04 October 2009

Almost Fubar

October is not shaping up to be a very good month so far :(.

On the plus side I did get to meet Scott Sigler on his Little Rock stop of the 2009 Tailgate Tour. Scott, of course is a New York Times bestselling author of horror/sci-fi. I can't imagine that there's very many people who are a fan of the genre that aren't aware of who he is, but if you're not, then immediately go check out his website. He is such a cool, awesome guy that he even podcasts his fiction for free...........but you still need to buy his books :). The down side to the meet up was that there were only 4 of us there, how can that be????????????? And we wonder why the northwest corner of Arkansas gets all the really cool, alternative, geeky stuff?!? I'm so disappointed in my fellow geeks...........

As for the rest of the week, I don't want to get into specific details but I had an issue with a trailer Wednesday night that could have ended terribly. Fortunately it did not and I'm not going to hash it out here. The mechanic that was involved with the work is by far one of the best trailer mechanics I've ever met as well as an intelligent, nice guy. He was as upset by the incident as I was and I can guarantee that this will not ever happen again on his shift. However, this did result in an overnight stay at our yard to get repairs done and put me way behind my preferred schedule. I had just enough time to get down to Laredo legally and even would have had an hour or two to spare if it hadn't been for the delay at the receiver--took an hour for me to get through the line to be inspected.

Second bad thing, James hit a deer in his truck in south Arkansas Thursday morning before dawn. First day of bow hunting deer season and all the hunters moving out to their deer stands before sunup had the deer all stirred up. So, he brought his truck back to the yard and moved over into a loaner truck. Because the loaner truck is not very clean he's been sleeping in mine when we stop for our breaks. Thankfully our regularly assigned trucks have double bunks so we're not having to squish into the twin bed together. I have to have my room to stretch out when I sleep!

Third bad thing--James only had one key to the loaner truck and he lost it Friday at Laredo. Managed to find a driver that drove the same kind of truck with a key that would fit so after an emergency trip to Home Depot (closest place to get a key made) we finally were able to leave Laredo. Well, I actually left Laredo ahead of him after chauffering him to and from Home Depot :). Didn't want to wait around while his trailer was being repaired, I was past ready for a shower, late lunch, and a nap.

Our employer uses a fuel optimization program/service that evidently a boatload of other companies are using too. The Love's at Encinal was packed Friday afternoon with trucks backed out the drive and past the four way stop :(. Of course it would have helped if the drivers would have parked in the nearly empty parking lot after fueling before going in for their subway sandwiches or chester fried chicken (nasty smelling stuff, not sure how anybody can stand to eat the crap).

We had to make a stop at the Best Buy in New Braunfels, TX because James forgot his phone charger when moving into the loaner truck and discovered the MS 150 Tour was going through there. Until the heavy rain started, I sooo wanted to be out there cycling with them, hell I wanted to be out there even with the rain, lol! Gotta give props to the New Braunfels Police Dept, they were providing EXCELLENT traffic control for the cyclists and were very pleasant about doing so. I walked by the officers at the 2 intersections twice while walking from the fuel stop to the shopping center and never heard one of them grumble about being out there. They would also stop the traffic so none of the cyclists were having to slow down and unclip through the intersections.

So trailer trouble, deer collision, chasing the logbook and feeling like I'm running behind all week, WHEW...........

Running this week
Monday-core workout
Tuesday-Treadmill + 1.96 miles outside=7.01 miles
Wednesday--4.2 miles, hills and 2 miles on dirt. Plyometrics afterwards
Thursday--rest
Friday--ended up being an extra rest day because of work
Saturday--6.64 miles + 5 pullups
Sunday--15.09 miles

32.94 miles on the week, 8 miles short of what it should have been..........Oh well at least the long run was ran :).

Today's run was the first cold one of fall.......I didn't have any long sleeve shirts on the truck so had to stop at Target on my way to the Rivertrail. Brrr, it was cold, wet, and windy. I only saw six other runners and approx. 8 walkers out from 10:30 to 1 pm and one of the women walking told me when I met her going across the Big Dam Bridge that I must be very dedicated. That elicited a chuckle :) 'cause I was thinking more like crazy (around 11ish miles in). I did get to see a large group of deer (counted 7) on the Isabella Jo (?) loop, a couple of geese, and too many very fat squirrels to count. And there's nothing quite like the feeling of your knees thawing out after a cold run, owie.............

2 comments:

GoGo said...

Hey Gabs. How strong is your FM transmitter? The one you use with the iPhone.

The one i have is pretty weak. When drivers pass with their XM/Sirius radios, they drown out my signal. Wish my radio had a 1/8 inch audio in on my tuck, man that would be nice.

Do you and James have the exact same run every time?

~Aaron

Unknown said...

Aaron, I have a Griffin Itrip that I'm using now and it's not very strong at all. My signal gets swamped too :(. I'm a lusting after stereos with the auxiliary jack too but shop says it will void out warranty if they switch them out and the current one is not broken.

We do have pretty much the same run, occasionally days will get switched around and sometimes I'll have to go to Pulaski rather than Mt. Juliet but no drastic changes. Love it, because it allows us to plan things in advance usually.

Gabby