Working, Taken

So the shirts I ordered for GMT showed up on Friday.  They showed up much faster than I expected because CustomInk.com just happens to be located in Florida so they only had one day of transit time.

The heather white shirts (another word for light gray) were good quality although the sizing was on the small side.  An XL shirt fit me like most larges would.  This is only the first run of GMT logo gear, there will be other stuff coming for sure. Cindy was quite happy to try on the shirt I got for her as well.

Our Saturday was quite busy.  In addition to the things I had in my head Cindy had her own extensive list of things she wrote out to get done.

Part of the list involved picking up some stuff.  On the way we picked up the dogs for a sleepover.  Ali said she had a very busy weekend going on which meant the dogs would be home alone for most of it.  The mental image of them moping around inside alone bothers me so I was glad to have them out so they could have some fun.  Nicki and Sadie were so excited when I opened the door.

During our stop at Home Depot we spotted some reasonably priced cushions for the patio chairs that we repainted.  We threw them in the shopping cart hoping they would fit the chair frames, they did.  The cushions were pretty much the last thing we needed to purchase for the deck re-do.

We also stopped at Rooms to Go to look at a high tech sofa that Cindy saw earlier in the week.  Since the recliner has left the great room I now have space to think about replacing my $200 Craigslist sofa and loveseat I bought after Ali and I separated.   The new stuff was sweet with everything a geek could want like power recliners, power headrest, touch button controls as well as built in cup holders, reading lights, and USB power ports.

On Saturday night Cindy and I went to see Taken 3.  Now is the only time of the year that we have to deal with anything resembling crowds at Coconut Point.  The unfortunate side effect is you wind up with much greater odds of sitting somewhere in the vicinity of douche bags that see no issue with smart phone usage or loud talking throughout the film.  It makes me appreciate the joys of taking in cinema at home.

I have enjoyed the Taken series of films.  This 3rd iteration however was probably the most silly with absolutely ridiculous outcomes at times.  I also have to question doing fight scenes when one combatant is wearing a white speedo.  It’s an average B action flick.

We started Sunday with a run. I suggested we do a new route that did not involve a dozen or more loops around the track at the middle school.  Instead we ran to the middle school from the house.  I found that running on a changing, open road helped offset the additional mileage we put in, covering almost 5.5 miles at just under a 10 minute mile pace.  The cool temps in the low 60’s definitely helped as well. It felt good to be knocking on the door of 10k distance.

So a good portion of Sunday was consumed with half marathon related work.  I had to affix labels to over 2000 race bibs.  I rearranged the house to do so, moving the dining room table in front of the 73 incher so we could watch football as we toiled.  I sent out an email to a bunch of people asking for help in affixing the labels, only Mary and her friend Maureen came out.

As I unpacked 3000 race bibs I thought we were going to be in big trouble only having 4 people working on the project.  I had visions of it taking 4-5 hours, it was A LOT of bibs.

Before Mary and Maureen arrived I had printed all the labels and was already in bib scanning mode, factory worker style.  I took each and every bib I opened and ran them across a reader to make sure I didn’t have any duds.  I only came up with one bad bib out of 2300 so that wasn’t bad.  Once we got some logistics worked out things flowed pretty well.  Attaching the small label went quickly since not much precision was needed.

The somewhat tedious work was made better by watching the Cowboys go down in flames to the Packers, this time being on the receiving end of a controversial call at the end of the game, unlike last week when they were the benefactor of a pass interference non-call.  The Cowboys had a good season for sure, outperforming the Eagles.  I just hope their fans enjoyed getting a playoff win for the first time in nearly 20 years, it may be another 20 years until it happens again.

Cindy and I thanked Mary and Maureen for the help, it was much appreciated.  Them being willing to come out and lend a hand on relatively short notice was awesome.  After we were done they got to go out and mingle with the chickens as well as take home a few of their eggs.  Everyone loves the chickens.

I returned to dogs to Ali’s last night after we fed them.  Ali was not home when I dropped them off.  I HATE dropping them off to an empty house.  They look so sad as I walk out the door.

This week will be a grindfest, mostly consumed with half marathon related things.  After so many years you get used to it but it doesn’t help make it more enjoyable.  I just remind myself that by this time next week I will feel much better.