Yesterday was a quick 3 mile run, not much to report there.
Today was the long run of the week, in this case 1 mile shorter than last week: 7 miles. It was actually a very nice run. There was a light drizzle, clouds, and only a minor breeze. Probably about 60 degrees. A little rain never bothers me and the break from the heat was nice. Speaking of heat, DC tied the record for most days over 90 degrees: 67. Doesn't look like we will have anymore, but it is insane that over 1/6 days in 2010 will have been over 90 degrees. And people still doubt climate change...
2010-09-26
2010-09-23
Retail Healthcare at the MinuteClinic
Today I have my first experience with a Convenient Care Clinic (CCC). In this case, it was the MinuteClinic which are operated in many CVS stores. My specific healthcare need was getting a flu shot. Several weeks ago, I got a tetanus shot (also offered at MinuteClinic) at my doctor's office. There were a lot of differences...
Doctor's office:
Called to make an appointment
Was in waiting room for 10 minutes
Waited in exam room for 10 minutes
Talked with doctor about nothing important for 5 minutes
Nurse gave injection
Was incorrectly charged by doctor for visit, due to their error. Had to spend 20 minutes on phone with insurance company to reverse charge.
MinuteClinic:
No need to make appointment
Filled out information on computer, waited about 5 minutes
Nurse practitioner took some basic information and gave shot. Total time 5 minutes
Correctly determined that I have no co-pay, so I walked out without spending a dime
As you can see, for getting a simple vaccine, a CCC is probably a better option for most. This particular brand, the largest in the US, also offers a lot of other services. For example, they will treat coughs, earaches, flu-like symptoms, sore throat, allergies, minor burns, sprains,wounds, poison ivy, etc. I am actually quite surprised of the breadth of services they offer. And they are "in network" for almost every insurance carrier.
Maybe centers like this are one way to control healthcare costs, or at least provide an affordable option. The little room was cleaner than my doctor's office too, which I found interesting. They also used electronic records, something most physicians fear.
Doctor's office:
Called to make an appointment
Was in waiting room for 10 minutes
Waited in exam room for 10 minutes
Talked with doctor about nothing important for 5 minutes
Nurse gave injection
Was incorrectly charged by doctor for visit, due to their error. Had to spend 20 minutes on phone with insurance company to reverse charge.
MinuteClinic:
No need to make appointment
Filled out information on computer, waited about 5 minutes
Nurse practitioner took some basic information and gave shot. Total time 5 minutes
Correctly determined that I have no co-pay, so I walked out without spending a dime
As you can see, for getting a simple vaccine, a CCC is probably a better option for most. This particular brand, the largest in the US, also offers a lot of other services. For example, they will treat coughs, earaches, flu-like symptoms, sore throat, allergies, minor burns, sprains,wounds, poison ivy, etc. I am actually quite surprised of the breadth of services they offer. And they are "in network" for almost every insurance carrier.
Maybe centers like this are one way to control healthcare costs, or at least provide an affordable option. The little room was cleaner than my doctor's office too, which I found interesting. They also used electronic records, something most physicians fear.
2010-09-21
Half Marathon Training end of week 4 and into week 5
Week 4 ended with a 3 miler on Saturday (easy) and an 8 miler on Sunday (not too hard either). The weather was near perfect for both runs, which helped.
Week 5 started today with 6 hill intervals. I ran up a hill that is about .1 miles 6 times at a relatively quick pace. It was a bit cold this morning, about 48. In shorts and t-shirt it took a good 15 min to feel warm.
Week 5 started today with 6 hill intervals. I ran up a hill that is about .1 miles 6 times at a relatively quick pace. It was a bit cold this morning, about 48. In shorts and t-shirt it took a good 15 min to feel warm.
2010-09-16
Half Marathon Training: Week 4 and Glad I Got that Headlamp!
I'm already three days into Week 4 of training. Here is a summary.
Tuesday - This was a "long hill interval" workout. I found a hill that is about .3 miles. I ran up and down it 4 times. On the way up, I was at a 7:30 pace, while down was just a light jog. This was a lot tougher than I thought, I'm still feeling this in my hamstrings.
Wednesday - An easy 3 mile workout, though after Tuesday it was a bit harder than normal, nothing interesting to report.
Thursday - Today wasn't too tough, except someone got a little too close to me in a car. I was in a crosswalk, and since it wasn't 6AM yet the lights were blinking red. Meaning that cars have to stop. This person stopped, but as I was right in front of them with a blinking strobe light on my head, they started moving again! She was only going about 5 mph, but did slam on her brakes and the tires screeched a bit. She was still a good 10 feet away. I think she was close to crying. I just took off. I'm just glad I had that strobe, but then again, I was pretty much out of the way.
Tuesday - This was a "long hill interval" workout. I found a hill that is about .3 miles. I ran up and down it 4 times. On the way up, I was at a 7:30 pace, while down was just a light jog. This was a lot tougher than I thought, I'm still feeling this in my hamstrings.
Wednesday - An easy 3 mile workout, though after Tuesday it was a bit harder than normal, nothing interesting to report.
Thursday - Today wasn't too tough, except someone got a little too close to me in a car. I was in a crosswalk, and since it wasn't 6AM yet the lights were blinking red. Meaning that cars have to stop. This person stopped, but as I was right in front of them with a blinking strobe light on my head, they started moving again! She was only going about 5 mph, but did slam on her brakes and the tires screeched a bit. She was still a good 10 feet away. I think she was close to crying. I just took off. I'm just glad I had that strobe, but then again, I was pretty much out of the way.
2010-09-15
Explorations of Detroit
4 videos on my hometown. Quite interesting, and somewhat inspiring/hopeful.
http://www.palladiumboots.com/explorations
http://www.palladiumboots.com/explorations
2010-09-14
Burqa Ban Moves Forward in France
France has moved forward with its burqa ban. Today the French Senate overwhelmingly voted for the legislation, which will impose fines on women who cover their faces. Headscarves are not covered by this ban.
This is one issue in which I myself am divided. While I respect the freedom of a person to practice their religion, I am against the public display of religious symbols. I don't think the ten commandments should be posted in public. Now, you may argue that this is an individual and not a government. I agree in that case, and that is the only reason I somewhat support someone's rights to wear a burqa.
That being said, I am more for cultural assimilation than anything else. And the burqa is definitely not that. Neither is someone who goes decked out in any ethnic garb. For example. if someone wanted to wear nothing but a loin cloth on a subway, because that is their culture, they would likely be arrested. You have to draw the line somewhere. I am not against headscarves, but burqas go a bit too far. Do they cross the line? Maybe.
This is one issue in which I myself am divided. While I respect the freedom of a person to practice their religion, I am against the public display of religious symbols. I don't think the ten commandments should be posted in public. Now, you may argue that this is an individual and not a government. I agree in that case, and that is the only reason I somewhat support someone's rights to wear a burqa.
That being said, I am more for cultural assimilation than anything else. And the burqa is definitely not that. Neither is someone who goes decked out in any ethnic garb. For example. if someone wanted to wear nothing but a loin cloth on a subway, because that is their culture, they would likely be arrested. You have to draw the line somewhere. I am not against headscarves, but burqas go a bit too far. Do they cross the line? Maybe.
2010-09-12
Half Marathon Training Week 3 Days 4 and 5
Yesterday I had a quick 3 mile run. Not much to report with it, it was not too tough and I took a route I hadn't taken in the past; all sidewalk.
Today was a 6 mile "long run." I put it like that because I've run 8-10 miles in the past without problems. The interesting part today was about 1 mile into the run. I was running on a sidewalk when a late 90's Ford Escort passed me, with a lot of smoke coming from its tailpipe. About 5 minutes later I saw the car make a u-turn and speed up quickly, leaving even more smoke in its wake. So much smoke that I couldn't see the road in front of me. It made me cough a lot.
About 15 minutes later I was on another road, and guess who came by me? Just as I was thinking, "where's the cops when you need them?" I heard sirens and the guy was pulled over. I waved to the cop and yelled "thank you", pointing at my chest. I'm not sure if he understood but he waved back.
Today was a 6 mile "long run." I put it like that because I've run 8-10 miles in the past without problems. The interesting part today was about 1 mile into the run. I was running on a sidewalk when a late 90's Ford Escort passed me, with a lot of smoke coming from its tailpipe. About 5 minutes later I saw the car make a u-turn and speed up quickly, leaving even more smoke in its wake. So much smoke that I couldn't see the road in front of me. It made me cough a lot.
About 15 minutes later I was on another road, and guess who came by me? Just as I was thinking, "where's the cops when you need them?" I heard sirens and the guy was pulled over. I waved to the cop and yelled "thank you", pointing at my chest. I'm not sure if he understood but he waved back.
2010-09-11
2010-09-10
30 in 30
Just watched an interesting video on cnn.com about 2 guys who visited 30 mosques in 30 days during Ramadan. Quite glad to hear that they found rural America to be very accepting. They even stopped at a Confederate souvenir shop without any problems.
Here is their main website and blog.
Here is their main website and blog.
Book Burning: Churches vs. Government
A tale of two books and of two circumstances. Both due to fear of books.
A nutjob pastor in Florida wants to burn the Koran. While I'm not a fan of any religion, I would equate this to burning a flag. Protected speech? Definitely. Stupid? Absolutely. This action is not going to make people like us. Supposedly the pasta doesn't want the Muslim version of a YMCA to be built in NYC.
That's a separate issue, but something I need to discuss there. This is not a "ground zero Mosque". It is literally like a YMMA. It even has Jewish and Christian people on its management board.
One book burning deserves another right? Enter the Pentagon. One of our soldiers who fought in Afghanistan has published a book, which supposedly has attracted the ire of the CIA and others. They are now trying to buy the 10,000 copies of the book already printed and destroy them. Too bad for them, copies of the book were already distributed for advance reviews, and some of them are even on eBay. I would also argue that his book is protected speech.
At the end of the day, what we can learn from this lesson is that people who want to burn or destroy books are probably not good people. I would go so far as to call a book burner an asshole. And as we can see, there are assholes both in the church and in the government. Thankfully we have separation of church and state.
A nutjob pastor in Florida wants to burn the Koran. While I'm not a fan of any religion, I would equate this to burning a flag. Protected speech? Definitely. Stupid? Absolutely. This action is not going to make people like us. Supposedly the pasta doesn't want the Muslim version of a YMCA to be built in NYC.
That's a separate issue, but something I need to discuss there. This is not a "ground zero Mosque". It is literally like a YMMA. It even has Jewish and Christian people on its management board.
One book burning deserves another right? Enter the Pentagon. One of our soldiers who fought in Afghanistan has published a book, which supposedly has attracted the ire of the CIA and others. They are now trying to buy the 10,000 copies of the book already printed and destroy them. Too bad for them, copies of the book were already distributed for advance reviews, and some of them are even on eBay. I would also argue that his book is protected speech.
At the end of the day, what we can learn from this lesson is that people who want to burn or destroy books are probably not good people. I would go so far as to call a book burner an asshole. And as we can see, there are assholes both in the church and in the government. Thankfully we have separation of church and state.
Half Marathon Training: Week 3 days 2 and 3
Wednesday was an interesting day. I went for a 5 miler at 5:30AM. It was quite dark near the courthouse/jail and I somehow managed to trip on an uneven sidewalk. No injuries other than a small bruise, but got me thinking that I better get a light. I was able to complete the run, despite falling. After much searching and going to REI in person, I settled on the Petzl Tikka Plus 2 (green one). Buying from REI is always a no brainer, since they allow returns forever, for any reason.
I tried out my new headlamp on Thursday, for a 3 mile run. It works well, no problems.
Today was an off day, but there will be 2 runs this weekend.
I tried out my new headlamp on Thursday, for a 3 mile run. It works well, no problems.
Today was an off day, but there will be 2 runs this weekend.
2010-09-08
Private Roads vs GOP
Frank Wolf is a republican . He is blasting a road that was privately built, is privately owned, and privately managed:
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=2130
This is ridiculous. William Redpath definitely has the clear head in this article. He points out the fact that drivers have a choice. If they want the convenience of a fast path to and from home, pay. If the tolls were lowered, more people would use it, and it wouldn't benefit anyone.
This is ridiculous. William Redpath definitely has the clear head in this article. He points out the fact that drivers have a choice. If they want the convenience of a fast path to and from home, pay. If the tolls were lowered, more people would use it, and it wouldn't benefit anyone.
2010-09-07
Half Marathon Training Week 3 Day 1
Today's workout involved hill repeats. I ran about 1 mile to a hill near me, and then proceeded to run up and down the hill a total of 5 times (5 up and 5 down). Each direction was about .1 miles, or 200 yards. In summary, I ran a mile up and down the hill. This was also done at my current 5k pace, which is about 7:45 so it was pretty tough. I then ran at a slower speed back to my house to end the workout for a total of 3 miles.
Taking photographs of airplanes is terrorist activity?
I often go to a public park in Arlington, VA called Gravelly Point. It is just across the river from DC, and it is about 500 feet from the National Airport (DCA) runway. I've taken many visitors there, since it is a great place to watch planes land; they are only a few hundred feet above your head and you can even feel their jet engines. Most people I know like to take photos of the planes behind when they pass. Apparently, this is terrorist activity.
Thus begins the governments war on photographers... What the fuck does taking a photo of an airplane have to do with aviation security?
Thus begins the governments war on photographers... What the fuck does taking a photo of an airplane have to do with aviation security?
2010-09-06
Half Marathon Training Week 2 wrap up
Today was the long run for week 2, a total of 7 miles. This distance is not too challenging for me, especially considering the weather. It was about 72 with a light breeze. The only thing that would have made it better would be clouds. I finished the run in just under 70 minutes, so I was a bit faster than a 10 minute per mile pace. On Saturday I had run 3 miles, so a total of 10 over the past two days, and a total of 21 for the week.
On Tuesday I will be starting week 3, which begins with hills.
On Tuesday I will be starting week 3, which begins with hills.
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