Dancing with disaster

With the upcoming presidential election I got to thinking this morning about what I would do if I were elected President of the United States. Or maybe king of the world. While lying in bed this morning, I thought up a list of rules that I think would make our world a better place. Here are some suggestions I have for a better world:

• No internet

• No smartphones, smartwatches, or any other “smart” devices

• Bring back manners

• No pollution

• All restricted to two flights per year

• Wave/Solar power made success

• No large corporation companies, only family or employee owned

• No death penalty

• Legalize voluntary euthanasia, maybe try something like ethical suicide parlors as they had in Vonnegut’s Monkey House

• Melt the guns

• Organic only produce

• No political advertisements

• Politicians are selected at random like jury service for one year only

• Stop all the wokeness. I'm not saying we should discriminate against anyone or be noninclusive. Everybody deserves and needs to be treated with love and kindness. I believe in equality. However, I think we've gone too far with things like the "Black Lives Matter" movement and "Pride" month. This is doing more harm than good.

• No transgender boys (biologically born males) allowed in girls' sports

• No drugs or blood doping in athletics

• Stop cancelling road races for silly reasons (TCM 2023)

• All prisoners will work for community

• No burning books- I recently finished reading Fahrenheit 451 and now I’m paranoid

• All pay taxes

• A garden is compulsory

• Graffitists will have the same image sprayed in their house

• No boss will earn more than 10 times as much as lowest paid employee

• Remove smoking bans in all pubs, clubs, and restaurants

• Speed limit 25 mph

• One car per family

• Better yet, get rid of all automobiles and motorized vehicles

In short, I think we should just go back to the bronze age. Keep things primitive.

Go tell your stale friends

Go tell false prophets and drug traffickers

Not to try to push our bodies any faster

We’re dancing with disaster

And the first will be the last

It’s nearly Africa

Heck, I wouldn’t mind it if we completely did away with the whole timing system. Can you imagine that? Think about it. Just think about it. We could all wake up when the sun rises and go to bed when the sun sets. Nobody would be late to anything. Runners wouldn’t worry about hitting a certain time mark. We would just race for the pure fun of racing. Or as Prefontaine put it “to see who has the most guts”. This would eliminate so much stress. Nobody would know what time it is. Nobody would even care.

I really do think the world was a better place before the whole technology boom took off. It has gone too far already and it’s only going to get worse. There is something Jean Shepherd said back in September 1972 that captures the essence of this quite well:

*The hectic pace of modern life, the age of the emerging Machine, of rampant Automation, of mind-boggling space shots, of brain-numbing traffic jams, not only takes its toll of us, the hapless human beings who created the monster of Technology but also those simple innocents who have the bad luck to inhabit a planet also populated by Man. We are in the midst of a giant struggle that goes on day and night all over the world. One day the battle will be over, the machines will have won, and few will remember the early days when the victims were falling.

Also, here is a “Straw In The Wind” and Shep’s comments:

FORT WORTH, TEXAS  (AP)  The telephone rang as Mrs. F. A. Farnum was vacuuming her canary’s cage.  She wheeled to pick up the phone and—whoosh—up the vacuum cleaner nozzle went Joey Boy with one desperate “cheep!”  Mrs. Farnum jerked the bag open, grabbed out her canary and desperately shook off a little dust.  Joey Boy was still unrecognizable, so she put him under the faucet.  Then, to be sure the bird didn’t catch cold, she put him under her electric hair dryer.  “He hasn’t been singing since then,” Mrs. Farnum said, “he just sits hunched over and stares a lot.  But he’s eating well.”

Ah, how like us all, hunched over sitting, staring. But eating well. Not much singing but a lot of staring.

I’m feeling a bit like Joey Boy right now. Sitting hunched over, staring. I have a cold- the sore throat and a runny nose. The only thing that seems to make it feel any better is ice cream. I have been eating copious amounts of ice cream to soothe my throat. It helps for a little while, then my throat hurts again, so I eat more ice cream. It’s a maddening cycle.

I didn’t do any running today. The last time I went an entire day without running was over four months ago, in the days following Grandma’s Marathon. That might be a new record streak. Not that I care. The reason I run is because I enjoy it. It is a fun thing to do. Running isn’t any fun when you’re sick. Nothing’s any fun when you’re sick. The weather outside is gorgeous, but I can’t even enjoy it.

Seaquake by morning

Says QUAKE-TV

Rogue wave comes high

And it breaks all over me

They may fix

The weather in the world

Just like Mr. Gore said

But tell me what’s to be done

Lord - ‘bout the weather in my head? 

A wave of futility has suddenly swept over me. I am feeling very futile right now. Nothing that I’ve said really matters. I was born and it doesn’t matter and then I die. I really am just a leaf blowing in the wind. So much of my life is controlled by things I have no input in. I sometimes think I have input, but I’m only fooling myself.

In some ways, futility can be a good thing. Because sometimes I overthink and try to over-manage everything. It would be better if I just relaxed and let life take me along. I’d probably end up in a very similar place, without continuously punching myself in the face. So I think futility can play an important role in life.

By the way, if anybody’s wondering, I’m voting Jordan for President.

Not that it really matters.

A little boy asked me should he put his vote upon the left

A little boy asked me should he put his vote upon the right

I said it really doesn’t matter where you put your vote

Someone else will come along and move it

And it’s always been the same

It’s just a complicated game   

                                    Complicated Game:

* Shepherd, J. (1972). The Ferrari in the Bedroom. Dodd, Mead & Company.

Sun, Oct 20-Sat, Oct 26

Sun Oct 20: AM. Ran 60 mins on the Capital City Trail and Yahara Riverway Trail, played a round of disc golf with Leonard at Cap Springs, then ran 40 mins back on the Capital City Trail. It was sunny and in the 50s. PM. Ran 45 min on the Monona Lake loop route to Frost Woods Beach, kayaked in Lake Monona for an hour, then ran 40 mins around the rest of the lake. It was sunny and in the 70s.

Mon Oct 21: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was dark and 59°. PM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail at 9 PM. Shift was scheduled to end at 6. F*%k. I would've gone further—legs felt good—but want to get at least a few hours of sleep tonight.

Tues Oct 22: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was dark and 58°. PM. A 40 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was dark and around 60°.

Wed Oct 23: AM. Ran about 4 miles with the pastry club + a couple extra with Jonah over residential streets and paths. It was dark and in the upper 50s. PM. A 65 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and in the 50s.

Thurs Oct 24: AM. Ran about 25 mins over city streets and on the SW Path to the Edgewood track, did 3x1600m (5:38, 5:38, 5:34), then ran back in ~20 mins. The sun was rising over clear skies, temp in the low 30s. PM. In Deerfield, A 35 min on-shift run around the ambulance station and in the DF business park. It was dark and in the mid 50s.

Fri Oct 25: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp around 50°. PM. A 40 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was dark and 46°.

Sat Oct 26: AM. Ran 20 mins on city streets and the SW Path to the track, did 6x800m (2:41, 2:41, 2:40, 2:40, 2:41, 2:41), then ran 40 mins on the Wingra Creek Path and Capital City Trail. It was sunny and 35°. PM. A 40 min run over residential streets and on the Capital City Trail. It was mostly sunny and in the mid 50s.

Sun, Oct 13-Sat, Oct 19

Sun Oct 13: AM. In Marshfield, A 78 min run over residential streets, on the bike path, over trails in the arboretum, and in Wildwood Park. It was rainy and in the low 40s.

Mon Oct 14: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail. Right calf is tight. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp of 42°.

Tues Oct 15: AM. A 45 min run over residential and city streets and on the SW Path. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp of 36°.

Wed Oct 16: AM. Ran 5+ miles with the pastry club on residential and city streets and on the SW Path. It was sunny and in the low 30s. AM2 On the track, ran 20,000m in 1:20:00 (6:28, 6:28, 6:28, 6:29, 6:30, 6:21, 6:24, 6:21, 6:20, 6:20, 6:19, 6:18, 3:09), ran a loop around Lake Wingra in 45 mins, then ran 10,000m on the track in 37:20 (5:59, 5:58, 5:57, 5:59, 5:59, 5:58, 88). Running total ~40k in ~2 hours 44 mins. Felt pretty good until the last couple miles. It was sunny with a temp in the upper 30s at the start and low 50s by the end.

Thurs Oct 17: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp around 40°. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was dark and around 60°.

Fri Oct 18: AM. A 67 min run on the Capital City Trail, the Wingra Creek Path, and SW Path. The sun was rising over clear skies, temp in the mid 40s.

Sat Oct 19: AM. An 80 min run over trails in the Mendota Lakeshore Nature Preserve. It was sunny and around 50°.

Sun, Oct 6-Sat, Oct 12

Sun Oct 6: AM. In Palmyra (or Eagle, WI?), A 2 hour 15 min run over trails in the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It was sunny and around 60°.

Mon Oct 7: AM. A 78 min run on the Capital City Trail and on the SW Path. Nice out- the sun was rising over clear skies, little wind and around 40°.

Tues Oct 8: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny and 43°. PM. In Deerfield, ran 20 mins worth of loops around the station at end of shift. The sun was setting over clear skies with a temp of 60°.

Wed Oct 9: AM. Ran 4+ miles with the pastry club over residential streets. It was sunny and in the low 40s. PM. On the track, did 5x400m (68, 67, 68, 68, 67). It was sunny and in the 60s. PM2 A 52 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and around 60°.

Thurs Oct 10: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny and 41°.

Fri Oct 11: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was dark and 57°. PM. A 33 min on-shift run doing loops around the ambulance station. It was partly sunny and around 70°.

Sat Oct 12: AM. In Amherst for the River Run 5 mile, won it in 27:46 (~5:33/mi). The race was pretty much a time trial— I led from the start and just turned on the cruise-control. Felt strong. Weather was good. Mostly cloudy with a temp around 50°.

Night Thoughts

Falling into the void

I am lying here flat out in the sack. It’s about two, maybe three o'clock in the morning although I don’t really know what time it is. But I’m lying here flat out and for some reason or another I have regained consciousness. I have crawled out of that void, dragging my knees over the wall until finally I’m peeking into the sunlight of consciousness. But I’m lying here flat out and it’s maybe two or three o'clock in the morning and I’ve got a wad of cotton in my mouth and my throat is dry and I’m just lying here flat. Without thinking I slowly ease the covers back, but it’s kind of cold. It’s not exactly cold, it’s more of just a chill in the room. I feel around with my feet looking for my slippers until finally I get them on. I don’t want to turn the light on because when I turn the light on that is officially saying I’m awake, I’m officially up. I drag my way to the door, out into the hall and finally I find the john. I’m looking for a glass of water. I turn the faucet on. I don’t want to run it too long to make it cold or anything, I just turn it on and I start rinsing my mouth and yaghgaghhh—it’s brackish, warm even. I turn it a little more. Still warm. I drink. I feel a little better. I’m slowly coming even more to the edge of that bright sunlight of consciousness. I drag myself back into the room. I start to ease back into the sack and I hear a rustling sound outside in the street. Kind of a strange rustling sound. Now there’s plenty of traffic out on this street so I don’t really pay much attention to it. I ease myself into the sack and I lie there flat. But still I hear that rustling—sshhsshshh—a kind of rustling sound that doesn’t sound like a car, it doesn’t sound like tires or anything really. It’s just a rustling sound. I get out finally and I go to the window. The Venetian blinds are half open. I peer out the window and at first the street is dark. Nothing. I don’t see anything there. I sort of turn to go back to bed but something catches my eye. My eyes are beginning to focus. There’s a dark mass moving along the street there. A dark mass… (What is that?) And I look closer. I’m fully awake now. And I see that the dark mass looks like a long snake. It’s kind of crawling along in the street. It’s going from right to left. A long snake undulating, moving. Slithering. I look closer and I see that it’s a mass of humanity moving almost in utter silence. They are moving down towards the end of the block. I look down there and I see where the line is ending. One by one they are climbing into a manhole. Huh. Thousands of them. They’re wearing bathing suits. Old men, young boys, elderly women, young girls, kids, chicks. Nobody is saying anything to anybody else. And they all appear to be carrying luggage bags of some kind. Weekend travel cases? They are climbing into the manhole down there at the end of the block. I look down the other way and I can see that there is an endless line of them jostling towards me. They’re coming from the east, they’re moving west. Countless people. I look out across the street. There are no other lights lit. Nobody. I’m the only one. Well… (What’s going on??)

Fifteen minutes later I am putting on my swim trunks. I am packing a suitcase.

Twenty-five minutes later I am climbing down into a manhole. Ha ha ha ha ha! You’re not going to leave me alone! They’re not going to leave me alone! Part of the gang! I’m in with the in-crowd! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Ohhh but it’s cold in here. With just my swim trunks on. And they’re all around me. Thousands, maybe millions of them.

Fifteen minutes later I am slowly dragging myself to consciousness again and then I’m slowly falling back into the void. What a relief.

John Lennon - Whatever gets you thru the night (Happy birthday John!)

Sun, Sept 29-Sat, Oct 5

Sun Sept 29: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was sunny and around 60°. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and in the upper 70s.

Mon Sept 30: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny and in the low 50s.

Tues Oct 1: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny, windy and in the 50s.

Wed Oct 2: AM. Ran 3+ miles with the pastry club over residential streets. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp in the 40s. AM2 On the track, did 4x3200m (12:00, 12:00, 11:54, 11:54). It was sunny and in the 50s. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was sunny and 70°.

Thurs Oct 3: AM. An 80 min run around Lake Monona. The sun was rising over clear skies with a temp of 54°.

Fri Oct 4: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was cloudy and in the 50s. PM. In Deerfield, A 78 min run on the Glacial-Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and in the 60s. Put a hole in the tire of the ambulance at work. There were no other rigs available and the tire wouldn’t be able to get fixed until tomorrow morning. So got out a few hours early- yippee!

Sat Oct 5: AM. On the MGHS track, did an 800, 800, 1600, 800, 800, 1600 (2:48, 2:47, 5:26, 2:49, 2:48, 5:27). It was partly sunny, windy and in the mid 50s. PM. A 60 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and in the upper 70s.

A leaf in the wind

I am sitting here on a bench in front of Lake Mendota watching the waves crash into the shore. It is very windy today. Leaves are blowing all around me.

Life has been crazy and hectic and there’s about 20 million things that have been eating at me, really bugging me lately. Everything is out of control right now and I feel like there isn’t a thing I can do to fix any of my problems. I will spare you the details. Sitting here watching the waves and the leaves and just listening to the wind howl seems to help put my mind at ease. Relax. Forget about life for a little while.

Maybe I’ll write a poem. Yes, that sounds like a good idea. What kind of poem shall I write?

Hmmmmmm…

How about a haiku. It’s been a while since I’ve written one of those. And haikus are easy. Only seventeen syllables. Five in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third line.

Okay. Let me think.

Ummmm…

Uhhh…

Okay. I think I got one.

Here I go…

Leaves blow in the wind

Sometimes that’s all I feel like

A leaf in the wind 

   

There. Not great, but not half bad. And hey I really do feel like a leaf. Some days I am a tall, strong immovable pine tree. Nothing can get me down. But not today. Today I am a puny, weightless leaf. Let the wind carry me.