This also reminds me of a chemistry exam I had in college. My roommate, Todd, was also in that same class. One of the questions on the exam was to define the term "Nucleotide". Todd's answer, type of laundry detergent.Friday, July 30, 2010
Correct Answer
This posting will only make me popular with half of my readership. Maybe even less than half. I was digging through some of my old college papers. I came across this little nugget from one of my exams. It is a wonder that I ever graduated.
This also reminds me of a chemistry exam I had in college. My roommate, Todd, was also in that same class. One of the questions on the exam was to define the term "Nucleotide". Todd's answer, type of laundry detergent.
This also reminds me of a chemistry exam I had in college. My roommate, Todd, was also in that same class. One of the questions on the exam was to define the term "Nucleotide". Todd's answer, type of laundry detergent.
The Weekend Ahead
Tonight, I am going to try to scalp a ticket to Neil Young at The Riverside. The face value of the cheapest seats are $95. So it doesn't look good for a scalper. I won't pay more that $50. So that could make for a early evening.
Saturday, I am headed out to Butch's for the annual shrimp boil / horse tournament. There is also the possibility of some pool volleyball at my brother's later in the evening.
Sunday, I am headed up to Eagle River. My aunt and uncle have rented out a cabin on one of the lakes up there and invited me along. They have the cabin for a week, but I can't do a whole week with the Shermans. So I will be up there until Wednesday morning.
Lyric of the Day and the Weekend:
The things that I've loved the things that I've lost.
The things that I held sacred that I've dropped.
I won't lie no more you can bet.
I don't want to learn what I'll need to forget.
Saturday, I am headed out to Butch's for the annual shrimp boil / horse tournament. There is also the possibility of some pool volleyball at my brother's later in the evening.
Sunday, I am headed up to Eagle River. My aunt and uncle have rented out a cabin on one of the lakes up there and invited me along. They have the cabin for a week, but I can't do a whole week with the Shermans. So I will be up there until Wednesday morning.
Lyric of the Day and the Weekend:
The things that I've loved the things that I've lost.
The things that I held sacred that I've dropped.
I won't lie no more you can bet.
I don't want to learn what I'll need to forget.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Football....Already?
It is still July, it might be a little early for football talk.....or is it. I blame ESPN for starting it all. I was watching some ESPN the other day and they were interviewing Jared Allen of the Vikings. Much of the talk was about Number 4. Then they played the clip of Favre throwing an interception against the Saints in the NFC championship game. I have to be honest, it brought a huge smile to my face. I did a little research on the internet and found the audio clip. Want to hear it? Here it is. Suck it Borky. All of Wisconsin is laughing at you. "YOU CAN TAKE A KNEE AND TRY A 56 YARD FIELD GOAL!!!! THIS IS NOT DETROIT MAN, THIS IS THE SUPER BOWL.!!!!" I like this clip so much that I have added a link to my blog. It is called "Borky's Lament".
Well enjoy this season of the NFL because next year there might not be any football. Football's Collective Bargaining Agreement will be up after this season and there is a good chance that there will be a lock out. The only good thing that will come out of the lock out is that they will make a change from a 16 game regular season to an 18 game regular season. That means real football in August. So that is a good thing. Now we just need college football to get on board with a playoff system. Just 8 teams would be great. But I think if they go to an 8 team playoff system, the powers that be will realize how profitable it is and they will eventally change that to 16 teams. Don't think it will happen, look at basketball, they want 96 teams now. It is all about the money.
Here are two more sound bites I thought you might like.
T.O. crying as a Cowboy not a 49er. Does he always cry after the game? I never heard boo out of him while he was in Buffalo last year. But I think you will heard some complaints with him in Cincinnati this year.
The Cardinals last second touchdown over the Vikings to get the Packers into the playoffs.
Lyric of the Day:
I would have given you all of my heart.
But there's someone who's torn it apart.
And she has taken just all that I have.
But if you want I'll try to love again.
Well enjoy this season of the NFL because next year there might not be any football. Football's Collective Bargaining Agreement will be up after this season and there is a good chance that there will be a lock out. The only good thing that will come out of the lock out is that they will make a change from a 16 game regular season to an 18 game regular season. That means real football in August. So that is a good thing. Now we just need college football to get on board with a playoff system. Just 8 teams would be great. But I think if they go to an 8 team playoff system, the powers that be will realize how profitable it is and they will eventally change that to 16 teams. Don't think it will happen, look at basketball, they want 96 teams now. It is all about the money.
Here are two more sound bites I thought you might like.
T.O. crying as a Cowboy not a 49er. Does he always cry after the game? I never heard boo out of him while he was in Buffalo last year. But I think you will heard some complaints with him in Cincinnati this year.
The Cardinals last second touchdown over the Vikings to get the Packers into the playoffs.
Lyric of the Day:
I would have given you all of my heart.
But there's someone who's torn it apart.
And she has taken just all that I have.
But if you want I'll try to love again.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Predators
Sunday night I went to see Predators. There is really no way of talking about this film without 
spoiling the plot. A group of humans are dropped into what is a "Predator" game preserve on another planet. This places the group into an "it is us or them" survival mode. The Predators come to the game preserve in groups of three. Eventually all three Predators are eliminated. But shortly after, our heros look to the sky to see another group of "prey" being air dropped onto the game preserve. There are three things that really bother me about this movie. 1st, Laurence Fishbourne's character goes out like a punk. He survives 10 "hunting" seasons on this planet, but then walks around the corner and bam he is dead. 2nd, Topher Grace's character is a double crosser of some extent. It is revealed at the end that he has been on the planet longer than the rest of his group. But over the course of the movie he allows the group to put himself in positions of grave danger. That doesn't make alot of sense to me. 3rd, Adrien Brody's character uses a low graveling voice through the hole movie, much like Christian Bale in Dark Knight. Just because you are a bad ass, doesn't mean that you have to sound like one. I give this movie a 4 out of 10.
spoiling the plot. A group of humans are dropped into what is a "Predator" game preserve on another planet. This places the group into an "it is us or them" survival mode. The Predators come to the game preserve in groups of three. Eventually all three Predators are eliminated. But shortly after, our heros look to the sky to see another group of "prey" being air dropped onto the game preserve. There are three things that really bother me about this movie. 1st, Laurence Fishbourne's character goes out like a punk. He survives 10 "hunting" seasons on this planet, but then walks around the corner and bam he is dead. 2nd, Topher Grace's character is a double crosser of some extent. It is revealed at the end that he has been on the planet longer than the rest of his group. But over the course of the movie he allows the group to put himself in positions of grave danger. That doesn't make alot of sense to me. 3rd, Adrien Brody's character uses a low graveling voice through the hole movie, much like Christian Bale in Dark Knight. Just because you are a bad ass, doesn't mean that you have to sound like one. I give this movie a 4 out of 10.Lyric of the Day:
A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterday's life.
Somewhere a queen is weeping,
Somewhere a king has no wife.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Josh's Birthday
Saturday I went to my nephew, Josh's, baseball game and birthday party.
Here is Josh at the plate.
During the game another kid on Josh's team in the outfield threw the ball to Josh at 3rd base. He jumped and caught the ball. Josh's grandmother, Diane, told everyone about it. "Did you see Josh jump and catch the ball?" Of course I did, what did I come to the game to take a nap. Here is Josh out in the field.
My brother, Dan, pitching. With Dan on the bump, one kid ended up with a bloody nose. He claims that the ball came off the bat and hit the kid in the nose, but from where I was sitting it just looked like Dan was trying to plunk the kid.
I was against the fact that all of the kids got trophies at the end of the year. The world has losers and kids need to learn that not everyone wins. One of the first rules of the league is that winning is secondary. Here I am with Josh after the game.
After the baseball game was the birthday party. In my sister-in-law's family, everyone gets a birthday party. This party was actually for 6 people, or everyone who had a birthday this past year.
It is well known that my sister-in-law, Jody's, brother-in-law, Pete, is 100% full of crap. Pete is the ultimate one upper. I was talking with Chris, who also completed the Pewaukee Triathlon. Pete was listening in on the conversation. We were talking about the bike ride, when Pete interjected that his neighbor, who (as far as I am aware) is not a professional bicyclist, on a hill in the Hartland/Lake Country area got his 10 speed going 60 miles per hour. Pete went as far to say that his neighbor was clocked with a radar gun by a policeman and that the neighbor has a ticket hanging on the wall that states 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. I am calling BS. I have never met Pete's neighbor, but I am doubting that he is out biking on a regular basis. The top speeds in the Tour de France reach about 70 miles per hour. And those are carbon fiber bikes with at least 21 gears, driven by elite athletes, going down mountains. But Pete's neighbor can nearly keep up with them on his 10 speed. Not buying it at all. I will even make the outlandish claim that I could go faster than Pete's neighbor, and I doubt I have even scratched 40 miles per hour.
Here is Josh at the plate.
During the game another kid on Josh's team in the outfield threw the ball to Josh at 3rd base. He jumped and caught the ball. Josh's grandmother, Diane, told everyone about it. "Did you see Josh jump and catch the ball?" Of course I did, what did I come to the game to take a nap. Here is Josh out in the field.My brother, Dan, pitching. With Dan on the bump, one kid ended up with a bloody nose. He claims that the ball came off the bat and hit the kid in the nose, but from where I was sitting it just looked like Dan was trying to plunk the kid.I was against the fact that all of the kids got trophies at the end of the year. The world has losers and kids need to learn that not everyone wins. One of the first rules of the league is that winning is secondary. Here I am with Josh after the game.After the baseball game was the birthday party. In my sister-in-law's family, everyone gets a birthday party. This party was actually for 6 people, or everyone who had a birthday this past year.
It is well known that my sister-in-law, Jody's, brother-in-law, Pete, is 100% full of crap. Pete is the ultimate one upper. I was talking with Chris, who also completed the Pewaukee Triathlon. Pete was listening in on the conversation. We were talking about the bike ride, when Pete interjected that his neighbor, who (as far as I am aware) is not a professional bicyclist, on a hill in the Hartland/Lake Country area got his 10 speed going 60 miles per hour. Pete went as far to say that his neighbor was clocked with a radar gun by a policeman and that the neighbor has a ticket hanging on the wall that states 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. I am calling BS. I have never met Pete's neighbor, but I am doubting that he is out biking on a regular basis. The top speeds in the Tour de France reach about 70 miles per hour. And those are carbon fiber bikes with at least 21 gears, driven by elite athletes, going down mountains. But Pete's neighbor can nearly keep up with them on his 10 speed. Not buying it at all. I will even make the outlandish claim that I could go faster than Pete's neighbor, and I doubt I have even scratched 40 miles per hour.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Dark Knight
Here are my plans for Friday night. The IMAX downtown is showing The Dark Knight Friday at 7:30 p.m. Any one interested?
Lyric of the Day:
Lyric of the Day:Maybe it's not too late,
To learn how to love and forget how to hate.
Mental wounds not healing,
Life's a bitter shame.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mick's Birthday Party
Here are some quick pictures from Mick's birthday party last Saturday.
Lyric of the Day:
The young New Mexican puppeteer,
He saw the people all lived in fear,
He thought that maybe they'd listen to,
A puppet telling them what to do,
You know he got some string,
And he got some wood,
He did some carving and he was good,
And folks came running so they could hear,
The young New Mexican puppeteer
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
More Fireworks?
I have nothing else to post. These are pictures from last Friday's Festa Fireworks.
Lyric of the Day:
And if you feel, that you can't go on.
And your will's sinking low,
Just believe and you can't go wrong. I
n the light, you will find the road.
Lyric of the Day:And if you feel, that you can't go on.
And your will's sinking low,
Just believe and you can't go wrong. I
n the light, you will find the road.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Religion
I don't normally touch on the topics of politics or religion. But religion came up the other day.
I would like to discuss a story that nearly everyone who has ever set foot in a church has heard. Noah and the Ark. "The Book of Genesis, chapters 6-9, tells how God sends a great flood to destroy the earth because of man's wickedness and because the earth is corrupt. (By that line of thinking, I would say we are well overdue for another flood) God tells Noah, the righteous man in his generation, to build a large vessel to save his family and a representation of the world's animals. God gives detailed instructions for the Ark and, after its completion, sends the animals to Noah." As I recall, Noah and all of those animals were on the ship for 7 months. As you read above, God gave detailed instructions for the Ark. One source has the ark with dimensions of 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits high. A cubit has been defined as a measure of length to be anywhere from 1.5 to 2.25 feet long. Let's use the 2.25 feet. So the Ark was 675 feet by 112.5 feet wide and 67.5 feet tall. If it were square, which I am sure it wasn't, it would be 5,125,781 cubic feet.
The more I think about it, the more I don't see how this could happen. According to one internet source, there are over 1,250,000 animals in the world. But lets rule out invertibrates which include insects, mollucks, crustaceans. That gets us down to about 60,000 vertebrates. 30,000 of those are fish and another 10,000 are birds. So I guess we can rule them out because they didn't need to be on the ark. Well maybe the birds, but again for simplicity I will leave them out. That leaves 20,000 different species of amphibians, reptiles and mammals. You need two of each animal so that is 40,000 animals all on one boat. And depending upon your source for the story, it was actually seven pairs of the birds and the clean animals. So that 40,000 is a low estimate. But using the number from above, that would give each animal 128 cubic feet of space, or a space 5 foot by 5 foot by 5 foot. Do you think it would be possible today with our advanced technology, to accomplish such a feat? I don't. Allow me to explain.
I am going to try to simplify things here. For storage of these animals I am going to assume they would be kept in TEUs (20-foot Equivalent Unit), more commonly known as shipping containers, as pictured here.
A shipping container normally measures 20 foot by 8.5 foot by 8 foot. That is 1360 cubic feet per container. I am going to use an assumption here that you can store 4 animals per container. Sure you can probably get more in some containers, and less in others. Although I wouldn't try this if PETA was around. Alright so we have 40,000 animals at 4 per container means you will need 10,000 TEU. The largest cargo ship in the world is the Xin Los Angeles. Here is a photo.
The Xin Los Angeles is 1,105 feet in length and can carry 9200 TEUs. That is about 800 fewer than what I would need. But I am willing to look past that. Let's say somehow you cram 40,000 animals into 9200 TEUs. You still have to feed them. Here is what I have found are some of the daily eating habits of just a few animals.
Wild Elephants eat 330 pounds a day.
Giraffe 75 pounds a day.
Gorilla 40 pounds a day.
Hippopotamus 88 pounds a day.
For those 4 animals that is 533 pounds of food a day, times 2 because there is two of each of them, times 7 for each month, times 30 for each day. That is 223,860 pounds of food. And you have 39,992 other animals to feed, not to mention you have no place to store any of this food.
Oh and what about water, you are going to need fresh water for these animals. Obviously you couldn't store all of that water, you would need a super tanker. And as I recall from the story there was only one ark. Maybe Noah built a desalination plant into his ark. I doubt any desalination plant that could supply 100,000 or more gallons of water a day would be very small. Oh and of course Noah is building this ark out of wood with hand tools.
I know that Noah's family was with him on the ark. I have yet to find out how many members of his family there were. Let's just suppose that there were 100 people in his family. I doubt it, but it helps with the numbers. That means every family member had to feed 400 animals. Pretty sure all of those animals had different diets.
And lastly, let's suppose it would even be possible to build an ark that could house 40,000 animals for 7 months and the food and provide clean water, Noah was over 600 years old when all of this happened. Nope, I am sorry, I don't see someone 600 years old building an ark by himself by hand.
I know, all you church going folk out there, let me have it. I am not saying that I don't believe in God, to be honest I really hope there is a God. But if you could just get back on how this whole ark thing worked, because as the story goes now, with the information I just put forward, it doesn't add up. I would be happy to discuss.
Side topic, I think it is safe to say that our medical technology today is leaps and bounds ahead of what Noah had available. So human beings life expectancy, despite an increase in health care (remember they used to have plagues), has dropped from over 600 years to a current world average of 67.2 years. Can anyone explain this to me?
Lyric of the Day:
Well there is a loneliness inside her,
And she'll do anything to fill it in.
And though it is red blood bleeding from her now,
It feels like holding blue ice in her heart,
She feels like kicking out all of the windows ,
And setting fire to this life,
She would change everything about her using colors bold and bright,
But all of the colors mix together to grey.
I would like to discuss a story that nearly everyone who has ever set foot in a church has heard. Noah and the Ark. "The Book of Genesis, chapters 6-9, tells how God sends a great flood to destroy the earth because of man's wickedness and because the earth is corrupt. (By that line of thinking, I would say we are well overdue for another flood) God tells Noah, the righteous man in his generation, to build a large vessel to save his family and a representation of the world's animals. God gives detailed instructions for the Ark and, after its completion, sends the animals to Noah." As I recall, Noah and all of those animals were on the ship for 7 months. As you read above, God gave detailed instructions for the Ark. One source has the ark with dimensions of 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits high. A cubit has been defined as a measure of length to be anywhere from 1.5 to 2.25 feet long. Let's use the 2.25 feet. So the Ark was 675 feet by 112.5 feet wide and 67.5 feet tall. If it were square, which I am sure it wasn't, it would be 5,125,781 cubic feet.
The more I think about it, the more I don't see how this could happen. According to one internet source, there are over 1,250,000 animals in the world. But lets rule out invertibrates which include insects, mollucks, crustaceans. That gets us down to about 60,000 vertebrates. 30,000 of those are fish and another 10,000 are birds. So I guess we can rule them out because they didn't need to be on the ark. Well maybe the birds, but again for simplicity I will leave them out. That leaves 20,000 different species of amphibians, reptiles and mammals. You need two of each animal so that is 40,000 animals all on one boat. And depending upon your source for the story, it was actually seven pairs of the birds and the clean animals. So that 40,000 is a low estimate. But using the number from above, that would give each animal 128 cubic feet of space, or a space 5 foot by 5 foot by 5 foot. Do you think it would be possible today with our advanced technology, to accomplish such a feat? I don't. Allow me to explain.
I am going to try to simplify things here. For storage of these animals I am going to assume they would be kept in TEUs (20-foot Equivalent Unit), more commonly known as shipping containers, as pictured here.
A shipping container normally measures 20 foot by 8.5 foot by 8 foot. That is 1360 cubic feet per container. I am going to use an assumption here that you can store 4 animals per container. Sure you can probably get more in some containers, and less in others. Although I wouldn't try this if PETA was around. Alright so we have 40,000 animals at 4 per container means you will need 10,000 TEU. The largest cargo ship in the world is the Xin Los Angeles. Here is a photo. The Xin Los Angeles is 1,105 feet in length and can carry 9200 TEUs. That is about 800 fewer than what I would need. But I am willing to look past that. Let's say somehow you cram 40,000 animals into 9200 TEUs. You still have to feed them. Here is what I have found are some of the daily eating habits of just a few animals.Wild Elephants eat 330 pounds a day.
Giraffe 75 pounds a day.
Gorilla 40 pounds a day.
Hippopotamus 88 pounds a day.
For those 4 animals that is 533 pounds of food a day, times 2 because there is two of each of them, times 7 for each month, times 30 for each day. That is 223,860 pounds of food. And you have 39,992 other animals to feed, not to mention you have no place to store any of this food.
Oh and what about water, you are going to need fresh water for these animals. Obviously you couldn't store all of that water, you would need a super tanker. And as I recall from the story there was only one ark. Maybe Noah built a desalination plant into his ark. I doubt any desalination plant that could supply 100,000 or more gallons of water a day would be very small. Oh and of course Noah is building this ark out of wood with hand tools.
I know that Noah's family was with him on the ark. I have yet to find out how many members of his family there were. Let's just suppose that there were 100 people in his family. I doubt it, but it helps with the numbers. That means every family member had to feed 400 animals. Pretty sure all of those animals had different diets.
And lastly, let's suppose it would even be possible to build an ark that could house 40,000 animals for 7 months and the food and provide clean water, Noah was over 600 years old when all of this happened. Nope, I am sorry, I don't see someone 600 years old building an ark by himself by hand.
I know, all you church going folk out there, let me have it. I am not saying that I don't believe in God, to be honest I really hope there is a God. But if you could just get back on how this whole ark thing worked, because as the story goes now, with the information I just put forward, it doesn't add up. I would be happy to discuss.
Side topic, I think it is safe to say that our medical technology today is leaps and bounds ahead of what Noah had available. So human beings life expectancy, despite an increase in health care (remember they used to have plagues), has dropped from over 600 years to a current world average of 67.2 years. Can anyone explain this to me?
Lyric of the Day:
Well there is a loneliness inside her,
And she'll do anything to fill it in.
And though it is red blood bleeding from her now,
It feels like holding blue ice in her heart,
She feels like kicking out all of the windows ,
And setting fire to this life,
She would change everything about her using colors bold and bright,
But all of the colors mix together to grey.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Fireworks
Who doesn't like fireworks? They are like waterslides. Everyone likes them, no matter how old you are. Since the triathlon I haven't done much more than lay on the couch. I told myself I would take a week to let me body recover. But last night I decided to ride down to the lake front and watch the nightly Festa Italiana fireworks. The display was pretty good. The show lasted about 17 minutes. If I don't go to Rusted Root tonight at The Rave, I am going to head back down there tonight. This time I am going to bring some money with me and stop at Gillies on the way home.
Lyric of the Day
I can't be free with what's locked inside of me...
If there was a key, you took it in your hands.
There's no wrong or right,... but I'm sure there's good and bad
The questions linger overhead
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Triathlon
Sunday was the Pewaukee Triathlon that I had been "training" for. Before I get into the review of the race, I would like to state that I am not making any excuses for my time, I am simply just telling the story. Back in March or April, Preston asked me if I wanted to run this race with him. I was coming off back surgery, but had been given a green light to do nearly anything I would like from my doctor. Although he told me to wait a while before running. I began biking right away. I was biking the race course (15 miles) at least once every two weeks. I can recall being out there biking in the cold April rain, looking like a moron for biking in such weather. Towards the end of May, Preston told me he couldn't do the race because that the day of the race was the only day that his son, Patrick, could be baptized. Sounds like a convenient excuse to me. As May turned to June, my training was coming along pretty well. I was biking 4 to 5 times a week, although I did manage to fall off my bike twice. And just started running. But I never start swimming in a lake until mid June. One day I was biking the race course and I was pushing pretty hard when I started to feel a burning sensation in my lower back on the left hand side. I have since developed some of the same signs I had before my surgery. I slowed things with my training down quite a bit. At that point my running hadn't been more than a mile. Again these are not excuses, but just an example of what an idiot I am. It was also around this same time that Tree decided to enter the race. He was going to be in town and wanted to do the race. Last weekend I was at my brother's house and was swimming in the pool with my nephews. I was showing my nephew, Ethan, how to do a flip turn. As I took a stroke with my right arm it came out of socket. It took me about 30 seconds to get it back in place. This was of great concern to me. Allow me to fast forward to the night before the race.
Saturday night I went to bed around 10:00 p.m. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling worrying about two things. 1st and foremost, as I just mentioned, that last time I had swam my arm came out of socket. Now if this were to happen during mid swim, there is a pretty good chance that I could drown. 2nd, going into to this race the last time I ran a distance even close to a 5K, was a year and a half ago. I got next to no sleep with these two things weighing on my mind. I was up at 4:45 a.m. and stretched and got in some sit-ups and push-ups to hopefully loosen my back up. I met Tree at a park and ride near the race at 5:35 and then we headed to the race.
The race is pretty popular and there were 1349 participants. They break everyone up and send them into the water in waves of 50 people at a time. I was in wave 26. This left me waiting around for around 45 minutes before entering the water. In fact I had to wait around so long that the the elite racers, who were in the first wave, had completed the swim and bike and were on to the run before I even entered the water. As my wave was called and they were counting down the final seconds until I entered the water two things entered my mind. 1st, I don't know that my shoulder is going to remain intact and I might drown. 2nd, only a few days earlier they had placed an E Coli ban on the lake. (Oh only 100 colonies per 100 milliliters, that's it? Now I feel better.) With all of the rain we have had lately, the City of Pewaukee's water treatment facilities were unable to handle volume of water. I am assuming like City of Milwaukee, the City of Pewaukee has a combined storm and sanitary sewer. Since they couldn't handle all of the "water", they just dumped the "water" (read fecal matter) into the lake. So entering the water I was worried about getting sick. The horn blew and I walked into the water. I got about 10 strokes in and my shoulder felt fine. That put me somewhat at ease. Then I got a cramp in my foot. I managed to power through that pain and a minute later I was back to feeling fine. Then I got some water up my nose and it got caught between my nose and mouth in my nasal cavity. I eventually swallowed that water and felt repulsed that I just swallowed someone's bodily waste. The rest of the swim went fine. I just relaxed and took my mind off of all of the other problems by counting my strokes. The only other issue with the swim was all of the weeds on the course, but that was nothing compared to the other issues. I got out of the water and headed to the transition area. When I got to the bike rack where my bike and the bikes of everyone else in my wave were waiting, just by looking at the bike rack and the number of bikes that were gone, I would say that I finished the swim in the middle of my wave. I jumped my bike and headed out on the bike course. My legs were pretty dead for the first mile or so but that passed and the ride went really well. That was until I was about 13 miles into the ride and I started to get a familiar burning sensation in my lower back on the left side. I slowed down my pace some and took it a little easy knowing that the 5K run at the end was just going to be brutal. I would say that over the course of the bike, I passed around 100 people and only got passed by maybe 10 other riders. I had my bell on my bike and rang it every time I passed someone. I had mentioned going into the triathlon that my two goals were to average 20 miles per hour on the bike and win the second transition. My watch said that I was well over 45 minutes on the bike so that 20 miles per hour wasn't going to happen. I finished up the bike and entered the transition area. I ran for the first 20 feet and then said to myself screw this and started walking. I was pretty gassed. The fastest transition time wasn't going to happen either. When I racked my bike I saw only 3 or 4 other bikes, which means I was at the front of my wave. I grabbed my jar of "Icy Hot" and slapped some of that on my back. I swallowed two Alieve, grabbed my MP3 player and walked out to the run course. I was still playing with my MP3 player as I walked across the mat that registers that you have begun the run portion of the race. This area has alot of spectators standing and watching. I said to them as I am still walking "How is my pace? Good?" Quite a few of them laughed and said "Yep, you are looking good." The run absolutely sucked. Very hilly. 5 minutes into the run my back was burning. I told myself that I would allow myself to walk for 1 minute after every 5 minutes of running. But I told myself I wasn't a quitter. I made it 9 minutes of running and was half way up this brutal hill when I said to myself "You know what? You are a quitter. If you don't take a break you will be crippled for life." I walked to the top of the hill and there was this professional photographer there taking pictures. I pointed to my face and said to him "See this face, this is the face of defeat." He laughed but said I was doing well. After a minute of walking I got back to running. Well I guess you could call it running. My pace was just barely above walking. There were 3 water stations along the run. At each one, I would walk up to one of the volunteers and tell them, "Just throw it right on me." They always asked if I was serious. I said "Oh yeah, let me have it." Then they would throw a glass of water in my face. It felt great. At 19 minutes into the run, I again slowed to walk. Then I stepped a side and did some quick stretches. At this point, most of the remaining run was down hill, and I felt OK. But due to my lack of running in the weeks leading up to the race, my body just wasn't ready to pick up the pace. I was about a half mile from the end and I was running across an intersection, there was a female police person controlling the intersection. I said to her, "You aren't going to give me a ticket for speeding are you?" She didn't even smile. I got to the final turn of the run and there was Tree yelling "DNF! DNF!" (Short for Did Not Finish). Tree was in wave 20 and started about 15 minutes before me. I crossed the finish line and it was easily the worst I have felt after any triathlon that I have done.
Here are the times from the race:
The winner's swim: 6:11
Tree's swim: 12:48
My swim: 11:52
The winner's 1st transition: 54 seconds
Tree's 1st transition: 3:31
My 1st transition: 3:47
The winner's bike: 34:10 (27.3 mph)
Tree's bike: 52:09 (17.9 mph)
My bike: 53:08 (17.6 mph)
The winner's 2nd transition: 34 seconds
Tree's 2nd transition: 1:45
My 2nd transition: 2:32
The winner's run: 17:56 (5:47 minute miles)
Tree's run: 29:42 (9:35 minute miles)
My run: 34:30 (11:07 minute miles)
The winner's time: 59 minutes and 46 seconds
Tree's time: 1 hour 39 minutes and 57 seconds
My time: 1 hour 45 minutes and 52 seconds
Even though I am 5 months off of back surgery and 1 week off of dislocating a shoulder, I am still very disappointed with my performance. I guess it is more frustrating than anything. I know I needed to train harder but my body really limited my training. In hindsight I should have passed on this triathlon and allowed my body to heal a little more after the surgery before taking on such an endeavor. Two years ago I took part in a triathlon of the same distance and finished in 1 hour 24 minutes and 58 seconds. 20 minutes worse, very disheartening. Even though Tree wore a wetsuit for the swim, he still smoked me. He would have smoked me without a wetsuit. No excuses, he beat me. Tree, next time I see you, I owe you breakfast. Good work my friend. And I will say this for Tree, he played in the Stu on Stu tournament the day before. He rolled his ankle at the tournament, not to mention the toll that playing 3 hours of basketball on concrete can take on your body. So Tree was no where near being properly prepared for the race.
And here is your lyric of the day:
Deer woman in a silk dress,
Girls with beads about their necks,
Kiss the hunter of the green vest,
Who has wrestled before,
With lions in the night,
Out of sight!
The lights are getting brighter,
The radio is moaning,
Calling to the dogs,
There are still a few animals,
Left out in the yard,
But it's getting harder,
To describe,
Sailors,
To the underfed.
Saturday night I went to bed around 10:00 p.m. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling worrying about two things. 1st and foremost, as I just mentioned, that last time I had swam my arm came out of socket. Now if this were to happen during mid swim, there is a pretty good chance that I could drown. 2nd, going into to this race the last time I ran a distance even close to a 5K, was a year and a half ago. I got next to no sleep with these two things weighing on my mind. I was up at 4:45 a.m. and stretched and got in some sit-ups and push-ups to hopefully loosen my back up. I met Tree at a park and ride near the race at 5:35 and then we headed to the race.
The race is pretty popular and there were 1349 participants. They break everyone up and send them into the water in waves of 50 people at a time. I was in wave 26. This left me waiting around for around 45 minutes before entering the water. In fact I had to wait around so long that the the elite racers, who were in the first wave, had completed the swim and bike and were on to the run before I even entered the water. As my wave was called and they were counting down the final seconds until I entered the water two things entered my mind. 1st, I don't know that my shoulder is going to remain intact and I might drown. 2nd, only a few days earlier they had placed an E Coli ban on the lake. (Oh only 100 colonies per 100 milliliters, that's it? Now I feel better.) With all of the rain we have had lately, the City of Pewaukee's water treatment facilities were unable to handle volume of water. I am assuming like City of Milwaukee, the City of Pewaukee has a combined storm and sanitary sewer. Since they couldn't handle all of the "water", they just dumped the "water" (read fecal matter) into the lake. So entering the water I was worried about getting sick. The horn blew and I walked into the water. I got about 10 strokes in and my shoulder felt fine. That put me somewhat at ease. Then I got a cramp in my foot. I managed to power through that pain and a minute later I was back to feeling fine. Then I got some water up my nose and it got caught between my nose and mouth in my nasal cavity. I eventually swallowed that water and felt repulsed that I just swallowed someone's bodily waste. The rest of the swim went fine. I just relaxed and took my mind off of all of the other problems by counting my strokes. The only other issue with the swim was all of the weeds on the course, but that was nothing compared to the other issues. I got out of the water and headed to the transition area. When I got to the bike rack where my bike and the bikes of everyone else in my wave were waiting, just by looking at the bike rack and the number of bikes that were gone, I would say that I finished the swim in the middle of my wave. I jumped my bike and headed out on the bike course. My legs were pretty dead for the first mile or so but that passed and the ride went really well. That was until I was about 13 miles into the ride and I started to get a familiar burning sensation in my lower back on the left side. I slowed down my pace some and took it a little easy knowing that the 5K run at the end was just going to be brutal. I would say that over the course of the bike, I passed around 100 people and only got passed by maybe 10 other riders. I had my bell on my bike and rang it every time I passed someone. I had mentioned going into the triathlon that my two goals were to average 20 miles per hour on the bike and win the second transition. My watch said that I was well over 45 minutes on the bike so that 20 miles per hour wasn't going to happen. I finished up the bike and entered the transition area. I ran for the first 20 feet and then said to myself screw this and started walking. I was pretty gassed. The fastest transition time wasn't going to happen either. When I racked my bike I saw only 3 or 4 other bikes, which means I was at the front of my wave. I grabbed my jar of "Icy Hot" and slapped some of that on my back. I swallowed two Alieve, grabbed my MP3 player and walked out to the run course. I was still playing with my MP3 player as I walked across the mat that registers that you have begun the run portion of the race. This area has alot of spectators standing and watching. I said to them as I am still walking "How is my pace? Good?" Quite a few of them laughed and said "Yep, you are looking good." The run absolutely sucked. Very hilly. 5 minutes into the run my back was burning. I told myself that I would allow myself to walk for 1 minute after every 5 minutes of running. But I told myself I wasn't a quitter. I made it 9 minutes of running and was half way up this brutal hill when I said to myself "You know what? You are a quitter. If you don't take a break you will be crippled for life." I walked to the top of the hill and there was this professional photographer there taking pictures. I pointed to my face and said to him "See this face, this is the face of defeat." He laughed but said I was doing well. After a minute of walking I got back to running. Well I guess you could call it running. My pace was just barely above walking. There were 3 water stations along the run. At each one, I would walk up to one of the volunteers and tell them, "Just throw it right on me." They always asked if I was serious. I said "Oh yeah, let me have it." Then they would throw a glass of water in my face. It felt great. At 19 minutes into the run, I again slowed to walk. Then I stepped a side and did some quick stretches. At this point, most of the remaining run was down hill, and I felt OK. But due to my lack of running in the weeks leading up to the race, my body just wasn't ready to pick up the pace. I was about a half mile from the end and I was running across an intersection, there was a female police person controlling the intersection. I said to her, "You aren't going to give me a ticket for speeding are you?" She didn't even smile. I got to the final turn of the run and there was Tree yelling "DNF! DNF!" (Short for Did Not Finish). Tree was in wave 20 and started about 15 minutes before me. I crossed the finish line and it was easily the worst I have felt after any triathlon that I have done.
Here are the times from the race:
The winner's swim: 6:11
Tree's swim: 12:48
My swim: 11:52
The winner's 1st transition: 54 seconds
Tree's 1st transition: 3:31
My 1st transition: 3:47
The winner's bike: 34:10 (27.3 mph)
Tree's bike: 52:09 (17.9 mph)
My bike: 53:08 (17.6 mph)
The winner's 2nd transition: 34 seconds
Tree's 2nd transition: 1:45
My 2nd transition: 2:32
The winner's run: 17:56 (5:47 minute miles)
Tree's run: 29:42 (9:35 minute miles)
My run: 34:30 (11:07 minute miles)
The winner's time: 59 minutes and 46 seconds
Tree's time: 1 hour 39 minutes and 57 seconds
My time: 1 hour 45 minutes and 52 seconds
Even though I am 5 months off of back surgery and 1 week off of dislocating a shoulder, I am still very disappointed with my performance. I guess it is more frustrating than anything. I know I needed to train harder but my body really limited my training. In hindsight I should have passed on this triathlon and allowed my body to heal a little more after the surgery before taking on such an endeavor. Two years ago I took part in a triathlon of the same distance and finished in 1 hour 24 minutes and 58 seconds. 20 minutes worse, very disheartening. Even though Tree wore a wetsuit for the swim, he still smoked me. He would have smoked me without a wetsuit. No excuses, he beat me. Tree, next time I see you, I owe you breakfast. Good work my friend. And I will say this for Tree, he played in the Stu on Stu tournament the day before. He rolled his ankle at the tournament, not to mention the toll that playing 3 hours of basketball on concrete can take on your body. So Tree was no where near being properly prepared for the race.
And here is your lyric of the day:
Deer woman in a silk dress,
Girls with beads about their necks,
Kiss the hunter of the green vest,
Who has wrestled before,
With lions in the night,
Out of sight!
The lights are getting brighter,
The radio is moaning,
Calling to the dogs,
There are still a few animals,
Left out in the yard,
But it's getting harder,
To describe,
Sailors,
To the underfed.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Stu on Stu
Saturday was the Stu on Stu tournament. It is a two on two basketball tournament at Stu's house. As you can probably guess, the name of the tournament is a play on words. I don't even remember who named it as such. This tournament has been going on for at least 10 years, maybe more. It has been three years since I participated. My body no longer allows me to play. But a couple years back I did win the tournament with Jon the Electrican. There is a elite club of past winners and I show up every year to root for former winners because I want that club to remain as small and exclusive as possible. This year Stu and Joe retained their title. I think this was the 3rd time that Stu won, and the 6th time that Joe won. Joe is by far the most elite member of the club.
I was always also rooting for Tree's team. The more games that he plays in the more sore he would be for Sunday's triathlon.
I showed up late to the tournament. In fact the championship game was going on when I arrived. Here are a couple of pictures and video of the final championship point.
I was always also rooting for Tree's team. The more games that he plays in the more sore he would be for Sunday's triathlon.
I showed up late to the tournament. In fact the championship game was going on when I arrived. Here are a couple of pictures and video of the final championship point.
Lyric of the Day:
Now there some sad things known to man.
But ain't too much sadder than the tears of a clown.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Heather's Birthday
Friday was Tree's wife, Heather's, birthday party. The party was at one of Heather's friend's house in Menomonee Falls. Here are some photos.
Tree taking a picture.
Here is Kaitlyn, Tree's daughter. She is 5 now. It is easy to see that she is much more outgoing than the last time I saw her two years ago.
Here is Heather with her cake.
Kaitlyn and Heather blowing out the candles.
Lyric of the Day:
You could have flown away,
Tree taking a picture.
Here is Kaitlyn, Tree's daughter. She is 5 now. It is easy to see that she is much more outgoing than the last time I saw her two years ago.Here is Heather with her cake.Kaitlyn and Heather blowing out the candles.Lyric of the Day:You could have flown away,
A signing bird in an open cage,
Who will only fly,
Only fly for freedom.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Dave Matthews
Yes, as always I went to both Dave Matthews Shows. I get asked all of the time, you are going to both shows? Don't they play the same songs. Nope. I enjoyed both shows. Here are the setlists.
Saturday July 3rd:
Squirm
Big Eyed Fish
Stay of Leave
The Stone
Proudest Monkey
Seven
Don't Drink The Water
You and Me
Stand Up
Corn Bread
Recently
Funny The Way It Is
Blue Water Baboon Farm
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Eh Hee
Can't Stop
What Would You Say
So Damn Lucky
Shake Me Like A Monkey
Little Red Bird
Two Step
Sunday July 4th:
One Sweet World
Bartender
Everyday
Spaceman
Corn Bread
Break For It
Say Goodbye
Lying In The Hands Of God
Digging a Ditch
Drive In Drive Out
Grey Street
Jimi Thing
Why I Am
The Needle and The Damage Done (Neil Young Cover)
Tripping Billies
Gravedigger
You Might Die Trying
Ants Marching
I'll Back You Up
Time Bomb
All Along The Watchtower
As you can see they only played one song on both nights. The tailgating was much better Saturday night. But Sunday was the better concert.
Saturday July 3rd:
Squirm
Big Eyed Fish
Stay of Leave
The Stone
Proudest Monkey
Seven
Don't Drink The Water
You and Me
Stand Up
Corn Bread
Recently
Funny The Way It Is
Blue Water Baboon Farm
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Eh Hee
Can't Stop
What Would You Say
So Damn Lucky
Shake Me Like A Monkey
Little Red Bird
Two Step
Sunday July 4th:
One Sweet World
Bartender
Everyday
Spaceman
Corn Bread
Break For It
Say Goodbye
Lying In The Hands Of God
Digging a Ditch
Drive In Drive Out
Grey Street
Jimi Thing
Why I Am
The Needle and The Damage Done (Neil Young Cover)
Tripping Billies
Gravedigger
You Might Die Trying
Ants Marching
I'll Back You Up
Time Bomb
All Along The Watchtower
As you can see they only played one song on both nights. The tailgating was much better Saturday night. But Sunday was the better concert.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Summerfest
I only made it down to Summerfest one night this year. There really wasn't any particular band that I wanted to see but I was up for going down any night that people were going. I am guessing that either not too many people went down to Summerfest, or they just didn't want me going along with them. Brian and Nancy gave me a call and invited me to go along with them on the 2nd. One of the first places I like to go to when I am down there with Brian and Nancy is "The Spot". This is the place where Brian and Nancy first met. Here is a photo of them at "The Spot".
This guy was my hero. I have been meaning to work on my juggling for a while now. In fact it is always a New Years Resolution. I haven't been doing so well with that.
I knew that Doug, Lisa, Eric and Anna were also going to be down at Summerfest on that same night. However I didn't know that they were going to kidnap Nate. 
I can only imagine that this picture was taken during one of Nate's stories.
There are a number of things that I like about Summerfest. And I think that in general that most of Summerfest is positive. But unfortunately there sometimes are people who take things a little too far. This guy either passed out or go knocked out. I don't know, but something happened and he was down for the count.
And look at this kid. He doesn't look too good here.
That's better. Let it all out.
This guy was my hero. I have been meaning to work on my juggling for a while now. In fact it is always a New Years Resolution. I haven't been doing so well with that.I knew that Doug, Lisa, Eric and Anna were also going to be down at Summerfest on that same night. However I didn't know that they were going to kidnap Nate. I can only imagine that this picture was taken during one of Nate's stories.There are a number of things that I like about Summerfest. And I think that in general that most of Summerfest is positive. But unfortunately there sometimes are people who take things a little too far. This guy either passed out or go knocked out. I don't know, but something happened and he was down for the count.And look at this kid. He doesn't look too good here.That's better. Let it all out.
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