Meteorological Observation

The ground is wet, but it doesn't seem to have rained much at all this morning -- so much for heavy rains and local flooding.

Clearly, The Powers That Be are just fucking with me.

Run! Don't Run! No, Run!

I'm resisting the urge to turn this into a marathon training blog. For one thing, I barely have time (read: I don't have time; I haven't had time) to post some of the other things that have been on my mind these days. (read: because I'm so lame that I'm usually in bed before 11pm these days. We went to bed at 9:30pm last night.) But, here I am, wanting to talk about how the training is going.

And how it's going is that it seems like it's going ok, all things considered.

Tuesday felt great. I did a hill workout, and I felt pretty good, aided I'm sure by the mild temperature (51°F) and the unexpected sunshine.

3 miles on the dreadmill on Wednesday to stay out of the rain. Fine.

The run yesterday kind of sucked. I went 7-1/2 miles, and I totally ran out of gas halfway through it. It was also back to the below-freezing mark again (I think it stay around 31°F the whole time), which certainly took some of the potential pleasantry out of it as well. (I can't fathom the guy I saw running in shorts and a T-shirt, or the other guy picking up stuff in his yard in his boxers or the middle school girls in miniskirts and/or single layer tops with the plunging necklines -- I guess I'll just chock up my incomprehension to being a pussy from southern California.)

Then there are the long runs. The long runs are about building endurance. When I eventually get into the thick of the actual marathon training this summer, these runs are going to be around 20 miles and take over 3 hours. (Technically, I'm only training for a half-marathon in May right now -- the plan is to use that to build up my base and then start in on a 4-5 month training schedule for the marathon in October.)

The long runs are on the weekends. Except that I ended up running this week's long run today because tomorrow is supposed to be all rain, all the time -- Wunderground says "definite rain" and a friend of mine told me that she heard "soaking rain." Neither was particularly appealing. I considered running on Sunday, but that forecast indicated greater peril -- it was supposed to be clear, but cold; dropping below freezing sometime in the wee hours of the morning, just after the rain stopped. Meaning: ice.

Ice bad.

So I was planning on just sucking it up and running on Saturday in the rain, until I heard over the radio about the potential flooding. I was ready to get soaked, but the idea of 12 miles of waterlogged shoes put me over the edge. The run went ok -- just a little colder than expected because of a steady easterly wind. The only downside was that I didn't get a rest day between the 7-1/2 and the 12 today; in my head, I'm pretending that I got some benefit out of running in the afternoon rather than in the morning, giving myself a few hours of extra "rest," not that it was actually rest or anything.

It does make me wonder whether somebody is trying to tell me something. Sometimes when you decide to do something, it couldn't be easier. It's like it was meant to be -- path of least resistance, easy like Sunday morning. (so long you're not getting up early Sunday morning to run in the cold for 2 hours.) And then there are times when it's... hard. It's not easy. Hurdles are getting dropped in your path. (that's ok, I ran hurdles in high school...) Challenges. Difficulties.

The weird ankle thing isn't bothering me so much this week, but my hamstring has been acting up a bit. (did a little research, gonna try to add some strengthening to the training plan.)

And JEEZ, the weekend weather has just SUCKED the last few weeks. I've been running almost daily since the beginning of February and started following a relatively formal training for about 3 weeks now. The first long run two weeks ago (8.2 miles), we had a blizzard that Friday -- I had to shovel to get to the road. And while the roads were well plowed, in places when I couldn't run on the road, the sidewalks weren't so great. (how many of you would wake up at 7am to shovel your sidewalk, just in case some dumbass might have decided to do his training runs in the early morning after a blizzard?) Last week, it pretty much snowed DURING the entire run. (11.5 miles -- it was supposed to be 10 but I took a wrong turn. Whoops.) And of course, maybe an hour after I finished the run, it stopped snowing, and was actually sunny. And of course this weekend was going to suck, so I took measures, as it were.

So, is somebody trying to tell me to stop? To end the madness!? (I've already had one friend tell me that it was a bad idea.)

Or are they just helping me fight my insecurity about being a quitter and giving me the opportunity to struggle a little and feel like I've accomplished something? Or at least give me something to whine about.

I tell ya, I have the hardest time telling them apart.

Accepting Progress

Finally sucked it up and updated my Blogger template.

Not sure I'm all that happy with the new look, but it's "late" and I want to go to bed now.

linky dinks

The Story of Stuff
Interesting, informative and imminently depressing, even when you know the score. But still worth watching. We try to do our part. We try, we try. But in the end, even as lower than average consumers, we are consumers all the same and are contributing to the problem. (We put out a not-quite-full trashcan maybe once every other week -- and usually a bin of recycleables. On the other hand, I'm regularly amazed at how much stuff I see out on the curb on trash day -- veritable mountains of garbage bags, furniture, bicycles, and of course, the TVs, which sit on the curb for weeks yearning for someone to call the hazardous waste pickup people.)

8 Careers to Help Lower Your Stress Meter
From the Yahoo! featured article headlines. (we'll see whether the link sticks around or not; historically, Yahoo has been pretty bad about that.) Also known as, 8 careers, most of which are not really low-stress jobs at all except by comparison if you happen to be stationed in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Or work in a prison. Also known as, a link-fest to Yahoo's advertising affiliates. (I guess they're really trying to drum up revenues what with that whole Microsoft hostile takeover business...)

I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really.
The secular Sabbath: take some time off, it's good for you.
UPDATE: here's a link to the same article on The Ledger, so you don't have to fight with the NYTimes stupid login page.

Self-discovery and forgetfulness

Found this in the archives, dated March 23, 2005:

Sometimes self-discovery is a lot like figuring our where the wall is by banging your head against it.

I know that 2005 had a few rough spots (jeez, every year seems to have a few of them) and I have a vague idea what it was about (something about establishing boundaries, dealing the others), but I'm happy to have forgotten the details of the experience and simply hope that I've at least internalized the lesson.

The Potential for Irony

So, sometime last year, I decided that it'd be a good idea to run a marathon.

Actually, let me rephrase that: sometime last year, I somehow got it into my head that I should run a marathon.

In 1998, I was planning on running the Bay State Marathon with a bunch of people from work. Ah, the halcyon days of my early career in computer engineering, working at a company that had its own staffed fitness center. We'd take two-hour lunches and play some hoops or go for a run, maybe do some lifting, grab a shower, and then eat at our (respective) desks.

Anyway, that year a bunch of people decided to train together for the marathon, myself included. It was maybe a month out from the actual race, when somebody asked me how many miles I was doing. I can no longer recall my answer, but I do recall that the person who had asked the question didn't think that I was running nearly enough miles to be ready for the race.

That weekend I did a 7 mile run and a 13 mile run, and by the end of the second run I had a sharp pain in one of my knees that forced me into a slow, awkward stride. I had a hard time walking the following week. Shortly thereafter, I managed to put myself out of my misery by spraining one of my ankles playing ultimate frisbee.

I quit. And vowed to never be so stupid as to try to run another marathon. The experience taught me that my body just wasn't designed for that kind of abuse.

Fast-forward 6 years to the fall of 2004. I'm at another company, post-dot-com bubble. We don't have a staffed gym, but we still have a weight room and a shower, which is all I ever needed, really. Long lunches playing disc and going running, maybe a little lifting followed by a shower and lunch at my desk. (Nevertheless, slightly less halcyon, FWIW.) And there's a small group of runners that are talking about running a half-marathon in the spring.

I'm reluctant. It does have the word "marathon" in it, after all.

Then, a confluence of events. Well, event. I get laid off from my job. Meaning, lots of free time. And a friend willing to be a running partner.

We sign up for two races, and this time, older and wiser, I actually set up a training plan. (And there are far worse things to do with your time between jobs than having a set training schedule.) And sticking with the plan, both races go pretty well, all things considered.

Which I must admit was somewhat unexpected.

A little less than two years later and about a year ago, perhaps a few weeks before finishing the massage therapy program, we were asked in class to do a goal-setting exercise. And I thought to myself:

Y'know, I'm getting old...
gonna hit one of those big milestones next year...
maybe I could... RUN A MARATHON to prove that I'm not "old" ...
yeah! there's an idea...

And now, here I am, one month into a new training schedule.

The crazy part is that I've been running in the mornings before work. There's no longer a shower at the office, so I could only run in the afternoon on weekends or days that I was working from home. And running after work is suboptimal because, being winter, it's dark outside (not to mention cold and often icy), the gym is usually packed, and when things run late, I'm also wicked hungry. So any number of things can tank a workout.

So I switched to mornings. It forces me to do the workout. And because I know I have to start working at a reasonable hour (say 10am, worst case), it forces me to start early. And for the most part, it's worked pretty well: I haven't missed any planned workouts, the regular workouts have helped improve my mood (it's always been a form of self-medication for me), and on average, I'm actually getting to the office earlier than I used to. The primary downside is that it's often colder in the mornings (say 10°F instead of 28°F) in which case I'm stuck going to the gym. (But it isn't any worse than going to the gym after work, and it's less crowded in the morning.)

I've also found that my sleeping habits have finally settled down. For the most part, I've been falling asleep pretty easily and on the occasions where I do wake-up in the middle of the night, I haven't had any trouble falling back asleep. Of course, the down side to that is that a lot of nights, I'll be wanting to go to bed at 9pm, which is just sad. It really messes with the social calendar, although I'm hoping to eventually adjust. Actually stayed up past 11 last night! Woo, uh, hoo...

So, I've opened myself up to the potential for some serious irony. The obvious one:

Things seem to be going pretty well so far, but I have had a nagging hamstring problem since last fall which may well be due to an adductor injury last summer. It seems to be holding out alright, but of course, I'm only a month into the training plan so far. It may be that when I get to the 16 mile or 18 mile runs, my body will just give up and stop working. So it may be that this exercise to prove that I'm NOT old may just prove that I am. Subjunctive oops.

The other potential irony?

Well, what do I mean when I say "old?" What do I think of?

I've already mentioned the part about the body breaking down, unable to handle the rigors of youthful exuberance. Or running several hundred miles (possibly over a thousand) over the course of the next several months. There's also a "responsible adult" component... I'm already guilty of some of that -- got a mortgage, saving for retirement, think about the consequences to your actions (look before you leap... and we won't talk about exactly how I got that adductor injury last year). But there's also the teetotaling, conservative, restrained old guy -- too old to be silly, too old to have any fun, too old to stay out late at night...

um, OOPS.

Oh-fer-two

Toshiba Quits HD DVD Business

Bah.

I guess I shouldn't care too much that my Combo DVD/HD-DVD discs don't play well in our A3 HD-DVD player. I can file them with my old Betamax tapes when we eventually replace them with Blu-ray.

Still gonna hold off on a blu-ray player for a while -- prices are still high, and even if we get past that, I'll want to wait for either the studios to drop the whole region-encoding bullshit (unlikely) or for the release of a true region-free player.

A Quote Quotes

Reading Asimov's Foundation and Earth and came across this:

"If we only obey these rules that we think are just and reasonable, then no rule will stand, for there is no rule that some will not think is unjust and unreasonable. And if we wish to push our own individual advantage, as we see it, then we will always find reason to believe that some hampering rule is unjust and unreasonable. What starts, then, as a shrewd trick ends in anarchy and disaster, even for the shrewd* trickster, since he, too, will not survive the collapse of society." -Bliss

Thinking about it in the context of this.

The response to which should be doing this.

2008Feb18-UPDATE: Of course, quoting a character from a work of fiction doesn't really have any particular weight. In the book, the response to the previous quote is as follows:

"...Rules, established with reason and justice, can easily outlive their usefulness as circumstances change, yet can remain in force through inertia. It is then not only right, but useful, to break those rules as a way of advertising the fact that they have become useless -- or even actually harmful." -Trevize

Nevertheless, it *is* food for thought.

And really, more than anything, I bemoan the lack of discourse that really goes on these days. The lack of thought, the lack of substance. Everything is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, the emotional hook, "my way or the terrorists win."

Sorry, the world is more complicated than that.

And that being said, the thing about a quote is that sometimes it resonates with you and is able to articulate a thought that would otherwise stumble when it tries to come out of your own (my own) mouth.

So for the record, looking at the issue at hand in both contexts, I still agree with Rebecca -- call your congressman. No immunity for illegal wiretapping.

* I don't believe that "shrewd" is a necessary qualifier for the douchebagindividual currently under consideration.

Bias

I like to pay attention to my surroundings when I run. I still find it meditative, but I enjoy noticing the sights and sounds around me, not to mention smells.

Actually, specifically to mention smells.

Often when I run after work, I can tell people are making dinner as I'll catch a whiff of a savory smell that will make me think of rich tomato sauces, juicy steaks, roasted chicken.

So tonight was not so unusual when I caught a noseful of something that made me immediately think of...

...bacon?

...barbecue?

Actually, it reminded me of the smoked meats we found in Hollins Market in Baltimore.

Seemed like kind of a strange time of day (and really, time of year) to be making barbecue, but hey, it's a free country. And we're no strangers to the whim of a random food craving.

Then, a few minutes later, perhaps another mile along and in a totally different neighborhood, I smelled... more barbecue?

No.

Chimney smoke from people's fireplaces and wood-burning stoves.

Duh.

Hedging positive

I stumbled on this fairly depressing article* that was basically about energy policy and food costs, but rather than dwelling on that (posting, writing, commenting), here's something funny I stumbled on (poking around at surfing videos, of all things):

Gnooze.com ("the G is silent")

Comments on the days news. Humorous, but informed. And she does funny voices! (It's a schtick, but I still find it funny; she kinda reminds me of a couple of peeps I know.)

I guess I'm feeling a little better today. (I did go into work, but that managed to not mess it up.)

* If you're really curious, the article is: "Why Ethanol Production Will Drive World Food Prices Even Higher in 2008"

Four Things

Still sick. But I got this meme through email from some friends and I figured I'd post it here, since I saw it floating around the interwebs/blogosphere a few months ago.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. The fry-guy at Carl's Jr restaurant. That job lasted all of two weeks -- couldn't get the smell of grease off my skin for days.
2. accounting department at an insurance company
3. convenience store lackey -- manned the register, restocked the shelves and coolers and made sandwiches. Regret selling beer to the dick/jock with the real, but not his, ID (I recognized him from the paper -- he was a sophomore on the football team) and not selling to the cute girls with the obvious fake ID
4. school computer room PTOP. (Part-time operator) Not particularly technical -- we just checked people in and out for the most part. But it did get you the chance to stay there after hours to get your homework/projects done when everyone else got booted.

Four places I have lived:

1. Sherman Oaks, CA
2. Ithaca, NY
3. Acton, MA
4. Newton, MA

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. London
2. Shanghai
3. Ambergris Caye, Belize
4. Hawaii

Four favorite foods:

1. Noodle Soups (Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Jambong -- a spicy Chinese/Korean seafood noodle soup, Pho -- vietnamese beef noodle soup, ramen, saimin...)
2. Clearly fried Shrimp
3. Mac 'n Franks (powdered mac 'n cheese variety)
4. Ice Cream (generally in a banana split with hot fudge configuration)

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Hawaii, surfing
2. Hawaii, hiking
3. Hawaii, snorkeling
4. Hawaii, not being sick.

Kinda got Hawaii on the brain right now. Can you tell?

Four friends or relatives I think will respond first:

1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
4. ...

...which where we end, since I'm not particularly bloggily-connected and those that I do know have probably already played this game.

Back to bed, I think. Or maybe to the kitchen for some more chicken soup.

Baby, You're a Star

Poop Star
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Well, we're back.

And while it's been a great start to the new year (it's hard to imagine how a month off from work wouldn't be), I can't get too rah-rah about it at the moment because I've managed to get sick after returning to the same sleep difficulties that I was experiencing before I left for California and points west.

Eh, let me try anyway.

First off -- no sleeping troubles at all while I was away. (Going to have to let that one sink in -- I hope it doesn't have to do with the mojo of the new house. "New" being relative since we bought the house over a year ago and have lived in it for almost a year now.)

Anyway, a good visit with family and some friends (unfortunately, never enough time to see everyone), a good couple of hikes in the Mojave. And then about 2-1/2 weeks in Hawaii: 7 days on Kauai, 9 days on the big island and a little over 24 hours on Oahu.

Hawaii was awesome.

The picture at top is of this crazy plant/fungus that we found along the side of the trail on the hike we did on Kauai. (If you're interested, another view of it can be found here.) It was supposed to be one of at least two hikes, but it seems that our trip to the Islands was very much about learning how to not worry about making plans or figuring out what to do and just relaxing and having a good time. So we never did get around to hiking the Kalalau trail on the Napali coast (we ended up spending the day surfing and hitting the beaches on the eastern coast... FWIW, prioritizing the second day of surfing over the hike was the SOOTTAD's idea, not that I had any objections), but that just means that we need to figure out when we can plan our next trip back. We did do the one hike in Koke'e state Park (which was fantastic), and take the planned helicopter tour and get our spam musubi, saimin at Hamura's Saimin and burgers at Duane's Ono Charburger. Plus, lots of snorkeling, a luau and a few massages. (Oh, and surfing both days we were on Oahu -- so much for that trip to the north shore.) But a lot more chilling-on-the-beach time than I've done in innumerable years. The SOOTTAD is even sporting a savage tan, relatively speaking.

Anyway, good times. We'll hopefully have a chance to go back in the not too distant future to get that hike in and get some more surfing time. I'll try to dwell on that while I recover from this cold.

Look at the time...

Just noticed the posting date, there... so, Merry Christmas to all for whom it is denominationally appropriate and good tidings and best wishes to all!

Observations while traveling

1. I guess we aren't as extravagant with the heat as I thought we were. I was positively baking on the cab ride into Logan this morning (ok, yesterday morning) and waiting around at JFK. I normally wear a fleece around the house, and yet I was overheating in just jeans (unlined), T-shirt and a light button down. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just my body chemistry gone awry from lack of sleep given the number of stocking-less short skirts and be-sandaled feet I saw in the terminal waiting for my connection to Burbank.
2. I not sure I should be grateful or concerned of the apparently more-limited water processing done in New England. All I can say for sure is that there are a lot more chemicals that I can smell (some kind of chlorine, but also seemingly something else) in the water at both JFK and in L.A. I'm thinking I'm a bit dehydrated from all the flying and the general distractedness I've been experiencing in the last few days leading up to today's (yesterday's) travel, but I'm being deterred by the smell and have only been drinking juice and tea in any kind of quantity so far, which is to say, not much at all.

80 degrees and sunny today in L.A. -- nothing to complain about there.

overlooked

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Just documenting the cute; he's been climbing onto my shoulder since we got him as a kitteen. (kitty teen)

Last day of work tomorrow before the holiday and the honeymoon. (w00t!) But still lots to do before getting on the plane early Monday morning.

sick thoughts

I've been pretty much out of commission since Friday with some kind of bug. I thought I was mostly back yesterday, but I guess I got a little cocky (I saw a client in the afternoon), and ended up almost back to square one last night. Anyway, not really feeling up to doing much else, so just a few thoughts and observations:

• It's probably been the longest that I've been sick since I started having regular acupuncture treatments almost two years ago. I'm pleased that I've only had a moderate cold maybe once in the last year, but I guess I'm kind of bummed that I've been laid up for over 3 days now. It makes me wonder whether the new assistant who works at the clinic doesn't have the same skills as the previous one or if maybe I need to reiterate that one of my original treatment goals was to keep my immune system up to snuff.
• Does anyone else find that they can't remember what it's like to feel healthy when they're sick? Over the weekend, I kept noticing myself doing little check-ins: Am I better now? How 'bout now? Is this better? Is this how normal feels? It's like a bunch of kids on a road trip asking "are we there yet?" Answer: no. (Also interesting that the opposite is true.)
• It figures that the nicest weather we had in the last week was yesterday and the day before when it got into the 40s. I was finally starting to ramp up the miles and was looking forward to a longer run on Saturday and I ended up not leaving the house. I barely left the bedroom.
• It also figures that I'm sick over the weekend. Of course, it was probably the stress from preparing for a meeting on Thursday that pushed me over the edge in the first place.
• Started reading the Golden Compass series. I'm enjoying it so far, but it's kind of a bummer when reading makes me tired. Geez, when am I supposed to find time to read if not when I'm home sick? Sucking it up and reading anyway. Probably part of why I'm still sick today.
• Being able to sleep on and off all day -- good.
• Not being able to fall asleep at night after sleeping on and off all day -- not good.

Also, less computing -- good... So I'm signing off now.

Later folks.

late to bed, early to rise

Woke up around 4am this morning, dreaming about some crazy Nerds animal launcher to capture some accumulated in-game collectable item (small nautilus-shaped radio/TV sets?) and thinking about user interfaces and gameplay and then recognizing an underlying rate-matching problem that mapped into a problem I've been trying to solve at work. After lying in bed for an hour trying to figure out a workable algorithm (I hate it when the solution only makes sense in the dream state), I finally realized I wasn't falling back asleep. I think I was also hungry.

All that, after lying in bed awake for at least an hour after going to bed a bit after midnight last night a few hours ago.

So I got up a little after 5, and tried to capture some of what I was trying to work out in my head. (Sadly, not much progress.) And installed some new anti-virus software* while I was at it. And had a cookie and some warm Ovaltine.

I did have this crazy idea that I might try going for a morning run, seeing as I was up and all -- I'm still trying to figure out how to fit the workouts into my schedule these days -- but a quick check of the weather seems to indicate that it went from unpleasant to inhospitable in the hour since I was up, dropping from a balmy 16°F to 10°F between 5 and 6.

*sigh*

Productive, and yet, not so much.

Ok, I think that's it for my gripe this morning.

*And, hey Norton Anti-virus? Since when does "dismiss pop-up window" mean "accept the query as to whether to restart my machine right now?" God I hate it when installation programs to that.

Tuba Christmas

Tuba Christmas
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Thought I'd mention that we went to this thing called "200 tubas" which is apparently an annual event that's held at Faneuil Hall during Thanksgiving weekend. It's basically an all-tuba orchestra that plays a 1-hour concert of Christmas carols. They did a headcount and apparently there were actually only 103 tubas this year, but it was still fun.

Really, really cold. (can't-feel-my-feet-cold) But fun. But cold.

And then we went to Wing's kitchen and had Pork as big as your head.

A good day.

Except for the cold part. Did I mention that it was cold?

I guess it's just been a little confusing since it hit the low 60s on Thanksgiving Day.

Travel Planning

We decided to punt on the deferred New Zealand honeymoon because things never did quite slow down enough for us to actually plan the trip. We're settling for two weeks and change in Hawaii tacked onto some holiday travel in California -- life could be worse.

We scored some frequent flier tickets on American, so we just needed to book the inter-island flights because we're planning on flying into Lihu'e, but out of Honolulu.

My mother pointed me to a travel search engine called Farecast which purports to track the trends in airfare prices in order to help you decide when it's a good time to buy your plane tickets. Seems like a pretty clever tool -- I had been googling for exactly that kind of information for the New Zealand trip. Unfortunately, it only seems to hit the major hubs in the major markets -- so LAX, not Burbank. O'hare, not Midway. (well, sometimes) Honolulu, not Lihue or Hilo or Kona.

But still, it did a pretty good job finding flights for us. And I thought the user interface behaved a lot better than Sidestep, a fare aggregator that the SOOTTAD often uses. The filters responded quickly and didn't make the page jump around. I also liked that it sends you to the airline website (or at least, it did for me), when it figures out that it's cheaper. As an aggregator, Sidestep would often send the SOOTTAD to some discount site like CheapTickets.com (no link because it's N/G) that she vows she will never use again because of all the headaches it created when we had to change a ticket over the summer. When she uses it now, she finds the fare and then manually goes to the airline site.

Anyway, Farecast found some good prices on Mesa Air for our island-hopping and sent me to their reservation site. Which was very considerate, except for the part where Mesa only seemed to operate within the central plains of the continental U.S. I had to poke around before I found Go! Hawaii, one of the subsidiaries of the Mesa Air group. I wandered through the Customer Care page in order to find it because I missed the direct link the first time around.

Anyway, cheap tickets. Couldn't figure out how to sign up for their membership program, but that probably isn't a big loss since I don't think I'll going to be flying there all that much. (nice thought though, huh?) Now we just have to hope that nothing funny happens to this airline or our flights between now and when we get to the islands.

Ketchup 1: Crap we found under the deck

Crap we found under the deck
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So a few weeks ago we finally found some time to do some yardwork. We were planning on just doing a first pass of leaf raking, but once I got going on the leaves under the deck, I pretty much had to clear out all the other crap that was down there.

Somehow I thought this post was going to be more interesting. Oh well.

For what it's worth, we're keeping the crab.