The week that was

The deck project is going along pretty well. Each day it feels like I am not getting enough done, but by days end I am about as far as I expected. Friday finally saw some visual progress - 3/4 of the beams and joists are up, and I should be close to finishing the framing on Monday. On the plus side, it seems my building skills are still intact (no major mistakes or delays). On the negative, my body is not in building shape anymore. I have been pretty much smoked at the end of each day.

I haven't run all week. A combination of being physically smoked and getting home after dark has kept me off the roads. I tried to run yesterday, but knee pain sent me home after only a mile. I strained the knee on Friday climbing up a ladder with a beam. I had forgotten about it until it flared up and sent me walking home. Ice and rest were in order.

The wife and I have joined a gym. She got a pretty decent corporate rate through work. I intend to make use of it a few days a week, maybe more depending on the weather. I will probably be doing some swimming until my knee gets better. Once I am back in one piece, I am going to try one of their spinning classes. I hear they kick your ass in a good way.

I've been in and out of Home Depot picking up materials for the deck. Every morning there are laborers standing around in the parking lot looking for work. This has been true for a few years at the big Seattle location, but now it has become pretty common at all their stores. I assume they are getting some work, or they wouldn't show up every day. Unemployment is pretty low in this area, so I imagine the reason most of them are looking for work in a parking lot is that they are outside the system.

On the drive home the other night, in place of the typical pan-handler was a guy with a full drum set. He was set up at the end of the off-ramp near our house, and had some funky bicycle set up as well. I didn't get much of a look at him as I was pushing to make it through a yellow light. Very odd.

Halloween was pretty much a bust at our house. We didn't do any pumpkin carving or any decoration. The wife picked up some candy on the way home from work that night, and came home with a variety pack of Tootsie Roll products. I joked that we were going to get egged for handing out lame candy. In the end it didn't really matter since the doorbell only rang once, and it was neighbor kids from a couple doors down. Everyone seems to do their trick-or-treating in malls these days.

The wife and I went to see Brandi Carlisle on Friday. It was a great show. She has a pretty amazing voice, and a good stage presence. At one point she and her band went completely unplugged, as in no amplification at all. We were in the cheap seats, but her powerful voice still made it our way. She ended the night with a great rendition of Hallelujah. I had heard her do the song on a live radio show, and she now closes out each show with it. Brilliant! Last night we were back downtown with some friends to have dinner and see Jim Gaffigan. Another fun night.

I watched a recap of the marathon trials yesterday. Ryan Hall blew everyone away and set a trials record as he earned his way to Beijing. Tragically Ryan Shay collapsed at mile 5 and died on the way to the hospital. He had an enlarged heart that helped him in these endurance events, but may be related to his death. The New York Marathon was held this morning, and there is a recap on in a half hour.

There was a good NOVA program on PBS about training 12 non-atheletes to run the Boston Marathon back in April. It had some good medical information about your body as it adapts to the rigors of training. Seeing people succeed and cross that finish line always gets to me too.

And the Huskies finally won!