JUST RIGHT

It was about 26 degrees when I began my three mile journey this morning.
I had two mesh layers on top, two layers on legs, two layers of socks inside shoes, one fleece layer over my ears and mesh gloves inside wool mittens on hands.
It was just right.

Early into mile one I was feeling a bit cold on my chest/torso because I was not yet generating a sufficient amount of heat.
The thermal balance tossed back and forth for the next few minutes until the heat generator won.
I know this because I forgot about being cold on my torso.

This was a left leg dominated session.
There were several times that something in my left leg/hip whined.

Near the end of mile one there was a signal from a point just to the inside of my left knee that it was not happy there.
Running Central took note of the distress but no further action seemed necessary.
And, indeed, the complaint disappeared.
Toward the end of mile two, my left hamstring began to bark.
Again, Running Central took note of the complaint, and again did nothing.
And, again, the “problem” went away.

Near the end of the party, my left hip began yelping rather insistently.
This seemed to be a nerve problem because on one stride, my left leg went numb to the extent that it almost collapsed.
This would have caused a fall had it persisted.
But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.
Running Central takes this problem more seriously and my steps were monitored closely for a minute or so after the incident.
Fortunately, this problem also went away.

The hip/pain/knee collapse event has happened before, mostly near the end of a run.
Falling down is something I am fearful of because it can break things.
One cannot run when things are broken. (and I love to run)

I have only fallen once.
That was caused by a dog silently hitting me in the leg with his shoulder one dark morning when I was running in my neighborhood.
I never saw him coming or going.
Just a split-second flash of brown fur by my bare leg as I went down.
No bark, no growl, just a good dog version of a football block.
The move sent me rolling on the pavement.

Amazingly, I suffered no injuries then.
No pains; no scrapes.
Just two tiny scratches on my hand (I forget which one).

Today, I spent most of my time daydreaming.
At one point in mile two I closed my eyes and started to go to sleep.
I was so relaxed and comfortable.
This may seem strange to you non-runners, but I have done this many times.
(Not go to sleep while running, but close my eyes and almost go to sleep.)
I am not sure of the cause but it must be the result of mental relaxation even during sustained physical effort.
Had I not experienced this phenomenon myself, I would join you in thinking it impossible.

Jesus was having his own good time while watching me today.
As I turned right off of Discovery onto Voyager (many of the streets there are named after U.S. satellites) He lit up the layer of stratus clouds in the eastern sky in brilliant red.
This against the pale blue of the morning sky looked spectacular.
I had a wonderful time admiring His painting skills.

By the time I got to my finish line/crack in the parking lot I did not want to stop.
My time was almost exactly fifty minutes.
I was slow, but I was stronger.
The slowness may have been a result of my daydreaming.
However, if my strength stays up to this level, I may jack this exercise up to four miles.
That would be interesting/fun.

THE PROJECT

The bathroom is slowly coming along.
Now that the tub and toilet are in and working nicely, my motivation has diminished.

I applied oil to the vanity base to waterproof it.
I will prolly install it this week.
Yesterday I installed all of the baseboard trim and scraped paint drips off of the tile floor.
I had drop clothes down some of the time I was painting, but not all the time.
I tried to be careful.
The bad news – I dripped paint in a few places.
The good news – it is pretty easy to clean up.
I scraped excess caulk from around the toilet base.



The living room wall with the hole patched.



The living room wall with "joint compound" applied to the hole.



The living room wall with primer applied.



The east bathroom wall awaiting fixtures.



The new atomic toilet.
Notice the nice new color - "Roasted Cashew".

IN OTHER NEWS

I was disappointed to see Fred Thompson withdraw from the Presidential race.
He basically said everything that I agree with.

I was pleased to see the midget/clown Dennis Kucinich give up in the Democrat primary derby.
He is the white version of Al Sharpton.
A political buffoon.

In case you are wondering, here are my basic policy/philosophical positions:
1 Pursue the war on terrorism – wherever that may take us.
2 Stop the flood of illegal immigration - build the wall, deport all we find here.
3 Scrap the income tax and adopt the Fair Tax.
4 Reverse Roe v. Wade.
5 Fix Social Security by changing the way COL increases are calculated (use cost increases rather than wage increases). This will fix the coming shortfall.
6 Make health insurance like car insurance – allow individuals to buy it from whoever they want. Get employers out of the health insurance business.
7 Repeal McCain-Finegold – expand freedom of speech.
8 Allow oil production in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
9 Move the United Nations headquarters to France.

MAKING HISTORY

This morning was a perfect Alabama imitation of Oregon.
Thirty-two degrees with drizzle and light fog.
I dressed a bit too heavily for the event by accident.
I had two breathable layers on top and added a waterproof layer on top of them to minimize the effects of the drizzle.
It was too much.

I should have removed one of the mesh layers.
I discovered this about mid-way into mile one.
I toyed with stopping and removing one of my layers but decided against it.
I just resigned myself to sweat a little more.
This temperature was not the life-threatening chill of last weeks fifteen degrees, so I felt more comfortable with the discomfort, so to speak.
(As you may know, sweating in extremely cold conditions for long periods of time can be fatal.)

And, today I experienced an historical event.
I was stopped by the police while running.
I was running in the street on Explorer Blvd. (as I usually do around 6:40 on Saturday morning) when an approaching car suddenly sprouted red and blue lights on its roof in the dim morning drizzle/fog.
I was informed that according to Alabama law I was required to run on the sidewalk if one is available.
I thanked the officer, trotted over to the sidewalk about 30 feet to my left and resumed my journey in a somewhat bemused state of mind.

Technically, the officer was correct.
However, as a practical matter and a matter of preference, I like running in the street.
At 6:40 AM, there is not a lot of traffic on this road.
Actually, there is virtually NO traffic on this road at this time of day.
That is one reason I run in this area at this time of day.
The police car was the fifth car I saw on the three roads that I run on during my usual course.
Only two of those cars were on my side of the road. (the police car was the third.)
(I also run on other roads during my Saturday morning jaunt but because of the traffic on those roads, I run on the sidewalk. as required by Alabama law. I am not a complete idiot.)
He knows this as well as I do, but I had no inclination to argue with the man.

Sidewalks have several unique problems that I prefer to avoid, if possible.
First, they are hard.
Harder than roads.
This seems very counter-intuitive, but it is true.

It would seem that roads would have to be very tough and hard because they have to support big cars, bigger SUVs and bigger trucks, whereas sidewalks only have to support people.
True, but wrong.
Most roads are paved with asphalt, while sidewalks are made of concrete.
Concrete is harder than asphalt.
While they both may seem equally hard on first examination, spend an hour or so “pounding the pavement”, as the saying goes, and see for yourself if there is a difference.
Asphalt is somehow softer than concrete and thus, easier on the joints.
Trust me on this.

Second, sidewalks sometimes are tilted to the side to allow water to run off of them.
There is one section of sidewalk that I run on now that is this way and I hate having to run on it.
You might be thinking, roads are crowned the same way for the same reason.
You would be correct in your assessment.
However, in many places, the crown in the road is less severe than the tilt of a sidewalk.
In addition, traffic permitting, one can run down the MIDDLE of the road where there is no tilt.

What would the man think if he had seen me running down the middle of Old Madison Pike at 6 AM on Saturday a few years ago.
(That was before a couple of plants opened in research park that have weekend shifts. Before then, it was REALLY dead on Saturday morning.)

THE PROJECT

The bathroom project is coming along slowly.
I am taking my time and doing just one or two steps each evening.
This week I applied calk around the bathtub and toilet.
I painted the calked areas around the tub.
The calk around the toilet base will remain white as it is.

I am getting my custom-built vanity base ready for installation.
I attached the front door and stained it (the whole vanity) a nice light oak color.
A test fitting revealed that a couple of notches needed to be cut in the base and back to accommodate slight irregularities in the floor and wall.

The section of floor trim behind the toilet must be installed before I install the vanity and I want to paint the trim before I install it, but it has been too cold to paint outside, so I have to paint the trim inside, but the saw horses that I need to set the trim on to paint them is being used for the finishing touches on the vanity base.
Got all that?

Dedicated Or Crazy?

THE RUN

Seventeen degrees.
That is what the thermometer read on my back porch Sunday morning when I stepped out at about 5:30 AM.
Saturday is my usual running day but I had a commitment this past Saturday that precluded a morning run.
Thus, I ran on Sunday.

This was one of those days that I committed to that summer in 1999 when I was deciding if I was going to become “a runner”.
I was going to do it just like my weight workouts.
No excuses.
No slacking.
Set up a program and stick to it.
No matter what.
In sickness and in health.
In the rain.
In the snow.
In the heat.
Whatever.
If the circumstances were not ideal, you just suck it up and do the drill.
Shut up and run, as the phrase goes.
I knew it was going to be cold.
I have run in the cold before, and lived.
So I just set my mind to do what I knew I should.

I was prepared for the chilly task.
Three layers on legs, three breathable layers on top, one pair of knit gloves inside a set of wool mittens on hands, two layers of socks inside running shoes.
Ear warmer and a breathable neck cover.
And Vaseline smeared on my cheeks, lips and chin.
It was almost enough.

My fingers were the first to complain about the lack of insulation.
Halfway into mile one, they were wanting more protection.
I balled my fists up inside my mittens and tucked my thumbs inside my fingers.
That made my thumbs happy but my fingers complained.
So I alternated thumbs outside fingers for a few minutes, then fingers outside thumbs for a few.

Somewhere toward the end of mile two, my hands began to sweat and I took off my mittens, leaving just my knit gloves to protect my hands.
They were enough.
I marveled how much energy and heat one body can produce, even in the most bitter cold, such that one can begin to selectively remove layers of clothing and still be “comfortable”.
Just a few minutes ago my fingers were complaining about being cold, now they were “hot”.

Soon after that, my left hamstring began to whine about too much stress.
The complaint was duly noted but the run continued.
I was highly motivated to finish this session as soon as possible.

One reason was because it was cold.
As warm as I was by then, I knew that if I had to stop running and walk, I would become cold again.
Not a good thing. (I hate being cold.)
Second, it was Sunday.
I needed to get back to the house and get ready for church.
I had almost an hour of safety margin but I did not want to play it too close.

It is good to be running again, in spite of the inhospitable environment.
I am looking forward to July.


THE PROJECT

The bathroom project is not complete yet.
It was allowed to sit half finished while I went on vacation.
Friday afternoon I installed my new Atomic Toilet.
It turned out to be more simple than I was expecting.
The main reason for this is that it required no leveling on my tile floor.
With no fiddling around to get it to sit level the installation was simple.
I pressed the wax ring on the bottom flange, turned the bowl over and set in on the pipe with the two anchor bolts poking through the base holes.
I smushed the wax ring down and bingo! the potty was placed.
The tank was attached (with silicone goop applied to all holes/gaskets, and then the water hose was attached.

I held my breath as I turned on the water.
The tank filled.
I pressed the lever and KA_WOOSH!
The Atomic Toilet did its thing.

The brand is Toto.
It does not flush like most toilets I am used to.
Instead of a long ten second swirling gurgling hydraulic symphony with a final wet gargle like I am used to, this new piece takes about two seconds (literally!) to wash away whatever is in the bowl.
This thing could flush a whole loaf of bread.
Or a Jimmy Dean sausage.

There were a couple of small leaks in the hose connections that required some tweaking, but those were soon fixed.

After having to use the back bathroom for almost three months, it felt strange tending to biological business in the front bathroom again.
But I am very pleased with my new plumbing fixture.
Now I am getting ready to install my new vanity and sink.

Pictures of my Oregon trip coming soon!

I'm Baa-ack

Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.

Let the Royal Chronicles show that I have returned from my journey to Oregon, USA.
I had a wonderful time visiting my sister and her family.

The weather was typical for this time of year and that locality - temp between 45 and 35 degrees night or day.
It rained every day - some days for ten minutes, some days for ten hours.
I got to run nearly every other day - rain or cloud. (as I had planned)

We visited the coast for four days.
There, the temperature never varied above 57 or below 35, day or night.
It rained every day - some times for ten minutes, some times for an hour or two.
It was VERY windy on the coast - 30 to 60 mph.
It was so windy at one place we visited that it literally almost blew us off our feet.
(This was not good as we were standing on the edge of an 800 foot cliff overlooking the ocean.)

Much fun and eating was enjoyed by all.
I got to have my annual halibut fillet.
It was very good, as usual.
My sister made one of her famous four-inch tall apple pies (pictures were taken for proof) which was a good as it was tall.

I did not take as many pictures this year as I did last year - mostly because of the poor weather.
The weather at the coast cleared for about half a day which allowed us to travel to one of our favorite places for wave watching, climbing, and picture making.

There were no travel problems, no lost luggage, or undue delays.
I arrived home early (by an hour or so) and under budget.
How can this be bad?

Pictures will be posted soon.

Announcement

Let the Royal Chronicles show that an extended journey is planned.
I will travel to Beaverton, Oregon (near Portland) to visit my sister (and brother-in-law and nephew).
I will be be gone for a little over two weeks.
Many pictures will be taken.
It is unlikely that any posts will be made to this blog while I am gone.
A full report (with pictures!) will be posted upon my return.

This means that the bathroom project will be on hold for this period.

THE BATHROOM REMODELING PROJECT

The status of the bathroom project as of this evening is ......

The living room wall is completely patched and painted with white primer.
It will remain in this state until I repaint the living room sometime next year.
(This sounds worse than it looks. The walls are already a light beige so in the normally dim light the primer looks little different from the rest of the walls.)

The bathroom walls are completely patched and "finished".
There are a few small places where I am not pleased with my joint compound smoothing and will attempt to improve on the work done in those places.
(I did some "patching" last evening.)
In spite of the above, a coat of white primer was applied to all walls (Saturday) and tonight I applied a coat of the New Color (a light gold-brown called "Roasted Cashew".
It looks good to me.

THE RUN

The run last Saturday was another productive session.
I was a bit tired from my remodeling project and had not done any workouts in two weeks.
This, I feel, weaked me just a bit more than otherwise (work has been slow this past week) would be the case.
My time was between forty-one and forty-two minutes, so I was not as badly fatigued as I feared.
It is good to be running again.

Remodeling Progress

I hate remodeling.
I would rather tear something completely to the ground and build a completely new replacement than to have to piddle with the infinite little details that present themselves in a remodeling job.
So here I am remodeling my baffroom.
With all of its many little details that must be fixed before it can be completed.




Hidden behind my old tile was evil mold stains.



More tub nastiness.



Fixtures removed.



"The hole" in the living room - old tub still there.



"The hole" with old tub gone.
Mo pichas later.

THE RUN LAST WEEK

(I know you both are really interested in this.)
The run last week was productive if a bit difficult.
The effort at work has been elevated and the results of such activity makes itself known when I run.
In addition, I was working almost every evening on my bathroom.
I was cutting sheet rock and smearing goop over the joints and holes.
The good news: is that I am expecting some diminished strength and results.
The bad news: I am not sure how much it will be.
The good news: I had a pretty good run.
The bad news: It could have been better.

It was cold (mid 40's) and I hate the cold.
So I have to be careful how I dress (a nuisance).
I must wear just exactly the correct type and number of layers or I will be uncomfortable during my journey.
Too much and I sweat like a piggy in the Mojave.
Too little and I freeze like a piggy in the freezer.
Fortunately, I got the layers right.
My time was a bit long of forty-one minutes but not bad considering my already taxed strength.
I was happy.

THE RUN THIS WEEK

The thermometer on my back porch read 58 degrees at 5:50 this morning.
That is "hot" for December in Alabama.
Thus, dressing for this session was simple - shorts and a long-sleeved top.
Off I went and had a pretty decent time of it.

I have been fighting a cold all this week and I am in the last stages of it.
My nose was stuffed up, which inhibited my breathing somewhat.
My lungs also had some junk in them that rattled around a bit until I hacked it up halfway into mile one.
Plus, this has been another active week at work.
Spending most of each day bending over, reaching behind equipment, hooking up cables and arranging them in neat bundles and tying them together is tiring work.
Much of it is done by braille because you cannot always see what you are doing.

Given all of the above, I expected a less than ideal time on the running course.
To my surprise, I had a pretty good time of it.
So much so that I caught myself daydreaming in mile two and three.
I was a bit late getting started.
It was 6:07 at my first steps.

My left knee started squeaking toward the end of mile two.
Running Central duly took note of the complaint and monitored the situation for a few minutes.
The problem went away and daydreaming resumed.
Running Central went back to sleep.

I was tired toward the end.
So much so that accelerated breathing kicked in a few hundred feet from the finish line/crack in the parking lot.
But the Runner in me had asserted himself in those last few minutes and we were going to give the session our all.

Part of the reason for this is that today is/was the Rocket City Marathon.
As I was running my little course, 1,500 people (much better runners than I) were preparing to trot twenty-six miles.
I have never run a marathon.
I never felt the need.
I have run two half-marathons (13.2 miles each).
That was enough.
But those people were on my mind as I ran today.
The Runner in me felt that the least I could do was give my best effort to my little course.

And thus, I crossed my finish line/crack at 6:49.
Forty-two minutes.
Not bad for a tired old man.

The meter says the bird is done.



Here is some of the dinner the I feasted upon Thanksgiving day.
Mmmmm, yummy!



The living room wall before "the hole".



The b-room before



My poor tub with temporary plastic sheet to keep it from leaking.



The potty that couldn't flush anything bigger than a marble and the sink that you can't put anything on while you wash/shave/rinse.

THE RUN

The run Saturday was a good one. (again!)
I managed to dress appropriately for the cold weather and that made for fewer distractions as I trotted along.
It was about 40 degrees.
I put three layers on top and that proved to be a bit much, but two of them were equipped with zippers so I was able to moderated my temperature.
I had to open both zippers before I reached the end of mile one and my mittens came off by the end of mile two.
But due to the wonders of polyester knit, the layers were capable of allowing my body heat to move through them and also allow the cold morning air to drift in.
The extra layer did cause me to sweat more than I would have liked, but because it was also breathable I did not leave a trail of wet.
All in all, I was comfortable.

Between my work schedule and my bathroom remodeling project, I have been busy and active all week.
This resulted in me feeling “tired” before I even took my first running step.
I was mildly concerned that I may not be able to complete my three mile course.
But that concern was without basis.
I did my distance in forty-two minutes – about nominal for my level of fatigue.

I had such a pleasant time that I actually spent most of mile two and the first half of mile three daydreaming as I ran.
As my mind wandered the distance passed beneath me.
And then, I was done.
On to other activities....

THE PROJECT

The bathroom remodeling project is coming along.
The tub (my biggest concern) is installed and working.
There is still some open space around the walls of the new tub.
I must complete putting reenforcements around the walls of the tub before I can begin finishing the sheet rock.
Each day I complete another detail in the room.
Much of it is support work that will be covered and never seen or appreciated.
But I will know it is there and taken care of.

As a result of my explorations in this project, I have confirmed a suspicion of mine.
There is no (as in, NONE) insulation in the walls of my little house.

Therefore, after this project, I plan to insulate all of my outside walls with polyurethane foam insulation after the first of the year.
I have made the required measurements and calculations and know how much stuff to buy to get the job done.
Polyurethane foam is not cheap but it is very good insulation.
It is rated at R-7 per inch.
Thus, my 3.5 inch walls will have an R value of 24.5 when completed – very good.
This improvement will reduce my heating and cooling bills by as much as twenty-five percent.

To fill my walls with this foam, I will have to drill a two-inch hole near the ceiling in every stud space.
This will be messy and require yet more dislocation of furniture in the house (my house is a mess now with tools and new fixtures scattered all over the house).
Right now, my new toilet is sitting in my kitchen, still in the boxes.
But after this project is completed, and the holes in the walls patched, I can repaint my house according to my OTHER plan.
I have wanted to repaint my rooms for over a year, but have refrained because of the two above projects waiting to be completed.

Later, I may add more insulation to my attic to further reduce my energy use.
Then comes the carport....

It is time to go workout.
I am not enthused but will be better for it when I am done.
Tonight is chest and back night – pushes and pulls.
Later....

Running, Remodeling, Thanking

THE RUN

Forty-two minutes.
That was my time Saturday morning.
I was a bit tardy getting to the course from dithering around the house trying to decide what to wear.
It was supposed to be in the high thirties, according to my recollection.
My recollection was wrong.
It was in the high forties.
It makes a difference.
So I over-dressed a little.
The downside of such errors is that I am a bit uncomfortable (read: hot) if I overdo the clothing layers.
The upside?
I am warm even though the weather is “cold”.

I was tired from some extra effort at work this week.
I prepared myself for a tough slog and that is what I got.
The runner in me said, “This is not fun.”
The coach in me said, “Shuddup an' run.”
Running Central noted the sharp little pin-prick pain in the front of my right knee, and the stiffness in my left hip.
Somewhere in mile one, all the body part complaints disappeared.

I had not gone a good one-eighth of a mile when it became clear that the tension on my shoelaces was not even.
The right was much too loose.
It felt like it had come untied – a first ever event during a run, of any sort.
I had to STOP and retie my right shoelace.
I hate that.

Strangely, I had to stop AGAIN about a mile later to retie that SAME shoelace.
I do not know what happened.
My New Balance running shoes have never had a problem with laces coming loose.
My latest pair have special lumpy laces that, I was told by the salesperson, were designed lumpy so they would not come loose.
For me, they were fixing something that was not a problem to me.

At the end, I was tired.
I felt mentally good that I had done my duty and finished my run.
The last quarter mile was one of those blind trots where all you really want to see is the finish line/crack in the parking lot so you can stop.
As tired as I was, I knew that I would quickly recover from this effort and have a good day.
And it was so.

THANKSGIVING DINNER

After church, Sunday, we partook of our annual Thanksgiving dinner.
The ladies of the congregation prepared a massive feast.
One look at the table and I felt inadequate for the task that lay ahead of me.
I got some turkey, some ham, sweet potato casserole, Lima beans, a cornbread muffin, cranberry sauce, and maybe some other stuff. (oh, yea, I had some stuffing, too.)
After cleaning my plate, I partook of some cake. (I left most of the too-thick but very good, cream cheese-based icing on the plate – too sweet!)
It was all good.
I did not partake of the two kinds of brownies, the fudge, the apple pie, the pan cake, the cookies, or any of the three pastel-colored cool-whip dishes. (we had pink, green, and white with red dots (strawberries?) in it.)

THE PROJECT

The big news this week (other than it being Thanksgiving week) is that I am taking the entire week off to remodel my bathroom.
I really do not expect to have this whole project completed by next weekend, but I will have most of it done.
I have taken the extra time off to allow for fixing unforeseen problems that always come up during remodeling projects.
And I will take most of Thursday off from the remodeling to cook (and eat!) my Thanksgiving dinner.

If you remember the tale of the flying bathtub a few weeks ago, well, this week is when the new tub gets its new home. (and I get to stop scrubbing tile)
Because I am taking ALL of the tile out of the bathroom, I must remove the toilet and the pedestal sink (which I hate).
Today I purchased a new, super-flushing toilet.

I dread this project but it will be nice when I get it all done.
Photos are being taken to document the progress.
They will be posted soon.

GIVING THANKFULNESS

Remodling projects notwithstanding, I/we have many things to be thankful for.

First and formost, that God in mercy reached down to this helpless sinner and called me from my ignorance, rebellion, and selfishness to His kingdom/family/church.
A truly life-changing experience.
He has guided me, helped me, and taken care of me since that time.
I have had to exercise 1 John 2:1 a few times, but God has always been available to restore me.

VETERANS DAY AND OTHER STUFF

VETERANS DAY

A special thank you to all Americans who are serving or have served in our military services.
And a very special thank you to those families who have lost a family member in service to our country.
I realize that no words can ease your pain and loss, but please know that I am aware of your sacrifice and that of your lost loved one.
Thank you for your sacrifice.

ON TO MORE TRIVIAL NEWS......

The run Saturday was productive if not fun.
I was tired from my increased efforts at work during the week.
The question in my mind was how well would I do in my little micro marathon.
I got a late start because I was piddling around the house with various mental distractions regarding my upcoming remodeling project.

My watch read 6:15 when I finally began my run.
I started out expecting to have a tough time of it, thankfully I was mostly disappointed.
I broke into accelerated breathing near the top of hill two and it took me a few minutes to settle back down to my usual breathing level.
This was not unexpected.
By mid-mile three, various little aches and pains were squeaking in my hips and knees, but nothing rose to the level of show stopper.

The last quarter mile was a difficult slog.
I felt like I was running through molasses.
By this time I was pleased to be almost done and was determined to gallop to the end as best I could.
The time proved to be about average – forty-one minutes.

Thanks to the change in the clocks, I had semi-daylight on the whole course.

Sunday morning at five-thirty AM, the eastern sky lit up the few cirrus clouds in brilliant shades of gold, purple, and pink.
It was hard to keep my eyes on my walking course (the street) and not on the sky.
By the time I arrived home, the sun was almost peeking over the mountains.

IN OTHER NEWS.....

I was driving home from church Sunday when an old song came on the radio.
I had not heard it in years (decades?)
I present the words below for your edification:


I was standing on the banks of the river (sic)
Looking out over life’s troubled sea
When I saw an ole ship that was sailing
Is that the ole ship of Zion I see?

Its hull was bent and battered
From the storms of life I could see
Waves were rough but that ole ship kept sailing
Is that the ole ship of Zion I see?

At the stern of the ship stood the captain
I could hear as he called out my name
“Get on board it’s the ole ship of Zion
It will never pass this way again.”

As I step on board I’ll be leaving
All my sorrows and heartaches behind
I’ll be safe with Jesus the captain
Sailing out on the ole ship of Zion.


I first heard this song by the Kingsmen quartet in the early(?) seventies.
I would like to get a copy now.

Changes

Let the chronicles record that the flat sheets on the royal bed have been washed and retired for the winter, replaced by my nice, snuggly flannel sheets.

In other news.....

I am just two weeks away from the most major home project of my administration so far, the remodeling of my bathroom.
This will involve removal of all the tile on the walls, removal of the current steel bathtub, toilet, and sink, and installation of a new one-piece fiberglass tub, new high-fiber toilet and a custom vanity.
I will have to install new sheet rock on the lower four feet of the walls.
And then repaint the whole new bathroom. (color still to be determined)
I plan to keep the tile floor as is.


To install the new tub, I will have to tear out the entire wall behind the current tub, carry the new tub in the front door and pass it through the hole in the wall from the living room to the bathroom, then rebuild the wall and refinish it with new sheet rock and paint.
I very dread this project, but it needs to be done.

On a more pleasant topic.....

The thermometer on my back porch read 45 degrees when I stepped out for my morning run Saturday.
It was 5:45 AM.
I had dressed according to the prognostications of a local weatherperson from the night before.
That prediction proved to be accurate and in accordance with the reading on my thermometer.
I drove to research park – west and started my familiar journey.
My watch read: 6:00:00.
What a great way to measure my running time!

Interestingly, even though it was totally dark, there were no street lights on the first quarter mile of my course.
I assume this was either because of the new construction of Bridge Street, or because someone had already set the timing clock for the lights back in anticipation of daylight savings time this weekend.
My presumption about daylight savings time became less probable when I saw the street lights on along the second quarter mile of my course.

Going up the first hill it was really dark.
There are no street lights or office buildings here.
I could just barely see the lines in the road (I run down the center lane of the road here even though there is a sidewalk fifteen feet away.)
There was a faint quarter moon that provided a small amount of light all during my traverse.
I could even see my shadow in the darker areas.

Just about the time I was sure that the construction was the cause of the lights being out, I came across another section of darkened streetlights in mile two, almost a mile from the construction area.
Go figure.
And it was still really dark.

I was a bit concerned about my strength this session because my left knee tried to collapse Friday at work.
This was not a major event or even a “problem” other than I constantly am aware of how my body is functioning prior to a running event.
A collapsed knee is not a big deal at work where there are other people around to assist you to a chair, if need be, etc.
A collapsed knee when one is alone a mile and a half from one's car in near total darkness at 6:15 AM on Saturday morning, is quite another matter.
So I take notice of my physical resources constantly.

My concern was not needed.
I had a fine run up until the last half mile or so.
That was when my hip flexors began to whine.
Why they were complaining I know not.
It mattered not.
Every time I lifted a leg to take another step, the front of my hips barked.
Running Central duly noted the complaint.
The coach in me said, “Shuddup an run!”
Not a problem.

Steevee was in race mode again and pushed himself all the way to the finish line/crack.
Mind you, it prolly did not look impressive, but I was giving all I had the last few hundred feet of the session.
My watch read: 6:41:15.
I must have done too much sightseeing – even in the darkness.

When I finished, the eastern sky was light but the sun was not up.
This will be the last weekend this year for that circumstance.
In exchange for sunset at 4:30 in the afternoon, I will be able to run in the morning twilight from now on.