Apr 22 - OK, on reflection I'm just going to update the new blog and will eventually archive everything on this page and turn it into some archive links. It's been real, it's been fun, but if we don't have to do everything with old school html tags, we won't.

Apr 20 - We've been holding out on using a blog service for a while purely due to being lazy about change, but today I sat down and figured out how to set a blog up but keep it on this website. So for future daily commentary you can visit/bookmark my new blog at martygaal.com/blog. I will copy most posts to this page for those of you who have gotten used to visiting old school. Otherwise you can use that whole RSS feed thing from now on. The rest of the site will stay up for articles, pictures, etcetera.

Apr 19 - Tassie and I had a good time at the Umstead Coalition Run/Walk for Umstead State Park this morning. 4 mile run with no warm up, we managed a 28:50. Both of us are now whooped. Got a nice Inside Out Sports tote bag as a prize for top ten.

Apr 18 - So we purchased Quickbooks Pro about a month ago. Now I can be all up on my business, run cool looking reports, and more importantly from my accountant's perspective, pay all my muthfugging taxes on time and shit. Bastards. I am going to have to get a second job just to cover the tax liability from the first. As a business owner trying to do the right thing you wind up getting triple taxed. First you pay all the payroll taxes on behalf of your employees (me and Bri). Then you pay SSN taxes as both employee/employer. Then medicare. Then state. Then as the primary shareholder of the company I have to make a separate quarterly payment for my retained earnings income. I'm going to revert to a cash based business and go back to declaring close to zero net income. Just kidding, Uncle Sam. I would never do that. Don't take me seriously. I will walk the straight and narrow like all the other suckers. Otherwise, how would I ever qualify for my social security when I'm 64? As if that will be solvent. You suck. It's tough to save when you have to budget 31% of your income to tax. That happens to be right about now, by the way. Think it's a coincidence that "4-20" is around this time of year? Fortunately, I don't live in Israel, where the tax burden approaches 60%.

Click here to find out when you're free of the man.

Apr 17 - Where will you be on Sunday?

Apr 16 - Read Bri's latest update for all our travel news and views. It was a good time. Back to the real world tomorrow. I'm going to run in a local 10k this weekend in downtown Raleigh. I need to race myself into some shape soon. Sampled a couple beers from the Oak Creek Brewery in Sedona over the past couple days. Big Boss and Triangle Brewery in North Carolina are putting out tastier product but these were OK.

Apr 15 - We have had a nice mini-vaca here in the Grand Canyon. Today we did a bus tour and then a short hike down the Bright Angel trail. There's still snow on the ground out here. We did a short run this AM, at 7,000 feet I turn into a gasping wuss. Back to the east coast tomorrow morning. For some reason my "how to bike fast" article is getting a bunch of hits lately, if anyone knows why please let me know.

Apr 13 - I'm sitting at the Coffee Plantation on Mills in downtown Tempe, AZ, catching up on work while my athletes and 2000 others are out on the bike course for the Ironman. Bri and I had a good spot to watch them come out of transition and got a few good pictures. It is going to be a bit hot later today but that's the way the cards roll in the desert.

Apr 10 - It's been a relaxing week more or less. Did some strength work on Tuesday and have been sore since then. Got in a solid bike ride last night and feeling a bit more motivated for some organized training through the summer. Tomorrow I take off for Arizona to cheer on several athletes I've been coaching for the race. Bri will join me on Saturday. On Monday we head to the Grand Canyon for a couple days of sight seeing. I've never been out there and am looking forward to it.

Apr 6 - We had a nice weekend in Wilmington. The baptism and hanging with the in-law's family was a good time; the triathlon was also as fun as a triathlon can be. Bri and I set up our table then I got ready for the race. Swim and bike were not bad, on the run I gave up 2-3 minutes over what I might do "in shape." It felt about the same, just not as fast. Wound up 6th overall in 56:19. Back is sore and now I'm reaaaally tired. It did provide me some motivation to keep up with a regular schedule going forward.

Apr 4 - Update two: Newsflash! I bought a suit for the baptism. It's my first suit as an adult. I think I had one as a kid that accidentally got burned in a barbeque pit at a friend's house in a horrible tragedy that didn't happen on purpose in any way shape or form.

Apr 4 - We're off to Wilmington later today for my niece's baptism tomorrow and the Wilmington Athletic Club tri on Sunday. We're going to stay at an in-law's brother's beach house for a couple days, so that will be nice. The triathlon will be interesting, I am reasonably fit but not in any sort of real shape for it. Time trial pool start.

Apr 1 - Today I decided to run for the US Senate one day. Maybe when I'm fifty or so. I could command lots of respect and order people around while swilling the finest liquor and spending other people's money. It'll be a fine time. Just kidding. April fools, hah hha. Bri said I need to make an update so here it is. It was a fun weekend up in VA. I watched Bri win the triathlon in the freezing cold. Tassie and I cheered and met many Tassie fans. It was also fun seeing our nieces. They are really good kids and very cute. I played a bit of Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox. I am terrible. The 12 year olds with adept hands who've grown up with these controllers totally waste me every time. But I keep trying. That's the definition of insanity you know. Anywhoo. This weekend I race in the Wilmington Athletic Club Triathlon. This is stop number two of the Trysports Triathlon Development Series of which One Step Beyond is a coaching sponsor. We will probably set up a tent and I'm looking at having a banner printed. One day I'll sell our wares at these events, till then it's just me and Bri.

Mar 28 - We are off to Virginia to support Team Bri in a sprint triathlon tomorrow morning. Afterwards We will spend quality time with our nieces and in-laws. We shall also visit other places and do neat things. We will eat food and be merry and watch all sorts of basketball games. Basketball is a game involving a ball and a hoop. People dribble the ball and swoop the net. They score three ways and dunk slams. It is a neat game. Local Davidson college is winning the tournament from behind in the final quarter. We wish you a wonderful weekend as well.

Mar 26 - I've decided to sit out racing Ironman Arizona this time around. Just don't feel like racing it, and doing it to finish isn't my style. We're going out to support all the folks I'm coaching for the event, then spend a couple days at the Grand Canyon afterwards. That sounds like a lot more fun to me right now. I've dropped my training down to a low-maintenance sprint tri training approach. Gonna hit a few local races but I think this will be a fairly non-competitive year for me. 8-10 hours a week of training is more than enough to stay healthy and reasonably fit without going bonkers about things. Going to focus on coaching, finding a part time professional gig, and developing a swim DVD.

Mar 23 - Bri and I had a nice weekend. Yesterday I went and volunteered at the Cary Finish Strong Duathlon held at one of our local parks. The weather was pleasant, a bit chilly but not bad, and the race had a good turnout. Afterwards Bri and I had a cookout for a few of our team members - being Easter weekend and all a lot of folks were busy but we managed to cook up all our burgers and got to meet Sage Rountree and her family. Sage is one of the team sponsors this year - she is a Yoga expert and triathlon coach who lives in Chapel Hill and just released a book and DVD combo. Her daughters liked Tassie which gets them bonus points. Taylor Sparks also stopped by later in the day with her family. Taylor is also sponsoring the team through her line of products - Skin Care for Athletes.

Mar 21 Part Deux - Holy SH!T! My accountant just confirmed our remaining tax liability for last year. Anyone want to buy a kidney?

Mar 21 - so Bri and I did a big food shop yesterday after we stopped for a $40 gasoline fillup. It got me thinking. I'll trade you a dozen eggs from last year for a dozen eggs today.

Lucky me - for a small fee this site will teach me how to make millions from home after we retire to SE Asia.

Mar 20 - We have a new roof! Very exciting. It ranks right up there with a new water heater. These are the joys of home ownership.

Mar 19 - The Google Adsense experiment is mostly over. Y'all don't click enough.

Mar 18 - So I have been inducted as a Capo Regime in "The Godfather" video game on Playstation 2. This is a momentous occasion and deserving of a moment of silence among all of you non-Sicilians. Fortunately Bri is 25% Sicilian so she understands where I'm coming from. It has been a tough road but I have forged ahead with gruesome determination on my Playstation 2. Yeah we don't have kids.

Mar 15 - Had a nice run this AM - goal was to break 20:00 and I did a 19:20 with even splits. Haven't been doing much speed or tempo efforts so this makes me happy. Bri did well and came in right around 19:00. Afterwards we found a cool little hole in the wall for breakfast in downtown Raleigh. There are several new multi-use buildings in the works down there and there are plenty of neat places to hang out. There was a St Patty's day parade going on at 12:00 but we decided to go swim then head home to do home-body stuff.

Mar 14 - It's business as usual here in Cary. Bri and I are running in a local 5k tomorrow morning. It's a nice way to start the weekend. In other news, it's time for a new roof. In other other news, I'm looking for a part time desk job doing technical writing or something with finance, or teaching a local college class. The luxury of working at home is nice but sitting at home by myself for over a year now has worn me out on the novelty of the experience.

Mar 10 pt 3 - Boy it is tough to be disciplined sometimes. I put my last $1k into my IRA for the 2007 tax year last week. We keep our retirement accounts on a pretty strict allocation for long-term investment. RPF is one of my assets and this has done nothing but drop over the last couple years. It does give a healthy dividend and yearly capital gain, while the share price has been cut in half since 2006. The temptation to buy GLD or SLV is overwhelming, but instead I ignore my base instincts and dumped it into RPF again. Reallocation and all that jazz. I will congratulate myself in twenty years. I hope.

Mar 10 pt 2 - My faith in the sincerity of moral outrage continues to crumble. Maybe it's something in the water.

Mar 10 - Here we are with another Monday. Hope your weekend went well. Bri and I had a couple nice days of quality time with one another. My goal is to free her from the bonds of cubicle slavery some day. Then she can stay home and allow me to worship her on a full-time basis. Here are some more reasons to drink wine. I would suggest you drink beer but it uses lots of water.

Mar 7 - Yo. It is raining here in the triangle today. My dog likes to go out and play regardless. It is awful fun in the mud. I was going to enter the sprint in Virginia that Bri is doing on March 29, but the entry fee is up to $70 and I just can't pull the trigger on that. In other news we are going to run the Run for the Oaks 5k next March 15. In other other news not much else is going on. Here's an interesting article from our local paper on the housing market and the lack of a bottom . And the fed continues to print money like there's no tomorrow. And the barbarians at the gate continue to pillage and plunder while the little guy loses his home.

Mar 4 - It's been a busy few weeks so updates have been slacking and obviously I haven't put out a new survey in a while. The camp was a lot of fun and everyone got in some solid training. Our next camp is going to be August 18-24 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I know some of you Floridians would like a summer getaway from the heat, and everyone else should just come down and check out this beautiful area. Limited to 16 total campers.

In other news, we're looking at an early spring here as the trees start to blossom. In a few days Bri and I will be sneezing, coughing, and hacking all over the place. Training for Arizona is going along reasonably well. I've found it a bit challenging to be super motivated this season so my goals are going to be dialed back out there. It'll be a good trip as there are about 12 OSB athletes racing.

I'm still looking around at houses. The local realtor sites don't want to tell you but our local market is feeling the pinch. Houses are staying on the market for months instead of weeks, and there are a lot of price reductions. Plenty of inventory as well. I might check into some foreclosure listings as well.

Mar 1 - I'm experimenting with some google adwords. Going corporate on you. God save us all.

Feb 29 - Happy Leap Year. In my ongoing effort to try and automate and save enough for our retirement, since SSA, Medicare, and lousy deployment of national resources are going to bust the US in 2040, I opened up a DRIP account with Duke Energy. The dividend yield is 4.8% and there is no fee for ongoing purchases or dividend reinvestment. A lot of the DRIPs out there charge too much for a small $ saver like myself to make it worthwhile. That is your "money tip from a dumb guy" of the week.

Feb 28 - It's good to know that our fearless leaders are saying big words to try and keep the markets and individuals and companies from running around in circles in a panic yelling fire fire tidal wave asteroid global warming. That doesn't change the fact that oil is running out, there's an unsustainable invented war on, home equity is plummeting, and dumb / high-risk taking people are being kicked to the streets. Welcome to 1984, Winston. Here are some potential escapes from it all if you can find a few suckers to swindle. Love it or leave it, right? Yeah. Have a nice weekend.

Feb 27 - Yo. What up. Nothing new. Long drive yesterday. Brain fried. No speakie to me.

Feb 24 - Finished off camp with a nice open water swim to the Clearwater Beach pier and back. Weather was perfect today. Pretty tired but had a lot of fun. Total time: 11 hours riding, 3.5 swimming, 3.5 running.

Feb 22 - The camp is going well. Total volume so far for most: 1.5 hour swimming, 9 hours riding, 2 hours running. Tomorrow we do a 10k race in St. Pete then hit Northshore for some relaxed lap swimming.

Feb 19 - Down here in Clearwater Beach for the camp, starting tomorrow. We have 16 people joining us from all corners of the US. The weather is going to be great and I've got some full days of training planned out for everyone. I checked in today, and Bri will join me tomorrow evening. It is always a bit weird being in some resorty area by yourself. I'd much rather have Bri around so I had someone to listen to and to tell jokes to. The days of me being a happy loner are long gone. I'm addicted to Bri. If there was a TV station called Brination I'd watch it 24-7. Anyway, the next few days should be fun.

Feb 17 - Enjoyed the duathlon in Winston-Salem yesterday. Ran 6:30 pace for both run legs which is fine by me. The bike legs were not really there but that's not suprising given the ride the day before. Still tweaking my position. Had a good get together with a few of our ETTT teammates at Tyler's Tap Room in Durham last night. Now I need to work all day.

Feb 15 - Had a nice ride to Wrightsville Beach today. We rode 139 miles in just around seven hours, 7:40 with stops. Weather was cooperative except for the constant slight headwind. I am not too shelled and will be racing in the Finish Strong Winston-Salem Duathlon tomorrow. I give Bri 50/50 odds that she will beat me outright, but she doesn't think I'm that wrecked. We shall see.

Feb 14 - Happy Valentine's day! I hope you get to spend some time with a loved one. Bri and I had a nice lunch today, we stared into each other's eyes and whispered romantic things like, "I like your new bike," and "your paycheck sure comes in handy with the mortgage," and "I'll stay with you forever, provided you adhere to this comprehensive list I've drawn up," and "I really don't like horror movies." It was a beautiful moment.

I'm just kidding, we held hands and giggled like schoolgirls while braiding each other's ponytails. Tomorrow I'm going to ride 135 miles to Wrightsville Beach with some of the local crazies.

Feb 13 - I have come down with a bit of the bug that Bri or someone else had. I did get a flu shot this year but it seems there are several varieties floating around. Went out and did my long run today anyway. As luck would have it I got caught at the farthest point from my car in a cold rain that did nothing but get more intense and colder. When I finished I couldn't feel my fingers. Much to my chagrin I had left Tassie outside during the run so she could hunt squirrels and rabbits; instead she was huddled against the house, cold and miserable. Don't worry, I gave her a hot shower, boiled some cocoa for her, and she's now wrapped in blankets like a little angel.

Feb 11 - So our original general plan for housing was to stay in our current home for three years or so, stockpile some additional cash, then bump it up a notch. But with interest rates back to really low levels and a relatively flat local real estate market, we've started giving serious thought to accelerating the plan and making a move this year. For those of you in overpriced areas of the country, here's a sample of what you can get around our area these days and you can probably knock 10-15% off the asking price on most. More and more of these are coming on-line and the prices have not been going up. The local economy is humming along fine but the pinch across the nation is causing a slowdown here as transplants have trouble selling their old homes and locals are hesitating to move into new construction. Anyway. We plan to stay here a long time and our next home will probably be our 10-15 year residence unless we fall into a real serious pile of money. Locking in something under 6% is hard to not think about. If you had told me ten years ago that I'd one day be contemplating the financing for buying a pretty nice house in "Pleasantville, Suburbia, America," I would have said stop smoking them scoobie snacks, Shaggy.

Feb 10 - results of Weekly survey #9:

1. On a life happiness scale, I rank myself at (you out there, not me):
57% - content (even keel)
12% - Bitter, jaded, and discontent
write ins - F--ing over it, the voices in my head say all is well - for now, Happy is as happy does

2. My favorite romantic thing to do:
25% - a moonlight walk on the beach
The write ins are too dirty to repeat here. Very creative though, thanks for the laughs.

3. I think the US economy is:
32% - Going to experience mild recession
19% - Don't let the media scare you, everything is going to be fine
Write in - don't worry, we'll just print more money, AND don't worry, you need to read more WSJ opinion pages

4. Of the following possible presidential candidates, I would vote for:
38% - John McCain
32% - Barack Obama
25% - Mitt Romney
Hilary got zero votes on this poll. What does that tell ya?

5. I believe in
32 %- A bunch of creative write-ins
25% - Me myself and I
25% - A higher power
7% - fluffy bunnies

Feb 9 - I had a good 'big day' today. The weather cooperated and we had sunny skies in the 50s around here. Swam 3500, rode 5 hours (90 miles), then ran 32 minutes in Bond Park (our local trail). Came home, made coffee, cooked some veggie burgers, and just couldn't wait to blog about it. Nyah nyah.

Now I will do some work then find an excuse to go get some beer.

Feb 8 - Tomorrow I'm going to do a 'big day' session - swim 1 hour, ride 5 hours, run 30 minutes. Want to join me?

Feb 6 - I am recovering nicely from the trail run this past weekend. My QL (back) is more sore then my legs. Getting a bit long in the tooth. Hard to believe sometimes. But that's life, eh? Enjoy it while you have it. Spent Monday updating the One Step Beyond website. My college bud Bill Payne is a great web/art design guy and it was time for an update. He set up the front end design/style sheet and graphics, then I go in and am just barely smart enough to copy and paste to make a few more pages and make content. We are also sponsoring the Trysports Triathlon Development Series this year. This is a beginner-leaning series of races in North Carolina which has several really popular races and some cool venues. I'll be at a few of the events either to race or hang out and talk triathlon.

Feb 3 - Weekly survey #8 results:

1. My favorite type of pet is:
80% - Dogs
8% - Cats
8% - Sheeple

2. When I'm standing by myself in a crowded room at a party, I:
60% - Find a friend
32% - Pas gas, then walk away
You all are gross!!

3. If a subway stops at 5th street for 2 minutes, 8th street for 4 minutes, and 32nd street for 1 minute, how many people would have gotten on or off between 3rd and 47th street?
36% - Idiotic question. I need more information.
32% - Am I stupid for taking this quiz, or is Marty stupid for writing it?
16% - Cubs win! Cubs win!

4. Duck is to dog as:
40% - My mommy says I can't visit this website anymore.
24% - Canary is to cat
12% - Pig is to frog

5. My favorite type of literature is:
32% - Bri and Marty(s) blogs
24% - Novels
24% - Magazines
You are all too kind.

Feb 2 - I finished the trail run this morning in 3:31 or so without any major injuries or issues. Well, I take that back. I actually strained my freaking QL (lower back hip hiker muscle) twisting around IN THE PORTAPOTTIE before the race! Giddeeyup old doggie! Had a nice time riding to the race and back with Cid, Rob, and Douglas.Trail was rocky and very rolling. Only fell twice in the later miles as I started dragging my feet. Quads definitely started to feel the burn in the last few miles. I don't mind the leg soreness but I could do without the painful and frequent bowel issues I often deal with after these races. It's not all glamour, baby.

Jan 30 - Running the Uwharrie 20 mile trail run this Saturday. Here's the profile. I'm going to do it all easy and walk as needed. I've taken up Gallowalking. Except I call it Gaalawalking. I can trademark that. Do you follow the Gallowalk or the Gaalawalk method? Easy. Gaalawalk. Gaalawalking is Gaalarocking. You walk when you want to and run when you want to. None of this run 4 walk 1 business. That's for amateurs. Follow me. I'll show you the way.

Jan 29 - Today I was able to get a hold of my new tri bike. It starts with a P and finishes with a 2C. It weighs about 5 pounds less than my old Cervelo and is totally ripping. It does not change the fact that I'm still going bald and am mildly retarded.

Jan 28 - Weekly Survey #7 results:

1. If I was an animal, I would be:
32% - a dolphin
24% - a lion
20% - a bird

2. When the going gets tough:
24% - the tough get going
24% - your true colors come shining through
20% - I go eight miles, Slim Shady

3. My favorite movie genre is:
28% - Romantic comedy
20% - Drama
20% - Comedy
Nobody picked black guy/white guy or asian guy/black guy or asian guy/white guy comedy.

4. My dream vacation is:
48% - Travel around the world
8% - Join the circus as one of the freaks
Write ins - Anywhere with Marty (thanks Bri), a week trying to understand the world of Marty, Patagonia, Caribbean

5. If Bill has seven marbles in his hand, Jack has three marbles at home in a drawer, Jane has fourteen marbles in a jar on her kitchen counter, Steve has no marbles but really wants some, and May has six marble hidden in her bathroom:
48% - You've lost your marbles
24% - Steve has marble-envy
16% - Jane and Bill have twenty one marbles

Jan 27 - I'm slugging out the last couple schedules here at Tampa International. It was a whirlwind weekend. Did some finalizing on our camp next month. Got in some good rides and took fifth in the underground and unofficial "Run 5 4 Beers" at the Orlando Brewery. Now you know why I really came down.

Jan 25 - Have been staying at my Mother-in-law's place while scouting around for the camp. Going to get a short spin in on the Pinellas trail today then a swim later this afternoon. Instead of going to Orlando tonight I'm going to stay in town and do a get some ride time tomorrow morning with the St Pete Bicycle Club.

Jan 23 - I jetted down to Tampa Intl today to do some camp course recon. I was about to start taking apart my bike to pack into the travel case when I had a lightbulb moment. Instead of dealing with assembly / disassembly and plane charges, I called up Florida Bicycle Sports in St Petersburg and they hooked me up with a ride for a few days. Much easier than lugging stuff around for me since I don't care particularly about the exact fit/setup for the weekend. Rode for a while with my father-in-law then visited world famous Sheps Food Mart & Deli. Dinner and work for the remainder.

Jan 22 - Wow, today the Federal Reserve went insane, and Heath Ledger went out in Jim Morrisonlike fashion. The end of days are near.

Jan 21 - Had a great time at wintergreen resort this weekend. I surprised myself with some fairly competent skiing and tackled every black run they had. You must face your fear. Stay in the moment. No time for meditation and mind-wander when you're crashing down the side of a mountain. We finished the evenings drinking beer and playing word games, for which every second word out of my mouth is colored blue. Good times.

Jan 18 pt 2 - Don't worry, Bush says everything is going to be just fine. Thanks heavens, I was getting worried. I do like less taxes.

Jan 18 - Weekly survey #6 results:

1. Marty is feeling isolated working at home. What could he do differently?
58% - Quit whining dude, it sucks in the cubicle as well
19%- Ride his bike all damn day
14% - Invent a whosewhatsit and get back on the road
write in - start a family and have a great-uncle move in

2. Mike has five cards in his hand. One is a jack. One is a spade. One is a diamond. One is a heart. One is a seven. There are no twos in his hand. He is wearing sunglasses and staring at you.
43% - Good lord you must be bored.
33% - Push your stack in and yell "I'M ALL IN!"
10% TIE - Punch Mike in the face, and Fold your hand

3. If you had $5,000 extra right now, what would you do with it?
29% - Pay down some bills
19% TIE - Put it in a money market fund and wait for things to calm down
and Buy a new bike

4. Marty is thinking of one day (not soon) going back to school for a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certificate and changing careers. I would consider taking financial advice from Marty.
53% - Maybe
38% - Yes
10% - He's a drooling idiot, I'd rather take advice from a monkey and a dartboard

5. When I think of Marty, I think:
29% TIE - Doofus, and Awesomeness
19% - I don't. I came to this website accidentally.
10% - How I wish he was here
5% TIE - Hate hate hate, and worship worship love love
Write ins - nice guy, intelligent, tri star / from the blog seems like a decent guy and a good writer! / He better be out on his bike because he obviously doesn't have anything else to do / dude that likes his beer!

Thanks for playing, have a nice weekend. Next one will be up on Monday.

Jan 17 - We're going skiing this weekend up in Wintergreen, VA. Fortunately the past few days have seen temperatures stabilize below freezing and they are busily making snow for me to fall down repeatedly in. We picked this place since it's only about 3 hours away and is supposed to be pretty nice. I'm looking forward to it and am actually going to go sans laptop for a weekend. No email, no internet. Haven't done that in quite a while. I hope you manage to get along OK without me around to keep you mildly amused as you careen helplessly through your weekend.

Jan 16 - Now appears to be a good time to be flush in cash. Assets are flopping over left and right. When foreign trust funds start injecting buckets of dough into our fortune 500 companies, us little people with a few pennies and some brains can make out like bandits. Imagine all the mom and pop businesses that used home equity to invest into a franchise. Pop! If they didn't build a reserve into their projections, it's all up for grabs - the business, the house, the cars, the kids. The general stock market will probably trend sideways and downwards for another year or two. Mortgage rates are going to go down or stay around 6% for a 30 year fixed indefinitely, I would say through 2009. Home supply increases. Good time to go house shopping if you've avoided some basic mistakes. Good time to look for franchising opportunity, buy a foreclosed home, take over a struggling business, or go back to school (if your career path is looking shaky). Keep your job. Get a second one if you need to. Keep investing in your retirement account unless you think the whole economy is going to collapse, in which case you might as well start socking bullets and gold bars under your mattress. We live in interesting times. It'll all be swell until China and everyone else pull out of government bonds in order to buy failing US companies.

Jan 15 pt 2 - Pulled down my first shift at Inside-Out Sports today. Went well. I sold a pair of shoes and only hung up on one person. Was great to get out of the house and actually talk to other human beings in person for a little while. I wasn't kidding about going a little stir crazy here at home. I'm going to get into a regular habit of heading to the coffee shop if I'm not working at the store or meeting a client. Other thoughts involve signing up for Kung Fu classes, taking Spanish language classes, or the certified financial planning course.

Jan 15 - Managed to ride 4.5 hours on Sunday. 2+ outside with Bri and our friend Alysia, then 2 + more on the trainer indoors. Watched 28 Weeks Later for motivation. Nothing like crazy zombies to keep you pedaling.

Jan 12 - I ran the Little River 9 mile trail run this morning. Feel like my guts are sloughing off right now. Had a good run and held around 7:20 pace, which isn't bad for the conditions. Stayed strong at the end which is always a nicer way to finish then stumbling around in a haze of confused glycogen and oxygen depletion. Probably top twenty. Gotta ride 5 hours tomorrow. Want to join me?

Jan 11 pt 2 - Once in a while I freak myself out about what I write up here and who reads it. But then I recall a life philosophy I absorbed and adopted years ago. My philosophy was simple. Be nice, have fun, and try to live life like it's a permanent vacation. Don't worry about what other people think. It's gotten me in a spot of bother more than once but as Vonnegut wrote, "so it goes." I just started reading a book an athlete sent me. It's called the 4 Hour Work Week. The premise of the author is that you don't have to buy into the traditional lifestyle of work-work-retire. This guy is clearly a lot smarter than I am. But as you might surmise I'm already on this road and doing my best to break Bri out of the office as well. This sort of lifestyle philosophy is not for everybody. There's a lot of stress involved with breaking the chain on the traditional mold and seeking an alternate path. People may call you names and deride your reputation. False friends and lovers might abandon you. If you launch your ship into the void you will definitely find out who your real friends are. You need to consider the effect your actions will have on those close to you and what the real financial ramifications of your actions are. But if you stay true and keep yourself open to ideas, things, knowledge, and valuable experience, you may just find that pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow. You may fall into opportunities that others can't see. Who would have thought I'd wind up being able to create a business out of being a triathlon coach?? That's totally f-ing crazy, right? I saw what some other folks were doing and thought to myself, if they can do it, why can't I? That's true across the board. Repeat that one with me. If they can do it, why can't I? What's stopping any of us from doing what we want? Smarts? Money? Time? Approval? Keep reading them smart people blogs and who knows what you might absorb. I tried to buy into the traditional lifestyle for a few years. It's a comfortable trap. A cage with silk lining. You wake up one day and ten years have passed you by. Where do you want to be in ten years? Maybe it's time to step back and ask yourself, what do you really want to do with your life?

The correct answer is selling books about breaking out of the traditional lifestyle, of course. ;). I'm writing this in my pajamas at 3:30 on Friday afternoon. Where are you right now?

Tomorrow I'll go back to complaining about being isolated. Maybe I'm just making noise to keep you interested. Who really knows.

Jan 11 - Results from weekly survey #5:

Have a nice weekend!

Jan 10 - I'm going to start working a couple half-day shifts per week at Inside Out Sports here in Cary. Been trying to figure out some strategies to combat the oppressive sense of isolation I've been experiencing working at home lately. Going to the coffee shop is nice but you can only chat with the barrista so long. It was fine when Bri was around to entertain me but she's out of the house most of the day. Tassie is great but we've exhausted our conversational abilities. I didn't like being locked down in a cubicle doing work I didn't enjoy. Now I'm fine with my self-employed work but have something else to complain about. I'm probably just one of these people that is never satisfied. Maybe I should start breaking out the gin and juice during the workday. I've thought about getting an Xbox but that might lead to too much distraction. I watch very little TV so that's a non-issue. Right now for my breaks from scheduling/email/research I wander around the house and talk to the walls. Christ.

Jan 8 - Getting ready to tackle the 9 mile Little River Trail Run up here in North Kackalacky or whatever y'all call it. Not much else to report. I rebalanced our retirement portfolios. Which means I took 5 dollars out of Bri's piggy bank and put it in Tassie's bone donation fund.

Jan 5 - Not a whole bunch going on here lately. I did a 4.5 hour ride today in 40 degree weather. Amazing how many layers of clothing a person can put on for something like that. It's not terrible once you get going but cold nonetheless. Who invented words like nonetheless anyway? why shouldn't they be separate words? None the less. Nonetheless. Semantics. Anyway. I'm training for Arizona in a few weeks. This week my volume was up to 4 hours swimming, 7 cycling, and 4 or so running. It'll keep going up. And up. And up!

I'm going to start working on pulling my articles into a book format and then expanding it into something publishable. Hope to have that done by the end of the summer of 2008. Then Bri and I can go sailing away set an open course for the virgin sea i've got to be free free to face the life that's ahead of me on board im the captain so climb aboard we'll search for tomorrow on every shore and ill try oh lord ill try to carry on come sail away come sail away come sail away with me yah come sail away come sail away come sail away with me yah i look to the sea reflections in the waves spark my memories some happy some sad i think of childhood friends and the dreams we had we lived happily forever so the story goes but somehow we missed out on that pot of gold but well try the best that we can to carry on.

There you go, stream of consciousness writing and all the ensuing plagairism.

Jan 4 - Weekly survey #4 results:

1. The best thing I've done in life is:
27.6% - Had kids I adore
27.6% - Nothing major, just random acts of kindness
17.2% - Helped a loved one through a tough time
17.2% - Got married to my love

2. My favorite music is:
42% - Classic rock
24% - Country
7% - Girl Power! and Whalesong Sh!t like Enya
write ins - 80s baby, hiphip (2), Pop, Trance/Dance, Freewheel on rolling country roads

3. If Tim is traveling from NYC to Philadelphia at 60MPH in a car and leaves at 4pm, and John is traveling from Philadelphia to NYC at 75 MPH on a train and leaves at 5pm, they will:
45% - Never see each other, stupid
42% - I always hated these friggin' questions
7% - Both die in a horribly violent head on collision.
3.5% - Cause space and time to implode at their point of crossing

4. Patience is:
38% - A trait I lack
28% - Blah blah blah Zen Master Flash! Show me the money!
14% - A trait I exhibit too much of sometime
10% TIE - A virtue, AND a commodity I don't have time to afford

5. I think Marty is:
37% - Harmless and entertaining
25% - Smarter than your average bear
17% - A happy idiot
8% - Well adjusted
Write ins - The best coach evah!, a thoughtful husband, multi-layered, crazy 4 bri, going through shoot em up withdrawal, a brilliant handsome successful man! (thanks mom)

Thanks for playing, have a nice weekend!

Jan 1 - Happy New Year! What's going on. Hi how are you. Great nice to see you. Wonderful. Great! That's nice to hear. How super. Fantastic. You don't say? I can't believe it. Wowie! Hoopidy doo! Yippee kai yay! Hee dog. Wowie. Oh boy oh boy. It's gonna be a good one. Yippedy doo. Yay! Happy New Year!