the sophomores there are two things going on. For some, this is a confirmation that they really don't have a clue what it means in college. Those that did poorly last year promised themselves they'd bring up their grades and this may be the first really tangible proof that they haven't done that. It's a bitter pill to swallow to learn that for all your good intentions, you're still the same person you were last year with all of the same bad habits. The bigger group are the students who didn't have too much trouble with their freshman basic classes like english comp and algebra but now are struggling with their first really college level classes. These are the students I'm working with. They were good students in high school and got above a 3.0 their freshman year but now they're in physics, calculus, organic chemistry, statistics or equally challenging courses. They find that they really don't know it all and the years of cheating the system using last minute/half-assed study techniques may cost them their free ride.

So the stress/angst level is a little high right now. I've seen losts of tears and long faces the lat week or two as the realization that the tooth fairy isn't magically going to rescue their grade has begun to sink in. For me, I've had half of my two algebra-based physics classes drop the course and for the most part that was at my urging. Teh remaining students are looking around with a sort of spooked demeanor wondering if maybe they should have dropped too. Most of the remaining students will be fine but there are one or two that haven't gotten past the denial stage and will be very frustrated and disappointed come December.

On the positive side, I've got more than half of my students that are doing fine. I've got good studnets who study regularly and get their work done dependably. What I don't understand is why can't the other students use them as role models? It's an interesting question I may have to ponder.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Shangri-La

Just a short post today (hey, at least you get one...this is, like, three this week). If you are a person who finds most of what Top-40 radio is playing to be about as exciting as the green stuff that comes out of a babies butt (only not as appetizing) then may I recommend the new album by former Dire Straits frontman and Chet Atkins collaborator Mark Knopfler (if you think Chet Atkins is the guy responsible for the Atkins diet, you must report for detoxification to your nearest "Center for the Cultural Revolution"). Shangri-La is a great mix of tunes and almost reminds one of the best work of the Dire Straits years (which is not Money for Nothing though other songs from that album are quite good). I especially liked "Song for Sonny Liston" with its very bluesy feel. An added bonus this weekend was the Mr. Knopfler was the featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion so I got to hear several of the songs performed live. Quite tasy in an aural sort of way. If you know what's good for you, give it a listen.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

The falseness of low expectations...or losing still sucks!

One of the philosophical ideas one studies when looking at the Greeks is the idea of stoicism. The idea here was that the key to happiness is to lower one's expectations and by doing so frustration with the unachieved can be avoided. While this may sound like a great idea for the hip post-modern reader let me weigh in with my $0.02. This whole philosophical idea is a load of fetid dingo's kidneys (as Douglas Adams might have put it). Once you've experienced something good, lowering your expectations doesn't keep a person from getting that lovely bitter taste in one's mouth. You can tell yourself all day long that you don't expect much but if you've ever received more than you're getting then you'll feel cheated.

I am reminded of this as I look at my race goals for the year. If you, my valued reader, look back on my posts from the beginning of the year you'll find me saying things such as I expect to get schooled and the like. For the most part, my goals reflected that understanding. Yet, as I reflect back on the dirt side of the season, I find myself striving for more than the goals I set. This is because I'm not happy with my best finish being 7th place. Oh sure, I didn't expect to do any better than that this year but last year's successes are making these lowered expectations into a joke. Losing sucks...it just does. Especially if you're used to winning. Last year I stood on the top step three times and on the next lower step twice. Coming across the line in ninth just doesn't measure up, even when you know the competition is a lot better.

This has been pretty discouraging for many of the guys I ride with. They've evaporated from the race scene as their low finishes have taken a toll on their morale. I've struggled too. Why pay $28 to go and finish out of the top ten? Sure, I can think I'm doing it to get better but why do I have to taste so much humble pie? For me, I'm trying to use it as motivation. The guys who are beating me aren't that much better physically than I am, they just have more experience riding on the dirt. Experience I can get; skills can be improved. The important thing to focus on, I think, is the fact that they were once where I am now and they improved. If they improved then so can I and so I keep on striving.

What's the lesson here? I guess it would be that happiness lies not in lowering your expectations of the world or yourself but in realizing the potential you have and working to realize it.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Redemption

This weekend was the Carter's Lake MTB race. Last year in this race I crashed six times in one lap and finished sixth in beginner class. This year I was looking to finish and stay on the bike for the sport class race over two laps. I knew that the race was going to be one of attrition and that I wasn't going to be able to hang with the leaders so I adopted a strong and steady strategy. The idea was to ride this thing just like a time trial where I kept my heart rate lower to start so I had somethign in the tank at the end. The other idea was to take the descents, which are long and technical, more slowly so as to stay on the bike and avoid a crash that took a lot out of me like at Macon.

The strategy worked great as I finished ninth in the race and stayed on my bike. It's my second best finish of the year and means I may actually move up inot the top fifteen in the standings. It also means I made my goal of three top tens in Master's Sport this year. The next race is at Dauset which is my home course so I'll have home field advantage and motivation at that race. I've got four weeks to ramp up and peak for that race and a rescheduled Gainesville race to see if I can make it up to the top ten in the overall standings which would be a huge victory for me. I was hoping to ride reasonably well this year and after a tough stretch through the summer I may be recovering a bit.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

I am a beast!

So, I went and did the Six Gap Century this last weekend. What an epic ride. In Georgia a "gap" is what everyone else calls a pass through the mountains so, as you might surmise" the century took over six passes or gaps; Neal's, Jack's, Unicoi, Hogpen, Wolfpen and Woody's. The first three gaps weren't oo bad. I managed to stay with the lead group throughout the climbs but I had trouble on the descents. I'm not used to descending at speeds of 40+ miles and hour throguh switchback turns so I got dropped on each descent. The good news was that as soon at the group hit the flats, I was able to hook back up. Coming down off Unicoi I got dropped "for good" which was OK since I didn't wnat to climb Hogpen in a group and I certainly didn't wish to havre to deal with descending in groups any more.

Hogpen is the really, really hard climb on the ride. There's a 2 mile section in the middle that's a relentless 12-14% grade that you have to grind up. I was climbing well and when I hit the bottom I was only about 45 seconds off the back of the main group. I quickly passed about 30% of the now fragmented lead group before we got to the steep part and then proceeded to make up a lot of time on the rest of people. The stategy was too just keep steady rhythm and kind of do a zen mind thing to hold off the pain. When my heart rate hit 187 I would paper boy a bit to get it back odwn and then resume the climbing. By the top I had caught and passed all but about 25 guys. The way down Hogpen was fast and tricky and I decided that not only did I need better brakes but that I was never going to do this ride again.

At the bottom I rolled along some pretty relaxed stuff with another guy until just before Wolfpen were I dropped him on a long steady rise. I skipped the rest stop because I felt good and didn't think I would need water. About 3/4 of the way up Wolfpen, I realized what a bad decision that was when I reached for some water and there was none to be had. I knew there was a rest stop at the top so I told myself to hang on until then. As I went around each switchback I kept telling myself that the top was just around the next corner. At soem point I became convinced that I was just about at the top and when I turned the corner and there was still a lot more upwardly pointed road I think my will just left me. I realized that there was this bright spot growing in my vision and that I was wobbling pretty bad on the bike. I was about to bonk! So I stopped, ate a Balance bar and sipped the last few drops of water I had and let my heart rate come down. After about 5 minutes I got back on the bike and easily rode the last 3/4 of a mile tot he rest stop and got some real food and more water.

The rest of the ride was pretty simple. I got over Woody gap and then descended for the next 15 miles to Dahlonega and the finish which was a lot of fun. I finished with a time of 5 hours and 12 minutes which was great. I was around 25th out of 1600 or so riders which was a whole lot better than I expected to do. So it was a good ride and a good time. Walkign on Monday was an adventure but I'm feeling a lot better now so hopefully I'll be able to get out and put in a good ride today.

Thanks for reading.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2004

I'm Getting Better...

Well, the good news is that whatever had me under the weather for the last week or so seems to have passed. I had good rides on Monday and Tuesday and recovered well without undue fatigue. The bad news is that my wife is showing the symptoms of whatever crud I had. At least I know it was something and not just some weird psychological letdown thing.

Six Gaps

Assuming Jeanne stays away I'll be heading up to North Georgia this weekend to ride the Six Gap Century. 14,000 feet of climbing over a 100 mile course. It'll be the hardest century I've ever done but it should be boatloads of fun. I had the bike shop 39 tooth front chain ring on the S-Works in place of the 42 so that I had easier gearing for the climb. Riding the 39 was a bit weird last night but I think it'll be OK.

Stupid Questions People Ask

Over the course of the last couple of weeks I've heard a lot of people asking why we're still talking about the Veitnam war. Well, duh? When a political candidate decides to use his war experience on his resume, so to speak, people are going to evaluate that. If John Kerry had just said I served and been done with it then this wouldn't be an issue. Instead he says that not only did he serve but he did so with distinction and that because of this he is more deserving of the office of President. You gotta figure that in the political arena, a claim like this will be challenged. That his campaign seems to have been caught off gaurd by this says something I think.

That we as a people want to use decisions someone made at the age of 18 or 25 as a gauge of their abilities in there forties says something not so good about us. I know that I did some things in my late teens and early twenties that I'm not real proud of. While they are a part of who I am that is more because of what I may or may not have learned from the experiences. When I interview for a job now I'm evaluated on what I would do today, not what I would have done then. I think there's a lot of irrelevant talk about what both candidates did during that time of their lives. Let's look at the men they are now and the leaders they are now.

A little advice to the Kerry campaign. You're not going to win this thing based on your service in Veitnam. Most people really don't give a hoot. That was over 30 years ago. Your record there and what you did following the war related to it are a mixed bag to those who do care. You can't win this thing on your record in the Senate either. Its too vague and indistinct. To say that you worked behind the scenes a lot doesn't show you to be the dynamic leader Americans want. John McCain can run on his Senate record. You can't. You can't attack Bush, it looks unpatriotic to attack the guy who stood on the rubble of the World Trade Center with the firefighters and gave them and the nation hope. What you've got to run on are your ideas. They need to be straightforward and, unfortunately, not nearly so nuanced. Joe Six-Pack doesn't care about some fifteen point plan to bring some jobs back to the US but not others. He wants a clear, easy to understand roadmap. If you're going to talk about the war on terror, do so with a simple message. Something like, "We are not safer because of the war on Iraq. We need to clearly allocate resources to the following three areas... Our goals and objectives are the following..." If Reagan were running he might ask, "Are you safer than you were three years ago because the war in Iraq? Do you feel more secure now than you did on September 12th? Are we going to be led into yet another war with faulty intelligence and a divided cabinet?" Finally, it's too late but don't be cute on Letterman or Leno. That may go over well with 18-35 year olds but most of them don't vote and more of those that do are Republicans. It's hard to look steely-eyed and resolute Tuesday when on Monday night you were cracking jokes with a guy who'll use you as monologue material on Wednesday.

But hey, if this political thing doesn't work out, I hear that CBS might be hiring.

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Sunday, September 19, 2004

Struggling with Something

I'm not sure what it is but I am definitely fighting some sort of illness. Since Thursday my favorite activity has been to sleep a lot. I actually slept through a lot of Ivan the Pretty Bad's wrath here in Barnesville, only being woken up by the tornado sirens. Friday wasn't as bad and Saturday I actually went to the Buggy Days festivities a bit and rode my bike on the rollers. Today, however, has been miserable with a nagging headache and general all around fatigue. I've napped for most of the afternoon and I'm sure I'll fall right into bed when I get home from worship tonight. I wish I knew what the cause was but apparently that's to remain a mystery. Fortunately, I only have to give back tests and give tests tomorrow so that'll be good. The downside is that all of the great plans that I had for today are sort of flown out the window. I may still try and mow the dog run but even that may be a stretch for my seemingly worn out body.

Thanks for reading.

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Monday, September 13, 2004

Not with a Bang, but a Whimper...

Well, the 2004 road racing season is now over. Things didn't go very well in LaGrange this weekend with a 9th, a 16th and a DNF to my credit. I should stay in the top ten in overall standings for the Georgia Cup but not much better than that. The conspiracy of a cold and not enough sleep took just enough out of me to spell doom. It was a hard thing to accept but cycling is like that. It's a sport of peaks and valleys. Two weeks ago was a peak and I couldn't stretch it out quite long enough.

Still though I accomplished most of my major goals. I became a major force in time trialing in Georgia and maybe even the southeast. I won the South Carolina State Championship and took the silver in the Georgia State Championship. I won at Brooks, took second in Powder Springs and third at Union City. I was competitive in several Masters 35+ races and went to the National Cahmpionships. The only thing I didn't accomplish was moving up to Cat 3 but that's not too far off. If I had wanted to go out on a high note, I would've stopped after Madison.

From here on out I plan to do a bit more social riding. Centuries and group rides as I can with a lot less intensity training. I may try to peak one last time for the GAP Finale at Dauset Trails but the two races before that are just for the few points I'll pick up for racing. If conditions are bad for the Gainesville race this weekend, there's a good chance I'll skip that.

On a different note, take a few minutes to pray for the Gordon students. Last week and this week are the hieght of the first exams week. Lots and lots of stress to be had by all. Several of the students we know have delayed studying for the short-term goal of "having fun" and now are way behind and not having fun at all. The stress from this is bleeding into all of the other ascepts of their lives and turning those sour as well. Add to this the possible impact of Ivan and things should be a lot of fun around Thursday or so.

Thanks for reading.

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Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Recovery Week

What a weekend...one of labor indeed. Friday I went out to ride a hilly road that must have run near a religious milling establishment at one time near Thomaston that was suggested by a co-worker who also rides. Alan said I'd get a good hill workout and he wasn't kidding. On most of the hills I was able to dance up the inclines but the last one was a long grinder that really made me suffer. I'm not sure how long it was since I was too busy suffering to look at my cyclometer but I sure felt great about finishing it. I ended up doing 50 miles with a climb over King's Mt. on a route I hadn't done before.

Saturday I did my traditional Labor Day Weekend Century. Usually I go to Savannah but with the hurricane and my frustration with how poorly it was orginzed last year I decided to throw together something from some of my flatter training routes. I did the ride in 4:45 which was good considering the constant northeast wind that made parts of the ride pretty tedious. The downside was that I pushed a little too hard and my left hamstring spend the rest of the day trying to cramp up.

Sunday I decided to skip church and worship at Our Lady of the Knobby Tire. I had gotten some pretty disturbing news Saturday afternoon and I really needed a chance to reflect. The three hour drive up to and back from Carter's Lake provided the time I needed to digest all the ramifications of what I had learned. I road the Carter's Lake course which is te harest race we do all year. I only crashed twice in two laps (way down from 6 in one lap last year) and I figured a lot of things out. My skills are better but the hard work of the weekend really a toll. I was completely toast after two not very fast laps but I got a better sense of the course. Most importantly, I'm going to switch to a 34 pie-plate on the back of The Man O' War for the race. The 32 big cog is great for Dauset but not too good for Carter's Lake.

Monday was housework day while we waited for Frances to get here. The weather slowly deterioraited over the course of the day from windy and drizzly to really windy and heavy rain later on. The heaviest winds hit at abou 3 am and woke us both up. I don't think either of us slept really well all night. Fortunately, we only had one leak we had to deal with for the most part.

Today is a soggy back-to-work day but at least it's lab day so I don't have to be really sharp. Hopefully, I'll get some good sleep tonight and I'll feel better tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

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Wednesday, September 01, 2004

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This last weekend was race weekend for me. Saturday was the Georgia State Time Trial Championship with a crit later in the day. Sunday was the Macon Madness MTB race at what we locals affectionately call the Pig Trial.

The first race was good. Even though the organizers weren't so organized I managed, through a modicum of good planning, to get my number and a bit of a warm-up. Just like in South Carolina, I got a solid start and turned up the power over the next 21 miles. I really felt good on the way back and poured the power on for a 50:27 finish. Had I raced Cat IV or Cat III I'd be the state champ right now. However, since I'm racing Masters 35+, I have the opportunity to race against former pros. Still, though, I managed to win the bronze medal which was good.

The crit later in the day was bad. I got dropped on lap 2 and was never in contention. The only silver lining was that I cornered well at speed both in and out of the pack. I have to work on my ability to sprint out of the corners or I'll never be competitive in crits.

The ugly bit was the MTB race. I won this race in the beginners class last year though the course was a different one. I wanted a good race since it's the home team race. I got my usual poor start but I was cool with that. I now expect it and plan my strategy with it in mind. Once we cleared a little bit of technical stuff I started to move up pretty rapidly and passed most of the field in the first lap. My buddy Todd Park hooked up with me and things looked good at the end of the first lap (out of three). I got tot he power portion of the second lap and I started passing guys in the second group. I got up to the guys that were driving the pace and decided to make my move. I felt strong and knew that I could drop them and get a gap to bridge to the leaders. As I was powering up though, my rear wheel slid out and I crashed really hard. I slid about 30 feet before coming to a stop and was nearly run over about 4 times. After that, the race was a matter of just trying to hold something together. I finished 16th out of about 35 guys which was disappointing. I think the hardest thing isn't the finish as much as the fact as I was in contention for a high place before the crash. Several times this year I've been up in the running for a top ten when something dumb like that happens. I either have to learn to ride the darn bike or catch a little luck. What really galls me is that yesterday I went out and rode at Dauset and I tore it up. I mean I just absolutely killed it. I spent 70% of the time in the big ring, I was on the edge of the envelope and managed not to crash and I never felt really tired on the climbs. The only thing that was tough was I didn't always feel like I was in control on the descents. It was the same way I felt when I was heading towards a top five at Helen before my spokes got taken out.

Oh well, that's racing I guess. I know that the power's there so I just have to work on skills and catch some luck. I don't have to do any more time trial training this year so those rides are going to be shifted to the dirt so I can practice a whole bunch more. Hopefully, I'll see some improvement and my race placings will improve.

Thanks for reading.

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Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Hmmm...

I am faced with a conundrum. What to blog about? Do I talk about the latest in health news about hypertension and smokers in their thirties or do I discuss my observations about first year students? Hmmm...what a choice.

Maybe that's what I ought to blog about...choice. Both things are in some sense related to choice (of course, isn't everything?). First year student first. I don't teach very many first year students. Because of the way science here at Gordon tends to work, the vast majority of my students are in their second or third year. Still though, through the reading of the blogs of some first year students I'm struck, even at this very early point int he semester, by how completely overcommitted some of them are. They have 15+ credit hour loads, they work full time jobs and they try to have very full social lives. Their writings are filled with how exhausted they are and we're only into the second week. Yet, they don't see that their attempts to have it all are the cause of their overextension or that they are shorting their academic time. As with many things, you can't really tell a student this because they look at you like you're some sort of evil, authoritarian boogieman who is bent on resrticting the "fun" they have in life. The truth is that only experience can teach them those things and experience is a lot meaner than I'll ever be.

Related to this is the news that 1 in 3 Americans now suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure. That's up from 1 in 4 a decade ago and a serious reversal of the trend of shinking numbers of 30 years ago. High blood pressure is related to higher incidences of stroke, heart disease and diabetes. While there are those who have some genetic predisposition to the condition, most have it on account of their lifestyle choices that have led to obesity, addiction and a lack of balance. Again, it's a result of trying to have too much out of life. You can't "supersize" everything and not pay the price. Another article details the results of a study conducted by researchers from Norway that show that smokers in their 30's are five times more likely to suffer a heart attack than similairly aged non-smokers. While the number of heart attacks in that group is likely much lower than in age groups that are older, the increased risk should give the reader pause. To smoke is a choice some people make each day. I'm guessing that very few of those people actually think of this in terms of choosing to increase their risk of heart attacks fivefold.

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Monday, August 23, 2004

First Week Back

The first week of the semester is now officially in the history books and the ship is now underway with all passengers aboard (at least in some sense). My classes look like the typical mix of students; some that will do well and some that are already starting the slow slide beneath the water. The series of small crises that seem to always crop up during this time have taken place and hopefully things will settle down a bit. One thing I'll be interested to see is whether the College's early start date will cause any consternation. We have begun about a week earlier than many of the other state schools this year and I expect that a certain number of students didn't read any of the literature that was sent to them and thus will show up today horrified to find that they've missed the first week and their schedules were dropped. Every once in a while I have nightmares like that. I show up to school late only to find that I've been in classes all semester and now it's time for the final. From what I'm told, most folks who spend a lot of time in college have those sorts of nightmares. I remember the first time I had one it really freaked me out. I woke up and it took me most of the day to find my equilibrium. Now I wake up and after a short period of disorientation I usually chuckle over the whole dream. For these folks I expect that it'll take a good deal more to get over what they may experience today.

On the training front, I finally seem to have recovered from traveling to and from Nationals. During last week I didn't feel like I had any fitness or power. I made the mistake of going down to the Pig Trail in Macon on Tuesday and trying to ride hard in wet conditions and my body let me know what a huge mistake that was by having my legs spend the next two days trying to cramp. So I took it a bit easier until this weekend when I ripped off two really solid rides, one on the road and one on the dirt. I was able to keep the heart rate at around 165 and I was able to push up over 180 on the hard bits. I'm tired today, but its a good kind of tired. Tonight I'll spin out and then head down for another Pig trail ride on Tuesday. We race on the trail on Sunday and I'd like to get a good result for the Bike Tech team. Hopefully I''ll be able to finally break through to a top five finish but I'd just like to ride really hard and have a trouble free ride. Also, on Saturday I'll contest the Georgia State Time Trial Championships. I'm looking for a top five there also though the competition will be at a higher level than it was in South Carolina.

GCF is getting underway as well. Things seem to be shaping up really well and hopefully we can have a good push into this first semester. We have a number of solid activities planned and I think we'll have a chance to do some neat things over the course of the year. OUr biggest difficulty this year may in finding a place to hold the Bible study. Last year we had people sitting ont he backs of the couches in the house so I'm not sure what we'll do if we get too many more.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Back to Work

Sorry it's been so long but I've been traveling and such. Nationals went well though the results don't indicate it. After getting out to Salt Lake City and getting my bike put together Tuesday night I pre-rose the course on Wednesday. It was a lot harder than the profile indicated. After the ride I figured that doing a 52 minute time would be good for me. I'm pleased that I rode the course in 50:26 but I finished 23rd. To finish in the top ten I would have had to ridden a 47:30 or so which let's me know what I have to do to be competitive for next year. I have to improve by about 6% to get to that level. If I get a trispoke front wheel that'll be about 3% and if I can get out early enough to acclimate that might be another couple of percent. If I continue my 3-5% a year improvement through training then I should be in good shape.

School's back in session so I'm scrambling around to get everything ready. My classes are the typical physics and physical science with some good studnets and some not-so-good ones. Hopefully, I'm a year wiser and more prepared so I'll have a better idea what to do with the not-so-good ones. Also, GCF starts tomorrow so that'll be interesting. Coffeehouse t 7:00 pm should give me a chance to see some of our alumni and maybe meet a few new folks.

Anyways, back to the grindstone...to one I have to create for my students that is.

Thanks for reading.

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Sunday, August 08, 2004

Kepler's Witch

Just finished the book of the above title. Really interesting book for me because Kepler was a man who possessed many of the same viewpoints and struggled with many of the same issues I seem to. He saw within the natural world the mind of God and sought to reveal and understand it. He was a man of deep faith and strongly held religious convictions who was willing to suffer for what he believed to be true, even when it meant he could not find a home church or a denomination willing to accept his faith without a blind loyalty to the tenets/dogmas of the denomination. He saw the world as it was and realized that the intolerance creeping into the religious dialogue would eventually explode and burn everyone who chose to fan the flame and an awful lot of people who didn't. His accomplishments are set against the background of the culture in which he lived which means an examination of the events and attitudes that led to the Thirty Year's War.

The title comes from the trail of Kepler's mother for witchcraft that occupied a great deal of energy for many years of his life. I don't want to give a book report here but the details of this sordid affair gives the reader an insight into the power of myth, superstition and fear when mixed with political jealousy, bad decisions after a night of drinking and not a little bit of overarching greed. There is a widely spoken adage that floats around our college campus from time to time that warns one to never underestimate the power of large groups of stupid people. This portion of the book is more about not underestimating the power of small-minded but deeply fearful local officials, especially those who might have an "in" with the local duke.

Anyway, if you are one who goes in for deeply personal biography, history and a need to connect the dots, I'd recommend this book. There's no math and while there is some discussion of Kepler's scientific work, the main focus is on the man himself and how he interacted in a world gone mad. Highly recommended for "geeks" all around (you know who you are).

Next up will be Owen Gingerich's new work on Copernicus, "The Book Nobody Read" as well as Grep Boyd's monograph explaining the basis and ideas of the "Open View" of God's pre-knowledge. I've read the first chapter and found Boyd's ideas interesting but not yet philosophically or theologically satisfying. I may post more later but as someone who is already in the free will camp I'm not finding his arguments particularly compelling at this point. His critique of the ideas of pre-determinism or the strongly Calvinist perspective is pretty good but he has done little more than sum up the arguments of many centuries of free-will thinkers. Hopefully the second chapter will hold more.

Thanks for reading.

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

Stop...Hammer Time

Since my last sort of morose post I have done a lot of riding. A really lot of riding. Last Saurday I went for a solo 55 mile ride at 22 mph through hilly terrain. I wasn't Lance but I could have hung with him on a training ride (as long as it wasn't in the Alps...or when he was doing intervals...or actually going really hard...so I could have hung with Lance on a moderate intensity recovery ride I guess). Sunday I did some hard leg speed intervals on the rollers. Since I'm balancing on the rollers but not going anywhere my pedals stroke has to be reasonbly smooth and even. I was pleasently surpirsed to get up to 32 mph in the little ring. I was spinning with a candance of about 150 rpm and staying smooth. Monday was a day off and Tuesday I did a hard 35 mile ride on the TT bike. Yesterday I did 2 hours on the pig trail in Macon and turned out 31 minute laps which is pretty good considering the tree down across the trail and the fact that I was riding the course backwards for the first time. Tonight I went to the killer Griffin Thursday night training ride. In the middle of a thunderstorm I put the hammer down and dropped everybody and I do mean everyone. I was down in the drops with the bulging eyes and the drool and the snot hammering away into the wind on a flat section and I opened up a huge gap. I eased off on a hilly section and two guyus finally managed to bridge up to me. We rode together for a while trading monster pulls until they decided they'd had enough and sat up. I rode off and finished strong.

I feel good for Nationals in a week. I still can't believe that I'm going. My goal goal of the year was to qualify and go and I've done that. Anything else this year will be gravy. I hope to finish top ten out there but the competition will be strong. My biggest goal is to have the experience of competing at that level and to use the expereince to hone my goals for next year. I think that I can finally justify going out and getting a coach to help with with training and, most importantly, nutrition. In any case, I'm planning to have a lot of fun in Salt Lake racing the race and spending time with my family.

Faculty back week starts Monday with the requisite meetings and welcomes. In a sense I love these things but in a way they are totally boring. Hopefully the administration will remember that we really are professionals and that we don't need to be lectured to about stuff we deal with every day. Classes are full and the College continues to grow faster than the State's budget allocation to it so things are dicey as to where all the students will be going. Let's hope we can find spotws for everyone.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |