.: bistan.net :.

So I used my last comp-day today and stayed home from work.  Kimberlie took a vacation day today as well.  While she enjoyed sleeping in, I took the kids to school, had her car serviced, went by the bank, and filled up the car with gas (for a short weekend trip).   Later, we drove down to Perry to enter a few prints into the Georgia National Fair photography contest.  Then we ran some errands and had lunch.

When I gassed up the car in the morning, just after 9:30 am, I paid $3.62.  Seven hours later, it was up to $4.49.  Lucky me!  Hurricane Ike is coming tonight and is threatening 25% of our nation’s refinery capacity.  I understand that, but it still pisses me off because the station likely didn’t have any newer, more expensive gas delivered during that timeframe.  They just increased their prices because everyone else did.

Can we, as a nation, please get over September 11?  Every year we lower the flag, have rememberances, read the names, make it a top news story, etc.  Am I the only one who is sick of hearing about it?  Maybe its the administration?  Will we still have to hear about it this much if Obama is elected?  I’m not trying to be unsympathetic, but if I lost a loved one SEVEN years ago and I still couldn’t get over it, people would think I am psycho.

Sure, the date did affect me personally.  I . . .

• stand in line longer at airports.
• watched my stocks and retirement tank.
• pay more for gas.
• had to watch that horrific telethon on EVERY channel.
• gave up a bit of my privacy.
• paid more taxes to fund this senseless war.

Other than that, I could care less about September 11th. I don’t know anyone who died.  Can you imagine having a birthday on september 11th?  Everyone would here the date and care more about some demolished office buildings than about your special day.

As far as I’m concerned, the individuals who attacked us are dead, so justice has been done.  Our government has invested billions of dollars into this “homeland security” fantasy, when the reality is that IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DIE FOR YOUR CAUSE, NOBODY CAN STOP YOU.

Jonathan at the White House

I can’t begin to express how sick I am of politics.  I don’t know if I can stand all of this for the next 2 months.  I don’t care if you are democrat or republican.  I don’t care who is up or down in the polls.  The more I hear about it, the less I care.  This entire election is being controlled by the media anyway.

Out of the four presidential and vice-presidential candidates, only one has governmental experience at the executive level: Sarah Palin.  Two have been in Washington for most of my lifetime and haven’t produced much of what I consider “change”: John McCain and Joe Biden.  The final one has more traits of a celebrity than a presidential candidate: Barack Obama.  One ticket is made of lawyers and the other is made of non-lawyers.  By the way — I hate lawyers.

So should I vote for the candidate who shares the same beliefs as I do (pro-life, no gay marriage, etc.) or should I go with the democrat who might bring me more prosperity (the economy usually fairs well under democrat presidents)?  It’s not likely that an abortion case will make it back up the steps of the Supreme Court during the next few years anyway.  Even if it did, it’s not like pro-lifers could come out any worse than we already are.  The economy, however, can always get worse.  But then again, I really do hate lawyers.

I could vote for someone who is not on a major party ticket.  But I think this race is going to be too close to waste my vote like that.  If you are as undecided as I am, perhaps you should write in “Jonathan Davis” on your ballot and elect me president.  Nevermind, I’m not old enough yet.

A few weeks ago — exactly 6 months before my 30th birthday — I made a list of things to accomplish before I get old turn 30.  In no particular order, they are . . .

Run a 10K without walking.
   status: up to 3.4 miles.

Go on a safari.
   status: scheduled for very soon.

Read at least 3 books.
   status: reading the first now.

Rip all of my CDs into iTunes.
   status: about 5% there.

Run a Marathon.
   status: scheduled for January

Do 100 pushups without stopping.
   status: 20% of the way there.

Drop my weight back to 165.
   status: too much junk food in the house right now.

Plant 2 trees in my front yard.
   status: waiting for fall.

Get rid of half of my junk in the attic.
   status: not started.

Go without Coke for 7 entire days.
   status: dreading this one.

For some reason, I’ve been running extremely well this weekend.  On Friday, I ran 3.4 miles without slowing to a walk.  It seemed the stars had aligned: the temperature was perfect, whatever I ate before running was perfect, my breathing was perfect, etc.  I thought it was the best run of my life.  Until this evening . . .

This evening, I ran the same 3.4 mile course, but this time it was 20 degrees warmer outside, I didn’t eat well before, and my legs really hurt.  Sunday evening runs suck anyway, because trash day is Monday in my neighborhood, which means I exercise to the aroma of baking dirty diapers and last months leftovers and everything in between.  Even with the nauseating smell, somehow I made it — and at a record pace (for me).  That makes tonight the best run of my entire life!

It’s good that my running is improving because there’s only 18 weeks from today until the Walt Disney World Marathon!

Every Sunday, on the way home from church, Tristan stares at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base and begs to go to “the airplane place”. Since we had nothing else to do on this lovely Grandparents Day, we decided to treat the kids to a picnic (McDonalds) and a visit to “the airplane place”. It was a little warm to stroll the grounds and peruse the outdoor planes, but we were able to see enough inside the buildings.

In June, we visited the Smithsonian museums and zoo in Washington, D.C.  That makes any museum around here (or within several hundred miles) look and feel like crap.

September 1 made it 18 months since my last haircut.  How much longer can I go?  Probably not too much longer.  I’m scared that if I get it cut, my baby girl won’t know who her Daddy is.  She was only 7 months old the last time I had a haircut. 

I’m also scared that I’ll regret it.  It’s sort of like running.  Once you’ve gone further than you have ever been, you don’t want to stop because you know you are setting a personal record with each step you take.  With this haircut, I am setting a record with each day that I don’t get a haircut.

For today at least, I plan to continue to go without haircuts.

Sunday afternoon, Mackenzie couldn’t figure out whether she wanted to eat her favorite meal (spaghetti) or take a nap.  So why not knock out two birds with one stone?

I’m seriously considering submitting this clip to America’s Funniest Home Videos.

I finished my second 10K this morning, running 6.2 miles from the Forsyth Road Dairy Queen all the way down Vineville and through Downtown for a finish at Central City Park.  I ended up with my fastest (out of 2) 10K time yet: 1:07:19 (under 11 minute/mile pace).  No trophy for me, but I will continue to improve.

As of now, my next race will be a 10K on November 1.  Hopefully I can get it down to a 10 minute per mile pace by then.

Walt Disney World Marathon: Here I come!