Chicago Triathlon breakdown (no kidding)

So I have had a little bit of time to reflect on my 3rd Chicago Triathlon (actually, my 3rd, 4th, and 5th, if you count 2013 individually.)

I know I was a little bit undertrained. I had slacked off with the Race to Mackinac in the sailing world, and then after I had to pack a bunch of flying in, trying to baby my knee, and then works.

O.k., enough excuses.

The Sprint

The Sprint Tri went off right about as planned. The ChiTri Sprint consists of a 750M swim, and 20K bike, and a 5K run.

The time for the swim includes the 400M run from the end of swim to transition (that run is longer than the swim in the SuperSprint, btw.)

So, my not so glorious times----

Swim - 23:50
Bike - 52:45
Run - 34:54

Swim Note:
I would have liked to have the swim come in around 21 or so, but with the run added to the distance, I am not surprised by the result there. I had a decent swim that was only marred by getting kicked in the face FOUR times; one gave me a good load of water up da nose, so that kind of annoyed me. I was very high adrenaline for the swim, and I could not get my heart rate down. It usually takes me a good 300+ yards to get my heart down when I swim laps. I am working on this, but it really saps your energy in open water.

Bike Note:
52:45 works out to 15.5mph. My goal was 49:00, which would have been about 16.6 mph, but I was only able to pace a 15.8 on the Super Sprint, so I should not have been surprise to be a little bit slower. Still, pretty good. Not bad for a kinda new guy. Plus, the heat was starting to pick up.

Run Note:
34:54 for a 5K. Yikes. I was hoping for about 31:00. My best time in a 5K is around 28:20, and I have run that many many times on the treadmill and on my overnights. I have not done a lot of brick type workouts towards the end of my training, obviously, I need to run after biking quite a bit more. But... 35 minutes... sigh. I suck so bad at running. That 34:54 was almost EXACTLY double my 17:05 from the 2.5K in the SuperSprint the day before. Foreshadowing!!

The Olympic.

Oh, jeez, the humanity!!

The Chi Tri Olympic length is a 1.5K swim, and 40K bike, and a 10K run.

I finished the Sprint at 08:02AM (it was an 0600 start,) and I had the Olympic coming right at me with an 0900 start. I had to get from the finish line to transition, reset my transition area, then hustle on down to the starting line 3/4 mile away to make the 0900 start. I made it with about a minute-thirty to spare. I had no time to rest (which is part of why you do the Triple Challenge... it is a challenge, after all!) and only time to snarf down a chocolate chip bagel and a banana... plus throw a bottle of gatorade onto my bike, and drink 1/2 of another one.

My times (which put my DEAD LAST in my age group... ugh.)

Swim - 52:06
Bike - 1:43:54
Run -  1:37:16

I am not happy with any of that, although I have to admit, turning around after a Sprint tri did kind of wear me down.

The Swim:

I was a little tired after doing the Sprint and not getting to even sit down between races. I barely had time to get my wetsuit back on, let alone relax for more time, so I was a bit put off by the swim start (although getting in the water felt GREAT.) Ironically, the last 500M or so of the swim was by far my best swimming of the entire triathlon. I was passing swimmers left and right. Too little too late, though.) A good chunk of my swim time was a 'trudge to transition.' I walked, not jogged or ran, the distance to transition. My time on this last year was 38:33. Doing that swim after the 20K bike and 5K run really (massive understatement) killed me here. I would have been better off having another mile of swimming than any kind of biking or running. Ah well, That is why it is a challenge!

The Bike:

Last year's time was 1:35:??. I felt really strong, and I had great strength in the first loop around; as I started the second loop north, I realized that I had not refilled my water bottle when I put the gatorade bottle on my bike between races (being rushed makes you forget shit,) and the temps were pushing 90 by now. I needed lots of water, and I did not have it. I had also not dropped any energy gels or grabbed another banana for the ride. I was going to rapidly run out of energy and hydration somewhere soon. I certainly did. I had a great split time coming out the first half of the bike (considering it was my 2nd Tri of the day,) but... I just fell apart. By the time I was southbound on the final 1/4 of the bike, I could feel the dehydration sapping away at my strength. I was trying to marshal my forces for conservation, but in an endurance sport, you really need access to nourishment (the 4th 'leg' of any triathlon is nutrition,) and I had painted myself into a corner by being rushed resetting transition.

I also had a shoulder problem that was getting annoyed. I had purchased a 'bike trainer' so that I could get used to being on the aero-bars, but I had not used it nearly enough. My shoulders were aching, and my left shoulder had a knot in it the size of a baseball. Made it difficult to stay symmetrical. 

Now the race just becomes about 'survival.' Keep going for the finish. Forget times, forget Personal Records, Personal Bests, etc... just drive. This is where having done prior triathlons kicks into play. No giving up, even if I have to crawl over the finish in a dehydrated pulpy mess. No matter how you slice it, I was miles ahead of everyone who had never done a Tri, and here I was, doing three in a weekend (a decent sized case could be made at this point for me being an idiot, but.... who is keeping score?)

The Run:

A funny thing comes into play when you know you will not win, in fact your age group partners have already been finishing for a while, you are totally knackered, and... well... you are dehydrated and annoyed at yourself. That funny thing is reality. Bam.

I basically slept through transition to the run. I lay down, stretched out my back, tried to get the knot out of my shoulder by laying down on some equipment. Not a whole lot of luck, so it was time to press on.

I stopped at the transition tent exit water stand, and basically stood there refilling myself like a camel. Drink.. drink... drink. I had a number of cups of water, and balanced those with about the same of Gatorade. I didn't want to over-drink and get cramps, so I tried to play it safe. There are drink stops about every mile on the run, so I knew I would be able to top off every stop.

By now the heat was getting up to about 94F or so. It was hot. Normally, I like running in the heat, but I was borderline dehydrated, and I had not run enough (even though I had done more distances than the individual races, I had not run this much TOTAL in a 24 hour period.) to really put in a good show.

So mile #1 I basically walked/jogged/hopped. I was trying to get my running feet under me, but I as also trying to stay sane and re-hydrate (an abnormally frustrating process. The more I have read about it, the more I have found it is a losing proposition. Once the dehydration monster starts in on you and gets to a certain point, you are fighting a losing battle... it is nearly impossible to get enough water in without drowning yourself.)

I made myself a deal.. instead of my normal system of running 7 mins or so and walking 2, I was going to reverse it, and run 2 and walk 7. As you can tell by my time, I did a lot more walking than that, even.

Around mile #3, I took a break in a port-o-john, and I heard them pull a racer off the course for dehydration. The paramedic was making sure he was ok, and then the racer started to vomit from massive dehydration. I have no idea how anyone would have been pushing so hard at this point int he race... all that was left on the course were the cruisers and the pros. They got the guy into an ambulance, but it was startling to hear someone crash so hard 'medically.' Numerous people got pulled off of the course, or dropped out when they realized they had lost it. This was where I decided to drop nearly all pretense of being a 'runner,' and just enjoy the walk, jog a bit when I could, nurse my dehydration properly (I doubled my water and gatorade intake after hearing that guy) and enjoy the damn race! I was supposed to be having fun, damnit! So I walked a little fast, broke into a jog now and then, and stopped at every water table and gatorade table and took a big swig or five.

At mile #5, the first pro came blasting past me. Holy cats that was amazing to watch! They started a full TWO HOURS after I started. Yes, I know, they are professionals, and I am a hack... but WOW, they were amazing to see up close, and on the same course!! (and passing the daylights out of my ass!!!!)

The last 100 yards of the run is through a finisher's chute, so I started jogging at a fair clip for the 50 yards prior, and then broke into a good run through the chute. I high-fived a bunch of people along the sides, and then raised my arms in victory at the end as I went through the finish, 7 hours and 31 minutes after I had started the Sprint that morning.

Not nearly my best times, not even somewhere near average. But I did have a good time on the race. A few things that I learned though---

Yeah, baby, that's honest sweat.

There is a GOOD reason why only about 180 people out of 7500 do the Triple Challenge. It is idiotic.

I swam well on the longer distances, I just need to not get kicked in the face, and I need to do the swim BEFORE I do the run and bike, not after a good set of run and bike.

I really want to try a 1/2 IM distance. We'll see what the future holds.

Dehydration sucks, and it takes days to recover. Better planning!!

My knee did not hurt in the least on the longest runs I have done in a single day. I like that!

More to come!

Cheers!

Scott

(yes, I know I took a screenshot of a proof.)

Two posts in under a month! Getting back into it!

So, finished the 1st of 3 triathlons this morning. Next 2 are tomorrow.

Today was the SuperSprint Tri of the Chi Tri; 350meter swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run. It was an open water beach start, so you run from the holding area into the water, then swim around some buoys, then come back, and run back up the beach to the bikes. From there you walk/run your bike out of the transition area, mount up, ride, then come back and do the run.

I completed the whole deal in 0:55:36, or 55 minutes and 36 seconds. Pretty good! My times were:

Swim 15:04
Bike 23:27
Run 17:05

That was good enough for 287 out of 590. Just outside the top half. Better than I have finished before. I was ranked

Swim 291/590
Bike 238/590
Run 377/590

You can easily see where my weak spot is!!... running!! lol....

I am doing the Triple Challenge, where I do that race today, and tomorrow I do two races. A Sprint Tri and an Olympic Tri.

So tomorrow at 0600, I start off on the Sprint Tri. That is a 750meter swim, a 22k bike, and a 5k run. Then, I shake it all off, turn everything around, and at 0900 I am back in the water to do an Olympic Distance Triathlon; 1500meter swim, 40K bike, and 10K run.

Total distances for all races is-- 2.6K (1.6 miles) swim, 72K (44.7 miles) bike, and 17.5K (10.9 miles) running.

I should have the Sprint done in about 2 hours, and we will see if I have any steam left for the LONG one... lol... figures...

If you want to track me, there is a racer tracker app for iPhone and Android, under TimeLifeTri; you can enter my bib # or my name to see how I do, and follow my transitions in real time. My bib for the Sprint is #228, my bib for the Olympic is #6229.

Cheer me on from near, or cheer me on from afar....

Scott

taking time....

Ugh, almost 3 months since my last post.

So I had these grand plans that I wanted to do a 1/2 Ironman this season; I will be lucky to get through the ChiTri completely and not make an ass out of myself.

I have mostly been keeping up with my training, but I really tweaked something in my knee on the Race to Mackinac.... actually, sadly, whilst motoring out for the race. There was something fouled on the bow, I went forward, bent down, and felt 'ping!' Awesome. Just awesome. I knew it would not hurt during normal use, and it didn't.. I really flexed it a lot during the early part of the race.

But I knew it would be quite angry with me if I ran on it for any length of time, I could just feel it.

And then it took forever (72 hours, actually,) to get up to the island. This was really slow for us, but we were in good company. Still, I had plans on running around the island (8 miles) Tuesday morning, and there I was, still sailing along at 10am on Tuesday. Sigh.

All excuses, though.

So when I finally did get a chance to run, my knees complained.

7 miles is what I got. For reference, the 1/2 IM is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and then run a half marathon (12+ miles.) a little after 6 miles, my right knee told me to lighten up.

So, scratch the 1/2 for 2013.

Plans change, that is just the way that it is. Maybe I have a half in my future for 2014. May a full in 2014, since I have no plans on holding back on my training over the autumn this year. I want to keep that feeling, and the strength that goes with regular exercise (sometimes intense exercise.)

Plus, I need to post more... sheesh!

Cheers!

Scott

Well, that was not expected

What to do when what you planned is not what happenes. What do you do?

So I got to Jenison, Michigan, just fine. Went down to check out the little lake we would be swimming in for a sprint triathlon. Good Lordy, that water was cold. 600 yard swim, 18 mile bike, then run a 5k. Simple. I've been doing these distances for a while now, and while I had slacked off on my short vacation, I had built up a pretty good set of distances and times.

The swim? 12 minutes, tops. Especially with a wetsuit.

The bike? Maybe an hour. I can usually hold 18mph pretty steady, but the first 7 miles were pretty up-hilly, and I am a flat lander, so... that should be interesting.

The run? Yeah... I am still not a fast runner, but I should be able to keep my 10min/mile, and kick it up a hair for 29 minutes, maybe a few seconds more.

Into the water we went!

I started in the 3rd wave. They were 2 minute intervals, and everyone was talking how they would probably wear their wetsuits for the bike to help warm up after the swim, etc...etc.. etc...

Water temp at race time was 62F ashore, so probably 58 or so towards the middle/turning marks.

Got off to a good clean start, nothing at all like the angry washing machine of the deep water starts for the Chi Tri. We were able to stand in 4ft of water for the start, so we were not fully immersed. I had done a little freestyle out to the start mark, so I knew it would be cold, but I felt ok.

First mark was about 180-200 yards out, and to the right (facing the lake from transition.) I got near the mark, took a quick peek over my shoulder. I was in the top 3rd of my start, swimming strong, felt strong, all is well in the world. We had caught the stragglers of the prior start, and were pulling in towards the middle of that group.

As I turned back and went head down, I got some water. Just a little bit. Swimmers know this feeling... you cough a bit... take a deep breath, and then it is back to business. Happens all the time.

Only this time, I choked a little. Throat closed up. Breathing stopped.

For those of you who do not know me, I took my first swimming lesson when I was 2 and 1/2. I've been swimming for 43 years. I am more comfortable in the water than out, and I am more comfortable UNDER the water than some people are in a bathtub!

And then... I had... A Moment.

A small... oh so small... but very real. Panic Attack.

Suddenly, I had vertigo. I was free falling through space. I could feel the cold water around me, but everything stopped. My chest constricted, the wetsuit choked my neck, the whole freight train of hell parked itself on me.

I had an immediate flash mentally, and rolled on to my back. I can float for days... someone brings me a cheeseburger now and then, and I'll drift to Hawaii, no sweat.

So there I am... first 3rd of a racecourse, floating on my back... 'Look.. a cloud. <breathe... breathe deeper> Look... another cloud <breathe again, dammit... get that heartrate under control... stop hyperventilating.. BREATHE.>.. nothing but blue sky....

I think I was on my back about 4 minutes; seemed more like 3 hours. I felt alone in the lake. I absolutely needed to get my shit back in order, and get out of the lake.

I had seen a number of swimmer turn back after the 1st mark, saying "F this... f-ing cold, screw this crap," etc...

It was about 250 yards to the next mark, then a turn towards home. I could do that. Hell, that is not even my warm up swim.

So I started to doggy paddle. Yup, hard core racing there, folks. Head clear out of the water, feet kicking breaststroke style... Just keep moving forward.

I rolled over for some more backstroke, and a helpful cloud let me glide pretty smooth and straight. I made some good distance, but I knew I really did not want my chest and face back in the water. I was just not ready for the cold, not at all. When would I warm up? July? No clue... just keep moving forward.

Around the mark. Headed for home. Nobody here in the lake but us chickens. More breaststroke... some freestyle (front crawl for you Brits,) but head-out-of-the-water-for-'sighting' freestyle. 1st swimming lesson freestyle.

50 yards to go, and I can feel the bottom under my feet. Start running... I reach a hand back, grab the zip line on my wetsuit, and I am 3/4 peeled by the time I hit transition. Time to bike, maybe it will help warm me up.

My time was pretty lame on the bike, too, but I know that was the after-effects of freaking out on the swim. It took a while to get that monster out of my head. To be honest, what I wanted to do was go into the porta-john and cry my eyes out from the most disconcerting, scary moment I have ever had in the water. I have never once been scared, let alone anything more, in the water. Never. Pitch black, no reference, no shore, jump over the side, cut some crap free from the boat in the middle of the night? Sign me up, coach, I'm all over that.

What the *** happened?

Cold. Cold, and not ready for it. Not even close to ready for it. And then a freaky choke moment, that took advantage of the cold in me. Cold does funny things, and this time it busted my chops good. I was still recovering 7 miles into the bike (which was mostly uphill, and upwind for that distance.)

I managed to hit a good downhill spurt, zipped up to my top speed (35.44 mph on my speedo,) and I was still pedaling, trying to accelerate. I was down hard on the aerobars, and it felt so good.

I pounded the daylights out of the rest of the bike course, but, let's face it, the damage was long done by that point. All that I was up for was finishing. Running is my weak point, and I turned in a 32 minute 5K, which is not horrible, but I did expect better.

And I finished last in my age group. 92 out of 99 for finishers (+11 that dropped out totally, so I beat THEM, too... bwahahaha... but none of them were in my age group.... poop.)

I was talking to the last person to finish. A girl, quite a bit overweight, had no wetsuit for the swim and first triathlon ever... but she finished. After we chatted for a bit, she said "You know, I came in last... but I finished ahead of every single person who is too chicken to give it a try. I am taking back control of my life, and this sport has not seen the last of me."

I gave her a really big hug.

The next thing I need to do is go float around in the lake for a bit, face down, with a snorkel. lol....

What do you do when you get thrown a curve ball? Really?

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. (Thank you United States Marines!)

Improvise... float on my back a bit (mid-race!) and see when my heartbeat recovers.

Adapt... Breaststroke! Sidestroke! Backstroke! Keep moving in the direction of the finish line.

Overcome... The mental challenge is the hardest, because your mind can mess with you more than anything from the outside could ever hope to do. Not even a contest. Use your will. Use your strength. Defeat your own weakness. Come back stronger.

When I exited the water, I pretty much told myself I would never swim again, ever. Right.

Right.

Find me some water, I have some swimming to do.

How to start...

Hi there!

A friend of mine posted on my facebook page the other day (in response to me posting about a training bike/run,) "How did you get started?"

How does anything get started?

When it comes to any kind of endurance sport, just start small. People can even look at say.. a sprint Triathlon (~800 yard swim, 18 mile bike, and 5K run) and think 'Oh, that swim would kill me! I can't bike that far!'... etc... etc...

Simple. Start small.

ANYBODY (roughly) can run/jog/walk a 5K. It is 3.1 miles. If you grew up on Chicago's South Side like I did, from about the SouthEast corner of Ford City Mall to Mother McAuley High School's front door; or, if you are a Northsider, from the front sign at Wrigley Field to the Beach house on North Ave Beach (via Clark and North Ave.)

That is really not that far.

The swim is the most intimidating thing. People rightly kind of freak out in open water. Some people have never learned to swim. My mom took us to the YMCA when we were little, and they basically just threw us into the unheated pool. Grab the sides, try not to drown.

After that, I was always in the water if there was water to be in. Summers in Kentucky, swimming every single day rain or shine in the lake. Oceans are salty, which was strange for a sweetwater swimmer, but you get used to it (spit it out!)

Start small.

Don't even think of running a 5K.... well, except maybe as a goal. Just go for a walk. Plan on it every night, or morning, or whatever. just once a day, take a stroll. Doesn't even have to raise the heart. The idea is to just start doing SOMETHING, and walking is one of the most simple skills we learn. Anyone with children will tell you that you would almost have to prevent them to stop children from learning how to walk. They WANT to!

So get used to walking. You don't even need shoes!! (There are really good reasons to get behind why the barefoot running community calls them 'foot coffins.')

So you want to run now?

Remember, your body has a certain ability to heal and grow (even if you are 90!) We have to respect those limits, too. If you have been living a 'seated' lifestyle, had little to no physical activity (drive to the end of the block to get McDonald's) you need to let your body start that process correctly. It takes a little bit for the ligaments, joints, muscles, to get used to being used again.

There are all kinds of 'couch to 5K' apps out there, you can use one if you like, but the basic rule is this-- Start slow, increase slow, but don't give up.

The running rule of thumb for distance is only increase your running distance by 10% a week, never more. That seems to be a fair rule.

Another way of looking at it is in relation to time. When you are on those walks, pick up your tempo a bit, or trade off jogging a minute, walking a minute... jog/walk/jog/walk. I actually have a GymBoss timer that I use for interval training on my runs, and it beeps at user-set times. When I run, I have it set (for now) at 7/1, so when I run, I run/jog for 7 minutes, then walk for 1 minute, then run for 7, etc... Mentally, it is a game, because I always know I have a short walk in the very near future.

That is really it. You just have to find a way to start. Get that first walk in! Spring is here, so go take a walk around the neighborhood. I actually love running through neighborhoods. Check out the houses, etc.

Treadmill running is "OMG" boring. ugh. But, when the weather goes to crap, you can either run in life-threatening weather, or bounce along on a treadmill. I vote treadmill (even though I can palpably feel my brain rot when I forget to bring a new podcast, etc...)

IF you have ANY goal, especially for your first 5K, it should be along these lines-- "I know I can finish this, there is no time limit, so I am going to run/jog when I can, walk when I want, and pick up my t-shirt at the finish."

So you can set that goal. --'Run the Runway 5K' looks cool. It was in October last year. You get to run out onto the north runway AT O'HARE. How cool is that? you can WALK it!! no need to run!! But if you wanted to do a 5K, that would be cool. Pick one, if you want, just be realistic. Rome wasn't burned in a day.

Does it get any simpler? You still have not gotten new shoes! You most likely don't need them!

Now, if you want to do 5Ks, etc, regularly, or start running/jogging daily, you probably should go to a good shoe store and have a 'stride/gait analysis' done. They will look at how your foot lands, the loads you put on your body, and will probably recommend something really expensive. As a barefooter, I tend to be against that, but then again I have an awesome contact for barefoot (zero lift, zero drop, etc) shoes... they tend to be extra pricey!

You can get not quite so expensive shoes simply by asking if they have last year's model, etc. You could go for a stride/gait analysis, and then buy the shoes off of Amazon, but I think that is unfair (you went to get checked out, which they do for free, under the assumption that you will buy shoes from them.) But, to each his own.

Going further----

If swimming intimidates you, there are YMCAs, Master's Swim clubs, etc, that all have adult learn-to-swim programs, and I highly recommend them to anyone that does not know how to swim. I can teach you to swim, too. At the very least, I can help make you comfortable in the water. Not knowing how to swim or being afraid of swimming is nothing to be embarrassed about! No big deal. Lots of people don't know. Historically, until quite recently, even sailors did not necessarily know how to swim (honest-- if a warship went down, even in sight of land (such as during the Napoleanic wars, thinking of when Nelson found the French Fleet in Egypt,) everyone on board would usually drown. When you see figures on naval battle losses or casualties, by far the largest group of losses would be from drowning when the ship sank.)

You can swim... honest you can! The first thing to get over is the fear of water, and the only way to really do that is to... get this... get in the water. Get in shallow water, with someone you trust. wear a life jacket (honestly!) Get used to the feeling of the water around you. Some people never get used to that. That's fine... not everyone needs to learn how to swim (although I think everyone actually should learn how to swim enough to survive getting dumped into the water,) but it is certainly a good skill to learn.

Biking--

Did anyone not ride a bike when they were a kid?

Triathlon bikes are crazy expensive, but a bike is a bike. The most important things about a bike is that it fit. You can have a super high $$ bike (diamond crusted pedals, solid gold seat, etc,) and if it fits like sh*t, you can actually injure yourself riding it, and it will never be comfortable to ride. Take that old beater out of the garage and take it in to a bike shop to get updated (replace the rusted chain, etc... etc...) it doesn't even need to be a multi-speed bike, single speeds bikes are just fine! Have it fit to you. If the frame is too small for you, or it is too long a reach to the handle bars, you probably need to find a new (or different) bike, if you plan on riding for any length of time. No reason to damage your knees or hips by riding a bike that doesn't fit you.

You can find all kinds of used bikes on Craig's List, or EBay... just know what size you need. Again, you can go get a bike fit, and then use the info you get to buy someplace else.

And then just like the jogging, you simply have to go and do it. It sounds so trite, but the reality is, the only thing stopping you from going is you. I do a lot of running/swimming early mornings or nights after we put our son to bed. I want as little interference with my family as possible.

Simply put, in order to get started, you just have to.... wait for it.... start.

Cheers!

Scott

Death by Bureaucracy

Long time no post!

This morning, I went down to Central Illinois, for the Illinois Food Safety Advisory Committee, Dairy Work Group Meeting.

In August 2012, the State of Illinois decided it needed to do something about raw milk sales in the state. Historically, raw milk in Illinois was simply overlooked, as long as it was not a commercial operation, or was separate from the commercial operation of dairy farms.

Everyone who reads this (all 4 of you!) know that I am a big supporter of raw milk as real food. I drink it every day, and so does Thomas. There is nothing like the flavor!

So when I found out from my good friends Kelly and Rick Boge, owners of Golden Guernsey of Illinois, that the State of moving towards very strict regulation, and would have a committee meeting that was open to the public, I finagled my schedule so they would be forced to give me the day off, and I could make the drive to Bloomington, IL.

I got to meet some great people even before the meeting came to order. Kelly and Rick have a friend who has 'spun off' part of their dairy operation, and John and Linda now run a branch (2 cows!) in North Barrington. I had a great time chatting with both of them; They lived in Guadalajara for about a dozen years, kids are grown, and having the time of their lives just caring for cows and chickens and helping provide real milk.

After a while, the committee chair called everyone to order, and we got down to the show. Molly Lamb, the leader, layed down the groundwork for the meeting, such as how it would be run, and who would speak, etc. Everyone on the committee introduced themselves, and they got down to business.

There were basically 2 sides (1 side had a pair of factions,) to the group. The State side, which included reps from the State, the FDA, and some of the large commercial producers. The "Farm to Consumer" side included the Boges, Donna OShaughnessy from South Pork Ranch, and a number of other independent producers, mostly small family farmers, and the like (some of whom have animal numbers as low as 2 goats or 1 cow.)(Now that is small!)

I am not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the meeting, not yet, at least. There are a number of resources that covered the meeting, and I want to go over my notes and compare them to the few news outlets that sent reporters so that I can give the correct info.

However, I now understand Death by Bureaucracy.

The Chair (Mrs. Lamb,) was asked a few times "What made the State of Illinois decide that we needed laws to govern our personal commerce in this regard?""Raw Milk has been available on farms for sale since Illinois was incorporated, what happened? Was there some massive outbreak of food poisoning from raw milk?"

She could not give a real answer. When asked Who had gotten the committee together to start investigating rules and rule making regarding sales of raw milk, who started the ball rolling? Somebody had to, right?

Well, there is no answer to that. This is the problem of rules by committee. Nobody is accountable. Not a single raw milk associated sickness in Illinois, going as far back as they kept records (1984,) however, suddenly, we need rules and regulations on supply and sales.

Nobody takes responsibility for the rules. It just happens.

Mrs Lamb is referred to as saying the reason for the committee to make rules, is right now there are now rules or regulations in the state governing the sales of raw milk.

So, basically, the State sees its job as this-- "There are no rules regarding this, so we must make rules for it."

Weird. Not surprised at all.

I have always been a believer that if there are not rules regarding something, and that something is fairly common, and is not hurting anyone, well.... why would there be rules?

Donna O had an interesting observation at the end of the meeting, where she had earlier made the observation that if something is not broken, don't fix it, she reminded us all that the reason most government departments exist is to prevent fraud, but they want to start meddling in the affairs of everyone they come into contact with.

"Things would be better if I could just fix..."

"There aughtta be a law..."

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

There was a great turnout, and I met some really fun and interesting people (like Donna O, who with her husband runs the South Pork Ranch (I will be contacting them to get a pig-share.. :) ) and a friend of theirs, Ashlee, who with her husband is just starting out in central Illinois as a small producer (they have 4 pigs!) and CSA.

I met a number of family farmers, people who have been farming for generations. One farmer said he was 60, had drank raw milk (mostly from the milking pail) his entire life, his father before him had, and his grandfather before him had. He said all of his children are fine and healthy, and they all drink the same, and so do his slowly growing grandchildren, the next generation.

I think it is pathetic, but oh-so-typical, that a State government would want to get involved in something that is so essential to life, and to livelihoods.

How do you strangle someone politically? You pass laws that don't need to be passed, you pass regulations that will cost too much money and time to comply with, and then you watch everything wither away on the vine.

I told my friends that as something politically horrible happens, and they ban the sales of raw milk, "As long as you have a place to hide a cow, I'm still buying."

That sentiment was echoed by everyone I met.

Cheers!

Scott

a short look back on 45 years

What a day!

It started out perfectly, with my family at home. Who could ever want more than your family to be with you and all of you to be in good health??

45 years... 1/2 way to 90. Yikes.

So, for my younger friends...

I was born in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr was shot the day I was born. I was adopted from a family in Seattle, and my adoptive family (mom and dad to me...) had to get on a plane and fly to Seattle. There were riots everywhere. What a way to start out!

1968. Vietnam still looked like it would have no end. Nixon was elected president. We had not yet set foot on the moon, and McDonald's introduced the Big Mac. The Boeing 747 first flew.

It was quite a while ago. No CDs (you mean records? no, CDs were not records...) no cell phones, and we used to walk uphill to school both ways.

I had a great day.

Facebook is funny... I was going through the absurdly long process of clicking 'like' on all my friends' comments and 'Happy Birthday!' notes, and I realized just how lucky I am. I have friends I have known since before Kindergarten (Marty McGreal grew up across the alley from me, they had a hoop on the back of their garage, and we used to play 'horse' for hours with a bunch of other neighborhood kids... none of us really play ball now, maybe because our 'home court' was barely legal for free throws!

So everyone from as far back as.. oh... maybe 4 years old... to grade school friends, to people I worked with at AA way back in 1989 (when the K side ended at K13, and nobody cared what you did, as long as the flights went out on time,) all the way to the present, with friends I have discovered and made only recently.

Funny, when I started at AA, there were a number (but not many) of guys who were hired before I was born... now I am in that very same spot!

My life is blessed by my friends, I am far too lucky.

Thanks for the great day!

CSA starting up

So, Golden Guernsey of Illinois is also starting up a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture.)

They are planning on a weekly delivery starting late spring. $600 for a full share, $300 for a 1/2 share. We would totally be in on this, but we're gone a good part of the summer (between sailing and visiting family, etc... etc...) If you do not have room for a garden or want to support real agriculture, join a CSA.

They will have (from their flier,)

Green beans
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Onions
Green onions
Spinach
Kale
Squash
Sugar snap peas
Peppers
Tomatoes
Beets
Corn, sweet and popcorn

Potatoes

Eggplant

Zucchini

Grass fed beef

Oh my!

So the family (Rick and Kelly Boge of Golden Guernsey of Illinois) that we get our raw milk from had a run of bull calves, which is great, unless you are a dairy, in which case they won't be able to help much (try as much as you want, they just will not give you milk.)

On the other hand, you can eat them.

So, in keeping with their philosophy on all grass fed after weaning, the little bulls were let grow up to a good weight (a year for one, 13 months for the other,) and then taken down and made into steaks. We got some NY Strips, a roast, about 5 lbs of ground beef, some stew meat, and some liver. The fun/cheap parts were all sold out within a few hours! We were hoping for some 'ox'-tails, and of course bones to make broth with. Maybe next year.

At any rate, we had our first NY Strip from the Guernseys, and wow, were they yummy! Here is a shot of them before I did a last trim before cooking. I was tempted to grill, since the weather was nice, but I didn't want to overcook them on my first time grilling this year. I'll do that with hot dogs or burgers.

The amazing thing, is the yellow fat. When you see that white fat on ruminant meat, that tells you that it lived on grains, or anything other than grass. Grass for grass eaters turns the fat yellow, or yellow streaked. This is the sign of a very healthy animal. They have not had to call a vet out in years, because the animals eat what they were designed by nature to eat after weaning. Grass. Period.

Cannot wait to try more, and I am seriously bummed they ran out of the cheap and fun cuts so early.

Oh, I forgot, they are holding a tongue for us (how many jokes are contained there?)

More to come, I am sure....

Limitations

A boy was born to an unwed mother he would never know-- he was adopted at 6 weeks. His adoptive mother died when he was five years old, and his father went in search of work around the country. From his family, he learned hard work and perseverance.

He dropped out of High School when his father moved again; he was working at a decent family restaurant, he was 15, and he wanted to stay working at the restaurant.

He enlisted in the Army, rose to Staff Sergeant, and when he was honorably discharged, he want back to the restaurant.

He eventually became head chef at the restaurant, and an opportunity presented itself. A restaurant owner had an interest in a number of restaurants, but he needed someone to turn them around... So our boy, now a man, took a chance with the encouragement of the family he worked for, and took them over. He helped the restauranteur come up with new images, campaigns, and he turned the 4 restaurants he was responsible for around. He turned them around so much, his share of the restaurants was worth $1.5 million.

He used that as seed money to start his own restaurant... and then, chain of restaurants, that he named after his daughter, Melinda Lou (also adopted, like he was... but she could not say her own name correctly, so she went by her nickname... Wendy.)

Dave Thomas finally went back to high school, and got his GED in 1993 (at 61.) He received the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame induction in 1999.

Nearly all of our limitation are mental... they are self imposed.

You are the person in charge. You have to find it within yourself to do better, when you need to do better. To rise above what is merely expected of you, and to excel. There are always some limits about which we can do nothing... (NO amount of practice will ever get me to where I can slam dunk a basketball. It is just not ever going to happen,) so you need to learn how to find what you are good at.

Simply, we need to learn to play to our strengths, and play away from our weaknesses. So you are not terribly capable physically? You do not have raw strength? Find ways to use leverage. Find ways to use little angles to your advantage.

While you do that, get stronger. Get mentally stronger, too. Find a way. If you cannot find a way, then find a way to accept who you are, and be the best YOU that you can be. Opportunities will present themselves.

But mostly, believe in yourself. Then, suit actions to thoughts. Don't settle. Forgive yourself. We are only human. Success has failure written all over it in very large letters. "Overnight sensations" sometimes take years of work to get that one night when it all comes together.

Sometimes... it never comes together. Even then... forgive yourself, and move on. Live your life, and enjoy the life you live.

Cheers! (and be of good cheer!)

Scott

Workouts on overnight

Hi all! (all 3 of you that read my blog, that is.)

One of the problems for flight crew members on overnights, is where to work out? (If you work out, that is.)

A number of hotels advertise that they have a health and fitness room, and when you get to the converted single hotel room, you find that they have 2 treadmills, one of which has been missing some rollers for at least 2 years, and an exercise bike with mismatched pedals. Oh, and a water cooler.

Some hotels, like the Sheraton and Hilton chain, have really Primo workout facilities. Such as our hotel in DCA, the Sheraton Pentagon City. I would bid trips here just to use the workout facility (aside from going to the spy museum, Arlington Cemetery, visiting friends, all the usual.) This is actually pretty normal for some Sheraton hotels, at least in the US and Canada, from what I have seen. I am not positive, though, because we don't stay at that many!!

Plus, off to the side, you can't in this picture see the exercise balls, foam rolls, yoga mats, etc. Those are off to the right.

One of the things you can do on overnights for exercise is walk or run. This takes no equipment (honest... not even clothes, you could go naked and barefoot.... although that might bring other problems.) Yes, you can swim (also doesn't require anything more than what you were born with,) but the Potomac in February is, shall we say, not a viable option.

The problem with swimming is finding a place to swim. Rivers are cold and/or shallow, plus, what is in it? Lakes, etc... you really have to know the area. Most hotel pools are ridiculously short for proper lap swimming.

So we are down to walking, jogging, and running.

True, some areas are better than others. Our old overnight in Allentown/Bethleham, PA, was not a location to be jogging around... unless you had an armed escort!

But for the most part, you can walk almost anywhere, really. Walking is basic to humans as animals. It is our primary mode of transportation. Even if you are going to drive someplace, you will walk to your car, you walk around your house or apartment, you walk from your parking spot to the store you are going inside, etc. (Yes, I know not every single human being can walk. We're not getting into handicap access, etc, here.)

So walking is truly primal. Actually, we probably need to walk a bit more, certainly in the USA.

Aside from that... If you want to get a workout in, walking/jogging/running only goes so far.

So I am a big fan of bodyweight workouts. This starts with simple calisthenics, and goes right on to al the MovNat stuff, P90X, etc.. etc.. etc..

I am a cheap-o, so P90X is out. If you are using it, and it works for you. Awesome. N=1. If something works for you, and you are healthy, then rock on.

So, digging around the internetz, I came across Mike Chang, and his YouTube channel, SixPackShortcuts. Now, I know most of you don't know this, but I do have a SixPack... actaully, I have 2 of them. One is in my fridge, the other is my stomach, although that one is covered by a small pony keg of fat.

Mike is great. He is silly, but best of all, he really gets into the workouts, and the biggest piece of equipment you need for them (he does have weight training workouts on there, too) is a simple hand towel (this is what makes them perfect flight crew overnight workouts.)

Just a couple samples of what he has out there. You can do all of these in the comfort of your hotel room, even on a short overnight. Best of all... they are free.

Here is his beginner workout. Simple, 7 minute workout.

If you are a little more advanced... This is a 1 minute cardio workout. Repeat until you can't use proper form anymore.

There are a bunch of videos to pick. A number of them are more complex workouts, but they all use bodyweight, High Intensity Interval Training, and he laughs at himself and doesn't take things too seriously. Here is one of my favorites. Getting your ass kicked with a hand towel.

I like that he also shows the girl on the right doing pushups from her knees, so you can do this even if you can't do 'proper' pushups, you can still do a variation of this. The entire workout takes less than 30 minutes... how much of a workout do you need?

Anyways, more to come.

Cheers!

Scott

At Long Last

So, those of you who have known me, even for quite some time, have almost always seen me with a missing tooth.

I lost that tooth chomping on a pretzel on Super Bowl Sunday, 1996. Honest. I had a filling that had cracked, and when I bit down on a pretzel, that spelled the end of that tooth.

So, I am finally getting everything fixed! (Hey, when I procrastinate, I really procrastinate!)

So, cool stuff in the dentist office-- They have a computer aided guide that they will be using to guide the titanium post into my jaw. Since there has not been a tooth there in ages, my jaw bone has thinned a little bit.. Part of the body's design... if you are not using it, you lose it. Here is the preliminary shot, complete with angles, etc... cool! Should have a whole new smile by the start of sailing season.

Cheers!

Scott

Sublime Scrambled Eggs

I'm a big fan of Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and even Gordon Ramsey. This is a bit of a combination on how they make scrambled eggs. [There is an interview floating around somewhere of Mr Pepin saying something to the tune of '... and if you have a lady friend stay the night, the least you can do is make her a proper omelet.'

Eggs are amazing. I love eggs, and I have eggs for breakfast almost every day. This is the way that I prefer to make them. I think it shows off the best flavors of the eggs, it brings out the best.

The ingredients are simple, and it should take you less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Don't be afraid of eggs....

This is most of my breakfast in the morning, so adjust appropriately:


3 Eggs
Scallions
Cheddar Cheese
Splash of Milk
S and P to taste

Notes on ingredients--

Eggs
I go pretty far out of my way to get free range eggs. This is the most important ingredient. The eggs are beautiful. The hens are out amidst the cows on the farm, doing their chicken-y things. You can't get more free range than that.

Scallions
Preferably from your own garden, but these are just green onions, finely chopped (you don't need a lot, just to flavor.)

Cheddar Cheese
I use Trader Joe's Raw Milk Cheddar. Illinois law requires raw milk cheeses to be aged at least 60 days. No problems. Love the taste, and it is natural. DO NOT get pre-grated cheese. They have to add powdered silica to the cheese to get it not to all clump together. You don't really want to eat sand, do you? Any other cheese you like? Give it a try!

Milk
We use raw milk from my friends at Golden Guernsey in the western Chicago suburbs. We easily drink a gallon a week, and I make the drive out to visit once a week to keep it fresh. LOVE real milk. RAW milk. Give it a try...

The only 'prep' work you need to do is chop the scallion (Sacre Bleu!! Heavens forbid!) You will find what the taste you like is... but I found that about the area of an egg in scallions is a good flavor for 3 eggs scrambled. Not an exact number...



Here is about 'egg sized' little pile of scallions. You can re-use the green onion to get your scallions for maybe 2 weeks. If parts of it appear to be going soft, just chop them off and cut deeper. Discard when you get to the whitish part of the onion, unless you like a pretty pungent flavor.

Eggs-- When you crack eggs, hold them in your hand and rap them once, quickly, on a flat surface. this way, you don't break the egg yolk (Yes, we are making them scrambled, but if you do it the same way every time, when you want over easy you will do the same action.) So, hold like this (although slightly against the palm of your hand... I had to hold it like this to take the picture.) [Off the cuff, I have a record of weeks at a time without breaking a yolk. I seem to break every 4 or 5 yolks right now.... bad streak!!]

Now, you will be doing two things simultaneously. Get the butter going in the pan, and whisk your eggs. I use real butter, please stop using oils to cook in. If you use oil, add some butter or lard of manteca or schmaltz, or whatever... you need those saturated fats in the REAL fat to protect the unsaturated fats from oxidizing. And for God's sake, don't use Crisco. Throw it away. THAT shit will kill you.

You want your butter to reach the point that the bubbles are subsiding. Hard to get in a picture, but you don't want it to start browning. Hot, but not burnt. (All of this takes place over fairly low heat. I use a gas top, electric tops take some adjusting.)

While your butter melts, whip or whisk your eggs. Add your splash of milk here. Ramsey says to add butter, do what you'd like, but a little fat makes things a bit more 'sprightly.' You want them as uniform in color as you can once you start. I use a fork, some people use a whisk, Julia Child would use chopsticks... whatever works for you. Just don't over do it. Once it is at a uniform color, and the butter is hot, into the pan it goes! [Don't add S and P yet... supposedly, they'll make the eggs a little more runny.]

Once it is in the pan, you can add the scallions, scatter them around liberally. I usually just scrape them off the cutting board. These are for flavor, so if you find you like the flavor, add more!

You'll notice the edges of the eggs start to harden a bit. If you are using a non-stick pan, just scrape gently from the edges towards the middle, and the slightly more cooked eggs from the bottom of the pan will bunch up towards the center. When they start to form that way, grate the cheese directly into the eggs in the pan. Don't be shy, just get it right in there. The cheese will melt and incorporate a bit into the eggs. This way if they sit for more than 10 seconds, you don't have a cheese film on top of your eggs... they will all stay happy together.

You are going to keep pulling the eggs towards the center. Flip them over a bit as you do this, so that they are cooking evenly. I don't like dry eggs, so I just keep everything moving. Once they are willing to 'bunch up' for you a little tightly in the middle of the pan, you can bring them to the plate. As soon as they are plated, add a little S and P if you would like... I prefer just a touch of pepper, and I do not salt a lot of my food, but if you wanted to, now is the time.

And voila! Sublime Scrambled Eggs. Total time, 10 minutes, start to finish, most likely less once you have done it a few times. Dig in!

Cheers!

Scott

p.s... figuring out cost. Back of the envelope parsing here-- I get eggs at $6/dozen (you can get cheaper, but not REAL free range); Milk is $8/gallon, cheese is like $10/lb, and scallions are maybe $0.50 a bundle. So the total cost of this meal is about $1.90-$2.00. MAXIMUM. Even though they are all expensive ingredients, you can make REAL food CHEAPLY. Especially if the scallions come out of your own garden, or you have a little hen house (free eggs every morning!!) or, of course, you are totally farmsteading and have your own cows and make your own cheese.

But even buying the most expensive stuff that I can, breakfast comes in at under $2.50 (Being insanely generous with the pricing.) Time? <10 minutes. Price? ~$2.00. Why would you have anything else? Get cooking!!

16 (+1) Things We Should Have Never Stopped Doing

Hi!

I'm a pretty big fan of Mark Sisson and his website. Today's post was about the 16 TWSHNSD (see my post title.)

I'm all over this one!

Climb - anything.

I still love to climb trees. When I am running through neighborhoods at night on training runs, I always look for library stairs, etc, up and down, just for kicks. Trees are the best, though. One of our former FAs, Holly, climbed a moose with me on an overnight in Providence, RI. If you can climb it, you should. Climbing is fun.

Jump in puddles (or snow mounds.)

I remember coming back from dropping off a fuel slip on a DC-10 that I had just fueled, and I hopped from puddle to puddle in the rainstorm that was abusing us at ORD. Both feet at a time, like I was a ten-year-old (I had to be at least 28.) It felt great (still does!) On an overnight in Cincy, we were walking back from dinner in a snowstorm, and my friend Newton, one of our FOs, was in only the 2nd snowstorm of his life (He grew up in Jamaica.) So, I jumped into a snowbank and showed him how to make a snow angel. He said "If you think I am going to lay down in this white sh*t and flail my arms around like a madman, you are out of your mind!" I said "oh, legs, too!" Snow is wonderful. When is the last time you just ran around in the rain or looked up catching snowflakes on your tongue?

Play in the sand, dirt, mud, creek, lake...

Let yourself get messy! We used to be in nonstop contact with the earth, and we were probably better off for it. Jump in a lake, play in the mud, get dirty, the works. When my son wants to play in the sand, in I go! It's sand!!

Eat food right off the plant, out of the dirt.

Thomas walks up to our small forest of kale plants and just grabs a leaf and starts munching. We pick the white raspberries right off the plant and eat them standing in our backyard. I remember when we used to spend summers in Kentucky, the neighbors across the street had this great blackberry bramble; we would just cross the street and help ourselves. Don't be afraid of dirt, don't be afraid of getting a little on your food. (yes, yes, yes, wash for pesticides, but if you are using them in your backyard, then shame on you anyways.)

Tell the Truth.

Of course, sometimes we should sugar coat it. Kids just blurt out the truth, because they have not learned that sometimes you can hurt someone's feeling (Does this make my ass look big? No bigger than it already looks, honey!) Obviously, you don't want to offend anyone just for the sake of offending them (in this context... YES, offend whom you want to offend. Mixed signals? Sure, but life is funny that way.)

Let go of grudges.

Yes, some things are unforgivable (deliberately hurting a child, etc...) but really, we get so wrapped up over small things, we forget we only have limited time. Bury the hatchet, relax, find a way to laugh together... but for cryin' out loud, let it go eventually!

Test Limits.

Have you ever tested your own limits? Do you even know where they are? Go for a run... and when you run, take a quick sprint to see how fast you can go. Afraid of the water? Take a swimming lesson, maybe. You don't have to go hog wild, but every now and then push a boundary back... do something different, even if it won't mean anything to anyone. Other than you.

Daydream.

Stare at the clouds, watch them make shapes. This is a great thing to do WITH kids, because at the right age, they are all over it. Plus, bonus, if they are doing it with you, then they see that it is ok to daydream as an adult. Who would want to lose that? Stare at the wall. Have you ever actually watched paint dry? IT kinds of dries in weird patches, and spreads unevenly... give it a go!

Move Spontaneously.

Dance, leap, boogie down. Take dance lessons. DON'T take dance lessons! Thomas like having our 'kitchen dance party.' We play a fun song (Milow, Little In The Middle, is great,) Then we just hop and dance around in the kitchen. Be silly. Always dance with kids, they are great! Even try verbally. A good friend of mine and I were talking about our theater experiences whilst we were flying together, and we did the rest of our checklists singing melodramatically (aviation is serious stuff, so it was like flying as Faust.) (low baritone voice-- Descent checklist, pleeeaasseeeeeeee. Yes, we're dorks...lol.)

Go to bed early.

Your body starts the recovery process while you are asleep. Lack of sleep is well known for pushing ghrelin levels slightly higher. Ghrelin promotes the retention of fat. Sleep more, lose weight (isn't that great?!?!) Sleep also lets you de-stress. Mucho Importante.

Laugh Early and Often throughout the day.

Giggle, be silly, find humor in many things. Like Mark says, spend a day around kids, and the "chicken butt" joke will make them laugh... and laugh.. and laugh. Laughter suppresses cortisol (stress hormone,) epinephrine, dopamine... it enhances the effectiveness of T cells (strengthening the immune system.) Why be sour? Find a joke... Some study said kids laugh upwards of 400 times a day, adults, more like 15 (and probably more chuckle chuckle, then all out belly laughing.) Read DamnYouAutoCorrect and laugh till you want to pee your pants.

[o.k... that just distracted me for... oh.. 15 minutes... and I laughed a LOT.]

Read.

Read anything. It doesn't have to be soul searching for answers every time you pick up a book (or magazine, or newspaper, or whatever.) Read fiction. try some hard fiction, or try some non-fiction. I read bits of everything. Reading helps activate those synapses that keep the brain functioning properly. Interesting, in that we didn't have a proper written language until very late in evolution, and yet it makes such wonderful changes to the brain.

Play Games.

I think this is part and parcel to getting dirty. Run around a bit. Kick a ball. Throw a frisbee. Go ice skating. Play Monopoly, and make up your own rules (make it a drinking game!) Don't be afraid to lose, lose gracefully, and win gracefully, too. Be a good example. Go to little league games, they're great.

Create.

Thomas loves stacking things up. He likes to draw. He likes to "play 'tar." Nurture their creative side, and have fun with it. Do the same for yourself. Bored? Grab your child's play dough and see what you can form out of it (I make great perfectly round spheres... like meatballs.) Sit down at a friend's piano and just kind of plink along... notice the relationships of the keys (symmetrical 'forms' when you depress the keys (not octaves) produce minor chords. There, bet you didn't know that!)

Skip meals. (When there is something more exciting going on outside.)

We survived famines, we survived millions of years of evolution not knowing where our next meal was coming from. We foraged, we hunted, we ate. Sometimes... we didn't eat. There are interesting studies about intermittent fasting... after all, when you wake up, you just went 8-10 hours without eating, right? You're not dying, right? As long as you are otherwise healthy, (and even, for the most part, if you are not,) skipping a meal because you are watching the little league team play is not such a terrible thing. Skiing? Keep on going!!

Stay outside until the last possible minute.

For us, growing up, this was when the streetlights came on. Then again, as long as we were safe, that was not enforced that much (1970s/80s Chicago, on the far SW side.) But we stayed outside, playing, and having fun. Go for a walk at night, enjoy the smell of the air. Get the heck out of your house (or out of your hotel, for my airline friends. Yes, some areas are unsafe... there is only so much we can do, but if you have local knowledge, take a hike.)

I will add one more that is close to my heart....

Hug your friends.

Yes, really, give them a big hug when you can. Compliment them (they are your friends for a reason... you should be able to compliment them regularly, and not falsely.) When you miss them, tell them you miss them. Take time to visit. You will hate yourself if you ever have that point where you could have, but cannot any longer.

Smile.

Simplissimo.

Cheers!

Scott


 

Debt made simple

So I saw Rick Santelli on CNBC, and he took his 'easy method' of understanding the US debt by looking at it as a household budget. Yes, the Fed Gov't is not a household (it can do things like print $$ and void debt, but both of those would devalue our currency, and we'd be most likely in a worse spot of bother.)

So, here are the numbers as of Jan 7th, 2013--(in all their trillionny glory)

US Tax Revenue--       2,459,000,000,000
US Fed Budget--         3,540,000,000,000
New Debt this year--   1,081,000,000,000
Planned cuts (annual)--    38,500,000,000

So, let's just do as Rick did, and simply chop off the last 8 zeroes, and we'll have a variation on that we can use as a 'household' budget.

Net Income (Post-taxes, etc...) --   24,590
Annual spending/Budget--             35,400
New Debt this Year--                     10,810
Credit Card Debt (carried over)-- 164,330
2013 'cuts'* --                                       385

Does anyone see what the problem with this house is? Is it just me?
btw, the * in 'cuts' is because most of those cuts never seem to happen. They are actually
reductions in rates of increase. For instance, instead of the Department of Energy getting a 4% budget increase, they get a 3.5% budget increase. This is from Baseline Budgeting 101.

According to the latest tax data, all income from taxpayers making more than about $66,000 adjusted gross income came to $5,100,000,000,000. In the above household scenario, that would be 'boosting' our wage earner's income to $51,000. Ok, we could beat our budget and put almost $15K against our credit card debt. Excellent.

And, we can add all corporate income in the US. That came to $1,600,000,000,000, or another $16,000 in household budget. So we could put nearly $30K against the credit card debt.

That would mean... I cannot stress this enough... the Fed Gov't would have to confiscate [strong language alert] Every fucking dollar made by everyone making $66K or more, plus every single penny of corporate income.

...and... we're not even close to 'paying off' our credit card debt. So after completely destroying the economy in this example, by confiscating every penny anyone made over $66K, plus all corporate income (not profits, income,) we would still be broker than broke.

Here is the elephant (actually, it is a whale, and a big one at that) in the room that seems to be left behind whilst our Congresscritters fiddle away and Rome burns--

Unfunded liabilities (Medicare, SocSec) total 81,300,000,000,000. That means we for all practical purposes in our homeowner example, we owe the mob $813,000.

Those unfunded liabilities are not in the Federal Budget because it would put the GLOBE into bankruptcy. We have more unfunded liabilities in Medicare ($42.8T and climbing) than money has ever existed in the history of the world in all of time all put together. Social Security ($20.5T) is just half that. Piece of cake!

No wonder China is drawing down buying our debt, we're a BAD DEBT RISK. (We were downgraded based on our projected abilities to pay our debts.)

If we had a proper S&P credit rating (like your FICO,) it would be NEGATIVE.

Just a little news to lighten everyone's day.

Cheers!!

Scott

Discharged!

Did my past day of Physical Therapy today.

Since I started doing Triathlons 2 years ago, I have run into (ha ha) a problem running.

That is the runner's knee pain that I have written about before. It was explained to me as being from my hips, and an assessment of my body proved that to be true.

So, I went to my appointments (with Maria at Accelerated... good friend, too.) and did my homework pretty regularly. I also did some of the additional exercises, and tried to focus in running style, going for smooth, good cadence, and slowly increasing distance.

So I was in PT a little longer than planned, but with a pilot's schedule, that is no surprise at all when I could not make 3 appointments a week... are you kidding, we're lucky if we can make 1!

But I have been good about exercise, and at my appointment today, we did an assessment, and I have a great deal more strength in my hips than previously. Excellent movement all around, so with a quick once over I was done. Shazaam. Free to run!

I am still mostly doing sprint workouts, but tomorrow on my overnight I have a good 5 mile or so run planned (and the weather will be perfect!)(Last time I ran in ROC I missed the turn I was looking for and accidentally made my 5 mile run a 6.5 mile run. All good.)

Sweet!

Scott

The Flu Shot, why I don't take it, and why I don't think anyone else should.

I've never gotten a flu shot.

It just seems contra-indicated that for something so basic, as long as you are a healthy individual, there really is no reason to get one. This includes the "Great Pandemic" year caused by H1N1, or the Swine Flu. HERE is the data list from the CDC "Estimates of Deaths Associated with Seasonal Influenza - 1976-2007"

Full disclosure-- I am not a medical specialist, this is not medical advice. I am very much for vaccinations.

First, to knock the "Pandemic" year off of its perch--

According to the data linked to above, here are the major numbers with regards to total deaths attributed to flu across all age groups [USA totals]--

Average -       6903
Minimum -       961
Maximum - 14,715

In the year of the Swine Flu Pandemic, there were 3,433 (Not included in the above study, but the data is from here, which has a nice summary state by state.)

3,433

That's it. That's not even pushing the average.

So those are confirmed cases. Even going hog wild and saying they are off by a factor of 2, that puts us right at the average. Doubling that doesn't even get us to the Maximum number year in the study period (2003-2004 season, which is associated primarily with the H3N2 strain. Actually, taking a fast mental snapshot of the data, that strain is generally associated with the highest total deaths per year. Hm.)

So, call me a pessimist.

I am a regular reader of Chris Kresser's blog www.Chriskresser.com. It used to be titled "The Healthy Skeptic," so you can see I would fit right in.

Here is his transcript from his podcast on the flu shot. I'll break down the interesting parts here.

The money paragraph is his adding up all the pieces towards the end--- I'll just quote him.

"So, let’s summarize everything that we’ve covered so far.  Number one, in general, flu vaccines are not effective for adults.  You have to treat between 33 people when the vaccine and infecting strain are well matched, which is rare, and 100 people when they’re not well matched, which is much more common, to prevent a single case of flu.  Nor have vaccines been shown to prevent complications or transmissions.  Vaccines have not been shown to be more effective than placebo in kids under 2 years old and may have significant risks that are not yet well understood.  As for the elderly, the most recent Cochrane review suggested that there’s no evidence vaccines are effective, and randomized clinical trials are needed to clarify the issue.  So, almost all of the evidence in the case of the elderly is epidemiological in nature, which as we know, is not sufficient to prove the safety or efficacy of a drug.  The FDA could never come out in public and say — You know, imagine for a drug like an antidepressant or something for heart disease that they would just take two groups of people and give one group the drug — or just let the drug out in the general population and then 10 years later do a study and see, did the people who took the drugs fare any better than the people that didn’t?  That’s not how drug approval works.  That would be a disaster for all the reasons that we already said.  And yet that’s exactly what’s happening in the case of flu vaccine and the elderly."

Here we have an nice study published in 2012 on Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Children. I've read through the study, and if you want a real 'barn burner' of a study (Guaranteed to Put you to Sleep in 15 minutes of Your Money Back!!)

They included data from 75 studies covering about 300,000 observations. They included studies funded by industry (They have drug company $$ pushing the results,) and independent studies also. Here is some of what they find (My running commentary is in brackets such as this - [comment,] and the things I consider important are in bold. )---

"Evidence from RCTs shows that six children under the age of six need to be vaccinated with live attenuated vaccine to prevent one case of influenza (infection and symptoms).

We could find no usable data for those aged two years or younger. [This was in the drug company controlled studies.]

Inactivated vaccines in children aged two years or younger are not significantly more efficacious than placebo. [Doctors, Pediatricians, are pushing for vaccinations for children under 2 and as low as 6 months... but there is zero evidence that it has any effectiveness. WTF, docs?!?!?]

Twenty-eight children over the age of six need to be vaccinated to prevent one case of influenza (infection and symptoms). [28 need to be vaccinated to prevent a single case. This is when the vaccine matches up perfectly with the virus, which is exceptionally rare. Statistically speaking, it is closer to 100 need to be vaccinated to prevent a single case. Remember, these studies (showing 28-1) are on a specific known virus... after all, they are injecting the virus into the test subjects to begin with.]

Eight need to be vaccinated to prevent one case of influenza-like-illness (ILI).

We could find no evidence of effect on secondary cases, lower respiratory tract disease, drug prescriptions, otitis media [Ear aches/infection]and its consequences and socioeconomic impact.

Extensive evidence of reporting bias of safety outcomes from trials of live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs) impeded meaningful analysis. [The people/groups/financiers running the studies monkeyed around with the results.] One specific brand of monovalent pandemic vaccine is associated with cataplexy and narcolepsy in children and there is sparse evidence of serious harms (such as febrile convulsions) in specific situations. [In addition to no serious benefit over placebo, they can hurt your kids. Awesome.]"

 Here is a bit from the conclusion--

"If immunization in children is to be recommended as a public health policy, large-scale studies assessing important outcomes, and directly comparing vaccine types are urgently required."

Basically, if we are going to recommend immunization in children in general, more large-scale studies are needed to see if it is worth the outcome, given the cost and possible side effects.

But they are already recommending immunization for everyone over the age of 6 months. Yet, there is little (seriously little) to no evidence that immunization will prevent the flu in anyone.

I heard a Pediatrician from University of Chicago recommending (AM Radio, on my drive to work,) that all children 6 months or over through all adults thru all elderly should get vaccinated.

Show me a non-industry funded study that recommends that, honestly.

What is amazing, is those above results include studies funded by industry... and... even though they tended to have by far the most reporting bias, those were the studies most cited in the public realm.

No, I do not think it is an attempt by the Star Chamber to take over our lives. I know that 99% of the docs out there, especially the pediatricians, are doing their best, and using their best talent, to help our children stay healthy, and heal them when they are not.

But they don't have time to actually read all of the studies that are out there. I flew with a youngish FO who had been a pharmaceutical sales rep. He had told me that when they went into the doctor's offices, or from office to office, they had the studies proving what they were trying to push the doctors on ready to go. He had no idea what was even really in the studies, just that they backed up whatever it was he was supposed to convince the doctors to use. All those studies, of course, are generally funded and run by the pharmaceutical company, and in a number of cases (like in the study I cited above,) they are known to monkey (fuck around with) the results. It is hardly the doctors fault that they are pressed for time in the office... they have patients to see, paperwork to fill out, everything that is involved in their doctoring.

We need to be able to make informed decisions about the health of our children as well as ourselves.
I am a big believer in simply asking a doctor (or anyone else, for that matter,) for proof.

What studies are cited that show this is an effective course of action in this case? What are the complications, and what circumstances appear to drive those complications? Are there alternative courses of treatment available that have proven to work with fewer complications? 

I'll leave with this quote from Chris--

"As always, you have to make your choice.  But it’s important that you have the right evidence before you do make a choice.  And unfortunately, I just don’t think that that’s happening.  I think a lot of the people have the wrong impression about what the evidence actually says about the efficacy of the flu shot."

Stay healthy, my friends....

Scott

I had so many great posts!

It's funny how everything works sometimes;

I have a bunch... dozens, of great ideas to post about.

Some I am avoiding because I don't want to let this turn into an explicitly political blog. I am sure to post a few of them, but I don't know how hard I want to head off into that direction.

Even though... well, it is my blog.... I can do what I want... lol.

I was moved from my walk through Arlington National for quite some time afterwords. It is just shocking to walk through fields of graves of soldiers. It makes you think. What do we value?

I went out in DC with Kim and Jamie, two of the sisters I wrote about in my blog post from Christmas day. We had a fantastic time at dinner. Jamie's oldest is a big airplane/airline fan, and we had some great exchanges about flying. He's a big fan of LiveATC.net, and I told him our flight number and times in Zulu from earlier if he wanted to hear me on the radio. Ended the evening with Kim and some of her peeps at a bar in DC watching the Vikings lose to the Packers.

It was a sad way to meet my new friends, but what sweet friends to make, and how much fun. So glad to get the chance to know them.

Funny how life works.

More to come....

I hope we are worthy enough...

So, continuing a not-quite-lighthearted series of posts...

Our hotel in Washington, DC, is right next to Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, and the Air Force Memorial.


Since I had a bit of time on the overnight, I went out a-walking... This is a picture from Arlington National Cemetery. The rows of graves just go on... and on... and on. The cemetery itself is quite massive. It has a beautiful layout, it really is a beautiful place.

There are 400,000+ graves here.

I did not have a lot of time, since I would be meeting friends for dinner a little bit later, and it took me quite a while to walk around the cemetery to the entrance. I read a lot of names on tombstones.

Each of those names is linked to someone who had a family, was a son, was a daughter, a father, a mother. They had dreams.

Our country called them up to serve, and they went. They paid the ultimate sacrifice. They gave everything so that we can remain free men and women.

I hope that we will be worthy of the honor of their sacrifice.

back to working out

Yesterday, I did my first 3000 yard swim.

That is quite a distance. Took about 90 minutes, so that is not bad at all. Casual-like, in the pool, not pulling too hard.

It felt so good, that when I went home, I spent 2 hours chopping wood with my new 5 lb maul.

It is not big as far as mauls go. Mauls get quite heavy. And axe is good for chopping down trees, or chopping trunks into managable segments, but to split wood you really need a maul. It has a wider bevel on the blade, and when you chop downgrain, sometimes the wood just explodes apart (Thomas was very impressed by that !)

So, axe for chopping, maul for splitting.

Well, swinging this thing properly overhead has made me work some muscles I had forgotten I even had (even with working out regularly again.) And that was after my 3000 yard swim.

<owie> -- says the back.

So, rest tonight, and then meeting up with new friends (who are more like old friends) in Washington DC tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Scott

Why I fly on Christmas

I was lucky this year to have Christmas Eve off, and Christmas morning off.

Christmas Eve is the night normally celebrated by the Germans, so Thomas got a full dose of that with the Christkind arriving and giving gifts while we were playing upstairs. Funny, Nicole was downstairs, you would think she would have seen something, but she says she did not.

So we had a nice dinner, and then Christmas morning we woke up as a family and I made my patented omelet with peppers and cheese, and we had bacon with it (of course) and milk and.... well... it was a good breakfast.

All I had to do on Christmas Day was fly the 1450 flight to Baltimore and back.

We were an hour and a half late getting into Baltimore. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and find out if we had any delays going back to ORD. When I was standing at the podium, a woman came up to me and we had this exchange--

"Excuse me, are you the pilot flying us to Chicago?"

"Why, yes I am."

"I need you to fly carefully."

"Ma'am, I am flying this flight home to my 3 and 1/2 year old son and my wife, I will be flying carefully."

"My sisters and I are flying to Chicago where our brother is on life support, They are keeping him there until we can get there to say goodbye."

<longish silence... slow intake of breath>

--in a much lower tone of voice----
"Well, Merry Christmas. There is nothing that I can say that will make the next few days any better for you, but believe me, I will get you safely to Chicago."

How often do we go about on our days and have no clue what the people around us are going through?

When I broke my collarbone skiing (way back when,) and could not fly for 2 months, I took a job in customer service at FTD.com. Basically we took orders, but we also did some troubleshooting, etc, when people invariably screwed something up with the online order system.

The coworker who was sitting next to me had just had some terrible news about her brother, and that he might not make it through the night. I was still fielding calls (I was Easter and Mother's Day help,) on the service exchange, when I had a caller (who, btw, had ordered everything online, so the only way to screw this up was if he did it himself) who said that the flowers he sent to his mother did not make it there on Mother's Day, and it was a tragedy for his mother.

I told him "No, sir, a tragedy is my coworker, whose brother is possibly dying right now, and will probably not make it through the night. What you are going through, is just a Bad Day."

And then I hung up on him.

But really, what if Mother's Day had a special meaning to them? What if his mother had escaped death on Mother's Day, and this was how they celebrated every anniversary?

How often do we see people who are short-tempered and we think the worst, when the reality is that they are having a horrible run of luck, or just lost their job, or received bad news and are not acting normal because they head isn't quite screwed on straight at the moment? It happens to all of us.

Or, on the flip side, what if they are just... well.. assholes?

Scott

p.s... I managed to be at the airport when 2 of the 3 sisters were leaving to go back to Washington, so I saw them off at their flight. They really are lovely people. We had a great chat, and are keeping in touch. Such is the way that lives get woven together....

Musings on New Year's Resolutions

How long do you keep a New Year's Resolution?

There are a couple of layers of thought here. Personally, myself, I made a N.Y.R. to stop making N.Y.R.s about 10 years ago. I've done really good at this one! Congrats me!

But I was thinking more about this after reading a blog post from a new dad. He had been writing about 2 friends of his that had real tragedy happen to them, and how it hit home with him.

Of course, now, I can't find the blog to link to it....

But it kind of goes like this--

One close friend had dropped her 3 year old son off at the father's house, and the child was battered to death.

The second was a friend since grade school, who had been diagnosed with cancer. They had promised to get to a Lakers game together for years, but time got away from them, even with the cancer warning, and the game never happened.

How many of us make these promises to ourselves? Not just New Year's Resolutions, but promise /I'll start working out; I'll eat less; I'll love my spouse more; I'll finally manage to take my father golfing/ Whatever it is. We all have promises that we make that for some reason we just cannot follow through with.

As I pondered, this kind of grew. How intensely do we live life? Are we living in the moment as those moments go by? I read a very interesting article about awareness (not online as far as I can see,) and basically we only have a 3 second existence. We have full awareness of the moment we are living in, We have about 1.5 seconds stretching into the past, and we have around .5 seconds we can barely see into the future.

How intensely in the moment are you? Are you living right now, or are you thinking about the future? Are you stuck in the past?

Maybe your resolution is to have a little boredom in your life. Can you be in the moment? Really, intensely bored? (I guess...)

So Sal Khan, of Khan Academy fame, Gave a commencement address at his alma mater, MIT. It really is a great talk. Give it a watch. Here is my rewrite of the end---

So imagine we are in the future, 40 years from now. We are all retired, President Kardashian is speaking to us from the Hologram Tube, and we are reflecting on our lives. Looking back, none of us say 'Oh, if only I could have one more board meeting, shareholder vote, or hour in front of the TV!' Of course not. Looking back, the things we might regret would be 'Ah, I wish I could tell my mom and dad how much I appreciate how hard they worked for me, I wish I could see that one good friend one more time, hug them a little bit harder, just because I never got to hug them again. Hear that stupid old joke from another friend, because even though we were all tired of it, it was his favorite, and I'm the one who got to say it at his wake.'

We would want the experiences with our friends, with our loved ones. We would want that quiet moment on the hillside at sunset, or just to cuddle with your child as a baby again, to hear your son or daughter say "I love you," even though they don't know the full extent of what it means to you.

And then... *poof!* a genie appears.

That genie says to you "You know, I've been listening in on your thoughts, and I agree. Wouldn't it be great to be able to live your life, exactly as you have, but to cherish those moments just a little bit more? To live in the moment just a little bit more? Well, as it happens, I am a genie, and I can make that happen for you. You can have everything in your life that you had before, only this second time around, you can really live in the moment. Live in the moments. Hug that person, say thanks, express love. Hell, even have a board meeting!"

Of course, you say "Sure, let's do it!"

*poof*

You already have that second chance. You are already living that second chance. Next time you talk to your friends, tell them what they mean to you. Yes, I know, more than enough people are just not that interested in getting all mushy. That's ok. You can still tell them. Why not?

A little quote?

You will never regret more the things you did, than the things you could have done, but did not.

Well, that took no time at all!

Sigh... lots of time between posts!

Welcome to 2013!

Goals for this year--- Post more than once a fortnight.

A great deal more to come here. I have had a couple dozen blog posts rattling around in my head, and for some reason, I just have not been inspired to let them out. Go figure... normally you can't get me to stop talking, and here, I can't get myself to start. Sheesh.

A great deal more to come for sure. However, I manged to sneak this one in before midnight, so there is that!