Kids are Stupid

I was on my way home from a bike ride Saturday when I rode by this little boy riding his bike on the sidewalk... he was probably fourish years old. So when he saw me ride by he tried to ride with me, or maybe he was trying to race me, but as we rode nearly side by side I noticed that he was starring at me and not the neighbor's car that was parked across the side walk. I said "watch it" and as I passed the car I heard his tires sliding... Judging by his speed and how close he was to the car, I think he probably kissed it... But I didn't hear a bang or a scream so I assumed he would fine. I know I am a jerk, but I didn't stop. His dad was there to handle the situation. It was like a dog chasing a car.

Community Matters

This Jay Leno thing has me on the verge of tears. Jay Leno is putting on a free show for out-of-work Detroiters in April. Tickets were available starting this morning, and were gone by 11:00am. So Jay announced a second show the following day.

The thing that I find so moving about this is the fact that Jay billed this from the beginning as Jay's Stimulus package. It was offered to the unemployed of Detroit. I know Jay is an avid collector of bikes and automobiles and can only assume that this is his way of giving back to the people that make the motors he loves.

But aside from the Leno's commitment are the other stories. The actual stories of the people in line. People that woke up to go stand in line for tickets, because they no longer had jobs to wake up for, all in an effort to live on, to still provide something for their families, even if it is a free comedy show to lighten the burdens of the times.

Then there are the other stories. Domino's Pizza, a Michigan company, offered free pizza to people in line, delivered by the sexy Piston's dance team. Pepsi is providing free soda (I mean "pop") during the event. Parking is free, everything is free.

Finally something good for the city. While this is a relatively small, isolated event it is just an example of a community coming together, not to solve the problem, but to just pick each other up, for a moment, and forget about how tough life is right now.

Photo from the Detroit Free Press

1/14 Marathon

I ran in my first race this weekend--the Stingray Shuffle at Brevard Zoo. It was only a 3k, but a challenge for me. It was harder than what I thought because most of the route was on sandy gravel... which also made it pretty dusty for us in the back of the herd. I had only trained on hard surfaces so I expended more energy on the sand/gravel. I finished in 569th place out of ~840ish people. It was a sweet victory for me. Personal milestone. I have never done anything like that before. I ran the whole way. Didn't walk any part, though there were people power walking faster than I was running. As we approached the finish this lady was like "come on catch up with her", talking about this girl in front of me. I ignored it for a second but than decided to push it. I caught up to her just before the finish, but let her cross before me.

Super Ed came down to watch. He is injured right now so he couldn't run. He probably would have won the whole thing if he was running... or at least it would have been a close finish. As it was the winner finished almost a minute ahead of the second place runner. It was nice to have somebody there. As much as I don't like to acknowledge ever needing support, I secretly appreciated him being there.

I made the mistake of swapping out good batteries for bad in my camera so I didn't get any pictures. But I did get a pretty cool shirt to prove that I at least paid the entrance fee.