Corrections and Perspectives

My friend Joe pointed out that Dirty Harry didn't say "Do ya feel lucky?" He said "You've got to ask yourself one question; do I feel lucky?"

Sorry about that.

Speaking of feeling lucky...my friend (and former boss) Alan seems to be on a roll. He left Lockheed at the same time I did, and hasn't wasted any time in adapting to an entirely new life. Within the last few months, he has met a wonderfully compatible woman who lives in Florida, and has decided to move there. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with his current home in the mountains, but then some unexpected renters fortuitously showed up and agreed to pay more than he had originally expected. Since he retired, he has published one book and has another poised for publication soon. The dude is definitely on a roll.

Perhaps it's not luck. The ancient Roman philosopher Seneca said "Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity." (Well, OK, that's a translation -- he actually said it in whatever language the Romans spoke.) I'm wondering what sort of preparation I should be doing to position myself for upcoming opportunities.

A couple of things are obvious. For one, I need to stay in shape -- so I renewed my membership to 24-Hour Fitness, and I decided to donate the Girl Scout cookies rather than eating them. I'm planning to swim, run, and ride a lot over the weekend. I'm also going to see an ear doctor and find out for sure what's making those noises inside my head. (Don't worry, I'm not hearing voices...just random scratches and sloshes.)

Otherwise, I'm going to keep my eyes open for other chances to improve my luck. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

And one more thing: As I thought about the times I wanted to enter for the State Championship meet, I began to wonder if there's a specific pattern to the way my meet performances have declined since I set my all-time PRs.

First, I had to mentally deal with the fact that I probably won't have any more PRs in swimming. Ever. That was actually a tough concept to get my head around. But unless they make up some new events that I've never swum before, I'm afraid that my best races are all in the past. Sigh.

Anyway, I made a groovy spreadsheet to calculate the total decline, as well as the percentage decline per year. Unfortunately, I haven't quite finished the data input, so I can't yet share the results with you. But if the data proves to indicate a linear progression, there will be no need to enter any more swim meets...I could just calculate what my times would be and post those numbers as actuals.

Of course, that takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? It also removes the whole "chlorine-scented" skin condition that the chicks dig so much. Oh, I'll do the calculations, all right -- but I'll keep swimming, too.

OK, back to the data input. I hope you're doing something equally fun, my friends. Keep at it, and have a great day!