Update and Bad Mixes

Training Update
As of Saturday, I'll be 2 weeks away from the ultra. I've finished my final long runs - with a 27-miler last Saturday and a 19-miler on the ultra course on Sunday - so it's now time to taper for a couple of weeks. Have to say, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. I'm also feeling a little uncertain about the whole thing - lots of doubts about whether I'll be able to hold up for so long/so far on the day of the event. I guess there's nothing I can really do about it at this point other than to trust the training that I've done and hope for the best. And knowing that I'm out there for something more than myself (and even more than the cool belt buckle pictured above that I'll receive if/when I finish) will definitely help me through the rough patches. So thanks to everyone who's donated to the cause so far, and if you haven't yet but have meant to, now would be as good a time as any. http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/DeucesWT11/bbindschad

Bad Mixes
There are probably an uncountable number of things that just shouldn't be mixed together. There are great combinations, like ham and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, and Batman and Robin (maybe that one's debatable), but there are also things that just don't work - imagine ham and chocolate sauce, peanut butter and liver, or Batman and Wonder Woman (trust me, that's one relationship that would never work). Well, we recently discovered a bad combination that probably should have been obvious, but was somehow overlooked due to parental negligence on the part of two parents. A certain 13-year-old boy (who shall remain nameless) and a credit card. Unknown to us, when said 13-year-old boy set up his new X-box live system, somehow the credit card remained active in the depths of its underbelly, which meant that said 13-year-old boy was able to purchase games and powers with impunity (at least, he thought it was with impunity - though that only lasted until we got the credit card bill). And so he did (purchase with impunity, that is). And by the time he was finished purchasing with impunity (on the day that we received the bill, all hints of impunity were eradicated) he'd racked up a pretty good bill. Needless to say, this particular 13-year-old boy no longer has X-box live (or any X-box for that matter) and is now suffering through video-game withdrawal, which amounts to a lot of moaning and groaning and sleeping on the couch.

That's all for this week, so until next time may your belts remain buckled, may your combinations combine nicely, and may your children remain cute and cuddly.