Pressure

Went on a long run, 6 miles this morning.  I will start to call it, 6 at 6.

Work had its ups and downs.  We are under a lot of pressure to resolve problems, especially during the Olympics.

We have fried King Fish for dinner tonight.  Sue is out with her friends.  Kyle has soccer practice.

This day in history "On July 31, 1975, James Riddle Hoffa, one of the most influential American labor leaders of the 20th century, disappears in Detroit, Michigan, never to be heard from again. Though he is popularly believed to have been the victim of a Mafia hit, conclusive evidence was never found, and Hoffa's death remains shrouded in mystery to this day."

I remember hearing all kinds of stories involving Jimmy Hoffa.  Like he is in the cement at the Meadowlands in NJ.  Everyone now knows the mob lives in NJ....thanks Sopranos.

While watching the Red Bulls, I get to see the Olympics spoiler that Phelps misses out on Gold, but takes a Silver in Butterfly.  He gets a Gold for relay.   "Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever by anchoring the United States to a commanding victory in the 800-meter freestyle relay less than an hour after he lost a heartbreaking race."

There is so much pressure on these athletes.

I stop at Walmart to pick up some stuff.  I walk past the blood pressure station.  It is funny to me that a guy is in it getting his arm squeezed.  The other night watching "Maclom in the middle" we saw a scene where the security guard is purposely pushed into the seat, and trapped in the arm band....

After picking up my deodorant, I take a seat.   I think all the running I have been doing is good for my blood pressure.

Photo of the day "Pressure"

P.S. My pressure last year was closer to 120 / 80 with 88 beats per minute.

New Pressure 105 / 63 with 68 beats per minute.  :-)

State Park Summer Run - Robert Moses

Monday and the house is quiet as I make a leftover bagel and hit the road.

I pick up a chicken and salad from Mama Lombardis for dinner, as I don't think I have enough time for a fish fry.  Luke is eating leftover crabs when I walk in the door.

Summer run on my mind as I eat some chicken and salad.  Gavin already ran 9 miles this morning...how is he going to run another 3.1

This day in history "On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Medicare, a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. At the bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry S. Truman was enrolled as Medicare's first beneficiary and received the first Medicare card. Johnson wanted to recognize Truman, who, in 1945, had become the first president to propose national health insurance, an initiative that was opposed at the time by Congress."

Nearly 40 years later we are poised to cripple the healthcare system.  Bring 30 million more into the healthcare system without adding any appreciable amount of doctors, PA, RN, Nurse Practitioners, etc.  So, those of us who have healthcare insurance will not only pay more, we will wait more.  The critical care system will take the brunt of it.  And the icing on the cake...it still takes 8 years to push out a Dr. in the USA, and 30% of the general practitioners are over 55 years old.

Lets put this in perspective.  If you think about the information technology business, there is a great deal of time and money put into capacity planning.  What would you do if Cablevision or Verizon FIOS told you that you have to pay more and get 30% slower service ?  Or when your service was not working, it would take a couple of weeks for them to come and look at it.

So, back to the State Park Summer Run at Robert Moses.  A great nite for a run.  I saw some folks I know from work and soccer.  Gavin posts an 11th place finish.  I put in a good run and a personal best 5k time of 26:33.

Photo of the day "Robert Moses Bridge"

Kingfish

Well, it happened again..Not the first time, and not the last, and I hope to buck the trend.  Another late entry blog.  Let's just say we went crabbing and fishing.

Sunday morning was quiet.  I picked up bagels and read the newspaper.  Watched some Olympics.

This day in history "On this day in 1958, the U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America's activities in space. NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human and mechanical, that have yielded vital information about the solar system and universe. It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites that have been instrumental in everything from weather forecasting to navigation to global communications.
NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union's October 4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I. The 183-pound, basketball-sized satellite orbited the earth in 98 minutes. The Sputnik launch caught Americans by surprise and sparked fears that the Soviets might also be capable of sending missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe to America. The United States prided itself on being at the forefront of technology, and, embarrassed, immediately began developing a response, signaling the start of the U.S.-Soviet space race."

Thanks to budget cuts, the race is over.  Our manned space exploration is at a stand still.  No shuttle program, no replacement.

An early dinner and then Luke and I go to Sayville.  We have not been there for a few weeks.

We luck out, and catch 19 nice sized crabs, 5 large kingfish, and a bunch of throwbacks.  We even catch a spot, typically not found this far north.  We catch them when we fish in Maryland.

So, when we get home at 9pm, we proceed to cook the crabs.  Luke helps to filet the fish.  He does a very good job and really like to skin them.

We watch the Olympics while feasting on freshly cooked crabs.  Some leftovers for tomorrow.

Dinner tomorrow will be fish and crabs, unless Luke has the rest of them for breakfast.

Photo of the day "Kingfish"

P.S. Luke is becoming quite the fisherman.  I really think he's hooked....

H2O

When I woke up, it was cloudy and as I prepared for a run it started raining.  H2O

A brief break in the rain, and I hit the streets running.  The sound of thunder in the air, I keep my run close to home.  A run I call up and down in Holbrook....as I end my run, the skies open up to a deluge of rainfall, lightening and thunder.  H2O

Luke, Gavin and I watch the Olympics road race.  The rain continues, sometimes really heavy.  Luke goes to the basement to feed his fish...I take the opportunity to check the basement for water.  Sure enough the window well in the backyard is full and it looks like a fish tank, water pouring into the basement and down the wall.  We have a french drain and a sump pump so I am not worried as I hear and see the water trickling into the sump pump.  H20

This day in history "Ryan Lochte wins 1st USA Gold in the 2012 Olympics"

If anyone says that hard work and training doesn't pay off, they need to speak to Ryan.  We saw his interview, with none other than Ryan Seacrest....Ryan meet Ryan.  Lochte was not satisfied with being 2nd best and living in the shadow of Phelps.  Lochte training over the past 4 years has had him adding muscle and doing unconventional training....flipping a 650 lb tire.  The dude is a beast.  Wins the 400m IM with a 3 second margin.  Not a world record, but an impressive swim.  H20

Sue is back from her mom's house where she and her sibling have been sorting through all of the belongings, making ready donations, and the eventual sale of her coop...very sad.  Sue brings home some old photos, one of her, Karen, and Brian when they were toddlers...

We have chicken tikka for dinner.  I experiment with a zucchini marsala as we have no peas to go with the meal...Not bad.  Sue and Luke have some soda with their meal...I opt of H20.

Luke wants to go fishing after dinner.  There is a severe thunderstorm watch until 10PM.  We pack up the car, and make our way down to Sayville.  The skies darkening in the north, we make a few casts into the bay before the rain comes.  We fish in the rain for a few minutes.  Retreat to the car with crab traps still soaking.  After about 20 minutes of heavy rain, we run out to retrieve the traps and head home.  H20

Photo of the Day "Ryan Lochte wins Gold"

P.S. Those are not braces, they are grlillz...Some bling for the mouth, and Ryan has a lot to smile about.

OLYMPICS 2012

When my alarm rang this morning at 6am, I get up to go on an early morning run.  I make it about 1.5 miles and have to stop.  For the first time ever, I have to stop due to a bodily function.  Without going into too much detail, I walked home and gave my glutes a good workout.

Went to get Chinese food for lunch and had the grill guy cook up my own mix of meats, veggies, spices etc. It is the best way to go, as you get a fresh cooked custom meal.  After a few times there, I have perfected the mixture and now have the perfect mixture of heat and flavor.

This day in history "On this day in 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommends that America's 37th president, Richard M. Nixon, be impeached and removed from office. The impeachment proceedings resulted from a series of political scandals involving the Nixon administration that came to be collectively known as Watergate."

I remember Watergate and president Nixon.  At the age of of 12, I guess my mind was starting to take interest in the world around me.  War, politics, oil embargo's, were all a part of my teenage years.  The way I remember it, Nixon took the fall for getting caught.

Kyle is out camping with his friend Billy.  Sue is at her mom's apartment with her brother and sister going thru  items...it has to be hard and we all miss Peggy.  Luke, Gavin and I had sushi for dinner and are watching the Olympic opening ceremony.

One of my dreams, after working at Reuters for 20+ years is to be able to participate in the setup, support of  the editorial systems needed to collect the pictures and stories.  Again this year, as in past 6 or 7 Olympics, I am in the back office helping to support the systems that the editors use to collect, distribute, and store the info.  

The opening ceremony was not as exciting as thought it would be, but entertaining none the less.   It makes me think about my dad...we used to watch the Olympics together...I miss that.

Photo of the day "OLYMPICS 2012"

P.S. Tonight we decided to pick up dinner by riding bikes to the sushi place.  I took a backpack to put the food in.  Gavin had my car, and Sue was not home. 

Bloggers Block

It happens.  You get home and you just don't feel it.  The inspiration to blog.  Sue reminds me while I am feasting on an Elios pizza with extra cheddar cheese.  I can't think as it is nearly 10pm, and Malcolm in the middle season 4 has me in a trance.

Anyway, a 4.5 mile personal best was put in, and when I got back home, I decided to login for work while I cool down.  Let's just say that due to issues at work, and subsequent meetings, I did not get to shower until several hours later.

After making it into the office, the day did not get better for me....perhaps this has sapped my inspiration.

This day in history "On this day in 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many aspects of today's mail system. During early colonial times in the 1600s, few American colonists needed to send mail to each other; it was more likely that their correspondence was with letter writers in Britain. Mail deliveries from across the Atlantic were sporadic and could take many months to arrive. There were no post offices in the colonies, so mail was typically left at inns and taverns. In 1753, Benjamin Franklin, who had been postmaster of Philadelphia, became one of two joint postmasters general for the colonies. He made numerous improvements to the mail system, including setting up new, more efficient colonial routes and cutting delivery time in half between Philadelphia and New York by having the weekly mail wagon travel both day and night via relay teams. Franklin also debuted the first rate chart, which standardized delivery costs based on distance and weight. In 1774, the British fired Franklin from his postmaster job because of his revolutionary activities. However, the following year, he was appointed postmaster general of the United Colonies by the Continental Congress. Franklin held the job until late in 1776, when he was sent to France as a diplomat. He left a vastly improved mail system, with routes from Florida to Maine and regular service between the colonies and Britain. President George Washington appointed Samuel Osgood, a former Massachusetts congressman, as the first postmaster general of the American nation under the new U.S. constitution in 1789. At the time, there were approximately 75 post offices in the country."


Well, there you have it.  The postal system.  Sometimes work makes me want to go postal.

All kidding aside, with email, txt, and fax (does anyone fax anymore), the postal service is hurting.  UPS, and Fedex have carved their way into the "postal" business leaving the USPS in dire straits.  When was the last time you wrote a letter ?  The more we go paperless, the smaller the postal presence will be.

Got a new battery and power supply for the old IBM Lenovo T61 and its as good as new.  Who can afford a new laptop these days.

Photo of the day "Bloggers Block"

P.S. We tried one of those funny yellow melons.  Delicious.  Looks like honeydew, tastes like cantaloupe.   I was hoping it wouldn't taste like "chicken"....hehe

New fruits, veggies, and herbs in the CSA

Got up early and out of the house.  Made it to work by 7am and started really catching up on my emails since being out on vacation.

I heard it was nice outside, but I did not get back into the parking lot until after 4pm...ate lunch in 5 mins at my desk.

On the way home picked up my CSA share.  Fennel, Dill, Basil, Scallions, beets, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, the ever present Swiss chard, and some cool looking melons, yellow plums, and of course blue berries.

This day in history "On this day in 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world's first baby to be conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF) is born at Oldham and District General Hospital in Manchester, England, to parents Lesley and Peter Brown. The healthy baby was delivered shortly before midnight by caesarean section and weighed in at five pounds, 12 ounces."

Dinner consists of London Broil, corn (CSA), a salad (new cucumbers to eat).  I harvest the herbs while the meat cooks.  Tomorrow I will make tuna with some of the dill.  Kyle asks if the dill is the same as what is used to make kosher dill pickles.  I said yes.  Hmm...thats an idea.

After dinner, Luke twists my arm to go fishing at West Lake.  I comply and catch the first five bass tonight, frustrating him to no end.  He recovers and manages a few of his own.  A nice nite, almost no humidity, light breeze, nice sunset.  Luke bug sprays at dusk.....

Back home at 9pm, a full day and I am ready to settle in with a snack, beer, and blog.  Before sitting down, I put in some St Louis style ribs in the oven at 275 degrees to pre-cook for tomorrow.  BBQ ribs on the menu tomorrow.

Photo of the day "Yellow Mellon ?"

P.S. I may look for and steal a zucchini and blueberry bread or muffin recipe.