Thresholds

November Project Denver −02.26.14 (suicides in the park)

Perhaps it's a Spring thing, but I have dedicated myself to pushing hard in my training plan. I have up'd the mileage some but am also cross training with November Project on Wednesday's. All those that recommended plyometrics can rest assured, they are very much a part of the week now as are a few two-a-days. Add in a level 2 yoga class once a week and I feel sawed in half most of the week. I know I am pushing harder as I look forward to whatever long run I have on Sat just for the ease of a long, slow run. I keep thinking that the training of last year should make some of this easier, but that I suppose is the point of pushing harder. I am biking all the time now as well and purposely take hills as often as is possible. Yesterdays bike accident had me feeling  much more sore than usual and today I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do much on my tempo run. I pulled of my two fastest miles this year. It is fun to push harder and try for more. When I do find out what is enough, I hope to have had a long, exciting road getting there.

Pushing harder is fun. Doing it again is great. Atrophy is terrifying. Today I can.

It's Not Actually a Holiday

It's early on Black Friday and I am up due to an unbelievably early appliance delivery. Tiff and I have no interest in flocking to the stores today as the madness does not seem worth the savings and I have been the poor shmo wearing the name tags today too often to not see how tired they are from the relentless stream of ugly humanity in their faces. Sure it's their job, but increase the en masse they face and give them a higher than average demand perspective and that just makes for a tough day at work. We all have those.

I am still a bit mystified by this whole Black Friday thing. It seemed to me that it began a bit as a joke and now almost rivals Thanksgiving in anticipation and attention. Hell, some companies did not even wait till Friday (what, midnight was just too late??) and started opening shop yesterday evening. I get the deals are good and the timing is right, but it's a manufactured "event" and we all seem to just go along with it. Thanksgiving used to be a day where at the very least you did not have to work and may enjoy a good meal, depending on where you were going. Now the very folks that could count on that one day are being called in sooner and sooner so the folks that didn't have to work can get some big savings. Ah… bitterness…

I suppose it seems like a fair takeover though. Unless you put you textbook down in 5th grade and learned nothing else about the pilgrims and indians after this famous meal, you know the rest of that amiable relationship over a turkey did not pan out well. Greed and demand took over and the rest is generally unmentioned history. I suppose it makes sense we'd develop a shopping holiday to indulge in this disposition.

I, again, have no problem with the idea. The execution is what bugs me. If the stores open on Thanksgiving for Black "Friday," you don't have to go. If you are shopping to take care of you Christmas shopping and buy gifts for everyone, you don't have to wait a month to be nice to people. Lastly, if you don't like the way a business handles sales (carrot dangling) and crowds or even how they seem to treat their employees (as in what time they demand they be away from their families), don't shop there. I can rant. You can complain. Ultimately it is your dollars they will listen to. That right there is your vote.

Trust me, that vote means a lot more than telling an abused clerk/waiter/barista how tough it must be to work on a day like this.

Stupid, stupid government

I am doing my best to avoid checking the news or worse, Facebook today. The events in Washington are tough to stomach, regardless of sides. What pisses me off is the reality that there are thousands of hard working folks that are not being paid to work today. That is just not right and it frustrates me when people get caught in the crossfire. I am not attempting to launch into the politics of our government's shut down today, that is just not a subject I want to attempt. When I read that services like prison guards, boarder patrol, and air traffic control are required to work today without pay, it caused a considerable irritation. I find myself more often than not just seeing a disconnect between our leaders and the people. It's a raging need to be right at all costs. It's school yard and it's embarrassing. I hope a resolution is found, but why it had to come to this is nothing shy of stupid.

Ok, I'm done.

Friday

I am loving my new job and for the first time in my life, I am experiencing a normal Friday. I felt good about my work for the week and now get the satisfying feeling of looking forward to a weekend. This is all new to me. In so many ways I feel giddy. It's not that I mind work in the least, but the long evasive weekend has taunted me. I am glad for it. I believe good work is worthy of good pay. I also believe time off is the just reward for working hard. For so many years I have watched my hard work rewarded with demands for more still. I am truly grateful to have this job and finally get to pour my energy and hard work to an enterprise that will take better care of me. In turn, they will get everything I've got.

Rules

I heard a comedian talking about the uproar involved when the debate was on about the legal right to burn a flag. He talked about the simple fact of being allowed to do something does not mean you should do something. It has lingered in my mind as an interesting overview towards where we are standing as a society. We seem to clamor for regulation and rules to prevent that which we don't want to see happen all the while it seems interesting to question why rules are needed to prevent desire to do so. I am not so naive as to assume all citizens live by the same standards and morals, but it would seem more and more we request to have even the simplest of codes regulated in law. Some have outcried that this is the slow stripping of our civil rights. That may be a little of a stretch, but it does make me wonder.

Good One, Gun Control! Tell Me Another One.

There's a private plane circling downtown right now with a banner on gun control. It has become the hot topic as of late as it would seem everyone in an office wants to demonstrate that they are against another senseless tragedy. Am I alone though in my skepticism on this? Why is it that everyone is convinced restricting the guns or even taking them away is the answer? Sure I subscribe to the sentiment Eddie Izzard said when discussing guns, that, "guns don't kill people; people kill people but the guns surly must help." I believe strongly in our right to have guns and I don't really think the size and amount make much of a difference. A small handgun can do as much as an assault riffle if used maliciously. I do not know what the answer is, but I know that all the huffing and puffing out politicians are doing seems pointless. It would seem they just need to show effort to protect themselves when we decide if they should keep their jobs. What seems a more fundamental issue is why the people that do cause these tragedies are doing what they do. A severely disturbed person can wield any weapon dangerously and arming all the "sane" folks won't really stop that. I wish I could tell you the here on Stupie, I know exactly what needs to be done, but I don't. I am tired of the wind on gun control though. It's like blaming your shoes for being late or wishing to ban blue cars if that was the color that hit you.

Snow Training Run (again)

It's snowing with a blizzard warning in effect. Looking outside it din't look too bad just yet and I did only need an easy run today. I laced up my abused Asics and headed out. There was very little snow on the the sidewalks of my out and back 4mi. route, but there was considerable slush and some tricky hidden puddles. None the less it was beautiful being out there in the heavy snow fall. The world was quiet and the run was indeed easy. I have only trained for a spring marathon twice before, but don't remember having this many runs affected by heavy snow fall. I am also trying to run harder in training with more runs and shorter distances. I have no idea how this will ultimately impact my time on the Colfax Marathon, but one thing I know for certain is I will not wonder if I could have done more. When I hit the wall last May, that thought haunted me and lingered for several months. While I don't subscribe to the "everyone wins" philosophy that damn near ruined my generation, I do believe that results are definitively tempered by preparation. If I work my ass off in preparation, even if I miss my goal I will know I gave all I had. 

Animal Testing

My wife and I have recently decided to start avoiding products that still use animal testing. It's one of those issues I had heard about for years and thought that it was awful, but never considered doing much more. It seemed like the fanatics like PETA were always making if seem like a radical proposal to actually do something.

I do believe though that consumers have the ultimate power, their dollars to spend. We have a list of companies that still use animal testing for their products. What makes these companies seem all the more barbaric and aitiquated is that there are several companies making the same products without testing on animals. It isn't necessary anymore. The only guess is that it is cheaper. That's where the consumer dollar comes into play.

I doubt seriously Gillette (a Proctor & Gamble co.) will notice I am no longer buying their deodorant. It may only slightly catch their attention when I emailed them politely letting them know they have lost a customer of nearly 20 years. It does catch their attention when scores do the same. I believe in leading by example and the power of attraction rather than promotion. That said, I am not advocating anyone do this lest they want to. It isnot as tough though as I thought just doing some fact checking before endorsing a company.

Litter!

Seriously, so some people still think it's ok to just toss trash out of the window when they are driving? I am just asking. I was on my long run today and trekked 14mi around my house today and never went further than ten steps before another piece of trash. After a while it got so depressing I had to start analyzing the array. In my estimation, the three biggest sources of trash were beer bottles/cans (depressing and scary on the road), cigarette boxes, and McDonald trash. The last on surprises me as there isn't a McD's for 5 miles anywhere on my route. What the hell though? Why is there so much trash? I grew up just after the crying Indian and at the height of the "Give a Hoot, Don't Polute" Campaigns. Do we need a refresher? Has the recycling movement forgotten the simple, at least get it in a can idea?

Help me. Tell me if I am off base here?

Mettle

Quality. It's that intangible element some people seem to effortlessly pocess. You can't always even tell when you see it. Sometimes it seems to take a few days, weeks, even years to truly see what some people are made of. When you do, it can be an amazing, scary, even beautiful moment. What a gift it is to realize you have someone close to you that is made of the good stuff.

Galt

Sometimes it feels good just to put in the effort, regardless of requirement or notice. It is disappointing so few do.

Name Game

A name. It can say so much. We seem to live in an era where corporations have nigh religious stature to their names. Companies like McDonalds, Disney, and Starbucks all seem to have near bullet proof names. Then, on occasion, one of these entities fall from grace. Scandal or poor practice can undo them. But why are the names so valuable? What is it that makes us so much more aware of the title than it's contents? Even those that would claim to not be swayed by such things are usually just referring to avoiding the popular ones (which is essentially the same thing then). I wonder sometimes.



Personally, I tend to appreciate when I find a company that produces a product that I am very much in love with that asks a fair price for (ahem, Seattle kilt maker). My boots will always be Gripfast for example. To me that's a security in the product. After all, our dollars spent make the world go 'round. Which way do we want it to go?

Bad Apple

As the old saying goes, one bad apple can ruin a batch. That always sounds a little harsh to me yet it appears to hold true often enough. I am in the process of some shifts in my life and as I move away from a troublesome bit of business, I am getting a clearer view how one particular personality has truly ruined an otherwise decent batch of folks. I mean them no ill will, ergo Mr Cryptic here, but damn... it sort of amazes me. There are some folks that seem to enjoy the full time job of justifying their job. To me that seems a Jestson dog walking service.

None the less, hindsight is giving some clarity and I am grateful for the experience. Even the people that drive us batty have a purpose. They serve me as cautionary tales.

Painter

"...if you want to be a perfect painter, get some paints and brushes and become perfect with them..."

-Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Why?

From time to time, it pays to ask that little question. Hell, it's not even a question. It's a word. Yet it does so much when thrown in the mix. It has prevented me moving on and other times it has finally released me. Tonight, not sure which side of that coin it is, but I am saying why? Either freedom or more hamster wheel await me.

We the people...

We, the people...

Working Theory

As of late I have been observing the differences in approaching my job that I have as opposed to some of my colleagues. I discussed previously the difference between talkers and do'ers. What I have realized recently is the difference between faith in ones employees and lack thereof. I have always held that if I have the right people working for me, I should have faith in them to do what is right for business and trust the quality the have. There have been occasions where this is not possible, but more often those are the exceptions and once known there is little doubt as to what to do. I always have believed if you can not trust the people you have working for you, you have the wrong people.

Routinely though, I find myself working with people that feel unless every step is laid out, their employees will never be effective. It seems a breeding ground to drive zeal and thought out of a work force. Guidance is necessary, but to a degree. If all thought is removed, it will eventually yield thoughtless people that either quit or will never rise above what is given them. McWorkers. Oddly these managers seem to want that. Their reasons could be easily guessed at, but why bother? The point being it is tough to watch them transform vibrant work forces to atomitons. My trust may be optimistic, but the people I am responsible for more often than not do excellent work when given some responsibility for it.

Besides, life seems to rarely go according to a plan.

Quit talking about it...

Let me forwarn, there is some soapboxing about to be let loose. Over the years I have held a variety of jobs and worked with a wider variety of people. There are two types that seem to always be in every job. There are do'ers and talkers. I have always been a do'er and find little satisfaction in talking about what needs to be done. I also can not stomache telling someone to do something I either can not or do not want to do. Just me. If I can do the worst job and do it well, I get some kick of accomplishment. I know, I am odd. The talkers though, always seem to know what should be done. It never fails to sound absurd to hear one of them spewing on about what they clearly can not do. What recourse does one have when faced with this? Enjoy the breeze? Who is John Galt?

Squeaky Wheel

As the old adage goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. That has come up often at work when referring to coworkers that often vocalize their displeasure with the way things are done. Is it true though? There seems an amazing number of people out there ready to fill every job currently being held, from doctors too garbage collectors. Why is it then that the feeling of complaints are a means to fulfillment is still prevalent? The most irritating words I hear in any job I have worked are, "it's not my fault." That does nothing to address solving an issue. It's a litigation philosophy of who will ultimately be held accountable and an effort to avoid being blamed.

Sadly, if you are late for work, it does not really matter why if your job is not done. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances, but the fact that whatever you were supposed to be there for at the start of your day was not done by you. fault or no, that is a fact.

For one, I am not in the habit of unnecessary work. If it is easier and less costly to replace the wheel than grease it, why go to the effort? When was the last time you took a faulty appliance to a repair shop? Simply put, it's less time and money to get a new one more often than not.

When do you grease and when do you replace? Just throwing some thoughts out there and venting. To any that catch this and are curious of a modivation for writing/venting, there is none specific in mind.