RandomFailure

I started running again yesterday, after taking two weeks off due to cold weather, snow, and leftover snow (i.e., icy surface conditions). Not that I’m that much of a wimp when it comes to running outside, but I’ve learned what my thresholds for cold intolerance are and I have a desire to not get injured doing something stupid like running on ice. So I took the two weeks off. Yesterday went about 6 miles; today a little over 3. I’m sore now. I haven’t been sore from such short runs in a long time. It’s not quite like starting over, but my aches tell me otherwise. I guess I can’t get back to where I was without a bit of suffering. Of course, prior to the two week hiatus, I was only averaging about two runs per week, due to heavy work load and plain old exhaustion. Though I have to admit, it was rather enjoyable running on the inch or so of snow that was on the ground yesterday morning. It was nice and quiet, and provided decent traction (no ice worries). Things should get interesting this week, with temperatures above freezing during the day to melt some of the snow that’s stuck around, and then falling below freezing at night to freeze all the melt that had no place to go. Lots of fun in the dark at 6:30am!

I have to credit the inspiration for this one to my secretary/assistant at work, who’s a Colorado native. Every time it snows around here, the TV stations dispatch crews to local hardware stores or Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc. to report that the stores are out of shovels, salt, and the like. Since we live in an area of the country where we can normally expect to have snow every winter, why doesn’t everybody already have a snow shovel? Do they throw them out at the end of the season? Philadelphia is losing population on an annual basis, and the only part of the city that’s showing an increase is Center City, where I live, and that’s mostly apartment and condo residents, who don’t need shovels in the first place. Go figure.

Apparently, the city of Philadelphia believes in “snow moving” instead of snow removing. I think a plow might have been down my street once on Saturday, but there’s no evidence that a plow has been through since then. I live on a major secondary street (a fairly busy north-south bus route); I can’t imagine how bad it must still be for people who live on minor streets or those streets too narrow for the plows. Interestingly, the first big snow after Mayor Street was first inaugurated in 2000, he made a big deal of getting some kind of snow removal even on the smallest streets. Too bad for us that he’s now a lame duck, and has a federal corruption probe to think about.

There are lakes of melted mush at pedestrian crossings of major intersections in Center City, though which thousands of people pass daily. With the sewer grates clogged over with ice/snow/whatever, anything that melts is starting to pool. These pools (more like lakes, since they’re far too big to be called “puddles”) are very deceptive. Because it consists of dark water/melted muck from people’s shoes, it looks like it’s frozen. Sadly, some people only realize that it’s not frozen once they’re ankle deep in it. And there are the pedestrian crossings that have not been cleared out, such that the only passable way onto a somewhat clean sidewalk (as opposed to making a new path over/through the snow) is a one person-wide alley that everyone is trying to get through at once. Good thing for me my office permitted us to go business casual this week. That way I only get to ruin khakis, instead of a suit.

Must be some sort of karmic payback or something. I can’t pay any bills online tonight through my bank; I’ll bet American Express won’t take that as an excuse for my payment being late. Blogger.com still doesn’t play nice with the Safari Web browser – various Blogger functions still do not work properly, though I’ve been advised by the Blogger help team that they’re working on it.

Combine the Eagles win with a pay raise at work and a great girlfriend, and I guess I’m overdue for something to go wrong. Makes me a bit nervous about going running tomorrow morning…

At least a foot of snow fell here in Philadelphia on Saturday. We’re supposed to get another inch or two tonight, and then more snow on Wednesday. Followed by some more Arctic cold. Grrr!! I haven’t been out running in over 10 days (I have a 20 degree temperature limit; if it’s below 20, I’m not going to go), and I’m starting to get a bit stir-crazy. I’m going to try to go in the morning, provided that it’s not too cold again. I’m even willing to risk slipping and sliding in the running shoes just to get out and do something. Now I know I could join a gym, but it seems rather pointless to me to do that just for the treadmill for a few months. I have never had to take this much consecutive time off from running since I started up again almost 5 years ago.

24 years is a long time to wait for something. And finally Eagles fans have the chance to rejoice! We’re going to the Super Bowl! I am finally able to say or type the name of the game without feeling like I’m going to jinx the whole thing. A bit of a carry-over from my Duke student days, but it makes psychological sense to me. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is the next 2 weeks of hype. I already don’t want to deal with it. I just want to buy my souvenir swag and wait for February 6.

A while back, my friend Joe had U2′s Vertigo stuck in his head, but with a slight twist (read it here).

Now I have a snippet of U2′s “All Because of You” (iTunes link) stuck in my head. The part where Bono butchers the word “tortoise” by pronouncing it “tore-toyce” just to fit it into the rhyme.

Three points:

1. Thank you (many times over) for getting rid of the character Chloe. It was getting to the point where I wanted to change the channel when she was on screen. By far the most annoying character on TV.

2. Audrey is the least attractive main character you’ve had on the show yet. Let’s face it Sarah Wynter was much better looking. (Evidence)

3. Is it a requirement to have a scheming female character? Just curious…

OK, so I’m a bit late with my wishes. I’ve been far too busy at work and out of town for the last 3 weekends in a row, so I haven’t had much time to sit in front of the computer. You know things are bad when I see one of my running buddies while both of us are heading (late) to work, instead of out running.

Eagles’ fans throughout the Philadelphia region are going to be nervous until January 16, and then probably during the entire second round playoff game. Two disastrous losses with the scrubs in does not instill an overwhelming feeling of confidence. But with home field clinched weeks ago, I can’t really find fault with Andy Reid. Plus, he’s in a good position, how could a fan possibly be angry with a coach who’s had the best record in the entire NFL the past four years? Back to waiting it is…