TomW is Back and Pain Free!!  And Going Outside to the Fresh Air!!

Erika - A number of years ago, I made garlic mash potatoes for the first time . . . only I put in fresh garlic at the end when I was mashing them up.  And a lot of it.  The next day I had to pick The Hub up at work (for some reason).  He'd only been in the car a few minutes when I could smell "something" coming from him.  I finally said, "Have you been drinking?!?" (this was pre-sobriety).  Him: "No! It's those mash potatoes you made last night.  I've stunk all day!!  People could barely stand to work with me!"  The smell was oozing from his pores.  Guess I shoulda cooked the garlic a bit. 

Holly - There can't be too many paralegals around there who specialize in elder law.  Just sayin' . . . .

I'm in no mood to work.  I wanna go home . . . 

I love moose! (is that the plural?)    Thanks for the picture.

My daughter gave me some good advice (when did the roles shift?) about Monkey.  She said, "Run it like an ultra.  Walk a lot.  Run slow.  Take pictures."   Maybe I can get around the course if I did that.

Ahh- job woes.  It's tough.  So many jobs are stressful and unsatisfying.  I've certainly had my ups and downs in my career. (For those of you who are newer, I'm VP Legal at a Fortune 500 retail company with a great culture.)   I consider myself very lucky to be finishing my career at the best job yet and the best company EVER!   I smile when I walk across the parking lot in the morning.  I've had horrific jobs, though, and was actually a whistle blower while General Counsel for a NASDQ traded company shortly after ENRON.  My management consisted of crooks from Europe-  real ones, like in the news.  My job is challenging and demanding, but fun.  I deal with a lot of crazy employment issues, sales of live poultry, relationships with FFA and 4H and whether puppy pads contain chemicals that need to be registered in California.  You name it- every day is a different story.   My management is ethical and fantastic and my boss (our Executive VP and General Counsel) is the best boss in the world.    I don't take ANY of it for granted.   I lost a job that I loved in 2011 in the middle of the recession and hopes for good employment at my age and seniority were slim.  I took a contract job at this company and did boring contract review work in a cubicle.  The goal was temp to perm, and after 10 months I made it!  We moved into a beautiful new corporate campus in 2014 with a running path and fitness center.  Whew!!   I will retire when I don't like it anymore or if I have some health issues.  I love our legal department and they are all my best friends.

 

 

Trying to decide which day to do my LR.  Tomorrow morning forecast is warmish (45) but rainy.  Then 40-50mph winds are arriving in the afternoon with a cold front, so Sunday will be very windy and colder (33).  Wind or rain, which to choose?

 

Also wondering which day to do my LR. Forecast for 7am tomorrow is 70F and 94% humidity, but Sunday morning is 45F and 70%. I can envision deciding around mile 6 tomorrow to make Sunday the LR.

4.25 easy trail miles

Kind of sick, I guess, hard to say, might be something I ate. The boy stayed home from school, and the girl and the life accomplice all have been feeling "not quite right" the last few days.

MP3 players, music, singing, etc: I wear my MP3 player on almost every run. I load it up with new stuff every few days but have my favorites for long runs (Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, The Bird and the Bee) and fast stuff (New Order, Depeche Mode, She Wants Revenge). I have a little Coby MP3 player that uses a single AAA battery, and isn't much bigger than that battery. I like to be able to swap batteries if it's out rather than find out too late that I need to charge it for a couple hours. I have a battery charger in my van and always have batteries ready to go. I bought a little MP3 player that also has FM radio because I like to listen to News Hour and some other programs, but I haven't used it much.

Music and running are complimentary. Did you know there is a measurable 7% average increase in performance when listening to music for mid-pack runners? That's substantial!

3.1 miles around the workplace in hotter en blazes.  71f and humid at 8 p.m.  

No job advice from me.  20 years with the feds and I've had 4 different jobs/2 different agencies...the longest I've stayed is the one i'm in now but this one is not my favorite by a long shot.  yeah for retirement!

TW so glad your gettin around and got in here!

I haven't been in the woods all week. I'm eager for some trail time.  But not till Sunday...my Saturday is all spent already 

 

 

Carolyn, what happened to your snow?? It's been a long time since we've had moose in our yard. My garden is happier in the summer and fall, but I do miss them in the winter.

 

 You had to jinx it -- our snow was mostly melted, since it's been so warm, but it's snowing tonight.

I know I’m very lucky and fortunate with this job, but I assure you that I’ve paid my dues!   I spent 10 years doing product liability defense for garage doors, openers and other door industry products. We had dead chilldren and quadriplegic plaintiffs from accidents involving our products.  It was rough and the lying plaintiffs were even worse.  I got so burned out that I just couldn’t stand it anymore.  I traveled all the time, too.  It was before 9/11, so travel wasn’t as terrible, but I had young kids and they suffered, although at the time I thought we were managing just fine.  We also had lots of management changes and some very dysfunctional foreign owners at the end.  Still loved most of my co-workers and am still in touch with many even though I left there in 2001.