Nearly Ready

So, we move next week. Before we head off on our big adventure I thought I would put up one more post. Here are a few pictures of the things we have been up to lately. When I post again it will prolly be from Cheyenne and I am not sure when that will be. We leave next Thursday, but it will take time to get settled and I am not sure when we will be able to get the internet set up at our place.

This was the last time that we went to the beach. It was a good time. The First and Second Kidos are trying to help me catch a crab. But, this one was too deep.

This is a dress that Jill decided to make on a whim. No pattern or anything. Yes I married a talented lady.

The First Kido brought this out one morning. I am amazed at how his four year old mind can just see things. I don't know that he has ever seen a real one before, maybe on a movie, but I know that we never bought him a lego set with instructions for this. He just came up with it one day all on his own. "Dad, don't get run over by the combine."

I Can't Wait to Fish Again

They certainly have fishing in Texas, but it is done completely different to how it is done up north. You really need a boat down here and the type of fish are different. There are no trout to speak of and if a person managed to catch something down here I would be afraid to eat it because of the pollution in the water. Anyway, fishing is big down here, I just haven't participated. Today I was listening to an AM talk radio guy and he was talking about fishing and said something I totally agree with. He said, "Fishing is cool. I mean, it has to be cool right? After all, Jesus hung out with a bunch of fishermen."
It made me think about Ernie and this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI

It is Hot

And only sposed to get hotter. I am ready to get out of Texas so that I can actually sleep at night without the fear of drowning in the humidity and my own sweat. Running has been going well lately and I am anxious to run in clean air for a change. I decided that you don't need to hear all the boring details about my runs so I am only putting up my workouts. Yesterday was just an easy 5 miles, but tonight I did a tempo run. Drew was at the park so I ran three miles with him at a descending pace and when he left I did two more fast, but relaxed. The splits were 6:51, 6:27, 6:19, 5:42, and 5:42 for 31:03 total. The hip was not as bad as it has been and I am hoping that it will clear up over the next couple of weeks. I think that being forced to not run, while we pack and move, might help it out a bit. Only 14 days from now and we will prolly be around San Antonio looking for a place to stay the night before heading north. I got my office pretty much squared away today. Shredded all of the grades and student info that I needed to and all of my non-essential things are in boxes ready to haul out.

I really feel sorry for the department that I am leaving behind, but am very glad I will not be a part of it any longer. The administration is destroying it and it is going to be a rough year for them. One of my colleagues took a job across campus and that changed the entire dynamics of the department. I was on the hiring committee to replace him and I think we got a really strong professor in, but they do not have any experience teaching and I don't think that the administration is going to shepherd them in very well. The last talk I heard was that they were going to give this person, who has never taught before, 5-6 preps. When I came I had 3 and felt overwhelmed and I had experience. Now with me leaving they have had to scramble to find another instructor, but the hiring committee was forced by administration to take on someone who is qualified to teach microbiology. That is great, but I taught Anatomy and Physiology. For those of you who have not had these courses, lets just say they are not the same. The guy that administration forced on the department is NOT qualified and will make things very rough till he either leaves or is forced to quit. Yesterday, your uncle (your uncle is the term of endearment which the department has chosen for our boss, because he is not my uncle, he must be yours) came to my office and was asking me if I had any notes or anything that I could make copies of for the new hire. I looked at him and said, I don't use notes when I lecture, I have a background in this area so I just know the material and talk about it. "You don't have anything we can give this guy to help him out?" I said, he can sit in on my class for the rest of this summer. Your uncle thought that I should bail them out. I know I am leaving close to the start of the semester, but it really isn't my fault you chose to hire a microbiologist to teach A&P. Especially when I know for a fact that there were at least two other applicants with a background in A&P (They originally had me on the hiring committee and then took me off after I made some comments about your uncle's favorite applicant, which he didn't like).

Glad I won't be here next year, wish my house would sell.

Pictures

The picture battle between my wife and I was sorta short lived. She deleted my photo of her so I deleted her header photo and put my picture there. That made her mad because she couldn't fix it. I took pity on her, because she is sick, and fixed it. Sorry if you missed the picture I tried to put up.

Log

Not sure on the time for the run tonight. It was raining like mad so I went up to the track and ran five miles in the puddles. I forgot the watch so no idea on splits.

32.25

So I wanted to make a post tonight about my run. But, yesterday I was looking through some old photos and I found one that I just had to post. The run was a good one. It was cooler tonight because there had been some rain off and on today, but it was terribly humid. So, if you stopped moving things got unbearably hot. I ran 5 miles with slits of 6:58, 6:43, 6:27, 6:19, and 5:56. Hip was giving me a bit of trouble, but not as bad as the other day.

Here is the picture. Jill, do you remember when?

SORRY PEEPS, IT'S REALLY NOT BLOG WORTHY!
<3 Jill

Log

Tonight was the first of many runs on my way back into shape. I ran 5 miles out at Northway park. It was relatively nice weather for Texas. My splits were 7:02, 6:44, 6:35, 6:23, and 5:54. On the third mile my hip really started to bother me and it is still sore sitting here while I write this. I think it might be the weather, but I don't know. Hopefully it won't turn into something too serious.

Running

So my running has been sorta sub-par lately. I have tried to make a come back at least once a year for the past three years. I have had mixed results getting my 5k time back down around 16 minutes. Not what it was in college, but decent none the less. In the past it was all about motivation. I was left drained from college competition and the fight with West Nile. Recently the ambitions have been returning and the joy of running has been starting to come back. I think there is a long way to go still, but it is getting better. Ultimately, the heat and the work schedule has kept me from achieving what I really wanted here in Texas. I see changes on the horizon though and am excited to get after it once more. I have a plan in place and am starting today to pick up the intensity again. The desire to run a 14:xx in the 5k is a major focus for me, but what has really set things off is this, third paragraph. A little background on that record which I used to hold. When I set that record I was in insane shape. I went on to break the school record in the 10k later that year at elevation. I never thought it would be broken. Two Olympic trials runners couldn't do it and Joe Schultz, who holds every record at Chadron from 1500-10000m, couldn't do it. He did break my 10k record, but he did not run it at altitude, which makes a huge difference. Anyway, the kid who broke the Colter Run record is a person who I would have said is mediocre at best. He was a decent high school runner, but would have only been a walk on at any college program. Obviously he has improved, but I cannot sit back and let him have a record that I thought was untouchable for some years to come. I am going to work my tail off over the next year and then go back to Chadron to set things right. I will not have as heavy of a teaching load in Cheyenne, so I will have more time to devote to running and the elevation will help me improve faster. I am going to put the next record so far out of reach that it will last decades.

Where Does Time Go?

Holy cow it has been a long time since I made a post. I have been swamped with things and simply have not had time to get on here. I am teaching a ton of classes right now for summer school. The money is nice, but it is leaving little time for anything else. On top of all this, I have taken a new job at a different school, so I am trying to get things in order for that. The job is in Wyoming which is like 5 million miles away from Texas so we are definitely going to need to move. I don't think that a commute would work for this one. The house is for sale if you know anyone that is interested. We have had some interest in it, but only a couple of promising prospects. I really hope that it sells before we leave as it would sure make life more enjoyable once we get to Wyoming. Because of this opportunity I have recently been thinking about our situation. Normally I am of the mind that you make life what it is and because of this I have always enjoyed Texas. But, recently I have been closely examining the situation here and have come to the realization that I HATE Texas. August 12th can't come soon enough. I have met a few people here that I will truly miss, but the overall experience here has been atrocious and I cannot wait to get out. I hate everything about this place. I hate the way people drive. I hate peoples attitudes. I hate the heat, the hurricanes, the culture, and the politics. The church is still true down here, but man are the members strange. I hate my boss. I hate my office. I hate the facilities that I have had to tolerate. I hate the ignorance and the sense of entitlement that nearly everyone has here. If you ever have the chance to visit Texas, you should pass it up.

Another good one from my son

Friend says, "Why can't we see dinosaurs at the zoo?"

Son, "Cause Jesus killed them."

Son, "I know about dinosaurs."

Who throws a shoe?

Well, I do when someone leaves one at my house. I am sure that my brother is missing them, but my kids are enjoying wearing them around so I am not so sure what to do about them.

Ups and Downs

Things have been going well lately. Visit from brother, back into running and hitting fast times, Celtics up 2-0 in the conference finals. Then I hear that I didn't get the job in Twin. Not only that, I don't even get an interview. Not sure what to think about that. I know the economy is tough right now, but not even an interview?

The Joys of Family

The past week was eventful and I don't think we even stopped to rest. At least my body feels that way. My brother and his wife came to town to visit and he wanted to see ALL the sights in this area. The bulk of the adventure would take place in Louisiana. Our first stop took us deep into the swamp country, but the people living there had most of their teeth. We were treated to a tour of the beautiful grounds at Oak Alley Plantation. This place still grows sugar cane today, but mainly relies on the tourism to keep afloat.



From here the adventure took us to (make sure your sound is on for this one) Nawlins. We saw some interesting sights while here. I think that some of the sights have been forever etched into my retina and I still wake up at night with chills. Most of it was a pleasurable experience though.

We saw the cathedral inside and out.


Jill met a shopping buddy.


And, we ate beignets at the...

I even got to spend some time at the Insectarium. Oddly enough they put that place in a federal building and silly me had a pocket knife. Jill got her exercise that day as we had to walk all the way back to the hotel to drop it off.

After two days, we were spent and traveled back home where we took a day to recuperate. Well, they recuperated, I had to work. The next day though we were on the move again and back to Louisiana to tour Avery Island with its Tobasco plant and gardens. I was rather unimpressed with the plant. A word of caution, Tobasco flavored ice cream is not good.

I did enjoy the gardens and we were able to get pretty close to some wildlife.

Gators.


Turtles.


Birds.


And a 900 year old Buddha.


We finished our adventures with a trip to the beach and a Sunday sermon by me and sent the freeloaders packing yesterday afternoon. Good times were had by all....I think.

I love quotes

Here are three I heard in the last 24 hours...

Riding in the car while Jill is driving: It should be noted that I rarely take the kids anywhere. Normally she drives them place to place while I am at work. Yesterday the family was out geocaching and Jill didn't notice a yellow light and had to really hit the breaks to stop in time. I heard out of Chani the parrot's mouth, "WhooAAaa!!!! Ya, idee-it!!" I just looked at Jill.

Today I actually turned on the tv. Golf was on. Jill walks in, "What's on the other channel?" No we don't have cable.

Jill, "Don't lick her." This was not said to me, by the way.

If You Like Bugs

I got my project started. Right now I am making it on blogger, but when I get all the kinks out and have it running well I will move it to a website. Right now it is real basic and is just a shell so you can see what it will become as I work on it further. There is a link to it in my blog list or you can get to it here.

A Slow Week...Or Was It?

Right, so I know I haven't posted on here in nearly a week when I had been posting almost everyday before that. It is not that I haven't had anything to say. You all know that there is never a lack to my wit. It is finals week at school and Jason is coming to town so I am swamped trying to get the ends tied at work so I can just drop and be gone when the end is here. I am working on a new project and when I get it up and running I will post some more info about it. We are all still alive here and running is still going. It is hot now and we are sweating. Pretty normal for this time of year.

I did find out one interesting thing today. Everyone knows that the reason for this blog is because Facebook is the devil and I had to get away. The crazy thing is I only thought I was getting away. Here is an article for you to read about it. Pay close attention to #3.

New American Record...But Not Who Anyone Expected

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Saturday is a special day

Mowed the yard...Check

Trimmed the bushes...Check


Fix toilet...Check

Fix the shower...Check
Run 8 miles and...Check

This

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100428/full/news.2010.207.html

Is HUGE!!! I think it is nuts that even the author didn't understand what he was reporting. No one cares about whether a chunk of ice brought water to the earth billions of years ago. We all know that if this was the way God wanted it to happen then this is the way it would happen. That doesn't matter. What matters in this article is that the scientists have discovered ORGANIC material on that rock.

They have often found water on asteroids and determined that they could not be a contributing factor to the water on Earth because the isotope signatures did not match. Just last month, when Obama shut down moon exploration he also stated that we should focus on landing on an asteroid. I hope NASA or others make a serious push to investigate this. I would be very interested to see what the isotopes of the organic material said. If they are the same as the Earth's signature, did they come from here or did Earth's come from there. If they are different then where did they come from? How can we find this place? Is life still there? Would it be a place we could inhabit?...?...?...?...?

The Bible and Counting

I learned something new today. In Genesis 22:17 it says that God will multiply the seed of Abraham to the point that they are as many in number as the stars in the heaven and the sands of the sea. I always marveled at this and though about how big of a number it must be. Today, however, I received some perspective. As it turns out, it is also the same number of times that a parent must put a 4 year old to bed before he actually falls asleep.

Did you know?

Did you know that cereal makers like General Mills and Post put exactly the right amount of cereal into each box. Every box they make has enough cereal in it to perfectly fill a predetermined number of bowls. This is perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments ever achieved by mankind. There is a downside and that is when consumers, like you or I, put variables into the mix. Children are the perfect example of a variable. These half sized people eat 4/7th size bowls. This is a major issue when an adult reaches the end of the cereal box and it is not actually the end. Also problematic when an adult reaches the end of the box before it should be the end.

Emery'isms

Kids rock. What else can I say? My two are flat awesome and always have me cracked up about something. I am going to start putting in a quote from one of them as often as I hear them. Partly to crack everyone up, but mostly so that they can be preserved and I can use them to haunt the kids when they start dating.

Tonight, the kids were in trouble for playing with the hose in the backyard. They had to serve a time out in their rooms. Our neighbor Rocky is currently remodeling his bathroom and was outside cleaning up some drywall he had pulled out. We hear from behind Emery's closed door. "When you are done you must vacuum, Mr. Rocky." "Okay?!" ..."Okay?!"

Have you heard about Ryan Hall?

Many people in this country closely follow the sports scene. But, not many care about marathon racing. The Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the worlds "majors" when it comes to this sport and a win here would set a person on a path many only dream of. Even non-runners have heard about this race. This is where Ryan comes in. Ryan's goal for Boston was to embark on that visionary path.

Ryan is already an extremely accomplished athlete. He has been to the Olympics and he holds the American half marathon record at 59 minutes and 43 seconds. For those unfamiliar with the distance, a half marathon is just over 13 miles and Ryan's pace means he ran all 13 of those miles around 4:30 per mile. Go out and run one mile as fast as you can and see how fast you did it and take note of how you felt afterwords.

Boston would not be Ryan's first marathon. In fact, he ran it last year when he finished 3rd. This year Ryan wanted to change that. His preparations had taken him to Boston weeks in advance in order to train on the course. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWagmQHB0Uw&feature=related

Boston is not traditionally one of the faster marathons in the world. While others such as Berlin, Chicago, or London have world records set on them regularly, Boston is content with what is known to be a touch course for racers. Typically Boston is won in times ranging from 3 to 4 minutes slower than the world record, but is won by individuals who, on a faster course, would have a shot at the world record. Before Boston, Ryan felt that he was ready to run a pace that would win the race.

There has recently been some criticism of Ryan and how he raced. He has had such success up to this point that if he does anything but win then people are angry with his performance. This years Boston Marathon happened to be just such a situation. Ryan ended up running even to negative splits for much of the race. This allowed him to take 4th place over all. After this run many were upset that Ryan had not tried to cover a move that happened early in the race. Around the 15 mile mark the eventual winner of the race put in a surge that Ryan felt was too much too soon. While Ryan held to his planned pace, others went with the leader. As a result, Ryan was running alone for much of the race, but eventually caught many of the runners who went with the early move. That move proved to be too much for many of the racers and they were all cracking under the suicidal pace. All, but Ryan.

Many pointed the finger at Ryan saying that he did not race and I do not understand this at all. To me, he ran a very smart race. He ran within himself and as a result he posted the FASTEST time that an American had ever run at Boston. The eventual winner of the race broke the course record by nearly 2 minutes and Ryan's time was fast enough that it would have won the race nearly every other year. This year was a fluke. There was a freak of nature in the race and no one saw him for what he was except Ryan. He knew he did not have that sort of training in and so he held back and ran an amazing time in its own right. The crazy thing is that if Ryan had won the race with the same strategy, if the winner had cracked like all the others and Ryan had caught him and beat him, then the critics would be saying how great Ryan is. Same time, same strategy, only difference is the win. They would be saying that he was a genius and he would be heralded as the greatest American marathoner of all time. Instead, because he didn't win, his strategy was flawed.

Ryan will win in Boston in the future and he is still the best marathoner that America has ever had. Good luck at the Olympics Ryan, the sport needs more class acts like you.