In this brutal season of cutbacks, the office holiday party is getting downsized, too. From American Express to MTV, employers are canceling Christmas celebrations because of the gloomy economy. At some other workplaces, last year's catered affair is this season's potluck dinner. Allison Haines, a marketing rep with Teletronics, Inc. was actually excited about the prospect of having a covered dish holiday party. "They hated my prune casserole at the church picnic," Haines stated. "But I figured if I added some soy sauce and oregano, them office bozos won't know they're eatin' leftovers." Amy: You guys are so upbeat! ...and thank heavens you guys didn't name the new device "A-Rod"...aeorta, get it? OK...that was a stretch... TomS: 12 miles in rotten weather...you just continue to amaze.. Leslie: Gas is sub-$2 all over the place now...I happen to live in southern Virginia. It's always higher in California...one reason is the extra stuff they put in the mix (for cleaner air, I think)...another might be an extra tax. I know that gas is always higher in NC than VA because they have an extra tax. For our area, a good rule of thumb is to take the spot (wholesale) price & add 40-60 cents to get retail. I think the spot price is now about $1.25. Francesca: I don't like to run in the rain...my hair frizzes. Carolyn: Discussion of the U.S. auto crisis would take thousands of pages and cost millions of lives. We started falling behind in the mid-70's during the first Arab oil embargo when the Japanese began importing fuel-efficient cars and we took the attitude "we don't need to re-tool...this shall pass."....and it didn't. And while fuel prices have come down the past few months...this too shall pass. Tramps: It might not be too late...you can get a waterproof plastic holder for your I-Pod, complete with earpod connection, etc. Try Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart...all the usual suspects. I have one but I never use it.

Et tu, Brewte?

OK...I'm going back to sleep. NoNo: What a great run...and no leaves to slip on. Maine: Yesterday's workout was disgustingly good...great to hear that Joel is back in the game. Holly: Great interval gut-wrencher this morning! Did a decent 4.1 miles this morning...in the rain...36:24 (8:53). DickyG

I am back from my trip. I have another on Monday. Oh well. Still no running so I remain a full fledged member of the club! Got that biketm and evanflein just in case the two of you thought I had stopped slacking off. Like biketm last night I had a brief thought along the lines of maybe I can start up again while I was walking around looking for a place to pick up a soda. Then I did one of those mini-speed ups you do when you are in a cross walk and there are cars gunning for you. My hamstring let me know in no uncertain terms it was not ready to go yet. So, today I did some stuff in the gym and will spend the rest catching up with work. I hope to post later. I read yesterday's daily and it was good to see all the back and forth about various random items. Good runs and non runs all! P.S. Those of you just taking a day off do not qualify for the non-run club. Sorry. If you are off of your own free will you are in the running club but just happen to have a day off. You first need to injure yourself so that non-running becomes non-voluntary. Everybody got that! These membership requirements are important! Your non-run club Dictator!

Last training run with my 5th grade 5k clubbers today. The race is on Saturday and it should be interesting. There is one girl who tells me she does not like running. She is not a strong runner, yet she shows up every day. She tries hard and actually had her mom follow her in the car for 3 1 mile runs in her neighborhood on Tuesday when we didn't have school. I can't wait to see how they react to the race, it should be fun. On another personal note, for those who saw last week I posted about volleyball. Alas, my team lost that night, so I am at 199 career wins and holding for the moment. As a Cubs fan I have to say: wait 'til next year!

I think that was a record number of non-runs posted at the beginning of the daily run thread. Day 9, no runs. Does that earn me bronze level in the non-running club?? I know it is a Personal Best for me for the number of consecutive non-running days since I began running almost 3 years ago. Guess I have been very lucky until now. It would be nice to cross-train though. All I can do is walk slowly around the house, lie down, get up, repeat. Maybe I will try a walk around the block today. Sitting for more than 5 minutes at a time is not good. On the bright side, and don't ask me how this is possible, I haven't put on any weight. In fact I lost a pound or two. All of it muscle it would appear. For 9 days I've just been lying in bed, eating ice cream, halloween candy, potato chips and brownies. I really don't get it.

There is one girl who tells me she does not like running. She is not a strong runner, yet she shows up every day. She tries hard and actually had her mom follow her in the car for 3 1 mile runs in her neighborhood on Tuesday when we didn't have school.

Bless her heart! Do tell us about how it went for her afterward.

My appointment is tomorrow. After 7 days of much pain, it finally eased up yesterday and I am feeling much better. I think it is just a particularily bad low back muscle strain. But of course I want to see the doctor to rule out any disc involvement.