First 10K

Well, it is after 10pm, and Kyle and I are back home from his soccer practice.

Tonight at the field in Deer Park, I ran my first 10K.  6.25 MILES

This day in history"Bruce Jenkins runs First 10K"

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155861940

Photo of the day"10K"

The Agony of da Feet

I start working from home this morning before even taking a shower.  As usual, Kyle gets dropped off at his bus at 6:25, and Luke is out the door by 7:30.  Knowing that I have to pick Luke up from school early to get him over the orthopedist has me checking the clock a few times.  I let my boss and team know that I will be out for a while.  

Heard from Gavin today in between his classes.  He has had a virus or flu the past couple of days, but luckily made it to class yesterday and today.  His girlfriend Krista helped take care of him, so that made us feel better knowing that he wasn't in a dorm room with the body aches and fever without tea, water, Advil, soup, and some TLC.  Thanks for taking care of him Krista !  We cant wait till summer.

Pick up Luke around 11:30 and we make our way over to Mama Lombardi’s for a slice and some calamari medium.  This was a great excuse for a fun lunch with Luke, who even got a coca cola and some garlic bread too. 

Quick stop back at the house to check some emails, and off we go to the Dr.  I get there right on time, but then have to wait a while for the valet parking service.   Once inside, we get to see the Dr. very fast, as no one else is in the waiting room.  He says Luke’s sever’s disease is back again.

Sever's disease or calcaneal apophysitis is the most common cause of heel pain in the growing athlete and is due to overuse and repetitive microtrauma of growth plates of the calcaneus in the heel. It occurs in children ages 7 to 15, with the majority of patients presenting between 10 and 14 years of age. It is in relation to Osgood-Schlatter disease which affects the knee rather than the heel/ankle.

Symptoms (Luke has all of these)

• Complaints of pain or tenderness in the heel (or heels)
• Discomfort upon awaking, or when heel is squeezed
• Limping
• More severe pain after walking or exercise, and increased difficulty walking
• Pain during running or playing a sport

A quick xray rules out any fractures. Luke's foot grew since last year, so a new boot for him to wear for a couple of weeks, no gym, or soccer.  A note for the school, a stamp on the valet parking ticket stub, and my $20 copay and we are on the road again.  So, like most injuries or overuse type of pain….RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation).  Anti-inflammatory like Tylenol, Advil, or dare I say the original “Aspirin” for pain and to reduce inflammation (once considered and returning to popularity as a wonder drug).  When the pain subsides this time, maybe a few visits to the Physical Therapist for some stretches and perhaps some other exercises to help prevent recurrence.   My gut feeling is less practice, and only playing in games may be the remedy for Luke long term.

This day in history “On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co. 
Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.
In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix "in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one drug worldwide.”

Sue is working late today, so she picked up some cheese burgers from the Holbrook Diner.  I have not had one in a long time.  Luke had leftover penne and sauce for dinner.  Since Kyle is getting picked up for practice, I don’t have anything on the calendar tonight.
 
Luke put his leg up, iced once, heat once….does not want to be bothered keeping his leg up right now.  Asked Luke if he wanted Tylenol, or Advil.  His answer was no.  I would have offered him Bayer aspirin, but I don't even think we have any.  He would have looked at me quizzical as he has never been offered aspirin before.  I am sure in 3/4 of the world, if you have a headache, ache, pain, or fever, the almighty aspirin is available.  

Photo of the day “The Agony of da Feet”

Tax Man

I went to see my accountant today with a positive attitude, and a folder full of papers.  Jay apologized for keeping me waiting while his computer was restarting.  Seems it was acting sluggish so he decided to reboot for the first time in who knows how long.  Like most Windows machines it then went about its merry way finding and loading updates.  This gave us some time to chat about the families, and since I have been coming to his office for about 15 years, it wasn’t long that we started ranting about the cost of college educations.

Years ago, I went to see his dad, Murray, who at 84 years old is still doing taxes and greeting patrons on pretty much a daily basis…at least during tax season.  It is a true inspiration seeing him with sharpen his pencils and still use the calculator…you know the one with the big typewriter style keys and mechanical gears…Jay on the other hand is all high tech with his fancy tax program, and internet access.  If he doesn’t know the answer or a rule, which is rare, he is only a couple of clicks away.

This day in history “
On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company's co-founder, Arthur "Spud" Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.
In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America's fascination with UFOs.
Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.”

The Hula Hoop was a big hit when I was growing up in the Pomonok projects.  It was an inexpensive toy that was good for all sorts of games.  Sure, you could put it around your waist, neck, arm or leg and do the hula-hula.  Or, you could use it to toss over the top of a person standing a few yards away, and count points for each ringer.  One of my favorite things to do with was to give a good backspin on a forward toss.  This would cause the hula-hoop to glide across the floor getting further away from you, until its forward momentum would cease and the backspin would bring it back towards you.  Like I said, growing up in the projects, we made the most of everything we got.

Luke was introduced to the hula-hoop some 40 years later, and was a natural at it.  He can also do a mean belly dance.  There was a time when he was young enough, we could get him to do the hula hula…hula hula.

Leftovers for dinner tonight and Luke went to church with mom, while I went to the gym for a quick workout.  Tonight’s gym time was a recovery or light workout.  20 / 20 / 20  20mins – Run, 20mins Elliptical, 20mins Bike.  Sure, I sweat, but no weights and no pushing too hard.

The Beatles “
Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.

Don't ask me what I want it for
If you don't want to pay some more
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me.


I am happy to report that my investment in Solar Panels is looked upon favorably by the tax man.  The Feds provide a 30% tax Credit, and NYS another 25% tax credit.   Needless to say, I walked out the accountant’s office with a big smile, and a tax return pending since we filed electronically.  This will replenish the dwindling supply that my children think is endless.  Money does not grow on trees.

Photo of the day “Tax Man”

Plant Cell Cake

Woke up at 7am to take Kyle to his early soccer match, which was only 20 minutes away in Brentwood.  I was prepared with long sleeved running shirt and gloves, and once I found someone to watch my jacket (keys and wallet), I took to a leisurely run.  There is something about those early morning runs, where I have more energy or just feel like it’s an easier run.  5 miles around the Brentwood soccer fields and I could have gone longer except I didn’t want to miss the start of the game.

Kyle’s team played ok, but for some reason just could not get it together.  Their opponent, Mattituck, a team they have beaten several times before seemed more determined.  In the end, Mattituck took the lead, and finished with a 2-1 win.  That’s how it goes sometimes.  They are playing indoor soccer (Futsal) tonight…is there too much soccer ?

Luke and Sue baked a cake, which is the basic building block of his science project.  He needs to create a model of an Animal or Plant Cell.  This is a project that not only looks good, but tastes good too.  Once out of the shower, Luke and I go to the store from some food dye.  We decided that different colored icing would be a good idea to differentiate the structures of the cell.  Decorating went well, and the cake is ready to make its way into school tomorrow. 

This day in history “The first session of the U.S. Congress is held in New York City as the U.S. Constitution takes effect. However, of the 22 senators and 59 representatives called to represent the 11 states who had ratified the document, only nine senators and 13 representatives showed up to begin negotiations for its amendment.”

I could dedicate a whole blog on U.S. Congress and where it has gone in recent years.  Let’s just say it seems less impressive now than when it was first formed.

We get to the HS for Kyle’s futsal playoff game, and the team they should be playing is a no-show.  Instead of having the team leave, they scrimmage against a slit MC United team.  It was nice to see them fool around and have fun.  I am sure they miss goofing off and fooling around as much as we as parents liked watching them.

Cell Wall, Cell Membrane, Chloroplast, Mitochondria, Cytoplasm....etc.

How much do you remember.  Just think, some lucky kid is going to get to eat the Nucleus !!

Photo of the day “Plant Cell Cake”

Telephone

Last night we decided that I would be staying home with Luke instead of all of us going into Brooklyn parade grounds for the soccer tournament.   First off, Luke’s heel is hurting and appears to have flared up again after training and playing a lot of soccer this winter.  With the iffy weather this morning, we thought it best if Sue go into Brooklyn without us.   This afternoon the weather cleared, and the sun is shining.  Fortunately, by the time Sue and Kyle made it to parade grounds, the clouds were clearing.

I went to Unique fitness for a quick workout, then once back home threw on a load of laundry, heated up some leftover pizza for Luke and I, and basically lazily hung around a little.  I just remembered that I am taking Luke to church tonight, so I had better plan dinner either early or late.

Decided to make a batch of meatballs, which will be ready to reheat later when we get back home.  If Sue is hungry, she can reheat as well when she gets back from Brooklyn.  So far, game one is a loss 2-1 and game two is scheduled for 4:10 this afternoon.   Sue has been keeping me up to date via txt.  Does anyone use their cell phones to talk ?

This day in history “Alexander Graham Bell is born”  Scottish-American inventor of the telephone. Bell's career was influenced by his grandfather (who published The Practical Elocutionist and Stammering and Other Impediments of Speech), his father (whose interest was the mechanics and methods of vocal communication) and his mother (who was deaf). As a teenager, Alexander was intrigued by the writings of German physicist Hermann Von Helmholtz, On The Sensations of Tone. At age 23 he moved to Canada. In 1871, Bell began giving instruction in Visible Speech at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. This background set his course in developing the transmission of voice over wires. He cofounded Bell Telephone Co in 1877. With his father-in-law, he re-established the journal Science (1882.

The telephone and the Bell companies changed the way the world communicates.  To this day, it is perhaps one of the world’s greatest inventions.  Most of don’t use the standard, wired or land line that the first phones used.  There are probably more cell phones, and telephones that operate as VoIP (Voice over IP).  Vonage, and almost all the major xBell companies, cable companies offer unlimited calling plans.  These magically get digitized and transmitted over the internet, and once at their receiving end, they get reconstructed into analog signals and back onto the modern day phone receiver in our homes.

Does anyone remember having to call home from a pay phone ?   The term, “drop a dime” meant calling from a payphone to rat someone out….I recall checking the payphones for spare change, as every now and then, when you hit the coin return lever, you would get rewarded with a nickel, dime, or quarter.  Now you can find these pay phones in airports, train stations, etc.  but very few other places…better have a pocket full of quarters or your credit card or calling card ready…10cents just won’t cut it anymore.

Sue and Kyle get home just before 7pm, and Kyle rushes to shower and change so he can go to his friends sweet 16 party.   Sue drives him to the party, and I make chocolate chips cookies for Luke, and chocolate pudding for Sue (nice dinner). 

I will be taking Kyle to soccer in Brentwood tomorrow morning, so Sue will pick up Kyle later tonight, no doubt while I am starting to doze off.  I am the early bird, so no problem with tomorrow’s early start.

Photo of the day “Telephone”

Green Eggs

I can’t believe that it is already Friday.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the weekends, it’s just that time seems to fly by.  As we get older, days turn quickly into weeks, months, and years.  Now, when I was a kid, the summer felt like it lasted an eternity.  I can still smell the flowers on the ‘bee’ bushes….not really sure what they were called, but they attracted hundreds of bees.  A jar and lid was all we needed to keep ourselves busy in a game of catch and release.

On my way home from the office, I pick up another cable box so that the TV in the basement can come to life.  Kyle had his girlfriend Gia over this afternoon in the newly finished basement.  It is time to start looking at garage sales and craigslist for air hockey, ping pong, etc.  Someone at work said that as the boys get older they will use the basement rec room less and less.  As I get older, so do they.

This day in history “On this day in 1904, Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss, the author and illustrator of such beloved children's books as "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham," is born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel, who used his middle name (which was also his mother's maiden name) as his pen name, wrote 48 books--including some for adults--that have sold well over 200 million copies and been translated into multiple languages. Dr. Seuss books are known for their whimsical rhymes and quirky characters, which have names like the Lorax and the Sneetches and live in places like Hooterville.
Geisel, who was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Dartmouth College, where he was editor of the school's humor magazine, and studied at Oxford University. There he met Helen Palmer, his first wife and the person who encouraged him to become a professional illustrator. Back in America, Geisel worked as a cartoonist for a variety of magazines and in advertising.”

I remember having Dr. Seuss books in the house.  All the usual suspects, the cat in the hat, green eggs and ham, hop on pop, 1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish, and fox in socks.  There were probably others, but those are the ones that stick.  Not only did these books teach me to read, they also entertained, and are so classic, that we have even read them to our children.

The cat in the hat (brought to life by Mike Meyers....a classic)

Hop on Pop ( a perennial favorite growing up and jumping on my Dad's rather large belly)

Green eggs and ham, I like green eggs and ham, Sam I am

I like eggs.  No, I love eggs.  Given a choice, and until I raised my cholesterol high enough to cut back, I would eat eggs every day of my life.  Now, I have one whole egg and some egg whites or a ‘real egg’ and some eggbeaters.  Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Rye toast drenched in butter…..ahh the good old days.

Did you know that there is a breed of domesticated chicken that lays eggs other than the usual Brown or White. Once the chicken has started laying, they will continue to lay an egg of the same coloration.

Easter Eggs if you will, Blue, Green, Pink, etc.    So you see the egg itself does not have to be dyed green, to have a green egg.

In the Chilean region of Araucanìa, characterized by the high number of indigenous Mapuche, farmers’ market stalls are laden with the kaleidoscopic displays of eggs colored cobalt blue, pale green, and everything in between. Temuco is particularly famous for its blue eggs. While most farm-raised chickens lay the occasional blue egg, Temuco chickens always lay blue or green eggs, a genetic trait that turns the bird’s white eggs blue and its brown eggs green. In Chile, this particular chicken breed is called the Araucana, the name that conquering Spaniards gave the Mapuche people, as well as to the region’s chickens, ultimately. It is not clear whether the Araucana chicken is an indigenous breed or if it is a descendant of the chickens first brought from Spain by the conquistadores.

I really want to raise chickens so that we can have a fresh supply of eggs.  Sue thinks I am crazy.  She might be right.

Since most folks are used to seeing White Eggs, the trait has been basically bred out of the commercial flocks.

Now onto the Ham part of the meal...ham comes from pigs, which at one point had the bad wrap as being unhealthy and fatty food. As a meat, it was to be eaten sparingly. Well, whether thru genetic engineering, or selective breeding, the pig is now considered the "other white meat" and is high in protein and actually has less FAT than beef, or chicken ( skin on). I am not saying that you should go out and eat a half a pound of bacon....Ham is actually leaner and healthier than eating bacon or sausage

There, you have. This guy Dr. Seuss was trying to tell us something....Eat Green Eggs and Ham.....

Photo of the day “Green Eggs”

Yellowstone

A busy day for the Jenkins household.  Sue and Luke on a school trip to NYC, me going to work and my part time car service.  Kyle has school and then volunteering at a church soup kitchen.  A few minutes after I get home from work it is off to the church, which is too far from home so I wait around.  Drive home and Kyle has just enough time to change in to his soccer gear and off we go to pick up Mike and head to soccer practice. 

The gas tank is low now, so I stop to get gas, and get slapped with a $67 charge to fill-er-up regular…that’s a little more than 16 gallons.  I now have a crick in my neck and my back hurts, so even though I am 9 miles from home, I decide to go home and not sit in the car anymore.

Once home again, I notice that I should tape American Idol, throw away the garbage, and start the Blog.  What happened to that extra day we had yesterday….surely we could have fit some of this into yesterday or tomorrow.

This day in history”

President Grant signs the bill creating the nation's first national park at Yellowstone.
Native Americans had lived and hunted in the region that would become Yellowstone for hundreds of years before the first Anglo explorers arrived. Abundant game and mountain streams teaming with fish attracted the Indians to the region, though the awe-inspiring geysers, canyons, and gurgling mud pots also fascinated them.
Early in 1872, Congress moved to set aside 1,221,773 acres of public land straddling the future states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho as America's first national park. President Grant signed the bill into law on this day in 1872. The Yellowstone Act of 1872 designated the region as a public "pleasuring-ground," which would be preserved "from injury or spoilation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within."
For a nation bent on settling and exploiting the West, the creation of Yellowstone was surprising. Many congressmen gave it their support simply because they believed the rugged and isolated region was of little economic value. Yet the Yellowstone Act of 1872 set a precedent and popularized the idea of preserving sections of the public domain for use as public parks. Congress went on to designate dozens of other national parks, and the idea spread to other nations around the world.

I have yet to visit the National parks and the most interesting and dangerous is the “Yellowstone” , complete with its own hidden super volcano.   The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of the caldera measure about 34 by 45 miles (55 by 72 km).^[3]

Will this super volcano one day reshape the Americas and possibly the world after it erupts.  

Oh, look at the time, I have to make my way back to the field to pick up Kyle.  Sue and Luke should be home from their school trip which included CSI and Blue Man Group.

Photos of the day “Yellowstone”