Global sins

From ABC news:

In a newspaper interview, the number two Vatican official in the area of sins and penances says that environmental irresponsibility is one of the new forms of sins we should all be aware of.

He suggested the old seven deadly sins were largely individualistic: lust, wrath, gluttony, sloth, greed, pride, and envy. But in the modern world, modern sins have a much bigger social impact.

"We have shown a constant ability to find new ways to offend God's law," said John Wauk, who is a priest at Opus Dei and literature professor at Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

The New Mortal Sins
1.) genetic modification
2.) carrying out experiments on humans
3.) polluting the environment
4.) causing social injustice
5.) causing poverty
6.) becoming obscenely wealthy
7.) taking drugs

Oil embargo

"Quicky oil-change shops may urge us to change the oil in our vehicles every 3,000 miles. But most cars nowadays don’t need changing that often. In fact, most manufacturers say you can go 7,000 miles without a problem. Ditto for that SUV—unless you really are starring in one of those TV ads and driving it hard and long over dusty roads."

"What difference does it make? Consider this: each year California alone generates about 153 million gallons of used oil. Change less often and it really can save your engine and the planet."

Courtesy of the Green Life from The Sierra Club

Weekly numbers

Better week this time around. I weighed in this morning at 179, down 3.5 for the week and 1.5 overall. Pretty good training this week, and I ate a little better as well. Late night snacks with a cocktail is my weakness at this point. Training numbers were:

Running: 21 miles
Biking: 45 minutes stationary bike
Swimming: 1 mile

Quote of the day

"Runners should listen to their bodies, but not to all of their stray remarks; listen to your body when it repeats a clear point, and never ignore it when it shouts."

Runner's World discussion group

I wouldn't say I've been MISSING work Bob.

I had a brief moment last week where I felt a bit athletic.

On Wednesday I felt odd for not working out. I have finally got back into a rhythm these past few weeks, and Wednesday is one of my two days off. I have never missed working out before. I guess pairing training with trying to lose weight this time around makes me want to be doing something each day.

Bike Expo

I went to the annual bike expo this weekend. The bike expo has many vendors selling bikes, components, nutrition and clothing. Many other booths are there to advertise their bicycle rides and events. Still others are for charitable organizations which have become a big part of cycling and running.

The expo is sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle club. They are also big presence at the show discussing their advocacy efforts and signing up riders for their own events.

I made it out without buying any new gadgets. There were some really good deals on things I would like, but don't really need. I was looking more for information and equipment for triathlons this time around. They had a separate area for triathlon booths this year, but it was still pretty limited.

What really drew me in this year was a good schedule of lectures. Saturday had a lecture about fitting all your training into your busy life. It was paneled by four local successful athletes. The gist was if you are limited on time, make sure all your workouts are structured and focused. Quality over quantity. Also to make sure that the people in your life know how important the training is. It can limit your family time, but you're likely to be more engaged when you return. Quality vs. quantity again.

The next one was an entertaining presentation by Joe Kurmaskie, the "Metal Cowboy". He has written a few books on his biking adventures. He biked across the U.S. with his two boys in tow a few years ago. Then last year he biked across Canada with his wife and now three sons aged 9, 7 and 1 years old. He was an entertaining speaker, and I'm looking forward to reading his books. He has been called Bill Bryson on a bike, which is good enough for me.


The classes Sunday were focused on triathlons. There was a separate lecture on swimming, biking and running. For someone who is too cheap to hire a coach, there is a lot of information out there about how to improve. There are so many different ways to say basically the same thing. You keep coming back to hear it in the way it finally clicks with you. Lucky for Runner's World, Bicycling and the like.

Welcome to the world Sydney Grace!

My new second cousin

Congratulations Jeff and Jessica!

I should clean more often

So I cleaned out my truck today. It was getting pretty ugly. Things weren't quite growing yet, but Spring was on its way.

Ever since I worked in construction, I haven't really taken the time to keep the interior clean. Back then if I bothered to clean it, I was only going to track in dirt and dust the next day. There was also various tools and rain gear in the back seat at all times, so I've become used to a certain level of dirt and clutter. Today after work I pulled out all the junk. Tomorrow - vaccuum.

While I was digging through the crap, I found a gift card from a local bike shop. I had won it last May on commute-to-work day. I threw my name in a hat at one of the support stations that day, and I won a $50 G.C. I had spent about $18 of it a while ago, then forgot all about it. So today I bought these:

They are freddy fenders from Planet Bike. Now if it is raining outside, I have one less excuse. Hopefully with these attached to the bike I won't come home with a dirt skunk-stripe up my backside. As an added bonus, 25% of their profits are donated to bike advocacy groups. Even better, for me they were free.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by the Brooks Outlet store. They carry older model running shoes along with clothing and weather gear. I was hoping that they had last year's Adrenaline GTS 7 at a discount. They had them at about $25 off MSRP.

As I was looking at them, the friendly lady pointed out that they had some with a red #2 on the box. Apparently these were made with a slightly firmer forefoot. She said unless I was an elite runner (I tried not to laugh) I probably wouldn't notice a difference. And these were $55 off MSRP. I resisted the temptation to grab them all. I picked up one pair and will try them out ASAP so I can pick up at least one other pair.

They were also having a buy-one-get-one-free sale on some of their shirts. The shirts were already clearance priced. I ended up getting two running shirts for $10.

It was a very good shopping day.

More observations about white people

Rippin' on marathons from Stuff White People Like.

I don't think I accost too many folks about it. Of course I am looking to do a triathlon this year...

The latest eco accessory

Nokia has created a phone named "Remade" built with 100% recycled materials. The metal casing comes from aluminum cans, the rubber buttons from recycled tires, and the chassis from recycled plastic bottles. It is only a concept phone right now, and much still needs to be done to get the batteries recycled from old phones, but hopefully this is the beginning of lower impact electronics. Article.

Happy Birthday Sean!

$$ leaving on a big jet airliner

Boeing lost out on a bid to provide the Air Force with tanker planes worth $40 billion. They lost to Northrop-Gruman who is teamed with the European company that makes Airbus planes. Naturally in the Seattle area there is an outcry, but many people around the country were surprised/outraged about the decision.

The $40 billion would certainly have provided a boost to the economy, though not likely soon enough to cushion the current downturn/recession. Some of the money will stay in the U.S. as the planes will be assembled in Alabama, though the pieces will be built overseas. To send the contract to a foreign company rankles many people. Why would they do this?

Turns out that of the five deciding criteria, Boeing tied for one but lost out on the other four. In addition: "The reviewers concluded that if they funded the Northrop Grumman proposal they could have 49 superior tankers operating by 2013, whereas if they funded the Boeing proposal, they would have only 19 considerably less capable planes in that year."

This contract was originally going to go to Boeing with out being bid out. This was fought in 2001 by Senator John McCain among others. Now that Boeing has lost, there will likely be an appeal of the decision.

Many people have been outraged at no-bid contests in the past, so the complaints on this one are a bit hollow. To suggest that Boeing should have been given the contract despite a worse bid seems counter to the (justifiable) outrage over pork-barrel politics and bills stuffed with subsidies. I guess you can rail against the $300 hammer, unless of course your town makes the $300 hammer.

According to this editorial (Depressing Karma), Boeing actually blew one of their best chances at winning the contract when they destroyed the tooling for the MD-11 airlifter shortly after they bought McDonald Douglas in the late '90s. Of course the letter writer is in France...

Quote of the day

“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs. “ - Joan Welsh

Freeze!

Here is a link my friend Jim passed along over the weekend. It is pretty funny stunt in Grand Central Station in New York.

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

Weekly numbers

Some forward and backward progress this week. I have managed to gain 2 pounds this week, up to 182.5, but dropped a fat percentage point. Theoretically that means I added some muscle, but I am guessing it is mostly related to the volume of cheese and gin & tonics consumed during Saturday's book club meeting.

I am going to begin listing my training numbers each week, if only to highlight how bad my eating habits must be. Last weeks totals:

Running: 15 miles
Biking: 33 miles
Swimming: 2 miles

After seeing my friend's weight numbers (down 9 pounds last week without trying), I was curious how that happens. I have heard that your weight fluctuates noticeably not only during the week but during each day. As a test I weighed myself last night before going to bed:

10:00pm Sunday night - 185 pounds
7:30am Monday morning - 182.5 pounds.

2.5 pounds lost while sleeping. So if I could just get a few days of sleep...