One of my running heroes

I figured that since I had both a picture *and* a story for today's post, it would be good cross-post fodder, so I put this on my photo blog also.

Last Sunday, my friend Roger and I went to the opening of a Road Runner Sports store nearby. We went not only to check out the store, but to meet one of my running heroes who happened to be doing an appearance there that day. His name is John Bingham, but if you're into running or read Runners' World, you might know him as "The Penguin."He came to running late in life, but since has completed 40 marathons and hundreds of 5K and 10K races. He also wrote a book on marathon training for non-runners, and another on how to start running--how to train, how to work it into your schedule, etc. He's also the man responsible for one of my favorite quotes for runners training for their first race: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." It definitely made me feel not quite so bad about my failed marathon attempts...the hard work, and the accomplishment, is just as much in the training as it is in the race itself.

Anyway...there wasn't much of a crowd there, so we stood and talked with John and his wife for probably 15-20 minutes. John's company organizes and manages the Chicago Distance Classic half marathon, so he was handing out and signing technical t-shirts (synthetic fabric, they carry the sweat away from your body--VERY good shirt to do training runs in!). John is a very personable and engaging guy with a big smile and words of encouragement for runners of any level.

One last kinda funny thing--John's wife was nice enough to take this picture of the three of us with my camera phone. She then took another shot with her camera--so the same picture showed up on his blog Monday. Hey, wow, I'm famous now!

More later...

What would you do if you had 30 days left?

"...and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying
and he said 'Someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying...'" - Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying

Let me start this post by saying I'm NOT trying to tell you guys anything--as far as I know I'm healthy as a horse and have MANY more days to live!

The reason I bring this up, though...Mrs jtj3 and I started of a book called "One Month to Live" with some friends in our neighborhood last night. The main question behind the study is this: how would you live your life differently if you only had a month?

It's been making me think--a lot--since last night. By coincidence (are you listening, Snow???), I had two fairly major decisions to make today. Finally I asked myself "How would I decide on 'a' and 'b' if I had 30 days to live?" It was amazing the clarity that question brings.

Which leads me to ask all of you, gentle readers--have you ever thought about what you would do? What would you do differently, or stop doing, or start doing, or do more of? Who would you call, write, or talk to? Would you travel more, or less?

There's no right or wrong answer--just what works for you. I can tell you, though, some of the things I'd do:

• Fulfill my life goal of visiting 50 countries and all 50 U.S. states
• Spend more time outside experiencing nature
• Tell all my friends how much I love them (that includes you guys--so "Love you all!")
• Not sweat the small stuff, and not get so easily offended at perceived slights or digs
• Run--no, wait, FINISH--a marathon
• Pray more
• Read the Bible more

That's just the "off the top of my head" list, which I'm sure I will refine the list as I go along. Even though I'm not (again, as far as I know) at the end of my life, this is a good exercise to help me focus on the most important things.

By the way--there's a website to accompany the book, and it's at OneMonthToLive.com. The book and web site are written from a Christian perspective and have Bible references...however, the principles really apply to those of all faiths, or those with none.

More later...

Finally, something interesting!!!

Oh, and not just one interesting thing today but TWO things. WHOOHOO! Life has been work-school-eat-sleep for a few weeks, with a little travel thrown in, so there's not been much to write about. Shameless self-cross-promotion...I was able to work in an afternoon shooting around San Francisco (pictures, not bullets...) and I posted some of my favorite shots from that trip on my photo blog.

Interesting thing #1 - got to go to a book signing last night. One of my favorite authors is Lee Child, who's written a series of 12 books (so far) about a drifter, ex-military, loner, tough-guy named Jack Reacher. Interesting factoid--according to sources, Child's books sell at the rate of one per second. CHA-CHING! Anyway, his latest novel, Nothing To Lose, was just released so he's touring the world to promote it. He's a very engaging speaker and took lots of questions (including 2 from me). I went with a good friend of mine--the friend who turned me on to Child's books a few years ago. We both had a great time last night, and I can't wait to dive into the book. I got a couple of decent pictures, also...















Interesting thing #2: I was poking around on a couple friend's blogs, and found this hysterical photo essay from Sue's blog: The Top 25 Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians. Just wait until you get to the last one on the list. I about died laughing.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm off on yet another business trip, and then on vacation for 2 weeks (double YAY!). I'm still trying to work out how, when, and whether I will post while I'm gone. Worst case, I'll see you in a couple weeks...

More later...

I decided I'm doing it...

Wow, two days in a row with something interesting to say. Look at me.

Ever had an experience like this...you're thinking about something, mulling it over in your mind--maybe for months. Playing the "should I or shouldn't I?" game. Trying to consider all the risks and benefits but realizing you don't know what you don't know. Wanting the upside, but being scared of failure or, worse, rejection. But then...you have a conversation with someone, they lay out a couple obvious questions ("What could it hurt?" "What's the worst thing that could happen?") and then you decide...HECK YEA, I'm gonna jump in.

Well, that's what I'm doing. I am breaking into the :deep inhale: stock photography market. Or at least trying to.

I had an email conversation with a bloggosphere pal yesterday (they know who they are!!!) and we touched on this subject. I've done occasional poking around for months. The service I picked (won't name it until I know they accepted me!) is one I heard about on a podcast a few months ago and have checked them out now and again. It's like looking at the inside of a fancy restaurant, then walking all the way in to where the maitre d' acknowledges you, but then backing out the way you came in. You look at *those people* in *that place*, you just don't think you fit it.

Well, dag-nabbit, maybe I do.

If I pass the 'artistic test' (they like the sample pix I submit), then I'll post more details later. For now--wish me luck.

More later...

Post-race report

Finally, something semi-interesting to write about...lately I feel like my life has been work, school, sleep, repeat same. I don't want to bore y'all with that--heck it's hard enough for ME to stay awake through it...

Anyway, this past Saturday was the Soldier Field 10 mile run. It's a race I've done for the past 3 years, and I really enjoy it. It starts and ends (not surprisingly!) at Soldier Field in Chicago. It goes south on Lakeshore Drive for about 5 miles, then comes back north on a bike/running path that's right along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The last quarter mile or so curves around the west side of Soldier Field, through one of the north entrances, into the interior area, and out the player's entrance to the field. You run up the sidelines and finish on the 50 yard line, watching yourself on the Jumbotron.

I'd set a goal for myself to beat my time from last year (my personal record, or PR in runner lingo). I also had another goal of breaking 1:40:00, which is a 10:00 per mile pace. About halfway through I was pretty sure I'd beat my previous time. In the last couple miles, I thought maybe...just maybe...I could break the 1:40:00 mark, as long as I didn't poop out. Well, this year--drumroll, please...I set a new PR. I finished in 1:38:51. That's a 9:53 per mile pace, and is almost 3:30 better than my finish time last year of 1:42:14.

Needless to say I was ecstatic! I was also tired, sore, and a little dehydrated, but what the heck...I'd hit both my goals.

This race was really the high point of the long weekend--the rest was "honey do" stuff, grilling out, doing some non-work reading, and generally relaxing. All that was fun, too, by the way. Unfortunately too short, but whatcha gonna do?

More later...

I saw it!

OHMYGOSH I saw it, I saw it, I saw it! I was so excited--I didn't expect it, but I turned my head and there it was! Just like on TV! Like ever since I was a little kid!!! AAAAAAAI was so excited I thought I was gonna pass out.

**breathes deeply**

OK, jtj3, slow down...

Alright y'all, what I saw was...the Oscar-Meyer Wienermobile. I was driving home last night, and I came up to an intersection with a left-hand turn lane. I look over in the lane, and see this giant towering pinkish-reddish....THING...on top of a car. I knew it was the Wienermobile immediately. I mean, come on...how could you *not*? And I bet right now, as you're reading this, you're humming:

"Oh I wish I were an Oscar-Meyer wiener...that is what I truly want to be-e-eeee..."

If you weren't humming it before, I bet you are now!

I happened to have my camera in the front seat with me so I squeezed off a quick picture, but I don't think it came out very well...too dark. Too bad though. I was in the middle of the "go straight" lanes, but for about half a second I considered cutting across traffic and chasing it down.

But what would I have done if I'd caught it? And besides, I had places to be and people to see. So I decided to let it just be one of those fleeting serendipities (which would be a GREAT name for a band, by the way) that come and go, and only live on in my mind. It was kinda cool, though.

Oh, I wish I were an...oh, nevermind. :-D

More later.

Blogging is therapy!

Must sleep...eyes droopy...can't concentrate...but must....blog...first...... (C:

Just a quick one before I hit the hay tonight. I was taking a look at CNN.com, and ran across an interesting story with the headline "Your blog can be group therapy." Great story, and it led me to a great blog, Snickollet.

The story, and the blog, just reinforce what I already knew--this is good therapy! Ahhhh...I feel better already.

G'nite, all...more later.

Missed you! Air kisses!

Hey party people. Little did I know 2 weeks or more ago that my last post would be...well, my last post for a while. Life has been good--busy, but good.

First, work. Well, work is work. Travelling, meetings, etc., etc., all the regular stuff. Nothing new, other than it's starting to get increasingly more demanding (but also the most fun I've ever had at a job, ever!).

I decided work wasn't keeping me busy enough though (HA!) and so I've started on a 2-year MBA program. I just started last week, and it's really a great program. It's all online which works really well for me. I've thought about doing this off and on for many years, but part of what's held me back is travelling and not being able to commit to a regular class. Now, I have no excuse. In (roughly) 2 years, I'll have my degree--SWEET! Needless to say, though, this program is cutting into my free time. Oh well, short term hit for a long term gain...

Speaking of things cutting into my free time--there's blogging, too. I've had a few things pop up here and there that have reminded me that blogging is (was?) starting to have an unhealthy place in my life. I have a somewhat addictive personality by nature, and when I got up to writing 4 blogs and contributing to a 5th, I realized it was time to dial it back a bit.

My Runs With Perseverance blog is still active but on hiatus. Since I'm not training for anything now, I don't really have that much to say about running other than "ran this far, this pace." Big deal. So I decided to combine my running with this blog (again...in fact it sprung out of this blog). I wanted to keep my photo blog because it's not much work and it's fun. All the other stuff is either gone, or I'm not participating in any more. Just too much.

Well...I think I've got my priorities straight now, at least I hope so. We'll see how this all goes. Even if I stop blogging completely, though (perish the thought!) I'll still come visit y'all occasionally, and will continue my "private email, off the bloggosphere" friendships.

More later...

Things that e-rritate me...

Since we (me, and all y'all that read this) are pretty internet savvy, connected, smart-device, text messaging, POP3 email on my mobile device, chic-geek (copyright on that term!!!) kinda people, more or less, I'm just curious--do any of you know those kind of people who don't exactly "get it" when it comes to the connected world, and especially email? I was thinking about this on the way in--stuff that e-rritates me (like the "e" in email, and 'irritates'--again, copyright on the word!). So, I'm coming up with a set of rules for the 5 or so technologically challenged friends I have...

• Chain emails don't work. Ever.
• Forwarding chain emails should be considered a venial sin. Or possibly mortal.
• Forwarding chain emails with a note saying "I never forward these things, but..." does not absolve you.
• Each funny picture you include in an email increases the size of the message. Sometimes a lot. To the extent that sending (or receiving!) some messages is like trying to stuff a 10 inch turd through a 5 inch pipe...
• Speaking of pictures--if you send an email that's supposed to have a picture, and the picture isn't there when I get it, you should assume it's something *you* did wrong in sending it.
• When you send me something, assume I got it. Especially when you send 10 emails to me, and I respond to one saying "Funny!" or some other lame-ass comment. It's not like the US Post Office--if your email doesn't get to me, chances are you'll get a notification telling you why, then you can resend it (or better yet, NOT...).
• If your email has been forwarded multiple times, how about you do everyone a favor and clean up the headers...I don't need to see that 'a' forwarded this message to a hundred people, and 'b' who was on 'a's list forwarded it to a hundred people, and 'c' also forwarded it...you get the idea. Hopefully.
• Before you forward a message about how Microsoft is going to give you $20 for every email you forward, or how we can stick it to The Man (side note--I find it fascinating that Wikipedia actually has an entry for "the man"...) by not buying gas on a specific day, or something that sounds too good to be true--please, please, please, check Snopes.com (or a similar site) to see if it's an urban legend. Cuz first, it's a waste of time for me to have to check your facts and second, you're gonna be pretty embarassed when I do a "Reply All" and say "Hey sorry dude, urban legend..."

I could go on and on, but I think that's a good enough list for now. There...I feel better.

So, what e-rritates you?

UPDATE: Oh yeah, thought of one more. Why, oh why, people, do you send me jokes, videos, pictures, whatever that insult my nationality, my religious affiliation, my choice of sports teams, or (ESPECIALLY) my political beliefs? The political jokes--HUGE e-rritant for me. I'm a registered member of the Democratic Party (and proud of it), so humor that denegrates either the party, its membership, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton doesn't strike me as funny. Thanks for playin'.

Did you get April Fooled?

I'm usually quite the jokester but, for some reason this year, just didn't feel up to April Fooling anyone. I briefly thought about talking to a couple people at work who are active in the gossip mill and saying "Hey, did you hear we got bought???" I could really see that one backfiring, so I decided to leave it alone.

So, did you prank anyone or get pranked? The local NBC affiliate ran a story on the morning news about some of the best tricks on the web:

• Virgle: The Adventure of Many Lifetimes - an alleged joint venture between Virgin Atlantic and Google, Project Virgle was a plan to establish the first manned colony on Mars. Google did a brilliant job with this--their co-founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) recorded a YouTube video for the project, as did Sir Richard Branson (videos are here).
• Rickrolling - The joke here is you give someone a link to an innocuous website, but the link ends up taking them to a YouTube video of Rick Astley performing his 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up." YouTube got in on the act--all their featured videos yesterday ended up being rickrolls.
• Tribune Company changes names - Sam Zell, owner of the Tribune Company (The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV, and the Chicago Cubs are a few of the company's properties) issued a press release stating that the company's name was changing to ZellCoMediaEnterprises, Inc or ZCMEINC. He was quoted as saying: "I put $315 million into this thing...the least I ought to get is my name on the company's stationery..."
• More room in coach! - Canada's Westjet Airlines offered their customers the opportunity to get more room and really stretch out in coach. Passengers were told that, for an additional $12, they could stretch out and sleep in the overhead bins. Westjet touted the fact that their overhead space was the "most generous" in the industry.
• April Fools' roundup from ZDNet Australia - this was such a great catch-all story I had to highlight it. Among the pranks it recounted were Google's new feature offering tomorrow's headlines and sports scores today, Virgin Blue airlines offering "standing room only" spots on flights over 2 hours for only $12, and a story run by an Australian radio outlet stating that the Pope would hold a special mass for gays and lesbians.

So...regardless of whether you tricked, or got tricked yourself, it looks like you had lots of good company.

Just curious, did any of you do anything memorable?

Cross posting--I'm becoming an expert...

I just posted this on my running blog a few minutes ago, and I thought it was maybe worthy of a cross-posting here, too...

I'm rapidly becoming an expert in an area that I never thought I'd have experience with, and definitely did NOT want to get any better at.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen...I am becoming an expert at not running marathons...

The week of my 20 mile run I had the flu, so I only got in about 5 miles. I figured I'd be strong enough based on the rest of my training to do at least a run/walk.

Flip forward to last Tuesday. Hm, chest feels a little congested and I'm coughing. Almost like an asthma attack.

OH NO.

So I went to the doctor Saturday, and again today, and the short story is I have pneumonia. That pretty much means I can kiss goodbye both this weekend's Shamrock Shuffle 8K downtown in Chicago, but also next weekend's St. Louis Marathon looks to be almost an impossibility.

Turns out the STL Marathon organizers will allow you to switch from the full to the half marathon, so there's a chance there--but that depends on me getting a LOT better in between now and then. Right now that's the only hope, but it's very slim indeed.

Let's review my training/not running marathoning history:

- 2006: Trained for the Chicago marathon, but dropped out after week 11 because of plantar fasciitis.
- 2007: Trained for and started the Chicago marathon, but couldn't finish because of the course being closed after 4 hours.
- 2008: See above.

Am I disappointed? Yes, absolutely. But I know that skipping it is the right thing to do...there's no point in causing more damage to myself, taking longer to recover, etc.

I'm signed up for Chicago this fall, and training should start around the June timeframe, so we'll see how this goes.

I'm trying to look on the bright side, though--not running marathons opens up a whole new world of possibilities! I thought that someday I could run the world majors (Chicago, Boston, New York, London, and Berlin)...then, I looked at the qualifying times for Boston and New York. Yeesh! But with little to no effort at all, I can not run all of those marathons! Think of the money and time I'll save!

I kid, I joke. Laughter has always been a defense mechanism for me, and I'm deflecting the upset and the negative emotions I feel. The good news--I ran 90% of the miles in my original plan, I ran faster than I ever have (in fact, completed 5 miles just last Monday at a 9:15 pace), and after a little rest and recouperation there's nothing that says I can't try again.

So Sara, from the excellent Running From The Law blog, I know you're running St. Louis--do well, finish strong, and make me proud! (C:

Run strong, y'all...

2003 + 2001

Two news items caught my eye...well, I guess my ear, since I was listening to the radio...on the way into work this morning. One relates to the year 2003, one to 2001.

First the 2003 story...today marks the 5th anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. I was going to say 'the war with Iraq', but that's not really accurate. We're not fighting the country itself, but against an ideology. So how do you know when you've won?

Last year on this date, when I wrote this post, I had a strong feeling we'd still be stuck in this quagmire a year later. The facts and figures I quoted in that post are relevant but now out-of-date...but the bottom line is we're still pouring too much time, money, and too many precious lives of our young men and women into a mess we created, a battle we shouldn't be fighting, and an ideological war we'll never win. How long will we be there? Who knows...maybe our next President will find a way out of this mess. It's clear the current President won't.

Onto our next story...writer Arthur C. Clarke died March 18th at the age of 90 (CNN.com obituary is here). Clarke's most famous work was 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he had many other significant contributions. He was also an early proponent of telecommunications satellites, served as chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, and was a prolific fiction- and non-fiction writer. Last night I heard an excerpt from one of his speeches, and he talked about how when he wrote 2001 he had no idea how many of the concepts in it would end up becoming reality. What an interesting man...we've lost a great visionary and thinker.

That's all for now, folks...more later...

It's #100!!!!

I promised you something special for my 100th post, and I hope this doesn't disappoint. First, what's a celebration without a few fireworks?

OK so I'm starting with a bang. Uh, what about the content? Er, yeah, guess I gotta write something. OK you all know I'm a meme freak, so what better way to celebrate than a 10X10 meme. So here goes...
Type your summary here


10 ways my blogging has evolved
- New, custom format (thank you Hackosphere!)
- Expandable posts (Update - got them to work at 4AM!)
- I'm not afraid of changing/editing my blog code now
- People are reading and commenting
- I'm reading and commenting more on others' blogs
- More frinds on my blogroll
- Music Mondays
- Flash Fiction Fridays
- Writing for 3 other blogs now - here, here, and here
- I'm become an addict!

10 things about me
- My birthday is the 4th of July, and I turned 10 on the Bicentennial
- I'm passably fluent in 2 languages, speak bits and pieces of 3 more, and can say "hello" in about 10 additional ones
- I've been married to the same wonderful woman, Mrs. jtj3, for 16 years now.
- I'm only 5'4" but my height doesn't bother me.
- My friends call me "gadget guy" because I am a gadget freak.
- I can be scatterbrained.
- I love deeply.
- I get hurt easily.
- I can act like a 6-year-old if I don't get my way.
- I'm living my dream life right now.

10 things about my family
- I have a brother who is 9 years older than me and a sister 8 years older.
- I have no living grandparents.
- I have no cousins, aunts, or uncles--my parents were both only children.
- I have 3 nephews, 1 niece, and 1 step-nephew, and 1 step-niece. I enjoy being their uncle/step uncle.
- All 3 kids graduated from the same high school but I'm the only one to be in the same school district from K-12.
- All 3 of us didn't really like each other much we patched things up when I was in my 30s.
- When you throw in extended family, our clan extends--literally--from coast to coast. Hard to do when there's only 10 of us total.
- My dad died a little over 4 years ago and I still think of him almost every day.
- I have no living grandparents any more.
- "James" (my first name) goes back 5 generations as a first name on my dad's side.

10 things I like
- Listening to country music
- Baby animals, especially puppies and kitties
- Sunsets
- Making people smile
- Writing
- Hot coffee on a cold morning!
- Weekends
- Long drives, except in winter
- Woodworking
- Photography

10 dislikes
- Body odor
- Cranky people
- Big problems with no good answer
- Losing touch with friends for no good reason
- Too much stuff to do, too little time
- Clear-air turbulence
- Being bored
- Being embarassed
- Dishonesty
- People who act like victims and don't take control of their own circumstances

10 favorite foods
- Steak
- Cheeseburger and fries
- Pasta
- Pizza with sausage, onions, and green peppers
- Cheese of almost any kind
- Sweet potatoes
- Dark chocolate
- Coffee
- Bread (again, almost any kind)
- Hummus

10 CDs I'd take to a desert island
- The White Stripes by The White Stripes
- Tutu by Miles Davis
- My Town by Montgomery Gentry
- Careless Love by Madeline Peyroux
- The Nature of Things by Bruce BecVar
- For the Last Time: Live From The Astrodome by George Strait
- Passion by Peter Gabriel
- Any recording of Mozart's Requiem Mass
- Live: Live Those Songs Again by Kenny Chesney
- Permanent Vacation by Aerosmith

10 best blogs I read
- Snowelf
- Sue
- SuchSimplePleasures
- My nephew Ryan
- Penelope
- Tim Wilson's excellent running blog
- Confessions of a Runner
- Running Jayhawk

10 favorite moments in my life so far...
- Spending the summer of 1982 as an exchange student in Patras, Greece.
- Seeing the Matterhorn (1987).
- Marrying my best friend on September 28, 1991.
- Seeing Frank Sinatra live in concert (1994).
- Seeing the White Sox score 5 runs off one hit--July 5, 1995. The Yankees walked 4 batters (scoring one), then John Kruk hit a grand-slam home run.
- Doing my first (and only, so far!) tandem parachute jump on my 30th birthday (July 4 1996).
- Working and living for 3 months in Tokyo during 1996.
- Seeing the 2003 All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey).
- Being promoted at work to my "dream role".
- Running the Chicago Half Marathon in 2006.

10 things to do before I die
- Write a book
- Build a Shaker-style tall clock (something similar to what you see in the link) using only hand tools.
- Visit all 50 states of the US by the time I turn 50
- Visit at least 50 countries by the time I turn 50
- Run a marathon
- Visit all 7 continents
- Become fluent in French, German, and Japanese
- Learn to play an instrument
- Climb the Great Wall of China (as Chairman Mao said, "Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hao hàn," roughly meaning "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall".)
- Ride a motorcycle
- Fly around the world


That, my friends, is #100. Thank you SO MUCH for being my blog friends and for reading and commenting on what I do here. My life is much richer for having met all of you, and for discovering this wonderful world of blogging. Y'all are awesome.

Oh yeah, one last thing--Music Mondays will return on their regularly scheduled timetable next week.

More later...

The blogger formerly known as...

So, I'm probably making too big a deal out of this, but I've decided that my Blogger.com "name" is changing. So now, both my "main" blog (this one) and my ID will be 'jtj3'. Why? Well, a few reasons...

Even though my 'real world' name is pretty common and generic, I am starting to feel the need to abstract myself from my online persona. If you know my 'real world' name, it's pretty boring and white bread. A lot of my blogger friends have interesting handles, and I thought jtj3 just sounded...I don't know...cooler.

Oh heck, call me whatever you want to call me--I'll still be the same old geeky, approaching-middle-age, middle-to-back-of-the-pack runner type dude that I've always been, the one that you know and love.

Who knows, I may go back to my real name at some point. I like the fact I can change my mind.

My next post is is #100...I've got something special in mind. Until then, I'll say "more later" like usual...

I'm not feelin' it...

I've been struggling...mightily...all day to put together the next chapter in my continuing 55 Flash Fiction Friday story. I'm just not feelin' it today.

My company closed out its fiscal year yesterday (guess today is New Years' Day...whoohoo!), and there were a lot of 'end of year' activities going on this week. Add to that the fact that Chicago has been blasted with two really bad winter storms this week which means shovelling driveways, long commutes, etc. Oh, and I have to compress my entire weekend into tomorrow, since I get on a plane Sunday to go on a work trip.

So...hopefully I'll be back in the saddle next week, but not today. I'm tired this week.

Do I sound whiney? I'm whining, aren't I? Ugh I hate it when I do that...OK I'll go to bed now.

More later...

Buckle up, folks...it's going to be a bumpy ride...

OK, I have to confess something...I am a CNBC addict. I'm talking I watch it when I get up in the mornings, when I run on the treadmill here at home, listen to it on the way into work (thank you, XM Radio!), and keep the site open in a web browser most of the day. Today of all days was a great time to be glued to the coverage. Because today, my good friends, was one of the more turbulent days in the history of our stock markets. Let's not forget this comes in a year in which the markets have had their worst January (to date) EVER. So as the airline pilots say as you're flying over into turbulent conditions: "Folks, please take your seats and buckle up - it's going to get bumpy..."

If you don't follow the economy, the Federal Reserve lowered their lending rates to banks by 75 basis points today (or .75%, but I guess "basis points" sounds cooler). This was very unexpected, and was the Fed's attempt to shore up the US economy in the face of downward economic indicators.

However, the Dow and NASDAQ seemed to have a "too little, too late" reaction. The Dow was down almost 500 points at one point today, but managed to end up down only 128 points. I don't know how NASDAQ ended up but it wasn't too good, either.

The economy, and the stock market, have been a virtual rollercoaster ride over the past several months--100+ points up one day, down over 100 the next. Markets are almost completely driven by fear at this point, and there's a lot of technical reasons as to why stock is being sold, even when sellers are taking a loss on it.

Suffice it to say, we ain't out of the woods yet, and this will trickle down even more to the "you and me" level. Most economic indicators are pointing to a mild recession that will hopefully end before the end of this year. Mild recession, OK. Anything more than 2 quarters, we could see companies cutting back and then everyone's wondering about their jobs.

Then again, I could be a complete panic monger and worrying about nothing. It's just that...well, I like the company I work for, I think it's a great place to be, and because of some life situations right now this ain't a good time to be looking for a job.

But hey, this is just my mad ramblings. What do y'all think is going to happen with the economy and the stock market?

More later...

Tomorrow's Friday already???

Yikes. It's the first full work week of the year for me, and it's gone way too fast. It's one of those weeks where I know I did a lot of stuff, and had a bunch of meetings, etc., but couldn't tell you anything truly significant that I did. I'm sure there's a diamond somewhere in the dust, though.

I'm running, I'm working, I'm blogging, and I'm sleeping...hm, that's about it. I'm starting to get more sucked into a digital lifestyle, though--found a couple new podcasts (one on running, one on digatal photography) that I'm getting into. As my skills in Photoshop are getting better, I'm doing more fiddling around with my pictures. I really thought this one came out really well--very artistic looking.

This weekend we get to drive two hours to have lunch with my sister, who is in town from Washington DC. It'll be good to see her, as it's been a few months. Then, dinner with friends Sunday...and after that, it's back to Monday again.

Tomorrow--Flash Fiction Friday here, and Guest Photo Fridays over at Photos from Jim. If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will!!! (C;

More later...

2007 in review

All told, 2007 was a great year. Sure, there were some rough patches and some things I wish I could have fast forwarded through, but it all made me what I am right now. Just a very few things that went right this year:

• Started two blogs--this one, and Photos from Jim.
• Met many new blog world friends, and reconnected with old friends via the bloggosphere, too.
  
• Trained for and ran in the Chicago Marathon.
• Set PRs for 5K, 4 mile, and 8K.
• Rediscovered my love of photography.
• Had a great 2 week vacation, plus enough days off here and there to recharge my batteries.
  
• Dreamed big (both work and personal), and accomplished a lot of what I dreamed about.
• Got better at being patient with people who push my buttons, and got better at looking for the good in everyone.

So, what's on the docket for 2008?

• Completing my first marathon (and hopefully my second, also!)
• Not losing my temper so much
• Eating less red meat, more fish
• Running--LOTS and LOTS of running!
• A promotion at work(?)
• More blog-world friends!
• Another White Sox World Series ring (hey, a guy can dream, can't he?)

These aren't resolutions, because I don't believe in them. Resolutions, to me, are binary things--either you do something for the whole year, or you've failed. These are more like areas where I want to be different, better, etc., than I am now. Every year, I want to be a better person both personally and professionally. I feel like it's my responsibility to learn and to better myself...and if I'm not, then I'm just slacking.

How will 2008 end up? I've got some ideas, and I'm sure they'll unfold in this blog over the course of the year. But if I can write this same post one year from now, and say that I did one thing better in 2008 than I did it in 2007, then I'll feel like it was a good year.

Hope your 2008 is getting off to a good start!

More later...

Bad blogger!

AUGH! Not only have I not blogged in 5 days, I missed two 55FFF's yesterday...my continuing story here, but also missed the chance to post on Mike's 55FFF blog. Rather than scramble to write something, and backpost it, I'm just going to skip it and resume next week.

My good buddy Daniel popped up on IM yesterday to wish me a happy holidays, and kindly reminded me that I'm letting my blogging slip. Yeah, well, it's been one of those weeks...again with the Christmas shopping, work, parties, etc., etc. Fortunately I'm taking next week off of work, so I'll have some downtime which I'm really looking forward to.

Today is my wife's birthday, and I posted a photo of her over on my photo blog. Tonight is her work Christmas party/small birthday celebration, so that should be a lot of fun.

Anyway, hope all of you are doing well, enjoying your holidays, and finding at least a little time to blog. If for some reason I don't post before Christmas again, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas indeed!

More later...

Christmas rush...

You know how everyone knows one of those people who always has their Christmas shopping done by mid-September, and their cards are out in the mail the day after Thanksgiving? Yeah, well, I'm not one of those people. Since Christmas is less than a week away, I figured I better get my butt in gear...

Tonight is Christmas shopping for the family. Yesterday, I ordered gifts online for some work people. Holiday cards are all done and sent except for a few friends from church. Oh, and trying to fit all this in at the same time we are doing our annual planning for next year (our work fiscal year starts Feb 1st)...YUK.

But hey, it is what it is. Blogging has fallen off a bit, but I see that everyone is posting a bit less. I guess it goes with the season.

I am taking some time off next week, so hopefully I'll get to do some stuff I've been wanting to do for a while--spend time organizing my digital photos, finish up a woodworking project I've had going for God-only-knows how long, etc., etc. That is, I'll do all that stuff if the couch and TV don't suck me into their black vortex of mindless entertainment...

One editorial note--in reality I haven't posted since last Friday's 55FFF...but I'm writing a "week in training" update and using Blogger's 'post options' to post it as of Sunday's date. No good reason for doing this, other than I'm neurotic about certain things, and posting my training wrapup on Sunday is one of those things.

More later...