University of Florida Homecoming Parade 2013 Pictures

Here are some pictures I took at the University of Florida Homecoming Parade, which took place a little earlier this afternoon.  Before the parade, my daughter and I ran the two-mile Gator Gallop, about which I'll write tomorrow.  The street you're seeing is West University Avenue, and I'm sitting with my wife and daughter watching it from the UF(south) side near Fletcher Drive.

Finished Reading Stephen King's Joyland

I just finished reading Stephen King's recent novel Joyland, a book that received very little fanfare or promotion...especially in comparison with other works of his of late like Doctor Sleep, Under the Dome, and 11/22/63.  In spite of that, I found Joyland to be worth the read.  Its protagonist is a young man working during the summer between college terms at a theme park...hence the story's name.  There are various subplots that seem separate from each other, but which King weaves together at the end.  A young boy with a terminal illness, a murder mystery, the inside story of working at a theme park (with the associated lingo and characters), the heartbreak of a lost love...these all figure into the story.  The time setting resonated with me, for I was about the same age as the "hero" back in 1973-74.

Joyland isn't very long, especially in comparison with some of Stephen King's other works.  It has a sweetness to it that stuck with me after I finished it.  The characters, and their diverse personalities, are what makes this novel stand out more than anything.  But don't take my word for it...read it for yourself!

About Bullies, Part II

In Jean Shepherd's very popular and funny movie A Christmas Story, depicting an northern Indiana boy's school and holiday ups and down, there is a vicious character, a older boy named Scud Farkus who picks on all the other kids (including his toady sidekick).  In that story, the bully is a social outcast and the other children are more or less united in fearing and loathing him.  But that's a story...in real life bullies are encouraged and affirmed by the bulk of the people surrounding them, while the victims are often, if not usually, isolated and ostracized.  Bullies usually justify their aggression to others by claiming that the victim did or was something offensive and had to be taught a lesson.  This was certainly the case in my youth, as the most popular kids on campus were often the most hateful, mean bullies around.  And it wasn't just the kids who sucked up to them...teachers often bent over backwards to befriend them, too.

I bring all this up as a follow-up to yesterday's article about the Miami Dolphin player who bullied a teammate to the point where he left the team.  In reaction to the story, incredibly (or is it really) teammates and other players (like Mike Wallace and Rickie Williams) have publicly come out in support of the accused, trivializing the threatened violence and racism of his behavior while making it seem as if the victim brought it all on to himself  by his own attitude.  Even coaches and sports analysts are rushing up to side with the aggressor by claiming that he might have been put up to it by his coaches or that other teammates were to blame because they didn't stop him.  As if this individual wasn't responsible for his own behavior!

I don't know who is worse: the bully exhibiting the behavior or the people who affirm that behavior and seek to make him out as a victim while the true victim is painted as the bad guy...

Dolphins Racist Bully

I've been following the major sports story out there about how a Miami Dolphins offensive lineman was engaging in bullying over another player on the same team.  The excuse for this thuggish behavior was traditional hazing of rookies.  Only one problem, though: the victim was in his second year on the team, not a rookie!  Also, the perpetrator made a vicious racial slur against the other and even threatened to kill him.  The Dolphins have suspended and most likely will cut this degenerate.  But isn't a death threat a crime, with the racism adding the tone of hate?  So why isn't law enforcement investigating this jerk?

Regarding hazing of new members of a football team, the rationale is that somehow just being on whatever team is involved is an honor and rookies have to show their loyalty to this great tradition by submitting to indignities and humiliation.  But the Dolphins, while many years ago having been a quality, winning franchise, haven't done ANYTHING to merit such devotion in the past few years.  2009, 2010, 2011, an 2012 were all losing seasons.  How dare ANY player on the team during this time put on an air of superiority over ANYONE?

When someone else gets bullied, you and I are also the victims. I was the victim of bullying in childhood, and I never forgot anyone's name or face.  I doubt that I'm the only one like this, either. Fortunately, I have more important things to concern myself with than to dwell on the past, though. But I bet a lot of past bullying victims aren't like me and have made the choice to hold on to their grievances and injustices. I'd hate to have been a bully and then run into one of these... 

Must be interesting going through life as a bully, constantly having to look back over one's shoulders...

Belated Congratulations to Red Sox

I guess this may seem a little belated, but congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for winning their World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to two.  Although I had wanted other teams to have made it (like the Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves), as it turned out the two teams that did get there put on a good, entertaining series.  Except for the first game, which was an 8-1 blowout in favor of the Red Sox, the games were close and exciting, mostly pitchers' duels with some batting heroics thrown in (I'm especially thinking about the phenomenal performance of David Ortiz).  No, during the regular season I rooted against both Boston and St. Louis.  But there's no point in following a World Series if you're against both teams, so I picked Boston...and won, in a manner of speaking...

Topped Eight Miles in Preparation for Half-Marathon

I was hoping for improved, cooler weather conditions that would facilitate outdoor road running instead of the indoor treadmill, which I had been basing much of my training on this summer and early fall.  Today, with a little less than two weeks to go before the half-marathon race I'm thinking of entering, the weather was great: late afternoon with a 69 degree temperature and 41% humidity.  I set out on my neighborhood course to see how far I could go.  As it turned out, after prodding myself to go a little bit further here and a little bit further there, I finally wound my way back into my driveway having covered 8.16 miles...well past the halfway mileage for my intended race.  The pace was a tad over nine minutes per mile: not very fast but still reasonable, especially considering that it has been a while since I covered that kind of distance doing road running.  I'm encouraged by this run and plan at least one more long run between now and race day...possibly getting to the ten-mile mark if conditions permit...

Quotes, Retz, Distrust, and Dupes

I have in my possession a book titled The Great Thoughts (compiled by George Seldes), which I picked up for $1 at a local (very) cut-rate used book store a few months ago.  I purchased it with the idea of hitting upon an intriguing quote here and there, and then writing an article about it.  Finally, after all this time, as with other areas of my often sluggish lifestyle, I've finally gotten around to writing about a quote contained within.  The individual making it was, as the book describes, a French prelate and statesman named Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz...or simply more commonly known as Retz.  He was an interesting character, a noble who was involved in the rebellion called the Fronde.  This Fronde occurred at the close of the Thirty Years War, in which France played a major role, which ended in 1648, and which resulted in bands of war-hardened soldiers and a royal treasury depleted of funds.  When taxes were imposed on the localities in order to build back up that treasury, open revolt resulted...for the next five years or so.  The young king Louis IV used its failure to consolidate his own power into an absolute monarchy.  Retz, for his part, was afterwards rehabilitated and bestowed the title of cardinal.  His memoirs, written from 1655-65, contribute four quotes in my little book.  It was the final one given that interested me for its prescient application to the times we now live in:

"The most distrusting persons are often the greatest dupes."

There's one dude I see on infomercials from time to time that crystallizes the application of this quote.  He sells his wares, which come in the form of books, CD sets, and even cruises, by claiming access to sources of health and wealth that "they" don't want us to know about.  And what does this huckster mean about "they"?  You know, those people behind the scenes, secretive and powerful, who are always trying to ruin things for the rest of us...although this individual seems to have trouble naming anyone specifically.  "They" won't tell us about miracle cures for all kinds of diseases.  "They" are interfering with this dude's attempts to tell us how to get "our" money back from the government.  But "we" won't let "them" get away with that, right? No, we'll buy whatever this person is selling because we distrust the "powers that be".  In the end, though, we're dupes.

The entire UFO conspiracy industry, as well as just about anyone else hawking attractive conspiracy theories for profit, fishes upon the same kind of distrusting population, rendering the ones who take the baits offered as dupes.  But one doesn't have to go off into the fringe of pseudo-science and conspiracy theory to see this "distrust/dupe" relationship...

In our political scene, actually on both sides of the political spectrum, we hear folks ranting and raving about the ulterior motives of the other side...and how the way to combat that is to support the "good guys" like themselves who are calling the "bad guys" out.  Therefore, I'm either supposed to support the Democrats because the Republicans have ulterior motives, or I'm supposed to support the Republicans because the Democrats have ulterior motives.  What makes people who think this way into dupes is that it frees those politicians and media ideologues who are instigating the sense of distrust from having to lead in a responsible and proactive way while at the same time avoiding the necessary compromises with their political opposition to advance reasonable and beneficial policies.  Instead, we're supposed to accept them because at least they're better than those "other guys"!

What a con!!!

Dolphins Still in Running After Win

Just when I was beginning to think that the Miami Dolphins, the National Football League franchise that I had been rooting for ever since I had just turned twelve in 1968, were going to have their third rebuilding collapse in seven years after all the preseason fanfare hinting that maybe, just maybe, this would be the year they turned the corner and returned to their predictable quality of the previous century...they surprised me last night by defeating a very good Cincinnati Bengals team in overtime 22-20.  It was a defensive play, the sack of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in his own endzone for a safety, that sealed the win. Now, at the halfway point of the regular season that saw Miami on a roller coaster ride starting with three opening wins and then four straight losses before last night's victory, they are "even-Steven" at 4-4 and still in the hunt for a playoff spot...even the divisional title is still possible.  But they are going to need to do better against teams in their own division.  So far the Dolphins are 0-2 in divisional contests, including a 27-17 loss to 6-2 New England, a game that Miami had command of 17-3 and driving for a score that would have made it 24-3.  If they are going to do well in the second half of the season, they need to avoid those costly turnovers and sacks that plagued their offense, the culpability for which should be shared by quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the offensive linemen.  And the defense, which overall has played well so far, needs to maintain their high standard of play.  Regardless what ends up happening, though, I feel they are still in the running...which makes following them week to week much more fun! 

My October 2013 Running Report

This past month I have been maintaining my level of running and attained my monthly mileage goal, passing 100 total miles and finishing at 103.28. My longest run was for 6.4 miles, and I ran on 30 out of October's 31 days...taking a day off on the 12th when I was sick.  Toward the end of the month, I was encouraged by a cooling trend in the weather, but now it's heated back up.  Hopefully, typically cooler conditions will settle in during November.  I need those conditions in order to build up my road running endurance for a November 16 half-marathon race...

Running and Yard Work

After about three or four days of pleasant autumn weather, the temperatures have once again, for the last three or so, crept back up into the eighties, making outdoor running more of a chore again.  So instead, I decided to actually DO a chore...which is cutting down the many overgrown bushes around my yard.  Accustomed to doing this with a manual saw, I finally joined with the "technology" group of yard maintenance workers and bought a chainsaw.  Because of its heaviness, using it was as strenuous of an upper-body workout as using the manual saw.  But wow, the quickness with which I went down the row of shrubbery was astounding.  I hope it keeps functioning well, for I have a lot more to do.  Speaking of running, I'm still doing it but indoors...

This Blog's New Name

Once again I have decided to rename this blog, now appropriately calling it "W.M. Irwin's Blog" after my own name (with the URL reflecting this change).  I was tempted to follow the example of literary whizzes like J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin and call it "W.M.M. Irwin's" Blog, but I think I'll wait until I actually start SELLING my literary output!  In any event, this marks my fourth blog name.  I think it's the best.  If you try to reach me at the previous "Mobehonabojalo" site, it will direct you to this one.  Other than that, it's the same old blog, still plugging away after six and a half years and more than 2,000 articles (all readily accessible in the archives section on the left).

Encouraging Road Runs Last Two Days

Yesterday I had a very encouraging 3.95 mile run around my neighborhood.  The temperature was a cool 71 degrees with a humidity of 37%.  I didn't go fast, but at the end I felt that I could easily have run a few miles more...however, nighttime was quickly descending and I had other things I needed to do.

Now I just got inside after another twilight neighborhood road run, this one for 3.25 miles.  My pace was slower as well, but that is to be expected after not running on the road very much recently.  It was warmer than during yesterday's run: 77 degrees with 41% humidity.

On November 16, the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon will take place here in Gainesville.  I still have hopes of running in it, but I need to get my road-running legs back in gear, after an excruciatingly hot, humid, and protracted summer that had me fleeing to the treadmill for my running.  And running on a treadmill just isn't the same as running on the road! Also, if I do run this race, I won't be trying to set any personal records: just finishing it and having a good recovery will mark it as a success to me...

Finished Reading Stephen King's Doctor Sleep

Earlier today I finished reading Stephen King's latest novel Doctor Sleep.  It also happened to the first book I finished on my new Kindle e-reader.  I'm not sure yet whether it was because reading on the Kindle is so much easier than with paper books, or because Stephen King is such an easy author for me to read...but I flew through it with very little effort.  Doctor Sleep was typical King: a geographical focus in New England (with the slight variance of New Hampshire instead of Maine), a largely Biblically allegorical view of evil, guilt, repentance, and a (albeit impersonal) divine brand of justice and mercy.  It centers around Dan Torrance, the child protagonist of one of King's famous early works, The Shining, who is now grown up and dealing with the consequences of his own failings with alcohol, which ended up destroying his father in the first story.  Dan encounters a girl named Abra who, liked him, is blessed (or cursed, depending on one's point of view) with the "shining", a special psychic ability spread very thinly across the population in varying degrees.  That Abra is very strong with it poses a danger in that, in this same Stephen King "universe", are a group of people/monsters who band together and feed off the "steam" these psychically gifted children give off when they die.  Once they are aware of Abra, the story progresses to see who survives and who perishes.  There are two subplots to Doctor Sleep: the recovery process from addiction, in Dan's case alcoholism, and the inevitability of death, focusing on those in hospices on the brink of dying.  King treats these topics with great compassion and insight.  Still, for those with squeamish natures, this novel may not be appropriate as some pretty gory language is presented.  But that's also Stephen King!

I managed to get hold of an audio version of King's next-to-last novel Joyland and plan to start it very soon...

The Old Ball Coach Comes Through For Me

Last night was a pretty depressing experience as I surfed the TV from one channel to another searching for a football game (or the baseball World Series) that showed the team I was rooting for actually winning.  But sadly, all seemed to be on the short end of the score.  True, "my team" (at least for this series)  the Boston Red Sox had gamely fought back for a 4-4 tie with St. Louis, but that was in vain when the Cardinals won in the bottom of the 9th inning with two out on a freakish, highly improbable and controversial play.  However, at the same time that those two were playing out the end of that contest, another game was going on between Steve Spurrier's South Carolina team and undefeated Missouri, who had humiliated Florida last week 36-17.  The Tigers, for most of the game, that is, seemed to be repeating that level of performance as they ran up a 17-0 lead over the Gamecocks.  But Spurrier then did something he used to do a lot when he was the Florida coach.  He replaced the ineffective starting quarterback with the backup, who then proceeded to lead a furious fourth quarter rally resulting in a 17-17 tie at the end of regulation.  In overtime, the two teams first traded touchdowns (score 24-24) and SC got the ball first in the second round, culminating in a field goal and a three-point lead.  Getting the ball back, all Missouri had to do to win outright was get a touchdown, which they appeared to be doing easily.  Then the drive unexpectedly stalled close to the goal line and they sent in the kicker to make an almost automatic field goal to extend the overtime to another round.  Only the ball was poorly placed and the placekicker kicked it off the goalpost bar, giving the Gamecocks and a surprised and jubilant Steve Spurrier the win.

Watching Steve Spurrier in that immediate short post-game interview brought back fond memories of his twelve-year stint as the Gator football coach.  I usually root against his South Carolina team since they're divisional rivals of the Gators, and Florida will be playing against them a little later from now.  But it sure was fun to watch them pull victory out of a hat this time...even more so on a night that, at least sports-wise, went the wrong way for me so many times...

Attended the 2013 Alachua County Fair Thursday Evening

Yesterday evening I did something special to my home town of Gainesville that I could have done during each of the last 36 years but never did: I went to the Alachua County Fair, taking my son and daughter along for the experience.  It was a good opportunity to visit this event, held northeast of town just south of the airport: the autumn cool had finally set in and temperatures were in the comfortable fifties, with no mosquito in sight. The parking was only $3, admission per person was $5, and the rides and refreshments were quite reasonably priced.

Upon entering the grounds, we found ourselves facing a building. We found that it housed assorted vehicles on display and a line of tables promoting various causes.  We finally made our way through it and were back outside, walking toward the main part of the fair.  On the right was a little arena for a show we would later attend featuring two baboons, a baby monkey wearing a diaper, a dollar-snatching bird, a dog trained as a mailman, the able host trainer, and his trainer wife, whose English could barely be understood behind her incredibly thick Russian accent.  Good little show.  Further down from this was an alligator-wrestling show that we missed and an ongoing karaoke contest.  We passed them by and went deeper into the park.  As we walked further, we saw booths all over the place selling different kinds of refreshment.  One type that particularly stood out was the one that sold deep-fried foods of seemingly any kind: deep-fried Oreos, Milky Ways, other candy bars, apples, pickles, butter...even Pepsi was available in this weird form.  Later the three of us would sample some of the deep-fried Oreos, to a wide range of reaction (I didn't care for them).  We also got a funnel cake which I thought was scrumptious.  But the eating actually came at the end of our visit.  The main thing there was the rides. 

I expected a Ferris Wheel, which there was (and we all rode together).  I didn't know what more to expect in the area of rides and was quite surprised to see so many quality ones there.  There was the typical swinging boat ride, a straight-up-and-down pole ride, some that played with your sense of gravity, an O-shaped looping ride, some peewee rollercoasters, and some rides that were very similar to those I had encountered at the Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta, Georgia.  They even had a small version of that park's "Yo-Yo" swinging ride...unfortunately down for repairs.  But I guess I was ultimately the most disappointed in the broken down state of my favorite ride, Power Surge, which was there!  So close, and yet so far...

I ended up going on just a couple of rides, while my "kids" (ages 18 and 23 now) went on several more.  I had a lot of fun watching them have fun on their rides, though.  Maybe next time I go to a county fair I'll try out some more (and maybe Power Surge will be there, actually functioning).

Oh, and what would a county fair be without the farm animals? There was, on this evening, a small section devoted to them.  Cows, goats, and ducks abounded.  I saw one horse, and one pen contained the following strange assortment of animals, all of which seemed to be getting along quite well together: one mother cow, one calf she was nursing, one calf that was sleeping, one white duck off in the far corner, one cute little black pot-bellied pig incessantly sniffing and wagging its tail, and one big ol' turkey that seemed intent on having a staring contest with me up close.  The animals were fun to look at, although I think the main animal contests and displays which typify county fairs must have been scheduled for a different date...

I felt that the people working at this fair were friendly and contributed to the festive atmosphere.  We went on a Thursday evening, and although there were a few families with little children sprinkled in along with seniors, most of those attending seemed to be high school students.  Most also seemed to be having a pretty good time!    Here are a few pics (one showing a view from atop the Ferris Wheel)...

Resisting the Urge to Crash

I think we all need a little break at appropriate times in the middle of our often hectic, demanding, and stressful days.  Knowing that we'll have a time at the end of each day to rest and sleep some may not be enough: not only are midday short naps a good idea (if feasible) but it's good to just take a break from whatever you are doing by engaging in things like simply sitting still, taking a short walk, or reading a book.  And then jumping back into the "fray".  But all too often, as I look back on my life and old habits, I have had a tendency to reach a point when I felt like just crashing and withdrawing from everything instead of taking things in stride and taking reasonable breaks.  Now when I was at work on my job, I had enough self-discipline and a work ethic to plow on through the shift in spite of my feelings.  But once off from work, I tended to crash...plop down in front of the TV, get loaded up on food, and vegetate for hours on end.  That's not healthy.

I think that excessive alcohol use, as well as drug abuse, are symptoms of crashing, where the user is hiding from his or her often difficult life behind chemically mind-altering substances.  But you don't have to be on anything to "crash", or even to become an inveterate couch potato.  Crashing is a negative, unhealthy state of mind which presumes that one is "entitled" to give up on the world as a passive-aggressive form of response.  I know all of this, yet the temptation is always there for me to withdraw into a more comfortable environment, removed from demands for me to be responsible for my own life and address problems which are sometimes troublesome but which need to be resolved...

2013 World Series: "My" Team

I have come to a decision about which team to support in this year's World Series, which begins tonight.  Drum roll, please....

The Boston Red Sox!

Part of this decision is based on the fact that I generally have good feelings about the city of Boston and New England.  Part is that I remember the second World Series I ever followed, back when I had just turned eleven years old in 1967.  At that time, 46 years ago, the teams were the same: Boston versus the St. Louis Cardinals.  That series, in which I also pulled for the Red Sox, went the full seven games and was very exciting.  Sadly, the Cardinals won it.  I think there's a tiny, tiny part of me, buried for all these years in the deep recesses of my memory, that clamors for REVENGE!  That's pretty irrational, I suppose.  Especially when you consider that my two favorite teams in baseball are the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, not only divisional rivals of each other but also of Boston.  But then again, I like all of the American League East and have gradually come to focus my baseball interest on it. 

I suppose I could instead just say to myself that I dislike both teams and therefore don't give a hoot who wins.  But what fun would that be???!!!

Sudoku Benefits Mind Three Ways

While sitting in a waiting room for about an hour today, I went through a flurry of Sudoku puzzles, all of medium difficulty.  I've discovered that I can derive enjoyment from even the easier puzzles by setting rules about solving them.  For example, with the moderately difficult ones I don't put those little intermediary numbers in the boxes that show the "possible" solutions, instead only writing in final numbers.  This helps me develop my short term memory.  Also, I am still employing logical problem-solving skills.  There is one other skill I've been developing with these Sudoku puzzles as well...

Toward the end of solving a Sudoku puzzle, when momentum builds up and the task of filling in the remaining few boxes becomes more mechanical and obvious, it can get to be a little tedious and boring.  I deal with this by quickly visually scanning rows, columns, and 3X3 squares, letting the appropriate solution for each box pop into my head without going through any calculation or logical inference.  It works, and almost feels like magic of a sort.  Of course, when I do this my mind is working overtime behind the scenes quickly processing the scanned material.  It makes fun out of a game while developing a part of my thinking process...

My Running Currently in Holding Pattern

My running right now seems to be in a holding pattern, with me maintaining an average of three to four miles a day.  I don't feel as if I am getting better with this, but then again I'm not backsliding either...at least I hope I'm not.  I was planning to run a half-marathon on November 16, anticipating some substantially cooler weather by then.  But even if the weather was that cool right now, I seriously doubt my ability to finish the race, much less run well in it.  So I might be waiting until January next year to run a half-marathon...presuming I get my motivation back.  I also think that I could probably do better with my eating, probably consuming too much food in the past few weeks...

Strange Day in College Football

Yesterday was pretty strange as far as college football goes.  Although it wasn't an upset by any means when Florida went up to Missouri and got manhandled 36-17, it was the clear disparity between the two teams on both offense and defense that was shocking.  The rest of the day was full of upsets.  Already, previously undefeated Louisville had succumbed to Central Florida.  But then, on Saturday, came a torrent of surprises.  Georgia loses to Vanderbilt, South Carolina loses to Tennessee, Texas A&M loses to Auburn, LSU loses to Mississippi...and that's just in one conference!  In the evening, 5th ranked FSU clobbered 3rd ranked Clemson on the road, 51-14.  And previously undefeated UCLA lost to Stanford. 

Some things kept to their pattern, though.  Alabama blew out Arkansas while Ohio State struggled early and then pulled it out late against Iowa, both teams sticking to their "methods" of winning.  And Oregon once again drubbed whoever their hapless opponent was unfortunate to be this weekend.

So now we're left with four strong undefeated teams in Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State.  All think they're good enough to play for the national championship, but only two will make it to that game (if indeed the final two come from this pool).  If this were 2014, when the four-team playoff system commences, that wouldn't be a problem.  But this year, I'm afraid we're going to have some very angry schools, along with their fans, after their unblemished seasons are ignored when it comes to being able to complete for a national title...

Accident In Bad Weather Sighted on I-75 NB Near #374

This afternoon, around 2:30 pm, I was driving my wife and daughter down I-75 back to Gainesville, in the northbound lane just north in the Micanopy exit (around mile marker 374).  We suddenly came up a dazzling, severe outbreak of rain that lasted only a few seconds and then was gone.  I don't remember ever having driven through anything like that before...it was as if we had driven beneath a waterfall.  For the brief time that we were under this rush of falling water, it was nearly impossible to see the road in front of us.  After we came out from under it, my wife told me that she just saw a car wrapped around a tree off the road and that there seemed to be an accident back there involving a semi truck.  Wow.

After getting back home, I checked the computer and got this story.  It mentioned nothing, though, about the bizarre weather that may well have contributed to this accident (although the "precipitating" event seems to have been a tire blowout).  I'll see what I can do to follow up on it.  I'm just glad that we were able to miss whatever had happened to the involved vehicles, and wish the passengers on them to be unharmed and safe. Also, I'm glad that I managed to just get through the area before it became hopelessly backed up, especially when two trucks collided further back...

My New Kindle Working Just Fine For Me

I am continuing, at a relatively and typically (for me) subdued pace, to get to know my new Kindle e-reader.  I have found, as I read on into Stephen King's latest novel Doctor Sleep, that reading an e-reader is much easier on my eyes...and somehow my mind.  I can position it anywhere without, as is the case of a book, the pages either flapping around off, making me lose my spot in it or needing to bookmark it.  Also, this model has a built-in light, so I have been liberated from ever depending on outside lighting.  Besides Doctor Sleep, I recently purchased a Schaum's Outline Series Pre-Calculus Mathematics workbook on Kindle, something that I've been wanting to have conveniently at hand as I'd like to get my ever-aging brain back into a more mathematically-literate mode.  As a matter of fact, it seems that just about every Schaum's Outline Series book has a Kindle counterpart.  I plan to put some more of their mathematics guides on it, as well as some of their foreign language books.

But for now, I'm enjoying this fine new Stephen King novel, which I'm about halfway through reading.  It will be fun to add more stuff to my little reader in the future...

Finished Reading The Bourne Identity

The other day I finally got around to finish reading Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity.  More Bourne will follow: I just have to find which one is next in this series of cloak and dagger exploits and identity screwups.  Also, I feel free now to watch the movie version, which I had been avoiding due to the inevitable and sometimes considerable divergence from the book whenever a cinematic adaptation is undertaken.  It was O.K. as novels went, although I can guess that the protagonist, who may or may not be a person named Jason Bourne...or Cain...or David, will survive, much as Ian Fleming's James Bond, to fill up the next book (or movie).  In fact, it's pretty obvious to me that Ludlum deliberately chose his hero's name to mimic Agent 007 of the British Secret Service. 

Hopefully, the next Bourne book I read won't fall into the category of disappointing follow-ups.  However, Robert Ludlum clearly wrote The Bourne Identity with the full intention of making a series, as the final confrontation in it between "Bourne" and the antagonist, along with the book's final scene, clearly demonstrate.  I'll give book #2, titled The Bourne Supremacy, a chance, anyway...

Boehner Ultimately to Blame for Funding and Debt Ceiling Impasse

It looks as if the extremists on the political right in Congress won't get their way after all, as ineffectual Republican House Speaker John Boehner finally decided to allow a vote to continue government funding and raise the debt ceiling...at least for a few months, that is.  But I can't really blame the ideologues, exemplified by tea party senator Ted Cruz, for causing the crisis.  He is entitled to express his views within the Senate rules, and actually was quite friendly and respectable during the whole process.  It is the mainstream establishment Republican leaders like Speaker Boehner with whom I have issues.  For his part, this individual, who is supposed to be Speaker of the ENTIRE House of Representatives, not just the extreme right faction within his own party, displayed rudeness and open arrogance to the press and other leaders.  He ignored the interests, not only of the Democratic minority in the House (which I suppose can be excused) but also those of a large section of his own GOP caucus in blocking a resolution.  I personally cannot see him continuing in such an important leadership position when he has so clearly demonstrated his complete lack of competency in it...

But I think that Ted Cruz instead is going to be served up as the "sacrificial lamb" in the press for somehow having instigated this funding and debt ceiling crisis.  In fact, though, his Senate wasn't really holding things up: it was Boehner's House of Representatives.  Cruz is just a very outspoken, very conservative freshman senator from the conservative state of Texas.  He is being held up as a presidential prospect in 2016...something that the Democratic Party is looking forward to with anticipation and enthusiasm.  He talks a lot on the Senate floor and on those media shows sympathetic to the tea party like Hannity, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh.  There is room in Congress for Ted Cruz: talk all you want, Ted, and cast your ONE vote!  But Boehner, with his authority as Speaker to determine what gets to be voted on, should be replace by someone, albeit possibly more conservative in his or her politics, with a greater sense of responsibility and decorum.

Stop the Phony Imposed Civility in Sports

Many years ago, when there was such a team in baseball as the Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros were considered a year-to-year contender, there was a reasonably successful manager who brought success to the teams he worked for.  His name was Bill Virdon.  Known for his perfunctory, no-nonsense style, Virdon seemed to bring a sense of discipline and a corresponding cohesion to the teams he managed.  Both the Expos and the Astros did well during his tenures with them, although neither was able to get to the World Series, much less win it.  Once Virdon had on his Montreal team the wildly exuberant and enthusiastic catcher Gary Carter.  Apparently, the two didn't exactly see eye to eye regarding what it took to make a team a winner, and when Virdon established himself there, Carter had to tone down his behavior.  I wonder, though, what the point of it all was, since often it seems that, in the heat of a pennant stretch run and in the playoffs, it is the most emotionally elevated team that prevails and sweeps through on momentum.  Virdon, to me, squelched that momentum instead of encouraging it.  And now we come to 2013 and Yasiel Puig...

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been blessed with an extraordinarily talented young hitter in rookie Yasiel Puig, only 22 years old and already a standout.  Yesterday, with his team down 2-0 in their National League Championship Series with St. Louis and himself mired in an 0-for-11 slump (with 7 strikeouts), Puig got an impressive hit for a triple, breaking out of his slump and substantially contributing to his team's 3-0 victory.  Some are criticizing him, though, for standing there for a moment and admiring and celebrating his hit.  The Dodgers fans in the ballpark, though, were beside themselves in glee and excitement. This celebration and showmanship, in my opinion, helped to turn the momentum around to the Dodgers for the game...and who knows, maybe eventually the series.

Emotion and celebration should be emphasized and encouraged in professional sports, not discouraged, criticized, or even penalized as it often is.  Pro sports is entertainment: it is a big SHOW, duh.  Let the fans have what they want.  Hitters admiring their hits, pitchers pumping their fists after strikeouts, end zone antics in football in all of their varieties,....whatever can serve to get everyone's interest and attention (and FUN) going a little stronger.  Stop boring me to death with all of this phony imposed civility...

Hollywood Beach Walk

Last Friday evening Melissa and I paid a brief visit to Hollywood (Florida) Beach, standing on the shore and then walking a bit up and down the "Broadwalk" as they call it (I've always called it the "Boardwalk").  Along the way, at the Hollywood Beach Theater, was a rock band performing called "Rockin' Jake".  They performed original music, which I liked.  Those two cute little kids dancing in front of the stage, though, stole the show!  It was an interesting walk as we passed by various shops and restaurants.  There were several live bands performing in different spots.  The people visiting the Broadwalk seemed to be a perfect mix of just about every ethic group, age, gender...you name it.  I even heard Russian spoken by people from three separate parties there.  There were a lot of joggers and bicycles/scooters/dog-walkers, etc...

As for the shoreline, this beach was the prettiest I've seen in a long time.  I took a picture of the gigantic and spooky Ramada Hotel (originally the Hollywood Beach Hotel; later, for a while, Florida Bible College).  We stayed there on a visit a few years ago, and it reminded me of a few Stephen King stories.  My sister says it has a reputation for being haunted: I'm not surprised.  Actually, come to think of it, the entire beach/"Broadwalk" experience, looking back on it, now seems a little on the "dark" side...

This Weekend in Sports As I Saw It

I missed out on the recent happenings in the sports world, partly due to travel and partly due to an acute allergic reaction.  Now that normality seems to be creeping back into my life, I can look back on what's been going on.  Let's see... in college football, the University of Florida Gators, as expected, went to Baton Rouge to play favored LSU and lost, this time by a score of 17-6.  That's all right, as far as I'm concerned.  I already knew that Florida wasn't a national champion-caliber team this year and just hoped for them to be able to win their own Eastern Division within their conference.  Losing to a Western Division school won't hurt them much as long as they do well in their own division.  Besides, Georgia, the Gators' arch rival, lost out to a surprisingly strong Missouri team on Saturday as well.  In the National Football League today, I was pleased to see previously unbeaten New Orleans lose, although I'd have preferred someone other than New England to have performed this task.  Miami was off this weekend, and the other two Florida franchises, both thinking themselves far too smart to hire someone like Tim Tebow to play for them, have each fallen to 0-6 records with predictable losses.  In the baseball playoffs, Detroit surprised Boston by beating them in the first game of their series while Los Angeles is disappointing me after having lost two close low-scoring games at St. Louis.

There's more that happened, of course, but I'm just rattling off the major reactions to the stuff that interests me the most...

Tough Health Day on Saturday

Yesterday was a particularly disturbing day for me, healthwise.  The previous day (Friday) I found myself in a situation in which I was in a recently fumigated house, in a room full of old books, magazines, letters, and papers, trying to help clean up an accumulated mess that at one time had taken up the entire room.  There was dust all around, and I should have known better than to be there for the several hours I spent sorting out piles and piles of old material.  But that night and the entire day yesterday, I felt a bad sense of inflammation throughout my body.  Any point on my skin that had been broken and was healing suddenly felt painful upon touching it.  I felt weaker, coughed, ...but worst of all, I had an irregular heartbeat the entire day yesterday.  I stayed away from that place, though, having learned my lesson...and after a lengthy period of sleep, woke up Sunday morning with the symptoms gone...no pain, weakness, coughing...and a typically regular, strong heartbeat.  I think that, if I know what's good for me, I had better be very, very careful in the future about the type of environment I expose myself to...

Hotel Room Ramblings

Here I am late at night, sitting in a Hollywood, Florida hotel room watching the Los Angeles Dodgers play the St. Louis Cardinals in the first of their series to decide who gets to go to this year's World Series.  I really don't care who wins...I rooted for each team to lose its previous series.  Still, this is a good, close game (2-2 in the 7th inning).  I think I'm finding myself slightly leaning toward the Dodgers, but I can't figure out why.  About an hour ago I finished up my four-mile treadmill run in this hotel's exercise room (one treadmill, one elliptical...that's it). Oh, and from time to time the lights would go out for a second, right in the middle of my run.  Fortunately, there was a TV on in the room, which would provide a little light during the blackouts.  I guess I'll repeat this tonight, since I'm planning to stay here until Sunday.  My hotel is way out west, smack dab in the middle of what should be Everglades swampland and dominated by water, sawgrass, and alligators.  Instead, there's an Interstate and heavy development running through this thoroughly drained out area.  I don't know how they are capable of swinging this: aren't we supposed to be conserving our wetlands?  I guess the answer is yes, as long as it doesn't conflict with the almighty dollar!  And when isn't that really the case?!?!

2013 Baseball Playoff Results Disappointing So Far

In the Major League Baseball playoffs so far this 2013 season, I've been pretty disappointed.  My teams Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh all lost their series against Boston, Los Angeles, and St. Louis respectively.  The only series left, to be decided tonight between Detroit and Oakland, is one that I really didn't care who won.  But the funny thing is, whoever wins that game tonight, and with it the series, will by default become my favorite team for the rest of the playoffs.  That being said, with the five teams presently left in the run for the World Series, I see some potentially interesting prospects if certain combinations get there:

Boston-St. Louis: This would be a rematch of the great 1967 series that spotlighted the Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski and Cardinals greats Bob Gibson and Lou Brock. 

Detroit-St. Louis: And this would be a rematch of the also great 1968 series, with essentially the same Cardinals lineup as the previous year and the Tigers with their aces Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich (and slugger Al Kaline).

Oakland-Los Angeles:  These two played against each other twice, with the Athletics winning 4-1 in 1974 and the Dodgers doing likewise in 1988.  Neither was a very exciting series, but this does have the added intrigue of being an intrastate rivalry.

Cooler Weather Auspicious for Running

Today, even late in the morning, the temperatures remained in the upper 60's, providing me an opportunity to run outside in the elements without exposure to excessive heat.  The humidity was still high, but with the lower temperatures all that did was to slow my running a bit.  In fact, it's been generally cooler for the last two days: yesterday I ran 3.5 miles outside and today it was for 4.05 miles.  I'll be out of town for a few days, going down to South Florida, so I'll probably be using the treadmill at whatever hotel I stay at until Saturday or Sunday.  Still, the cooler weather is an auspicious sign for me as I want to do more outdoor running as I train for the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon scheduled on November 16 here in Gainesville.

The more runner-friendly weather couldn't have come at a better time, as my local gym, Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, in spite of its recent media blitz touting its expansion by several thousand square feet, is in reality restricting access to its machines by moving them over into tight, cramped spaces with some of them not functioning.  The last few times I've been there have not been very enjoyable, to say the least...

My Father Dies

My father has passed away earlier today, at the age of 87.  He had been sick for a while and was suffering through life for the past few years and especially during the last few weeks.  I am sad about his death, but am relieved to know that his pain has ended and that he is finally at peace.  I got to see him and be with him a little while about a week ago.  I know I'll miss him terribly, just like with my mother when she died nearly eleven years ago.  He was a decent, hardworking man who took care of his family.  He also was very mentally sharp until the very end, and was deeply aware of his health woes and misery, wishing only to be able to pass away with some dignity.  God Bless Him!

I love you, Daddy!

I Find an Indie/Alternative Show on Broadcast Radio

A couple of days ago I wrote about how I had gotten out of touch with the current music that is coming out in the genre of indie/alternative/rock, with several musical acts I like having released new albums of which I had been unaware.  Last night at work I was about to listen to the radio and, at little after two in the morning, tuned in to my local Public Radio station WUFT-AM, expecting some news, analysis, or a talk/magazine show.  Instead, I was treated to something called Earth Cafe, which presented music that targeted the same genre I'm interested in.  On this particular show, they featured Vampire Weekend, whose first two albums I have but evidently now have a new one out.  They were interviewed on the air, played some songs live in the radio studio and discussed various older hits of theirs as they were played.  Then, after their segment on the show was finished, I got to hear other independent/alternative songs, some brand new and some pretty old.  It was a pleasant listening experience.

I know I can go online to hear this type of music, but on regular broadcast radio there hasn't consistently been any programming since 2008.  I welcome this one show, although it IS only one show...

Now a Kindle Owner

Earlier today, as a sweet birthday present, my wife bought for me a Kindle electronic reader.  It's probably going to take me a while to figure out all of its "bells and whistles", but for now I'm happy with being able to download onto it and read books.  So far, I've obtained just one book...Stephen King's newly released novel Doctor Sleep, and have read 52 pages.  This particular type of Kindle was relatively inexpensive, but it does offer touchscreen control and lighting that enables reading in darkness.  It should be a fun project to see just how many different ways I can use it.  One of my major personal goals is to drastically reduce clutter and simplify my material surroundings.  Hopefully, this Kindle will do for me in the area of books much of what my MP3 players have done with CDs, cassettes, and phonograph records...

Now Out of Touch With New Indie Music

I was having lunch with Melissa earlier this afternoon at a TGI Friday restaurant on Bruce Downs Road just east of Tampa.  As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed our meals there and the service was great.  Once thing I noticed was the music being piped in to us.  It sounded like a college/alternative/indie rock station and I recognized several of the featured acts.  But although I really liked all of the music I heard, I didn't recognize a single song that was being played...bringing me to an interesting (to me) revelation.  I have lost touch with the indie/alternative rock scene that I had been so closely following for several years.  I'm sure that I am missing out on many of my favorite musical artists' latest releases, while at the same time I listen regularly to their older works on my MP3 player.  And I'm not exactly sure why I stopped keeping up with new releases, except for possibly the fact that I have enough material already that I enjoy listening to.  Still, I DO keep up with certain acts I like the most: Regina Spektor, Radiohead, and Sufjan Stevens.  But for most of them I am completely oblivious as to what they've been up to lately, or even if they are still making recordings.

Maybe I'll just tune in to one of those Internet indie stations from time to time to try to keep up.  I had forgotten how good most of this stuff sounds!

Gutfeld (Briefly) Spot On About Government Shutdown

Yesterday I was channel surfing the coverage of how the D.C police gunned down an unarmed, emotionally disturbed young woman, carrying a young child in her car,who had been driving erratically near the "fixtures" of national government the White House and Capitol.    I briefly touched upon Fox News Channel's show The Five, where there was some reporter stationed in Washington, D.C., stately scenery pictured behind him, discussing the goings-on among Congress and between it and the President regarding the shutdown of the federal government.  The reporter was mentioning that different parties to this dispute were starting to meet behind closed doors to try to find a compromise that would resolve it.  To which panelist Greg Gutfeld, with what appeared to me to be a mischievous gleam in his eyes, posed what he termed a couple of statements disquised as questions: first, about this "behind closed doors" strategy, why weren't they always doing that from the beginning, if they now think that it's useful to reaching a deal?  Second, reports keep coming out that the shutdown is costing the government X amount of dollars...so NOT doing things that would have had to be funded ALSO has to be funded??!!

Oh, to be in the "Beltway"!

Baseball 2013: Rays Advance Past Indians

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays stopped the momentum-heavy run of the Cleveland Indians dead in its tracks with an impressive defensive effort, winning 4-0 in the one allotted wild card playoff game between them.  Now they can go back to playing in a real multiple-game series, the next opponent being division winner Boston.  It was a little harrowing, going through the strange final games in the regular season, as three teams were vying for the two available wild card spots.  Night after night, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and the Texas Rangers played and won.  The Rays were interesting in that they swept the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, both good teams that had been in the playoff picture.  Meanwhile, the Indians and Rangers would go off on their own winning streaks, but their opponents were weak, inferior teams.  I felt that it was an almost hopeless uphill battle for Tampa Bay, but finally for the last three games of the 162-game regular season, they got to play Toronto, which was in dead last place in their division.  The Rays, going into that series, were still one game ahead of Cleveland and two ahead of Texas.  I'll just go on to say that the latter two won the rest of their scheduled games.  But Toronto surprisingly beat Tampa Bay decisively in the first two games of their series, putting the Rays' playoff hopes in jeopardy.  Tampa Bay managed somehow to just barely squeak out a 7-6 win, though, in the final game, putting them in a tie with Texas for the final playoff spot.  The two played a tiebreaker game (in Texas) and "my" team prevailed.  Then they went on the road to Cleveland for another winner-advance-loser-go-home game and here we are, with the Rays being one of the "final eight" left in the running for World Series glory in 2013...

Jury Duty Blues

Last week I had the misfortune of having to serve on a jury.  Never mind who was on trial, what it was about, or how the trial ended.  It was, to me, utterly abysmal...comparable on my scale of personal suffering to having kidney stones, getting multiple fillings at the dentist, or undergoing a colonoscopy.  On Monday, when it was jury selection day, one of the interviewing attorneys asked the panel of prospective jurors one by one whether they enjoyed the previous times they served on a jury.  All who had served before assented...yes, they enjoyed it.  Until the hotshot prosecutor got to me, that is.  I told him no, I did not enjoy being on a jury.  I think the SOB held that answer of mine in the back of his mind as I was later selected, to my dismay, to be on a jury in a trial that lasted from Thursday morning to Friday evening. 

I dislike many things about jury duty, but I dislike the most how the jurists are bunched up together all of the time.  I couldn't even get away from the others for lunch. They seemed to be nice enough people to me, but they were not what I was there for, and I tired quickly of the few jurists who talked a lot, with me cooped in a small room with them, all of us seated facing one another around a circular table.  Yes, that got very old in a hurry...

When the trial began, the bailiff passed out blank yellow legal pads with pens to each of us serving on the jury.  The reason was to give us something to take notes on during the trial. The judge told us, though, that we didn't have to take notes if we didn't want to, and that suited me fine.  For I had discovered many years earlier that since I wasn't in the habit of ever reading my own notes, then writing them down would be pointless.  Besides, I listened to the attorneys present their evidence and was attentive to the different witnesses, remembering just about everything without needing to write anything down.  Unfortunately, it became clear to me that I was the only one who didn't take notes, while everyone else had written down copious amounts of stuff on their pads.  So I may have appeared to everyone else to not be engaged, while in fact the complete opposite was true. My ears and eyes were all wide open and I absorbed everything.

I felt bad about the eventual verdict, although I believe it was the correct and just one. I feel worse about the way the prosecutor and defense attorney went about manipulating the feelings of the jurists.  I disliked both of them and wondered how, under this system of justice, anyone could ever truly arrive at an accurate accounting of events with so much speculation and insinuation being thrown around.  On top of that, perhaps the most crucial witness in the entire case, one who was right there in the middle of the pertinent events and whose testimony could well have exonerated the accused, was mysteriously ignored by both sides. This reminded me of the previous time I had served on a jury in a trial.  That time it was the peculiar, unexplained behavior of the arresting police officer that left me scratching my head.  But what really left me wondering about last week's trial was the apparent rush to an arrest when matters could have been settled with neither party suffering any substantial harm.  Yes, that bothered me...although I ended up voting on the case based on the evidence, although incomplete, that WAS revealed to me.

After it was all over, the judge said that I would have at least one year before my name could once again be selected for jury duty.  Oh boy, I can hardly wait...

When in Boca Raton, Check Out This Restaurant

My wife and I were down in South Florida this past weekend, one of our destinations being Boca Raton.  I find that the Palm Beach County area is quite enough of a "South Florida" experience for someone like me who grew up further south, in southern Broward County.  Others can have Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami, and the countless suburbs surrounding them: it's all just one big nasty urban sprawl to me.  No, around places like Lake Worth or Boca Raton I get all of the trademark South Floridian semi-tropical climate and, while it is admittedly crowded there, it's doesn't seem quite as insanely congested as it is in points south.

While in Boca Raton Saturday night, we stopped off at an Asian-style restaurant on Yamato Street near the Turnpike that is called "5-Spice Asian Street Market".  It has Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai cuisine.  I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed something they call "Singapore Fried Rice", which has curry as one of the spices.  Delicious.  The menu had lots of items on it, and I found myself regretting that I probably would never get around to eating there again...seeing that the one reason I had for going to Boca Raton in the first place would end this coming Tuesday.

My September 2013 Running Report

September was marked by a feeling of stagnation with my running, although I kept my total mileage up.  Whatever the reasons, I just didn't enjoy the activity as much as before.  I avoided running outside whenever the temperature or the humidity seemed too high, as was usually the case.  However, I intend to stay the course with my running, hoping that this period of relative lack of enthusiasm will pass.  I covered 110.73 miles for the month, missing just one day of running.  My longest single run was 6 miles.  I had earlier planned to run in a local half-marathon race scheduled on September 28, but changed my mind as the date approached.  That turned out to be just as well, because I had a rush of personal matters arising that took up my time anyway.  Maybe if I feel up to it, I'll run the next half-marathon in town, which will be in November.

One Game Is Too Short for Baseball Wild Card Playoffs

Monday night the Tampa Bay Rays will play against the Texas Rangers in "game 163" to decide who gets to turn around and play Cleveland for another one-game series in the playoffs.  I think that, given the way baseball teams are composed with their rotations of four to five regularly starting pitchers, not to mention that they play a 162-game regular season to sort out who's the best, it's ludicrous to think that ONE game should ever decide who gets to advance in the playoffs.  I get it regarding the Rays/Ranger game tonight: they finished with identical 91-71 records, tied for the final playoff spot.  But within the playoffs, part of what determines a team's greatness is the potency of its pitching rotation...and not just the best "star" pitcher.  I remember one year, back in 1972 in a strike-shortened season, when the Philadelphia Phillies had an awful team, finishing with around 59 wins and more than 90 losses...in dead last place.  But they also had an ace starting pitcher in their generally pathetic rotation by the name of Steve Carlton, who went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  In spite of the rest of the team's poor performance, he went 27-10 that year and won the Cy Young Award for best pitcher (one of four he collected over his career).  Had the Phillies engaged with ANY team in a "one game playoff", even the best, they most likely would have prevailed with Carlton pitching.  But there was much more to them than just their star pitcher.  The same applies to the upcoming game between Cleveland and the Texas/Tampa Bay winner.  They could at least have a best-of-three series between them.  I don't think the current format will last anyway, and perhaps my idea might be adopted...

GOP House Instigating Debt Ceiling Crisis

It looks as if the federal government will be soon entering another politically-inspired crisis when the vote to raise the debt ceiling once again comes up in the House of Representatives...and the Republicans, as is whenever they are in control of that body under a Democratic president...will again hold the nation hostage while they risk economic disaster just to push their own agenda.  This time the partisan pet peeve is their opposition to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which was passed by both houses of Congress, signed into law by the President, and upheld by the United States Supreme Court.  Regardless how you feel about this bill, how they are going about trying to destroy it is reprehensible.  I don't mind Republicans in Congress...I just wish there would be a few with the backbone to stand up to the extremists pushing this counterproductive policy.  The GOP had a chance to end ACA, or "Obamacare" as it is more widely known: they could have taken both the Senate and House...AND the Presidency in the last national election in 2012.  But the people spoke...yet the "Grand" Old Party persists in their delusion, despite the consistently abhorrently low poll ratings for them in Congress, in thinking that playing this brinkmanship game with the country's economy will somehow bear positive fruit for them.

Florida-Kentucky Football Game Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the first opportunity for replacement starting quarterback Tyler Murphy as the University of Florida football team travels to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats in a continuation of a series that the Gators have dominated for decades. Since Kentucky doesn't appear to have one of their better teams this year, I don't expect Florida will have too much trouble in this game.  I think the most interesting thing about this game for Gator fans is to see how well Murphy does in his first full starting college game...

Running Progress Not As I Like It

Although I have generally been keep my running mileage at projected target levels, I somehow feel as if I am going backwards instead of forwards with my running progress.  I used to run more or less daily outside on the streets around my neighborhood, but this year I have been spending more time in the gym running on the treadmill.  Treadmill running is a good stopgap measure to maintain continuity in case of bad weather or the need to run at night because of daytime scheduling conflicts.  But as the main focus of my running, it doesn't match up with the degree of intensity that hard contact with a surface provides, especially in the mental area of me determining my own running pace instead of some machine doing that important job.  My excuse has been a good one, though, with the weather being so terribly hot.  Two other factors have contributed to my current running stagnation: one is my change in March to a 11 PM to 7:30 AM work shift, which has turned my running opportunities on their head.  I used to, when earlier working the afternoon/evening shift, run around the 'hood in the late morning hours when temperatures were still reasonable and the humidity had dropped to a bearable level.  Nowadays, though, that time period is when I need to be asleep.  So I have as a choice early mornings when I am tired from work and the humidity is high, late afternoons when the temperature is highest, or....just pick a convenient time and run at the gym in air conditioning!  The temperatures are finally beginning to dip as autumn sinks in.  Hopefully, this will usher in more afternoon outdoors running.  The other factor limiting my running progress has been my gradual weight gain over the last couple of years.  Since early 2010 I have gained some 25 pounds, and that means that I am lugging that much more than I need on me with every step I take.  Not sustainable!  I need to focus on what I am eating more...

Just Finished Reading Martin's A Clash of Kings

I just finished reading A Clash of Kings, which is George R.R. Martin's second installment in his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.  There is no "main" protagonist to this work, at least not on the line of Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.  Instead, it's more like that author's presentation of the characters in Lord of the Rings...but with some of the "bad guys" also weighing in on the narrative from their own vantage points.  Imagine getting a perspective on Tolkien's epic story from the viewpoint of Saruman! I first thought this method of telling the story was annoying, but now I find it very interesting.  With this system of chapters headed by a diversity of characters experiencing the plot contained within, it also puts in doubt their ultimate survival within the series.  Martin pulled a Hitchcock-like "Psycho" on readers of the first book, A Game of Thrones, when he then brutally rubbed out what seemed to be a central character in the series.  More of the same ensued in the book I just finished, but by the time they occurred I had been expecting something of the sort and wasn't quite as traumatized.

Volume three of A Song of Ice and Fire is titled A Storm of Swords.  I'll be starting it soon...

Gators Still Hopeful Despite Driskell Injury

Last Saturday the Florida Gators were able to overcome a first quarter second-ending ankle injury to their starting quarterback Jeff Driskel as they once again defeated hapless Tennessee 31-17.  It was backup  junior quarterback Tyler Murphy who stepped in and regenerated the then-stalling offense, which had committed several early turnovers.  Murphy seemed to be very quick with reading defenses and reacting to opposing players, sidestepping potential sacks and breaking tackles for good rushing yardage.  His passing had flashes of brilliance as well.  If he can avoid  injury, I  have high hopes for him and the Gator offense as the schedule gets more difficult in a few weeks.  For now, though, Florida will travel for their next game against Kentucky, which is experiencing a rather difficult time with their performance this year.  The following week they'll play another relatively weaker SEC opponent in Arkansas before encountering LSU on the road and then more difficulty.  But now, barring injury (always a possibility, just ask Driskel), I now think they have a fighting chance.  I wasn't so sure after the offense's dismal performance the previous game against the University of Miami.  Notice that I've said nothing so far about Florida's defense.  That's because they are consistently good.  It will be interesting to see how well they do against tougher foes like LSU, Georgia, and South Carolina down the road...

Are Dolphins Returning to Old Winning Ways?

The Miami Dolphins are surprising me, week after week in this young 2013 National Football League season.  In their first game against Cleveland, I felt they had to win that game since the Browns were most likely a relatively weak team this year.  Still, knowing Miami's recent history with poor starts, I was doubtful...then pleasantly surprised when the Dolphins pulled out a win, 23-10.  The next game was a road game against the Indianapolis Colts, lead by their rookie sensation of last year, quarterback Andrew Luck, and which made the playoffs.  But I was amazed at how Miami won a close victory, accomplished by a complete team effort that included dampening Luck's effectiveness with a tough defense.  The score was 24-20.  Then, yesterday the Dolphins had a home game against on of last year's National Conference finalists, the Atlanta Falcons.  Once again the Dolphins prevailed in a close one, this time 27-23.

2013 is the first season since 2002 that Miami has started the regular season with a 3-0 record.  Their next game is going to be another challenge: Monday night at New Orleans against the (also) 3-0 Saints.  Should the Dolphins win this one, it will be the first time since 1995 that they went 4-0.  I'm feeling pretty good about them so far, but the most crucial games will be the six they play within their own division against rivals New England, New York (Jets), and Buffalo.  I don't explain Miami to win the rest of their games, but if they can do well inside their own division, then they should be able to do something they haven't accomplished since 2008: make the playoffs.

Doctor Sleep Finally Set for Release Tuesday

Well, the day after tomorrow the long-awaited date is arriving: the opening day for the sale of Stephen King's novel Doctor Sleep.  It's been long-awaited at least for me, to the same extent that I used to wait for those last few Harry Potter novels to come out.  Of course, with them bookstores would hold store-wide celebrations as they would keep their doors open past midnight, when the new books would be permitted to be sold.  I don't see any similar fanfare, though, with Doctor Sleep, which is a sequel to his The Shining, spaced apart by several decades.  I saw King on C-Span once a couple of years ago when he went over some of his projects that would soon be published.  Along with the upcoming release, he also then discussed his excellent 11/22/63 and a short Dark Tower novel titled The Wind Through the Keyhole.  When he read a short passage from Doctor Sleep, I was instantly intrigued and sold on it (and just a little suspicious thereafter on the Interstate of some of the slower vehicles on the right).  Unfortunately, the decision was made to release it last of all...but it may all be for the best in the end as the author had felt the need to revise some sections in it.

I have Doctor Sleep on hold/reserve at my county public library, but I'm far back on the waiting list at #47.  It will take a while for the book to come my way, although I'm sure they ordered several copies of it.  So I may just buy the book outright or maybe just stop in one of those bookstores and get a head start on my reading. I do have a little bit of curiosity as to whether any of them on Monday night will keep their doors open past midnight for the release...

Body Needs to Adjust to Weather Changes

At some time every autumn, it seems, I step outside when it is the upper fifties for the first time of the season.  I always seem to shudder at how extremely cold it feels and suddenly wish a return to the long, hot summer I just left.  But soon thereafter, every time in fact, I acclimate myself to the seasonal cooling and find myself enjoying the more temperate climate.  But first I have to pass through that initial boundary of "shock" at the long-missed cool temperatures.  I feel something similar may have happened to me today, but in reverse.

From time to time during this extraordinary, brutally hot and humid summer, I have ventured out on short runs outside through my neighborhood.  Often these runs would be limited to one or two laps around my block.  Mostly, though, I confined my running to indoors with temperature controlled and in the 70's with low humidity.  This morning I tried to see how long I could stand it outside under a slightly cooler-than-normal 81 degrees and moderate 66% humidity.  I had hoped, as I wound my way up and down familiar streets on my long-established neighborhood running course, to run 7 miles or more.  But I only managed to get to 4.83 miles and felt overheated and exhausted.  Still, my recovery from the run seems to be going well.  I'm inclined to think that my negative reaction to the run wasn't as much due to being out of shape, which I know I'm not, as it was against the abruptly unpleasant weather, as mild as it was in comparison to the summer's generally roasting heat. 

I'm going to test this out in a couple of days and run once again for a substantial distance outside.  Maybe my body, like it does when it finally acclimates itself to cooler conditions, will get used to the less pleasant warm temperatures.  At least that's what I'm hoping.  In any event, I think I'm going to skip that local half-marathon race next Saturday and wait for cooler weather.

Pathological Weather

In Florida we have two separated months in which the love bug population makes its appearance.  The major month of this is May, while in September a smaller recurrence of them takes place.  This bugs tend to swarm and mate over warm surfaces.  Hence, they are more prevalent during these periods on open highways like the Interstate, where passing vehicles heat up the road and attract them in hordes.  As a result there are a lot of very splattered windshields...which is also very annoying.  But I'm not on the Interstate and this isn't May...it's September, the supposably "mild" time for them.  Yet these pests are everywhere.  I'm sitting here at my usual Starbucks in the Magnolia Parke shopping center and am looking out of the window at masses of these critters, who are making a spectacle of themselves that actually dwarfs May conditions at their worst!

I know what is the cause of this preponderance of love bugs: the extraordinarily hot and long summer we've been experiencing.  There is no letup in the high temperatures, and although I had earlier expressed hope in a gradual cooling a few days ago, no such cooling is forecast for the next few days, at least.

In a way, I am glad for the overwhelming nuisance of these insects.  For they reaffirm my disturbance at this year's weather: first, an almost nonexistent winter, then a very early, hot, and humid summer, and now a delay for more usual seasonal cooling.  I don't think the meteorologists are fully on top of this phenomenon: they had predicted a very active hurricane season this year with many U.S. landfall threats.  The opposite has happened, though.  Another trend I've noticed is how the multiple-day temperature high forecasts are almost ways raised as the target day approaches.  And many times I turn on the weather station and notice, for example, that the current temperature will be something like 92 degrees when the stated predicted high is, say, 87!

Oh by the way, I am DEFINITELY going to my air-conditioned gym to do my running today...

Martial Atmosphere Increasing and Ominous

Quiet often when I'm watching TV a public service announcement will broadcast about a cause called "Wounded Warrior Project".  Its aim is compassionate and compelling, rallying support around the all-too-many veterans who have returned from combat duty physically and/or mentally traumatized from the experience.  Both volunteers and financial donations are solicited in these ads: I think this is a good cause.  Beyond this, though, is an ominous trend: the increasing martial mood in this nation.

People in uniform brandishing weapons are being increasing held up in our society as a superior class of citizen, to which all others are expected to at least perfunctorily show the signs of humble deference and appreciation.  But although the duties of soldiers, police, and the like have their undeniable value, each of the individuals who engage in these occupations go into them fully aware of the dangers and consequences of their choices, in the case of the military there not having been forced conscription since 1973.  After the Bush administration in 2003 launched an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, the push for exalting the military above anything else was pumped mercilessly through the press.  It soon came to be that anyone who was against this horrible, unnecessary war wasn't properly "supporting the troops".  In my view, it was the bungled continuing occupation of Iraq that the political leaders of the time (Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney) in Washington were mismanaging that was a betrayal of support for the troops. The soldiers followed their instructions professionally and bravely, for the most part, and deserve the compassion and support of the rest of society upon their return to civilian society.  But that's just it: it is CIVILIAN society they are returning to, not a continuation of the military.  I also don't understand why, after it had already been made patently clear that we were bogged down in a hopeless quagmire in Iraq, young men and women willingly signed up for military service, knowing perfectly well that they could be the next reported killed or injured in combat.  Why should I necessarily defer to someone who made that kind of deliberate decision to seek out the danger?

In Gainesville, any time a police officer is killed on duty, the street where the death occurred is renamed after the fallen officer.  This on the surface sounds like a nice gesture and shouldn't be a problem, except that, as I said before, it puts uniformed, armed individuals on a higher pedestal above others.  Where I work, at a civilian organization, it has been a long-standing policy to give military veterans and even their spouses, regardless of whether there was any combat duty involved, substantial hiring advantages over non-veterans and their spouses.  I was passed over for a year in my hiring process because of this, and I found myself, after scoring a perfect "100" on the pre-employment examination that was supposed to set the hiring list order, suddenly relegated behind several others who leapfrogged ahead of me because of military connections.  I don't think a civil society that has constitutionally placed the military in a subservient role should be run like that.  Yet in the midst of gridlock on Capital Hill, one kind of issue inevitably gets clear sailing: anything that gives preferential treatment to those in uniform.

We don't live in science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein's universe where the military and those who are members thereof are set apart to enjoy perks and rights that the rest don't.  Or do we?

Rush Hour Gym Running Overcrowded

The gym I go to is the biggest in Gainesville (well, the UF student recreation center might be bigger).  It has at least two stories to it (maybe more) and is loaded with weight training equipment, weight machines, and cardio machines.  There is an indoor pool and adequate locker rooms.  There's even a cafe there in the lobby, although the prices to me seem a bit steep.  Also, it has an indoor basketball court area and a large empty room for group workout activities.  Outside, there is, on the northern end of the parking lot, an outdoor obstacle course training area.  And there are lots of TVs downstairs, and upstairs as well...embedded within treadmills, at least.  I know because I almost always use these second-floor treadmills when I go there.  No weights, stationary bikes, elliptical machines, basketball, pool, obstacle course...just running on treadmills.  And knowing that the place is available 24 hours per day is reassuring.  Still, there are times when I really need to avoid the place. Like yesterday during late afternoon rush hour.

I have my own schedules and unfortunately often find myself out and about, driving through rush hour traffic.  Yesterday was one such time and I went into my local gym to run on one of the 15-20 upstairs treadmills.  No such luck befell me as I got up there and found them all taken.  So I sighed to myself, walked downstairs, and tried out one of the ground floor treadmills.  I don't like these machines as much as the ones upstairs: they seem clumsier and don't have the televisions on them that enable me to channel surf while running.  Still, my main goal was running and I gamely plodded onward.  But then the ground floor environment began to bother me.  All of the sounds seemed amplified and it felt warmer there than on the second floor.  I cranked out four miles, but felt as if I had run much further.  I wonder what the matter is with that  place!  This afternoon I got to the gym earlier, around 3:30, and the upstairs treadmills were available (but not many).  I got on one and easily ran five miles.  Only time constraints in my schedule kept me from running further, and the run was smooth sailing with little discomfort.

It could be that I am becoming very finicky about my running conditions.  I have less tolerance for outdoor weather and I don't like running inside either, if the conditions don't meet my preferences.  Still, there's no need in punishing myself in 90-degree-plus weather or running in less comfortable conditions indoors...