These are the thoughts and opinions I'm willing to share with the public.  It's a direct rip-off from my friend Dan's web page, which has a similar section.  Read his web page and you'll get the idea.  Only my stuff will most likely be about more mundane topics than his.

3/19/99 - I don't have a thought in my head yet.  Although I'm getting fed up with bad drivers while I run, and I don't like Suzy Hamilton's new haircut, which I have always referred to as the "mom" cut.  It says "Hi.  I'm your mom."

3/30/99 - John Tuttle is going nuts, running every race in sight.  I don't blame him.  If I could clean up running about 30 minutes for 10K, I would too.  I wonder if he planned it this way - to start kicking ass as a masters runner.  This past weekend he raced in Chicago and Charleston, SC.  23:25 for 8K in Chicago.  That's good for almost anyone.

4/1/99 - I ordered that stretch book by the Whartons.  I'm kind of tired of these stretching gurus, physical therpists, chiropractors, et al who think they have all the answers, but for $15.95 I don't have much to lose.  I see a lot of good runners I know doing these stretches, so it's probably not total quackery.

4/2/99 -   This was in the news today:

Attorney General, ConnPirg want ATM fees Outlawed
                 (Hartford-AP) -- With most banks in other states
                 charging non-customers for using their ATMs, the
                 attorney general and a public interest group are
                 stressing the need for Connecticut to outlaw the fees. A
                 report released today by the Connecticut Public
                 Interest Research Group says nine out of ten consumers
                 in other states are being slapped with the surcharges.
                 There is a court-ordered ban now preventing
                 Connecticut banks from imposing the surcharge, but
                 state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and
                 ConnPirg official Steve Gurney say lawmakers should
                 enact legislation to outlaw the fees.
My thoughts:  This is a law for people stupid enough to use a different bank from the one issuing their ATM card.  It happens to me maybe twice a year that I get caught someplace without cash and need to go to an ATM not from my bank.  So I "pay the $2," which in not an unreasonable amount for a service that is quite valuable to me.  Sure the banks make profits hand over fist, but it's not as if it doesn't cost them any money to set up and maintain an ATM machine, and it's not as if people don't know about these fees.  In a nutshell, if you don't want to pay the fee, just use your own bank's ATM (how simple is that?)

5/3/99 - The New England Patriots are going back to Foxboro.  Good.  We don't have any professional sports teams in CT, and we don't need any.  It would provide us with nothing but traffic jams and extra arrests in Hartford.  It would cost the state a fortune, and I bet we wouldn't see any return for a very long time, or at least until I move somewhere else.  Although, it might have gotten the goons who live in my town to leave for a while on Sunday.

5/3/99 - When I was getting out of grad school, I once spoke to a recruiter whose name shall remain Sabrina Martin (married to 209 marathoner Ken Martin).  She was looking for an MSME and was looking to pay in the high 40,000 range.  I wasn't even contemplating of asking for that much, and she said "well then we probably don't want you."  I've always wondered about the attitude "It's expensive, it must be good" because sometimes I walk around the mall with the same mentality.  So I found the quote in the Wall Street Journal I thought I'd share.

"No tequila is worth more than $34 a bottle, and that is for the very best stuff.  [These rising prices] have shown the world just how foolish people can really be." -
Jose Maria Muria, renowned historian of Mexico's national drink, and rector at the Colegio de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Commenting on tequila prices rising
to as much as $1000 a bottle.

5/14/99 - Got a call from the USATF powers-that-be asking if I wanted to run in the WCA marathon.  I'm passing.  It's another warm weather fiasco, and who in the United States even knows what the WCA is?  I'd have to take a bunch of time off from work (running low on vacation time).  The only thing kind of attractive about it is that it is a high caliber race with a limited entry field, and is likely to have good athlete support on the course.  I do well in high-pressure races such as that.  I'd rather take a shot at a fast time elsewhere.  Perhaps Berlin, or Chicago, or NYC, or California International.  I'd really like to run NYC.  It's only an hour south of me, and it's the other race that people have actually heard of.  Problem with that race is getting in, though.  The NYRRC folks are hardly known for their hospitality - so much so that it makes it worth it to spend two days traveling elsewhere to run rather than run the race right in my own back yard.  They wouldn't let me on the starting line in 1993, and I'm pretty sure I pissed them off when I had to scratch with a pulled hamstring one week before the 1997 event, as they never returned any calls or emails after that.  It's a shame.  Ever since Alberto set that WR in 1981, I always want to run NYC, and do well there.

7/21/99 - John Lienhard is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston.  I listen to him every morning on NPR.  One day, he presented an excellent discussion titled "Self Deception" which also touched on personal responsibility.  I like this one.  Go to http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1194.htm to see it..

8/5/99 - More John Lienhard.  His episode titled Batting 400 says something about performance in sport.  Read it, then think about how records are falling with fantastic ease track and field today.

10/29/99 - There are more school busses Danbury than can be imagined.  Not one kid in my town has to walk more than 100 feet to get to the school bus.  It's sick.  I mean, get a little exercise for once in your life.  They're so damn wide they pretty much have to come to a full stop when I go around them.  They stop about every 200 feet to pick up kids.   What's worse is the parents in this town feel compelled to drive their kids to the bus stop and sit there in their SUVs with the engine idling while they wait for the bus.   If my kid ever says "Dad, I'm going to be late for the bus!" I'll just tell him "well, you'd better hurry up then."

12/1/99 - On Tobacco Legislation:  I hate smokers. They're filthy, inconsiderate, ugly people, but I'm not totally on the side of those who would go after the tobacco industry. It seems quintessentially american that, when faced with a public health crisis, we look to a small group of executives who furnish the product in question to blame. If tobacco companies are at fault, then it should be illegal to sell or posess cigarettes at all. What I'm getting at is that personal responsibility should come into play here. It's so american to blame the tobacco companies instead of ourselves.

12/16/99 - This is of no interest to practically anyone but me, but I sure hope I can rank number two in the country in the marathon by Track and Field News for 1999. I think I have a pretty good case for it. Number one is for David Morris for sure with his AR at Chicago. Number two is between me and Alfredo Vigueras. Now Alfredo won the US Championships, and ran the third fastest time in the country this year on a difficult course. I didn't run the US Championships in favor of Boston, but I didn't lose to an American, and I ran the second fastest time in the country this year (albeit on a course that is considered to be "aided," it's still not an easy course). It looks pretty even, but I think I should be rewarded for running a second marathon. Both he and I have wins, which is key. However, Alfredo stood a lot to lose by running a fall marathon, and possibly loosing to another American. I don't think Alfredo really considered this as a reason for not running this fall. Never the less, I hope I get the number two spot. I'm sure I'll rank number three though. Track and Field News is one of those publications that just won't give me any credit.

Stuff on the USATF decision to change the "protect the champion" rule for the Olympic Trials Marathon, in chronological order.

By now, no doubt, some of you have heard about a possible new policy regarding the team selection process for The Olympic Marathon Team. If you haven't, read the article on the Runner's World Daily posting for 12/9/99. I'll only say this: we (the USA) should always try to fill our teams with as many athletes as possible. It would be wrong to send one athlete, when we could send two or three.

Update 3/1/2000 - I feel inclined to comment on what happened with the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in South Carolina this weekend, since people hold my opinion in SUCH high regard.  As you may know, Kristy Johnston did everything she should have to make The Olympic Team.  She got the "A" qualifying standard for The Games, and she finished top three in The Trials, but she's being left off The Team.  If you've just crawled out from under a rock, read the story on Runner's World Daily.  First of all, congratulations to the winner for a better than 1 mile PR out of this.  I don't know how she did it.  I'm pretty sure I couldn't run 2:33:31 off of 70 miles a week in that weather.  However, I think it's obvious that the recent change in selection procedures is a mistake.  Most people in the running community seem to want to blame the IAAF for raising the bar so high, and making the qualifying standards two minutes faster than what everyone expected.  Don't blame the IAAF.  They're just doing their job, and setting the standards as they see fit.  I understand how easy it is to blame them.  They're a faceless organization, headquartered in Europe, and we don't know anyone from that organization personally.  The problem lies at home.  It's really the fault of USATF, and their unfortunate decision several weeks ago to make the Olympic Trials Marathon a winner-take-all scenario.  We don't want to blame USATF, because a lot of people in the running community know people who sit on these committees, but I personnally have taken every opportunity I've received in recent months to inform people that they were making a mistake in changing these rules.  Here are just a couple of points I'd like to make FAQ style:

It was hot in South Carolina, couldn't we ask the IAAF if they would grant "A" qualifying status to the 2:33:31 run by Chris Clark?  Her effort, given the conditions, was probably an "A" effort.  I don't even want to think what kind of precedent this would set if all of a sudden the IAAF has to go about rating courses and conditions for every marathon run in the world for the past two years.  I ran a few 10,000 meter races in 1996 under difficult conditions and wasn't granted "A" status for any of them.  Of course, if we do it for her, we have to do it for everyone (you learned that in grade school). Sure they granted that exception for their own race, the World Championships, but that's a major international championship and the waiver was granted primarily to reward participation in that event.  Most marathoners didn't want to run in that event because they couldn't get the A standard there.

Wouldn't it be worse to tell this woman (the winner) that she could not go to the games now because of the qualifying time?  Well that's pretty much the way it's worked the past 20 years that I've been in the sport.  That's the way it's going to work at the track trials in Sacramento this summer.  It's always been a given that the athletes are responsible for getting "A" standards, and that just finishing top 3 in The Trials, or even winning The Trials, is not good enough.  In 1996, the powers that be at USATF kicked me off the team because I didn't have a 10,000 meter qualifying time.  Why the kid gloves treatment here?  Because it's more politically correct to have a working mom on The Olympic Team as opposed to a 29 year old guy with a dingy apartment and a gas problem?  My best 10,000 effort that year was run in a wind storm and no one appealed anything to the IAAF on my behalf.  Because the sponsors want it that way?  So if I were independently wealthy, I could sponsor the trials, and make up my own qualifying standards as I see fit?

But the marathon is special, why don't they loosen up the qualifying standards a little to make it more inclusive?  I actually read a letter on Runners World Daily where one reader wrote that the marathon is intrinsically more important than all the other Olympic Events just because it's the marathon, and since we, the US, want our full team in Sydney, the standards should be made easier.  Such arrogance, and typically American, to think your event is the most important.  Every event is equally important in the eyes of the IOC, and we're not special because we're marathoners and someone else is a swimmer or a rower.  There is something to be said for humility.

She ran a 2:33 marathon.  The qualifying time is 2:33, right? So that should be good enough for an A qualifier, right?  This is another one from Runners World Daily.  Sometimes I think they get a bunch of letters and print the ones that are the most "out there" (to be polite).  No, this won't work either.  Sure the IRS lets you round down the pennies on your tax return; as a matter of fact they even encourage it, but last I checked, you can't round down race times in any event sanctioned by the IAAF.  If you could, then my 5000 PR is 13:00, my marathon is 2:13:00, my 15K is 43:00, but my 10K is still only 28:00.  I'm really impressed with my new 5000 time, although the other times aren't much of an improvement.

There must be some way we can appeal to the IAAF to get a full team?  I don't see it.  Obviously you can't change the rules ex post facto now, and tell the winner she has to get a qualifying time because we feel we've made a mistake. I already discussed the issues involved with asking the IAAF for "A" status for that 2:33:31.  It's really not the fault of the IAAF if our own governing body wants to jerk its athletes around with difficult qualifying races and oddball rules.  A lot of countries don't even have trials.

So you don't think having a trials is a good idea?  On the contrary, I'm pretty sure no one would have picked me for the 1996 team if we instead selected our teams by something like a committee vote.   I welcome the opportunity for everyone with any kind of reasonable shot at making The Team to take a run at it.  "One, two, three, that's the only way to do it" said Greg Foster (110 high hurdles) after getting bumped from the team in 1988.  I find the whole process very democratic.  This "winner-take-all and screw the rest of you" deal is wrong, though.  It was a last minute rule change made by people (Dan Grimes) who weren't thinking just to appease some sponsors (Larry Grollman, Russ Pate) who also weren't thinking.  It puts an unreasonable emphasis on The Olympic Trials instead of The Olympic Games, and it has produced a marathon team consisting of a single runner, where instead we could be sending as many as three runners, and at least two.

What should we do?  Give the IAAF appeal for A status for the 2:33:31 a shot because I think we should have three women on The Team in Sydney, but I honestly don't think the USA has a leg to stand on.

6/7/2000 - Got an out-of-competition drug test last week.  Weird, since I'm not going to Sydney this year.  The guy showed up at my office in the middle of the day, and he was my new friend for the next 90 minutes.  Good to know that they actually conduct no-advance-notice out-of-competition tests, though.  I've been running at a high level for a number of years, and had never received such a test.  I figured the whole thing was just a lot of lip service.  Not to get off the subject, but is anyone else already tired of hearing about Stacy Dragila?  It's the track and field press machine always writing the same stuff about the same three or four athletes.  Now Stacy is one of them, but it's even worse than usual.  She's everywhere.  Stacy Dragila Stacy Dragila Stacy Dragila Stacy Dragila.

8/28/2000 - I'm really tired of the Al Gore joke about his having "invented the internet."  Al Gore never made such a claim, and I imagine it was some idiot who made the leap of saying he did.  For what it's worth, the internet used to be owned primarily by the government, which allowed certain educational and research institutions access.  Al Gore had a hand in getting the legislation through congress which made it the "open" system it is today which allows for it's commercial use.  That, in my mind, is no small task.

Update - I've recently been informed that he actually did say "I invented the internet" on CNN with Wolfe Blitzer thusly opening him up to ridicule.  Of course, this statement shouldn't have been taken so literally.  We all know what he meant.

11/3/2000 - Don Kardong - when is he going to do something about this haircut?

2/7/2001 - This from a write-up on The Empire State Building run-up 

"The race has a chaotic start.  Racers must dash from the starting line in the lobby on a slippery marble floor to the doorway of the stairwell just a few meters away.  If a competitor does not react quickly at the start, he may have to come to a complete stop before ascending the stairs."  

This is SO stupid.  What's wrong with a staggered start?  There may be be some kind of technical reason, but I can't think of what it would be.  The race just amounts to who can run 30 yards faster off the line.  I'd be tackling people to get to that doorway first.  Also, no one except for the first two or three competitors gets an accurate time.  My wife is sitting here behind me saying "you don't even care about that race anyway" so why am I bothering?  I don't know.  Some things just annoy me.  Advocates of this ridiculous start probably will say it's part of the sport and part of what makes it all interesting.  It just seems pointless to me.  The challenge should be in running the stairs, not in getting through a door 30 yards from the start.

2/19/2001 - recent reports indicate that more people (per capita) in the US were incarcerated during Clinton's administration than in previous administrations.  I'm thinking this is a good thing.  The increases are due to more $$ being spent on law enforcement (police and prisons).  I'm also hoping the trend continues, and it becomes harder and harder to get away with stuff.  It's my belief there are still plenty of criminals at large, or as one prominent criminal psychiatrist put it "there are 5 million psychopaths in the US; 2 million of them are in prison."

2/20/2001 - Was reading the latest newsletter from USATF.  Seems they're claiming that $250,000 in prize money was awarded at the Olympic Trials Marathons each for men and women.  That didn't look right to me, so I did a little math, and here it is based on figures supplied from the Winter 2001 edition of "On the Roads."

So we're short about $25000 for men and $30000 for women.  Why is that?  The figures above don't account for the additional $10000 awarded to the women's trials winner, so that's part of it, but that still leaves $45,000.  Where's the difference?  Well, it's additional prize money that was supposed to go to the second and third qualifiers for The Olympic Team, but since only one person went to The Games on each team (men and women) that money was never awarded.   The oddball rules that created the one-person teams are a separate discussion, so what's my point?  By including those monies in the overall prize money totals, USATF is artificially inflating the dollar figure they are reporting to have awarded to athletes.  They are, effectively, saying they're doing more for the athletes than they actually are.  By my calculations by about 7% for the entire year (using the $669,100 figure they're advertising for total prize money for the year for men and women).  That's a lie by 7% (my wife tells me not to use the word "lie" since it's rather accusatory and I should really just say something like "they don't have their facts straight," but I just can't help myself here).  I don't know about the rest of you, but, for me, $45000 is still a lot of money, and I'm kind of wondering where it went to.  Was a deduction taken?  Did it go back into some war chest?  Did someone get a new Lexus?  I learned not to trust these people years ago.  Always be vigilant, and never believe what they tell you without checking it out for yourself.

3/8/2001 - Same issue of USA Track and Field's "On The Roads" reads of the 2000 US Olympic Trials Marathon

Can you believe these people still blame the athletes, the IAAF, the weather, anything but themselves?  Would it be inappropriate to remind people once again that the US did have three men under that aforementioned "A" standard?  The only force that prevented the US from fielding a full team was a bunch of self-important committee members on a power trip.  Maybe the problem really is that everyone wants to be famous.  By dorking around with the selection process, these anonymous Long Distance Running Committee Members all-of-the-sudden have members of the media calling them up and wanting their opinions.  This will continue for at least another four years it seems.

On the grammar front, while some of you might be impressed by the authors use of the word "ignominious," I am more concerned with misuse of the word "gender."  It should be "sex."  "Masculine" and "feminine" are genders.  "Male" and "female" are sexes.  It's commonly misused these days because people don't want to use the word "sex" either in print or when speaking.

7/6/2001 - I notice the winner of the 1500m at USATF doesn't have a qualifier to go to the IAAF World Championships.  I don't understand.  As the winner of the US Trials, shouldn't he go to worlds automatically, and to hell with everyone else?  After all, the integrity of the US Trials must be preserved.  Someone 'splain it to me.

7/12/2001 - Here in the NYC area in South Hampton, a young woman by the name of Elizabeth Grubman backed her Mercedes SUV into a crowd of partygoers. Ms. Grubman is a well-known publicist for such names as Wu-Tang Clan, Tommie Mottola, and even Taylor Dayne if you can believe it.  I'm not much for celebrity news and tabloid stuff, but every now and then a story like this really grabs me.  I can't help but wake up every morning and check the web for more news on the Grubman incident.  Not since JFK Jr. crashed in his plane, has a society story been so interesting.  I'm supposed to give a talk tonight on how your training changes with age, but I might just want to switch to a discussion about what everyone has heard about this, and what everyone thinks.  A visit to her company web site reveals that they serve "as the occasional chauffeur" and that the result of their services "always makes an impact."  She might want to reconsider the wording on that.

9/24/2001 - Not that I'd have it any other way, but it seems everyone Ellen and I know personally made it out of the WTC in time.  It's almost strange, with all the people we know from living and working in NYC, that no one we know was killed.  Thank god.  Ellen went down to see the rubble.  I wanted to, but thought we wouldn't be able to get close, and I figured they didn't need any more gawkers.  As it turns out, she was able to get a look from about a block away.  I think I'll just keep my distance anyway.  As many people are, I'm worried what consequences a retaliatory strike will bring.  It was General Curtin LeMay (no relation) who said he was going to "bomb Vietnam back to the stone age." Afghanistan is already in the stone age, so I don't see what good bombing them will do, although some sort of surgical military action is appropriate.  Will the bombing we do today give birth to another Osama, only for use to meet with him 15 or 20 years from now?

So tonight Fox is airing "Who wants to be a Princess?"  Most of you will recall the "Who wants to marry a millionaire?" show that gave Darva Conger her 15 minutes from last year.   No one who has lived through these last two weeks will ever put this disaster behind them, but I, for one, welcome the opportunity to get back to this sort of Fox Network nonsense that used to occupy our headlines prior to Sept. 11.   I'll be tuning in, just for the two hours of harmless stupidity it offers.  I want to again live in a country again where the biggest story is about Gary Condit or Lizzie Grubman or a $300 million powerball jackpot.  I never will again, of course, but it's nice to contemplate it.

Never mind, it's 830 now, it looks pretty ridiculous; even for me.

9/27/2001 - Separated at Birth?  C-3PO and the new Jeep Liberty.  Am I the only one who sees the similarities?

10/7/2001 - Don't rent the movie "Hannibal."  It's terrible.  I guess I could have read the reviews, but I just had to see for my self, didn't I?  Usually, I trust the critics.  Of course, you can't just go by "thumbs up," or "thumbs down."  You have to take into account what they actually say.  Now "Sugar and Spice" is a fun movie.  It's about cheerleaders who rob a bank.

11/20/2001 - Money getting a little tight.  Adidas Contract ending on December 31.  Last night I had a dream that I went to some museum or zoo in NYC.  For those of you who aren't familiar, you can go to the museums like The Met and other cultural attractions here in The City for a penny.  They have a sign in the front that indicates that you only need to make a donation, "you may give what you wish, but you must give something" is what it used to read when I was a kid.  Of course, I'm not aware of anyone who had the nerve to actually give just a penny.  Nowadays the sign has a "suggested donation" and it's usually somewhere between $7 and $10.  So in the dream I walk up to the booth, and hand the guy a $20 bill, and he says "thank you, sir" and I don't have the nerve to say "um, I was hoping for change from that."  I shyly walk away with my museum buttons that much poorer for my 10 seconds of philanthropy.  My dreams are rather obvious in their interpretation these days.  It was, in a way, similar to my dream about watching the 2001 NYC Marathon on TV when I knew I was supposed to be in the race.  In that dream, I thought the race had been rescheduled to Monday (for the record, Boston always goes on a Monday).

1/4/2002 - pretty much everyone thinks the New York Road Runners should list results beyond the top 3 for the midnight run in which I finished third.  I agree.  I guess most of the steep entry fee went to the champagne, but we were wearing numbers.  I guess they did say it was a "fun run," and now we know what they mean by that.

1/6/2002 - Preaching to the choir.  "Distance races take too long.  They're boring, and Americans don't have the patience to watch them."  This is the sentiment of American TV networks, and, seemingly, the public at large if you believe what you read.  Well, the 3000m I ran Friday night went off at 11:30 PM because there were about 10 heats each of the 200 and 400.  Each of these heats takes minutes to set up and start.  False starts are all over the place, and a single sprint event usually ends up taking about 30 minutes to complete when all this is factored in.  Furthermore, the seeded section is usually the only one that counts towards the win anyway.  Now, that being said, it was exciting to watch a guy run 47.8 the other night, wondering if he was going to tie up at the finish line.  So the point is (if there is one), distance races should not take a back seat and be an afterthought.  No one has any right to complain that they take too long. 

2/11/2002 - There seems to be a new trend in road races of not posting what the prize money will be prior to competition.  For example, the Litchfield Hills road race only tells you that there will be awards.  They don't say how deep or how much.  It's up to the athlete to investigate.  I just ran a race in Naples where they only said there would be a prize money pool for Americans.  Again, didn't say how deep or how much.  Next week I'm running in the Al Gordon 15K.  They only say that there will be $1150 for men.  No word on how it will be distributed.  It makes a difference in how you run.  If it's a winner-take-all situation, then you run for the win, and time is not important.  If second place has good prize money too, then you can afford to be a little less cautious, and try for a faster time.  Ever the paranoid cynic, I'm thinking maybe it's so races can backpedal if they end up short on cash come race day.  I understand.  It's tough to put on a race these days.  The general population seems to think the top runners should be doing it just for the glory and get all offended when they find out that a portion of their entry fee went to it.  On a related track, I don't like it when stores don't post their hours.  How are you supposed to know when they're open?

4/28/2002 - Saw someone toss a cigarette out their window yesterday.  More evidence that smokers are the most inconsiderate animals on the planet.  It annoys me when I read the tobacco companies are working on a less dangerous cigarette.  Make them more poisonous I say.  Anyway, it was a black Nissan Altima with Connecticut license plate 315-KPH and it was in Orange, CT on route 34.

5/12/2002 - Most of the time, it is wrong to try to back in to a parking space in a parking lot, and I'll tell you why.  You can, and should, back into parking spaces on the street when parallel parking.  Remember the Seinfeld where George gets into a fight while trying to park his car near Jerry's apartment?  The party backing in was in the right on that one.  That's the understood procedure that is taught in driver's education classes for parallel parking.  Right hand turn signal on, pull up even and parallel with the car in front of your spot, and back in.  However, when in a parking lot, you're free to go in head-first, or to back in.  I say always go in head first because it's more efficient.  When parking, you have to steer your car into a small, finite area just big enough for your car.  Since it's easier to drive your car forward, you should go forward when trying to squeeze into the small spot.  When backing out, you have a much bigger target for your car:  you only have to pull out into a wide lane in a parking lot.  Thus, it makes more sense to save your driving-in-reverse for the easier task, which is pulling into the wider area.  That's why I always pull in head-first.  Some people like the "Batman" effect of being able to pull out without having to do the U-Turn, and that's why they do the extra work when parking.  I never waste my time with that (I have much more important things to waste my time on).

I'm really into this AmIAnnoying Web site.  Reading it is sucking up a lot of my time.  I'm not famous enough to have a posting on the it, so I wrote my own list of what might make me annoying or not.

Why I might be annoying:

I pick my nose profusely, sometimes with little regard for who’s watching.

I claim to have deserved a spot on The 2000 Olympic Team, despite having finished 61^st in The Olympic Trials.

I’m sticking by that claim, and will likely continue to do so for the rest of my life.

I’m past my prime and should quit running, but am still competing just to make a few bucks here and there.

I’m whiney about my lack of job prospects and income (shoulda gone to law school or gotten a job as a corporate tool; or both).

Why I might not be annoying: 

I’m nice to animals.

I try to answer every email I get, even the nasty ones, when people have questions about running, and take the time to read what people write before I respond.

I’m a good listener, and don’t insist on blabbing on and on listening to myself talk.

I regard myself as a considerate driver, but realize that pretty much everyone sees himself or herself that way.

I drive a car that gets good gas mileage.

I keep my web site up to date.

I freely offer my expertise on the Lotus Domino Gold forum (on www.notes.net).

8/2/2002 - Al Sharpton was recently in the news for something he did 20 years ago.  HBO showed a tape of him talking to a man about a possible drug deal.  Turns out the man was a federal agent, and this was a sting operation abscam-style.  Al never agreed to any sort of illegal activity with the agent, and they never made an arrest, but on the tape he is seen nodding his head, and repeating phrases like "I hear you" to the agent.  I can't say I hold anything against Al for this one.  If someone came to me to talk about a drug deal, I would be completely non-committal.  I wouldn't give any indication that I was going to go to the police with what I had just been told.  I might even agree to something, and then get help later.  Drug dealers aren't people to be messed with.  Furthermore, I'm upset that tax dollars are spent on this sort of thing.  Al Sharpton - he has a fairly spotless record I have to say.  Sure, he's made some bad choices for his battles (Tawana Brawley), but I think all-in-all he's proved himself a capable voice in and for the black community.  I'd like to see them pull the same sort of stunt on some of these corporate officers we've been reading about lately.  These guys are the ones with the ethics problems.

5/18/2003 - Dannon Yogurt has reduced the size of their yogurts from 8 oz. to 6 oz.  Check it out.  I thought they were the best yogurt, and often bought them.  They have the nerve to charge the same price too.  No reason to buy Dannon any more.  How's that for controversy?

8/8/2003 - Lately I've been having super-hero thoughts again.  This is where I pretend I'm superman or someone like that.  Green Lantern is my favorite.  This is slightly out of the ordinary for me, because lately I've been having fantasies about more grown-up stuff.  No, nothing x-rated, but stuff like winning the lottery or writing a best-selling novel:  stuff that could actually happen, but probably won't.

9/20/2003 - The ice cream sandwich might possibly be the best food ever invented.  Consider the following selling points:

-it's got ice cream, which is great.

-no utensils needed

-no dishes needed either.

-two sandwich cookies surround it.  they're not too sweet and sugary.

-soft and chewey, you don't have to work to eat it, like you do with vegetables.

-zero cleanup.

9/29/2004 - I love this quote "The biggest issue this election is something called flip-flopping, and all candidates are accused of doing it. A strong leader is expected to maintain steadfast resolve in his opinion even if the environment changes or he gets new information. In any other context, that would be considered the first sign of a brain tumor. When presidents do it, it's called leadership, and frankly, we can't get enough of it." - Scott Adams.

9/19/2006 - OMG, has it been 2 years?  Well, today's entry is about the New York Road Runner's Club announcement that they will be offering a $100,000 prize money pool for Americans only.  You know what this means?  They're going to be writing out a $10,000 check for a 2:22.  Who wants to bet?  On the women's side, they'll award that much for a 2:40 or slower.  I failed miserably when I ran the 5 borough marathon twice.  My first-ever marathon was a 2:43 death march, and my second effort in 2001 was something I just wasn't ready for.  I ran 2:26.  Know what I got for those performances?  What I deserved - nothing but a free cup of water.

A $100,000 Prize Purse For Americans Is Added To ING NYC Marathon

As part of its continuing support of American long-distance running, the New York Road Runners have added a $100,000 prize purse to be divided among the top five U.S. male and female finishers at the ING New York City Marathon on November 5. The top American man and woman will each receive $20,000.

"We are proud to add a guaranteed American prize purse to this year's ING New York City Marathon," said Race Director Mary Wittenberg. "Our decision to do so is part of our longstanding commitment to foster and promote high level distance running in this country, as well as a reflection of the caliber of today's American distance runners. Our best are now among the world's best. Our up-and-comers have the potential to surpass the current stars someday. This announcement is part of an overall celebration of American distance running." In a Monday teleconference with Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor, who will run the November 5 marathon, Wittenberg noted "we have a mission here of trying to get people healthier and fitter and find the inner athlete in everybody through running, and we think American stars at the front are critical to creating a healthier society. We're looking for out sport's Tiger Woods, and several athletes who have that kind of appeal that can draw people up to put on their running shoes and hit the trails and the roads."

Wittenberg added "what's very different now than when we first started taking initial steps in support eight years ago, seven years ago, is that now we've got top flight Americans, and we are so proud of our Americans in the (marathon) field this year, with Meb Keflezighi, Alan Culpepper, Dathan Ritzenhein, Deena Kastor, and now Katie (McGregor) and Peter Gilmore being added to the list. These are international level athletes, and we couldn't be more pleased than to add more incentive to sweeten the pot." The ING New York City Marathon purse will have $20,000 first prizes, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third, $3,000 for fourth, and $2,000 for fifth, for both men and women.

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