Approaching Goal #1

In 8 days I will be checking off goal #1 for 2012, that being to run the Cap City Half Marathon.  I already know that it will not be a record pace by any stretch of the imagination, but I do plan to finish.  Really, what choice do I have?  Once I get out there on the road I've got to get back to my car somehow right?  Now in reality, there is a van that follows the race and picks up those who are unable to finish, but I think I'll be able to finish.  A couple of weeks ago I did my longest of my long training runs, logging 10 miles on the treadmill.  I was slow, but I did get in the 10 miles.  I've been walking a lot lately to try and keep my legs loose, while not doing too much running that might beat up on my knees.  Today I'll head to the store and see about getting a new pair of running shoes that I can break in between now and next week.   Although I've got several pair of running shoes at home, they are all a couple of years old and don't think they'd serve me real well on a run this long.

One of the advantages of running is that, even though you're out there with a lot of other people, you're also out there on your own with your own thoughts.  I have a playlist set up on my iPod used specifically for running that helps me keep the pace I want to keep and helps me take my mind off of the things going on around me.

I ran this event 2 years ago and remember cramping up at about mile #8.  On my 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago I also started cramping at about the 9 mile mark.  That's the worst part, because when my legs start cramping up they tend to cramp when I run, and I'm forced to walk in order to keep the muscles stretched.  As soon as I start to run...the muscles start to cramp, and there's really nothing more you can do at that point.  I tried stopping and stretching, drinking more powerade, whatever I could, but no matter what I tried, as soon as I started running, the muscles started cramping.

I'll do my best to hydrate properly and fuel properly during the run.  My "worst case scenario" goal is simply to finish regardless of the time.  My "next to worst case scenario goal" is to finish in no longer than 3:16:30.  And then the ultimate goal would be to finish in 3:09:57 or better.

My ultimate goal would actually be my slowest half marathon time.  But, considering it's been two years since I ran my last half marathon, I'm just looking at accomplishing the goal of running this event and finishing.  It will be nice to be out there on the road again, pushing myself beyond the normal 5K run.  Then it'll be time to head home and soak my legs in an ice bath and relax the rest of the day.

In October I'll run my next half-marathon.  As of right now, the goal would be to finish that in 2:51:18 or better.

Visit From Beyond

When it comes to ghosts and visits from "beyond the grave", I keep an openly skeptical mind.  I've heard people, who claim to be able to talk to people who have passed on, say that when someone comes to you in a dream it is not just a dream, but that person's way of really communicating with you.  Last night I had such a dream and feeling was so realistic.

I was driving through Cumberland (where my grandparents used to live) and drove up the alley behind my grandparents' old house.  The "current residents" were in the backyard and I got out of my car to talk to them.  Suddenly I noticed that my grandfather was standing outside the back door of the house.  He looked great...dressed pretty casually and looked the way I remembered him looking at the youngest I ever actually knew him.  He had a huge smile on his face.  In the dream I can remember realizing that the other people there knew my grandfather was there, but didn't seem surprised that someone who passed away over 10 years ago was standing there.  But they did seem very intent on making sure I knew that they had a Smart TV...

My grandfather walked over and started talking to me, first asking me how I was doing.  But my grandfather had a way of asking it..."How do?"  With the emphasis on "do" and that's the way he said it in the dream.  That's part of what made the feeling for me so real.  That was something I hadn't heard my grandfather say in so long, even long before he passed.  The emotions I felt were so strong that it actually woke me up. 

I laid in bed thinking about the dream for a while and the feeling of contentment was still there.  Then, all of a sudden I involuntarily took a deep breath, like my air had been taken from me for a split second.  After that the feeling was gone.  I wasn't sad or depressed by any means, but that content feelling I had wasn't there anymore either.  I fell back asleep and thus ended that visit. 

Believe what you want, but for this instance I'll choose to believe that grandpa stopped by last night to say hi.

RIP Capt. Nicholas Rozanski

Most, if not all, of you who are reading this heard about the recent deaths of four members of the Ohio National Guard who were killed in action in Afghanistan.  One of those, Capt. Nicholas Rozanski, is a resident of Dublin, OH.  His father, a former Mayor of Dublin, and his brother, are both employees of the City of Dublin.  Tomorrow Capt. Rozanski will be laid to rest at the Dublin Community Cemetery in downtown Dublin.  The funeral procession is expected to be large and two lanes of the main street going through downtown Dublin will be turned in to a parking lot for cars in the procession.  In addition, shuttles will be run from a local shopping center parking lot to the cemetery. 

The funeral procession will be large and will cause significant traffic delays in downtown Dublin.  As a city and a police department we are trying to get the word out through phone calls, press releases, our city website and social media, so that we can do our best to minimize the inconvenience this will cause.  

I'll be working in the dispatch center for the Dublin Police Dept. while all this is going on.  A few years back I was working when we had a similar funeral procession.  That was for a Columbus Police Officer and Dublin resident who was killed in the line of duty.  The procession for that funeral was huge.  Even shutting down part of the street and using it as a parking area was not nearly enough room to handle all of the police cruisers that took part. 
Probably the most disturbing part of that day, and something I hope doesn't happen tomorrow, was when someone called to complain about the funeral procession.  The procession was huge and happening at the time of day it did, I took a call from an employee at a local business.  He was upset because he couldn't get to the Bob Evans Restaurant on Post Rd. for lunch that day.  I suggested that he go south to Tuttle Crossing Blvd. where there were several other restaurants (including another Bob Evans).  He made the comment that, "I realize this guy died, but the rest of us still need to go on with our lives and it's frustrating when you can't get to lunch."  I reminded him that he could get to lunch at any number of restaurants on Tuttle Crossing, and that it's also "frustrating" when a police officer is killed in the line of duty.  At that point I think the man realized that calling a police department to complain about the police funeral keeping him from one restaurant was probably NOT going to get him the response he was hoping for. 
We're not going to stop the procession so that you can get to that restaurant, just like we wouldn't stop any other funeral procession to get you to where you want to go to lunch. 

Please keep the family of Capt. Nicholas Rozanski in your prayers.  If you happen to be travelling through Dublin tomorrow, and get caught up in traffic because of his funeral, please keep this in mind...you will eventually get to your destination, your life will go on...and it will continue on because of people like Capt. Rozanski and the other men and women who have died in service to you.

National Telecommunicators Week

Well, we're nearing the end of National Telecommunicators Week.  For those of you who didn't know that this week was National Telecommunicators Week....this week was National Telecommunicators Week.  This is the week when the recognition is given to public safety telecommunicators.

I, once again, had the opportunity to attend the Ohio APCO/NENA Gold Star Luncheon.  This is held every  year during National Telecommunicators Week to recognize dispatchers from across the state of Ohio for the work that they have done during the previous year.  2011 had a few stories of dispatchers who worked behind the scenes to do things that were an invaluable amount of assistance to the responders on the road and saved lives.

The Muskingum county dispatchers and the dispatchers from the Cambridge post of the State Highway Patrol who were working that evening in October when the wild animals were turned loose in Zanesville were honored for the way they handled the situation.

This year's "Dispatcher of the Year" no doubt saved the life of her caller when the caller became stranded in high water.  The caller was ready to give up.  She was resigning herself to that fact that she was going to die. She was cold and wet and, at one point wanted to hang up with the dispatcher so she could call her family and say good-bye.  If the dispatcher hadn't kept her on the phone, hadn't reassured her that help was going to get to her, hadn't told the caller that she WOULD hang in there, there is no doubt in my mind that the caller would have given up, laid down on the roof of her car, gone to sleep in the near freezing temps. and never wake up.

Dispatchers may not be the ones on the scene, and more often than not it's the responders that do the actual "hands-on" work when it comes to the life saving.  But sometimes, and more often than you'd realize, the dispatchers save some lives.

I teach a basic dispatching course a couple of times a year, and I always tell the students, people very rarely ever call us to tell us they're having a good day.  When a person has a situation that requires them to call and talk to us, it's usually not a positive situation for them.  It's easy to remember the responders, they're the face you see when you have a problem...but don't forget that there are those people involved whose face you'll never see...the voice on the phone.

Modern Media Reports on the Crucifixian of Jesus

Dateline Jerusalem

Things Change - Sometimes

I started reading a book yesterday that I had gotten as a Christmas present when I was a kid.  The book, titled Buckeye is about the Ohio State Football Coach at the time, Woody Hayes and the Ohio State Football program.  I'm only a few chapters in to the book at this point, but some things struck me.

The first thing I noticed was how much things change.  I got book as a Christmas present in 1977 and it had been written a few years before that.  It spoke about how important it was to Coach Hayes that his players got their college degrees.  He would keep on his players about their grades and would keep hounding his former players who had left the university without a degree.  Impressing on them the importance of getting "that sheepskin".  It doesn't seem to be that way anymore.  College coaches don't seem to be as concerned about making sure that their players get a good education.  Maybe that's just from my perspective, but that seems to be secondary nowadays, even though the incentive a University gives a player to come play at their school is to offer them a free education.

Another thing I noticed was how much the cost of football has gone up in the years since this book was written.  This came to light in part due to the part about Woody wanting to make sure his players get their degrees.  The book spoke of John Brockington who was a former Ohio State football player and was playing professional football for the Green Bay Packers.  The author pointed out that he didn't feel it was so important for Brockington to have a degree because he was making over $100,000 as one of the NFL's best running backs. $100,000????  REALLY???  Can you imagine a professional football player, especially one of the best in his position, making $100,000 today?  The book also spoke about Coach Hayes' salary.  Low, even for those times, for someone as successful has he was at that size school.  But far lower than I would have ever imagined.  At the time the book was written, Woody Hayes, one of best known coaches in college football at a program whose attendance at games was one of the highest in the country, was making $28,000 a year.  Can you imagine that today?  $28,000 a year as the head coach of a college football program the size and scope of Ohio State.

Even adjusted for inflation, those numbers are low.  John Brockington's $100,000 a year would be equal to just over $485,000 today.  Now sit back and think if one of the top running backs in the NFL were making $485,000 a year.  I'm thinking the cost of tickets and concessions at NFL stadiums would be much less expensive.  And Woody's $28,000 in 1973 would be $135,845 today.  Can you imagine the coach of Ohio State football being paid $135,845?  And Woody also pulled double duty as a physical education professor during his time at Ohio State.  Urban Meyer was hired this year by The Ohio State University for $4,000,000 a year!  So, adjusted for inflation, he is being paid nearly 30 times what Woody Hayes was making.

The thing I've noticed about what hasn't changed in 40 years is that the media still writes the story with their own slant to it.  Woody Hayes did not like the media.  He had been burned by the media a few times and was very suspicious of them.  He had learned that the media would twist words and edit comments so that, while technically accurate, conveyed the message the media wanted them to convey instead of what they were actually meant to convey.  A good recent example of this is the situation we've been hearing about in Florida.  The tragic shooting of 17 year old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.  I'm not about to defend George Zimmerman, but as time has gone on I've learned that some of what has led to the outrage in this case is the way the media portrayed Zimmerman.  They played portions of a 911 call Zimmerman made to police that night, including a comment made by Zimmerman saying, "he looks black".  Now most people listening to that assumed that Zimmerman was coming to the conclusion that Martin was up to no good simply because he was black.  It was a natural assumption to make, why else would Zimmerman just say, "he looks black" unless we was racist.  But the problem was in the editing.  The reason Zimmerman said, "he looks black" was because the dispatcher asked Zimmerman, "What's the guy look like?  Is he white, black, hispanic..?" to which Zimmerman replied, "he looks black".  That puts a whole new twist on the conversation.  That doesn't mean that Zimmerman is completely guilty, but because the press called Zimmerman's comments "racially charged" there is an uproar.  There is no other reason that we know of that this incident may have been racially motivated other than the misleading editing by the media.  Now, any investigation done and any conclusions made from those investigations will be suspect.  If Zimmerman is not charged it will be a racial thing.  If he is charged, it will be to avoid the appearance of a racial thing.  A true, fair investigation is almost impossible.

So even back in 1973 the media was doing less true reporting of the news, and more trying to sensationalize issues for ratings, buyers, etc.  I learned that lesson myself about 22 years ago.

Mork, Mindy, and Memories

Last night I was flipping through the channels on TV and came across the TV show Mork & Mindy.  But it wasn't just ANY episode, it was the PILOT episode of the show.  For those old enough to remember, Mork & Mindy was a spin off of Happy Days starring a young, relatively unknown comedian by the name of Robin Williams.

For those of you who are asking, "What is Happy Days?"...stop reading now...I don't like you very much...LOL

Have fun watching

Mark 11: 22-25

²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mark 11:12-19

O n the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.   Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.   Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."   Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God."

Mark 11:1-11

W hen they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany,  near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.