Spring is Here

Happy Spring - Click on the Picture for Spring Pictures

Brendan Pictures
James and Brendan Birthday Pictures
Knight's Ferry

A Bad Weekend Turns Good - The Inaugural Modesto Marathon – Happy Spring

Last weekend I was supposed to attend the Bataan Death March with the army pals from my unit. With a stroke of a pen, the commander cancelled our participation. I am unsure of the politics of the cancellation, and I really don’t care. I really wanted to go. The reason I got was because all the medical appointments were not met. The XO also got pulled away for some reason. He was part of our team. So why punish ten soldiers? Everyone seemed to be updated on their appointments as far as I knew. Alternatively, I wasn’t looking forward to the 17-hour-car ride, so I am thankful I got two vacation days and I got to finagle participation in the inaugural Modesto Marathon.

I e-mailed everyone I knew that was running on Sunday. I finally e-mail a girl from work who hurt her foot and I didn’t know if she had a number or not. After asking nicely if I could use her number, I went down and picked up her packet, and I was entered into the race as a 29-year old female. Ok they changed my name at the end. I also wanted a t-shirt, but they only had mediums since Diane was a medium. Thanks Diane by the way.

The first Modesto Marathon went smoothly as far as I was concerned. The perfectly cool morning was a great start for Spring Sunday. The participation was about 2,200 people. The course, include farmland, along the 99 Freeway, 9th Street and the train tracks, there were no problem with bees, and running was perfect. But I lost my Gu! But the race had Gu! I was saved. I also won’t forget the ascent and descent of the Briggsmore overpass, now dubbed Mount Modesto. It wasn’t that bad, compared to San Francisco runs, but I didn’t train for this race so a little hills were enough to get my heart above 200. The race was relatively flat, I felt good as I ran, and the people I ran with were very nice, I did loose my running pals after a few miles, but it was enough to keep up with the running club gossip.

These people put in a lot of effort to make this a great race. This is where we live, and its nice to be close to a race, no hotels, rental cars, taxis, restaurants, and the route was unique to the Central Valley. Thank you Shadowchase Running Club and others involved in organizing and sponsoring Sunday's Inaugural Modesto Marathon. I hope this holds as an annual event.

But what if I want to participate in the Bataan Death March next year? Southwest to Alamogordo?

The Bataan Memorial Death March

March 21, 2010 - The pals and I are going to experience the Bataan Memorial Death March. It is a challenging march through the high desert terrain of White Sands Missile Range, N.M., conducted in honor of the heroic service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II. These men sacrificing their freedom, health and, in many cases, their very lives. I hope to see some of the surviving members of the original march. It is suppose to be aw-inspiring to see these original folks. I don’t really know what to expect, as this is my first 26.2 march. I will be in full uniform, but no packs and soldier gear. I have done a few marathons before, but posts from some of the previous marcher, the hill, the sand pit, the wind, I don’t know how to put these events into the long-term memory yet. Some say the experience was eventful, grueling, and the best trip and most rewarding trip of their lives. I shall soon see Sunday. We are getting a breakfast that morning, a film from the original march, and a very nice ceremony at the start is supposed to take place. I am looking forward to it. Wish us luck and I will try to post events as they happen. Don’t forget pictures. Brendan, are you ready to be put in the pocket?

Saint Patrick’s Day!

Chilling on the Frodo couch.

Yes, he climbed up there himself.

Irish baby celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day!

The Dictatorship Cometh

Sunday, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, told each representative in the House of Representatives that they should vote for Obamacare even if it means he or she loses in the next election.

In other words, they should vote for the bill, even if their constituents are so strongly opposed to it that they will vote their unrepresentative representatives out of office, based on their vote on this single issue.

Essentially she is asking them to violate the most basic tenet of representative democracy: that representatives are elected to represent their constituents – not the party, not the president, not those who funded their campaigns, not anyone else. What she is advocating is a rubber- stamp Legislature, a la the USSR, Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, where the president gets what he or she wants regardless of what the people want. That is a dictatorship. At least it's a dictatorship for the next 10 months.

Rob