Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Rewind. Do Over.



The arm twisting and triathlon back in July didn't end well.  It was an accomplishment.  The weeks that followed were not all that fun.  As a result I missed out some perfect August evenings and runs around Cascade Lake.  For weeks on end in July I trained for that triathlon in 90 degree temperatures.  With sweat dripping into my eyes, I zoned out pretending the temps were in the 70s or even low 80s.  While I fought through the early weeks of recovery and tried out a few pain killers before being prescribed Michael Jackson's death drug,the temperatures dialed back and the weather gods offered up my ideal running weather.  At this point I couldn't even bend over to tie my running shoes.  I was frustrated with the doctors and annoyed that I was immobile.  I was jealous of all the runners on the trail each night as I could barely let the dog out for a potty break.

10 weeks later I have managed to increase my walking mileage up to 3 miles.  This week we've been given a little gift.  One last rendezvous with summer, specifically those August nights that I spent in bed instead of on the running trail.  Tonight I decided to take that leap and turn the walk into a run.  I was anxious.  A web of worry - that I wouldn't remember how to run and that I'd be in pain.  After a minute or so I found my groove and fell into a rhythm.  The warm temperature allowed me to break a sweat without having to worry about my eyes stinging.  The pain free strides allowed me to clear my head.  The worry was trumped by relief.

Rarely we are allowed a do over.  I got lucky tonight.  And it felt great.  If my lucky streak continues (or rather the weatherman is right) I'll get a chance to repeat tonight a few more times this week.  Fingers crossed.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

10-4 Ten Code



I remember the first set of walkie talkies in our neighbor.  I was super jealous.  The thought of being able to chat with your friends after being sent to bed each night was intriguing.  I'm not sure what there was to talk about considering the neighbor kids had played together all day long.  (Running around without shoes and only rarely checking in with my mom - not a care in the world!).  What more was there to say at the end of the day?   Never mind what we'd talk about.  If I had owned a set of walkie talkies I imagined using code and responding back with a standard 10-4.  I had no idea what it meant, but I knew that the truck drivers used it to end respond to other drives or to end a conversation.

My Grandpa Lenny was quite advanced in social media.  Nope not Facebook or Twitter.  He didn't even have an email account.  What he did own was a scanner to listen in to the police activity.  As a kid I was in awe of the fact that he knew all of the important town gossip before most other people.  If we were lucky enough to hear anything come across the scanner I anxiously awaited a "10-4".

A few days ago I sent an email to a sales guy reminding him of a very important corporate policy (said policy was likely put in place to save lives!).  I received a reply that simply said.... 10-4.  First I was in disbelief.  Almost a bit irritated.  Until I remembered there was a point in my life where finding the right point to use 10-4 was a highlight of the day.  Maybe even the week.

When the moon and stars align you might even find a way to utilize 10-4 on 10/4.

10-24.

Looking to brush up on the code?  Check out this complete listing of Ten Code

Note: After G-chatting for about an hour or so yesterday with a friend I still found a reason to send approximately 13 emails and 3 text messages to a friend who will remain nameless.  Perhaps I hadn't talked to her in weeks or months.  Or perhaps I spoke to her several times the day before.  There is always something to talk about.  AT&T is thankful that I'm not short on words!