Hot Stuff

I hope everyone had a delightful 4th of July!

It's been a few years since I have personally set off any fireworks to celebrate, but I love the tradition -- and when the right opportunity arises on future Fourths, I look forward to once again waving sparklers about and hurling Black Cats at inattentive relatives, etc. Despite Washington's recent opinions and efforts to the contrary, I still think the US Constitution got it right...and that because it did, our country continues to be unchallenged as the greatest nation that ever existed.

Of course, I do realize that this blog resides on the Internet, which means that I may have readers who live in any number of snail-eating, soccer-playing, phlegm-based-language countries who may not have celebrated Independence Day this weekend. Heck, there is also a huge population of pinko hippie hacky-sackers in this country who would ban fireworks celebrations because of the carbon footprint and because the displays so dramatically represent the odious concept of freedom. To all of those people, I say "Hey, get a haircut!"

Even though I didn't ignite a single black snake or roman polanski, I did thoroughly enjoy the weekend. I finally rode my bike up Highgrade Road for the first time this year, had a couple of good swims, and made some progress on both my CPT studies and my photo-scanning project. (I'll post some of those scans later in the week.) I even managed to catch a few episodes of "Green Acres" and a movie that featured Shemp Howard as a henchman. I enjoyed the time I spent with my friends, and found an online bargain on multiple pairs of Injinji toe socks. Life is good.

The only bad news is that I finally had to turn on the A/C in my condo. It's pretty amazing that I was able to make it past July 4th without flipping the thermostat to "cool," but I do live on the bottom floor of the building, and my unit is always in the shade. Even so, the remorseless heat of Mother Nature's cruelty has finally forced me to resort to technology to ensure my household comfort.

Yes, I do realize that I should look at the heat as a good training opportunity for my race next month. It'll be hot out on the bike and run courses, and I should be adapting my body to handle the extreme conditions. But that wouldn't be much fun, would it?

OK, if you want to try to talk me into running or riding with you during the heat of the day, go for it. With enough peer pressure, even a slacker like me might actually do something productive. But if I have to rely on self-motivation, well...then the only people who are likely to see me are the good folks over at Baskin Robbins.

Stay cool, my friends, and have a great day!