I'll Meet You Halfway

One reason I was put-off by my running accident last week - other than road rashes, a broken phone and a bruised ego - was that I knew I had my first big race coming up only five days from that tumble. 

This last Sunday, I did my first half-marathon since November 2023. 

I was slated for one in September 2024, but you know........stress fracture. 

While I have done some smaller races since that injury, I did re-sign up for half marathon training in January. And I've been pretty diligent with it all - the run lengths, the speed training (ick) and the bad weather. 

I knew I wasn't up to a full marathon for Spring, and after the Cleveland one last year, I kind of swore off full marathons in the Spring time - ever (that will probably change over time). So, half it would be. 

My plan - kind of - was always to do the Glass City race. Or, Owens Corning Half, if you will. The distance suited me, but more importantly, it was a relatively flat course. Only (!) 233 feet elevation gain - but that's over 13 miles. Even my knee can handle that. 

Actually, 710 got to choose. There were three races last weekend, each one in a different Ohio city. I figured if he was tagging along, he should be able to decide where he'd rather go. He should get something out of this. He really chose Toledo. 

The trip was fairly uneventful, save a hotel that did not live up to his standards. Or most anyone's probably. We ended up farther than expected. Actually - in another state!

The morning was cool, when he dropped me off an hour before the race. 39°F. It's a long hour to be out there in shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt. I neglected to pack a throwaway shirt - so, live and learn. But I survived just fine. It's weird how the body adapts.

Unlike other big races, the energy level and the start just sucked. There's no way around it. I did love that is started at 06:30. I'd be done early. 

For all my faults - and there are many - I have a pretty good success rate at guessing my race time. I was literally 3 seconds off on my first half (in my favour) and 15 minutes off in my first full (again, in my favour). 

While I really wanted a sub-two hour half, I really figured my time would be 2:10. And it kind of was: 2:09:15.  Pretty damned close. 

As that was markedly better than my first two half marathons, I was pleased overall. Naturally (?), I calculated in my head if I had only gone 30 seconds faster per mile..........

For the run, the skies were clear but the temps never rose above 43°F, which actually turned out to be perfect. 

My knee and hip held up, which has been at the back of my mind all season. Twinges of pain, of course, but I'm in my 60s. I assume that is just life anymore. For me, nothing is 100% pain free. It is just a fact of my life. 

It's Glass City - you kind of expect the "medals" to be glass. Or the sponsor, Owens Corning, it could be Corning Ware or at least Pink Panther fiberglass. But no, it's just a medal with a rocket on it.....because...University of Toledo Rockets. 

I'm back. I think. I hope. We'll see. 

funnyish anecdote: after getting my medal, a child and her mom walks by. The kid is maybe 1yo. She looks and me and goes, "daaaaddy".  Her mother goes, "that's not daddy".  And I chime in, "don't think i'm paying for your college, kid!". 

Mom laughed. 

Song by: the Partridge Family

My Music Monday

I'll be honest, I had to look a lot of this up. 

The song is called "Seth Cohen". The group is Beach Weather. 

Seth Cohen was a character on some WB show a decade or two ago. I've already forgotten the name, but the guy who played him was on the initial season of Gilmore Girls. 

I kind of assume that is who the group is singing about?  Or maybe it was just a guy from Hebrew school. Who knows. 

Well, I'm sure if I did more investigating, I might. But then I'd have to care, or pretend to, and that seems like a lot. 

The song / group seem really lo-fi, which works. At least for me. And they rhyme the title with 'self loathing' and I liked that too. 

Go It Alone

As I was sitting at the wine bar mid-last week, before what I like to call "the accident", I had plopped myself at a table near the rear entrance (naturally). 

Since is has been above average temps, the back "garage door" (don't all these brewery's and alcohol places have them now?) was open, so I was just people watching and feeling the Spring air. 

I'd say I was minding my own business, but honestly, I was minding everyone else's. I'd probably have done well in sociology or something like it. 

This couple approaches, I'm guessing mid to late 20's. As I say there is always a reacher and a settler in every relationship..........I'm guessing these were both settlers. So, they proved me wrong. 

Or did they?

The guy was just flummoxed. And with good reason. 

She (I'm pronoun'ing her myself) has apparently never seen any Star Wars movie or Groundhog Day !!

Ever!!!

He was the settler for sure. 

Blobby was not objective here. Nor silent. I scoffed at her, for him. He was appreciative. I'm not so sure she felt the same.

Star Wars is on some channel at almost any given time, I said (though it should be viewed without commercials). And at the very least Groundhog Day is on every February 2nd.  She was unphased. He was like, "THANK YOU!". 

Don't get me wrong, all of this - them and myself - was all in good fun. I just looked at him and go, "you should probably just move on". 

And before anyone points out that I've never seen Grease or E.T., those aren't relationship enders like the other two movies. One of those are singing 37 years olds pretending to be 17 - which is just creepy on so many levels. 

Speaking of, I only know part of the below song from Grease because Becca and Slusser (that bastard owes me twenty bucks!) acted out / sang it one night while we were all drunk. Naturally, Family Guy made it funny...............and yet a little racist.  

Song by: Jason Isbell + the 400 Unit

Diamond Dogs

So-So week. I missed a bit with my phone being down. But you get what you get - here, as in life. 

What I don't have is a pic of Shep biting a guy who came to work on our lawn. He wasn't supposed to come. We had set time for that, so there are no canine encounters ....and Shep happened to be out back when he arrived and let himself past the gate. 

Allegedly, all is good, but yikes. 

Anyways..................

Shep meets neighbor newbie, Bowie. 

He is adorable - and brave, until he isn't. Approach and dart back was his game. 

We had an odd 83°F April day.  So on our evening walk, I let Shep to into the creek (pronounced: crick)

Bailey hurt her paw, so she has a "cone" on. A watermelon looking cone. 

Simon hasn't figured out if it's bright out, he shouldn't sleep near a window. 

I thought Henry was greeting me. But it wasn't Henry, this guy's too young. But nice AF. 

Not my best angle, but I love when Shep joins me in bed. 

Bailey giving my sister a talking to. She probably deserves it. 

Song by: David Bowie

Shattered Glass

Honest to g-d, you people almost didn't have a blog entry today. 

It started (and ended) with my broken phone. 

Due to the clusterfuck that can sometimes be Apple, trying to get the phone up and running - and more importantly, backed up - was just exhausting. 

It turns out it is REALLY hard to have double authentication - which Gooooooogle now requires - when they send the authentication code to your phone, but your phone has no viewable screen. 

Attempts to change how it gets to me became, let's say, cumbersome. 

If by chance you cannot get Goooooogle's prompt, you have to wait 3 to 5 days (!!!!) for them to send you one. So, it took far far far too long to be able to get into blobbysblog.com. 

My trip to Apple wasn't much better. 

Like last time I was broken (well my phone.......I'm still broken) they wanted to swap out the phone as opposed to fix it. I'm not fond of that, as then they have to reactivate everything, and last time, I lost so much stuff even though everything was properly backed-up. 

Here's the kicker: the swap out HAS to be the same make and model (I get that). The same storage as my current one (I kind of get that) and the same colour.  That, I do not get. Who. Cares. 

Apparently the "geniuses" at Apple's bar. 

Now let's take it that I'm 3-4 iterations behind the current iPhones Apple are currently sending. Finding one of my age in itself - any colour / any sized storage - is going to be a tall order. They didn't know if it would be days or week. 

I took my broken phone with me and went to a third party store to fix it. They had it done in 2.5 hours. Minus the Apple logo on the back glass. The didn't have the ability to do that.....as if I cared. As if my pretty much useless case covers anyway. 

Anyhoo......in the nick of time, I worked through getting my second authentication and was able to log in and write this lovely post. 

My angst level is through the roof.  Poor poor 710. He really is too good for me. 

Song by: Laura Branigan

Fallen

Be careful what you wish for - so goes the saying. 

Later yesterday, I had nothing about which to write. There was to be a pub run even later, so I thought I could incorporate the post run of me having my third (!) drink of the year.I never got that far. 

This is the second pub run I've ever done. I only did it because the Old Man's Running Group cosponsors the event - and the even months are runs on my side of town - just two miles from me. BUT, I'm one of three people in this group that lives on the East side, so I was asked to represent. And I did. 

There weren't tons of people who showed. Maybe 20. All new faces to me. Kind of. I'm sure some were at the last pub run in February, but I don't remember seeing or meeting them. All were nice. 

There was a 3 and 5 mile route. As I had run 4 miles in the early a.m., I opted for the shorter route - and it was 76°F . 

The route is ok in theory, but the biggest part of the run is under construction - and has been for a long time. Parts you can run in the street, because it's closed off to traffic, but then one must move to the sidewalk. 

.....and in that transition, that's when I fell. 

I hear about runners falling all the time, but I've never seen it and I've never experienced it. I can no longer say that 

And I can type it on my laptop, but my phone might be dead. I rarely ever run with my phone, but I was too lazy to take it from the wine bar to my car before the run. That'll teach me. 

I went down hard and on cement. A nice young woman stopped her run to check on me - verbally, from a distance. I was "ok", I said, but lay there what seemed forever but was probably 21 seconds. 

My Apple Watch's SOS app went off, asking if I was alright and it looked like I had taken a fall. I clicked on the button that said I was alright but then it went into another menu. I ignored it all. I checked myself over for obvious cuts and stuff but found little. So........I finished my run. 

Yes. I went back to running. 

It was only 0.3 miles. There I found my phone screen was cracked (back and front) and totally unresponsive (though my car was getting bluetooth from it). Hopefully the Apple store can revive it today. 

As you can see, I did end up with visible injuries. Hands. Arms. Legs. Hip.  I also have invisible ones too. Almost immediately my chest hurts when I stand up or sit down. So, you know that's gonna get worse tomorrow. 

But I showered, cleaned my wounds and put antibiotic ointment on them. And took ibuprofen. I guess we will see what today brings me. I have a feeling my wallet is going to feel the more pain than myself. 

Song by: Sarah McLachlan

Picture This

It is passport renewal time.  Bother. 

A lot has changed in a decade. Mostly Covid, I assume. Everything can now be done on-line as opposed to sending things in via mail. And you don't need to go anywhere to get your official passport pic taken. 

So to get it renewed, I do all the work and still get to pay $300+ for the US Government to process it.

At first it was 4-6 weeks to process this request - without it being expedited, but only days after submission I got an email saying 'due to volume' it would be longer. 

Two things sprung to mind:  everyone is worried about not having one to vote (unrealistic) and others are looking to leave the country (more plausible).  We are making sure you're not a subversive (most probable). 

Since I LOVE having my picture taken, the only thing worse than doing a selfie was having 710 take them of me. It took me six tries before I figured "this will do".  I tried not to overthink it - and after the fifth, you just don't care as much as you thought. 

So it is with this picture I'm saddled with until my 70s.  Ouch - that hurt to type. 

It never occurred to me to play with lighting or filters. As my last passport photo was so good (thanks Solon Library!), I considered taking a pic of that pic to submit, but I assumed I'd get in trouble somehow. 

I assume some of the delays is this administration making sure my 'birth' gender is correct and being flagged for lord knows what. I feel suspicious of any process in which this administration has their fingers.

Hopefully in 6-8 weeks I'll have my renewal and start planning something. I also have to get on 710 to renew his as well...........or I just might leave without him. 

Song by: Blondie

He's Got a Secret

Did JD Vance murder the Pope?

I mean, we can't say for sure, but I assume there was some sitcom routine of "accidentally"  tripping over the plug that was attached to whatever was keeping Francis alive. 

I don't think it was the plan, per se, to off the guy, but then Pete Hegseth made headlines (again!) a few hours prior, and the BLOTUS administration needed something to knock it off the top of the fold. 

....and it did.  

Yes, for the second time in a few weeks, Drunky Pete texted sensitive military data to unauthorized personnel...........which included his family. I guess he was on an Easter bender. Or just a Sunday one.

I only know any of this because 710 read me part of the original headline Sunday evening. I mean, you know I'm not reading that shit. 

The horror is: I just shrugged. 

I mean, why not? 

There was zero repercussion for Drunky Pete doing it the first time. Judging by the header in the above pic (of which I had to hit 'page down' three times on the NYT site to even see a mention of this) there will be no repercussion this time. 

Of course, his boss had stolen intelligence files in his bathroom, so I'm not sure he's the benchmark for what is sensitive data or not. Or better yet - if he even fucking cares (he doesn't). 

Remember when BLOTUS, in his first term, pointed out a number of countries and called the 'shit holes'?

Yeah - we are now that country. 

Song by: the Bangles

My Music Monday

The way the 'new music' is going, I might not even do a theme month this year......though that is subject to change.

Lucius' (not Malfoy) new song, "Old Tape" is actually. 8 months old. So, new-ish. It looks as if the song will be on a forthcoming album in the next month or two.

Lucius pairs with the lead guy from the War on Drugs, Adam Granduciel, for this song. Coincidentally enough, Granduciel also produced the Craig Finn song I featured two weeks ago. 

"Old Tape" has a great energy. While Granduciel didn't write the song, his guitar work greatly contributes to the sound. It's fun to listen to. 

I apologize for the video. I am no fan of Fred Armisen. Though he's fairly harmless here, and has not spoken anything, I can just as easily not see him as well. 

Crucify

It's official:  everyone, other than myself, has a podcast. 

Song by: Tori Amos

Hanging by a Thread

What's black and white and read all over?   SIMON. 

Whilst he isn't the main attraction - anymore - of course he will appear here. I can only goad my sister-in-law so many times for pictures, so I'm somewhat at her mercy. 

Still, we have a range of pics today!

New piece of furniture. 

I think my SiL knows this, but that tassel isn't long for this world. 

Cousins. 

This was how they were on their outing. Ignoring each other about 98% of the time. 

Lulu loves Shep. 

Shep can take or leave Lulu, but this day he was quite interested. 

Random greeter at daycare. 

He (?) seemed so noble and a calm figurehead. Gentle and loved pets. 

Radiator cover, overlooking squirrels and birds. 

He's very comfortable in his new digs. 

Shep and - well, Teddy or Sadie, depending on what 710 and I heard respectively. 

It was probably neither. Shep was a sport about the meet and greet, but he wasn't into it. 

Shotgun!

710 and Shep were relegated to the backseat when I picked up this girl from boarding. 

Shep's annual pic with the neighbor's easter decorations. 

Yes, I'd say Simon is very comfortable in his new home. 

Song by: Nickel Creek

Good Friday

Just another reason intelligent life never actually stays here after their visit. It also helps explain why they return everyone after they are probed. 

Song by: Cowboy Junkies

Cooking with Blobby

Another new recipe. And it doesn't include pasta, nor is it a stir-fry. Still, you've seen all the ingredients before. I mean, there are a finite amount of them. It's just in how you purpose them. 

There are seemingly lots of ingredients but half of them are the spice for the chicken, Like anything other cooking thing I do, most of this is in the prep. Cooking time - save the rice - is pretty quick. Like 10 minutes. 

I guess this would be called Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Rice. 

Let's go!

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 6 thighs) 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 t pepper 

1/2 t onion powder 

1/2 t garlic powder 

1/2 t paprika 

3 T olive oil 

4 cloves garlic, minced 

1/2 t red pepper flakes 

1/2 cup chicken stock 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

2 T lemon juice 

1 T chopped fresh parsley (for garnish) 

Jasmine Rice

Preparation 

Slice chicken into thin strips and season with pepper / salt / onion powder / garlic powder / paprikia 

Heat 2T of olive oil, add the chicken breasts (thighs) and sear for about 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. The internal temperature should reach 165°F (75°C). Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside. 

Add the additional 1T of olive oil and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic. 

Add the chicken stock. Cook for 2 minutes, deglaze the pan, scraping up the bottom of the pan. 

Add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, stir in, cooking for 2 minutes as sauce thickens. 

Return chicken back to the pan. Add the lemon juice and parsley (I didn't have any, though it would be the only colour the dish really has). Stir.  Coat the chicken in the sauce.

Serve over rice.  (see what I mean about needing parsley for colour?)

First off - LOTS of flavour. In a mostly good way. 

Normally, I don't measure out red pepper flakes, but I've been called on it a few times. So I did. And I like heat, but you feel it with a 1/2 teaspoon. And I didn't even make it a heaping one - which I'm apt to do. I might cut back a little on that. 

The other flavours - besides the garlic and parm are really the seasoning used for the chicken. I'd cut back on those too. It borders on overpowering some of the dish - though the sauce itself was incredibly good. 

This is an easy one to add to our mix, but with minor modifications. 

Rocket

Damn, Katy Perry is being trolled hard for taking Jeff Bezos' pocket rocket into space. 

It's hard to feel happy these days, but it made me smile. Inside. Where it counts. 

The entire farce of an "all woman crew". 

CREW???   FUCK YOU. 

I'm guessing none of the women have any knowledge of physics or probably how to drive a car. I don't mean because they're women, but they are women of financial means who probably are driven around as opposed to doing it themselves. 

And when your flight has you reciting the tracklist to your upcoming album - again, FUCK YOU - it was absolutely nothing more than a publicity stunt. The way the music industry works though, that might be the only time one hears the names of her songs. 

....and kissing the ground when you get back???  Suck. My. Dick. 

Part of me thought Bezos had his fiancé go up hoping the thing would explode and he could get out of the wedding. But then I thought, unlike this first marriage, I'm positive he's got an ironclad prenup this go-round. 

There is a lot of semi-valid chatter going on about the faux-feminism going on with this stunt.....all the marionette strings of an oligarch. And that chatter is coming from as many men as women. 

And it's fucking Blue Origin. A company that has done nothing but stunt launches that barely hit the stratosphere. I'm no fan of Musk, but SpaceX has done a bit more. FFS, use the money to fund hospitals, teachers, feed and house the poor. 

Men and their fragile egos. And now these women with theirs. 

Song by: Def Leppard

Missing

Back in 1981, I saw a screening of a movie that had yet to come out, Missing that was shown at THE Ohio State University. It was released in early 1982. 

Me, being a fairly uninformed freshman, I knew little of geopolitics and absolutely zilch about a 1973 Chilean coup, which was backed by the U.S. . Naturally. 

A U.S. journalist goes - ta da - missing in Chile and his wife and father blockaded at every step to find him. Spoiler alert: Augusto Pinochet's junta killed him. 

But the information to his whereabouts and his status were not just blocked by Chile, but by the U.S. as well. 

There is no good ending to this movie. There are no feel-good moments. It's bleak and it is meant to be. 

While the movie isn't a perfect comparison to Kilmar Abrego Garcia - a Maryland resident, who is now trapped after being wrongly deported due to an administrative error, even though the Trump administration admitted he wasn’t a criminal and the Supreme Court ordered his return (after first saying he didn't have to be returned) - it's as close as I can come today. 

All those movies, based on real life scenarios and ones created of pure fiction, of people disappearing with no communication, no representation, no support and no trace?   we are now living it. 

Poo Poo me all you fucking want. The rules are gone. There is not a single person in the DOJ who is going to help anyone who BLOTUS does ill too - rightfully or not. 

The El Salvador president publicly - in the Oval Office, even - has said he won't be returning Garcia. I'm sure it has nothing to do with any private conversation he has with our Fucktard "President" before BLOTUS asked the El Salvadoran president to build five additional maxi prisons to  - and I quote -“The homegrowns are next”—meaning he wants to send not just immigrants, but American citizens, to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prisons.  

I am a cynic. I know I sound like a conspiracy theorist too, but none of this is out of the true realm of probability (not possibility) anymore. BLOTUS said he'd get rid of his enemies. He idolizes Putin. He's doing exactly what he said he'd do.  ...and he's laying the foundation for more, in front of cameras and no one is remotely trying to stop him. 

Call it pre-Holocaust 2025 if you'd like, but it's happening.

Like the movie, this has no happy moments or a good ending. 

Song by: Everything But the Girl

My Music Monday

I had another new music post planned for today, but mid-last week Arcade Fire dropped a new song, "Year of the Snake".

For their first three albums, Arcade Fire was solid. But from then on, they've been spotty. Their last album took me almost a year to warm up to. The one before that was dead on arrival, in my opinion (it had one good song). 

In theory, I should be sitting on this for a while longer to determine how I actually might feel about it. 

Régine Chassagne starts the song as the lead, which is normally not a good thing. Of all her songs, I like one. This isn't it. Win Butler joins in eventually. At least with him you can hear / understand the words. Not so much with Chassagne.

There are parts of the song that are very familiar with an earlier song "We Exist" from their Reflektor disk. 

2025 is indeed the Year of the Snake. So the lyrics "In the Year of the Snake / I made a clean break /And tried something new" might be foreshadowing of what the band might look like now or what the album might be 

The song isn't that new sounding. I'll give it time. I don't know I'd give it tons of plays, but I probably wouldn't hit skip if it came up either. 

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 180th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. 

06:26. Pukey McPukerson.  It's too early for this. 

06:48. My b'fast chow. 

07:11. Lacing up for a 12 mile run....in 34°F weather.

07:53. A few of the run group. There'd be about 30 of us. 

Only three of us in shorts - and I thimk we still made the right call. 

10:20. Post run Blobby. The first 8.5 were fine. 

11:13. Massage gunning the hell out of my IT bands. 

12:27. Lunch in the car. Too cold for outdoor pic-a-nic. Yes, Shep got some chicken. 

12:45. Finally - a little blue. It's been grey for a week solid. 

13:40. Our in-kitchen garden. 

I don't think we're going to be swamped in tomatoes, but it is a nice experiment. 

15:36. Body imprint. Blobby needed a nap.

It's tough for me. For some reason my hands are freezing when I try to nap. I mean, like I have to get up and run them under scalding water to thaw out. It's weird. 

18:18.  Pizza Pick-Up.

Too lazy to cook. 

19:28.  My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. 

We watched his interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It was fun. 

That's a wrap. I'm scheduling this at 21:23. Still no news of BLOTUS death.  Drat!

Stare

The week just got away from me. The animals too. Barely a shot taken. 

....and sorry, none yet of Simon. I know my SiL has better things to do than keep me in constant supply of pictures. She's still navigating home ownership, and I'm not getting in the way of that. I am sure they will be coming. 

Until then............

Ballsy squirrel. 

Just sitting there, eating. Not a care in the world. Certainly not that stupid dog. 

Bailey on the run. 

I get to pick her up from the boarding place tomorrow. I'm so excited. 

Jonesing for a walk. 

Stare down until he makes it happen. 

These are my niece's cats - Eva Braun Pippa and Willow (left to right)

She has had Willow for four years (?), and Pippa much longer. The two have lived separate lives at her house, rarely interacting.  

Them lying next to each other is apparently nothing short of a miracle. 

Shep relaxing when I attempt to do the same. He seems more successful. 

Song by: Prince