Tossed Again

I was out walking my dogs this morning and decided to go past where my Jeep was street parked. I am glad I did as it has been tossed again. By this I mean someone had gone through it to see if there was anything worth their time.  I am glad to say they walked away empty handed but left it a mess. Ever since my first painful lesson back in LA, I know what I keep in the Jeep is not secure as it is a soft top so I leave very little. After the last toss, I emptied it to virtually nothing so as to not even seem worth the while.

So why am I writing about this? The reason is that I have become comfortable with knowing my property can and does get routinely pillaged. There are no real alternatives at present and thus I have adjusted (keep nothing in it) and tried to grapple with that zen concept of my things are transitory.

The feeling of violation still comes, but I try and keep it in perspective. Nothing was taken. Nothing was damaged. Everything is fine. It's just stuff. If the power that be decides I no longer need that stuff, I am a poor opposition to it. So perhaps I am writing as a way to purge the violated feeling. It's small in comparison to other transgressions I know, but if you had a splinter, it would bother you and no one else. This is my splinter this morning and I am talking about it to ease the irritation.

Big Gay 5K

This weekend is PrideFest in Denver. I'm involved in the parade through Dwell tomorrow and pretty excited to see my Jeep turn into a big gay "float." At the informational meeting on Monday I heard about a new event this year, "The Big Gay 5K." I was pretty excited. So often these events are strictly music, food and booze. Nothing against all that, it's great. I was excited to see a running event tagged on. It feels great to do something I love to do to help celebrate the event. I was going to go for a run today anyways.

I'm also very inexperienced with the 5K distance. After marathons, it doesn't seem like a difficult distance. That said, it is a completely different race. To start, it is a TON faster. Unless your name is Ryan Hall or Meb, you would never take off in a marathon at those speeds. It felt like a sustained tempo run. They chose a great course and it was a lot of fun. There were great costumes and fantastic spirit. Of course there were the 2 guys that were warm-up sprinting before the start that let me know today wasn't the day I was going to win one of these. It didn't bother me though, I wanted to run fast but still have fun. If I was going to fast to smile and enjoy it, why was I there?

I finished in the first 10 and had the great opportunity to stand at the finish to cheer the rest of the field as they crossed. It was wonderful! 

Car Wash

A true right of Spring happened for me this morning. I took the Jeep over for what seems, its annual washing. I did this to clean the top and windows before taking them down. I real didn't know how dirty my Jeep had gotten. It is a Jeep and it doesn't bother me much too see some dirt on it. None the less, the top is down and my new windows are getting ready for a summer storage. On the way home, Summertime came on the jazz station. There are just moments that are quite simply perfect.

Kid in a 4x4 Store

I just got home from my first trip to the 4x4 store of which my Jeep has been advertising since I got it. It has had a High Country 4x4 spare tire cover from go and I was curious to see what this place was all about. Ever stumble into a hobby you did not know about previously? My head was spinning within minutes and the dollars in my head were spending as fast as I was seeing new things. Now, I bought my Jeep with some upgrades already and have yet to take her off-roading. That has been due to prudence of not wanting to repair her, should I do something bad. However, I am interested in some upgrades for safety and maintenance. Holy smokes what you can do with a Jeep is astounding. Also expensive. I couldn't help but laugh to myself in the store thinking, "this is why you never have more money as you get older, the hobbies are more expensive." None the less, it was fun to see what is possible and feel again that sense of boy-like wonder at an incredible, monster like machine that go almost anywhere.