GOOD NEWS! I finished 189 out of 705 runners. The bad news, I did not win the bottle of Moet.

My buddy came in 112 and beat me by about 4 minutes. My official time was 1:29:35 with a pace of 10:41 per mile (the race is actually 8.3 miles long).

Our good buddy over at News of St. John posted a nice youtube video of the first 55 seconds of the race. If you pause at second 42 I am in the center of the screen wearing the number 340 and sunglasses. (direct youtube video link here)

So a few words about the actual race. WOW… seriously hard. The inclines really suck the energy and air right out of you and the declines require real control of your legs. One mis step coming down those hills and you could easily have a very nasty fall. It was definitely a challenging race and except for dropping my ipod once it went without a hitch. Running out at the starting line with eye of the tiger playing was very cool. It had a surreal feel with so many other people all gathered together. I am definitely glad I participated and now I have an urge to look into other foot races. I guess we’ll see how long that urge lasts!

Overall I am actually quite proud of my finish. I have not stepped foot into a gym other than my single trip on Monday for more than 6 months so to be able to finish 133rd and only 4 minutes behind a guy who goes a couple times a week is pretty decent in my book. Anyway, after running the race he deserves the bottle of Moet, however there is a REMATCH NEXT YEAR! And I do NOT intend to loose twice.

As for the amount of pain - I think I got off without to much agony. I have some tightness in the shoulders and back and a bit of chaffing on my thigh (Tip: don’t wear cargo shorts on an 8 mile run) but other than that I am not feeling too too bad. Cheers for that!

Alright well I jsut caught the time and need to jet to work (Oceana) but let me end with sending out a big congrats to everyone who participated in 8 tuff miles! Including that couple from my home state of Virgina! I look forward to seeing you all next year!

O.k everyone - tomorrow… well actually today (i just got off work) I will be running 8 Tuff Miles over on St. John (that’s 1 of the 3 major islands of the US Virgin Islands). There are 700 entries and its the 11th annual race. I got the idea to sign up a couple months ago after reading about it online. I regret to announce however that my training schedule did not quite play out the way I had hoped.

I think I am going to get my butt handed over to me on a platter of pain with a garnish of regret. I know that I wont win, nor will I come close to anyone in any real shape but I am a very competitive man and I want to win that bottle of Moet that’s on the line. (see previous post)

I’ve eaten my pasta, gotten my grapes for a pre race snack and have set out my running shorts. The only thing left to do is turn in for the next 5 hours and see if I can’t get some rest.

…oh and to all my karaoke singing friends that I had to bail out on tonight. ROCK IT OUT and sing one for the fallen (namely, me) and I’ll rejoin you next Friday.

So who cares that I work two jobs and can’t find time to register my car or get the oil changed or wash my clothes, BAHH! those are small fiddle sticks!

I currently have to find time in my schedule to make it into the gym 2-4 times a week so that I can

• A) get back into the shape I use to be in and
• B) take advantage of my free membership and not feel any guilt for letting it all go to waste

Cool Signs VI where I work does a lot of business with, well, the businesses on on St. Thomas and one of our clients is Xtreme Fitness over by the movie theater. I, as proud employee of CS get free membership to Xtreme in exchange for prompt work on Xtreme Fitness signs and such.

Anyway - my first visit to the house of pain was last evening in a last minute completely desperate attempt not to harm myself on the upcoming 11th annual 8 tuff miles race (its this Saturday). While I am in pretty decent shape I have not been running alot recently and the elevation climb (and drop) of this race is somewhat hardcore. I’ll be attending the gym to run at least once more and then from there its a wish and a prayer that I come through without any lasting shortcomings. Oh and if the threat of personally injury was not enough of a worry I have made a small wager with a fellow coworker at Oceana; the loser buys the winner a bottle of Moet Champagne from our good friend Tom at Epernay Bistro & Wine Bar.

So in closing if you want to cheer me on along the road on Saturday don’t bother calling out my name (there’s got to be more than a couple Roberts in the race) instead, just call out

MOET! MOET! MOET!

Alright a little follow up here. My McDonalds radio Voice Over (VO) job is airing currently and I thought I’d post it here for all of you. It should be on a few of the local stations like BUZZ and WGOD here in St. Thomas

 Let me know what you think.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/15/stowaway.squirrel.ap/index.html

O.k I get it, you can’t have a squirrel running around gnawing on electrical wires in an air-o-plane, but way down at the end of the article is the kicker “fearing the squirrel “MAY” have rabies, officials had it killed.

Crap o mighty! Lets just go kill every animal that’s an inconvenience cuss really I am sure there are a couple squirrels out back that might have them rabies to! Who’s down??? I’ll go grab my bee bee gun!

Bank of America is now offering Credit Cards to persons unable to provide a valid Social Security Number.

A large portion of the population that do not hold SSN’s are illegal immigrants. These illegal immigrants are now able (by holding a checking account for 3 months without an overdraft) to open credit card accounts that were previously unattainable. There is so much wrong with this I am going to bust out the numbered list…

1. Its against federal law to hire illegal immigrants. It should therefore be against the law to offer illegal immigrants the institutional perks of this countries financial system. Technically they are criminals - they entered this country without following the proper channels and procedures that thousands of others DO follow they by pass the established system and thus cost the american goverment millions of dollars.It seems quite clear that Bank of America is aiding criminals with this new “product”. Whether you believe in the immigration laws or not, they are on the books and the people who break them should not be able to enjoy the advantages of Americas financial system.
2. This is predatory lending at its worst. Target a group of people who traditionally have very little education on responsible personal finance, that have no other options, are often in financial hardship and offer them a credit card with staggeringly high interest rates (often over 21%). The marketing materials used for this new program outline a course from checking account to credit card to car to house with imagery that is clearly intended to capitalize on the hopeful dreams of these immigrants.
3. This hurts other BOA customers. Who do you think will pay the fees and costs for the defaults that arise from these cards? If some many Americans who legitimately have credit cards default what makes BOA think that these numbers won’t be present in this new “targeted market” even if not in greater degree? Then, without SSN numbers and Credit history’s that could be tarnished what’s the real recourse for individuals from just walking away from these charges?
4. What type of situation does this create if we do actually get an adiministration that cracks down on illegal immigration? Will they subpoena the records for the customers of this new product? Will we then have to decide if these records are private information or that for the pursuit of justice is worth their disclosure? I know I wouldn’t want to be the one with such a decision hanging over my head.

Bank of America has pretty much maxed out their growth potential through the model of acquisitions and mergers and is therefore relaying heavily on the “new account” growth method. I just think they have crossed the ethical line in the hunt for their next high interest rate victims.

http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2007/02/up_yours_cupid.html

Alright so its now officially valentines day and aside from being completely swamped at work this evening waiting on lovey dovey couples (puke…) I have nothing to look forward to. On that note I wanted to pass along the top ten reasons valentines is a hated “holiday” and why singles shouldn’t feel so bad about the whole mess.

Here’s a shout out to all of those who aren’t in a relationship today and are granted a pass on the otherwise obligated “expression of love” on this random capitalist enduced holiday.

Wesley Clark posted a thoughtful and somewhat alarming post on his Daily Kos Diary and myspace today.

In it he speaks about the current approach the white house has shown towards the issues building in Iran and hints that the conflict has been edged towards violent contact not only by Iran but by the bush administration & allies as well.

Clark lays out a heavy message and hits home on a truth made only more apparent by our recent involvement in Iraq.

…war is the most unpredictable of human endeavors, and that unanticipated consequences almost always follow.

While I agree with this statement I also feel Clark is actually “going easy” on the current administrations failure to properly plan for a “post invasion Iraq” and lets Bush off the hook for his grossly improper planning and execution of the reconstruction and occupation of Iraq. This truly absurd lack of foresight has become a pillar that the failure of this war is firmly sitting upon.

Clark goes on to write about other approaches he feels are more appropriate for handling the delicate situation with Iran and ends with a line I wish Bush understood.

And, finally, if every effort should fail, before we take military action, don’t we at least want the moral, legal and political “high ground” of knowing we did everything possible to avert it?

Hell yes we do, well at least I do.

Maybe, just maybe, if we had taken this approach to Iraq originally we wouldn’t be in the mess we are today. I know there is a learning curve for your job Mr. President, but please, please don’t make such a gruesome mistake twice.

O.k - I’ll admit it, I’ve made them on occasion. Some of them went well, some not so much but almost all of them I have remembered… that is until Friday evening where not only did I drunk dial, but I drunk dialed TWICE and have almost NO recollection of the event.

One drunk dial recipient responded the next day with a text message that my dial was “adorable” and gave me the transcript, which luckily turned out to be pretty kosher. The other however I am still attempting to get information on.

I didn’t even realize I had drunk dialed anyone until I received the text message from the one lucky lady way out in Chicago (a good friend and ex girlfriend of mine). Once I found out I had dialed numbers while conscious but not in my right mind I reviewed my call history and yep, two calls were placed within the 3 am hour (St. Thomas time) on Saturday morning. One lasting for 45 seconds (this is the one that responded with a text message) and the other for 39 seconds.

I seriously hope I did not say anything stupid within those 39 seconds, and believe me I am sure 39 seconds is enough time for me to stick my foot in my mouth plus more. However, until I get more details on what was actually said I’ll just have to send out a generic apology for my boozing shenanigans!

While I may have sounded normal on the phone (that’s what the first recipient recalls) I was completely and utterly plastered to the wall! So again, please except my apologies… oh and on the off chance I said something that was completely warm and caring and thoughtful I am sure I meant ever word, however if what I said was dumb, childish or maybe even mean IT WAS THE BOOZE TALKING, I SWEAR!

So sometimes I want to share an idea or a link or some such interesting object but I don’t want to write a huge long post about it. Here is where such ideas will be expressed. Asides baby, Asides.

So its 1:54 am St. Thomas time and while I have nothing particularly interesting to write about I’ve decided to post none the less.

I worked today. Both at Cool Signs and at Oceana, both of which were uneventful. I can’t say that either job at this point has any surprises left in the day to day. Its all humdrum, exactly what I am trying to escape. (if i only knew how

Anyway, its 2 am, I’ve just arrived home and I think it prudent for me to turn in, work comes at me in 6 short hours and I’ll be ill prepared if I procrastinate any longer on my slumber. If you feel the need or have a strike of brilliance please, please  leave me a message. Its valued on the deepest level

Cheers

P.S - Someone looks handsome in their black uniform (it may or may not be me according to a text message I received)

Some of you may have noticed my site was down this evening, if so I apologize.

I am updating my theme and while it is a work in progress a very large chunk has been completed. I hope you like the new style designed by Dean J Robinson and edited by… me.

 As always feel free to leave any suggestions or comments.

I cooked this evening!

THATS RIGHT! I busted out a home cooked meal consiting of… um… noodles and uh…. water! OODLES OF NOODLES BABY!!

I guess by home cooked I mean anything not nuked, and since I am without a microwave I’ll have to get use to using such primitive tools. 

I also stocked my shelves this evening after work with peanut butter (but no jelly yet, they were out) two boxes of cereal (lucky charms and honey bunches of oats with strawberries) some easy mac, a chef boy r dee beefaroni can, a ravolie as well and a campbells chili thing… oh and some milk! So now I guess I am not totally deprived of food, only of healthy food.

If you have any good recipes and or ideas of things I can add to my Oodles of noodles to make them a bit less… BLAND that would be swell and oh yes, I did eat my noodles straight from the pot (see posted photo), why dirty another dish? So uh yea, leave the love.