Bri, bikes, beer, running, racing, finance, fun, triathlon, training, coaching, swimming, surfing, and so on
Friday, April 2, 2010
weekend update
We have skipped right over spring and are basking in the heat of the summer in central NC. It is going to be in the mid to high 80s this weekend so we are going to spend most of it outside. Tomorrow morning Bri, myself and a couple of our buds will join forces for a triple brick (3 x 12 mile bike /2 mile run). These are good for sprint or long distance athletes, ours is short course focused. On Sunday I'm either going to go for a long ride or a long run.
This morning I broke 1:00 on the 100 yards freestyle a couple of times but it was not easy.
I am enjoying an uninterrupted stretch of staying at home on the weekends. This is going to be the first week in a long time where I have very little actual "work" to do on Saturday and Sunday, meaning I can just read a book or worship my wife as she demands. I have a stack of books waiting to be read and there is no end to worshiping the Bri.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of Bri and Tassie (from our 5 year anniversary), since no blog post is complete without a picture.
If you're unemployed or fearing you're about to be, don't worry - Mama government is here to help you. Now you can be on unemployment for up to 99 weeks. Isn't that swell? You could take the time to clean the backyard, go on a staycation, or just stay up all night watching Nickelodeon. Who cares?
When I was a young man without much in the way of money, fame, good looks, friends, fame, money, family support, money, people that liked me, a useful degree, good looks, fame, or money, you know what I did when I got fired or layed-off from one of my non-unionized, uninsured, abusive-boss jobs?
I WENT OUT AND GOT ANOTHER ONE. WHATEVER JOB I COULD FIND. I have never been on unemployment, food stamps, handouts, or whatever. I did stay at my father's house for a year while down on my luck in my mid-20s (and was thankful to stay there for the time), but even then I worked two jobs to save up and get back on my feet. He paid me about $6 an hour for warehousing & deliveries, and my other jobs paid between 8 and 10 bucks per hour.
NOTHING LIKE THE FEAR OF BEING PENNILESS AND ON THE STREET ON YOUR OWN TO GET SOME PEOPLE INTO THE WORKFORCE. Go to any mall, fast food joint, restaurant, call center, or other places that don't require much in the way of technical skill. Think you can find a job? I bet you a million dollars there is a job in your town you could walk into tomorrow! Want to take me up on the bet? Send your gold equivalent to my house and I'll hold onto it while you look for work! Ha! Fooled you! I will take your gold and run away!
Ha! Fooled you again! I wouldn't do that because it would be unethical!
I realize it might be unbecoming for a former exec or technical expert of a now defunct start-up to work at Burger King or Road House as a prep cook, but my man, since you blew all your income on high priced dance clubs, vacation condos, and Ferraris when life was good, whose fault is this when you get down to it?
Do you feel demeaned, marginalized, or embarrassed to be a college-educated 40-50 year old, working next to 18-year old stoner kids who think foreign policy is something you can catch a venereal disease from? Does it bother you when they laugh at the old guy? Are you too good for this sort of thing?
Are you going to have to downsize your life? Is that dream of owning your own home, and a vacation home, and one for your mistress over? It sure is!
IT'S WAY OVER. YOU LOSE. THE SYSTEM WINS.
Wake up to the new world my friends. Want to hold out for that super-duper executive position you're highly qualified for? Go for it! I'll see you in the Soup Kitchen line!
My sympathy is running dry. Get a job. Get any job. Ideally a high paying government job (they can pay more, since they can also make the money, and the rules, and then change them, and then take your stuff, and then change the rules again). Make a new job for yourself. Do something besides sit around and think you deserve better than this.
You don't deserve anything but what you make or do for yourself.
Stop the insanity! Our expected Federal deficit next year is 1.2 trillion. $98 billion of that is going to unemployment extensions.
A trillion dollars is 1,000 billion. A billion dollars is 1,000 million.
That is 1,200,000 million. Or 1.2 million million dollars.
I have been thinking about my 2010 racing goals. This year went very well - three 1st places is not too shabby! My motivation at this point is also much better than it was at the beginning of 2009. To some extent I was stressed about making the Powerstroke freestyle technique DVD all spring and summer, and having that particular project done and looking good frees me up to focus my intellect or lack thereof on other things. So I am debating goals for '10:
Sub 2-hour olympic distance Sub 4:20 half IM Top 5 finish in the NCTS series Serious competition in 2 or 3 standalone open water events.
The open water events will be fun to get back into. I will hit up some of the other masters teams to train since I coach most of the TAC-OSB sessions and doing hard swim workouts by myself is not my bag.
I'm a big fan of outdoor sports and work as a triathlon and swim coach in Cary, North Carolina. I celebrate life with my wife Bri and my dog Tassie. We visit the beach or mountains when time and circumstance permit.
