first post from the Q

So this is my first post from my Q. Just a quick update on the training. As a note college football is pretty good for my training schdule as I was able to go for 6.3 miles yesterday on the treadmill at 5.5mph while watching games. Now it is about increasing the speed and getting some miles in outside before the race.

2.5 miles last night

Quick 10 K training update...
I was able to do 2.5miles last night on the treadmill at 6mph without the shin splint wrap and with no pain. So I am considering myself completely healed and now will continue to increase distance by the 10K date.

4 miles not so bad today

So the new shoes, pictured below seem to be having a big impact on the training for the impending 10K. The shoes were not cheap, but getting them from a good reputable store where the employees know what they are doing seemed to be the difference maker. On Track (website is under development) in Englewood, NJ was very helpful. The Reebok Premier FSM shoes are a stability shoes which is apparently what I needed.


In addition to the new kicks a $25 shin splint wrap has also helped reduce the pain I was getting. Pictured below it is a pretty simple wrap that keep pressure on the soft tissue of the lower leg avoiding shin splints.

That plus some icing and Motrin allowed me to run 4 miles today on the treadmill at 5.5 mph virtually pain free. I am pretty sure I could have done the entire 6.3 miles but I did not want to push it. SO with that all I have to say is that the other clydsdale division runners had better watch out, I am coming for you Chad!

Why did Google buy YouTube again?

So I am not sure if YouTube was worth the money but here is another example of a brand manager seeing the idea of free impressions with low production, the Beer Cannon. I fully expect Lew to make one of these and I have not looked into it but if the Milwaukee's Best team is on their game they should have plans on their website for this beer gun...anyway interesting stuff.

10k Turkey Trot

So in the competitive spirit that is my family I could not turn down an invite from my sister Jenn, which in retrospect was not really an invite, in fact all she did was tell me she was doing a 10K on Thanksgiving in the 'Nati and I instantly had to also sign up. So that being said I am now locked in for a 10K in a short 5 weeks. If you know me you may be saying to yourself why is he so worried that is not so bad it is only 6 miles, you were a rower for 7 years this should be cake.

Well the most important part of that equation is that I have been sitting behind a desk for 8-10 hours a day for over 5 years. You tend to fall out of shape with that lifestyle. So what is my plan? Buy some cool gear of course, this job has to have some perks and affording gear is one of them. So I bought new running shoes - turns out I pronate and need stability shoes and the shin splints and have been getting may have been due to the shoes I was running in. I also have a fancy shin split wrap that is supposed to help heal my leg that now throbs with pain when I run. And I am sure I will have to get more before the race. I will provide training updates as I don't achieve them over the next 5 weeks.

Colorado Trip

Well the trip out to Denver for business was good. The focus groups went well. The best part of the trip was the camping and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. I camped at the Long's Peak campground and did a great 8.5 mile round trip hike from the campsite up to Chasm Lake at the base of Long's Peak, gaining 2355' in elevation to, 11,760'. The hike took about 4 hours. Here are some pictures. It as an amazing trip. I hope to get back again soon.

Home sweet base camp:


Getting started up the trail:


Breaking through the tree line with Long's Peak in the background:


And finally Chasm Lake:


And one last picture, the sunset over Long's Peak from my campground:

Lost at Sea

I guess the deep sea fishing trip could have been even worse...check out what happened to these guys. Lost At Sea

(Thanks to Trip for sending the story along)

New Phone

So the new phone came in quite handy this weekend in terms of keeping up with scores for the major football games on Saturday while not being anywhere near a TV. The internet features are quite good and overall I am very happy. I will continue to play and figure out all the bells and whistles but for now I give the Q 2 thumbs up!

New cell and convertible luck

So I have been pretty bad about posting recently, working hard trying to impress the man. That may be my first mistake. Any way the man did help fund a trip home to Cincy last weekend and the rental car Gods were shining on me as I got a red mustang convertible for the normal midsize rate. So that was good news. Here are some pics from the trip.
Here is my sweet ride.

And like a good grandson I went a took my grandma, mom and Don for a ride.

We had a dinner at a restaurant on the Ohio river.


I also went up to Ohio to watch the Bucks walk all over the Bearcats (eventually). And saw Lauren's new house. Quite a nice example of suburban housing. Even if the cable guys run the wires right through the walls...


Also today my contract with Verizon is up and I can get the new Q for $199. I will be so happy to have a new phone...

17-3 w/ 23:30 left

So while it is not over Texas is down 10 and Teddy Ginn and the OSU defense is getting it done! What a pefect b-day for me!

Labor Day Weekend

So the rainy weekend turned out OK. We started out Friday night at Lucky Strikes in Center City. I highly recommend it. Very cool place with $4 draft lagers, decent food, lots of TVs and comfortable couches and the best part is that it is smoke free. An A+ in my book.

The rest of the weekend was spent painting my office. Here are a couple of before pictures. This was the last room I had not re-painted from when I moved in.



After some color debate and worries that we were heading down the path of "institutional green" we did land on a color. Check out the after shots. Not to bad if I do say so. Now I have to get all the stuff back on the walls.



To end the weekend we met some of Amy's friends in Rittenhouse for a dinner potluck picnic. The beautiful weather did come this weekend just a little late for the camping plans.

And the rain arives just in time for the weekend..

Damn you Ernesto!

A Dilbert just for Lew

So today's Dilbert is highly appropriate for Lew and his lunch obsession that drives him to share it with the rest of the world.

Ernesto - why do you ruin Labor Day....

This damn storm is keeping Amy and I from enjoying a great Labor day out in the wilds of Tobyhanna PA State park.


Anyway I guess we will make the most of it. The good news is Comcast is scheduled to come tomorrow to fix the weak signal that is keeping me from getting Video On Demand and hence keeping me 3 weeks behind on Entourage. Also a strong desire to actually accomplish something on this crappy weekend will probably end up with me painting my home office and organizing my tools. I love condo living but the one downside is no garage. I really want a garage to keep stuff like tools, bikes, kayaks, etc, someday it will happen. Look for updates on the blog as the weekend progresses and the rain drives me into action.

ESPN Announcers don't appreciate Skyline

So while watching the last part of tonight's game on ESPN I was shocked that the ESPN announcers not having much to discuss about the game, as the Bengals were whopping up on the Packers, they start talking about Skyline and how great it is. Then a beautiful 3-way appears in the studio and no one wants it! Damn them - I would have paid $20 for that 3 way right then - it looked so good....Skyline. I will be back in the 'Nati in a couple of weeks to get my fix, 3-ways and coneys with mustard here I come.

ESPN Announcers don't appreciate Skyline

So while watching the last part of tonight's game on ESPN I was shocked that the ESPN announcers not having much to discuss about the game, as the Bengals were whopping up on the Packers, they start talking about Skyline and how great it is. Then a beautiful 3-way appears in the studio and no one wants it! Damn them - I would have paid $20 for that 3 way right then - it looked so good....Skyline. I will be back in the 'Nati in a couple of weeks to get my fix, 3-ways and coneys with mustard here I come.

Deep Sea Adventures

So the long anticipated fishing trip was not the tuna bonanza we had hoped for. I think it was memorable and worth it for the stories we all now have to tell, but a pleasant day on the Atlantic is was not...

The trip started out at the crack of dawn - wait make that the end of Friday night. Below is a picture (a much more clear version of a clock than another blogger I know recently took) of the car clock as we left Jamie's house in Ventnor, NJ.

As we got to the boat filled with anticipation and dreams of battling huge tuna on the blue waters of the Atlantic we see the Top Shelf come in to view with her captain "Capitan Bill" and his mate Mike (an out of work NJ State Marine Biologist - way to go Corzine!)

One the 2 hour ride out to "Elephant's Neck" a spot in the Atlantic about 40 miles from Cape May, NJ 3 brave fisherman crack open the first beers at ~4:30 am.

Turns out that may have been a bad idea as Karim found himself very seasick about an hour later, still pitch black and already chumming the water. I am not one to throw stones as about 2 hours later I was giving my morning coffee and breakfast back to king Neptune. This resulted in my spending most of the rest of the trip laying in the middle of the cabin on my back with my eyes shut trying to ignore the pulsing waves of nausea - and all of that after popping a Bonine that morning!

Well after a couple of hours we did manage to land a fish, and a pretty large blue fin tuna at that, however it need to be about 5 inches longer to be regulation. Scott was more than a little disappointed after having made the effort to land the fish to watch Capitan Bill throw it back in.

On a side not - the entire group is unanimous about this, we do NOT recommend Captain Bill for trips he was an ass to his mate Mike and the only time he came down from the wheel was to throw Scott's fish back in and get some Aspirin for his headache which I am sure was the remains of his hangover. He did not make an effort at all to make a somewhat miserable situation any better.

To try and capture at least some of the feeling of being on the boat for 13 hours I took this short video of what it looks like sitting in the fighting chair:


Finally I was up next to catch fish, and after walking outside to talk with Mike he asked me to reel in one of the poles. As the line got near the boat I realized there was a fish on the line. A 21" Dolphin or Mahi-Mahi as it is sold commercially, was on the line - just long enough to keep. Anyway here is a group shot of the salty crew and next year we are going to Miami to fish.

College Football is almost here

Alright Bucs fans, it is almost that time of year, where Saturdays start with Game Day on ESPN and end with Buckeye victories! The season gets under way Sept 2 at 3:30 PM against against Northern Illinois. In good news The Bucs have toped the ESPN Power 16, and 4th among the computer rankings. The Bucs they have quite a bit to live up to this year. I am looking forward to seeing a lot from Ginn this year and the new superstar recruit Chris Wells. I hope the mostly new D will get eh job done.

This also means I know have to have some general animosity towards Liz and her damn school - even if they are ranked 7th by the computers...

Comcast Sucks, Mountain biking & Tuna

So video on demand has now been broken for over a week and all I really want to do is watch Entourage. The show is great, but Comcast can not seem to get out to fix my cable. Even at $135 a month they are having me wait over a week to get VOD back. You can bet I will be calling about credits on my account after this wonderful customer service.

On a more positive note Lew and I did some pretty serious mountain bike riding yesterday. Wissahickon Creek, for those non-Philly residents is a great park about 5 miles from my house and is 5+ miles of trails and paths through some great wooded land all inside city limits. You can even find people fly fishing in the creek. After 22 or so miles yesterday I am fully embracing the indoor life today.

Also I am looking forward to posting some great pictures form next weekends deep sea fishing adventure with Doug and crew. We shove at 4am from the Jersey shore and hopefully will return 12 hours later with a boat so full of Tuna we will all be rich from selling it. There is a bit of gold rush feeling to this trip b/c if we catch a big enough fish apparently we can sell it and keep some of the profits. And the potential upside could be 10s of thousands of dollars with the right fish. Chances are we will all be drunk by noon but it will be a good time anyway.

best marketing ever...

So check out this great you tube video/marketing effort from Smirnoff..

Tea Partey