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.