Potpourri #1

Instant messaging is a great way to communicate. It’s more real time than e-mail, but you can actually be somewhat involved in other things without being rude. Problem is Facebook chat has been unreliable, so conversations seem to just end suddenly. That or I’m offending all of my friends.

There’s slightly less than 60 hours until the Ayer Thanksgiving day 5K. Hell yes I’m excited about it. This will be the third straight year I’m running the race. The best way I can think of to spend a holiday is to be surrounded by friends doing a positive and healthy activity.

I bought a neti pot today for $12. In terms of price for expected function, it’s a good value. Several people I know rave about them. On the other hand, I spent $12 for about as much plastic as you get for free with a gallon of milk and a handful of individual salt packets. Not sure a used neti pot is the way to go either. Once it’s been stuck up your nose, it’s basically yours for life.

Can’t believe so many stations are playing Christmas music around the clock already. How about waiting until December 20th? Time to break out the Guns ‘n’ Roses CDs. I don’t see Axl Rose writing any happy holiday tunes. Ditto for AC/DC, unless you count “Big Balls”, which is about parties and sort of festive.

I rotated the tires on my truck this past weekend. Keep tire wear even is the least of my concerns. Checking that the tires are wearing normally, that the suspension doesn’t have any loose bits, and that the brakes have some life left are the real reasons for rotating your tires. As a bonus, should you find your tire flat in the parking lot, you know your wheels aren’t rusted onto the hubs and your spare is ready to go.

And last but certainly not least, hiking/running up Mt. Wachusett was a great experience. I found out that I can hike in my trail running shoes and run with a backpack on. So when you combine being able to jog the flat and smooth sections while hiking the steep rocky sections, you get an awesome workout at a reasonable heart rate. Great way to cover some serious distance.

I’m also finding that I dislike hiking in boots. It seems that in the process of supporting your ankles, they transfer a lot of load onto your knees and hips. On an uneven trail, sometimes it’s simply easier to have your ankle rotating all over the place and your leg gets to stay straight.