snowblowers

I think snowblowers are obnoxious. They are annoyingly loud, and emit that extremely offensive burnt fuel smell. I will always use a shovel and will teach my daughter to do the same.

At what point did we decide that shoveling was too difficult, and that we should use snowblowers instead? I can't pinpoint an exact date, but I suspect it was around the same time that we collectively also made the following decisions:

1. Picking up a suitcase and carrying it is too much work! We should use those stupid little wheels instead
2. Raking leaves and picking them up also is too hard! Leaf blowers are easier!

There are some (who will go unnamed) who contend that I chickened out myself by switching to a jackhammer to break apart my old patio before pouring a new one. I broke up about two-thirds of the old slab with a sledgehammer and pickaxe before renting a jackhammer. However I dismiss that argument on the grounds that most people probably would not even consider renting a jackhammer to do the job, and would rather pay somebody else to do it.

ahoy

Upon some reflection I would say yesterday was a good day. The highlights included:

1. Reading The Ugly Duckling to my daughter
2. Got in a very muddy, slow run with my dog
3. Made a vegetable lasagna
4. Listened to my vinyl copy of the Velvet Underground's "Loaded" with my daughter
5. Fell asleep on the couch with my wife watching Judge Joe Brown
   

ahoy

Dear Diary, I did not get into the much sought-after Hardrock 100, although I was lucky enough to at least make 54th on the wait list. Most applicants did not even get selected for the waiting list. As an aside, I find it quite comical to listen to the diva-like whinings of some of the so-called "elite" ultrarunners who did not get selected. I can understand being upset, but it should be recognized that the character of the race is ultimately up to the Board of Directors. If they decide they want Hardrock to remain a brutally difficult but still low-key race, that is their decision. Another way of putting it would be to say that they call the tune, and we all have to dance to it.

I did however get selected for the equally exciting Wasatch Front 100 for the second year in a row! I am most thrilled about this race again in 2011, and just can't say enough good things about it. I decided to throw a new twist into the year by attempting to run two 100's in one calendar year, the other being MMT (which I did not get selected for last year). The only other race on my calendar is the inaugural Glacier Ridge 50, which will be essentially a training run for MMT.

Despite being a big fan of the race, and having run it for the last two years, I have opted to not run in the Laurel Highlands Ultra this year. It is a great event but I think it is time for me to take a year off from it and hopefully hit it again hard another year. I also think it is wise to leave my calendar wide open between May and September.

All of this is of course contingent upon my ability to balance running with my family, who is the super-duper first priority! If I even get the slightest whiff that my home life is suffering due to the heavy training, I will not hesitate for a second to dial it back, even if that means pulling out of a race. However I am pretty confident I can balance it all. I think I can incorporate my training into my day fairly readily without too much disruption.

Baby is getting better and better every day. I love my little girl unconditionally. I'm sure I would have been happy with a boy but having a little girl is about the best thing in the world as far as I'm concerned.

10 Years

Ten years ago, during the early winter months of 2001, I lived by myself in an unheated 1 bedroom apartment in the South Side. I listened to the Talking Heads album "More Songs About Buildings and Food" about a million times, and lifted weights almost every day. I certainly do not lift weights as much as I used to, and the dwelling in which I now reside is heated, but the Talking Heads record still rules.

It, along with many of the other classic Talking Heads records such as "Remain in Light" and "Fear of Music" has also been reissued with "Bonus Tracks" which is a very cheap ploy to get fanatical listeners such as me to buy albums, again, that we already own. Of course I am going to buy them anyway because I want to hear the unreleased stuff.

I have been a huge Talking Heads fan ever since I heard them on Z-95 in the summer of 1996 in my red S-10 pickup. I would also like to add that I was a rabid Talking Heads fan before they were popularized when Phish covered "Remain in Light" on Halloween in.......1996? 1997? I don't remember, but I was into them WAY before that, which gives me bonus points in the coolness category!

Happy February

Happy February, by the time this month is over, I will have kicked off my 34th year on the planet. Nothing you can do to prevent aging except get hit by a bus.

Baby is growing like crazy, she no longer looks like such a little thing anymore. I love my little girl unconditionally and would do basically anything for her.

I was asked to do a very small amount of work-related travel and although I have not yet gone, and the wife doesn't seem to mind, I am already terribly homesick.