1). The coaches video taped us at Masters yesterday. The video is great – there is nothing better to help you fix up your stroke. On the other hand – I have a lot of problems with my elbows dropping and then not bending in the proper way.   My coach gave me a really good drill to do to fix it and if I can do it I will develop a much more powerful  stroke but it’s kind of discouraging to realize that the picture I have of myself swimming in no way matches the picture the video camera took. Lots of work to do there and if I do it, lots of improvement to be made so I’ll just have to focus on that. I feel really lucky to be on a masters team that does video taping in the winter.

2). There is a local concert put on by Peggy and Neil Young called the Bridge School Benefit (it benefits the Bridge School for the profoundly communication impaired). All artists have to play acoustic and  they get people like Metallica (Tammy I hope you are reading this!) and Pearl Jam so it’s very unique. It is a fund raiser and so popular that the actual seats in this place (outdoor stadium with seats and lawn) are usually gone before anyone can bring up a browser.  But this year OMG – the tickets are so costly that you can still get seats (as opposed to spending $35 to sit with the crowds up on the lawn). How expensive? Well – the good seats are $146 each (plus Ticket Bastard charges of $12 each) and the okay seats are $71 each. I don’t do the lawn any more and there’s no way I’m forking out $158 for the concert. Great cause but no can do.

3).  We have a great transit system here called BART.  BART has rules like no bikes during commute hours (I know – idiotic but the cars can’t hold them) and no eating or drinking in the stations or on the train.  It stays pretty clean as a result.  I was on BART the other day when an older man in one of those orange reflective vests (perhaps a BART employee??) told a kid with a bike to get off the train.  The kid responded, “why – there’s room” and there was.  The old man just got cranky and said, “that ain’t the point.  Can’t you read?” and he got up and basically forced the kid off the train. The kid was nice enough not to get in a fight.  No sooner had the train doors closed than the old man sat down, pulled a bottle of juice out of a bag and started to unscrew it.  Before I knew what had hit me my mouth opened and in a large but cheerful voice I said “No eating or drinking on BART!”  the old man shook his head and muttered but he put the juice away.   Several people glanced up at me with a wry smile. 

4). 

No Caption Needed

5).  I wore my iPod for the entire 13.1 miles of the Nike and never turned it on once.  I was either talking to Maggs or there was music on the course or I was just enjoying the ambient sounds of hundreds of feet hitting the pavement over and over while onlookers cheered.

6). Priceline tried to screw me and I won.  They set me up in the most revolting hotel for Folsom International and no amount of reasoning with them could get them to let me change my reservation or give me a refund.   This place was a hell hole and I took pictures.  I told Priceline 3 times that I would open a dispute with VISA and they just shined me on.  I stayed at a perfectly nice Red Robin  and then opened a dispute with VISA who was appalled at the way Priceline treated me.  I was given a full refund.  Not only did I win that one but I lost a ton of love for Priceline and will not likely use them in the future unless really pressed.  Hello HotWire! (who did refund my money when I booked a hotel in Windsor Ontario Canada instead of Windsor  California). (thank you don geek for the correction)  Priceline can just bite me.

7).  Typing has become a precarious thing.  I mean to type “become” and I type “because”.  I mean to type “own” and I type “now”.  It happens many times a day and it isn’t something a spell checker can catch.  It’s some sort of 21st Century affliction that allows my  hands to just take off, paying no attention to my  brain.  Anyone else have this issue?

One more thing –   If you haven’t seen it yet please check out the  Carnival of Running over at www.runningisfunny.com.  He needs content all the time and he does a great job putting it together.   oops – that is 8 things and that wraps up another edition of Hump Day Miscellany.