The New Road

Three Mile Swim

I did my first three mile swim in what I think has been about four months today. It was certainly my first three mile in what I would consider my more modern era of continuous swimming. My last three mile was just three one mile swims pushed together with long breaks in-between to eat a power bar, or drink a lot of water. The only times I stopped on this swim were when I needed to use the bathroom.

This gives me a 2-mile padding between myself and the nearest person who has yet to finish. As it turns out the pack fragmented pretty quickly into a small group of hard-cores who finished in the first week or two, then the rest of us who are just slogging away. At the moment I'm at the head of that second group, followed by a guy who swims at the same time as Lori. Hopefully with another two mile swim tomorrow I should be able to hold a permanent lead until the end.

Update: I wonder if I can finish this thing by the 37 day mark. So that it would be a mile a day (or sort of). I would have to do 10.5 in 10 days.

Another Update: Lori said that as she left the pool she noticed that I was now behind the leader by 1.5 miles. Which is amazing, since that's a 3.5 mile jump in one day. In a very small lap pool (and you have to do the miles in our pool). I was curious enough to go back at lunch and have a look at the log book. Turns out there was a line put in his record this morning, then a big shaded in area indicating the 3.5 miles, which wasn't signed by a guard. (All of the miles have to be signed off on.)

I didn't see the guy. I've never actually seen the guy in the pool. Lori saw him in the Jacuzzi when she got to the pool an hour after I left. So apparently he got in the water just as I got out, swam 3.5 miles at literally a world record pace, then had some Jacuzzi time and took off. Right... Believe me, nobody is swimming a world record pace in our pool. Nobody.

Hey, I don't mind getting beat. I can handle competition. I just like to know that everyone is competing on a level playing field.

Yes, I know this isn't a race. But it's the principle of the thing.

The Next Gulf of Tonkin

Could it be any clearer that Bush is just looking for some reason, any reason, to get into an all-out war with Iran? First we move a second carrier group into the gulf. Then we raid an Iranian embassy. Bush and his cronies are out in the streets beating the war drums against Iran.

Now the Pentagon is saying that a recent attack was carried out by Iranians. Oh, really? I wouldn't trust these guys as far as I could throw them. And I think they know that 70% of Americans share that position.

What I find most galling is that they don't even seem to give a shit that we all know it's another 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident. (Actually, it's not even that good. It's just a joke.) Clearly the staging for the Iraq war was complete bullshit. But they got away with that. These guys know that they can use the right wing spin machine to throw up enough dust to keep the opposition occupied while they try and bring about a third world war in the Middle East. Joy.

Jack as an M&M

Here is my take on what I might look like as an M&M:

I don't know what's up with the arms. All of the other options looked so normal. I had to branch out a little bit.

I made it here. I bring it up only because I know that Megan loves to build characters on the WII and I'm sure she will love building M&Ms of her favorite princesses.

What a difference six months makes

It occurred to me a week ago to take a look back through my blog to see when the first day it was when I swam a mile. It was July 19th of last year, the day after my birthday and about a month after starting to take swimming fairly seriously. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Walking into Newark Java in my flip flops and sweatpants at 5:30. Telling the lady behind the counter that today was my day to swim a mile. I was so proud! I think I had it in the back of my mind that I would only swim maybe eight miles in my whole life, or something like that.

I mean, my sweet jeebus I sucked at swimming. Every length I had to rest to let my heart rate drop back below the red line for almost twenty seconds (sometimes even more). I couldn't swim a single continuous lap. And... I was in the fast lane. Honestly, looking back on it, if the me of today had to share the lane with the me of six months ago. I probably would have asked the guard to bump six-months-ago me down to the medium lane (something I have never done, by the way.)

I remember the few times that I swam laps at the outdoor pool while Lori and Megan were watching I think I almost gave Lori a heart attack. She was seriously concerned for my welfare as I finished each length, caughing, sputtering and wheezing.

What brings this into stark relief is that now I'm getting questions from another guy who was in the same position I was then, looking for answers to problems like 'how do I keep from being so out of breath at the end of the length'. And while I do have some suggestions; ear plugs, swim lessons, better suit, albuterol, simplified stroke, etc. The only thing that really counts in the end, is water time.

Also, I suppose another thing is to try for continuous improvement. I find it very interesting to watch some of the folks at the pool who just put in their laps and time, and don't really try to improve at all. I'm a regular. These folks are regulars. So they know me and I know them. And while I've gone from 1:15, to 0:45, to 0:40, to 0:36 and now 0:34, they keep doing exactly the same thing. Not that they can't swim. They surely can. But it's like they found a particular level of competency and said; good enough, thanks! I'm not saying that's good or bad, but it's interesting. I'm not sure I could ever take something seriously and not try to excel at it. I know I will never be a great swimmer, but I will be very good for me, and I will always try to improve on my times.

That's what I love most about Tiger Woods. (Not that I can in any way compare myself to him.) But, the big takeaway for me, is that he never stops trying to improve his game. He has gone through three major swing revisions. When most players go through... mmm.... none. And this is a man who understands history, understands stats, and knows the importance of tour wins and slam wins. And he puts it all on the line, to try to improve. And that's why he is number one, and will remain number one. His game is so deep, it's like watching the Buddha play golf.

That's the miracle of life; every day presents a new opportunity to do better than you did the day before.

Good workout weekend

Lori gave me some time on Sunday to do some triathlon prep. I used it to bike 50K (31 miles). It felt really good, actually. I was a little worried about it. But it seems that having done a bunch of 20 mile rides over the last couple of weeks has built me up enough to handle the 31 miles without much of a problem. I did it in 1:45. Which is something I can hopefully improve on. Over the next few months I'll try and ratchet it up to 75K then 100K so that the 50K on race day won't be as much of an issue.

My goal for the few days that remain in this month is to do one 10K run. That will complete all three of the lengths that I'll be doing in the April triathlon. My idea was to do a sprint triathlon this year, and an olympic triathlon (twice that distance of the sprint) next year. But I've changed plans and I'll be doing the olympic this year since I'm in pretty good shape.

Running is my only real problem at this point. And what I have to do there is just run at least five days a week. Hopefully I'll start getting into a routine with Oso. And that will get him in shape and help my running too.

It's not just the running. It's that the running is the last of the three sections after having gone through some pretty grueling stuff already.

Over The Hump

I just made it over the hump in the great barrier reef swim. I'm now swimming about 2 miles a day which means that if I keep that pace I should be done with this in about 9 days of swimming, which is about three weeks. Maybe a little less if I pick up a mile here or there during the week or the weekend. But the weekends have been horrible.

The pool was almost empty today which really slowed me down. I notice that I keep pace a lot better when I have someone to chase, or at least, someone to compete against, even if they don't know that they are competing against me. I started out pretty quick, with laps around 50 seconds. But then I slowed to just over a minute.

Around lap 60 another guy entered the fast lane, and that was good. He was fresh and relatively fast. I was determined not to get passed by him, and that drove my times back down into the 55 second range for the last few laps. It was nice to be able to finish so strong. When I did two miles yesterday I grunted through the last few laps.

A friend of mine said that when he was swimming a lot he really wanted to get into a 50 meter pool because at 25 meters he felt like he was "just getting started". I'm starting to understand what he means. I get across the pool in about eight long strokes, excluding the kick off from the side. And it's only in the middle where I get the nice glide effect. It would be nice to get that for longer periods of time, and I think a 50m pool would do that.

Your Band Is Gay

Duuude... Your band is so gay.

I love these stupid lists. I mean, come on. The Indigo Girls? Gay. No way.

Waters Shows How It's Done

Maxine Waters is one of my political heroes. She was one of the few congressman to vote against the authorization to go to war with Iraq. And now she is back with a new resolution to get us out of Iraq in six months. Even better it calls for rescinding the authorization to go to war. Which, if you don't recall, was written so broadly as to allow for a 'regional war'. That could allow Bush to start a war with Iran without the consent of congress (or the people of this country whom they represent.)

It's imperative that we let our voices be heard on this. If you support ending the war, let your representative know about this bill. If you support Bush, well... rethink... change your mind, then call your congressman and tell them that you have come to your senses and want the troops out.

(H/T to Landon for sending me the link to Maxine's press release.)

Things of note

Let's see, a few observations for today.

First, sad to see New Orleans lose on Sunday. But what a stinker of a game. The Bears just ate them alive. I was happy to see the Colts win. I think the Super Bowl should be fun. The seven point spread indicates that the feeling is shared.

Second, I did have some meat on Sunday. It was chicken. It was done rotisserie style. It was very, very good.

Third, Battlestar is back, and I couldn't be happier about that. The debut episode of the second part of the season, which was last night, was awesome.

Fourth, Warioware for Wii is like some sort of video game crack. Clearly made for people with the attention span of a fruit fly. Which is why I liked it so much.

Fifth, I've been reading American Fascists, a book about the dominionism movement which I have mentioned several times before on this blog. I think dominionists have been set back by the recent election rejection of Bush and neo-conism. But they will be back, the Christian Right media machine can spin anything at this point, and they have tens of millions of loyal followers.

Sixth, it's nice to see that my step-father Carlos is reading the blog and making informed comment on same. Thanks for reading my classy blog sir. I promise not to bring back the theme song from Team America in the header line ("America, Fuck Yeah! Ready to save the motherfucking day yeah!") Since I'm so klassy!

Anywho... good weekend. Though I did have some fitness issues with trying to get to the pool for some laps. On Saturday I arrived too late. And on Sunday I got all the way to the edge of the pool before realizing that I had forgotten my bathing suit. Joy. Hopefully I'll get in some laps in the night session before poker tonight.

Christianity vs. Islam

The reaction to the recent election from conservatives appears to be... to go even more extreme. Now, instead of just talking about the war in Iraq, they are talking openly about Iraq being just part of what they consider a war between Christianity and Islam. It's something they used to talk low key, but since the election, it's gone front burner.

You can see it anywhere conservatives use the term enemy to cover all of Islam. Here is a recent comment on my post about the use of Jefferson's Quran:

Hate to rain on your parade bub, but Thomas Jefferson owning a copy of the Quran had nothing to do with his belief in religious freedom.

He obtained a copy to better understand the enemy he was setting out to destroy and stop the attacks and killing of Americans.

Of course, I asked for citations, but got none, because there are none. In fact, Jefferson did at one point convey the words of an Islamic prophet to the United States government because he was an ambassador at the time. But no judgment was offered by Jefferson. It's just conservatives who look at the bellicose rhetoric and then infer that Jefferson was anti-Muslim.

This also comes through when conservatives talk about the Quran as a war manual. Actually, it comes through in a lot of ways, that I don't have the time, or even the want (really) to enumerate here.

So why now? I think the answer to that question is very simple. Because conservatives lost the election, lost power, and now feel liberated (as pill-popping drug addict Rush says) to say out loud what they have been thinking. That this is not a war in one country. They view this as a crusade, a holy war. And while I haven't heard a direct correlation that I can quote, I'm sure some tie it into the book of revelations and the rapture.

My view on all this is that if America is somehow pushed into some type of large scale religious war against Islam, we will lose. In fact, by the time we will have gotten there, what we understand as America, will have already been lost.

Honestly, cant these folks see that Osama is just a nutjob outlier. He doesn't represent the mainstream of Islam, he twists the Quran to justify his terrorism. The same way that Christianity has nutjobs, who twist the bible to justify killings and terror attacks.

For me it just gets back to separation of church and state. We were attacked on 9/11, let's hunt, find and kill the person responsible. Let's not conflate this into something it's not. It's not a war of cultures. This isn't a Christian nation. It's a melting pot nation were all religious views are tolerated. And when it comes to public policy, and whom to fight, and when, we leave the religious hoo-hah at the door.

And my advice to anyone who has been riled up by years of listening to Dobson, Hannity, and all those guys, who think the end times are coming and that we are in a religious war; calm down, take a deep breath, and try to deal with facts instead of superstition and ideology.

Meat on Sunday?

I think I might eat some meat on Sunday for dinner. This would be the first time I've eaten meat in over a decade. Twelve year, in fact. Strangely, I don't have any particular set meal in mind.

So, put yourself in my shoes, what would be the first meat dish you would eat after twelve years as a vegetarian?

Updated: Lori says it's been 14 years. And both Lori and Mel think that I should eat Sushi first. Lori reason is because it's my favorite. And Mel's is because it will be gentler on my system.

Three years of doing nothing

Going back to last week for a second. The new congress passed the 9/11 commission proposals to increase our domestic safety, in what, 10 hours, after starting the session. The 9/11 report was published in 2004. The Republican congress sat on it for three years... doing nothing. And now the democrats get in and pass the reforms bill in 10 hours. Wow. It's encouraging and horrifying all at the same time.

If I were working at Fox News I would write a banner graphic that said; Did the Republicans want us to get hit again?

Portland

Lori is all about moving to Oregon. And while I can say it's beautiful up there, I am also wary of this type of thing. What amazes me about this video is that the first person driving around is just gunning it... on the ice. And then when someone says 'Stop' to the person, I hear the person say, "I have three small children in the car, I'm not stopping." How does that make any sense? Anyway, I hope the driver has really, really, good insurance.

Wii Sports Workouts

Looks like the Wii Sports workout really does work. Though I don't think the guy was in horrible shape to begin with. I also think that were he not doing an experiment he probably would have done other things like adjust his diet and do other healthy things (e.g. take the stairs, walk a little more, etc.) that would have taken off even more weight.

Speaking of that sort of stuff. This chiropractor stuff has really been helping. The initial muscle analysis that he did, and the specific exercises to strengthen my weak muscles, has really paid off. In particular I've been working on two of the muscles in my quadriceps. I got back on the bike yesterday and noticed that I had gained about 3 MPH even into the wind, and I felt no burning in my quads. The only thing that held me back was being out of breath and not having enough fuel to burn. The breath should get better as I finish off this cold and get into longer workouts, and the fuel situation may be helped with a switch to higher protein sources.

Rethinking Vegetarianism

I'm the last of the vegetarians I know. I've been at it it for going on thirteen years. So rethinking it is a bit of a big deal for me. But I am rethinking it because of my recent experiences with both losing weight and also cutting coffee out of my diet. The reason I became a vegetarian was to get over a case of the mid-day blahs that I was experiencing. I think those were more related to the coffee that I was drinking by the ton, and less about the meat I was eating. Though I was eating fast food as well, which probably added to the problem.

Now I think that I'm not getting enough protein. In particular, I'm not getting enough to support the triathlon work that I'm doing now. I do a lot of muscle work and I'm not seeing as much gain as I should. And I think part of that is a lack of protein. I could drink huge protein shakes, or eat meat and just augment it with a little extra protein.

If I do switch back it will probably be focused meat consumption. No fast foods. Limited to just a meal or two a day. Most likely when I eat at home for breakfast or dinner. Or when I am eating at slow food, like Sushi, or fine dining establishments.

I do wonder a little about how my gut will react to a change in diet.

Keith nails it

This is why I love Keith Olbermann. He doesn't pander to his audience. He dares you to keep up. Bang. Bang. Bang.

BTW, the reviews from Bush's speech are in. I actually liked the style. He stopped his sputtering home-spun bullshit put-on fakiness, and finally put his ideas on the table. Of course, that was the problem since his ideas suck. Turns out most Americans agree and Bush has only succeeded in bringing more people into the "no surge" camp. Unfortunately, looking at some right wing sites it seems that some of the "no surge" folks are in favor of moving towards extreme violence; "flattening of cities" and "tactical nuclear strikes". That type of action can never result in "winning hearts and minds". Which is exactly why the only solutions in Iraq at this point are political.

Ripping Off Afghanistan II

When Bush pulled troops out of the hunt for Osama in Afghanistan to prepare for the Iraq war it really pissed me off. Not that most of the stuff Bush does doesn't piss me off. But this was especially irritating since I really wanted to see Osama get what's coming to him. And Bush really blew it in the Afghanistan campaign, first at Torra Borra, then in letting the troops go.

Anyway, as you expect, America's step-child war in Afghanistan is doing about as well as you would expect. The Taliban once again control major portions of the country and are stepping up their attacks. And now... Bush is going to steal troops from Afghanistan again to feed the Iraq war.

A US Army battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks to deploy to Iraq.

Man does this piss me off. We are half-assing the only war we should be fighting, to send troops to Iraq in what amounts to a PR stunt. Hell, even Ollie North thinks the surge is a dumb idea. (Yet another Republican thought leader with a criminal record. Is that a requirement?)

The Surge

I'm not sure why this surge has been given such heavy coverage. I suppose it's because it's Bush's first real response to the election. But 20,000 troops is almost nothing. 15,000 were sent last year to provide additional security during the elections.

Sadly, I doubt this will do anything to stabilize the situation in Iraq. The civil war that was rekindled by our invasion has been going on for 1,300 years. I doubt six months and 20,000 soldiers will make any difference. If anything the posturing behind the surge, that it's the last great push, is enough to let insurgent leaders know that they only have to weather one more small storm.

Bush is right when he says that violence will ensue from a pullout. But it's violent there already and it looks like we are just in the way of the inevitable breakup of the country and the civil war over oil that would occur between the Shiites and Sunnis. With the Shiites supported by Iran, and the Sunnis supported by Saudi Arabia. In fact, it's a little worse than just forestalling things, it looks like we are getting in the way of the government using strong man tactics, and that's leaving a window open for extremist groups like Al Qaeda. Apparently Al Qaeda is now providing food, water, and other local necessities to towns directly. That's a really bad sign.

For those of you who would criticize me and ask what my plan for Iraq is; my plan is and always has been to withdraw. We shouldn't be there. We are in the middle of a centuries old civil war. Best to let the locals decide it for themselves and to sit on the borders to ensure that the mayhem doesn't spread.

Racing the 37.5 miles swim

At the end of my swim this morning I had a chance to speak with one of the super speed demons who flies in the fast lane. I asked him how far he had gone, he said two miles, then followed on with the fact that he swims four miles a day. Turns out that he isn't a member, he just pays the day rate and will be gone in three days when he is done with all of the 37.5 miles. You see, he is racing it. Trying to get it done in 11 days, where it should normally take 11 weeks. Wow!

What I can say is that I will be glad when he and the other speed demon, who I think is there for the same reason, are gone. I don't like competing that much for any lane. This morning I started in fast, then split the slow, then went medium, then went to the slow again, then back to the medium, then finally was able to get the last few laps in the fast lane. Ugh.

Chiropractic

Over the past couple of months I've been going to a chiropractor and he has been helping me figure out what muscles are weak, and giving me some exercises to work on those. Last week he took an X-Ray of my spine and this week I got the evaluation. I'm no expert but I can say there were a few things wrong though overall it looked not horribly bad.

One thing was interesting though, my left left is 6mm shorter than my right. Which explains the list I have have had for my whole life. Apparently that's an easy fix with a shim in my shoe. Nice to know.

He did an adjustment on my neck and lower back and I really feel significantly better with just that small change. Hopefully with the spot exercises that I work on every day I should be right as rain in three or four months.

Day of the Jackal

Lori and I got sucked in the original Day of the Jackal movie in HD last night. It's interesting how the pacing in movies has changed since just 1973. There are so many scenes in Jackal that would be on the cutting room floor. Scenes of people handing bits of paper back and forth, for example. Now directors just let us assume that information gets from here to there.

At the same time though, this very long (2:30) movie actually doesn't have a lot of twists. The detective gets leads on the assassin almost immediately. And every lead they get turns out to be correct. Including the last few scenes where the detective is literally just walking around and talking to security guards to get the lead. Though I sometimes find the frenetic pace of today's movies frustrating, at least they spare some scene to show leads that fall through, or dead ends. If it's just a chase with no wrong paths it's not very interesting.

Another thing I noticed is how much goes unsaid in the movie. People like to talk about the first Star Wars and the great the scene were Luke looks off into the night sky, because it has no dialog. Yeah, ok. But that's just how they made movies back then. I like that style too, but the movie has to be long enough for it, and in today's movies we expect that a long movie means a lot of content, so the silent stuff has to get left on the floor.

All in all, probably not worth the time I spent on it. The ending fell flat. The acting was cold. The process elements of the investigation were boring. I know this movie gets a lot of credit on IMDB, but I just think it was dull.

Anthony Micheal Hall

A long time ago, when I was at my very thinnest, right after Austrlalia, I was mistaken by someone for Anthony Michael Hall. I think they meant the Breakfast Club version of Anthony, who was a lot scrawnier than the Johnny Be Good version of him that we see now. He obviously bulked up for the football thing and has kept that going (good for him).

Anyway, it happened again today when I went to get a scone at Peet's (no coffee cuz I'm off that). Which I suppose is a good and bad thing. Yeah, it's good that I've lost a lot of weight. That's fine. But it's not so good since I really didn't want to get down to the very thin thing. And this recent bout of stomach bug and cold have left me undernourished to the point where, as Lori put it, "even your wrinkles are getting wrinkles".

I'll work on bulking back up with some more muscle and hopefully that will give me a look that is less like old Anthony MIchael Hall and more like the new Anthony Michael Hall.

On a related note, I was clicking around his pictures and he has gone from red to blond to brown hair and all over the place. What's up with that? I didn't think red haired folks could do the hair dye thing? I figured with the matching complexion that it would look all wrong. But somehow he pulls it off. Oh, wait, looking back on it, he had brown hair, so I guess the red hair is a dye job.

Trans fats

I heard on NPR this morning that Starbucks is rolling out a new line of trans fat free pastries in 1/3 of it's stores that replace the existing line of pastries. Bravo Starbucks. Trans fats don't taste any better than traditional fats like butter or olive oil. And the alternatives are far, far better for us.

I talked with some folks at the pool about it while we were waiting for the doors to open and I got an interesting reaction; you don't have to eat it. Well, yes and no. Most of us don't have the ability (or the want) to cook all three of our meals. And even if we did, we would still likely use some processed ingredients that could contain trans fats (breads, pastas, etc.) And there are times when we really have no choice. For example, when people bring in food for business lunches or at conferences.

So I'm all in favor of this trans fat ban stuff. Transfats are only in the best interest of restaurants and food vendors because they are more stable and last longer than traditional fats. And even then, new technologies really make the impact of the change negligible.

Thomas Jefferson's Quran

I've been writing off Virgil Goode's insane comments about Keith Ellision's use of the Quran in the swearing in ceremony. But I was a little galled by it coming from Goode, who has the honor of representing Thomas Jefferson's district in Congress. Thomas Jefferson, who was a champion for religious freedoms and respect, and for the separation of church and state. Goode is a stellar example of just how far the conservatives have fallen from the lofty ideals upon which this country was founded.

What restores my faith in our country is the classy conduct of Ellison during this matter. And in fitting fashion he gets the last laugh on the bigots by using Thomas Jefferson's own copy of the Quran during the ceremony. Beautiful!

Hopefully Goode's will see the light and be embarrassed by his own moronic behavior. But I wouldn't hold out much hope for that. I can only hope that fiscal conservatives will see yet another example of how their party has become a farce and head for the high ground with the Democrats.

Been a while

I realize that it's been a while since I blogged. It's been a hectic couple of weeks with Lori's birthday, Christmas, and the trip to Oregon and all. Oregon is beautiful, by the way. When I was a teenager I always dreamed of moving to the Oregon coast... sight unseen. But now having spent some time there I can say that my younger self was really on to something.

News Years resolutions? Give up coffee would be the most direct I suppose. I've been noticing these big ups and downs in my energy levels and now it seems to me that they are directly related to my use of coffee. Particularly as I wake up in the morning. Which basically starts a bad cycle through the day. I'll try to do a morning workout every day to use that for energy instead.

Lori had a great idea when we were on the road to put together a fishbowl of weekend trip ideas around the Bay Area (and probably a little beyond). Then let Megan pick one every couple of weeks and see where we go. We did those types of trips in Australia but lost the habit here.

On the Wii front I think it's safe to say that we are still in love with it. Megan bowls and takes her fitness test every day. She demands the same of us as well. I think the primary attraction for her is less the game than it is the time when she can compete and interact with adults on their level.

Speaking of Megan. She has grown up so much just in the past two weeks. Having time with her cousins has taught her some things. (Mostly good). She is now talking a whole lot more, and the sentences seem better thought out and more informative than before. It's good to see.