Mediocrity.

Some stuff has been buzzing around in my head and I need to get it out before it drives me crazy.

I think I've been going through a "third-life" crisis. I'm too young for a mid-life crisis. Crisis is too strong a word.

My, I hesitate to call it a career, is at a standstill. To me a career is something that is sought with more intention rather than wandered into. Also, I imagine a real career requires one to wear a blazer all the time. That is a by-product of my late 70's elementary school years. All the school material about careers included illustrations of smiling women wearing blazers and walking while projecting an air of self assurance. They were always carrying documents.

I could upgrade my wardrobe. At least I would look the part of an adult with a career.

I need to stop going back and reading what I wrote and criticizing it. That's why it takes so long for me to write a blog entry beyond running stats.

Mediocrity. I'm quite aware of my own mediocrity. I think I can do better but wonder if I really could. Is this really my best? Getting beyond this requires stepping out of a comfort zone. I know this. Easier said than done.

It would help if I were stepping toward something other than "not this." I have a greater idea of what I don't want rather than what I do. I can envision a certain lifestyle but have no clue as to how to get there.

I know I need to do something. What, I don't know. No use in stepping out aimlessly.

Life does not come with a route map. Maybe it is time for me to seriously map one out.

Disclaimer: Please do not take this entry as an opportunity to sell your self-help book, life-coaching services or your religion. I do need help and will consider serious offers but I prefer to find my own resources. I'm cheap, you have to work hard to convince me that your book, guide, services, etc. are a good investment of my dollars. I've seen lots of guides, books, tapes and CDs at garage sales. If this information was so valuable why let it go for 25 cents to $2.00? I would either keep it or give it to someone I care about.

Burn out.

This week I've only done a minimum of church related stuff. I had the time but I chose to do other things. I've done a minimum of work related stuff as well. The other things I've chosen to do are quite trivial. Play games, watch a bit of YouTube, random web surfing.

I still haven't written an article for the church newsletter. I hope it goes to print without me. At the moment there are other things that I would rather do. This for example.

Ramadan started Sunday, September 24. According to sources on the internet, Osama Bin Laden will launch his latest offensive, an American Hiroshima - nuke 10 U.S. cities with dirty bombs. Materials to make these bombs were smuggled across the Mexican border. This offensive will allegedly take place during Ramadan (September 24 - October 23).

A Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency, a psychiatrist, has all this information on his website. Nothing scarier than a paranoid psychiatrist.

Relevant links for your amusement: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=72986 and http://www.cortforpresident.com and http://www.stopdoomsday.com/

I need to get away for a while. Not because of the above silliness but just to recharge my batteries, make a decision or two and move forward with some plans. Mainly to recharge.

Crap still needs to be done whether or not I feel like doing it. I should learn to do it with enthusiasm. Fuck that. I'll reserve my enthusiasm for something I care about.

Results of the trail run:
http://cpmimages.com/events/LakeBryanTrailRun/LakeBryanResults.html

This week I ran 33.73 miles, burned 3,787.2 calories and weigh 167.8 pounds.

Sunday: 35K in 5:41:08
Wednesday: 2.06 miles in 25:00
Friday: 2.97 miles in 35:00
Saturday: 7 miles in 1:26:00

I ran 35K in 5:41:08. That's 21.7 miles for those using English measurements. I did not make the cutoff time to go on 15 more kilometers. The heat and humidity got to a lot of people. 22 signed up for the 50K. 8 finished, 8 more managed 35K. The rest stopped at 25K.

The next day, Monday, a cool front blew in. Perfect running weather.

My legs are still a bit sore.

I slept most of Monday.

I would like to take another shot at a 50K trail run.

This week I ran 7.72 miles, burned 1,021.9 calories and weigh 167.9 pounds.

Monday: 2.80 miles in 35:00
Wednesday: 2.01 miles in 25:00
Friday: 2.91 miles in 35:00

Tomorrow is the big race. I picked up my packet this evening. Walter and Loki came along and we walked a bit along the levee that surrounds Lake Bryan. Loki went into the water.

Found a lot of interesting and valuable things at the garage sales this morning.

I'm taking Monday off to recuperate from this race.

The Suddenlink tech came by and got us up and running. The modem was replaced and Walter had to remind them that we are paying for two IPs. This took talking to three people. Walter showed the tech our bill. The tech had to talk to two different people.

Are we the only customers in Bryan paying for two IPs?

The new minister arrived last week and will be at tonight's board meeting. The dedication of the new chalice went well.

Tonight a new cartoon will go up. Along with a new recipe and a new book.

3 days until the 50K race.

The extended internet service outage caused a problem with our cable modem. A technician will come to our house on Thursday morning. That means no updates until Thursday evening, assuming that Suddenlink delivers on its promises.

Fortunately, the service call is free.

The ugly tattoo lady that I saw in front of the pawn shop has achieved greater immortality than she ever could have imagined. You, the reader, are lucky. You see only an interpretation of the woman. I saw the real thing. I would have photographed her if I could operate my camera phone discreetly. She was with others and I don't think my car would have withstood the pounding.

At least this outage has given me the opportunity to draw more cartoons. Whether or not that is a good thing is a subject for debate.

Today's tip for improving the efficiency of your administrative assistant:
Make detailed notes of what changes you want done on a PowerPoint presentation, go over the notes and then walk off with the notes and trust that your assistant will remember everything.

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen?

You answered 95% of questions correctly. Here's your rating:

0-20%: Maybe you're still thinking too much about the Old Country -- and that's where you should probably be.

25-40%: Mmmm. Do you really want to be a citizen? This kind of performance isn't going to impress those nice immigration folks.

45-60%: Not too bad, but you really need to break out the civics books again -- word is, the INS is looking for an 80 percent score.

65-80%: Hey, you may make a good citizen yet! Look at your wrong answers and a little revision should do the trick.

85-100%: Welcome to the United States! (And, truth be told, you know more about this great land than most Americans.)

I missed the one about the correct form for applying for U.S. citizenship.

Give it a try.

No update. Suddenlink, my internet service provider, in Bryan is down. Technicians have been working on it all night. Still was not fixed as of this morning.

I used the extra time to draw another cartoon.

An update will be posted if Suddenlink can get reconnected.

This week I ran 13.98 miles, burned 1,780.5 calories and weigh 168.2 pounds.

Monday ran 2.74 miles in 35:00
Wednesday ran 1.98 miles in 25:00
Thursday ran 2.86 miles in 35:00
Saturday ran 6.4 miles in 1:16:00

One week until the 50K!

The finches are definitely escaped pets. They don't fly far away from people or dogs. It looks like they have chosen a tree next to the feed to perch. I put out some water for them because it appears that they don't venture very far from the tree or the feed table. Tomorrow, I'm going to put up a nest box under the eave for them. This weekend we'll try to find a finch cage that they can be coaxed into. Pictures of the Zebra Finches. I've named them Bruce and Sheila. Bruce is in the plate and Sheila is eating by the tray. The first picture shows them sort of together.

I looked up finches last night. It looks like my two visitors are Zebra Finches. Walter took some pictures of them this morning. I will print the pictures and take them to one of the professors I work for. He is an ornithologist; he can confirm identification. One of the perks of working for an ornithologist is that I can legally search for tits on Google during work hours.

I will post pictures later.

I still think the finches are a pair that escaped from a home or breeder. They appear to be thriving.

It rained! It finally rained here! Hooray.

A pair of finches stopped at the bird feeding table. They looked like something that you would find in a pet store. Zebra finches I think. I hope they are really wild and not a couple of pets that someone let out. Pet birds don't do well in the wild. At least these two found food. The cardinals did not mind their presence.

My work week so far has been highlighted by a pile of minor annoyances. One minor annoyance is easy to handle but this week the annoyances have been ganging up on me.

I'm not referring to people. I'm referring to actions. Making me work to get a simple piece of information. Displaying confirmation bias. Engaging in hyperbole. Assuming that I know something.

Things will get better. They always do.

This week I ran 26.66 miles, burned 3,310.6 calories and weigh 168.8 pounds.

Sunday: 12.02 miles in 2:15:00
Tuesday: 5K in 31:25
Thursday: 5.75 miles in 1:05:00
Saturday: 5.4 miles in 1:02:00

Two weeks until my 50K!