Lent -- No Playing Around

Well, it's Shrove Tuesday today so I have been casting about trying to decide what to give up for Lent this year...

But before I get in to that, perhaps I should give a quick status report from last year's Lent project.

I managed to stick to my goal and clean up every day for 40 days. Most days I did pretty well. Some days I had trouble getting over 30 items. The following day(s) I would try to compensate by picking up extra things so the average was still above 100 items.

Some of the areas I tidied are still looking respectable. Others are in need of cleaning up again. The house still seems pretty cluttered, but I am still working on it.

One of the big reasons that I don't clean up as much as I would like is that I spend way too much time on the computer. It's takes far less energy to sit in front of the keyboard than to wash the kitchen floor. It's far more fun to cause pixelated mayhem than to scrub a toilet. It's much more challenging to play a game of Stack 4x4 against an opponent from half way around the planet than to sort through old mail and dust the entertainment center.

So this year I plan to give up computer games. No more Kingdom of Loathing. No more Civilization III for me. Every time I even think about playing a computer game, I will stop and clean up instead.

Mind you, I will still allow myself to spend time on the computer. After all, who could give up Blogging?

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Editor's note: Apparently I am not alone in my lenten journey. My old web-sparring mate Ron Shank had also vowed to give up e-games. Hey Ron, I thought of it (and posted about it) before you did. ;-)

Mississippi Squirrel Revival

This one goes out to all the Death Racing Squirrels.

Mississippi Squirrel Revival

So even squirrels can be agents of the PBGs.

I hope that this year I will be able to run with RTS, perhaps for the third leg of the Death Race. On the other hand, I am not sure I have enough time to train up for it.

The Red Deer Marathon is rapidly approaching. I have heard that the Vancouver marathon group at the Running Room are already running 19 km. That race is only 3 weeks ahead of mine. I had better get my buns in gear and get seriously training if I want to do any marathons this year.

If that weren't enough, there are schedule conflicts too. My family was planning to go to the Naramata Church Camp near Penticton this summer. The weeks we want are at the same time as the Death Race.

I don't quite know what to do. I hope I don't need a squirrel in my pants to help me get into gear!

How Cliche

On my run the other day I was giving advise to a friend via a well used cliche.

"Those who cut their run short today will be able to run another day"

Ok, so I mangled the cliche a bit to fit it to the situation. I do that a lot.

Later, during our final mile I was thinking about my advise and cliches in general. Cliches are not really carriers of information. They only have value if you have experience their essence. Having heard them is not the same as knowing them.

So if, for instance, I tell you to give your body a rest so that you don't injure yourself, you only really understand my advise if you have ignored that advise and done yourself harm in the process. Sure, you can imagine what it is like to push yourself too hard and get injured. You may have heard others talk about their war wounds. But to really understand, you have to experience the pain. The withdrawl. The slow recovery. The struggle to rebuild yourself to your former fitness level.

So a cliche is a warning to the uninitiated and a reminder to experienced. The former doesn't really get it until they become the latter.

Search Google Image PBGS

This page is one of the results I got when I searched for PBGS on the Google Image search page. It is a Korean Dietary Supplement product called ShapeRite (TM) (by NO means an endorsement, BTW!). The web site is mostly in Korean, but the bottle label is in English.

So, if you want to get in shape, use PBGs

Our Fearless Leader

You may not know this (how on earth would they know, you haven't blogged in months) but over the summer I have been a run leader for RTS's half marathon clinic. My 2hr 1/2 marathon group was a small, tight knit group. After running in the Kelowna 1/2, we have continued to run together. We have become good friends and enjoy our time together.

When I am not running with the Running Room bunch, I am running with Neal and "Ginny". Neal is recovering from a recent injury and as a result, our runs together have been slow (~9 min/mile) and short (4 miles).

So between these two running groups, I am not doing much running with just the PBGs.

That doesn't mean that life isn't complicated or challenging, though.

My new job is challenging. It would be easier if my bosses just told me what they wanted me to do and then let me spend my time wallowing in details. But no,... they want me to take the lead. They want me to Design and Plan and Direct and Decide!

I have a suspicion, however, that it isn't just my bosses who want me to lead. I feel the delicate influence of the PBGs.

• They first got me doing rotations in church school
• Then the big call to lead the boys' group
• Then a stint helping with church Stewardship and all the phoning (shudder) that required
• Next, 1/2 marathon clinic run leader

Do you know what my Running Room group likes to call me?

Our Fearless Leader. With all the work I have done recently on the leader part, now all that's left is to work on the fearless part.

Dig Deep

As near as I can recollect†, I was running pretty hard and not feeling very good about it. I was in the middle of my marathon training and my notes say that I ran "19 long miles/ 30.5Km". The PBGs', in their various ways suggested that I "Dig deep". And, as is usually the case, the dig deep message applied to other areas besides my aching calves.

They said, "Dig deep in your running for that is the only way to improve your conditioning and attain your goals"

"Dig deep in your quest" to listen to the needs of others around you and respond in a Christian way. The surface is there for scratching because most of the truly pivotal stuff is not displayed on the surface.

"Dig deep in your personal relationships" for you never know what lies beneath the layers you are already familiar with.

"Dig deep into spirituality" for there will always be depths that have never been plumbed and mystery waiting to be enlightened.

†Originally experienced July 10, 2004 so these thoughts are not as freshly squeezed as they aught to be. It had great punch when I lived it but may seem more like pressed leaves in retrospect.

Must Be Weird to Care

It must be near Hallowe'en or something†. On my run I saw 4 black cats. I think it could have been a witches convention in Mill Woods or something. And I am not talking seeing the same black cat 4 times or over a large span of time. I saw 3 of these cats on the same fence. Pretty weird, eh?

But that isn't what I was going to talk about. Half way through my run I saw a young mom sitting on the curb with a small toddler in her lap. Her head was covered with a hood and she seemed to be rocking the child back and forth. It seemed to me that she was in distress. I even thought I heard her crying.

Indecisively, I stood across the street, catching my breath from some hard running. Should I approach and offer help? Is she really in distress or was I just imagining it?

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

Apparently she must have been just playing a silly game with her toddler. She looked at me as if I had a banana sprouting from my ear. She thought I was on crack or something. "Get away from me you loser," was written all over her face.

Is it so wrong to care? To take an interest in someone else's emotional state? Is it that unusual to notice someone's pain and reach out?

At the time, her reaction didn't bother me, but I did have the presence of mind to say, "Don't look at me like I am weird. I'm not weird." It didn't really change her opinion of me. But I was glad that I stood up for my supposed kind deed.

What would you, dear reader, have done? Would you risk looking the fool? Would you go out on a limb? Even if it was likely that you would be rebuffed? If she really was in need, what would I have done then?

Don't be shy. Let your 'higher right' speak out. Say what you feel needs to be said.

Or, just leave a comment if you want to.

† Actually, this post has been in my drafts since mid September. I did imagine a witch convention at that time however.

Here are my results from the What's my footprint quiz on the Earth Day Network

CATEGORY	GLOBAL HECTARES
FOOD	3.5
MOBILITY	0.2
SHELTER	0.6
GOODS/SERVICES	0.6
TOTAL FOOTPRINT	4.9

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 8.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.7 PLANETS.

Thanks to my friend David (CIV handle Croxis) over at Paradigm Shifter for the link.

Soap Box Derby: Huge Lead

Didn't I tell you it was a huge lead? Eat my dust, red wagon! 

Soap Box Derby: They’re Off!

And they’re off! The hill is fairly steep, but the start is still slow. The dragon car has a huge lead. 

Soap Box Derby: First Race

First big race. Red wagon doesn't look TOO fast. Cross your fingers! 

Soap Box Derby: Father and Son

Father and son together 

Soap Box Derby: Lined up to race

Lined up and ready to race 

Soap Box Workshop: Finishing touches

Mom and dad put on finishing touches.White under coat and black top coat. Mom did a wonderful job with flames and dragon. Bear in mind that the race is only 12 hours away! 

Soap Box Workshop: Undercoat

Sister helps out too. She is painting the undercoat and Dad attaches the seat belt hooks. 

Soap Box Workshop: Seat Belt

The rules say you have to have a lap belt and a shoulder belt. But how do we attach them? Will this be sufficient for the inspection? AAaaaahh! The race is TOMORROW! 

Old Haunts

I recently returned for a run in my old training ground.

I have nicknamed my usual runs, and the route in question is called 'Alley-8'. As you may know if you have looked at my running log, Alley-8 used to be my most common route and many of the entries in the PBGs' Path were 'born' while running this route.

Anyway, on my return to Alley-8, I ran into 'the man in Green', who recognized me and told me that he wondered where I had been. I had to slow down to talk to him (good thing, because I was running sub 4:30 min/km and probably about to have a heart attack) and we had a good, but short, conversation about running and injuries.

I also ran by Hunter's house. There have been some changes in his yard and I am unsure wheather he even lives there anymore. As I started this entry, I did a google search of my own site and on a whim, I did a search for Hunter.

Ah, the good old days of running and PBGing (if you will permit my verbification :-) ). Recently, running has become more about fastness than about spirituality. Concerns for Hunter have been replaced with concerns for minutes-per-kilometers. All about the next marathon. All about, well, me.

Sad, sad, sad.

The distractions have run their course. Even my blog stands neglected.

On the Soap Box

Well, I have been AFK (for my non-chat savvy friends, Away From Keyboard) for some time now.

But I have a good excuse. Well, not for being AWOL (for the non military, Absent WithOut Leave) from my blog (perhaps that should be Absent From Blog or just Abandoned By Blogger) it isn't that good an excuse. But it will explain some of my absence.

I have been out in my garage with my 13 year old son making a Soap Box Derby racer. Our City is having a Centennial celebration this year and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues hosted a Derby. I started building the car pretty late and, therefore, had to spend a lot of time in the garage cursing and many more hours haunting the local hardware stores. Pretty much all my free time has gone into either running a marathon or building a racer lately.

Today was race day and my whole family was pumped. I won't go into all the details here (unless some one asks :-) ) but we had a great day of racing. We won the first 3 of our heats and could have won the 4th if we didn't go off course and hit a pylon or two. Oh well. Our racer worked pretty well but I did have to make a few fix-ups during the race. Susan asked me to post pictures, and I promise I will, but I have to get the developed first (for the techies, that means I go to a store, pay money, wait 1 1/2 hrs, and THEN scan the pictures into my computer! No digital camera here in the Canadian wastes.) I can't wait to see what people captured of the race.

Oh, and I owe you a Marathon race report as well.

Off to work I go

Well, I finally landed a job. I will be working as a programmer using a programming 'language' called LabView for an electronics company that makes sensing equipment. This job will be using real-time programming in a language I don't have any experience in, so I feel lucky to have landed it.

It is also an interesting company that seems to be doing quite well. It has a very good recent track record.

I guess my Parachute book pegged it right. After 4 1/2 months of looking for suitable work using the internet job boards, I finally got my job... through a friend.

So if you are waiting for a great job opportunity to be posted on Monster or some other internet job board, that is JUST right for you, remember that thousands of other people will see that opportunity too and potential employers will have to wade through 1000s of resumes to find that pearl in all the yucky oysters.

If you are that pearl, that's great, but take it from this clam, networking is much more fruitful.

PBGs and the UnderBlog

Thank You Susan for recommending The PBGs Path to "Celebrating the Underblog 2004" list.

Do you know of (or run) a quality blog that deserves a bit of extra attention? What blog/s do you read that you wish others knew about?

Susan added a comment linking my site and added a quote from my Introduction to the PBGs page. On her Sister's page, she also describes what the underblog list is about.

So far I have only had one hit from the underblog list, but since my page is way down the page (on page 8!), it is surprising that anyone even looked down that far.

I guess I need to consider updating my blog more regularly if I am actually going to have visitors.

Sorta like keeping a clean house. If nobody is coming, what is the point of cleaning up? But when someone does come, you spend the whole time of their vist bustling around cleaning dishes and moving stacks of magazines.

Hmmm. My dishes are done, but the house IS a mess. Posting will have to come later, I guess <Grin>