Somehow in the last few years it has become popular to have traditional graduation ceremonies—caps, gowns, Elgar—for increasingly younger students at increasingly inconsequential stages in their education. Apparently this idiotic tendency has also taken up the traditional valedictorian and speech.
Oops. I’ve neglected to report on my participation in the Race for the Cure 5K on Mothers Day. Well, my 26:59 finish (8:42 pace) wasn’t my worst, but it certainly wasn’t my best. I certainly haven’t been training as much as I should. In my defense, though, it should be noted that there were a lot of walkers blocking my way. I expected that for the first half-mile or so, but I was passing walkers for what seemed like the whole race. Why they don’t participate in the designated walk or at least position themselves at the back of the race starting line is beyond me. At least I didn’t have to dodge any strollers or dogs this year.
Like the Mothers Day 5K, my Us Too Fathers Day 10K was neither my worst nor my best 10K. Officially, I finished in 56:10 (9:03 pace), but the start wasn’t chip-timed, so I trust my stopwatch more. According to that, I finished in 55:55 (9:01 pace). It may seem like a small difference to non-runners, but I think fellow runners can appreciate the difference 15 seconds makes. Anyhow, considering I hadn’t run farther than about 5 miles (and that only a couple times) prior to this race, I can’t be too disappointed. I think I paced myself well for the first 2 miles, but near the beginning of the third mile my buddy, who’d kept pace with me, started to pull away as I battled the heat and sluggishness. He maintained the pace we’d been running all the way to the end, finishing in 49:45 (8:01 pace). If he’d stayed back with me, I’m sure I would have finished faster, but it would have been at the expense of his time.
I won’t be able to run the Brentwood Firecracker 5K this year because I’ll be at a baby shower my in-laws are throwing for us. I’d like to run the Run Around the Square 5K on August 23, but that’s just two days before my first child is due. Likewise, my participation in the Ikea Half Marathon on September 6 depends on whether my wife goes past her due date or not. At the very least, I’m planning on running the Great Race 10K on September 28. Of course, I’ll also be hashing on Mondays when I can. 😉
For people who understand these things, does anyone know why the pop-up blocker on the Safari browser is so stupid? By “stupid” I mean, why isn’t it “smart” enough to tell the difference between a window that is involuntarily popped up and a window that occurs when I deliberately click on a link that opens a “pop up” window?
Normally, I keep the option “Block Pop-Up Windows” checked, but there are some sites where the basic function of the site is a “pop up” window that occurs when I voluntarily click a link. Or some sites, like Gmail, have certain features (like composing in a separate window) that require the pop-up blocker to be deactivated. When I go to those sites, I have to go up to the Safari menu and uncheck the blocking option. This is lame and annoying.
So why can’t Safari tell the difference between a site that opens a window without a click from me and a site that opens a window when I want it to? Why can my iPhone tell when it is up against my ear but Safari can’t tell when I clicked a link to open a “pop up” window? This disparity in interface keenness is ridiculous.
Let’s just get one thing clear. I don’t claim to be some world class psychic (â€Call me now for yer free readin’!â€), but sometimes things that happen to me poke at that uneasy, subconscious feeling of connectivity to the universe and other people in ways that trouble me. Some people call it coincidence or intuition. I don’t think it’s that easily dismissed. Or, at least, I don’t think what I’ve been experiencing over the past few days has been coincidence. I don’t believe in “Coincidence,†and I haven’t for a long time. This post is just a glimpse as to why. There are a lot of things going on with me and people I love in my life, and I don’t know if any of those things will warrant a future post here or not, but there are lots of things pressing on me from different directions. I’m still trying to find words for most of them. These latest bouts of connectivity aren’t helping much, either, and they seem to happen the most when I’m emotionally taxed. Continue reading
Wow. This guy in Michigan who was denied admission to the bar there sounds a little nuts:
“I have faith in the Supreme Court, and in particular Justice John Paul Stevens, who is the true guardian of our constitutional rights.”
Whenever somebody whips out that word “true” in a context like that, it makes me cringe a little. Sort of like when people start talking about “true believers.”