Allie is checking out her summer quarters:
We approve of the view:
Not bad, eh?
This is where we’ll be “summering”*.
(*That is not where we are “summering.” We don’t have “summering” money. But we will have adventures!)
adventures
18
May 14
Things we saw today
Look at all of those pretty clouds!
But don’t stare at them for too long. You might miss the fallen rocks. Don’t worry about the ones that are presently falling. They are no concern of yours. And nothing to be alarmed about.
The ones on the ground though? Dangerous.
We saw a sign that warned of slow downs and traffic stops 26 miles ahead. Inside of that 26 miles there was another sign warning of delays, because you can forget a lot in 26 miles. And then there were the delays. Finally we got to the cause of such transportation calamity. It was this, well off the side of the road:
Moving the truck would have been easier.
And, now, some lovely farmland scenes:
Happy driving!
17
May 14
A race, a game and a cookout :: A fine, full day
This morning we ran the Ft. Benning Reverse Sprint Triathlon. It is a short course, featuring a 5K run, a 20K ride and a 450-meter swim, in that order. Here we are after the finish:
This is the first triathlon we did last year, making this the first time we can compare times to previous efforts on the same course. I have a few things to be pleased with here.
The run is almost perfectly flat, and there are a lot of soldiers in the race, so they dominate the run, of course. You see them at the start and somewhere on the bike course or in the pool, if at all. So I’m not running with those guys, but I pulled away from a few people in the run. In fact, I didn’t get passed at all. My time was still slow, but I shaved a great deal off of last year’s run.
The bike is a super-fast ride with only two real rollers to think about. I was pleased with the ride last year, and I did it in three-and-a-half minutes less time this year. When you look at the average speed I was on the upper-end of average riders and almost break into the fast rider speeds. Only one guy dropped me here, and I’m not sure how. I looked down at my gears on that first roller, looked up and he was gone. I didn’t see him again until I passed him in the last 100 meters of the pool.
The pool was an improvement for me as well, if only because I was barely swimming last year. Remember, I was still dealing with shoulder problems and couldn’t even pretend to freestyle. I was disappointed in my swim today. The lanes were crowded for the first half of the short swim. Meanwhile, it takes me almost that entire distance to get warm anyway. I also had some energy excuses. (I even came up with a phrase for the latter, the red line of regret. I could have redlined the thing. I should have. Then I wouldn’t have regretted what I left in the pool because I was a little tired and winded. I could have been faster, but I didn’t overcome the red line of regret.)
Overall, my time was 17 minutes faster than last year’s race, which was very slow. This year’s was merely slow. But that’s a fair amount of improvement, with plenty of areas in which to continue to grow.
I’m bummed that I won’t get to do that race again for another year now. I want to measure these performances against another effort.
Today was senior day for Auburn baseball. Here the mother of one player and the grandmother of another shared a big hug and a kiss on the cheek of celebration. They’ve been coming to these games for four years. They’re going to miss each other.
They are sweet ladies.
Here’s another one. This is Morgan Jackson, Bo Jackson’s daughter. We’re buds:
This was the last time we’d see the team on the field this season:
My new Aubie gimmick — no one steal it! — is the Aubie selfie:
Another of Aubie, relaxing with the ladies.
Auburn lost the game, 8-1, bringing their season to a close with a 28-28 record (10-20 SEC). But the friendships are the thing: parents of five different players came to say goodbye to us today and then we had a cookout tonight with the nice group of people with whom we sit. That’s not a bad season at all, captured in one sentence.
After the cookout we picked up the traditional post-triathlon celebratory ice cream:
15
May 14
My new spring wardrobe: My winter wardrobe
Of course we received a temporary fix to our air conditioner problems as the temperatures dropped 20 degrees. But today’s overcast skies didn’t include any rain, so I was able to get in a little bike ride. I took a simple 15 mile spin around the neighborhood as I try to save my legs — the legs I haven’t built up whatsoever recently — for the weekend.
I had two disparate thoughts on the bike.
On the flat stuff, which was much of the route I chose: I’ll have a great race this weekend!
On the hills, which are somewhat unavoidable: I’ll have a lousy race this weekend …
And so it goes.
So we bundled up in sweatshirts for tonight’s baseball game. An outdoor event which took place in May in Alabama:
In the sixth inning I was chosen to take part in a promotion. And I won! They walk you down to the dugout and they present two Yeti coolers. You open one and there’s a gift inside. Then you play Let’s Make A Deal. Do I want what I found in the white cooler? Or should I try my luck with the blue cooler?
The white cooler held a broken fungo bat and a few baseballs they haven’t been able to give away all season. They’ve sweetened the offer with a t-shirt that features the new baseball coach. It is a line art likeness of his face, but the mustache is creepy. So I opened the other cooler and won a gift card to Kinnucans. That’s great timing, I need new outdoors shoes, so I’ll be there tomorrow.
Oh, and Auburn lost 10-0 to LSU. LSU, which is a very good team, has scored 37 runs in their last 15 innings of play. Auburn is still looking to find itself, and this loss all but sealed their fate of being shut out of the postseason. The dream isn’t over yet, but drubbings like that aren’t a good way to start the last series of the season.
Things to read … because reading is always a good start.
This is gobsmackingly foolish. Newspaper nabs website’s article, claims most of it is ‘public domain’ — The Georgia Press Association’s non-action is disappointing as well.
This isn’t the sign of a healthy democracy. Where are the candidates? No contests in 20 of 35 Alabama Senate districts on June 3:
All 35 seats in the Alabama Senate are up for grabs this election year.
But candidates are sparse.
There are no contested races in 20 of the 35 districts in the June 3 primary, now less than three weeks away.
In fact, 14 senators – eight Republicans and six Democrats – will coast to new four-year terms with no opposition in either party.
Job growth! 2013 New & Expanding Industries Report highlights solid year of economic development in Alabama:
Companies launching operations in Alabama or expanding existing facilities in the state announced nearly 17,000 new jobs and more than $4.4 billion in capital investment during 2013, according to a report released today by Governor Robert Bentley and the Alabama Department of Commerce.
There are plenty of details at the link.
Are you building for mobile? Quantcast: Social drives 34 percent of mobile Web traffic, 17 percent of desktop traffic
In Kansas, Professors Must Now Watch What They Tweet
One of these is a former student of mine. He’s a sharp young man. I knew him when: Three From Samford Earn Fulbright Grants
3
May 14
It started with a banana
And now, scenes from a morning ride. These horses were unimpressed:
The Yankee is wearing purple for Elise, the beautiful, beautiful young daughter of a friend of hers who died early this year. There was a “virtual race” today, a fundraiser to help pay medical costs.
It was a nice ride. My legs felt good and the little hills we chose didn’t seem much of a challenge for a change. I spent most of the time thinking of the pictures and videos of that little girl’s face. When I found myself in a lull I remembered how much that 3-year-old loved to do burpees. That’ll make you laugh, a tow-headed baby doing toddler burpees with enthusiasm and giggles. You can cover a lot of ground quickly that way. Over the last few miles it all slowed down and I found myself thinking of her mother and father and the empty spot in their home.
So we rode 35 km in the midmorning sun and that was delightful. Guests came to visit and that was wonderful. We went to the wedding of one of The Yankee’s former students and that was lovely. Beautiful bride selfie:
It all made for a full and rich day of emotion. It started with a banana and ended with brunch finger foods and, ultimately, will conclude with my being too tired to eat a proper meal. But I spent the full day with my wonderful wife and we managed to cram a lot of a day into the waking hours. It was a good trade, even if the horses weren’t impressed.
