January Running

This chart shows my running workouts (with distances) for January 2011. This is courtesy of NikePlus.com with special thanks to Apple Corporation for providing an iPod Nano which is capable of tallying my miles. You can see the five days in January where I was feeling under the weather. You can also see that I ran 58 miles in the month of January. Damn proud. :-)

P.S. - You can also see the day (Jan 29) where my iPod died in the middle of my workout and turned my 5k in half-a-mile. :-(

So really, 60 miles in January. And really, I ran a 5k on January 2nd without the NikePlus (forgot the sensor at home that day). Really and truly... 63 miles in January. :-)

Winter Sickness

Literally, winter causes reduced immune systems or increased disease attack power. I ran a fever of 102°F last Thursday and I felt extremely tired. Now I am healthy enough to run 5 kilometers again, which is good.

And while we're on the subject, I am also sick of all the snow we've been getting this winter. Bring on the spring!

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Pictures from the Storm

Attached please find some photos I took during Wednesday's snow storm. One overlooks Broadway in Cambridge. One is the Charles River in Watertown. The other three are a Watertown Square snow covered tree, bike, and store.

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Testing Image Upload 2

I took these photographs with my phone and this new blogger application gives me the ability to automatically upload and link to these photos with a simple interface. This is the second test because reposting the first test keeps crashing the App. Lesson learned is to take photos the normal landscape formatted way for uploading.

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NFL Playoff Seedings

The 7-9 Seahawks are the NFCs Fourth Seed the playoffs that begin next week. They will host a game against the 11-5 Saints.

NFL playoff seeding format under scrutiny again, thanks to Seahawks
by Don Banks

> How much should a team be rewarded for a
> division championship in a weak division?

How about the reverse question...
Why should teams in tough divisions get penalized?

There are always one or two divisions in the league that are flat-out better than the rest. In years past the Jets and Patriots have made the AFC East a challenging division. The Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys have a tendency to create stiff competition in the NFC East.

1. This year half of the Giants six loses came within their own division, and they aren't a playoff team.
2. The Giants were 7-3 against the rest of the league.
3. As opposed to the playoff Seahawks, who went 3-7 when playing out-of-division games.
4. The #2 seeded Bears are only 6-4 outside of their own division.

I'd suggest the following two rules:

1. No team with a losing record inside their division should ever be allowed to play in the playoffs. In other words, you can't lose 4 games in your division and finish 12-4 and make the playoffs, but winning 3 games in your division and finishing 13-3 would be good enough to get you into the playoffs.

2. No team with a losing record out of their division should ever be allowed to play in the playoffs. In other words, you can't win 6 division games and finish 10-6 and make the playoffs, teams should be forced to put up at least 5 out-of-division wins to be playoff bound.

This would make a record of 3-3 in-division and 5-5 out-of-division the bare-minimum for playoff teams. This would ensure that another 7-9 team will never again make the playoffs.

Also, continue to give the Byes to the two best division winners, but reshuffle the remaining four playoff teams.

Short Thoughts

Brett Favre is finally retired from football.
Dick Clark needs to retire from New Year's Eve.

Run/Walking for 45 minutes is a great exercise.
Someday I'll do 5 miles instead of 3 miles in that time.

Out with the old, in with the even older.
I rejoined my previous gym today.

Washington D.C. is a fun place to visit.
I don't think I'd enjoy living there, though.

I want to visit Chicago for a few days.
I think a jaunt to Nova Scotia to Toronto would be fun.

I helped my brother get an A- in an essay class.
He wrote four or five essays about racism.

My mom discovered my online "profile" page today.
I am pretty sure that means my Wikipedia user page.

The Democrats are losing their majority in the House.
Nothing will change until they lose the Senate and President.

I wrote a book with a built-in welfare economy.
I envy and fear a world where nobody needs to work.

In general, I think there is a part of myself in every charater I write.
I wonder if this is true for other authors.

I think children raised in a loving, supportive home turn out okay.
I'm curious how many kids raised in bad environments also do well.

Music is a wonderful invention and it's great that
A small box on my kitchen table can fill my house with it.

Digital music is pretty awesome, too.
Especially when it is consistently tagged and organized.

Being organized in general is a good thing.
It isn't worth stressing-out about, though.

And last but certainly not least:
The greatest good anybody can do is helping underpriveleged kids.
That's why Penny Arcade is so awesome for inventing Child's Play.

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Child's Play 2010

The annual Child's Play donation that I do with Matt, Shu, Jen, Ida, and Chris was completed a few weeks ago. The donation from 2008 is here and the one from 2009 is here. Here's the haul from 2010:

Child and Family Support - Hartford, CT
Order Grand Total: $310.05

DVD Purchases:
The Rescuers - $16.49
Robin Hood (Most Wanted Edition) - $18.49
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - $14.99
Dora the Explorer - Dora and The Three Little Pigs - $15.49
Monsters vs. Aliens / B.O.B.'s Big Break in Monster 3D - $10.49

Video Game Purchases:
Xbox 360 Controller - $28.96
Madden NFL 10 - $50.00
MySims Agents - $40.00
SpongeBob's Truth or Square - $36.99

Hardcover Book:
The Octonauts & the Frown Fish - $11.48

Baby Product:
Baby Einstein Bendy Ball - $18.49

Misc Electronics:
Two (2) Sony Mdr-222Kd/Blk Childrens Headphones (Black) - $13.98

Misc Toy:
Melissa & Doug Animal Stamp Set - $9.74

Jen and I gave enough to get the children the DVDs, the Hardcover Book, and the Stamp Set.