So...

It's Halloween. I thought it would be appropriate to watch Michael Jackson's video, Thriller. After that I watched the Dirty Diana video. It made me remember the days when Michael Jackson was normal. Or more normal. Will we really ever know what goes on in that mind of his? Will we ever know why he became such a peculiar and odd duck?

Lodge Cast Iron has a new dutch oven out there on the market. It's called Lodge Enamel. It's Lodge cast iron dutch ovens with a coat of porcelain enamel. They look very nice. I've been wanting a dutch oven without the legs to use in the house--the legs on the "camp" models tend to be a nuisance with the oven rack. Wal-mart in Pleasant Grove has the red enamel 6 qt. in stock. The Orem Wal-mart has the regular non-enamel 5 qt dutch ovens in stock. the enamel dutch oven is $20 more than the non-enamel.

Watch

I want a nice watch. I've never really had a "nice" watch, mostly because I've never felt I could justify spending more than $50 on one--the exception being my Garmin Forerunner. But for a while now I've been wanting a nice watch. Like a Victorinox. Or a Seiko. I know, I know. Those aren't the really nice watch brands like Tag Heuer or Rolex. I don't have that kind of money, nor do I need that kind of bling. Two hundred bucks, to me, is pushing it. A $212 Seiko titanium watch is about as far as I could ever imagine going.

Still, it's all a pipe dream. I can't afford a $20 Casio from the local Wal-Mart right now...

Saltines

I'm sitting at my computer desk eating saltines and drinking a Dr. Thunder and listening to Billy Idol. Probably not the best combination for a guy with another migraine. I've been on a roll too lately with the migraines. I've had more in the past few weeks than I have in the last couple of years it seems.

My knew knife

I just got it today. Kinda pretty, ain't it? Yup.

But it ain't the one I lost. And it never will be. My pocket will forever have an empty space in it for my old Stars and Stripes. Woe is me.

Something in the back of my head is telling me that the lost one will turn up here in the next little while now that I've got the new one.

Actually, that's not true. Something in the back of my head hopes that it will turn up, but the fact that I've nearly turned this place upside down twice looking for it tells me the chances of it "turning up" are next to nil. Dog-gone-it!

My hands smell like cast iron. I cooked chicken, ribs, and cheesy potatoes in my dutch ovens for the folks in my dept. today. Good times. Good food.

Here's a pic of the old knife, just in case you see it somewhere. Grab it for me.

You'll notice in the pictures here that the lower knife is much more rounded and has a smoother appearance than the upper one. Oh well. No use crying over spilled milk. But I think I will anyways.

Super Chafe!

OK, so I ran the St. George Marathon back on the 4th in the rain. Yeah, the rain. It rained for the hour and a half I was at the start before the horn sounded and it rained for the full 26.2 miles of the race.

And you know what?

Not a bit of chafing.

Zero.

Zip.

Nil.

But when I get home and go out for my first run, a week and a half later in the cool and dry weather, what should occur? Some serious and painful chafing.

I've been packing Aquaphor or A&D ointment with me all day.

And even then it hurts to walk.

It looks as though Jerry will be heading to Baltimore on Sunday for a job opportunity he'll have in Georgia. He'll be in Baltimore for 2 to 4 weeks and then he'll go straight to GA where his family will meet up with him at some point. I'm sad to see them go, but I understand the reasons why and support their decision.

Anyways, Jerry and I decided today was the day to get in a bike ride before he left. We drove up to the top of the Alpine Loop and jumped on the Ridge Line Trail and then down to Tibble Fork. It was a beautiful day to ride--the aspen leaves are a golden yellow. The temperature was just about perfect and the trail couldn't have been better--a little mud but very little dust. Near perfect!

No wipe outs either.

I did, however, ride with my platform peddles rather than my Crank Bros. I thought the freedom from being clipped in would be a good thing, and to some extent it was; but there's a reason they developed peddles that hold on to the shoes. I think I'll put my Smarty's back on and call it a lesson learned.

Breakfast Saturday morning will be the final family get together before Jerry heads back east.

Resignation

I'm not exactly happy about it, but I think I'm becoming more and more resigned to the fact that this country is going to be led by Barack Obama. It scares the bejeebers out of me, but I don't know what I can do about it. Truthfully, in my opinion, the alternative, which is my preferred alternative, probably wouldn't be a whole lot better.

And still no pocket knife.

Ouch

Looking in my car for my long lost pocket knife. I took out the front seat. Hurt my leg. I'm an idiot. No, I didn't find the pocket knife.

St. George Marathon

6:45 a.m. tomorrow morning and the gun will sound in Pine Valley, UT. Like lemmings (minus the cliff), we'll trot down the road towards St. George, hopefully arriving in under 4 hours.

3 hours and 20 minutes would be awesome, but I doubt it'll happen.

It'd take a miracle.

Anyways, I'm just about packed and ready to go. I'm wondering if I should wear my Boston Red Sox hat during the run...

A tale of sadness and loss

I noticed it had come up missing about a week or so ago but I assumed it was where it always has been when it turned up missing.

Only this time it wasn't.

I don't know where it's gone off to this time.

And I'm surprisingly distraught over it. I don't know when I've been so sorrowful over the loss of something like this.

Never probably.

For some reason, over the years, I have assigned great personal value to this item. And now it's gone.

Gone, like Frank Sinatra, like Elvis and his mom.

Gone, like Al Pacino's cash, my high school dreams are gone.

I want my pocket knife back!!!