And even more pain

I like to get my five or six mile run in five days or so a week, but this is just nuts!

Oh, the lingering pain . . .

I had a speaking assignment in sacrament meeting at church today. I had a really hard time preparing this talk because of the subject, so I was kind of apprehensive about presenting it, but felt I was somewhat ready.

It was with some relief that I received a note from the bishopric letting me know that due to the length of the other talks, I was to save my talk for another day! What joy! What a relief! I was quite pleased that I didn't need to give that talk.

Imagine how I felt then when my friend returned from giving his talk and whispered to me that he was glad he got his over with, but that now MY PAIN LINGERS for at least a few more weeks! So much for my joy . . .

On the other hand, a number of people did come up to me after sacrament meeting and told me I did a great job on my talk. Just what's needed: A church full of comedians.

Oh the fun we'll have!

A neighbor of mine was telling me about all the fun you could have with Diet Coke and Mentos. I was kind of going "yeah, right," but my daughter Sugar Plum confirmed that her class did something similar. He told me there was a video about it out there somewhere, and totally by chance, I came across it.

So without further ado, feast your eyes on Diet Coke and Mentos!

Computer programmer humor

I just got out of a staff meeting and I really don't want to start any big projects in the last few minutes of my day, so I'll toss out a couple of quickies.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Q: Why do programmers always get Christmas and Halloween mixed up?
A: Because DEC 25 = OCT 31

(Okay, maybe there are 11 types of people. :))

Just a simple question

I just happened to catch a second of a commercial on TV and now I have a question:

Do fish ever get thirsty?

Yes, we're back . . .

Well, I guess we're done vacating. You won't get much of a vacation report from me. For that, you'll have to check out Alisonwonderland's blog. She's much better at that kind of stuff than I am.

So, what now? Well, the grass sure looks like it could use a trim. Let's see, it's 96F at 10:25am. I'll just wait until evening and do it then. . . (Hey, I could really mean it.)

History in Reverse

You know what really bugged me about blogger?

Well, in case you don't know, I'll tell you.

It's the way the "Archives" are ordered. Did you notice that it starts on top with the oldest month (or week or post) and then lists them down to the most recent? I don't know about you, but I want to see my latest entries first. Okay, okay, I don't have much history at the moment (well, not any history I want to reveal to any of you . . .) but when I do have a history, I want to see my most recent history at the top, not the bottom -- just wait until you're all doing this for 24 or 36 or more months!

Anyway, not being one that likes to stay bugged for long, I decided to come up with a solution. So after thinking long and hard about it, I came up with one using the fount of all knowledge . . . Google.

If you want to change the order of your archives, you can Google (yes, Google is now officially a verb) for the solution as an exercise. Or, you can just click here if you're lazy.

Slow and Steady . . .

I know rabbits aren't exactly known for their patience and long-suffering, but this is one (white) rabbit who's in it for the long haul.

You see, I've gotten into running. Now I use the term running very loosely here. I've never been a runner. Oh, I've been known to ring a door-bell and scram, but that would be about it. Oh, and maybe I wheezed around the parking lot with my cub scouts a few years ago, but nothing more!

It all started in March 2005 when I reached the highest weight I've ever been. No specifics, but it was in the multiple digits. I decided I needed to do something, so off I went on some walks. I started with about a half-hour, building up to about an hour. Now, being the type to get bored easily, I felt that the scenery was not going by nearly quickly enough. (This is why I used to bike, not walk.) So I started to jog a little. Not much, mind you -- a minute here, a few minutes there. Eventually, I got to the point where I was jogging for 10 minutes at a time! Woot! Fast forward a few more months and by the fall I was doing 6 miles in a little under an hour (just under 10 minute miles).

I did pretty well through the winter despite the weather, and I thought I was even doing okay through the spring. And then came . . . school! I decided I needed to take two classes for spring term. That meant 5 hours every Tuesday and Thursday. Studying in between. Work in between that. And a new position at that! Well, something had to give, and it was my grades sleep my running. I basically ran about once a week for those eight weeks of school. Even less during the last few weeks.

Well, I finally finished school near the end of June. Free at last! Free to do what I want! Free to run again! So, off I went! And off I stopped. Wow. I don't remember running being so hard! I would start off fast and just about collapse! I would have to stop. It was hot, and I just wanted to quit. My legs wouldn't move, I couldn't breathe, maybe you know the feeling. But you know what? I didn't quit. I just kept going -- slowly. At first I ran 10 minutes, walked 5. Then it was 15 and 5, then 20 and 5. Today? I ran all five miles -- no walking, no stopping. Okay, so it took 56 minutes (about 11 minutes/mile). I'm not back in the shape I was last fall and winter, but I'm getting back to it.

So pretty boring story about running, eh? Well, it is. Except I thought about it a little, and I realized that this is very similar to spirituality (or at least the spirituality of some of us). You start out doing great, going to church, and doing everything you're supposed to. You even make it through some difficulties, and you think to yourself that you're doing pretty well. And then . . . well, and then life happens. You get busy, you get distracted by other interests, there are more pressing items, and pretty soon spirituality just isn't in the forefront of your life like it should be. Time passes, and then you get spiritually out of shape. You don't feel the Spirit like you should. But hopefully, you realize this before it's too late, get rid of the distractions (often easier said than done), and get back on that road again (pun intended). And you start going to church. You want to sleep in, but you don't give up. You keep going to church. You start reading your scriptures again. You start praying again. Pretty soon, it's a habit. Maybe you don't feel as spiritually fit as you used to, but you know it's there. You know what it could be. But the most important thing is this: Don't give up. Endure to the end. Slow and steady really does win the race.

1 IN the beginning, there was the ether.
2 And the NET was without form and void. And bits were scattered upon the universe.
3 And the creator* said, Let there be computers, and there were computers.
4 And the creator saw the light, and it was good: And the creator divided the computers from the time sharing systems.
5 And the creator called the computer PC** and the time sharing systems by their various names. And never the PC and the time sharing systems did talk.
6 And the creator said, let us go down and organize a network, such that the PC can talk to PC and that the PC can talk to the time sharing systems over the ether and over the net, and it was so. And the creator saw that it was good.
7 And the creator called the protocols ethernet and TCP/IP and declared that they should be de facto standards, and it was so.
8 And the users multiplied and filled the earth, their PC's sharing data with each other.
9 But the users were lonely.
10 And the creator said, Is it good for the user to be lonely? It is not good for the user to be lonely.
11 Therefore, let us go down and make an app for the user to talk to user and share information, knowledge, recipes, and tall-tales with each other.
12 And it was so. And the creator called it . . . the blog.

* Bob Metcalfe, Bill Gates, Al Gore, who have you . . .
** This includes the Mac. I prefer the Mac, but early in history the face of the land was overrun with the IBM compatible PC, and the Mac had to dwell in the cavity of a rock, but not any more.

Huh?

Why do I have a pink box at the bottom? I can't seem to get rid of it. I'll try creating this post to see if it makes any difference.