Still sore from Wednesday night, but I had to get one more run in before I left for Virginia Beach. Didn’t exactly reach my goal, but I did run about a 10:30 mile. Not too bad. If I can keep up this pace, I should be able to beat 2:36:00.
Tomorrow I leave for VA Beach. I’ll try to bring my laptop with me to provide updates.
Say a prayer for my safety and health.
The half marathon is this Sunday. I went running this evening for the first time in 3 weeks after doing something bad to a tendon or a ligament or something.
Not gonna lie. I was pretty winded after 6 miles 
But I made it without any shooting pain in my right foot. Praise God! I made a decision to believe I was going to do this. Putting Joel Osteen’s principals to work, believing that God will give me supernatural healing and endurance. Even recited a few scriptures to myself while running. “They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary” Isaiah 40:31
I made it. As you can imagine, I’m pretty sore. But I’m not injured, so I’ll live to run another day.
I’m going to try for 8 miles before work on Friday. Then it’s 13.1 miles on Sunday morning. As long as I finish in less than 2:36:00, I’ll be happy.
Congratulations Scott!
I’ll be commenting more on this show in the future, but I just wanted to say congratulations to Scott on both his upcoming wedding and the upcoming birth! That’s right. Spoilers. His girlfriend told him she was pregnant immediately after he proposed.
Now THIS is a new low. I have a profile on Friendster. You know, that hip, cool social networking web site that was around B.M. (before MySpace). Friendster lets you know who’s viewed your profile. So I decide to check out who’s been checking me out.
I decided to send some smiles (Friendster-speak for short messages) to two ladies. Nothing more than “I see you like (insert whatever band/movie/book here). I liked that one too. Where are you from?”
I get a similar message back from each of them. Except for one thing. Both of them have now decided to block their profiles to all but their friends. Seriously. A guy says “hello” and the women put up the online equivalent of a chain link fence?
Now I know the Internet is filled with all kinds of whackos, sickos and psychos, and I don’t blame anyone for being cautious. Unfortunately, you can’t go running for the hills every time someone tried to make contact on a SOCIAL NETWORKING site. Well, actually, I guess you can. But doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
Seriously, ladies. There are some really nice guys out there.
So yesterday, the moronic Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank appeared on CNBC’s “On The Money” and dropped some bombshell information.
Folks, did you know that mortgage brokers actually held a gun to the heads of seven million people and FORCED them to take out negative amortization loans and adjustable rate mortgages? It appears so. Naturally, a federal bailout is necessary to help these poor “victims”.
Folks, if you don’t know what the word “adjustable” means, you may be better off renting for awhile. Moreover, a little logic would have come in handy: If interest rates were at 40 year lows, what’s the next direction you think they are going to go?
Yeah. I know. Everyone was taken in by shows like TLC’s “Flip This House” or whatever. I know programs like TLC’s are technically billed as “reality shows”, but there really is a big difference between what happens on TV and what happens in real life, as about 7 million people (to quote Jim Cramer) are about to learn. This isn’t going to be wrapped up neatly in 30 or 60 minutes.
Two positives that will be coming out of all this mess:
1) People are going to learn some very expensive lessons. The good news is, they won’t forget this lesson. They’ll be wiser and they’ll be warning others in the future.
2) Home prices will come back down to earth. First time homebuyers will have an easier time finding a house they can afford. Homeowner’s insurance will probably be cheaper too.
Trust the markets, not the federal government. That’s my motto.
Yippie! It’s that time of year again. Time for the annual Bob Dylan fall tour of the northeast. I will be attending at least one of the following shows:
Sat 9/29 Kingston RI URI Ryan Center
Sun 9/30 Bridgeport CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Tue 10/2 Worcester MA DCU Center
Bob, if you’re reading this, how about you mix up the set lists a little, okay? Maybe pull out “Dear Landlord” or “Quinn The Eskimo” or “Property of Jesus”? C’mon. You know you want to 
Things are not looking well. I spend the last 8 or 9 days taking a break from running. Somehow I injured myself, just by WALKING! Last Wednesday, I was walking down the hill from my place when I felt what I can only describe as a “ribbon of pain” going down my ankle to the outside of my foot. I didn’t run on Thursday, but I tried for 6 miles on Friday. Bad idea. By the time I was finished, I couldn’t walk on my right foot. The only way I could walk was if my kept my right foot on my tiptoes, like I was wearing stilletto heels.
I’m starting to get really behind in my training. Part of it is my own laziness, part of it is time I need to commit towards the necessities of life, part of it is injuries. The half marathon is in 2 weeks. I still want to beat my time of 2:40. I probably will, but not by as much as I wanted to, to say nothing of the full marathon in October.
First things first: Got to forgive myself for being lazy. Second: Don’t give up. Third: Keep on Truckin.
So it’s Friday and I’m off to celebrate the weekend at the local sports bar. With a little liquid courage, I decide to walk over to a table of two nice looking women and ask if I could join them. They looked at each other with “that look”. Like a leper asked to use their toothbrush. So I made my way back to the bar to indulge in a few more adult beverages.
All I wanted was to join them at their table. No wedding/engagement rings in sight. No boyfriends around. I figured I could at least have some good conversation for awhile instead of just sitting by myself staring at ESPN on the plasma. Guess not.
I’m sure you’d say just shrug it off and move on, but there’s one fact I’m slowly/reluctantly wising up to. I’m nearly 34, which is a ways away from 18. Injuries of any kind just don’t heal that fast anymore.
I’m getting too old for this crap.
So the Fed finally cried uncle and lowered the discount window by half a percent. I was watching CNBC when it happened and futures went from being way down to way up. Woo hoo! Thanks Ben, you get to keep your job
The financials, which had been battered down by the whole subprime “crisis”, led the way today. One of the leaders today was Bank of America, which I own. I knew buying BAC was a good decisions when I got in at $50. It promptly went into the toilet, but with a near 5% dividend, I knew there would be bottom support. Of course, the fact that Warren Buffet recently bought 9 million shares also gave the stock a boost! 
Right now we’re at $51.71. I’m going to hang on until $55 and get out.
We should all take a few minutes to pray for those coal miners in Utah. Mining is a dangerous job, just like truck driving. We hardly stop and think about how much we need miners and truck drivers to get us the goods and energy we use every day.
I’ll say this for the owners of the mine. The co-owner Robert Murray has been front and center throughout most of this, when most other owners would be in hiding, talking through their publicist.