The Evil Eyebrow

Category: Personal

Atlanta Track Club Peachtree City 5k/10k 2011 -and- Injury Update
I ran today with Keith and Jaime the Atlanta Track Club 5k/10k in Peachtree City (we all ran the 5k). I turned in a 26:00 according to my watch and both Keith and Jaime broke their previous PRs. Go us!

This race is always fun, and in my experience now, always cold (n=3). It was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit at race start, so a bit chilly, but no real wind.

Given my experience of one week ago, I took it a little easy during the race. I put in about 85% effort. Nicely (although not coincidentally) this activity did not bother my back strain in the slightest, aside from the drive to and from the race where I was sitting in the car.

This tells me several things:
- The strain was definitely the quadratus lumbarum because if it had been the multifidus or the erector spinae (or some combination of the above) I’d have been having more issues
- It’s not my running muscles that need to be worked on in my abdominal strengthening work
- The quadratus lumbarum is definitely not a running muscle
I went to see a physician on Friday to start a professional treatment of my problem, but I have a whole post just for that. Look for it soon.
January 22, 2011
Blogging, Databasing, Site-ing
As mentioned yesterday, I’m a bit of a homebody right now. Not moving around too much.

Other than watching the Packers trounce the Falcons, I’ve been spending a lot of time getting various internet-, network- and computer-based things functional; tasks I haven’t been exactly putting off, but just hadn’t been sitting down and slamming out all at once.

Tasks under work or accomplished:
- Figure out what the hell Idimager is doing with my images so I can port everything to Lightroom. Status: 90%
- Backup everything including blog sites, databases, PCs, etc. Status: ~~50%~~80%
- Enact plan to switch from Crystaltech hosting to jlauser.net hosting. Status: 15%
- Update all my Remember the Milk tasks. Status: 100%
- Devise a useful and repeatable photography workflow. Status 80% (depends on how much Idimager is a pain when I start trying to debug the external HDD issues)
- Update all WordPress blog platforms. Status: ~~10%~~100%
- Rest. Status: Ongoing
January 16, 2011
Injury – Frustration

Last night I attended/worked the Search for the Golden Sprocket, an event sponsored by The Extraordinary Contraptions. I arrived earlier than most of the band and discovered that the primary entrance to the venue was a slick ice death trap. Therefore, I shoveled.

Now, I’m sitting on the couch, wondering when I’ll be able to run again. I have (again and again!) managed to pull muscles in my back that make me feel a lot older than I actually am. Hell, I’m wondering how many days it will be before I manage to walk about the house in a normal fashion. This leaves me very frustrated, because I’m in the middle of training for a marathon, and if you follow this blog you may be aware that the last marathon I trained for had to be deferred because of another injury.

I’ll have to rejigger my training schedule based upon what I’m guessing my recovery date will be. I am going to finish this marathon, dammit, but I might change up the race schedule I have planned for the rest of the year. I’m thinking I may want to concentrate hard on one thing, strengthening my core, for the entire year. If that kept me from being a couch-ridden doofus, it would be worth giving up triathlon and serious racing for a year. Maybe I’ll go see a specialist (I wonder if my health plan would cover that?).

January 15, 2011
Marathon Training Continues

With this week’s snowpocalypse, doing any sort of regularly scheduled training has been difficult. Running on the sidewalks has been impossible (or extremely ill-advised, see this image and this tweet of mine) and until yesterday it was also not advisable to trek out to the gym for indoor treadmill running (or swimming or weight lifting, or whatever).

Thusly, this week put a bit of a bump in the training plan. Nevertheless, I’m out on Sunday morning for my next long run, all twelve miles of it. Then it’s back on schedule for progressing up to a marathon distance in time for the Georgia Marathon on March 20, 2011.

I’ve also got planned the Atlanta Track Club Peachtree City 5k/10k for next weekend, January 22. That’s always a fun race and hopefully I’ll see lots of people I know.

Race season is coming! I’ll be ready. Will you?

January 14, 2011
Atlanta Snowpocalypse

This town goes a bit nuts when snow hits. Or is likely to hit. Or is projected to be within 100 miles. I like to call it the French Toastpocalypse because a good segment of the population runs out and buys eggs, milk, and bread. Some may say this is hyperbole, but as evidence I present exhibit A:

I actually did need eggs yesterday so I went to the egg section of our Publix and beheld that there was only one package of eggs in size 12 (twelve eggs per carton) remaining. There were some 18 packs left, but not very many. Same story in the bread section. Scattered remains of a vicious buying spree. I am/was amused.

But, truly, I don’t blame my local Georgia neighbors. It doesn’t take very many people panicking to reduce a supermarket shelf to nigh-emptiness. Most people seem to be taking it calmly and if there are a lot of discussions of “damn southerners can’t drive in the snow” I’ll respond by saying that damn northerners can’t drive in the snow either if there’s no equipment out plowing and salting. And there isn’t. There’s just not enough iciness around here for counties, cities and the state to justify large fleets of trucks for snow and ice conditions.

Therefore, it’s best to just stay home. Although as evidenced by Georgia Navigator, a lot of people did not.

We did. In fact, I shoveled our walk; the first snow shoveling I’ve done since Texas, I believe. The shovel in this picture is one that was gifted to me by my Father before I went to college. It was for inclusion in the trunk of my car for those days when the vehicle had to be dug out of snow drifts. Thanks, dad. It’s still being used.

Aside from that, we’re both working today; obviously from home. We took a bit of time to play in the snow, and I tested the applicability of our driveway for trash-bag-sledding. It is not for the faint of heart. I bailed once to avoid a face-on collision with our wood pile, once to avoid being thrown over a wall into the woods and once to avoid taking out all of our side-of-driveway lights.

If I get around to it, I’ll take some more pictures tonight after the rain and sleet have iced everything over. I put the odds of me going to work tomorrow at “scant”.

January 10, 2011
Discipline

I have a lot of hobbies.

No, that’s not actually true. What I have is a scatterbrain and a fleeting interest in a lot of things. I can find fun in all sorts of projects, starting new tasks, acquiring new knowledge. Over time (and I mean, over my whole life) I’ve come to know that I am a bit of a fibbertigibbet where hobbies are concerned. The most dedicated I am to “hobbies” right now are running and triathlon and most people—including myself—would argue that those are lifestyles and not hobbies.

It requires real discipline on my part to not run out and buy all the things I need to do [new hobby] just because it looks interesting. I have to concentrate on budgets and time and time budgets and the knowledge that I have chores to do before I can spend time on [new hobby]. This discipline is also required on a day-to-day basis not only at home on free time but in my day job as a project manager for an engineering consultant company. There are deadlines and project schedules that must be adhered to and it again requires discipline to do the things that A) need to be done to meet schedules and B) should be done now to avoid missing said schedules at a later time.

This discipline is something that is learned and not inherited. It has taken me a long time to acquire the skills and I “fail” regularly.

By failure, I mean that I’m also good at giving myself permission to slack on certain tasks in order to enjoy others. For example, please don’t visit my house today because the kitchen is a nightmare (kitchen cleanup is my job). This has been an ongoing saga since we came home from vacation but I’m not going to worry about it too much. Sometimes you just need to rest. And sometimes you need to have some fun. I justify this slackification by making sure that what I’m doing while slacking is still something on the list of things to be done. Like at the moment, putting together the photo album photo sets is something that needs to be done, so ignoring the mutating pile of dirty dishes in the sink for that task is justifiable (according to me; maybe not Jenn).

I’ve been pushing myself recently to be more focused on things in order to keep them from running away from me. Part and parcel of that is to avoid having a gazillion little things around that distract. I spectacularly goofed on that one this year because when Jenn asked what I wanted for Christmas, I responded, “An Arduino!” Note that I haven’t purchased a breadboard or anything yet. I have other tasks first.

So, here’s to discipline. The discipline to kick away at the big things while simultaneously enjoying the small things. Hopefully I’ll learn a bit while doing so.

January 6, 2011
New Notebook

I use notebooks at work. I subscribe to the philosophy that if you don’t write it down, it didn’t happen. Since 2000, I’ve been using National Brand 5×5 Quad Paper with Eye Ease® paper. I love these notebooks and have taken a decade to go through the box that I bought way back then.

We are now coming to the end of an era; I’m almost out of these notebooks. I still have a few at home that are dedicated to specific things, but the one at work is currently being scribed on page 145 of 160. Not too many days remain until notebook number 12 will be christened (there’s actually been more than that, but I restarted my numbering in 2004). Because I’m having to purchase a new notebook, I’m going to try something a bit different. Whitelines!

I am heartily entertained by the “Carbon Free” notation. If you don’t read the fine print, it implies that this was made with no carbon, rather than as a zero carbon footprint product, although I’m curious how they can produce something from raw materials in such a manner that they produce no carbon footprint. That’s counterintuitive to me. I’ll have to go look it up, later.

This is the Whitelines wirebound A4 notebook. The wirebound was very important to me because I use both sides of my notebook paper and need to be able to fold it back without shattering the spine of the notebook. A4, of course, is one of those crazy non-American thingies dealing with paper size but it’s generally equivalent to 8.5″ x 11″, i.e. American Letter size.

The quadrille nature of the paper is also important to me because it’s nice to have the lines keeping me in square. I’m not the worlds best free hand artist and I can use the squares to help keep me in scale.

The argument by the manufacturer is that the white lines on the paper shown above are better to use that the dark lines on more common graph paper. At first glimpse, I’m unconvinced that this will make a big difference to me when I’m working. It may make a difference when I go to photo copy the page, but that doesn’t happen very often.

Honestly, I just wanted to try something new for a change. I’ve spent a lot of time with that other notebook.

Other remarks: the Whitelines book feels a bit floppier than the quad books I’ve been using. I’m also a bit worried that it’s not going to stand up to the abuse I give these notebooks (being thrown around, crushed into bags, stacked under books, generally treated poorly).

November 19, 2010
Electoral Selections: Georgia 2010

Without preamble, here are the ways I’m going this election season, and why:

Georgia State Constitutional Amendment #1: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to make Georgia more economically competitive by authorizing legislation to uphold reasonable competitive agreements?”

I will vote NO NO NO. This could also be stated, “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to make employees less able to control their own futures?” Sure, this is a boon for businesses, but I regard this as something that should be addressed through employee retention policies and not forcing me (and you can be forced after hiring to sign these) to sign a non-compete agreement that is so broad as to disallow me from working in my field of expertise.

Georgia State Constitutional Amendment #2: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to impose an annual $10.00 trauma charge on certain motor vehicles in this state for the purpose of funding trauma care?”

This is a tax levied on all owners of private automobiles. Yes, it’s a tax. Yes, I’ll vote for it. Trauma hospitals are important and motor vehicles provide a lot of the supply of patients to them.

Georgia State Constitutional Amendment #3: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to allow the Georgia Department of Transportation to enter into multiyear construction agreements without requiring appropriations in the current fiscal year for the total amount of payments that would be due under the entire agreement so as to reduce long-term construction costs paid by the state?”

Ahh, something of which I have expertise! Yes, I’ll vote for this one, and you should, too. This doesn’t change the obligation of the state in funding projects, doesn’t change the costs, doesn’t change how people get paid, it only changes the way the contracts are obligated from fiscal year to fiscal year. Sure, it has a downside if the DOT gets discombobulated and stops funding projects; there would be half-finished roads everywhere, but this is still a good idea. Vote for it!

Georgia State Constitutional Amendment #4: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to allow the Georgia Department of Transportation to enter into multiyear construction agreements without requiring appropriations in the current fiscal year for the total amount of payments that would be due under the entire agreement so as to reduce long-term construction costs paid by the state?”

This one is basically the same as #3. If you vote for 3, you should vote for 4 and vice versa.

Georgia State Constitutional Amendment #5: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to allow the owners of real property located in industrial areas to remove the property from the industrial area?”

I have no earthly clue about this one. I have to go find out.

U.S. Senate: Michael Thurmond (D). I’m voting for Commissioner Thurmond rather than for the incumbent Johnny Isakson (R) for social-justice reasons. I agree with Isakson’s positions on business and (somewhat) taxation, although he’s been holding the republican party line recently (“The Party of No”) however his positions on various social agendae I find repugnant.

Georgia Governor: Former Governor Roy Barnes (D). I’ve voting for Barnes and against former U.S. Representative Nathan Deal. I haven’t put much thought into the GA Governor’s race because when Deal announced his candidacy, he also took up the position of a Birther, which is one of my few political litmus tests. If you’re a birther, you are either ignorant or pandering to the ignorant, and I will not vote for you. This issue is dead dead dead.

On the other side of the coin, I’m also voting for Barnes for pocketbook reasons. I think he’ll be better for Georgia transportation funding than Deal would be. That spells continued employment for me.

Georgia Lieutenant Governor: Casey Cagle (R-incumbent). I like Casey. He’s done good stuff. That’s enough for me

Georgia Attorney General: Ken Hodges (D). I was going to vote for Sam Olens (R) the basis of the competency he displayed as the Commissioner of Cobb County, rather than his ideology. However, I realized that while I would support him in a run for Governor or Lt. Governor, I do not support him for Attorney General. He came out in the wake of the federal health care law as saying that if he were Attorney General, he would join the lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality. I don’t personally think there is any merit in that claim and I believe that this is a Republican fuck you to the American people. I don’t want him wasting my tax dollars on a frivolous lawsuit so Ken, you got my vote.

U.S. Rep: Tom Price (R-incumbent). Running unopposed.

State Rep: Don Parsons (R-incumbent). Running unopposed.

State Senator: Chip Rogers (R-incumbent). I actually need to do some research into his opponent, Patrick Thompson, but at this time I think I’ll be voting incumbent.

If you notice that there are a lot of things left off this list, it’s because I either don’t have an opinion yet, or haven’t done my research.

October 19, 2010
Bicycle Wreck

Yesterday, I spent some time waiting around in the Grady Memorial Hospital ER because our good friend David Tyberg had a one-on-one encounter with a car, while on his bike.

David is ok, thankfully. He hit the car while moving at approximately 18 mph and reports are that he went head first into the rear quarter panel and bounced off. He’s got a sprained wrist, road rash, bruises and a really nice mark on his forehead from his helmet but if you take a good look at that picture up above, I think you’ll agree that he got off remarkably lightly.

It’s hard to tell from the image, but take a close look at the handlebars and how they are not facing the way they are supposed to. If you look at the way the headlight is facing, that is the direction the handlebars should be pointing. Now they are basically in a flat plane pointed to the right. The wheel obviously failed¹ in such a way as to kick the handlebars and bike to the left, causing the resultant failure of the handlebars.

And if you ever needed a reason to wear a helmet, here it is. Without this on his head, David’s story last night would have been very different. Instead of eating pizza at his house at midnight…well I don’t want to think about that.

Grady was remarkably tidy and organized; from news reports I would have expected a “Gray’s Anatomy” or “ER” level of chaos. The only incident like that was the blood all over the men’s room when I used it.

Grady also has some eclectic architecture. I’ve never been to the building before however you can see it from the Downtown Connect (I-75/85). It’s been built and built again.

The full flickr set can be found at Bike Wreck

¹: “Failure” is being used here in the engineering/materials term. The wheel was subject to forces that exceeded its ultimate strength, leading to plastic deformation of the material(s).

October 12, 2010
A Story In Three Parts

I’m most amused by the fact that Jenn obviously snuck in and turned on the closet light. I didn’t notice until I was cropping the images.

September 26, 2010