Just a few of my personal thoughts for everyone to ponder.
There’s no greater feeling than to be able to move a man from Point A to Point B against his will.
Russ Grimm
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Two Mexicans are stuck in the desert, wandering aimlessly and close to death. They are close to just lying down and waiting for the inevitable, when all of a sudden……. “Hey Pepe, do you smell what I smell.
Ees bacon I is sure of eet” “Si, Luis eet smells like bacon to meee”.
So, with renewed strength, they struggle up the next sand dune, and there, in the distance, is a tree loaded with bacon. There’s raw bacon, dripping with moisture, there’s fried bacon, back bacon, double smoked bacon…every imaginable kind of cured pig meat.
“Pepe, Pepe, we is saved. Eees a bacon tree”.
“Luis, are you sure ees not a meerage? We ees in the desert don’t forget”
“Pepe when deed you ever hear of a meerage that smell like bacon…ees no meerage, ees a bacon tree”.
And with that …Luis Races towards the tree. He gets to within 5 metres, Pepe following closely behind, when all of a sudden, a machine gun opens up, and Luis is cut down in his tracks. It is clear he is mortally wounded but, true friend that he is, he manages to warn Pepe with his dying breath.
“Pepe…go back man, you was right ees not a bacon tree”
“Luis Luis mi amigo…what ees it?”
“Pepe…ees not a bacon tree…
Ees
Ees
Ees
Ees
Eees a Ham Bush.
Bad Bacon Joke
The price of greatness is responsibility.
Chinese fortune cookie
Failed Experiment
So I tried an experiment last week. It was a failure. Maybe not a complete failure, but the results showed that it was. No, this is not that big a deal.
I always listen to music when I run. Always have. I can remember running with my Walkman (or the cheap knock-off), and then a CD player. I can remember searching for a portable CD player that was small and had skip protection so that I would have uninterrupted music. Now I run with my iPod or phone and don’t have to worry about skipping. No, my experiment was not to dig up my old portable CD player (I still have it). I changed up what I listen to while running. I tried an audiobook. I love audiobooks. I listen to them whenever I have a long road trip or sometimes on a plane. I had heard people say they listened to them while running so I thought I would give it a try.
I decided I would try it on a long run and a few short runs. I think my error was in the book I chose - “Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath” Obvious to you perhaps, but I didn’t really think about it at the time. It is the story of a long, grueling, forced march. Without food or water. In horrendous conditions by men who were already struggling to survive. I tried listening to this on my 13 mi run (a long distance for me). In the heat (well it was 70). Limited water and no food (other than a small water bottle and some energy gels). Do you see where this is going? A fatal mistake on my part and my effort showed. Yes I completed the run, but it was a poor effort and I felt tired, thirsty and hungry the whole way. All I heard about was men who were suffering and my effort showed. I heard about torture and pain. All I could think about was how thirsty and how tired the soldiers were. My brain heard it and I felt it. An interesting thought experiment in any case. It was not a pleasant experience for them and it made my experience challenging. I tried the same audiobook on 2 more shorter runs thinking it wouldn’t have as much of an affect. Wrong. My runs were slow and I felt lethargic. Maybe it is the book…
I will try the experiment again with a more upbeat book. I like the idea of listening to audiobooks and hope that it will work with better material. Maybe something inspirational. Any suggestions?
PS: My next run was a 6 miler and back to music. Best time of the year for that distance.
PPS: The book is a detailed account of the horrors befallen on the American and Filipino forces that were forced to surrender in the early days of WWII and the atrocities committed by their Japanese captors. Despite its dark nature it is captivating and interesting.
Alert for movement of sex offender in Victor, NY
Answer: An Alabama couple, J.L. And Jackie Redd, named their son Crimson Tide Redd.
Question: What is an example of how parenting comes with no how-to book and requires no intelligence test?
Question: What is an example of how parenting comes with no how-to book and requires no intelligence test?
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald
Back to dog training basics
We have regressed. Kolsey, our boxer puppy is almost 5 months old, and she is still eliminating in the house. Often. It is not good. I need to go back to training her daily. I need to have her spend more time in her crate when I cannot supervise her. We will go back to daily walks and nightly training sessions on basic obedience. She is a good dog, but needs more time from me. I put in the electric fence this past weekend so that she can spend time outside and run around. I need to train her on the boundaries. This will also take time. I think some of the elimination issues will go away when she is able to spend more time outside. In either case, we must continue our training. Onward and upward.
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NO. 1
Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to play his trade he’s got to play from the ground up-from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization-an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win-to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are there-to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules-but to win.
And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don’t say these things because I believe in the “brute” nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vincent Lombardi
Learning is a treasure which accompanies us everywhere.
Chinese fortune cookie.
