Brain dump: stress and a triathlon

Wow. It's been a minute, eh? If you're reading this I'm not sure why--I'm guessing it was by accident. My life has been "a hot mess," as they say, and busy, so writing has dropped way low in the priority list I lost a long time ago.

A couple recent political items have boiled my blood lately, including the overwhelming outcry against the proposed Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero. The hatred, ignorance, and bigotry against an entire religion that surfaced was appalling.

Oh, and I guess astronomers found a planet just outside our galaxy--3 times the mass of Earth--that has the potential to support life like we know it. News anchor, Brian Williams, made some comment along the line of "it's nice to know we have a place to go when we mess up this planet." Shit. He's right. Now there's a backup plan and I'm sure it's going to be a bloody race to get people there. It's a fantastic thought, and a terrifying one at the same time. Those sentiments sent shivers down my spine just to think of the (distant?) future of Earth and what sort of scary, corrupt, greedy things might come of having a second planet, a virgin planet, that is waiting to be dominated.

This weekend is the Little Miami Triathlon in which I will be teamed up with my dad to canoe, run, then bike our way toward Accomplishment. My "training" has been laughable, but I have faith that come race day I will muster up whatever awesomeness possible to finish in decent time. If nothing else, this whole thing has forced me to get out and run and feel a lot more healthy than I've felt in a long time.

Ellie is growing so much, eating food, and working on her balance. Words do no justice. Hopefully I'll get more videos up here soon.

cold

Speaking of biking, I made a terrible decision today: to bike to work without regard to the temperature outside. I'm looking at the current temps, and currently we are experiencing 9 degrees above zero that "feels like" 2-below. This means that an hour and a half ago, it was much colder. I've never been so unhappy to be on my bike. I missed the morning forecast as the Today show was hell-bent on catching a glimpse of the Obama family entering a limo... in fact, I didn't even get to see that. Oh well, I have 6 more hours to decide if I want to bike home in steamy 14 degrees, or ask my boss for a ride. Oh yeah, and a semi-truck ran me off the road. Fortunately, my tires cut right through the snow piled alongside the curb and I was able to quickly turn into a parking lot.

Today is Halloween?

I just heard a sound bite of "Joe, Plumber" giving his surprise, out-of-left-field endorsement for "real American, John McCain." I've not been following Republican rhetoric too closely over the past week or so, but I've heard enough to piece together that Republicans have revived the lies that Obama is a terrorist and not a "real American."

On Wednesday, C and I watched Obama's prime-time television spot or uninterrupted "infomercial" of sorts. The best part--which C pointed out when it was over--was that there was not one mention of McCain. It was all very forward-looking and positive and full of solutions. I have a strong suspicion that a spotlight on McCain would have been very different, and focused on Obama.
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And apparently, today is Halloween. I'm disappointed that I'm not prepared at all. I've been out of town all week, I have no costume, no candy to pass out, and no pumpkin! I have to even stop handing out candy early to get to my soccer game this evening. It's all quite a bummer. Hopefully I'll find some time this weekend to eat candy, carve a pumpkin, cook some seeds, and dress-up Alden. Maybe I'll make an Obama pumpkin...

Voting happens on Tuesday, for those of us who have not voted early. Coincidentally I am taking a "personal day" on Wednesday, and was pleased to realize I might be able to use the day to either (1) recover from a long night of celebrating or (2) pack and move to Canada. Ha. Just kidding America, I love you.

Signing off,
Dave The Scientist

The distance

In just a matter of time, A Day in the Good Life has shattered the 2000 mark and is plodding its way towards 2030 visitors. I feel like life has been packed full of eventful happenings and the internet has taken a backseat to more urgent matters. The most massive of these priorities has been Alden's flea problem. Fortunately, it's not a huge infestation-size problem--but it is a persistent one and we're going insane trying to find a remedy.

On a positive note, the fleas have kept our minds off the looming financial crisis. Other than our (fixed-rate) mortgage, we don't hold much (if any) debt and all our other assets are cash. I wish I understood better the pro's and con's of the governmental "bail-out." Supposedly it would be bandage the expanding wound that is the collective of our economic problems. Probably, it would be more of a tourniquet. As little as I make sense of it all, I suspect there is some irony in the whole situation. Capitalism is looking for a socialist solution; Wall Street is the new family on Welfare; stocks are the new food stamps; republican economic solutions are the new democrats' massive government. I know these formulas are over-simplified. I also understand that a lot of Republicans are opposed to the proposed bail-out--but I don't know why. The proposal doesn't appear to be a partisan issue. Why are people opposing the bail-out? Are they holding on to laissez-faires economic ideology? Or is it that they just want the bail-out restructured in some other way? What would that plan look like?

I am resisting the urge to get panicked. Carlyn's car is about to kick the bucket, as they say. I've been wondering if, in the name of simplicity, we should trade-in both of our cars for one new one, and learn to live as a one-car household. The question would be, would we get enough in trade to minimize our cost and save enough by eliminating car insurance, that we could afford a car with little to no debt and in fact save money in the long run? Thoughts?
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In other news:
1. The glasses I ordered (pictured below) were too small so will be returned, just as I will return to search for the perfect pair of vintage frames! Wish me luck...
2. Carlyn's parents invited us to join them in Hocking Hills over the weekend. They rented a chalet with a beautiful hilltop view. We hiked the ~6 mile loop between Cedar Falls and Old Man's Cave--which is at least three times longer than the longest walk Alden has ever completed. He made it the whole way with no complaint! I was super excited and proud of him. Overall, the retreat was much needed and really appreciated.
3. This weekend, Carlyn's mom brought down another shipment of plants from her garden to get us started on our lawn-less landscape. Hopefully by this time next year, our front yard will be exploding with biomass/habitat/food/color!

The Goods (Plus, "Everyday is the Worst Day")

Been thinking about employer-employee relationships, or tensions, lately, and remembered there's a band called Employer Employee. I looked them up and they are really good. Their style sums up that very tension on which I've been dwelling. I think my friend Brandi used to listen to them, no? She probably did. I can imagine her imitating a mosh pit like, making a face like she's singing, like: ----!!!! Nevermind. Ha

John McCain...I forget what I was going to say. Not sure why I feel compelled to attack his reputation and his campaign. I wouldn't hesitate to say that I've been very negative against him and I'm not too worried about it. Today I heard a sound bite of an interview with McCain in which he was asked how many homes he owned, and he declined to answer. He had to check with his staff or something. At a later time he claimed four homes, while an attack add by Obama claims seven. Supposedly McCain has four residences and other "investments." Does that matter? Not really. But it irks me.

Also, I can't figure out my bike tire and that makes me feel really stupid. And when I feel stupid, I get angry. Like, piping hot mad. Ask C. Haha

Also #2, I came home to find that Alden had eaten an entire bag of dog treats. What a jerk!

This is the most pointless entry.

out

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Post-script
I "figured out" my bike tire! Apparently my car-powered air pump just sucked and the floor pump I purchased at the local bike shop did the trick...

Also, "Everyday is the Worst Day" was C's suggestion for today's blog post. We're both exhausted from the additive effects of small problems and stupid happenings that seem to have been more frequent than usual. However, I'm sure even she will admit that we live a charmed life.

Say word?

Driving Report

Almost every day in the past two months I've ridden my bike past the intruding gas station marquee that advertises the current price for a gallon of gasoline. It has become my morning news; my ticker-tape for the state of the economy. As prices have been increasing, I've felt an increasing sense of pride that I've been driving less and biking more. The fear of economic depression and insecurity is looming, but hasn't gotten under my skin, yet. I was also proud to hear that driving has declined across America. Yesterday, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported this:

Federal Highway Administration data released Monday [shows] Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles this May than in May 2007, the third-largest monthly drop in the 66 years the data has been collected.

The May decline was 3.7 percent from a year earlier and continues a seven-month decrease in driving that has amounted to more than 40 billion fewer miles traveled since November 2007 compared with the same period a year earlier.

It is apparent that Americans' driving behaviors are changing dramatically and quickly, in response to increasing gas prices. This will have interesting effects in a society whose infrastructure has evolved in the past 50 years to accommodate almost exclusively the privately-owned automobile.

Very recently, gasoline prices have begun to recede slightly--presumably due to the decrease in driving (i.e., demand). I am wondering, if dramatic increases in prices will modify behavior as we are seeing, will the opposite be true, and in just as little time? My suspicion is that is will not. People's behaviors are also changing because our future is becoming less certain or predictable. Driving less is a result of economic fearfulness and we won't be quick to peek our heads out from under the comforter. [Any thoughts or comments on this?]

Perhaps driving less will force us to stay within and move around our neighborhoods, by bike, or on foot. Maybe this will at first feel like a trap or prison, with limited breathing room. I'll admit, I'm worried to think that traveling to Cincinnati or Cleveland, let alone North Carolina, will become increasingly difficult. But it's also exciting to think that maybe our communities will be better because of this new (potential) situation. Of course, new technologies and alternative options will become more available. One day we might find ourselves catching a solar powered (?) train traveling between Cleveland and Porkopolis, right down the middle of empty ol' Interstate 71.

Gas Problem

After suffering through exposure to numerous lists of how to survive the current gas-price crisis, through local news programs, newspaper articles, chain emails, and radio sound bites, I decided to write an entry expressing my frustration that I wasn't hearing what I thought should be the number one tip: don't drive! A quick internet search and it seemed like my frustration was going to be validated. In this list of "30 Gas Saving Tips," there is not ONE mention of "not driving" as a way to decrease one's spending on gas! I expected that if a list of thirty tips wouldn't provide the answer for which I was hoping, none of the more popular "top ten" lists would. Interestingly, the thirty-tip list included a link, immediately under its own article, to "45 Professional Tips to Cut Big Gasoline Bills." This would be the clincher--if I couldn't find a recommendation that not driving was the answer, I could rest (un-) easy that our society was mentally screwed by the automobile industry. Alas, the TOP TWO suggestions were these:

# 1. Before getting into your car, ask yourself "Is this trip necessary?"!
# 2. On short trips, try walking or bicycling. It's good exercise.

What a relief! This is the promotion I was hoping to see. To figuratively "pinch myself," I decided best-out-of-three would afford me real hope. Back in the search engine, I clicked the link to "Top Ten Fuel Saving Tips." After each tip, my heart sank a little lower. Was our country destined to be enslaved by the automobile? Finally, seconds left on the clock, in overtime, and the hail-Mary pass was received in the in-zone:

#10. Don't drive. Not a popular thing to say on a car site, I know, but the fact is that if you can avoid driving, you'll save gas...

It's not too often when I feel okay about being wrong. I'm glad to know that at least some journalists--more than I expected--are willing to slip in an endorsement that really tackles the bigger issues at hand. I'll admit, all of the lists--whether they promote alternatives to driving or not--are useful for helping to conserve gasoline and make driving more efficient which is relatively better for the environment. However, I "personally believe" that it's essential to promote alternative forms of transportation and really revolutionize the way our towns and cities are structured--to benefit communities and the environment, rather than cater to out-dated, out-of-scale industries.

(link)