Maybe the Luddites are Right

I’ve had it with technological advances.

Do bad things come in threes for y’all also?

First our AC and Furnace bit the dust and had to be replaced (they were un-fixable), then the computer in our 15-passenger van died. Which of course meant that van died since evidently nothing can run without a computer these days, and then our dryer was making death noises. It sounded like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now or The Godfather. So we replaced that today. These repair bills are putting a serious dent in my running shoe budget. It's been a heck of a two weeks.

I'm going to have to keep running in my old shoes.


So we as a family are taking drastic measures – not that they know it yet.

I’m quitting my software job and moving out to the country and becoming an organic hemp farmer. I'll be selling the cars and vans and buying a horse or maybe some llamas. We will be going off the grid. No electricity, phone or running water. Sure the boys might start smelling worse than a donkey after awhile and the girls will have hairy legs and armpits and zits all over their faces and I’ll never be able to marry them off…but think of all the things we won’t have to worry about breaking.

I got a great price on this baby. A little paint a few throw-pills…



Plus we will get lots of reading, talking and game playing in. We will become a much closer family and our kids SAT scores will go through the roof.

Of course we will have to have an old hound dog for hunting and protection.

But not everything will change with our new lifestyle.

The kids will still get to swim every day.


And they will still have time outs when naughty.


And Sam and I will still be taking that cruise for our anniversary


I'll be starting a betting pool on how long it takes the teenagers to Go Postal without text messaging.

This post was written on my laptop using a wireless Internet connection while listening to my IPOD. If you will excuse me I need to go answer my cell phone, make an espresso and see what is on cable tonight – the high def channels on our wide screen TV are awesome.

Today's Workouts

First Brick workout of the year. A brick is 2 workouts back-to-back or stacked like bricks.

21 miles cycling and then 5 miles running with my new training buddy Bryan.

An Inconvenient Hypocrite

NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.

In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household.

HAHAHAHA – as soon as I can stop laughing – HAHAHAHAHA – I’ll comment – HAHAHAHA

Ok, I feel better now. Oh wait a minute – HAHAHAHA – Ok now I’m done, I promise.

Holy kilowatts! It sure takes a lot of electricity to invent the Internet.

I so love people going around (in Al’s case flying around in a Lear Jet or Gulfstream – that’s much better for the environment than flying commercial) telling others how to live their lives.

From the moralizing Rush ‘drug addict’ Limbaugh to Bill ‘gambling addict’ Bennett to the latest ‘family values’ politician to be caught with his pants down, this just keep getting funnier and funnier – or is it sadder and sadder?

My family of 13 uses way less electricity than Mr. Gore and we rarely fly, heck I can hardly spell Gulfstream.

So Al, buy a regular size home (or at least a smaller mansion) and fly coach and you just might save a penguin.

Al buddy old pal to help you out I’m going leave my new expensive air conditioner off for a few days…that should balance things out.

Yo Brother Al - Matthew 7: 3-5

Today's Workouts

4.3 mile easy run at lunch.

New Speed vs Old Speed

A mini movie review.

Last week I took Joey (10), Robert (8) and Dominic (6) to see the new Speed Racer movie.


The old original Speed Racer shows were my favorite cartoon growing up. I would run home from elementary school every day to watch it on tv.


They were already familiar with the Speed Racer shows since I bought a set of DVD's of the old TV show a few years ago.

The boys loved it but they would watch a test pattern on TV. I was a little worried that the 2 hours and 15 minute running time of the movie would be too much for Dominic, but he was fine. The movie held his attention.

The movie is very pro family and marriage. The Racer family goes out of it's way to help one another. And lying actually has consequences and people apologize for it.

And Racer X is still the coolest race car driver ever.

Visually it's very very colorful. Like watching a NASCAR race on LSD. The Wachowski Brothers have too much computing power at their disposal.

Why it is rated PG: for intense comic race action and fight scenes (that might be too much for little kids), a dozen or so minor swear words, one instance of someone giving half a peace sign and 1 unfortunate use of Jesus' name in vain.

Daddy Poopy

So this afternoon Cecilia (2) says she has to go potty. This is a big deal since she is just getting the hang of this potty training thing.

I run her to the potty and she goes. When she’s done she gets off the pot and says “daddy poopy and baby poopy” and points into the toilet.

Sure enough there was a big one and a little one in the toilet. (no I did not take pictures)

I guess it’s ok if she compares me to pooh if it helps with the potty training.

Today's Workouts

Went to the track for an 8 mile run:

2 mile warm up
5 mile tempo run with a goal pace of 7:40
splits were:
7:39
7:38
7:36
7:38
7:36
1 mile cool down

What is that Haunting Aroma?

I love coffee. I mean I Really love coffee. I'm sure I drink too much of it (like that is possible). But I just keep reading the studies that say it's good for you and ignore the ones that say it's bad for you. It's a system I try to use with anything in life. Sun gives you vitamin D, red meat has lots of protein and iron, tobacco counts as a vegetable etc...

Other than Sam, coffee is the only 'vice' I have ;). Vice in the best sense of the word. I don't drink, smoke, gamble, do drugs etc...Having a well made cup of coffee or espresso is one of life's simple pleasures. And my coffee is simple; just coffee. No cream, sugar, fake sugars, spices or anything else to interfere with the flavor of the coffee. Just good coffee beans that are freshly ground right before brewing.

My most important rules regarding coffee are: DEATH BEFORE DECAF!!! and LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO DRINK CHEAP COFFEE!!!

Two places where I buy quality coffee from:

This one I just discovered.

Mystic Monk Coffee

They are Carmelite Monks. They live in a solitary monastery under the Rocky Mountains in northern Wyoming, the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming seek to perpetuate the charism of the Blessed Virgin Mary, living the Marian life as prescribed by the primitive Carmelite Rule and the ancient monastic observance. This new monastery of contemplative monks lives a life of faithful orthodoxy to the Magisterium, where joy and peace abound in a manly, agrarian way of life. The Carmelite Monks wear the Holy Habit faithfully, which includes the brown Carmelite scapular and white mantle of our Lady of Mount Carmel. These young Roman Catholic monks live a full, reverent, and traditional Carmelite liturgical life, with the Divine Office and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being prayed in Latin with Gregorian Chant.


Selling coffee is how they support themselves. So if you imbibe in coffee check out their selections. I like the Mystic Monk Blend and Breakfast Blend personally. Whole bean of course. Those are the two I've tried so far.

The other place is Coffee Fool

I've been ordering from them for about a year now. My two favorites are their Dark Italian Roast and Velvet Hammer (another Italian Roast). Tip - you can never go wrong with something Italian.
They have many other coffees and I've personally tried around a dozen of them. All have been good to great.
They cost a little less than the good Monks but they don't have a monastery to support...as far as I know.

For all you women and The Donk, both places also sell those flavored frou-frou coffees too. Ladies sorry to include you with The Donk.


My normal routine is to grind just enough beans to make the amount of coffee I can drink before it goes stale. If I’m in a real hurry I use my single serving K-Cup coffee maker. It also makes teas and hot chocolate. Which is why I bought it. No one else in my house drink's coffee - shocking I know. But Sam and the kids like teas and hot chocolate. My next step is to buy a French Press. Then I will feel that my coffee drinking life is complete.


If I’m heading out for the day I’ll make a whole pot and fill up a thermos that I picked out.

From the Steve Martin move The Jerk



How the coffee addiction all began for me.

Today's Workouts

4.3 mile run at lunch time.

Mary’s Plan to End the War

Could a 4 year-old be smarter than the government? (that’s a rhetorical question).

I was hanging around talking to Mary the other morning. Actually you listen to Mary you don’t talk to her. That little sweetie-pie could talk the ears off a jack rabbit.

So she’s talking about everything and nothing all at once. And then she starts talking about her plan to end the war. I didn’t even know she knew about the war.
Mary (4) has a friend her age who we will call Jay. Jay’s dad has been in Iraq since last fall and Mary says Jay misses his dad very much. I’m sure that is true.

Here is her plan:

"I think all the good soldiers (our side) should sneak home at night to see their beloveds (her word – 4 sisters will do that to ya). Then all the bad guys will say ‘hoorah we won’ and take a rest. Then the good guys can sneak back in the morning into the camp of the bad guys and kill them all (she’s a little violent – 6 brothers will do that to ya). Then ‘Jay’s’ dad could come home for good."

Sounds as good as any plan I’ve heard to end this stupid war.

So now who are you going to vote for?

Candidate A


Candidate B

Candidate C


I’d vote for candidate A personally. I’ve had it with lame candidates.
And I refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils. Out of 300 million people in this country, McCain and Obama are the best your dems and reps could come up with? Is this election process as rigged as American Idol? (more rhetorical questions)


Whoa sorry for going all political on you...ok I feel better now...


Important note: this post is in no way directed at anyone serving in the Middle East. I have friends who were over there and ones still there. It's directed at politicians and politically appointed generals

Happy Father's Day

My Father's Day PRESENT from the best kids ever. From Sam's Blog.


Copied below:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY SWEET HEART...I KNOW YOU ARE NOT MY DAD...BUT WITH GOD'S HELP...I HELPED YOU BECOME A DAD!!! YOU ARE MY SOUL MATE AND BEST FRIEND!!! YOU ARE MY BALANCE AND MY REWARD!!! THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME WONDERFUL CHILDREN...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE MOST SARDONIC DAD WE KNOW...




FROM ALEX:
I love my Dad because he works hard at everything he does no matter what. I love my Dad because he is really cool and funny. I love my Dad because he is always honest. I love my Dad because I can talk to him and he always helps me.




FROM JOSHUA:
I love my dad (unlike Alex’s, whose going to college, my Dad because everyone know s you can’t capitalize dad, mom, aunt etc. after a possessive pronoun) because he hit me in the forehead with a baseball and made me dive into wooden stairs at the boardwalk (I still caught it); because he drove me to my five-thousand sports games, because he and Caleb are the only ones who have the same sense of humor; because he calls me hammer-head, nimrod, nail-boy, run-into-a-wire-holding-up-a-tree-boy, doofus, and says I run like a duck; because he invented being really-really-ridiculously-good-looking and I perfected it; I love him even though he’s a “sad strange little man” and I can fix my hair by looking in his bald spot. I love my dad because he didn’t raise me a pagan (though he calls us heathens) and supports my vocation.



FROM CALEB:
I LOVE MY DAD because he is funny and does triathlons and he drives me to all my soccer games!



FROM ELIZABETH:
I LOVE MY DAD BECAUSE HE’S SO GREAT HE ALWAYS PROVIDES FOR US AND HELPS US FIX THINGS THAT WE MESSED UP.
I LOVE YOU DAD!!!





FROM BARBARA:
1. You are insane
2. You are funny
3. You are fun
4. You are stylish
5. You are sardonic
6. You love me
7. You love us
8. You are a really good cook
9. WE all Love you
10.You are perfect for us!!! (me)




FROM JOSEPH:
I LOVE MY DAD BECAUSE HE HAS A COOL LAPTOP, CAMERA, AND PHONE. He also took me to see Speed Racer!




From Robert:
I love you dad because you always tell really, really, funny jokes!!!




FROM DOMINIC:
BECAUSE HE ROCKS! HE IS FUNNY AND HE SPRAYS WIP CREAM IN HIS MOUTH!!!



FROM MARY:
HE DIDN’T BEAT ME FOR WRITING ON THE CAR WITH A ROCK!!!




FROM CECILIA:
BECAUSE HE BLOGS ABOUT ME MORE THAN ANYONE!!!



FROM ERIC:
I LOVE MY DAD BECAUSE HE LOVES MY MOMMY SO MUCH!!!

Today's Workouts

Josh is home from his New Hampshire school for the weekend. He came home for Father's Day and we also went to an ordination to the priesthood this morning (pictures of that to be posted later).

32 miles cycling this morning before the ordination.

Josh and I went for a 3.2 mile run this afternoon. It was very hot out. Here we are pre-run. He's getting too tall. Or maybe I'm shrinking.



Josh and The Sweet Momma

Today's Workouts

4.3 mile run at lunch to loosen up my sore old legs.

600 meters swimming after work.

Finally, Juice Boxes for Adults

Pairs, France - Purists are spluttering over their decanters after a fine wine-maker announced plans for drinkers to take their wine through a straw from small plastic cartons.

The containers, like those used for lunchbox-sized fruit juices, go on sale in supermarkets next month in the latest attempt by the French wine industry to boost consumption among young urbanites


Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Maybe my French visitor can help us out. Have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse been seen on the outskirts of Paris Catherine? Have you seen these things in stores of there? If so, what do people think about them?

I don’t know if this is a good idea or not but it seems like a real easy way to drink a lot of wine fast. Have you ever had a juice box? It’s very easy to suck one of those things down in a few seconds. This could be more fun than playing quarters or thumpers. They better be careful with them.

Sitting down to a nice dinner of Blanquette de veau and then shoving a straw into a juice box doesn’t seem quite as classy as pulling the cork on a nice bottle of Merlot. Does Merlot go with Blanquette de veau? I always get confused with what wine goes with what. You would think as a Catholic with Italian blood in me, I'd know wines better.

I’m not sure why I’m making fun of wine in juice boxes since I used to drink Boones Farm wine in college - hey it was all I could afford. That stuff couldn’t have been put into juice box containers; it would have melted through them. Here’s an old picture of me from college that I dug up.



Just don’t get them mixed up with the kid’s boxes and send some Bordeaux with your kid’s lunch to school. The school administration Nazi’s would probably expel them for life, after drinking your kids wine. It's ok for the schools to drug your kids with Ritalin and Concerta but heaven forbid little Johnny have a taste of vine.

Ron Paul to End Campaign

One of the few politicians I actually liked and would have voted for. Um, actually the other one I can I think of at the moment.

By JIM VERTUNO / Associated Press


Maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will end his campaign Thursday night in a speech near the Texas Republican convention and start a new effort to elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to offices around the country.

Campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said the announcement was "not a disappointment at all. I think this is really exciting."

A announcement at the state GOP meeting in Houston to end the campaign will be a formality, considering Paul won few delegates during the Republican primaries. But he raised large amounts of money online and developed a huge grassroots following.

Today's Workouts

15.5 mile run in the morning
10 miles at long run pace
5 miles at goal marathon pace (8:15)
.5 mile cool down

As Neil Young would say, this run left me feeling:

"...Helpless, helpless, helpless..."

600 meter swim after work

For Men Only

Does this conversation sound familiar?

The Wife: ‘honey can we go out to dinner or a movie sometime?”

The Husband: ‘Why? One of the reasons I got married was so I didn’t have to go out on dates anymore. Dates are big pain in the rear and cost too much. Can't we just watch Ultimate Fighting on TV instead. And yes I’ll go make myself comfortable on the couch for the night’.

It took me years to realize the importance of dating your spouse. Women evidently love that type of thing. I on the other hand thought everyone liked to sit around the house at night and not talk – go figure. I think it's some type of emotional bonding thing that makes them feel closer to their husbands. Whereas all it takes men to get emotionally attached to their spouse is something that comes in one of these bags.


I’ve come to realize that dating your spouse is not optional; it’s a ‘gots to do’. This is especially true for stay at home moms whose only adult conversation comes from talking to the mailman or Amway salesman. Heck Sam rushes out of the house once a month when the guy comes to read the power meter just to get in some talking time. She was driving him so crazy they no longer read the meter and we get free electricity now.

It doesn’t have to be expensive…go for a walk, have dinner at home then go out for coffee and dessert, sit in the car by yourselves and neck like 'white-trash'…I’m sure our wives can come up with a 1000 things they would like to do other than the ONE thing we would like to do. And who knows, do something they like to do and you just might get to do something you like to do.

Try and dress up a bit too. Nothinig fancy but no looking like this dude.

Note to regular readers - this is not a picture of The Donk. The Donk wishes he was that good looking.

It also sets a good example for your children. It shows your sons how they should treat women and it shows your daughters how they should expect to be treated.

So Tuesday I was working from home and me and the Hunny went to the local Italian Grille. Nothing fancy and it only took an hour and cost 20 bucks. But it was an hour of conversation without interruption. No kids asking for a drink or snack, no kids butt's to wipe, no breaking up fights over Happy Meal toys, no yelling at the teenagers to get of the phone and do their chores. Just the two of us hanging out and talking and playing footsie under the table.

Maybe other guys already knew this and I'm just slow. Momma always did say I was special. But I put this out there as Public Service Announcement to my fellow husbands. Because sleeping on the couch is fun once in awhile but does get old after awhile.

I'm not sure why I titled this post 'For Men Only'. I think only women and The Donk read this blog.

Today's Workouts

5.5 mile run at lunch time. Nice temps today. Still warm but not stinking hot and humid.

Black Cinderella

"Black Cinderella, Black Cinderella. I want to watch Black Cinderella"

That was Mary running through the house the other night. It was her turn to pick out a movie. (Mary isn't very politacly correct - she get's it from her mother)



I HATE this version of Cinderella. Not cause it's musical (all though that is reason enough) and not cause it's a 'girlie' movie.

No, I hate it because of the silly political correctness.

The stepmother is White (Bernadette Peters). One of the step daughters is Black and one is White. Cinderella (Brandy) is Black. Ok that’s not to terrible but now we get to the Royal Family.

The King is White, the Queen is Black (Whoopi Goldberg) and the Prince is an Asian dude. Do they think we are stupid? Are they that desperate to seem inclusive that they go to these extreme lengths?

Even my kids think it’s silly. Why not just make one with an all Black Royal Family or an all Asian Royal Family? Heck they could even do an all Donkey Royal Family and I would be ok with that.

Today's Workouts

8 miles total running on the track at the local High School.

1st track workout since last August. Mile intervals today. With a target pace of 7:25 for this first time. I want to work that down to 5 of them at a 7:10 pace.
Todays Workout:
2 mile warm up (i think i was warm by the first lap)
4 X 1 mile with 1/4 mile jog in between. 1.25 mile cool down.
actual mile splits:
7:12 - need to work on pacing
7:20
7:18
7:29 - I knew I'd pay for that first one.

I went around 7am to try and beat some of the heat

Heck She Might As Well Come Live With Us

Woman lives in man’s closet for a year in Japan.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A homeless woman who sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food began disappearing.

Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man's closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.


People seem to be amazed that it took this guy a year to realize someone else was living in his house. I'm not amazed. It could happen easily at our pad.

They should check out our house. I have no idea of the exact number of people that are in my house at any one time. It’s always in flux (that’s my word of the day – it’s fun to have a word).

For example just this past week on Wednesday night Caleb had 2 friends over and Alex had 6 over. Then on Thursday night Caleb had 2 friends spend the night. And this dude from Japan thinks his food disappears? Please! He should see my grocery bill.

Half the time I don’t even know if someone is over. I'll come walking out of my bedroom at night to check on the house and the kids, and people are over hanging out, watching TV etc... It can make it kind of embarrassing when I’m wearing just my underwear – for the other people not me.

And living in the closet undetected is no big deal either. When Caleb was 8 he decided he didn’t like sharing a bedroom with his older brother. So he cleaned out the coat-closet under the stairs. You know the kind, narrow with the sloping ceiling. He put a sleeping bag and pillow in there. He ran an extension cord in there and hooked up a small lamp and a CD player. He put in a little shelf to hold books and CD’s and things.

He lived in there for months until we got him to come out of the closet…so to speak.

Today's Workouts

4.3 mile run at lunch. 90 degrees with a heat index of 95.

600 meters swimming.

A Day in the Life

Of a Dad of 11. Per Jennifer's request.
Actually here is our weekend.
Friday:

5-6am Sam goes to Holy Hour. I'm either asleep or hanging out with the little ones if they wake up before she get home.

7am get up and get ready for work (Tuesday's and Thursday's I work from home), make breakfast and lunch.

7:30 Leave for work

8am get to work.

11am I take my lunch break and go running. I run somewhere between 4.5-5.5 miles. Shower at the office and eat lunch at my desk.

4pm Leave for home. This past Friday I met the family and some friends at the pool to hang out and have dinner.

During the summer when the neighborhood pool is open that is the normal. Meet the family at the pool and swim and eat there or go home after a few hours to eat. When its not summer there are usually sports practices to take kids to.

8pm we headed home from the pool. Spent some time pulling every fan and window a/c unit's out of the attic that we own, since our air conditioner died and it was 95-100 all weekend here (but that's a whole nother post)

9-11pm I watched the a replay of the Men's Semi-Final match at the French Open.

11pm bed

Saturday:

6:30am Got up to get ready to go cycling with friends. We go early to beat the heat and get home before we get more 'heat' from our wives :)

7-9am Biked 42 miles.

10am Sam and the other kids took Joey to his baseball game until around 2pm. I would normally have gone but I had grass to cut at my dad's house.

10:30-12:30pm Cut my dad's grass. 2 acres or so. I'm his yard boy.

12:30-1pm Ran 3 miles in my dad's neighborhood. Then I went in his pool for awhile to cool off.

1:30pm Meet up with Sam and the kids at the house. We then divided and conquered. Sam stayed home with the little ones (nap time) and the older ones who didn't want to go to the pool.

1:30pm I went to the pool with Mary, Dominic and Robert. To get away from the heat at home. The workmen were at the house at 9am until 4pm getting the new unit in.

I stayed at the pool until 6pm. Sam came around then. After the little ones finished napping they all went to a graduation party.

6pm I took 3 of the kids who were hungry back home to grab a bite to eat. We also watched Big Brown lose the Belmont Stakes.

6:30 - We went back to the pool.

7:30pm I went home for good. 10+ hours in the sun and brutal heat were enough.

8:00pm watched a movie and then went to bed

Sunday:

8am Mass for me and 5 of the kids.

9am-11am Watched Nadal destroy Federer in the French Open

Noon Sam and 2 of the boys went to Mass. Robert was signing and Caleb was serving.

1pm met them after Mass for the church picnic. Our church is Sacred Heart and we celebrate the Feast Day on the second Sunday of June.

1-3:30pm sweated it out in the 98 degree heat at the picnic.

3:30 - headed to the pool, got text message from oldest child who was already at pool, that someone had an 'accident' in the pool and it was closed.

3:30 - 6pm went to neighbors house and played in the sprinkler and ordered pizza

6:30 - 9pm opening night of the neighborhood Whiffle Ball season. The kids had a blast

Another One Bites the Dust

On Thursday I decided to try out the air conditioner for the first time this year since a heat and humidity wave were heading this way.

Friday was 90, Saturday 96 and today it's going up to 98 with a heat index of 105. It's hot enough to make a Nun swear. Man I wished I had kept those thongs from the robbery.

Clicked the central air on and nothing, zilch, nada. It was deader than Hilary's campaign.

So on Friday a friend and his business partner who do HVAC came over and confirmed that I had a better chance of being elected Miss America than this old AC unit had of coming back to life. Actually me being elected Miss America isn't that far fetched...have you seen me in a wedding dress?

A whole host of parts were busted on it. It would have cost thousands of dollars (or Euros) to get it running with no guarantee that it would run for long. So we decided to pull the plug on it and get a new unit. We are told the old one was 20-25 years old. Since they were pulling everything out we had them replace the old furnace with a new high efficiency one.

Late Friday afternoon the repair dudes rushed down to the Carrier Dealer and picked up a new AC and Furnace. Then bright and early Saturday morning they were at our house ripping out the old one. I think they felt sorry for us and all the kids. Or were afraid we'd kill each other trying to live in that hot house all weekend. How did people survive the heat before AC? I'm such a wuss. I need my AC.

By 3pm the guys had cold air blowing throughout the house!!!

Well Done Good and Faithful Servant


The Humpty Dumpty of AC Units

Size does matter

The repair guys say I now have the biggest unit in the neighborhood
I wonder how much this sucker is gonna cost to run...

A Boy a Turtle and Some Soup

Dominic with a turtle he found.


And no we didn't make soup out of it, it was too small, we let it go a few hours after finding it.

Today's Workouts

Holy Heat Wave Batman! It's hot out there.

7am 67 kilometers biking

noon 5 kilometer running

4pm 500 meter swim

Dad Can We Start a Punk Rock Band?

The pictures were taken halfway thru having their heads buzzed. Alas they won't be starting a Punk band and becoming famous and making their dad rich.

It's probably for the best. They would burnout after a few years, get tattooed and pierced-up, start getting arrested, have horrible pictures of them show up on the Internet, go to rehab, go through a few celebrity wives each, write a book about their terrible childhood and how their parents - Gasp! - spanked them when they were little, do the rounds on Springer and Montel with all the other freaks of the week and live in a trailer park in Kentucky for the rest of their lives...But a dad can dream can't he? I just hope they don’t become hairdressers.

This Dude Lives Better Than I

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Officials in northeastern Brazil say they confiscated the equivalent of more than $170,000 and two pistols from an imprisoned drug trafficker (Genilson Lins da Silva) whose jail cell was equipped with a plasma TV set, a refrigerator and gym equipment.

I've got about a Buck 3.80 in cash, a 12 inch TV and a bunch of broken water pistols. We do have an old treadmill and TWO refrigerators, so there. Oh, I've also got nicely graffitied van.

This dude was living large. I need to get sent to prison for awhile. 3 squares a day and your own room. It has to be quieter than this house is, even during the prison riots, and there are probably less food fights at supper time.

I wonder if you get to run in the prison yard and if they allow shipments of running shoes on a monthly basis. Assuming that is allowed I think I could do some serious prison time. It's also assumed that I won't become some large bald guy named Bubba's girlfriend - The Donk would be jealous.

I need to get this guy to fix up my cell (work office) for me. The office has 4 empty walls, no windows, 3 plain metal desks and chairs, and I share it with 2 guys from another country whose accents I can't understand. On my desk I have a stapler, a tennis ball, a nose-shaped pencil sharpener and a coffee mug.


As Genilson was dragged off to solitary confinement he was heard singing:

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
Im just a poor boy,I need no sympathy-
Because Im easy come,easy go,
A little high,little low,
Anyway the wind blows,doesnt really matter to me,
To me

Today's Workouts

12.5 miles in some warm (75) and humid weather. Went out early, around 8am, since it's suppose to warm-up to around 90 today. I was a sticky and stinky mess by mile 5. I went through 24 ounces of Gatorade and 24 ounces of water during the run.

When I came home I tested out the central air conditioning since it's supposed to be 96 all weekend. The AC is dead. A repair man is coming to look at it tomorrow but fears the whole unit might need to be replaced. Which wouldn't happen until next week some time.

I could hear the repair man singing on the phone. It sounded kinda like this:

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust

I Promise I've Never Even Been to Colorado

Bandits Rob Gas Station Disguised in Thong Underwear

ARVADA – Police were searching Thursday for two men believed to have robbed a gas station wearing brightly-colored women's thong underwear over their faces.




How could you people even think that was me?! I mean so I'll wear a wedding dress every now and again and so I have a running shoe fetish and so what if one of my bicycles are pink and so the price of gas as soared up. But I'd never ever wear women's underwear - well at least not on my head. I can't believe you people would think I would be that trashy. Besides those are not my colors at all. They clash with my eyes.

I bet their wives turned them in when they saw their underwear on the evening news. I can see it now. You sit down in your trailer to watch the evening news and eat a TV dinner after a long day of asking people if they want fries with their order. And up on the screen pops your old man wearing some of your undergarments. What a proud moment.

On second thought these two losers probably live in their parent’s basements and stole the thongs off a neighbor’s close line. They probably just needed the money to buy Grand Theft Auto IV and are now safely back in their basements.

The real shocking thing about the story is that they are in Colorado not West Virginia. Just kidding West Virginians. We kid cause we love.

Oh and dude, next time cover up that tattoo. It kind of makes it easy for the fuzz to identify you.

And no I'm not jealous that they get to run around with underwear on their heads - we called that Tuesday night at the college I went to.

The only other clue the police have released at this time is that one of the bandits was wearing a Freddy Mercury t-shirt.

Just Because

Either you get it or you don't

Today's Workouts

4.3 sticky sweaty miles.

I’m a Joker, I’m a Smoker, I’m a Midnight Toker...

...I sure don’t want to hurt no one.

Well except for the 12 pounds of ribs and the 4 pound pork roast I slow-cooked in the smoker for 6 hours yesterday. Yeah it’s a good size smoker. Heck a kid or two could smoke in it.

No not this kind of smoking.

This kind of smoking.

The Hunter has become the hunted

We cooked so much because we were expecting to have company over for dinner. But we couldn’t find anyone to play with. You’d think 11 kids fighting and yelling over the dinner table would be a big draw. We have cowards for friends.

I would have invited the Donk but everyone knows pigs and donkeys are distant cousins so it would have been like cannibalism. Plus it’s hard to eat ribs with hooves. And he's probably in his basement listening to his Queen 8-tracks and looking at his Freddy Mercury posters.

I really love your peaches
Want to shake your tree
Stevie Miller

Today's Workouts

7 miles running. Robert (8) came along on his bike.

And y'all will never believe this but Queen's Under Pressure came on my Ipod while running.

Stupid Homeschoolers

Or maybe I should say smart homeschoolers.

Over the weekend Mary (4) decided to practice writing her name. I guess I should be very proud of here. I mean school is out for our family, the pool is open, summer is here, there are lots of other things she could be doing other than school work. It shows real initiative to do school work during the summer.

Here is the problem: she was practicing writing using a sharp rock for a pencil and the side(s) of our van for paper and the other end of the rock for an eraser. This is the van we bought last summer. And while it was used, it was the newest used vehicle we have ever purchased.

I guess you could say she said to the van, We Will Rock You to quote Queen.

Of course being only 4 she didn’t always write/scratch her name correctly. So she had to cross-out some of the attempts and keep trying all across the back of the van and along one side. I guess I should be glad we named her Mary and not ‘Anastasia’ or ‘Bernadette’. I would have needed a bigger van for her to write on.

Sam discovered this on Saturday. Actually Mary came inside and confessed to her. She didn’t really have much choice since she wasn’t smart enough to write one of her siblings’ names. Sam and the little guys were heading to Joey’s baseball game and I was out biking. Sam told her ‘Daddy’s going to beat you’. So Mary spent most of the time at the game whimpering ‘don’t let daddy beat me’. And the other kids spent most of the time saying ‘Daddy’s gonna kill Mary’.

Sam was nice enough to call me and warn me about it so I had a few hours to digest it and cool down. It looks pretty crappy (she needs to work on her handwriting). I’m going to try and buff it out with rubbing compound this week.


Here are a couple of her attempts

Ah I messed up and this stupid eraser doesn't work

There that's much better


Mary is gonna be the girl who you don't want to break-up with.

For the record the little Monet is in one piece but won’t be having dessert for awhile. But has Queen would say, she is Under Pressure

Who Do You Love?

Bo Diddley dead at 79. Rest in Peace Bro.

Today's Workouts

5.5 miles running today. I upped my usual 4.3 miles today. I need to be in top shape when I reach mile 9 of the Annapolis 10-mile race this August. Can't be fading at mile 9. Because when I reach the finish line I want to be able sing Queen's We are the Champions

...But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain't gonna lose...

One Fish Two Fish

Red Fish Blue Fish

Alex (18), Robert (8), Dominic (6) and I went on a fishing trip with my dad and his wife on Sunday.

This was on a chartered boat out on the Chesapeake Bay. My dad takes me and a few of the kids a few times each summer on these trips.

The kids and I left the house around 6am and picked up my dad and his wife and were at the dock by 7.

This is not your father’s fishing trip. You aren’t going out in a little john boat with a cooler of Schaefer beer and some soggy sandwiches from a gas station (not that there is anything wrong with that).

This is on a nicely restored 50 year-old ‘bay boat’. The boat is around 45 feet long and has a galley, bedroom and a head. So no peeing over the side of the boat (ok that’s a negative – but everything else is a plus).

Captain Tillman and his first mate, besides being great fishermen, are also great cooks. When you show up at the dock breakfast is ready. A table for six is set on the deck of the boat and the food is waiting for you. We aren’t talking a box of donuts and cold cereal here. Today's breakfast was eggs, sausage, bacon, scrapple, biscuits, fresh fruit, juice and coffee.

We eat breakfast while the Captain heads the boat out into whatever spot in the Bay he thinks the fish might be hanging out in. We normally fish for Rock Fish (striped bass) and sometimes Blue Fish.

After fishing for a few hours the first mate bakes some chocolate chip cookies and puts out some other snacks.

Lunch is served around noon and today it was: crab cakes, roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob and salad.

The fishing was so–so today. Each of the kids caught one fish. We were able to keep two and threw one back since it was too small.
But the weather was incredible (note the savage tan on me). It was sunny with a nice breeze and got up to a high of 85 today.

Dominic and Robert were surprisingly well behaved. I guess they took the threat of being thrown overboard seriously.

So we will be having fresh fish on the grill tonight.

Das Boat

Morning Chow

How Alex spent a good part of the day

Dominic with his fish

Robert and his fish

Alex woke up long enough to catch the biggest fish of the day

Going under the 2 spans of the Bay Bridge

A cargo ship waiting to go up the Bay to Baltimore and un-load. I hope it's carrying running shoes

The hardy fishermen

I've Got Gas

The price of gas is giving me gas (my honey will try and claim I've always had gas - don't listen to her). I took this picture yesterday while filling up the Suburban.




I guess I need to spend even more time on my bicycle. As a matter of fact I feel another Queen refeerance coming on.

I want to ride my bicycle...

I Must be the Healthiest Person on Earth

Are Beautiful People Also Healthier?

New research, conducted across cultures and species, has found that not only are symmetrical faces regarded as being more attractive, but they may also be indicators of good health and long life.

Symmetrical faces are usually considered to be more attractive. One theory is that the trait is a signal of genetic quality or fertility.

If this is true I may live to be as old as Methuselah.

I really should rename this blog "Humble Catholic Dad". I think that would be much more fitting.