Cut cursive, 22, reverse the curve, one bike down, draft day

I heard on the radio today that many schools no longer teach children how to write in cursive. WTF?  What would be the logic behind that?  We want kids to print everything?  Granted there is very little pen and paper writing going on in the world anymore but to me learning cursive is still a viable skill set.  Maybe I am just old.

Last night was my last chance to film an attempt for this month’s Bar-barian pull up challenge.  I wasn’t even going to bother based on how I had been feeling this week with my gym work outs.  I felt pretty weak doing my pull up sets, the most I managed was 17 reps, 4 short of my 21 rep high.  I figured I would try anyway, nothing to lose.

I was amazed that I managed to actually beat my best number by one rep, struggling mightily to get 22 reps.  I’m not quite sure where that came from.  The last 4 or 5 reps involved me hanging around on the bar a long time while my back muscles recovered for a few seconds, it was tough.  I was very happy to end the month on a good note.  As a point of reference my 22 reps only put me mid-pack in the contest, the winner knocked out a sky high 37 reps.

My participation in the Bar-barians forum has really helped my training.  Seeing 14 year old kids up to 50+ year olds still pushing themselves does something to help keep the ball of motivation rolling.  Reversing the normal downward curve of age related performance from a downward to an upward arc is something I enjoy trying to do.  Sure in the end the grim reaper will claim me just as anyone else but I can guarantee I will go down kicking and swinging all the way.

Last night I sold my old Trek via Craigslist.  I got $100 less than my asking price but it was still enough to take a good chunk out of what I spent on my new wheels.  The guy that bought it is just looking to get into triathlons so I passed along whatever knowledge I could to get him started in the right way.  It’s nice to have one less bike in the garage.  I want to get rid of two more yet.  One more will be easy since it is mine, the other will take some work since it is Ali’s.

Tonight I am hosting the draft for our fantasy football league.  This will be the third year in a row I am hosting it.  Despite the far less than convenient geographic location of our house for the other league owners, they have actually requested I keep hosting it because of the other perks.

I do a good job of geeking out the event, providing wi-fi access to all owners and connecting remote owners via a remote video Skype connection that is displayed on the big 73 inch tv with sound coming over the Bose surround system.  I also rearrange the great room with two tables and put out a decent spread of food.

I am actually leaving work early today so I can get home and begin the preparations which are pretty extensive.  Should be a fun night.  Ironically, despite my hospitality I will be picking last of all the teams for the second consecutive year.