Good Choices - Bad Rhymes

the hour is near
change is not for us to fear
there will still be beer

time to be like niCk
which candidate will you pick
not the time to kick

Obama McCain
your choice will not be in vain
but it might cause pain

the mud has been slung
the last-ditch songs have been sung
their lies from the tongue

McCain Obama
better listen to Mama
in voterama

anxious are VeePee's
they are only there to tease
then tossed to the breeze

Synchronicity

Today (Sunday) is one of those days where I seem to be in synch with the universe.

What makes a Perfect Day for a Freaky Running Dork?

4:00 AM; I'm out of bed. I can't sleep thinking the weather is SOOOOO nice for a long run before the sun comes up. The weather is in the Mid 40's with nice light breeze. Make myself a large cup of coffee, CLIF Bar for breakfast.

I check my email, browse the news and some blogs, make some "regular" breaks for nature. By 4:45 I'm out the door for to start my warm-up routine. As soon as I walk out, a shooting star streaks across my view of the sky. Thank you, universe, for letting me know how great today is going to be. By 5:00 I start my run. No one is out, no cars on the road except the guy delivering the morning paper, whom I pass over and over again.

After 8 miles, my long run is complete and I'm starving, so I cool down by running (literally) over to Starbuck's for one of their new Vivanno Chocolate Banana smoothies, with an espresso shot, and a tall Pike Road coffee. The light of the new day is just beginning to make its mark. The run felt great, and nagging pains never seem to appear when I run in cool, dry weather. The euphoria is wonderful.

I walk home crossing usually busy roads that are strangely vacant of any traffic, save an occasional trucker who, like myself, probably didn't get enough sleep.

The time is approaching 7:00 AM, the sun has finally lightened the world, it is a breezy cool 48 degrees. Even though I'm in shorts and a long sleeved running shirt, that's still a little damp around the neck, I see people dressed like they were in the Arctic; cap, gloves and heavy coat. It feels so comfortable to me, yet these people act like it's frigid. I'm glad I did not grow up in the south.

I surf the intertubes some more, flip channels on the mind control machine. Then I see the Breaking News headline about something I had already predicted would happen. Colin Powell, one of the few Republicans I respect, endorses Barack Obama for President. I can't wipe this huge grin off my face.

By 9:00 AM hunger pangs set in. I fix myself an English Muffin Egg sandwich. My version uses turkey instead of ham on a whole wheat muffin (occasionally I use whole wheat pita bread). I have a light beer spiked with half a shot of whiskey. I insert a DVD into player and watch my latest Netflix disc, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Mediocre romantic comedy set in Oahu. I like romantic comedies and movies filmed in location I've been. I liked the subplot of the lead guy writing a musical puppet version of "Dracula".

Okay, now I have a full stomach and a beer in me, watching a movie. I'm feeling very drowsy. It's nap time; time is 11:00 AM.

My afternoon naps are not usually very long, 20-30 minutes is enough to refresh me, but I think the long run, full stomach, beer, and euphoria effected me like a sleeping pill. I slept THREE hours. That's unheard for me.

I get up, do a quick check on e-mail and news, and head over to the bookstore for some more coffee and to browse books and read the latest running magazines. Then it's back to the house, start thinking about what to make for dinner, walk over to the store to buy some fresh vegetables.

Dinner consists of a Turkey sandwich, with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Spicy mustard, a few drops of red wine vinegar, and swiss cheese on fresh rye bread. I also have side of leftover black beans and rice which I freshen up with fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic and hot sauce. I steam some broccoli and yellow squash for a second side. Smithwick's Ale is my beverage of choice (Boddington's Pub Ale would have done nicely, also).

The euphoria just won't quit. The universe speaks to me again with a sunset which is a bright, beautiful, brilliant orange/blue masterpiece.

I'm going to end today by writing this post, take a hot bath, and read until I get drowsy again.

Perfect Day

***Crossposted in the usual place

Living Better

I do not understand The "Health Care" system in the U.S.!

Doctors and Drug Companies have no incentive to make you well or find cures. How did our system end up this way? Doctor's do not profit if you are healthy, only if you are sick. If you are not sick, then they recommend unneeded surgery or treatments so they can profit from you. We no longer find cures for diseases because doctors make a ton of money form the drug companies to recommend drug therapies for their patients so they can keep the money coming in. This is an evil of the capitalist health care system we have in the USA.

If you are treated by a doctor, and he fails to make you better, you still have to pay him. If you have surgery that fails, and even if you die because the doctor was not successful in his procedure, the doctor still expects to get paid and will go after your estate to collect. There is something very, very wrong with this.

The focus on doctors should be maintaining your wellness, not treating you because you get sick from poor diet and lifestyles choices. Just like a car, which will last longer and run better when it is properly maintained thruough preventive and scheduled maintenance programs. I would much rather pay for scheduled wellness exams than to deal with the stress and anxiety of getting sick. While the treatment programs would still be needed in such a system, integrating the current system with programs of wellness will benefit everyone and reduce the extreme costs associated with the present system.

Like annual or bi-annual dental checks are a necessity for maintaining healthy teeth for a lifetime, the same thing principal applies to our bodies.

** Crossposted on Backroads of my Mind

WHO'S on First?

Country First.

Does that slogan invoke patriotism and allegiance for you?

Not me. It send chills down my spine. It reminds me of another leader who made had a similar slogan. "Deutschland Über Alles". Translated it reads "Germany above all" or "Germany over everything".

Is this the course of action you want in this country? No matter how immoral our character, you would still support it? No matter how unethical the practices of our leaders, you would still support them? Country First, Right or Wrong? Would you pledge allegiance to a country that support the rights of government over individual rights? If so, then you are not a patriot, you are an enemy to the ideals that founded this country.

The slogan "Country First" sounds greedy, self-centered, stubborn, and egotistical, not to mention it also goes against what people of faith believe, that one should always put God first, and God created all life on the planet, not only the life in this country. Even if we use God as a metaphor for the natural creation of the universe and the life within, it is still the result of this creation that should take precedence over man-made imaginary boundaries and ill-formed ideas we use to govern and provide for humanity.

Country First? I say NO. I say HELL NO. If my country is wrong, even if it is only my opinion, then I'm going to stand up and say something. Dissension is patriotic. It is political dissension that created this country and is a constitutional right. Our present leaders like to describe their own political dissenters as the same as those want to attack this country using violence, but it is not the same. It is possible to be a dissenter without taking rights away from people or causing the destruction of person or property.

If innocent people suffer because of a political ideology, then it is wrong, no matter who the aggressor. When our country causes the death and destruction of innocent lives and property, the our country is wrong, just like it is wrong when those kind of attacks happen to us. It is never righteous only because it is our country. Blind allegiance is ignorance. We are better than that, and we need to make this country always take a moral course of action, and when it doesn't, to stand up against it.

There are things our country is doing right now which are morally and ethical WRONG. We can't fight against our enemies for liberty, human rights, and fair justice if we are not the role models for those ideals. If you fight against an ideology which uses torture, the you can not use the same practices on your enemy, or you become the same as those you oppose.

As a member of the military I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. To me that also means enemies within the government that wave an American flag or wear their patriotism on their lapel while insulting and ignoring the document that defines how our laws will be created and enforced in this country. It defines the architecture of our government and guarantees the right to dissent.

It is the people that create this "country" and keep it on a moral path. It will soon be election day, it is time the people speak up and let our representatives know of how we feel.

Country First? Right or Wrong? If you say yes, then you will be an loyal subject when fascism arrives.


. Crossposted on Backroads of My Mind

September Ends, Please Don't Wake Me Up

Last month has been one to remember: Storms, evacuations, family, relatives, doctor appointments, travel, curtains shutting, stress, loneliness, failing economy.

Good Bad Happy Sad
Moments of Significance
Sun shines above clouds


It's life. It gets in the way of your plans. Life. Why can't we stick to the plan?

What's Next?

It's time for some Homeostasis and a Trail Run.

"Sing me to sleep,
Sing me to sleep,
I'm tired and I
I want to go to bed......"

- Asleep - The Smiths

Feeling "Infinite"?