Tuesday, December 31, 2019

MPD goal achieved

I managed to hit my unofficial goal of running 365 miles, i.e. one mile per day, with just over a week to spare.  I even got a few extra miles in to account for any mistakes or discrepancies when I switched from DailyMile to Strava.

Month Expected Actual Strava
Jan 31 25 24.8
Feb 28 34 33.7
Mar 31 25 24
April 30 18 18
May 31 38 38.8
June 30 30 30.5
July 31 24 24.2
August 31 39 39.2
Sept 30 29 29
Oct 31 45 45.3
Nov 30 32 32.7
Dec 18 29 29.1
totals 352 368 369.3
average 30.775
left 2 Go 13 -3 -4.3


I'm putting the above in text form instead of a screen capture so that I can cut and paste the numbers if I ever need them.  I'm also backdating this post because I'm not sure what direction I'll take Mysteries of Life in 2020 and maybe ending it in 2019 is the way to go.

At one point, I was 18 miles behind on the goal...but by October 17th I managed to catch up.

It was challenging especially when the trifecta of weather, work and motivation didn't always intersect.  There are days I just cannot get out to run.

The thing about a goal like this is I'm back to being married to a training schedule.  There are days when I have other things that need to be done, especially around the house.  Mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow.

What I've found is that there really is something to doing at least a 2 mile run.  If I'm not feeling it, quitting after 2 miles still knocks out that day and the next for recovery or the previous for makeup.  If I am feeling it, it isn't that hard to push through another mile or two and build up some running equity.

I think for 2020 I'll go with not having a goal.  I'll just run when and if I feel like it and not worry about hitting a mileage goal.

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Monday, December 16, 2019

5 miles to go

With 15 days left in 2019, I have 5 miles left to go on my MPD running goal.  It's amazing since at one time I was at least 18 miles behind where I should have been for the given month.  Luckily I was able to chip away at it once the weather got cooler.

I have four more days to knock out those last five miles before we head South for the holidays.  And if I don't do it by then, I usually manage to get at least one run in down there, though I wanted a little cushion to allow for any mileage miscounts since switching from DailyMile to Strava.

Whether I do those last 5 miles or not, I consider this goal a success.  It was challenging especially when the trifecta of weather, work and motivation didn't always intersect.  There are days I just cannot get out to run. Sometimes I have other smaller projects I need to get done during the span of time that I have daylight and no kids in the way.

And now with having to pick up the kids at 2:45, I have to be sure everything is quiet on the work front.

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Monday, November 25, 2019

MPD November Update

On Sunday, November 24th, I ran the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot, as I often have, on and off, for the last two decades.  I thought I had signed up for the 5K so that I would be done in time for the kids' Drumstick Dash, but evidently, I picked the 10K instead.  I ran it with Na, whose kids stayed with Nightingale and our kids.

Although I ran the 10K distance, Strava claims I did 7.5 so I'm going with that number instead.  There was a lot of walking back and forth to the cars.



Update:  As expected, I didn't run much the rest of November.  I did a run on Tuesday which was harder than it should have been so I decided to give myself the rest of the month off, especially since we had company over the holidays.

According to my stats, I have 25 miles to go with 29 days left (as of Dec 2).  Not a difficult number to achieve baring any unusual activity.  If I just ran 1 mile per day at the track after dropping off Moose and Squirrel to pre-K, I'd certainly put a dent in that 25 and then only need a few miles over Christmas Vacation to put it to bed.

The thing about a goal like this is I'm back to being married to a training schedule.  There are days when I have other things that need to be done, especially around the house.  Mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow.

I think for 2020 I'll go with not having a goal.  I'll just run when and if I feel like it and not worry about hitting a mileage goal. 

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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

What Dreams May Come

A little snow on Halloween
I have three recurring dreams.  I probably have more but I've noticed three in particular that have at
least a recurring theme.

In the first one, I'm back at Big Bucks Law Firm 1.0 and I'm a paralegal, assigned to a case that is just about to go to trial and I have no clue what the case is about.  I have not had this dream in some time, but it used to be more recurring.

In the second one, I'm back at the No-Name Software Company and I'm either back on the phones or watching everyone else back on the phones.  This one still crops up fairly frequently, even though it has been a dozen years since I left.

In the final one, I'm about to run a marathon but I have not trained at all.  In the past, it was a lack of training but real life has seeped in and as my body cannot run more than 5 miles on a good day (after two consecutive weeks of consistent running) now it is because I simply cannot run.   This dream seems to be more frequent.

I'm surprised I don't have any dreams from Big Bucks Law Firm 2.0, Low-Rent Consulting Firm or TopFive.  I guess my time there was too short to make lasting memories.

One last dream/theme that occurs frequently: living in my mom's crapshack and trying to renovate it. 


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Monday, November 4, 2019

First Day of PreSchool

A few weeks ago, we got an email that there was an open pre-school spot for Boris at a nearby public school.  We asked about Natasha and they found one for her too.  This would mean not paying for daycare any longer.  While we hem and haw about where were are going to live, even our most aggressive plans for moving still have us here in the spring.  Which means a substantial saving if this pans out.

 The hours are more strict.  We have to drop them off between 7:30 and 7:45 am and pick them up at 2:45 pm.  With Daycare we could and have dropped them off as late as 8:15, though I generally avoided that if I could.  We could also pick them up as late as 7pm when we first started and then 6 pm once Daycare realized that model didn't work for them.

If they were getting some superior education at Daycare or if it were only for a couple more months, I would be inclined to actually keep them at daycare.  But we are talking about a significant amount of money here.  And it's not like they are learning a foreign language or computer coding or anything.

So a new learning curve begins.  So far we have been able to get to school on time, which irks me when I think about it because that means we could have done this all along.

I've already figured out that the drop off is another Circle of Hell that makes the daycare parking lot a fond memory.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Fastest to 300 miles in a while

On Monday I reached 300 miles for 2019.  In the past, it was usually the month of December, often the very last week when I hit that milestone.  Having run 40+ miles this month -- something I have not done in a very long time -- I not only completed the mileage for October but eliminated the mileage deficit as well. 

Okay technically I have a mile to go but what are the odds I won't get a great Halloween day run in?  And even if  I don't, just add it to November.  32 miles to go!


What I've found is that there really is something to doing at least a 2 mile run.  If I'm not feeling it, quitting after 2 miles still knocks out that day and the next for recovery or the previous for makeup.  If I am feeling it, it isn't that hard to push through another mile or two and build up some running equity.

In the summer I often either made the mistake of or didn't have the opportunity to, run too late in the day. The summer sun would be out and I would get gassed.  Now that the weather is cooler, I strive to go a little later in the day to get the highest temperature.  I still should endeavor to run as early as possible since that leaves me with more of my day left to do mini-projects in between work activity. 

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Friday, October 18, 2019

Caught up on the MPD


After my run yesterday (Thursday) I had 290 miles, which by my math is what I was supposed to have by the 17th of October.  Obviously, I'm not running today and may not get to run this weekend so I will be behind again on Monday.  But as I've been managing 4 miles runs, I should be able to get back on track yet again.


Random plaque one block over

I found that pushing myself to do one more mile to make 4 mile runs was a bit easier than doing consecutive runs of three miles.  With 12 days left of October, I hope to build up some surplus miles because I anticipate December will be problematic to run the last week or so since we will be down South.

UpdateI actually got a 3 mile run on Sunday so I am still caught up and have completed my mileage for October.  Now onto those surplus miles.  



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Wednesday, October 2, 2019

A fun evening at the beach

a few weekends ago, we gathered the chillins and pack up our beach gear and headed from the lakefront.  The idea was to meet up with some old runner friends for a reunion of sorts.  The reunion didn't happen for various reasons but we kinda knew that going in.  That's' why we designed the trip as a make good on our promise to take the kids to the beach all summer instead of a catch up with people we haven't seen in ages thing.



The weather was perfect.  The beach was not too crowded but not empty.  There was even a party going on a 100 yards or so from us which provided some background music that blended well with the serenity of the evening.



The kids had a blast.  My only wish was that we left just as it was getting dark because it is hard to gather everything when there isn't enough light and the beach seems to convert to a single peoples' place after dark when families generally go home.





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Tuesday, October 1, 2019

100 Miles to go

We are in the final quarter of 2019 and I am doing okay with my MPD goal.  Not as good as I like but not terrible either.

If you look at my Strava September stats, you'll see 11 activities for 29 miles.  however, 2 of those were junk entries to adjust for time and distance.  Because Strava won't let you adjust your miles or time.  So if you didn't restart your timer too bad.  There is also no way to see your totals for the past month because I suspect they want you to pay for the fully meshed version and I see no reason to do that.

By my calculations, we have 92 days to go and I have 100 miles left.

  • Oct  31
  • Nov 30
  • Dec 31


and I trimmed the mileage deficit down to 8 miles.  That leaves 100 miles to go.  I ran today (Oct 1st) instead of yesterday (Sept 30) because it is slightly less humid but I'm gonna pretend like I got that 3 mile run in on Monday.

During the week there are two good windows for me to go get a run.  Either way before 10 am if it's quiet, or just after my 10 am call, usually at 11 which equates to noon Eastern Time, when my colleague would be at lunch.   But if I don't get out the door by 1pm on a weekday, the run likely just isn't happening.
And some days there are just more important things to do

There are days I just cannot get out to run.  Either they are too hot, I am too busy or both. Sometimes I have other smaller projects I need to get done during the span of time that I have daylight and no kids in the way.



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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

September MPD update

As of today, Wednesday, September 25th, I have run 258 of the required 268 miles for 2019.  Once again I took a few too many days off from running which caused me to try to catch up just to September's requirements and not give me much hope of chopping into the 10 mile overall deficit from previous months.



Tomorrow I'm off from work because we have to take Moose and Squirrel to their annual checkup (they turned 5 last weekend!).  I don't suspect I'll get any running in, which is a good thing because I need a rest day.  On Friday I should be able to knock out at least 3-4 miles.  If  I don't run over the weekend, again I'm rested for Monday which can be another 3-4 miles.  That means I would have chipped 1-3 miles off that 10 mile deficit!


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Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Labor Day Fun

This was perhaps one of the best Labor Days I can remember in a long time. That's not to say the last
few have sucked or anything but this one had the right combination of just enough to do to keep busy but not too much to be overscheduled.

Nightingale had taken most of last week off in an attempt to get the house better organized and work on some pet projects and also maybe engage in some personal she-time (massage, pedicure, etc).  However, Boris and Natasha decided to get sick and couldn't go to Daycare on Wednesday and Thursday, which blew a lot of that out of the water.

They were healthy enough to go to Daycare on Friday and Nightingale managed to purge a bunch of toys from the attic and other play areas.  We dropped off a big load at the Salvation Army on Saturday on the way to Taste of Polonia.



For once, the weather was just right for this event.  Not too hot, not too cold, no rain (well a little late afternoon once we decided to leave).  We put our kids in the bounce house and they spent a good combined 3 hours there burning off energy.  Last year it was too hot and it had rained the day before so the houses were a little waterlogged.

The other thing that made it easier as it was just us.  While we love meeting up with someone, the downside to that is balancing agendas.  Since it was just us we didn't have to worry about seating for a lot of people or who wanted to do what.  We just took turns looking at things and then spent a boatload of money on Polish food. 

I did run into a pseudo-friend from the No-Name Software Company.  This was a person who I thought we were better friends but I overestimated my value.  A couple years ago at the annual event, we were chatting and she asked if I was staying for dinner.  I wanted to catch up and get the backstory and company gossip but didn't realize that she was just making conversation.


Sunday it rained in the morning so it wasn't conducive to go outside.  We let the kids stay in which was more for our benefit than theirs.



On Monday we met Katness at a pool in Wilmette and even though it was colder than normal, we managed to make it until about 2:45 pm.  Then we went back to her place and had a cookout for dinner.

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Monday, August 26, 2019

Monday Monday Monday

I've been working on projects around the house all year (and last year) in order to put the house on the market.  We made the decision to wait until Spring to list.  While I think the major items have been addressed, there are still some smaller items that need looking into. 

By then we should also have better answers about my job uncertainty and where we want to live.  If a miracle that allows us to stay in Chicago doesn't occur, we ship the kids off to grandparents in the Memphis area and stag the house for selling.  With the money we save on Daycare we should be able to not only buy a nice home but put a sizable down payment so that we pay it off quickly.

Meanwhile, we are both going to explore some lateral job moves that might allow us to stay here.  I'd love a setup where we have homes in both places so we get a good school system on the cheap but also the amenities of a blue city.



I just got back from the Post Office.  We ordered a Hugglepod stand which should have arrived on the 15th.  It didn't and I contacted the USPD.  Setup re-delivery for the 21st...didn't happen.  Set up re-delivery for the 24th, didn't happen.   I decided to go in person since our local PO is just down the street from our kids daycare.  wouldn't you know it that today is raining so bad, they had flooding and were not taking customers!  I kinda threw a fit and someone asked what I needed.  Told him and he found someone to look for me.  After about 25 minutes they found my missing package.  I asked what happened and he said, on the sly, that it must have been a female carrier who didn't want to lift the heavy (32 lbs) package.

Whether that is true or not, we have had both male and female carriers delivering over this span.  Surely someone could have delivered it by now?

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Monday, August 19, 2019

August MPD update

I had this sorta but not so crazy idea that for the month of August I would try to run 2 miles a day every day.  This would theoretically bring me to 62 miles for the month which would not only get the 31 miles needed for August, but would also knock out the 18-mile deficit and give me a 13-mile surplus going into September.

Life doesn't quite work that way but as of right now, I have 23 miles for 19 days of August.  With 12 days left in the month, I need 26 more miles to break even.  Given that I'm not getting runs in on the weekend, it is more realistic that I get the remaining 8 miles for August and chip away at the 18 mile deficit, perhaps halving it.

July was hot, hot, hot.  My beautiful green lawn is now a burned yellow hay patch.  I also had some knee issues so I took a strategic week off to see if that would make a difference.  I ended up with an extra 7 mile deficit that I probably could have made smaller just by doing 1 mile per day on the treadmill.


Month      Goal Actual
Jan-Feb 59 59
March 31 25
April 30 18
May 31 38
June 30 30
July 31 24
212 194


Why I think I'll succeed:  If I can go into September only being 9 miles behind, I should be able to catch up.  I run more during the fall when it's cooler and I don't have yard work or outside chores to compete with my free time. 

Why I think I won't:  I hate having to follow a schedule and there are days when I just want to kick back and not go out for a run or do anything. 

I'm averaging 28 miles a month so I should at least pass my usual 300 miles per year.


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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Stage 5: install quarter rounds on the six steps

I finally got around to buying, painting and installing the quarter rounds for the front porch.  I wasn't in a rush to finish this project, but I didn't think it would still be technically going on this year.

To be fair, last summer every day was either brutally hot or very wet.

Anyway, I bought the quarter rounds but didn't get around to painting them until this year.  I was pleased to find that the local Crafty Beaver not only had them but would cut them to size.

For a while, I thought my nail gun was broken.  Turns out it was just a faulty battery and I had a spare.  But the nails kept jamming.  Turns out that while nailguns prevent you from putting the nails in upside down, they cannot prevent you from putting them in backward.










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Monday, July 1, 2019

The 2nd Half of 2019 begins

With this post, we start the second half of 2019.  The first half was the first half of 2019 was, for me. exhausting, stressful and not altogether fun at all.

Generally speaking, years that end in 9 are not awesome for me.  I usually experience an uptick in Unfortunate Events.  In 1999 I had my Year of Hell. In 2009, I lost fiance 1.0 although it worked out with meeting Nightingale and having awesomeness flow ever since.  It is 2019 and I expect things will suck for a bit until they improve.  At the moment, things are not going well at the office.

I did learn how to do a few things I never thought I'd do around the house.  I installed a new toilet. I planted and grew sod.  I'm about to replace the Through-the-Wall AC unit in the bedroom.  And I'm going to take a stab at replacing the broken railing on our porch flat roof.





This will involve a lot of power washing to strip the loose paint.  Then I will likely have to use wire brushes and hand sanders to remove some more paint and get the wood ready for paint.   I will need my MIL help to replace the decayed boards.  Then  I will paint it.

Update:  upon closer inspection, the post in the picture is rotting, much more work involved than just replacing a few boards.  The good news is that this railing isn't drilled into the roof and can easily be removed.  The house won't look as pretty but it's an inexpensive fix and any money we save on one item, we get to spend on another.

Also, I"m back to my driver's license weight 205 lbs.  I think I can get back to 200 if I focus and lay off the hot wings.

I'm 11 miles shy of the halfway mark for MPD goal.  Honestly, this is annoying, not because I cannot do it but because I'm back to following a training schedule which was one of the things I liked least about marathon training.

Let's see how the second half of the year turns out.


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Saturday, June 29, 2019

Under the deck project

For a long time, I have wanted to address the situation under our back deck.  For whatever reason, whoever installed the non-standard sized deck, they didn't put down a decent foundation.  I suspect it was both costs and the desire to have the pool water go somewhere.

Anyway, I gave myself a challenge: do what I can with minimal monetary investment.  Kinda like when Nicole Curtis of WHATEVER does the I'm not gonna put a lot of money in the backyard because I spent too much on the 6th fireplace in the 2nd guest bedroom.

Anyway, the first thing I did was put down some weed guard.  This required me to temporarily remove and then put back the assortment of different sized pavers we had back there.



I was going to leave this go until mid-summer when I know the big box stores have clearance sales and I could get extra-large pavers dirt cheap.  However, my neighbor is having his basement re-done and they had bought a large number of pea stones.  Actually, the next size up of rocks.



Anyway, after they used all they needed, the doofus who is doing the work asked me if I wanted them and I said sure.  It was about 10 wheel barrels and naturally, the cost was I had to take all of them.





I was also able to repurpose the stones from the fireplace we removed from the basement.


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Friday, June 28, 2019

At Least We Tried

Cindy and I were what I thought were good friends in college. We kept in touch post-NMSU then suddenly she stopped writing letters or returning emails. Through the grapevine, I heard that she was mad at me for some reason. I asked mutual friends to see if they could find out what I had done to earn her wrath but no one knew. She wouldn't talk about it. I made one more attempt in the mid-90s to see if she was up for re-connecting and as I understand it the response was no thanks.

For some reason, I friended her on FB a few years ago. I was surprised when she accepted. We don't comment on one another's posts too often, though we sometimes wish each other happy birthday and occasional congrats on major life milestones, assuming the FB algorithms comply. I think this is probably as good as it gets this late in life.

The other day I reached out to Cindy because she was going to be in Batavia, IL for a few days. 


hey, I would love to see you since we will, in all likelihood, never be in a closer proximity....but I also get that the logistics are not in our favor. Perhaps Chance will favor us some other time and best of luck with... 🙂


At first, she said there was no chance of being able to get together.  Then she said there might be.  But after examining it more closely, the window was just too tight to try to get together.

Still, that she tried says a lot.



I love seeing the pictures of your wonderful kids. I’m so happy for you and your beautiful family.





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Friday, June 21, 2019

MPD goal update

On January 1st I weighed myself and, if memory serves, I was about a sandwich shy of 220 lbs.  Most of that was holiday bloat and water weight but I have been upwards of 210 lbs longer than I can remember.  I'm not a spring chicken and I don't run piles of miles like I did in my 30s.

BTW what is it with spring chickens?  Do they just have some amazing superpowers?

Anyway, I did my usual running which abated the weight but then I was also able to work in some weight training which turned the corner and brought me down under 210.  Of course, I lost momentum and consistency and oscillated between 209 and 213 for a few months.

Recently, I found that I was consistently at 210 or just below and this corresponds to logging 38 miles of running in May.  I was able to not only cover the mileage for May (31) but also the March deficit (5) and even tack on 1 extra mile to chip away at the April deficit (18).

Today I weigh 206 lbs which would be a fluke except last week I weighed 208 and 206 on consecutive days, so I think it's safe to say I'm getting down to my driver's license weight of 205 lbs.

Today is the 20th day of June and I have logged 17 miles.  I'm 14 miles behind on the MPD goal.  That means in the next 10 days I have to run 24 miles just to be on pace at the halfway point of the year. 

Today is the 21st of June (and the first day of Summer) and I have logged 21 miles, including today's 4-mile run.  I'm 11 miles behind on the MPD goal.  That means in the next 9 days I have to run 20 miles just to be on pace at the halfway point of the year.

There was a time when  I could have easily knocked these miles out.  now each run is a struggle.  


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Wednesday, June 12, 2019

My Through the wall air conditioner problem

One of the warts of our house is that it does not have central air conditioning.  I've looked into installing some form of cooling system but it has always been cost prohibitive.

In the Master Bedroom of our 106-year-old house, we have what is known as a Through-the-Wall air conditioner.  What some crazy or visionary previous owner did was take a window and seal it off to hold this unit. It is a very old, Sears Coldspot.  How old?  When you google the model number you get refrigerators because Sears stopped making these around the time Nixon resigned.



 While it still works in the "it turns on" sense, it doesn't produce cold enough air if the temperature reaches a certain point.  That point being the temperature one would turn an AC unit on.

It's hard to find anyone who works on these units these days because most homes have central air or at least SpacePak.  Or if it doesn't, people are buying cheaper window units.  But lo and behold, I found a recommendation on my local Facebook neighborhood group for a place that does this type of service.



I called Bob and from our initial phone call, I had a gut feeling I would not be happy.  I'm willing to adhere to the "respect your elders" up to a point.   I don't believe this Missionaria Protectiva gives someone a free pass to be abusive, or even just a plain old dick.

Bob cut me off while we were talking.  I was trying to ascertain whether it was worth his time to look at my ancient AC unit.  He said that he can usually do something to get these older units going and I believed him.  What I should have done, and he confirmed onsight, is send him a picture of the air conditioner.  I mean I did tell him it was a SEARS Coldspot and anyone in the business should have bee able to say "hey they haven't made those in at least 20 years!"



True to his word, he called me the morning of and said he was 45 minutes away.  About the time I was expecting him, I looked outside and saw a service vehicle driving so slowly down the block, obviously looking for my address.  He actually called me and I said "I see you, park in my driveway".  Older than the proverbial Methuselah this is a guy who probably shouldn't be driving at all, let alone a service vehicle.

I'm not making fun of him for his age.  I'm making fun of the fact that he obviously doesn't like doing what he is doing these days.  It would be one thing if he loved his job and didn't want to retire.  But it is clear that he is only doing this because he either made some bad life choices or experienced a series of unfortunate events.

He did not want to answer my questions.  To be clear, I didn't ask about his grandma's favorite sex position.  I asked about the AC unit.  He cut me off.

At first, it seemed my only options were to replace the unit which will run just short of $1000.  Or I can try to convert the opening back to a window, which will probably cost nearly as much.   I'm inclined to replace the AC so that we get some relief this summer before we put the house on the market.  NG feels that a window looks better.  The problem is, it isn't possible to put a double-pane window that will open enough for a window AC unit, which is why someone used this solution in the first place.

So after feeling sorry for myself and my $109, I did some research.  After watching a dozen Youtube videos, along with the one thing that Bob showed me -- how to remove the existing unit -- I feel confident that I can buy another Through-the-Wall and install it myself.

Edit from the future:  With a little helpful advice/research from Gary Lucido, we were able to find a unit that fit and I installed it myself for under $500.





Monday, May 13, 2019

The goal is easier if you do the homework


A month ago I wrote about the unofficial goal of running 365 miles this year, or a MPD (mile a day).  After that post, I didn't run consistently for the rest of April.  The start of May wasn't runtastic either, but I have started to right the ship.


  • Jan Feb  59
  • March    25
  • April    18



as of May 13, 2019, I'm at 116 miles including today's 2-mile treadmill run.  For the MPD goal, I would be at 133 so I have a 17-mile deficit.  With 18 days left in May, that means I need 18 + 17 = 25 miles to get back on target.  That is in addition to the 14 I have already run this month.

There was a time when that would have been five 5-milers or three 5-milers and a 10 mile LR that I could have completed in a week.  Those days are gone and I really should have made more of an effort to get a few more runs in since that last post.

My body isn't gonna handle running every day, even if it's just 2 on the treadmill and I prefer outdoor running especially now that the nice weather seems to have arrived.

If I take tomorrow off, then run 3 outdoors, that covers me until May 17.  I could even take Thursday off and then run Friday, assume 3 miles and that covers me to Monday.  If I get another LR in on Saturday, that would cover me for that upcoming week. 

Update:  after drafting this, I did a 4-miler on the 15th but then was not able to get out for a run since.  I did a 3 mile run today (5/20).  That gives me 21 miles for May and I'm still in decent shape goalwise but it would be better if I built up some miles before taking another long break.  My plan is to get the 31 miles for May and 6 more to cover the March Deficit.  June will be about chipping away at the April deficit.

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Thursday, May 9, 2019

Green, green grass

On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, I put down some sod on the mud hole in our backyard.  As this was my first effort doing something like this, I wasn't trying to do a spectacular professional job.  I just wanted to cover the mud so my kids would stop playing in it.  Of course, it snowed the next day.  The rest of the week was warm and I watered the sod as needed.


I had bought just enough sod to cover the whole with nothing to spare and it wasn't a perfect fit.  I also didn't remove enough dirt and only used one bag of fertilized dirt when I really should have used two.




The following week we were in Mississipi but it rained a lot here.  In fact, it rained so much in April that I hardly ever had to water the sod myself.

So after the better part of 4 weeks, I'd say the grass looks good.  Yes you can still tell where the sod ends and the old grass begins but I fathom that will dimish in another month or so. 






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