It was cold and windy this past weekend, leaving me bereft of any desire to mow the lawn. There is no wind today, so I best get out there and mow down the prairie that has sprung in my front yard.
Blowsery Weekend
Enough
Stop it. I mean it. Just stop it!
Been Here Before
Some things never change.
Ash In Their Feather Dusters
The villagers, he said, knew about the camp, and watched daily as thousands of prisoners would arrive by rail car, herded like cattle into the camp. Even though the camp never could have held the vast numbers of prisoners who were brought in, the villagers knew that no one ever left. They also knew that the smokestack of the camp’s crematorium belched a near-steady stream of smoke and ash. Yet the villagers chose to remain ignorant about what went on inside the camp. No one inquired, because no one wanted to know.”
“But every day,” he said, “these people, in their neat Germanic way, would get out their feather dusters and go outside. And, never thinking about what it meant, they would sweep off the layer of ash that would settle on their windowsills overnight. Then they would return to their neat, clean lives and pretend not to notice what was happening next door.”
”When the camps were liberated and their contents were revealed, they all expressed surprise and horror at what had gone on inside,” he said. “But they all had ash in their feather dusters.”
Excerpt from “ASH ON THE SILLS: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
PATRIOT MOVEMENT IN AMERICA”
By David Neiwert
About Running
Back in 2012 or 2013, I decided to switch from bicycling to running. I remember my first effort at, well, let’s call it jogging instead of running. If I managed a mile in 20 minutes, I would consider myself lucky. It was an embarrassing affair, to say the least. I would plod along at a jog slower than I could walk. Well, that’s how it felt. At over 250 lbs and decidedly out of shape I was lucky to not have a coronary.
One of the things I adopted early on was measuring my heart rate. The miracle of modern technology allowed me to pace myself. My first heart rate monitor was a Runtasic device that seemed to fail after about 20 minutes, reading my heart rate in half the actual amount. Next came a Fitbit. It worked better than the Runtastic’s device. Unfortunately, it didn’t work with the Runtastic app. And I found the Fitbit app less than adequate. It’s map function, and ability to post to social media was both cumbersome and less than visually appealing.
I now own an Apple Watch. It works with the Runtasic app in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. The watch itself can control the app. So, now I can put my phone in a baggie on rainy days and start and stop Runtastic just with the watch.
Anyway, let me get back to the point I wanted to make. I set goals for myself when I started running. There were two things I wanted to accomplish. One, I wanted to lose weight. In my wildest dreams
As to pace; I set a goal of being able to run a sub-10-minute mile pace. I have done that on several occasions. It is yet to be consistent, but I’m getting there. Here is where the heart rate comes into play. Before I monitored my heart rate, I would push myself as hard as I could. I would be physically exhausted, and I couldn’t bring myself to exercise for several days. The Runtastic app educated me on the proper heart rate I should be maintaining while exercising. As a result, I started to ignore my pace and stick to the heart rate.
Today I am happy to say I have been able to keep myself from going over 160 beats per minute while running a
Time to Run
Early Sunday Morning Luck
Well, maybe not so much. I planned on sleeping in. And, for the record, slept through what Tina described as one hell of a thunderstorm. Still, I was up by 7:30 AM. Granted, not early by even my standards, but earlier than I had planned to rise. Which turned out to be a good thing. See, we were out of coffee.
Yes, I know. We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing such a development. We won’t, obviously. But we should. Now, do you mind? I’m trying to tell a story here.
Anyway, I had to make a run to Target. They have a store brand called “Archer Farms.” The coffee this brand sells is organic and free trade. Also, it’s excellent. I know this because I’m sipping it as I type this. Finally, it’s cheap. And this morning on sale for $4.99 per 10 ounce bag of grounds.
Well, the store opens at 8:00, which I didn’t really know until I got there. Honestly, I had thought they opened up at 7:00 AM. But, not the case. So, luck was with me. Actually, luck seems to be playing a large part of this morning, from my waking up, to arriving at Target at 7:58 AM, to finding the coffee on sale. And all this while there was a break in the storms. Hell, there was even sunshine.
I know, I’m surprised myself. I just might go buy myself some lottery tickets.
A View To Serenity
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I bought my house.
Alright, Alright!
Shopping it is. Also, it’s frigg’n cold out. I had to turn the heat on so I could shower comfortably. Sheesh! Anyway, you all try not to destroy the place while I am gone.
Seriously. Don’t be dicks.
Testing a Plugin
Trying a new plugin that is supposed to automatically submit my blog posts to Facebook. Hoping it works.
And it didn’t work because I don’t have an https site. Bastards.