Today I decided to do something to justify my low resting heart rate! This was a morning that Kelly and I had to ourselves, as the kids were away on their first friends-house sleepover (my mom rightly pointed out that this sleepover wasn’t their first as they’ve stayed with her and my dad before). We awoke before today’s non-stop rain began, put on our jogging gear, and took the dog with us on a path around the neighborhoods. Though I haven’t done any real running in a year or so, I managed to keep up with Kelly and the dog.

Kelly estimates we made it around the 2.5 mile course in about 25 minutes. There were several pit stops for the dog as well as pauses to chat with friends we saw on the way, so its not a definitive time. Regardless, it sure felt good to get out there!

There’s a lot going on around town this weekend, particularly today. We’re heading over soon to Mordecai Historic Park for its first annual “Blast from the Past” day. Re-enactors in period garb will be wandering around the park, leading tours. There’ll be music, kids activities, free tours of the house, and the most popular attraction – free trolley rides around town! As a boardmember at Mordecai, it will be my chance to see what the public thinks of our work.

Today is also the first day of Artsplosure, the city’s annual arts festival. We’ll wander around the downtown streets, checking out all of the art, music, and festivities. It should be a great time, and as long as the weather stays dry it should be an ideal day to see everything.

This afternoon the kids are heading over to their very first sleepover, leaving Kelly and I with our first 24 hours alone in a long while. We plan to head back to Artsplosure to hear Buckwheat Zydeco play at 8 PM. After that we may wander around downtown and take in some of the nightlife. It should be a fun-filled day!

Just spent a moment during a conference call to measure my resting heart rate. It’s 52 beats per minute, which is pretty darn good. I’ve been walking briskly for 20 minutes every morning since we got the dog and think it’s paying off.

Also, my cholesterol is measuring down now, which is great news. The overall numbers are in the normal range, though there’s still room for improvement. Being healthy rules!

Got a bit of sunburn yesterday. We were in Warrenton to surprise Kelly’s mother on her birthday. Kelly’s dad, the kids, and I flew two kites in the wind kicked up by a passing front. The combination of bright May sunshine, a cool breeze, little humidity, and forgetting to apply any sunscreen led to a lobster-like left arm.

Fortunately I had my ballcap on so my shiny dome didn’t cook, too.

It’s been a crazy week for me, to be sure. I spent most all of my free time doing whatever I could to keep a cable TV monopoly from locking out competition. That had me making lists, working the phone, keeping score, and generally making as much noise as I could. So far it seems to have been successful, though my guard isn’t completely down. I still feel compelled to make this go away for good, and that’s what I intend to do.

Then there was the speech I gave last night, and all the time I spent blogging about everything, which is not an insignificant amount of time. Sometimes I catch myself in the middle of a week like this and wonder how I got here. Then I remind myself that life is for living, and if I spent my time sitting around bored I would not be happy.

Now if I can keep myself from working too hard this weekend so that I can actually relax for a change.

Naaaaah!

A few years ago when I got sick of Intuit’s disregard for its TurboTax customers, we opted to file our taxes using H&R Block’s TaxCut software. Ever since I’ve been on an H&R Block email list that I can’t seem to get off of. I’ve followed H&R’s unsubscribe procedures multiple times and even wrote the company a direct email saying ‘knock it off.’ There was no response and still the emails keep coming.

I’ve just called their support number to see if they could help me but so far no go.

I left work a bit early yesterday to check out NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter WP-3D Orion that was visiting RDU Airport. This is the aircraft that NOAA uses to fly right into the heart of hurricanes, measuring the storm and conducting experiments.

When I arrived at the general aviation terminal around 3:45 PM, the line to see the plane was stretched out to the sidewalk. A staff member explained that due to the approaching thunderstorm, tours of the plane had been halted. I waited for a bit on the sidewalk as lightning from the storm zapped ever closer to the airport and buildings. Eventually the staff ushered everyone inside, though the tours were still on hold.
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