The Memorial Run Oklahoma City: Second Race

Remember This Run; OKC 2024

I finished my first race of the year this past weekend. Another 26.2 miles in the win column. Well not exactly “Win” like first place, but “win” as in everyone wins a trophy. It’s the medal around my neck in the picture by the way. I’m half kidding about everyone getting a trophy. The medallion is a race tradition that everyone walks away with for paying the race fee. No one equates it to winning. We compete against ourselves and try to improve on the last race time. We strive for the ever-shifting PR (Personal Record) and tweak our routines for efficiency. It can feel a bit like solving a problem. The inputs change, weather, health and weight. Course conditions like hills will break down your stamina.

Don’t get me started on food. Finding the right balance of carbs and fats for endurance running is harder than finding a good pizza joint in Oklahoma. I guess it’s a relief that pizza’s not a great option.

Race Gimmicks

Fortunately, Oklahoma City isn’t crazy hilly. Where there are hills, they are front loaded into the course. The second portion is mercifully flat. Heavy rain and thunderstorms the night before made the roads wet. I didn’t encounter any ankle deep puddles but a light drizzle here and there made for slick shoes. I saw one man in a shirt and tie combo and a pair of tan dress slacks keeping a steady pace. I’m not sure what that was about, some gimmick I guess. Usually where there is one there are others. But I didn't see any others dressed like that.

As I neared the finish I saw a teenager jog quickly ahead of me in loose crew socks and camouflage crocs. I’ve seen super fit guys run in those hiking, strappy type sandals that wrap around your ankle before but never crocs. I had to laugh despite my exhaustion.  

Past Regrets

 This was my second effort at the Run to Remember. Last year didn’t go well. I was sick and nearly dropped out of the race. I popped a few Pepto Bismol tablets at one of the medical tents. I felt better enough to continue tottering toward the finish. I did a lot of tottering last year—painful and pathetic though it was. It’s a cross between a walk and stagger, like a pirate with a wooden leg hustling across a busy street.  

This year I prepared better with the food. I started eating a spaghetti meal the night before every big practice run. I like Italian food, so fuhgeddaboudit! In order to keep the same routine, I ate a banana and had a gel pack every 50 minutes or so. In the last couple of weeks I started taking electrolyte tablets. I could drink Gatorade along the route instead, but I despise the sweet powdery taste on my weak stomach. It’s nearly always mixed by hand and served in a large thermos. The mix is frequently too strong. I imagine they double up on the required measurements and then serve it lukewarm.

Summer Lesson

For some reason, I get very nervous about these marathons. This might explain the weak stomach. It’s like I anticipate the struggle before it happens and naturally shrink away. It’s not fear. It’s more of a reluctance to embrace the pain that’s coming. I had a job one summer helping a contractor put on roofs. The thought of getting up early and working my body raw made me reluctant to leave the comfort of my sheets. I’d worked grocery for a lot of years and even helped my Dad with landscaping on Saturdays. But I’ve never had such a hot, dirty job that demanded so much effort from sunup till sundown. I knew it would involve carrying shingle bundles (half packs) up the ladder multiple times.  Before that we ripped off about 5 layers of old shingles on this ancient Victorian and hurled them into the dumpster. Apparently, the last roofers didn’t bother to rip the old layer off. That meant more grueling work for us.

I remember the feeling I’d get after working a hard day in the heat, wrung out. The pain in my shoulders and arms gave way to a new satisfaction after a long shower. Not the kind of satisfaction that comes from getting that Jeopardy question right that no one else knew, but of a strenuous task done right. The pain, a reminder of a kind of success I hadn’t known before.  

Conclusion

I’ve run 4 marathons now, each slightly different. My time hasn’t improved from the first. It does bother me, but I refuse to make the timing the whole of the event. I'm still hovering over the 5 hour mark. Just finishing the race is an achievement I’m proud of. When you know what it takes to finish, you can’t get too hard on yourself. No matter what the clock says at the end of race, the feeling in my legs is a satisfying pain. I know what I overcame. Plus I got the same trophy that everyone gets.  

 

 

Trump In NYC: What is Bragg Thinking?

 

Trump's PR Machine Makes Fools of the District Attorney's Office

The incident at the Harlem Bodega on Tuesday was a genius move. 

After this ridiculous show trial over payments to Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump popped in at a shop that made news a few years ago when the owner killed a man who tried to rob him. It was an obvious case of self defense, caught on video. If you never heard about the incident it goes like this. A woman comes into the bodega to buy a bag of chips.

Her card gets declined. She storms out and comes back later with this Austin Simon. Simon walks behind the counter and gets in the owner’s (Jose Alba) face. Alba grabs a knife at some point. It’s not clear when but it must have been within reach. He stabs Simon off camera and after a few seconds comes back into the frame holding a bloody knife.

The hospital pronounced Simon dead shortly after the ambulance picks him up. Because New York City is lawless, Alba gets slapped with a 2^nd degree murder charge. Thankfully the video made an impression and forced the DA to drop the charges less than a month later. That lazy, useless District Attorney is the same one charging Trump in this current payment case--Alvin Bragg. Someone on team Trump had the brilliant idea to arrange a photo op with the current owner of the bodega and Trump. It’s not Alba anymore. He left the ‘land of the free’ (don’t laugh) for the Dominican Republic after his incident. But the spectacle of Trump, shaking hands and talking to the people of New York is a savvy PR move.  

It also means that Trump has some good people who understand media and marketing. Then again, New York is making it easy for Trump to show off. The judge in the payment case (the reason DJT is in New York) has insisted the former president stay in the city for the duration of the trial. This will give Trump an opening to make an even bigger circus out of the court, the city and the mayor.

He already made Biden look bad by attending officer Jonathan Diller’s wake. This, during the same week of a big DNC fundraiser for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Clinton and Obama were at the fundraiser with celebrities, all hamming it up. The contrast was striking. A law and order president against a Hollywood/Big Tech president. The Diller family even told the governor, Kathy Hochul, to leave the funeral.

We’re told by quite a few people who grew up in New York City that the streets were rougher in the 70’s and 80’s. Nearly everyone got mugged at least once. It should be clear that the city isn’t serious about solving crime anymore. District Attorney’s like Alvin Bragg aren’t just soft on crime, they practically encourage it. When you’re more likely to charge citizens who defend themselves, like Mr. Alba and Daniel Penny, word also gets around. In an environment like this a guy running for president could do a lot of damage around town from a PR standpoint. Especially if he finally has a team that knows how to manage his moves. 

Gavin Wax is one such leader. I heard him do an interview with Jack Posobiec shortly after Trump’s Bodega stop. He’s clearly behind a lot of these decisions to get Trump in front of cameras and look like an effective leader. He promised more of the same.

The DA’s office is going to regret making Trump stay in the city. The old GOP would never do this. Can you imagine Mike Pence throwing support to a bodega where a black man was stabbed to death? It’s not that Pence and others don’t care about crime, but their instincts are to not offend or court controversy. If they criticize it’s only in the most generic way. My dear friend from the great state of New York, and all that nonsense. In happier times I’d prefer a genteel, statesman-like approach to conflict. But we’re in put up or shut up times. Effectiveness is all that matters. I don’t want to hear what a decent, honest and Christian man you are. I’m not excusing weakness anymore because of your firm principles.

To be fair though, Trump was a star before he ran for president and always loved the attention. No one else could have this kind of popular success. I’ve never thought of Donald Trump as a crusader for truth and justice. But he is risking everything and taking a lot of arrows in the process. A cynic will say that he is only doing it for fame. He’s never been more popular after all. But he’s literally gambling with his life and risking a serious loss to his fortune which affects his family when he’s gone. Whatever his motivations are in going through this legal gauntlet I hope he sees it through and gets back to the White House. Hopefully he has better people around him this time. 

How to Think About the Times and See the Big Picture

 

The First Principles Method of Evaluation

I listened to Mark Steyn’s weekly Q&A just an hour ago. Subscribers write in and ask him questions about anything in the news. The subject of countless lawsuits, Mark often finds himself in the news. A lot of listener (and reader) questions are directed to him. Since he’s covered the English speaking world, his range of knowledge is quite broad. He doesn’t just feed information to his listeners like he’s reading from an encyclopedia. He’s a bit like Rush Limbaugh, his focus is always toward larger trends that can be seen in smaller ones. He calls this philosophy, First Principles. It’s the same idea I had when naming my blog. Here's how I defined it few years ago.

Thinkers Philosophy

I’ll sum it up like this, you have to understand the underlying philosophy of current issues or you won’t know how to think about them. For instance, free speech is fundamental to life in a democratic system. Laws designed to curb speech are unjust. I wouldn’t want a communist in America not to have the right to voice his opinion, even though I loathe communism and find it evil. But I don’t get to decide who can speak and who can’t.  

 In the same way, Mark always focuses on the big picture in the world. In this case, a mafia like federal government that’s trampling citizen rights. He’s tough on the Constitution ‘wavers’ who think our founding document protects them from assault. The whole apparatus of government, the deep state, is playing by its own rules and going around the official process.

Chaos and Disorder

The Constitution doesn’t mean anything if whole departments operate with impunity. The justice department comes to mind as the most egregious one. But you could make a case that any one of the official departments use ‘work arounds’ for their immediate needs. Matt Taibbi exposed a lot of these ‘work around’ tactics when Elon Musk gave him access to Twitter’s email database. The FBI (primarily) was using Twitter like its own digital secret police. That’s the larger point of what the civilized world is facing. “Enemies” like the J6ers or Covid skeptics get treated like domestic terrorists. Many are being locked up for years, after being held without a trial for years, over “trespassing”. While in blue cities the district attorneys refuse to charge violent offenders. Presumably to create chaos and control people who want to live free.

With this idea of looking at the larger picture, Steyn doesn’t get wrapped up in the minutiae of legalisms.

Because the legal rationale is beside the point. Soviet police chief Lavrentiy Beria famously said “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime”. Legal arguments become silly in a world where citizens are locked up for years for entering the Capital to take pictures.

 The West is committing suicide by allowing corruption to fester for too long. Legitimate voices are being silenced in this era of widespread censorship. It’s the so-called liberal West that’s doing it too. That’s maybe the biggest change in my lifetime. The Soviet bloc countries were supposedly basket cases led by tyrants. The West, and mostly America was the land of the free. But the important thing to remember is, without a fight we’ll lose our way of life. Mark is a pessimist but sees the issues clearly. I refuse to be without hope. I might not know the status of the future, but I believe in God and His plan for me. I do think dark days are coming for America in the near term.

Conclusion

But it will also be a wonderful time of hope and restoration. New souls with find the Kingdom, wayward Christians will return to God. In the same way that First Principles types (like Steyn) can draw on small incidents to find a larger context, Christ draws on the impersonal to focus on the personal. Financial trouble can force you to evaluate your life the same way a health event can. Suddenly, spiritual things can be seen in stark relief again the world’s system. The world a lot of us grew up in isn’t coming back. The future seems bleak right now because we’ve come through a very wealthy period in history. We mostly had a strong legal system that respected private property, speech and religion. The federal government was smaller relative to what it’s become. I don’t mean in the number of employees who drew a paycheck either. I’m talking about reach. Here is why I’m not worried long term. God is just. Those who fear Him live according to His ways. It stands to reason those who don’t fear Him don’t live according to His ways. They’ll answer to God eventually. Now that’s a First Principle.

When we surrender to Christ we can never lose. Even if we don’t know where we’re going, we get to find out. In a way that’s kind of exciting.

Good Friday, Easter and the Future of Church in America

Easter Sunday and Christianity in America

It’s Easter on the last day of March. That's early this year. My mom went to see her grandkids in Texas. I went to my Dad’s for lunch and caught up with my sister who's in town for the weekend. Since I’m a volunteer at church, I couldn’t head off to Texas. I probably wouldn’t have anyway. My marathon is less than a month away and I need most of Saturday morning to get in shape. Yesterday was a long day of training before I came home and slept for 2 hours. 

Lazy? Perhaps, but it felt so good to crash after a hot shower. I didn’t care.

Good Friday

The night before was Church on the Move’s Good Friday service. That’s an important one for tone and remembrance. It’s almost as important as Easter itself, the pain and suffering Christ endured must be juxtaposed with His glorious resurrection.

It's appropriate to be emotionally wrung out after the ceremony. I emphasize “ceremony” and not sermon because Good Friday should be a heavy day. Christians understand how the story finishes of course. Jesus overcomes death and the grave for all time. He makes a spectacle of Satan’s plans. He invites us to share the good news of salvation with the whole world. It’s more than a heroic story told and retold for generations; it’s THE story. Christ is Risen. He is coming back. We can encourage each other in this truth. But we need the solemnity of Good Friday to tee up the joyous celebration of Easter. It helps us understand what’s at stake and understand the human betrayal and suffering of our Lord.

I offered to help with communion. Instead of the usual wafer and juice in a sealed package they opted for real bread and juice cups near the front of the sanctuary. Everyone lined up down the aisles and shuffled to the front. Not the most efficient way perhaps, but they wanted a more memorable experience. This way, communion is the last piece of the evening and also sticks in your memory. Good Friday is about the crucifixion--Easter, the resurrection.

Communion

 My job was to light the candles and take away the empty trays when the cups ran out, an easy task for the most part. One guy in line threw me off my game a bit however. He grabbed the top tray and handed it to me. It still had full cups so I was confused. Then he grabbed the next tray and tried to hand that to me. I was even more confused. What was he doing with the trays?

His only job was to take a cup of juice, grab a piece of bread and go back to his seat. This was too much for him. The woman in line right behind asked if he needed help. Again, we aren’t exactly sure what he needed help with. Eventually he answered that he did. I sensed her frustration as well. She grabbed him a cup and placed it beside him so he could move on. I restacked the trays, quietly laughing to myself about the absurdity of the situation. Other than that minor hiccup, it was an emotional evening. Easter was more typical, a hopeful sermon laced with warning about sin and death. A lot of hands went up to receive Christ as Lord and Savior.

The next day I attended the Saturday service. It seems a little like jumping ahead in the retelling of the story. Jesus rose on Sunday after all. The technicality isn’t that important, what matters is the message.

The Future Faithful

I often wonder if Easter service will look different in the future. This is more a thought exercise in what “church” might mean in general. Will we see large churches in America (megachurches) 10 years from now? Will persecution in this country affect the way we gather? I can’t help thinking that major changes are coming for the country and the American Church, to say nothing about the rest of the world. People of all walks of life are starting to realize the corruption at the heart of a lot of institutions. I don’t mean to say that all churches are corrupt. Too many though have traded the truth for a lie; they’ve placed cultural trends and beliefs above Scripture.

But I can see a wave of churches refusing to go along with government mandates that inhibit their message. The communist party in China allows churches to exist if they register with the government. Even the Pope made a handshake agreement with the CCP to keep the Catholic Church operational. I can imagine a similar event here. Teach this and not that or we revoke your tax exempt status. That won’t be enough. They’ll have to start arresting preachers and dragging them through court. What looks like a death knell for the church will lead to a firestorm of converts. This is traditionally how the church grows, in persecution. We’ll have left the 4 walls and come up with new ways to reach the lost.

Conclusion

What sounds like an ominous warning of darker days can turn out to be the transition the church needs. In its current static (and wealthy) state it can only grow so much. The church is the people of God after all and not a building or a congregation on a particular Sunday morning. Wherever we are, God is in the midst. Just like Good Friday, when all looks lost and hope is nearly forgotten, Sunday shows up. The Church’s best days are still in front of us.

He is Risen. Spread the Word.

 

Working Through Life's Occasional Malaise

 

 Hard Work is a Foundational Principle

Do I still appreciate writing or has my lax schedule forced me to rethink it altogether?

It’s a chore rather a love anymore. I write less because I’m studying for a personal trainer’s exam. More days of the week are consumed with at least an hour and a half in the evening spent reading and answering questions in a study guide. Writing is suddenly my neglected skill but I wouldn’t trade the current situation. I like learning about the human body, exercise, nutrition and strength. My obligation to both my personal and business websites, has taken a beating. There’s no sense complaining about it. The adjustment is necessary for my part time job prospects. But I do feel like I’ve neglected my first love.

Appreciate the Process?

It's possible that I’m feel guilty about not being interested in a lot of the things I used to be interested in. That’s a different kind of guilt. How many times have I written about losing interest in a topic? Running and scripture are about the only 2 things I consistently write about anymore. I’ll put other things up but it seems obligatory. I needed to get this week’s quota of writing on the site, so here it goes. A lot of good writing starts out as a freeform exercise so I’m not knocking it. But I don’t comment on politics as much. I don’t really know what’s going on and that’s a difficult thing to admit. How much in the news (mainstream or alternative) is true and how much is false? No idea. I clicked on a link to a story about Covid, or maybe the vaccine. I got a few hundred words in and thought, “nope…don’t care”. That happens a lot now. Not only on Covid stuff but on a whole catalogue of current events.

 Sports are barely on the radar as a topic of interest. It’s tough to get jazzed about entertainment when so much of life in this country is looking very grim. I told myself I wouldn’t bleed out despair in this post but some of it is unavoidable.

Appreciate Entertainment?

When it comes to TV and movies, I don’t spread my wings much. Most nights I tune in for an hour before going to bed. It’s either serial shows that I’ve seen already (Seinfeld, Cheers) or long running dramas (Blue Bloods) that have been on the air for years. That last window of time before I go to bed is my zone out time. I don’t want to get creative or try something new. I’m officially winding down. The only topics I want are the easily digestible, light comedy or formulaic detective shows. I haven’t done any reviews lately because again, it’s tough to get jazzed about entertainment. Not to mention, sports and film are so painfully woke I don’t have the energy to wrestle with it, hence the old shows.

I’ll admit that a lot of this recent malaise and reluctance to write is very attitude driven. It’s like that unfinished part of your spare bedroom you’ve been meaning to work on but never do. The best you can manage is to walk through, look at the walls and take some mental notes about colors and furniture. Then you sit down with bowl of Breyers mint chocolate chip and complain about how expensive the project will be.

Appreciate the Wins?

At some point it’s just laziness. It’s more than laziness though; there’s a mental fatigue that comes from being overwhelmed by outside influences. That’s not an excuse but it does get closer to the problem. When nothing in life is going right, everything is a struggle. From finances to relationships and physical or mental strain, creativity gets pushed out and indifference takes over. Writers have to write, struggles and all. No one gets a break to sit one out. No one gets to take a month off and ignore the bills or eat what they like every day. We can’t tell our employer “Just, No” for a week and expect to keep our job. Life is crushing at times and we have to learn how to juggle events, work projects and family time. It’s true for writers and it’s true for everyone.

But we appreciate the growth because it’s hard. We value hard won victories. From a slight increase in jogging pace to a smaller waist size after a full season of running. Because what’s the alternative? We can’t keep avoiding hard tasks. Humans are meant to build and increase and grow. Not only our physical bodies but also our mental faculties. Learning anything requires foundational principles from which to build on top of. But just as easily we can ignore the building phase and opt for an easier existence. There’s also a habit-forming quality to avoiding difficulties as well. It’s not hard to imagine what this looks like. Take the easy path every time and life is difficult in a whole new way. You create a different set of problems when you’re a slave to the easy life.

Conclusion

Problems might be a part of life but I’m a problem solver. That’s a statement of intent more than a recognition of an absolute truth. I might be doing less writing these days but I’m not putting it aside entirely. It’s the clearest method I’ve found for problem solving and communicating an idea. Not to mention, it’s cathartic because it allows me to explore my thoughts (crackpot theories?) in a pseudo-intellectual way. For now though, it’s back to studying.

Daylight Savings: Stay or Go?

 

Must Be Daylight Savings Time, Again

This week was different from the previous in one big way, I was very tired. Daylight savings time is the likely culprit. If it’s affected me like this in previous years I don’t remember. I wouldn’t have assumed my lethargy was related to the yearly spring ahead campaign on my own. Someone at work mentioned that they weren’t sleeping well this week because the time change was “killing them”. I thought about that. My week was pretty rough too. I came home completely drained on Tuesday after work. Wednesday, the sluggish bug bit me again. Thursday, I jogged with my marathon group but didn’t have enough energy to go as far. Friday felt a little more regular, maybe I’m over it.

An hour of lost sleep shouldn’t matter that much but apparently it does. Nothing else was different. The weather has been in the low 60s. For March that’s incredible. I can’t blame it for causing some drowsy spell every afternoon. Daylight Savings makes sense because nothing else does. It’s likely that I notice it more now that I’ve been studying my personal training material in the evening. To study anything you need to really focus. The material isn’t technical, but most of the terms and concepts are new. When I’m sleepy I read the same sentence multiple times or let my mind wander. During review it takes me 3 or 4 times to understand what I just read. Normally I can power through. This week was nearly a waste where homework is concerned.

Like most things in America, no one agrees on what the best system is. Before 1966 there were a hodgepodge of rules on DST. No national legislation existed. Even as late as 1972, a few states still didn’t observe it. Arizona is still the lone holdout. That’s on brand for them anyway. They’re the proverbial last old coot refusing to sell their shack along the proposed railway line. Everyone else made a deal and moved on. AZ 'ain't budgin'. Some states have already passed legislation making DST a permanent feature going forward. Florida is in this camp. The problem is they can’t put it into effect until Congress amends the current law, which is the one requiring us to change the time twice per year.

Last Sunday, a handful of us went outside to play pickleball. Normally we play in the gym. As it turns out, pickleball is quite popular in our corner of the city. It’s a trend all over the country, I’m late to the party. New people join the ranks every week pushing court wait times to 20 minutes and longer. But with the later sun we can finally use the outdoor courts again. Naturally the talk turned to daylight savings, everyone had an opinion. Most like DST despite the hangover like week or so where you feel like a zombie after work. One woman preferred the standard time. The reason, the sun is up early just before we spring the clocks ahead. They liked the early sun, the rest of us prefer it late.

That’s basically the way it shakes out nationally too. Most favor keeping DST as the permanent solution and not switching back to standard, but only 31%. The next 21% want to keep changing the clocks the way we do. Only 19% want to keep the standard time as permanent and the rest, 28%, are basically undecided. Those numbers aren’t likely to make a dent where Congress is concerned. We’ll probably be stuck with the current system for a while. My preference would be to keep DST all the time and not have to worry about changing the clocks anymore. But it’s not one of those things that raises my blood pressure. I’m used to the current way of doing things and I’ll be fine with it going forward.

My big gripe would be the axial tilt of the earth. As long as the earth tilts away from the sun we’ll have winter. Winter, also known as more darkness, isn’t changing anytime soon. I'll always want more sunshine, even when I can't have it. Since God put the earth in it’s orbit we won’t be changing that either. Seasons come and go. There is a time for everything after all. Whether you like it or not, we all seem to manage. We lose sleep for a while and then we adjust. 

Yard Work is an Exercise in Problem Solving

 

Early Spring Mow and Grow

Yard work is back. We’ve had an unusually warm Winter so far. That doesn’t mean we didn’t get any cold weather though. January was the typical windy, blustery month it’s always been. The coldest run I did this year was also the coldest I’ve ever done, 8 degrees. Before that I might have run in the low 20s. Never less than that. We all assumed the cold days would stretch well into the spring. But after a few warm afternoons in February and a handful of mild days, it’s looking like an early Spring.

Of course, that also means early lawn mowing and early yard work.

I fired up the mower today and pushed it over a smattering of clover and other various weeds. I spent more time pulling weeds and cleaning up leaves from last fall. It’s always easiest after a heavy rainfall. Friday was our rain day. Saturday was a lot like Sunday weather wise, but I was too sore after my run to tackle yard work. The reason it’s so much easier after a rainfall, the soft ground makes digging effortless. Weeds pull up with ease, shovels sink a lot deeper into the earth. I planted some daisies that won’t come up again till next year. They’ve been sitting in a bucket waiting for me to get on it for at least a month. Today was the day I guess, no more excuses. I tend to do these little projects all together instead of spreading them out.

There is something relaxing and cathartic about doing yard work. I’m not sure if it started out this way, but at some point I started to look forward to mowing the yard. There might be a husbandry element to it. I've explored this before. 

Not that it never feels like a chore, but the feeling I get from a freshly cut lawn overwhelms the labor of it. There are different theories on what’s behind that feeling. It might be the sense of accomplishment that comes from looking out over the landscape. You can get that accomplishment from other places though. If you’ve ever done a work project that everyone raved about. Even putting together a display that your boss really liked, can do that. I’ve developed a knack for displaying bags and shoes while working retail over the years. Setting up product is just problem solving in disguise.

Problem, what’s the best way to show the new stuff to the customers? Solution, decorate as close to the front door as possible. They'll notice the colors and the arrangement. They'll ask "how much? or how many?" The “feel good” part of it is from the creative energy you expend.   

Yard work might not be a creative endeavor, but it does allow the mind to wander a bit.

During my weed puling phase I listened to Riley Gaines, the female swimmer who tied with a man pretending to be a woman. She was on Joe Rogan recently describing her evolution from athlete to advocate. There were a few details I didn’t know about the championship meet. Like, the organizers had to be seen giving the trophy to the man, Leah Thomas. Gaines was told this by a shamefaced NCAA official. I hope we all look back on this time in history and shake our collective heads at the total failure of leadership. How disgraceful.

 I was proud of her talking about the Second Coming of Christ. She also referred to Satan as a deceiver. These types of conversations are getting more popular on Rogan’s show. At first, his guests would just mention the Bible or how an experience with “God” changed their life. Now people are openly preaching Christ. I always wonder what Joe thinks about all that. He definitely tries to soften it by offering alternative viewpoints or using humor to deaden the potency of the Word. But he’s letting people have their say and it’s quite refreshing.

I can’t listen to conversation podcasts while I mow. The engine is too loud. I lose all the detail from the back and forth in their words. I put on music instead. Today it was an instrumental saxophone track that I usually fall asleep to. I didn’t have the time to search out a different station. I didn’t care either. The sun was warm and I was finally back in my yard doing something that felt creative if not relaxing. Yard work is a straightforward problem I can solve, and I really like doing it.

 

Routines Are A Super Power

 

Routines: The Pushy Parent You Desperately Need

I’ve been pondering the value of routine and why it’s the closest thing to a superpower that I’ll ever have. 

I’m not studying tonight. Most nights through the week I spend at least an hour, usually two, going over the ISSA (International Sports Science Association) textbook. I either make notes in the study guide or read a new section. It feels less daunting than it did when I first opened the package in the mail. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a lot to learn. But I’ve got a routine going. That’s the primary piece of success to me. Even exercise works this way. Progress is impossible if you keep changing your routine and miss big chunks of the week. When you make yourself do the same thing, day after day, it’s not as difficult. Besides I’m learning a lot about the body and nutrition. It’s interesting. 

Choices 

My writing has suffered a little. I’m not able to compose as much. But it’s a trade off I need right now. I expect that I’ll get certified as a trainer and make some extra money after I take the test. Right now I need to get the material in my head.

I ran with my group last night along the riverfront. This is becoming a new Thursday night routine that’s difficult because it’s right after work. It’s frustrating that I haven’t improved my speed any significant margin. I can run fast but I can’t carry on a conversation at the quicker pace. That’s a part of it. You need to be able to run and talk without getting out of breath. I can’t do that for very long. 

I hang in there but I don’t say much. I probably worry too much about this stuff. I’m fortunate to be able to run at all. My health is good and eat better than ever. There is a long way to go on the diet side of things. But I’ve cut down significantly on fast food and sugar. Sugar still needs to be an occasional thing and not a daily intake. Thankfully ice cream doesn’t have sugar or I’d be in real trouble (LOL).

Decisions

As for writing, the reason I’m struggling is that I don’t hardly do anything. My days are boring. What I mean is, I don’t explore enough. I attend the usual service on Saturday night at church. My group runs on Saturday morning and Thursday night. I hit the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I eat breakfast with my mom on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon is a short walk with a podcast. I talk to my cousin and Sunday night and the week begins anew.

 Already mentioned is my schedule for studying. I’m a creature of habit, but that doesn’t lend itself well to writing. 

Unless I want to blog about the news all day like Ace of Spades. He probably doesn’t make that much money but he’s found a niche. Could I do that even with a decent paycheck? For a while, yes, but I think the stream of bad news would depress me after a while. My routine keeps me going while also keeping me from busting out. Without some level of consistency, I’m not sure I would be effective at anything. Whenever I encounter a new wrinkle in my schedule, like this personal training course, I get to work establishing a routine. I’m sure even as a traveling salesman I’d do the same thing. Check into the hotel, find a place to eat and go over emails. Then wake up early and run or weight lift weights, take a shower and start meeting with my contacts for the day. I’d repeat some form of this every time I traveled. 

Habits

Does that make me unique? I don’t think so. The uniqueness might be in the level of detail on the schedule. Some are happy to play with a loose framework. Others need an hour by hour breakdown. For me, it comes down to NOT having to decide what to do. The trick with routines is taking away as many chances to say NO as possible. The more detail there is, the less chance there is to waste time. It’s why signing up for running clubs or group classes at the gym works better than just agreeing with that internal (annoying) voice that pesters you about exercise. Telling yourself things like “I should really work out more” is worthless. When you pay for it, or if it’s on a schedule you’re more likely to go. This isn’t something I looked up so I may be on thin ice here. It’s possible there is no difference but I doubt it. Additionally, having a lead role in a group is a tighter bind to that function. If you’re the one who fills the water jugs, for instance, or leads the 9 minute pace group you won’t miss.  

I’ve seen this in my own life whether volunteering at church or giving people rides to a party. These connections and responsibilities make it more likely I’ll show up. That’s half of it after all. Tight routines actually take away the ‘stay or go’ decisions that are much harder to make early in the morning. Decisions are stressful; planning is easy. Remember when your mom woke you up for school? How many times did you want to go back to sleep? The difference was you didn’t have a choice. Routine removes choice. It’s a pushy parent when you desperately need one. 

Conclusion

You can still build in off time as a reward. That’s what I’m calling tonight, my off night. Spaghetti and sausage with some garlic bread is on the menu. Friday is once again becoming a consistent pasta night for me. Another day another routine. 

Border Battle: When Will They Learn?

 

Lankford's Bill on Border Security is DOA: No New Legislation

This recent bill from James Lankford was a dud. 

Officially touted as an “Immigration Bill” it’s barely out of committee and everyone is dumping on it. The game is up on border security as an issue for most Americans. They won’t sneak a bill through that involves any aspect of immigration, worker visas or border security without a fight. We've learned to say Hell No! My memory on border security goes back to George W Bush. That was less than 20 years ago. Bush was largely popular with the base, but he tried to sign a bill into law that provided green cards, visas and work permits to illegal aliens. Those already in the country, in other words, were to be given a free pass. There may have been a provision requiring an English language test or something. If memory serves, that was John McCain’s contribution to the agreement.

For all the fussing around on the margins, the legislation was a giveaway to the corporate class. We call them the donor class now, same group. These are the industries that benefit from cheap labor (hospitality, agriculture, construction) and need a porous border. It’s basically their idea. But they understand the outcry over illegal immigration from regular Americans. They want an open border but have to pretend to be interested in security.

 It’s all theater though and we all know it.

I think we started to figure it out in the early 00s. The details of the bills don’t matter. We get caught up on the dizzying numbers and statistics the legislators trot out on cable news shows. It all sounds very important and serious. “The Congressional Budget Office scored it favorably doncha know”. The theater is in the horse trading. How many green cards, which illegals can apply for citizenship and how long after the work permit. The asylum process is a joke too. It’s meant to be for people escaping persecution, not looking for work.

Even the focus on migrants from Central and South America seems a little dated. Know we have Chinese men coming in organized packs from the Mexico side. What? Yup the details are fuzzy. Why are they walking in from the South with the tide of South Americans? No one knows. No one cares. The border isn’t just about people looking for work. It’s human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and who knows what else.

It doesn’t matter what’s agreed to in the eventual bill. The ones responsible for closing the border didn’t follow the law before, why should they now? As if a new bill with just the right amount of extra security agents or quotas on illegals (puh lease!) will consist of the perfect combination of items to make a difference. We (Americans) usually fall for this. Not this time. If you think about what’s being asked here, it should upset you that we need a bill at all. What if the number of drunk driving accidents suddenly jumped. I don’t mean 10 percent either. What about one hundred percent? Not only that, but it had been climbing every year for the past 30 years. In the last 4 years It shot up 200 percent. Keep in mind, it’s illegal to drink and drive. But the police were overwhelmed. Citizens were being killed in record numbers.

The problem increases because the authorities aren’t enforcing the laws. Suddenly it’s out of control. The crime is so bad it might cause instability. I guess you could say liquor stores and bars benefit when drinking is up, but everyone else gets short changed. The alcohol companies would have every interest to get a bill on the books that appeared to fix the problem, but really just encourages everyone to look the other way. In other words, the bill would have no real accountability. They’d trot out their paid representatives to tell us how amazing and bipartisan it is. After it passed we’d quit talking about it for a decade or so. What looked like a fix is nothing more than a show.

This is the game on immigration. The United States doesn’t need a new law to close the border. Build a wall, put up concertina wire, hire more border patrol. Start deporting again. It’s a privilege to live in a country as a citizen. Most importantly, stop drawing up new legislation. It’s a recipe for additional pork spending that has nothing do with the border.

There should be room for an organized method that doesn’t abuse the asylum process. The border is open right now because powerful groups want to keep it that way. Immigration gets talked about as if it’s an automatic right for individuals. Every country has a duty to its citizens to regulate the border. We’ve had periods in this country where immigration was high and times when it was low. The Immigration Act of 1924 put quotas in place. This followed a massive wave of immigration from the early 1900s. We used to believe in assimilation; today it’s a bad word. But any country should argue for preserving its culture. Without it you don’t have a country. It’s the same for a border.

I didn’t vote for Lankford in this last election because I thought he was naive. I don’t know if he’ll recover from this last embarrassment. We would like a border, enforcement of laws and minimal legislation.   

Comfort is an Old Tattered Hoodie

 

Never Give Up: The Illini Hoodie That Keeps Going

I wear this hooded sweatshirt around the house that should have been tossed long ago. It’s the perfect weight for winter indoors. The fit is just right as well. I’ve owned more hooded sweatshirts than most people. Work at a sporting goods store and you’ll stock up on the fleece. Either by buying new pieces or taking them off the sample rack. This one however, has been in my possession since before I started working there. It’s a navy cotton fleece with a full zip in the front like a jacket. I’ve come to loathe the pullovers. They mess up my hair when I take them off.

Too vain? Maybe

Show & Tell

It's not really blue anymore. It’s been washed and dried so many times the color is closer to sun bleached navy, if that’s a thing. Threadbare and flecked with white paint, from the time I repainted the utility room, it’s still recognizable as some version of dark blue. Across the front is a screen printed, full chest “University of Illinois” Illini fan logo in orange.

When I moved here to Tulsa I brought clothes with me. Some of them were likely Illini fan gear and a lot of Chicago Bears stuff. But nearly all of it is gone now, too worn or out of style to keep around. But this hoodie has some power over me. It’s strictly house bound though. I won’t even work out in the yard with it, lest the neighbors assume a homeless man has wandered onto to my property.

‘Waisting’ Away

It's too thin to wear outside anyway. It didn’t used to be, but the threads are visible through the thin layer of cotton that hasn’t completely dissolved yet.  Amazingly the zipper still works. That’s an engineering marvel in itself. I’ve had coat zippers where the teeth stopped grabbing after just a season. No one fixes zippers. They toss it and look for a new one. It’s wasteful of course but who knows where to get a zipper? And how much does that cost? Doubtful it’s much less than a new coat at a discount store. You can get a winter coat at Costco for $20. Is it nice? No but you’ll break the zipper anyway. My sweatshirt zipper still has that smooth action too. Probably because I don’t wear it outside, the teeth don’t get gunked up with dirt and grass from the yard.

The elastic around the waist isn’t holding up as well. But I likely bought it when I was under 190 lbs, then over 220 and then back under 200 again. No matter my size it’s always been my favorite piece. When you get a sweatshirt, or tee or pair of pants, that fit right you’re loathe to give them up. Even after their shelf life (hanger life?) their comfort wins out over their appearance. At least for one or two items in life, because you don’t need to save everything.

Hoodie Phases

There are 3 distinct phases in the life of a hoodie. The first is when it’s new. Maybe you opened it on your birthday, maybe you found it on a discount rack at JC Penny. In either case, you wore it to the mall because it looked nice. You made sure take pictures in it and slap them on Facebook. People asked where you got it. Depending on how much you wore it, it faded after a while. Suddenly it’s a home piece, or a loaner for a brother for your turkey bowl game on Thanksgiving. This is phase 2, it’s become a second choice. Used for barbeques and chilly nights spent smoking cigars on the porch.

These are the twilight years in the life of a hoodie—not putting in a full day but enjoying a few hours of usefulness.

Not all make it phase 3. Phase 2 should be the end of the line. Some just refuse to quit. Threads come loose and spread apart, resembling tennis racket strings. Polyester fabrics peel into tiny balls and spandex loses elasticity. Fabric color washes out and gets replaced with oil, paint, burrito grease and whatever else makes a permanent stain. Wives usually throw out hoodies with time still on the clock, just because of a few superficial rips. Or because their husband refuses to retire his favorite piece.

 My Illini hood is firmly in phase 3. I don’t have a wife to toss it out but it’s clearly too ugly to leave the house. I can figure that much out on my own.

Comfort Wins

Comfort is a simple concept.

 It’s the feeling of a particular item and the lack of choice that accompanies it.

 Got that? Lack of choice can be a benefit. The comfort is in not having to stress over the choice. Does it match my pants? Is it the right piece for the event? Will I get too hot and have to remove it? all relate to choosing clothes and going out in public.  A comfortable sweatshirt is an old one. It’s old because you kept it around a long time, you liked the feel of fabric. But it’s also a first choice for hanging lazily around the house. It’s an easy comfortable decision, and one you make every time.

Everyone needs an old hoodie.

 

 

 

Of Gloves and Hats: Training in January

 

Cold Weather Running 

It’s looking like a cold week here in Tulsa. But it’s January, so if not now then when?

We’ve had some seriously cold weeks in February over the last couple of years. Hopefully the bitter weather is gone by late February this year. The older I get the less I like the cold. Up north it was even worse. Even here though, the temperatures will certainly drop enough to be dangerous. The lows are supposed to be in the single digits on Sunday and Monday of next week. My running group jogs on Saturday morning. If it’s even into the teens, I think they should cancel. The wind is almost always impossible to push through, or keep off your face.

Not many of us have those gator neck things that go up over your mouth. No I won't buy one for what could be one day. At a certain point though, is it worth it? Not every run should be comfortable of course. We can’t just run when it’s sunny and dry. The nasty weather plays a part in toughening up your body. But at some point, it’s too damn cold. Running in icy wind is just dumb. You’re asking to get sick. Use a treadmill. Or just wait a couple of days and make up the miles on a better day.

 I add extra miles before the race anyway.

The second half of the training cycle forces me to increase my distances. I started doing this last year. If we were scheduled to run 16 miles I’d do 18. If the schedule said 18 I'd do 20 or 22. Naturally this was in the last month. We don’t reach those big mileages until quite late.

I learned that my body will go farther when I prepare for it. January and February are tough because I miss a lot of those outside training days. It’s not just the cold and wind, it’s also the darkness. If I ran after work I could probably mitigate some of this. Runner’sWorld meets at 5:30 on Monday and Thursday evenings. But it’s tough for me to get across town in such a short window of time. I can’t leave work until 5:00. I’ve never tried to make it. It would mean changing clothes quickly after and fighting through traffic. Having a gym to run at allows me to put in miles early and rest easy in the evening. Most of the runners hold their nose at the thought of using a treadmill, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s all mental for them. They don’t like the boredom of running in place and staring at a TV.

I’ll admit it feels like a longer run, but by changing up the speed and elevation it breaks up the monotony. I will jog through the neighborhood and along the river path again when the weather gets more amenable. Saturdays are still for group runs with the crew. But we also start between 7:00 and 7:30, which is later than I would run by myself. We usually get some morning light right after that as well. Even in the darkness, there is something about going together as a group that makes the elements seem easy to conquer.

I guess that's all mental for me. It feels colder in the dark even when it's not. 

I looked back at some of my running blogs recently. The weather might be the most talked about issue for me. Whine much? Sorry, I guess it’s kind of the X factor in training. Next is the pace, and finally the food question. Others might arrange them a little different however.

As for pace, I can't seem to settle on an appropriate speed. The program director insists that you should run 45 seconds to a minute slower than your race pace. But how does one develop a race pace? It’s not like we’ve all run a lot of marathons. Besides, there is such a thing as tempo running and speed work for the midweek stuff. The rule of thumb seems to be, run slow on the long Saturdays and do faster work the rest of the time. That’s where I’m at now. The biggest change for me has to be in diet. I’m convinced that my diet is off somewhere. I’m looking at knocking off between 20 and 30 minutes on the next race. I’ll probably need to lose some weight as well. 

If I stop focusing on the weather so much I’ll be able to add calories or something. Saturday morning is just a few days away. Wish me good luck and warm thoughts.

The Seasons of Work

 

The Season Cycles of Employment

I’m off again. It’s the last day of my dwindling vacation time for 2023. I’ll go in tomorrow (Friday) and come back again Tuesday to a New Year. Already I’m remembering the cycles of work: early, middle and late year responsibilities. Most jobs have a seasonal rhythm to them, despite peripheral changes in the underlying business. Ours runs alongside that of the school year. For me it’s busy summers and slow autumns. Winter picks up again with baseball uniform sales. Baseball keeps me almost as busy as football uniforms in the summer. Where football is concerned with large groups, baseball is all about individual teams. I handle a lot more teams but they’re each significantly smaller. I prefer baseball.

The Update

We’ll have a new wrinkle to deal with this year. Our software system that’s kept us afloat is getting old. Actually it was old 5 years ago, now it’s ancient. Medium sized companies have mostly moved to cloud based software for their operational needs. Our industry (sporting goods) isn’t known for its first mover status on new technology. Normally that’s not a big deal, but eventually legacy systems become a liability for keeping pace with new business. On site servers, choked with information take longer to load, glitch out more frequently and generally don’t work well newer payment systems.

Like most things, software is a giant expense. We’re finally ready to set it up. I remember the last big software update we did as a company. There are few things as horrible as transitioning your entire company to a new platform. Being sued in civil court and losing hundreds of thousands in net worth comes to mind. Surgeries that keep you in bed for months, skin diseases and 3^rd degree burns are all worse, but not much else.

The Grind

 New software implementation is a grind because no one is sure when a steady process will return to business life. Learning, unlearning and re-learning gobble up most of the early days. Reports look different, as do accounting sections, item lists and costs. As painful as it is, we need to get it done or be in real trouble come summer. Summer is our busiest time because fall season sports all begin at the start of school.  

When the high schools are on break, we’re working harder than ever. Doing an update at the beginning of the year is the best idea. Of course, it also means we’ll have to count the inventory before going live. Inventory gets done at the beginning of the year anyway. This is another piece of the cyclical nature of work. I’ve been with the same company for 15 years. In today’s marketplace that’s unusual. I’m not sure what the average time spent with a company is on a national basis. My instinct on this is purely anecdotal. It’s not unusual for the guys I work with. A handful have been there over 20 years and another few are like me, more than 12 years and counting. Certainly I’ve seen the business change from when I started, but the essentials of this industry are consistent.

We used to have a much bigger retail presence. Before Dicks Sporting Goods moved into the area our operation was 75% larger. But Amazon blew up, Dicks moved in and our interest in selling what customers could get elsewhere fell dramatically. Besides, we didn’t sell as much as we bought. That’s never a good thing. At least we had a yearly tent sale to clear out the excess goods at a discount. We don’t have the space for that anymore. That’s one big change that didn’t repeat itself when we moved into our current home in 2020. The second big change is my job description.

The Versatility

Officially I’m the retail manager, unofficially I pull orders, answer sales calls, order letter jackets and float around helping where I can. I like it better than managing a busy retail store only. Everyone should do retail at some time in their career however. The experience you get from customer service is invaluable. You have to present yourself as helpful at all times, even when you don’t feel like it. That means you must smile, listen and recommend. A lot of people struggle with this. Pop into a Burger King sometime and tell me the cashier is excited to greet you. Nothing again Burger King but you don’t have to look hard to find awful service. It’s difficult to put your attitude on the shelf and be helpful. It’s assumed that retail is easy, but it’s not easy to do right.

Conclusion

At a certain point we all burn out on retail though. After the new software install we’ll all get used to a new seasonal cycle again. Not completely different of course but slightly. Our focus has already shifted from order taking and shipping to an online ordering model. In a few years I imagine the online stores will take the larger share of financials. Maybe then we can downsize the warehouse a bit. 

The seasonal cycles remain the same even when the work looks different. The change in sporting goods reflects the changes in the overall economy over the last 15 years. Web stores will remain the most popular way to buy for both players and institutions. Can’t wait to see what the next 5 years will bring.

Week Before Christmas = Lawn Care

 

Leaf Cleanup and Lawn Prep In December

I had a successful Sunday this week, measured with a very low bar. I like to be productive, normally that means yard work or exercise. I spent close to 3 hours in the lawn mowing and raking the leaves for the second time. Why does it matter to anyone? It’s a slow news day in my world. Stay with me.

 Saturday was the first time. The size of my lawn dictates that I do leaf cleanup in 2 parts. It's a seasonal situation for me. Saturday I mowed the front, Sunday the back. The front lawn is much easier. I didn’t do any raking because the leaves are spread out enough and don’t clog the mowing deck. It does take a few passes to mulch them up effectively though.

However, the ground was still wet on Saturday. Nothing is worse than trying to mulch up heavy wet leaves. I managed with my small push mower. The trick is to raise it just high enough where the leaves don’t escape, but still crunch up to a fine powder. The next heavy rain will dissolve whatever organic material still exists in the leaves.

Sunday I had more time. Christmas this year is in Texas for me. Phil and Carolina are hosting me and my mom for 3 days. I’ll drive back on Christmas Eve. It’s a 5 hour trip so it’s not too dreary. Because we won’t have a family gathering this year, Justin and Tabitha hosted a dinner Sunday night. Dad and Joyce were there as well. We had a breakfast dinner complete with pancakes, egg casserole, bacon and Danish. I had all morning and afternoon to clean up the yard. Fortunately, the sun came up in the afternoon on Saturday and dried up the wet leaves. My back yard is much denser with leaves than the front is. My mower wouldn’t have been up to the task. I bagged a good section of it first, 6 bags worth. Then I ran the mower over it. I needed to make a few passes to properly chop them up.

That took a while longer than if I’d just mowed the lawn. With all the new grass seed in the lawn I’m hoping this year I’ll have a thicker growth and fewer weeds. Last year I paid a friend to come out and spray the whole yard for weeds. It killed everything in sight, not the grass thankfully. It was after that I realized how little in my yard was actually grass.  By August the soil was ready to plant again. I used a small tiller and dumped a healthy amount of seed on the bare spots. Not to mention, I overseeded the rest. After getting the leaves up I went to Lowes and bought two bags of crabgrass killer and threw it on the lawn. I asked for a “preemergent”. The clerk had never heard the term so I took my best shot with the crabgrass killer. I’ve got high hopes this year for at least 50% more grass and 50% less weeds. This is the first time I’ve considered improving my lawn and not just mowing it.

I called a few companies last year to get quotes on a treatment plan. None were less than $500 for the year. That’s just too much. I’m sure it’s worth the money but it’s a lot of money for me. The next best thing was to call Daniel (brother of Michael) to spray one good time. The rest was up to me. No matter how long I’ve lived here, it’s still strange to be talking about lawn care just before Christmas. I get that it’s technically not Winter yet, but up north it’s already snowed at least once. We didn’t always get a White Christmas but the threat of snow was usually there. Leaves cover the ground still in Oklahoma. I prefer this climate even though it’s not dramatically different. I’d say 10 to 12 degrees on average. That’s hardly Montana and Florida, but it’s an easier way to go in January and February.

Until the spring I’ll wait patiently and watch the ground. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Brideshead Revisited: Book Review

 

Religious Themes Run Through Brideshead

Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Charles Ryder is a novel by Evelyn Waugh set in the 1920s and 30s. After World War II, grand estates like Brideshead and a large swath of the nobility disappeared in Great Britain. The cost of both wars killed off a lot of wealth and land holdings. This is the setting for Brideshead, the twilight years of the nobility.

Brideshead is the estate of the Flyte family. It’s the central home and symbol for the characters, their Catholicism and culture. It ties them together through the years and hast a lasting impact on their characters even when far from home. The main characters are in college at Oxford in the early pages, circa 1925. Charles Ryder, the narrator, befriends a wealthy aristocrat named Sebastian Flyte. Imbued with a child’s desire for fun, Sabastian is mischievous and usually drunk. He carries a teddy bear around, representing his immaturity. The Flyte’s are Catholic. Charles rejects religion, criticizing whenever possible their beliefs in God and their adherence to church norms. It eventually causes friction. Brideshead is owned by the Marquis of Marchmain. Waugh uses Marchmain and Flyte almost interchangeably despite the first being a title. He married Teressa Flyte (Lady Marchmain) before the first World War. Then had an affair and moved with his lover to Italy, rejecting Catholicism and his wife.

The book begins in World War II but quickly jumps back to the carefree college years of Mr. Ryder. Charles Ryder is a Captain by 1944. Commissioned to paint great houses, his unit stumbles upon Brideshead Mansion. It’s been converted into a guest house for traveling soldiers. The recognition of the home prompts him to recall the Marchmains and his connection to the family. Here the novel really gets going. In their college years they drink and party a lot. Charles visits Italy with Sebastian and meets Lord Marchmain and his mistress Cara. Despite their wild fun, Charles begins to mature while Sebastian falls into alcoholism. Eventually he leaves school, unwilling to kick the habit. They remain friends but see less of each other after that. Lady Marchmain is lost on what to do about Sebastian’s drinking. Charles isn’t the help she was hoping he’d be for her son.

Years later, Sebastian ends up in Morocco at a monastery in very poor health. The monks care for him but he can’t kick the habit. It’s the last we hear of him. His sister Cordelia tells Charles he’ll probably die there, unable to go anywhere else. Charles has success as a painter and even goes to Latin America for a few years. He comes back to a wife and kids he hardly knows. That’s when he begins an affair with the oldest Flyte daughter Julia. Both are married but decide to divorce their respective spouses despite Julia’s Catholic tradition.

The final act of the story has Lord Machmain moving back home to Brideshead to die. Lady Marchmain passed on years ago, but it’s this coming back to God theme that drives the story. Wayward sons and daughters, scattered across the world all hold the thread of religion close at hand. It’s the reason why Lord Marchmain returns, it’s the reason Julia keeps bringing in the priest to read her father the last rites despite his public rejection of the faith. It’s why two of the Flyte's, Bridey and Cordelia, enthusiastically support the church. Even Sebastian, found solace in the monastery despite his crippling addiction and emptiness. Charles is moved as well to come to the faith. I won’t say how and spoil it though.

There is a description near the end that sums up the impact of religion in our lives. Charles, now Captain Ryder, walks out of the chapel at Brideshead after saying a prayer. He notices the occupying soldiers had lit an old lamp near the original stones that the early builders had started with. No one’s used it in years. But the efforts of the early builders who thought it essential to have a chapel were not in vain. He is telling us that God’s efforts to reach man carry on through riches and poverty, peace and war. The efforts of people like Lady Marchmain, who carried the torch, are alive still and affecting the next generation.

A lot of people think the book is about the good ol’ days of the aristocracy in Great Britain. That’s certainly present, but to me the religious themes were stronger. I say "religious" even thought it’s Catholicism that Waugh is concerned with. Despite the different personalities within the family, it remained the torch that burned bright for all of them.

Golden Corral and Buffet Food

 I Survived A Night at Golden Corral 

I went to Golden Corral tonight. I haven’t eaten there in years. As a kid we always went to buffets constantly. Actually it’s as close to fine dining as you get as a kid. When you have 5 siblings it’s just the best option. I remember the food being tasty, but how discerning was I as a kid? Lunch and dinner were always subpar at Golden Corral. I don’t remember them being this awful though. I’ve avoided going there for years because I knew the steaks were fatty and tasteless. Any of the sliced meats were risky. Not because they were undercooked but because they had no flavor.

 What possessed me to give it another try?

I wanted a hearty meal, comfort food as they say. Cracker Barrell would’ve been a better idea, but some part of my mind betrayed me. The mashed potatoes weren’t bad, you soak them with gravy anyway. The desserts were passable but the pot roast was fatty in spots and tough in others. I gave up cutting into what felt like a rubber ball and pushed the plate away. The mac & cheese was bland. The fajita chicken was dry and the vegetables were hard. I’ve never had a good meal at GC. But on a low scale, you know what you’re getting into when the group you’re with says “I vote for Golden Corral tonight”. You can make the best of it and select dishes that aren’t total crap. But for some reason, my brain glitched enough to where GC sounded like the perfect fit.  

With most willfully bad decisions you can claim a small victory. “I didn’t want to get drunk last night but Frank was in town! He’s always so much fun” What’s the upside with Golden Corral? The best you can hope for is to eat a reasonable amount instead of the Thanksgiving plus size portions you’ll put down. After that you’ll have mini food coma, if you don’t lie down from the stomach pain before that. Come to think of it, being hung over is less consequential.

 In my defense it had been probably 10 years since I’ve had dinner there.

I remember it being a typical buffet restaurant, low quality but passable. My old rule was that breakfast at GC was the best option of all three potential meals. It’s hard to screw up eggs and bacon. Even the biscuits and gravy tasted like something created in the kitchen instead of a frozen pack, opened an hour ago and warmed up. Potatoes are either hash browns or home fries, thankfully there is little to create. Just make sure the seasoning lands on the warm parts. 

And like most buffets you can always find a dish that suits your taste better than most. But dinner is tricky for some reason.

This isn’t true with the Chinese buffets. They aren’t fine dining either, but there are at least hot dishes with flavorful crab and noddle casseroles. If you go on a Saturday or Sunday the hosts rotate the food on a regular basis so it doesn’t get rubbery. Besides, Chinese buffets aren’t THAT Chinese. Most of them carry a few pans with American staples like meatloaf and sliced ham. In other words, I can’t think of reason to ever go back to Golden Coral. I’m putting it on the never-again-unless-family-demands-it list. It will sit right below Cici’s Pizza for the same reason. Both are suitable for holidays or special occasions. During those times you have to go to places that cater to large groups of families with kids.  

As expensive at eating out has gotten, I’ll have to learn how to cook. My resistance to cooking so far has just been the time it takes. When I get home from work I want to eat. I don’t want to spend 45 minutes making a meal. That’s why the crockpot is the best option, it’s ready when I get home. The grill is another possibility. I cook in the summer more than the winter though. Anyway, I burned out on brats and grilled chicken. I’ve cooked too much before, by the 4^th day of eating the same smoky flavored meat I’m ready for anything else. Also I don’t have a gas grill anymore. My incident from a few months ago ended my gas range for good.

Charcoal takes longer, is messier and requires fresh bag after fresh bag. You replace charcoal a lot more than you replace a gas tank. I’ll have to look for a new one after Christmas. It’s not difficult to plan meals for the week if you take the time. But I never want to take the time. Cost is going to change my mind eventually. I can’t keep going to GC and expecting a quality meal. They’ve lost me.

Slowly then Suddenly: Maturity and Progress

 

How to Measure Growth: Yardsticks and Old Photos

A friend of mine gave me some Chicago Cubs memorabilia recently. 

His girlfriend is from Chicago and as such, was cleaning out her rental space and forgot about it. Fans of any time will recognize the bobble head souvenirs of their favorite players. There was a Jeff Samardzija bobble head, a Ryne Sandburg figurine and mini wooden bat with a list of the starting lineup from a particular year. Anthony Rizzo’s name is listed on first, as well as Junior Lake in the outfield. This bat had to be around 2012 or 2013. I might be a few years off. I don’t think Castillo was there in 2016 for the World Series win but his signature is also on there.

Temporary State of Mind

It was a nice gesture to offer me the items. I’ll probably keep them wrapped up for a while though. I feel like I’m at a transition point in life. I love my house but it’s a bit small and I’m not sure how long I’ll live here. The idea of selling my place for a much larger fee than what I paid is almost too much to ignore. I started painting 2 years ago. My 3^rd bedroom, which I used as smoke room, needed a lot of Kils paint to cut the smell down. Toward the end of its usefulness, I was using an attic fan to blow out the excess smoke. The smell wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, but still needed a full do over. During that year I started thinking about selling. The place needs more work of course but it was a start.

Mostly it’s a fleeting thought. I won’t move just to move. I need to have a place to go and a reason to leave, but the thought is always top of mind. Why? I guess you outgrow things sometimes. For those who made marks on the wall every year as a kid, the mark moved up occasionally. Or rather, you remade it whenever you got significantly taller. The height mark in inches on the wall was a realistic reminder of where you’d come from. You had nothing to do with the growth itself, only the mark. God grows us up after all. I don’t remember having a spot on the wall where I regularly checked my progress. The closest I came to that was the Buggs Bunny sign at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. He held a vertical ruler with the official height required to ride the roller coasters. Eventually you get to ride, everything before that was childhood.

Imminent Promotion Close By

There are other Knick knacks and memorabilia I’ve held on to since I bought the house. Part of me never wanted a shelf or display to show them off. That felt too permanent, as if I’d need to be ready to move again quickly if the need should arise. What would constitute a “need”? It was always ill-defined in my head, something important for sure though. Marriage, career and business opportunities all come to mind. Maybe it wasn’t realistic but the sense of imminent promotion clouded so many of my decisions. Not that I live out of a storage closet, but I’ve held off on turning this into as comfortable a home as possible. In recent years I’ve changed that trend a bit. A fair amount of the reluctance to organize the house is laziness too.

The painting, new flooring and electrical upgrades are all improvements I wouldn’t have done in the first couple of years. I can look at the few changes I’ve made the way a toddler looks as the mark on his bedroom wall. I’ve grown a little. Progress comes slowly for some of us and quickly for others. But it’s better to say that it’s slow for years and then, very fast. It’s like my favorite quote from Ernest Hemingway on how one goes bankrupt, “Two ways. gradually then suddenly”. Kids seem to grow tall (boys at least) right before junior high. In grade school they grow slowly. Before long they’re young men seeking a future and we all wonder where the time went. They were growing the whole time but we didn’t always notice.

Conclusion

I’m hoping my home is in a similar situation. I’ll occasionally catch older photos I took during my first few years. The detached garage was a real disaster before that one Memorial Day Weekend. I tore out a lot of rotten wood siding and replaced them with new planks. My Dad and brother helped me replace the roof with plywood and shingles the next year. I painted it shortly after that. The yard is less weedy and at least 2 of the trees are gone. It’s not exactly rapid progress, but I’ve added value.

There is more to do. I don’t know if I’ll ever sell it. Maybe I’ll turn it into a rental property and buy a condo. Wherever I end up though, my next home will have a space for the Chicago Cubs memorabilia. And possibly a vertical yardstick along one wall, so my kids can measure their progress.

 

The Covenant: A Review

 

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant Tells the Real Story of Duty and Reciprocity

The Covenant is straightforward. Two soldiers depending on each other to stay alive. One is wounded and near death, the other is in hiding from the Taliban. It’s easy to forget that this is a Guy Ritchie movie. The lack of stylistic violence and criminal syndicates was noticeably absent. His movies (I haven’t seen all of them) are known for fast sequences and colorful characters. Certainly, the warfare was intense but even Ritchie understands the seriousness inherent in combat. Slapstick violence would send the wrong message. 

It’s a lesson about survival and dependence but ends up being a sad commentary on America’s fickle commitment to her most susceptible allies. This is under the surface but still visible. 

Story Line

Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) runs a task force of American soldiers that looks for IED (Improvised Explosive Device) factories around Afghanistan. They operate on intelligence that’s a bit shaky most of the time. They rely heavily on interpreters whose loyalties are often in question. An early sequence in the movie shows how the crew lost its first interpreter. On a quest to replace him, Kinley meets Ahmed (Dar Salim) and quizzes him on why he wants the job. Ahmed isn’t trusted by a lot of other soldiers because he goes off script and takes big risks. Kinley takes a chance on him and despite a rough start, the crew starts to trust him. He saves their lives on one occasion by sniffing out an ambush.

It's clear that Ahmed needs visas for himself and his pregnant wife. His “traitorous” behavior in working for the Americans has made him a target for the Taliban. He was promised a visa at one time. It’s part of the deal with working with the Americans. He seems reluctant to trust anyone completely. This is examined in more detail.

Two Visions

The film is really two things. The first half is a traditional war film, a survival tale of escape and evasion. The second half is a war with the State Department’s bureaucracy and its impossibly large net. 

Kinley and his skilled group hit paydirt when they encounter a quarry that turns out to be an IED factory. They don’t realize how valuable the find at first. They call in air support and shoot up the place before the gunships arrive. But the Taliban managed to call backup of their own. In a matter of minutes the place is overrun with enemies, everyone but Kinley and Ahmed die in the gunfire. They make a desperate run for the open country and hide in caves, sleep in valleys and hustle to the nearest American air base. Kinley is wounded in the escape and nearly dies. Ahmed performs a superhuman feat by keeping him alive through rugged terrain with Taliban looking for them. He is both resourceful and determined to keep the soldier alive.

The second part of the movie is the frustrating effort by Sgt Kinley, now out of the Army, to get Ahmed and his family out. Ritchie uses similar emotional, imagery to emphasize the struggle faced by both men in attempting to complete their mission. For Kinley though it’s the agonizingly slow bureaucratic visa process that creates anxiety. Just like the stressful montages of Ahmed pushing a wooden cart up a mountain, are the images of a drunken Kinley threatening the State Department officials and generally losing his mind. Both men work for the other. One faces gunfire while the other an indifferent machine, designed to evade and confuse. Both men work within their unspoken covenant. But Ahmed’s race across the country was always with hopes of his visa promise, less so than his obligation to Kinley. Kinley’s obligation is to Ahmed because the man literally saved his life and risked his own on multiple occasions.

The Backstory (Spoilers)

Guy Ritchie keeps the focus on the two men and their respective missions. Both men’s wives and children are set pieces that the main characters interact with. We don’t see their concern as their husbands go missing or witness their emotional breakdowns. For a lot of films this would be a shortcoming, but deep character studies outside the main thread can interfere with the story. We know both men have families they care for. That’s enough for this movie.

I’m sure Ritchie intended for this to be a statement on unfulfilled obligations by the American government to the people who helped them in Afghanistan. I thought a clearer statement would be to have the family of Ahmed shot in front of him as the credits roll. It’s awful but probably more realistic. That’s what happened in the summer of 2021. We all remember those sad images of C130s lifting off as Afghans chased them down the runway hoping to escape the coming slaughter.

But I also remember stories of American citizens flying into the country to get people out. I attended a talk by a Force Recon Marine (Chad Robichaux) about his rescue efforts since leaving Afghanistan. Needless to say, there were a lot of organizations going back into a much more dangerous country and getting people out. A lot of them were interpreters, carelessly left behind. Private groups succeeded where the government failed. That’s usually the way it works. The ending of the film fits, because it’s a story about relationships and commitment to cause. I was sure this was a true story because so much of it rings true. It's not, but you'll understand why by the end.