Mornin' everyone,

Welcome back from the west coast, Marj & Henry! Sorry about the sore calf, Henry. Congrats on the bucks from the BAA!

Tramps, I'm glad you had dry, cool weather yesterday. I also enjoy seeing deer on my workouts (but I rarely see 5 at once). But, as Twocat pointed out, they are ultimately a nuisance: They carry disease and eat our hostas and some of our rhodos, for starters...

I'm very sorry about the forest fires, Mariposai. I hope they get contained/extinguished quickly so you can get your lovely clean air back.

Aamos, I'm sorry about having used 'forestry' as too-general a term. What the property owners intend is to cut and sell trees on their property for profit. There is no subdivision or other development planned. I don't believe they will clear-cut, but since they have not filed a town permit, we cannot assess exactly what they intend to do, or how they intend to do it. "Bicycle Dreams' does sound nuts - I'll have to find it and watch it. It'll be interesting to see how your dueling running store saga plays out, and to see if they find a way to play nice together or not.

That's some roster of races, Tet! Not being a dentist, I can't give a definitive (or even knowledgeable) opinion on abscesses. But it seems to me that dental problems rarely reverse themselves on their own. However, I'd do a bit of research on the topic and keep monitoring what is going on in your mouth.

Congrats to the Saint on her 8-miler, and to you on your continued come-back, Ribs.

Yep - got the decimal in the wrong place. Nice catch, Holly. I also hate those website videos that start themselves - very annoying!

That's an impressive early-morning workout, Jlynne. It's a tough call between the follow-up nap or coffee. I'd probably go for the coffee, and then take a nap anyway.

Great writing on writing, Twocat. I come from a marketing background, where we were taught that you have about 5-10 seconds to draw someone in or they are on to something else. So the challenge is always to tell a compelling story using as few words as possible. That is why headline and slogan writers (used to) get the big bucks. A friend wrote "Dirt Can't Hide From Intensified Tide" many years ago and used it as a springboard to a better job at an ad agency. I still like "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux."

Your day sounded great, until the root canal, Deeze! I'm glad it went relatively well, and was as painless as a RC can be. Strange story about the Old Port Half. I don't know how any race can have a lead vehicle/rider who doesn't know the course!

I'm glad you made the most of your Mt. Hood trip, Leslie, and that you got in a good recovery run yesterday.

Sounds like a great work trip, and a fabulous dinner, Dave! I'm glad you and Cindy have been having a good time.

Good runs, Mike, and sounds like a great Hermosaboy race on Saturday. I hope supper was good...

Note to self: Never ask Steve about Billies!    Great take on good customer service which, unfortunately, is far too rare these days. Congrats to you for setting a good example.

Yesterday's hearing (on the "forestry" issue) went well, but now we have to wait for the judge to issue a ruling. I keep hearing a game show clock and song in my mind as we wait... We had a very productive meeting last night on "Preparing For Climate Change" with town officials and residents from 3 communities. But it all made for a long and tiring day, so I chose to sleep in this morning, which I already regret because it was a gorgeous morning. So it goes...

Have a greta Friday! And I wish good racing to both of this weekend's racers:

07/20 evanflein - Gold Discovery Race 16.5 miles

07/20 SubDood - Hopkins Raspberry Festival Mile, Hopkins, MN

Jay

Yet another example of the winners writing history, I guess.

We had a company outing to a minor league game last night.  (NH Fisher Cats) they did it up nicely--fancy coach (bus seems inadequate) buffet at the park and a block of the nice seats.  DW and DD came down from Maine.  Very nice evening, but the park being almost an hour from work, and work being an hour from home, bed time was a LITTLE bit too far past midnight to run this morning.  Hoping for some hills in Maine tomorrow morning to make up for it.

Steve--you ought to team up with Ribs to talk about customer service.

Good Friday Morning!  (it's even fun to type that)

Loved this from yesterday:

Steve: Dave59, I suspect the place mats did not come with crayons.

And Dave's rejoinder that he felt like Barney Fife in the French restaurant in Raleigh.

....hmmm.....I did a 3 month co-op in Raleigh in '84 and never found "the" French restaurant.  I was in a carpool with folks I will always remember.  He was a true Republican and she a liberal Democrat.  they alternated weeks and the rule was whoever drove got to choose the radio station.  It was a very entertaining three months; kind of like being up close and personal with the characters Chevy Chase and Dan Ackroyd portrayed on the SNL newscast.  I still use a catchphrase of his.  He'd get in the car and sing out: "tie, leave me!" and whip off his tie.  (I like to cry: "hose, leave me!" when I've had it with the pantyhose, an unfortunate piece of clothing that seems efficient but is uncomfy to say the least .)

Mike, I got invited to Rob's wedding run too.  Please please please try to remember me to him and wish him my very very very best.  (and if you get/have a snail mail adress, let me know it?  I'm so happy for him.  And jealous you get to be there.  Hope you get some greta peekshures.  Have fun (and win an AG in the race, hear?)

Jay, so is the issue that the guy is cutting down tress or that he's planning on running a business from what I presume is residentially zoned land?    If he doesn't file for a permit and just starts engaging in cutting and selling, will the town get an injunction?  Will you wait or go in before he starts?  How will you prove that's his plan?  This could be the start of a neat short story (ok, I guess we have to get some infidelity or some such in there, but so far I'm intrigued without that stuff!)

Oh, and I remember that Tide slogan!  Jogged my brain, so you all must suffer the consequences (blame Jay).

How's this, Masters runners:

1.) Which cigarette tasted good "like a cigarette should?"  [I can hear Erika and Ribs groaning over the grammar, but I'm just the messenger!]

2.) "Red, yellow and blue balloons" were part of the packaging for what?

3.) For my midwestern chums, what was aged 4 years in wood?

4.) What company sponsored Sky King?

5.) What was the little girl's name in the above show?

Mari, I heard on the news this am that the fires in central WA are getting worse.  People are evacuating their homes and a hospital had to do the same.  Are you at all in the line of danger?

I would have enjoyed that minor league game (going through a little baseball withdrawal here) and "coaches"  are nice, Stumpy....reminds me of the vehicles the area running clubs use to get to Boston whilst the rest of us hoi polloi are in the little yellow school buses.....O HI Karin!  didn't know you were here today, how are ya? 

Really, that "Bicycle Dreams" movie is still on my mind.  I think the guy who won did it (rode across America) in 9 days on 11 hours of sleep.  How is that even  possible?

Pshew, feeling much better today as I got a run in.  Another pretty dawn, and the floral scents were paticularly strong this am.  I'm seeing a chubby fellow on my runs a lot of ams and we're getting on regular hello and a comment terms.  He's really regular, and I swear starting to diminsh noticiably.  If I keep seeing him, I'm thinking about giving him a flyer for an August 5K we have on the schedule.

Someone asked about doing doubles.  I run 2x a day when I join a club run after work.  I probably am running too much and some people tell me I should get a coach, but I dunno.   Some running club chums think I should cut back and focus on speed work more, but that seems most unpleasant!   I just love to run, and i try to go easy on a lot of the runs so I'm not straining anything, just having fun.  So last night I did 10 with the Speedsters down by the river and this morning I did 10, but both were at around an 8:40 pace.  And I won't do a long run tomorrow as I'm running a 5K, so I'll just do some warm up miles before that.  But I am not following any real plan, so feel free to chime in at me if you want.

Hope y'all have wonderful weekends,

grins,

A

Winston and Wonder Bread were all I knew, and the big deal at the time is that you may not use "like" as a conjunction. I doubt many people even care about that today.  "As a cigarette should" is better usage.  Thanks for the reminder Amy.

With all the storms last night, the temp is down to low 60's here, and it's a record for the lowest temperature at this date in Texas.  Very humid though.  But it was recovery day so the Saint and I did an easy 3 miler and that's that.  I'm playing bridge this afternoon, after I get my business blog posted.  It's about Bill Bradley and the NY Knicks.  Tell me, "Do you really like to play basketball?"

Have a great weekend everyone.  Spareribs

Tet, a parody on LSMFT back in my childhood was, "Let's See MacArthur Fire Truman."    Spareribs

"Many years ago the CEO of the great ad agency McCann-Erickson decided the company was too big and had lost much of its speed and creativity, so he spun off a new agency from it, staffing it with his best and most creative people. He called the agency Jack Tinker & Partners, and it was an instant success.

Much of that success was driven by the genius Herta Herzog, whose background in psychoanalysis helped Tinker create some dazzling campaigns, all based on consumers’ buying motives. One of these campaigns is a classic story, and you can use the premise to help you and your team become more effective salespeople.

Herzog had the advertising account for Alka-Seltzer, and after reviewing their current approaches, she said simply, “The ads you are running now show a hand dropping an Alka-Seltzer tablet into a glass of water.  Why not drop two tablets into the water?  You’ll double your sales.”

So the company created a new ad, and those of you who are older may recall the famous “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is” TV spots.  And the company did in fact double its sales, as consumers learned that the proper dosage for relief was two tablets instead of one."

Spareribs

I can’t quite remember it all but our Lucky Strike one wasn’t about politics but seems to have had something to do with sweaters or something like that. No wonder spareribs turned out to be so knowledgeable about everything that means something instead of a typical goofball, or will that eventually happen to him too as he gets older. oh well.
.
However, I especially long for those days when the only commercial interruptions in baseball games were the gillette jingles between innings so play-by-plan announcers could actually talk about the game instead of how to fit constant commercializing into the broadcast itself so incessantly I often turn them off and miss several innings when I get distracted and don’t turn it back on.
look sharp, with Gillette Blue blades,
feel sharp with Gillette Blue blades,
be sharp with Gillette Blue blades,
How are you fixed for blades?
^{jay - help, I can’t quite remember the last line.}

______________________
Nevertheless, for some reason I’m sure it has nothing to do with the commercials, I’ve used Gillettes all my life.  Same as being a loyal Pepsodent user ever since an early tv commercial had a sombreo-capped s figure skiing down Pepsodent toothpaste slopes on Pepsodent toothbrush skis, .. . "and Pepsodent toothbrushes too."

You folks are bringing back a lot of memories.....remember McCloud, and Columbo?

10 miles with some big hills today for me.

Off to take DD to her annual physical.

Happy Friday!