What was I thinking?

This morning marked the day of my half marathon. This was the fourth half marathon I have ever run, and the third Knoxville half marathon.

I knew going in to the race I wasn't as in as good of shape as I have been in years past. However, since I was not worried about finishing in a certain time I figured I would be fine. For the most part I was fine, until I got to the ninth mile. I was clicking off decent splits for the first 8, and then I physically hit a wall.

I did not know the bottom of your feet could hurt as bad as mine did, but literally the bottom of my feet felt as if they were on fire. This made for a great combination with my soar calfs, hamstrings, and quads. And I don't know why but my shoulders feel like I've been carrying weights on them all day. However, I survived and I'll feel better in a few days.

Despite all the aches and pains I'm still glad I did it.

If there is ever a marathon, half marathon, or a longer race in general by your house, let me take this chance to encourage you to cheer if you aren't going to participate. It's amazing how a stranger encouraging you, or playing random music in front of there house can motivate you.

Run for the Hills

This Sunday will mark the culmination of three months of training. I will be participating in the Knoxville Half Marathon. I won't be trying to set any personal records, but it is simply me achieving a goal I set at the beginning of the year.

You see, work and marriage have taken a toll on my fitness level. I'm not complaining, I just have found out that I can't eat dessert and burn calories the same way I could back when I was in college. So, what better way to burn some calories and some fat than to run 13.1 miles.

I'm pretty excited about getting away this weekend and running. There have been some pretty exciting things going on for me, that I will eventually be able to talk about on here. Until then, let me talk about a recent situation.

Apparently I made a comment at work yesterday that set my boss off. Basically he found out that I knew more about the recent job opening that has taken place in my district than he thought I did. What made me mad is the fact he tried to deny everything I knew, and acted like the source of information was not viable.

Let me just say I trust my source more than I trust anyone who hides information from everyone else. So needless to say, because of me, half of us have to come in on our off day, Monday, and go to a meeting about not maintaining contact with former work employees.

They are trying to make this out to be where we don't talk to people on company time. Ultimately I think they are just trying to tell us who we can be friends with. I guess we should be like the mafia, and we someone leaves they become excommunicated. I don't agree with this. Just because someone is smart enough to get out while they can does not make them any less of my friend.

So that's the rundown for today.

Tuition – for work and learning

This April Jen has to do something referred to as an early practice experience. Samford was supposed to place her at a site in Birmingham where she would spend three weeks working for free to get course credit. However, for some reason Samford placed her in Maryville, just outside of Knoxville for those not familiar with the area. So in April she will stay with her parents for three weeks and commute 45 minutes each way to a hospital in Maryville. Needless to say, neither one of us are thrilled about the situation.

On a secondary note, she pays Samford for this. Her employer can work her as many hours as they want, because the school does not care. Yes, Samford (a Christian affiliate university) had their administrators tell the class, “we don’t care how much or how many hours they work you, so don’t complain to us about it.” They also said, “we don’t care if you are married or if you have kids, we will place you where we want. The only exceptions are for single mothers.” Thank you Samford for showing the brotherly love.

I realize this is good experience but something is wrong. She is paying Samford for an education, and they are going to send her out each year for a month to work at no cost. Then her fourth year, she will work full time and pay Samford to do it.

I realize many in education programs have the same problems. They go to college for four years and then they spend a year interning while getting their masters. Let’s go ahead and really define intern.

Intern – One who works for no or minimal wages at his/her employers expense.

I interned through most of college. Granted I always got paid, not always a lot, but paid for my work. However, a lot of people I know interned for free because you had to have so many hours to graduate. You get a lot of experience, but if you aren’t getting compensated for your time, eventually morale begins to vanquish.

And for me, where did interning really get me. I had some of the best internships in the area. I had my own cubicle in the UT athletic office. Yet, I couldn’t find a job within the city in my field. I found a job all right, but it’s about the farthest thing from my major as you could get. Oh well, I’d go back and make minimum wage if I could pay my bills and have all that time off again. I’m sure Jen wouldn’t go for that, seeing as how we’ve both become accustomed to eating regularly.

There is one intern theory that disproves my argument. Jen is interning at Walgreens this summer and is almost making what I am as an intern. This is not a school internship though, but nonetheless, we might actually get to go back to Disneyworld this summer.


Here are some random pics from the race I ran with my dad, and my birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

Rabbits are good at math because they multiply quickly

I've been back in Knoxville all weekend. We have really had a good visit, and got a chance to see a lot of our old friends. I will eventually have some pics to put up on here.

Here is a rundown of some things we have done, in case you were wondering.

Got in to town Thursday night and went straight to bed. Friday we got our wedding rings cleaned up. They look like brand new now, which is pretty cool. Then I got my hair cut by the girl that used to cut it. From my previous post, you may know about the haircut issues I've had in Birmingham. That night we got to see Dusty and Emilee's new house and Justin and Lacey.

Saturday we visited my grandparents, and then got to eat lunch with Scott and Kristin. Then we saw their new condo. After seeing all of our friends owning property we are definitely jealous. We love our apartment, but it would be nice to have a place we own. However, we don't want to get tied down to property in Alabama. But, in three years we'll be able to catch up and buy our own place once Jen gets out of school. Saturday night, we got to see Ryan and Sam's baby Kenzli. I think Jen could have sat and held that baby all night. She was definitely a very cute, sweet baby. I however, have not really been a round small children and I was afraid I was going to break hear.

Easter. Went to two church services, ate three full meals, and saw all of Jen's family plus my parents. At Jen's grandmothers we had an Easter egg hunt with her two little cousins. They are ages 8 and 6. The boy,8, stepped on one of the hard boiled dyed eggs of the little girl. This in turn started a fight like I have never seen. The girl, who is normally good around me and Jen, started crying and kicking his bike. She was so distraught they had to take her home. On the way home, they live accross the street, she threatened to call the polic on her mother and brother. Needless to say she was not happy about her egg being broken. Jen was ready to pop out a kid after holding Ryan's baby, but yesterday was automatic birth control. I'm good with our cat for a while.

Today I plan to go by the UT book store and see if any new merchandise has come in. Also, Zac if you are reading, I'm going to try and stop by STA and say hi. Then it's back to b'ham this afternoon.

Spring time

It's been an interesting week. Went to Atlanta, lost some work employees, and I'm planning on heading out of town tomorrow.

I'm heading home tomorrow after work to Knoxville for the first time in a few months. As we live here longer and longer it seems we go home less and less. I like home, but oddly enough, Birmingham sort of feels like home. Not a permanent I want to live here forever home, but a place we are finally okay with.

I feel more and more removed from Knoxville. Three of my friends bought houses, one just had a baby, and one of my friends is getting married this summer. It's cool how everyone is moving on in life, but weird I'm not in the midst of it. I guess Jen and I are moving on down here. Making new friends and creating a life outside the one we knew for so long.

My bosses are at a big meeting in Chattanooga this week. That's is pretty cool for me because they have tendency to drop in my location unannounced. But today, I was free in clear. Since I didn't have any surprise visitors I honed my skills at the jumble, word search, and mixed clues games located in the comic section of the paper.

I finally sat down and made my NCAA bracket today. I have reluctantly picked a final four of Tennessee, Kansas, Duke, and Texas. Not sure how well that will work out, but anything can happen on any given day.

I'm a week and half out from the half marathon in Knoxville. I ran ten miles last weekend and now have blister on my leg. That has put a damper on my training this week, but I should be ready to go.

So that's me in a nutshell. I'm ready to see Jen tomorrow because she will get home from Vegas shortly before me. I've definitely missed her this week, but I guess me and the cat have bonded.

More entertaining post to come in the future.

Irish training

I spent the past day and a half in Atlanta. Aside from listening to Nascar on the radio during the drive, and the hotel being the worse ever, it was an alright time. I got a chance to really talk to some people I work with and hang out with some old friends. It's funny how everyone has the same thoughts about work stuff.

I spent all of today learning how to treat people correctly when they come in. This is under the impression that I lived under a rock and had no social skills whatsoever. Although useful information, everyone in the room has a college degree. So it seemed odd that we would spend 8 hours discussing communications practices I learned my sophomore year of college. However, I got paid, free lunch, free snacks and a day away from the mundane.

Speaking of communications practices work is on the email patrol. This really sucks because the coolest boss I've had just got a new job. NC if you still read this, you are missed for sure. So work is slowly turning in to junior high with a paycheck.

In other news Jen is staying at the Venetian in Las Vegas. She called today to inform me there were 3 flat screen tv's in their suite. Including one in the bathroom. So needless to say I'm incredibly jealous.

Lastly my Vols came away with the 2 seed in the same bracket as North Carolina. I will be interested to see how the tournament plays out. If we can't be Arkansas we are sure going to have some problems in the coming days. But I'll still support my orange as long as they can take the court.

Pierced left ear, mustache, neon – must be the 80s

Jen’s car once again is making odd noises. Last week we swapped it out with her mom’s accord. Jen has been driving my car since it has a Samford parking tag on it, and I have been driving her mom’s.

I like her mom’s car mainly because it has XM radio. At first I was drawn to the top 20-request station. But then driving to work one morning I found, what can only be described as one of the best creations since individually wrapped cheese – The top 40 - 80s station. I was drawn in at first by the catchiness of those classic tunes. There is nothing quite like jamming to some Bon Jovi on the way to work to start your day off right.

However, what started as a fondness for a radio station has become an addiction. I can’t get enough of that synthesizer in the background, and those oh so catch melodies. It’s like I’m taken back to elementary school. Billy Ocean, Eddie Money, Men at Work, please come back and revive pop radio. I need a little less “shorty got low low low….” And a little more “get out of my dreams, and in to my car.”

Side Note– this fondness for radio does not encourage Paula Abdul’s attempt at a comeback.

Moving on, this Sunday Jen leaves for Vegas and I leave for Atlanta. I’m definitely getting the shaft here. I have training, so I along with 5 others are going over Sunday night and will get home Monday night. Not that I mind training, I just really mind going on my two off days. However, it is better than the alternative of answering the phone all day. Also, I get to see some friends from Knoxville, so that is good. I may even attempt a blog update from my new phone.

However, while I’m learning the ins and outs of my job, Jen will be living the lavish life in the city of sin. Those slot machines and blackjack tables are calling my name. However, Jen views Vegas as a nice place to shop so I don’t expect to go to the bank and see a $0 balance in all our accounts.

Tech out of luck

Technology is a fickle thing. It always choses just the right time to go out. This has always been a constant in my life.

My first Ipod broke about 2 months after the warranty went out. Jen's Razr phone died about 4 months after warranty and 4 months before renewal. Most recently, the screen on my phone went out. All the calling features still worked but there was no visibility for incoming or outgoing calls. This really but a damper in my texting. After spending two days on the phone with AT&T I finally got tired of dealing with India about my issue.

I would talk with one person and they would agree to upgrade our plan so I could get the promotional rate. However, the next person would say I must wait until April 24. Today I finally just went in the store down the road and talked to a sales rep. She agreed to renew my plan and sell me a phone at a promotional price.

I opted to buy the Blackberry Curve, which I am thoroughly enjoying. However, I thought I would be clever this time and purchase the extended warranty/insurance. Yet, on blackberry products you are not giving this option. I still got the phone, but I kind of expect it to break after a year and to repeat all these problems.

Concept of Time

Most of America has a problem with concept of time. You can view this problem from many different aspects. My friend Jonathan says that a guys "football concept of time" is similar to that of a girls "getting ready concept of time." That basically equates to 5 minutes being 30.

To combat the time problem in my parents house, my dad has developed the AIS (ass in seat) system of travel. Above all other times the AIS time is when the car leaves the driveway. This doesn't necessarily work, but its a step in the right direction.

I have always been prone to the adjusting the actual time an event starts. If we need to be somewhere at 8pm, just say 7:30pm. Unfortunately Jen generally knows when this is going on, so my plan for time usually gets foiled.

In the industry I work in apparently set business hours mean nothing to customers. Yesterday at work I had a lady flag me down in our back parking lot almost an hour after we had closed demanding her truck.

Since I was still at work I gave her the truck, but her and her boyfriend never once acknowledged the fact they had showed up an hour after close, and three hours after their reservation. Once we got in the office the lady was quit unfriendly, her husband did not speak at all and they just stood in there like I was beneath them. No thanks, no nothing. I'm not looking for a pat on the back, but no other "retail" establishment is going to let you in after close. I think that is kind of the point of business hours.

The one thing about time I am incredibly happy about is daylight savings time. Today it will be light outside until 7:15pm and that is exciting. I can actually start running outside after work, and soon it will be 70s every day.

Man Rules

There comes a point in every man’s life when it’s time to start living by the code. There are certain rules in which men live by and society would not function the same without them. I have compiled a list of rules that I have heard over the years. Not all of these are mine, but I have my contributions in there. I have tried to give credit to those that I learned these rules from. Keep in mind the people who passed the knowledge on to me may not have been the creator, but they were the second best thing – the messenger.

Rules

1. No man should use the urinal directly beside another man. – Mike Murphy
a. If trough system is in place, allow proper spacing and eyes on the wall.

2. You can take the last slice of pizza if you paid for it.

3. PBR is only acceptable if it’s the only choice – Matt Waters

4. Fruit is not permissible in beer – Nick Casper

5. If it’s supposed to have an umbrella in it, pour it in a Dixie cup. –

6. At least at one time in your life grow some facial hair
a.“facial hair makes you cool” – Zac Johnson

7. Be able to drive a manual transmission vehicle.

8. Wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon character won’t get you the girl.

9. If it stinks, be prepared to claim it.

10. Don’t date your friend’s ex-girlfriend without approval.

11.It is only acceptable to take the duff (designated ugly fat friend) if your friend is getting the hot girl. – Kendall Roach

12. Don’t make out with your friends girlfriend.

13. There are two times in your life you should dance. Your prom and your wedding.

14. Earrings are permissible for musicians and rappers.

15. Sorority party t-shirts make you cool

16. Back hair should be manscaped before visiting a pool, beach, or lake

17. Never order a steak well-done in public

18. Never talk to your wife or girlfriend in “the voice” in public – Clay Bailey
a.“the voice” is when you alter to you tone to be more appealing and less masculine


These are the ones I have so far. Please feel free to add and contribute as we may make this an ongoing project.

Half Way to 50

I haven’t blogged in a while so I thought I would start back with a weekend update.

Last weekend marked my entrance into this great world. As some of you may know I am an only child. My parents were lucky enough to achieve perfection on the first attempt so there were no needs for additional children.

Saturday morning my dad and I ran a 5k. It was great weather and my dad won his division. I finished second in my age group, which was cool, because I did not run fast. My dad is 29 years older than me and I have never beaten him in any running event in my entire life. He ran 18:24 for a 5k last Saturday. In Tennessee my dad is known as “that guy that runs down Emory rd every day at 5:30.”

Sunday night we went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great dinner. They sang to me which was embarrassing but it was still cool. We had an ice cream cake from Brusters for dessert. Sunday was also the second nicest day we have had all year; Second only to Monday when it was 78 and sunny. The pool at my apartment complex was packed. That is unheard of to have that many people at a pool the first weekend in March.

Monday was a gorgeous day and also my birthday. I got an ipod shuffle for my birthday so I loaded some songs on it and took it out for a 5-mile test run. It worked really well and was super light so you don’t even realize you have it on you. After the run Jen and I got a massage from this place down the road. It was amazing. Last night we had ice cream cake and cookie cake with some of our friends at the apartment. I love an excuse to double up on my dessert intake in the middle of the week.

So that’s a summary of my last few days here in the ham. There will be a collaborative list of “man rules” as my next post. I’m still compiling the list, but will post soon.