As the year winds down, I am spending some time in the San Diego area, enjoying the warm weather and beach proximity. I am down here with the family visiting relatives, and generally hanging out, doing as little as possible. Things can be pretty good, when the distance from front door to high tide mark is 1/2 mile, a Starbucks is about the same distance the other way, and a Roberto's taquaria is nearly on the beach, an additional 1/2 mile away. Best fast Mexican food on the planet!
Weather has been perfect in support of beach runs. I've been able to sneak in four while here, varying in distance from 2.5 miles (barefoot) to 9. Tides have been a planning issue, but I can live with that; who couldn't?
Speaking of weather, I've been watching what's happening back in northern Nevada. Things are looking likely to result in the driest December in Reno in 128 years. Yep, this will probably be the first December since 1883 with no measurable precipitation in Reno - at all. In fact, I believe the last precipitation to fall was in early November, making it something like seven dry weeks in a row. Yikes. Last I checked, the Tahoe basin watershed was at 10% of average annual snowpack, and that was two weeks ago. I'm sure it's less now.
Unless things change drastically, it's going to be a dry winter, and a scary fire season next year. Happy 2012.

Today, as a nooner before the holiday weekend, I was able to do a really cool route with lots of climbing on C-Hill with a couple of people who could take the day off. And a dog, who can always take the day off. Calling it the 9x8, it covered a bit over nine miles in the general shape of a figure eight — in that there were two loops that interesected. The loops weren't even close to the same size and not even close to smoothly curved, as the image of the route below amply illustrates. So work with me a bit, suspend your disbelief and go with the name, ok?

Out of the 9+ miles covered, I think the total flat distance was about 5 feet. There was nothing but up and down, up and down (see elevation profile). Awesome. We did get to play on new trails too. The upper part of the EZ Trail was only just completed a few weeks ago. I think we were the fourth set of runner footprints on it. (Yesterday, when scouting it, I think my prints might have been the first.) It's a sweet downhill, and not a bad uphill either. The constructors did an outstanding job, and I really like the rock work. Too bad I didn't have enough speed to make the jump worthwhile. Dave Norvell did, and so did Gino. I didn't tote a camera to capture it, but I will next time.
Dave killed it on the downhill and after waiting a few minutes for us, we all regrouped at the base of Kamikaze Grasshopper. This is a tough but fairly short climb; I almost made it. We then closed the first loop by zipping back down EZ, then we hooked up with 12-Gauge to Shotgun Canyon.
As we were making our way up Shotgun Canyon, I spotted a single track branching off to the southwest. Our trek immediately became a Recon Run, as there was no doubt in anyone's mind that we would take the new trail. Yay! Recon Run! Joe dubbed it the Three Amigos. (I am wondering who he is leaving out? Himself, Dave, Gino or me? Hmmm...) I really liked that trail, as it is runnable in its entirety, a single track and avoids the nasty, too-steep climb up Shotgun Canyon over to Longview. It may get a bit marshy in the spring, though. There were a lot of grass and willows at the top. After being pointed down from the top, Dave again took off. We were so slow, that he was done and gone before we returned to the cars. Nice running with you Dave!

The route we took (Trail names are identified in the ccrunners_routes.kmz file (a Google Earth file) on ccrunners.com) started at the CMS track and encompassed the following (in order, in case you want to replicate): 
Fire road south, Rusty Bucket Spur, Cheeky Monkey, North Goat Trail (that's a walk-up), Flag, Flag High-Way, EZ-Trail, Fire Road northward, Kamakazie Grasshopper, Back on the EZ, 12-Gauge, Shotgun Canyon, Three Amigos, Longview Canyon, Kingsview Bypass, The Mark of Zorro back down to the Fire Road and out to the road. On the way back, we took the small single track to the east of the fire road, to (1) avoid a dog on the fire road, and (2) not retrace as much as possible. 
The run was great fun, and definitely a redo in the near future.
BTW, if you have a Garmin, I can make the course public on connect.garmin.com for download. 

Proof positive politicians—especially Republican politicians—do not have the interests of the country in mind, only their own. Take a look at this quote from the Republican House leader regarding the payroll tax cut that is expiring at the end of the year. The President and the Senate ( both partisan sides, even), had agreed to a two-month extension. The Republican caucus in the House declined to even bring it to the floor for a vote, and shut down C-Span when questioned about it. Finally, succumbing to the political pressure, House Speaker John Boehner said at a news conference in Washington today his members decided to “do the right thing for the American people even if it’s not exactly what we want.”
Think about that statement. He blatantly and brazenly states what he wants is not what is right for the American people and it took immense pressure to make him and his cartel do what is right, what is good for the people he ostensibly represents rather than what he wanted. Dick. 
To hell with him, his caucus and "what they want." He was elected to represent, not dictate. If ever there spoke the need for a massive change in our political system, this is it.

So I bought some Biotime stock awhile back. It didn't do as well as I hoped, and to eliminate some of the potential loss I would incur if I sold, I first sold some call options to lower my overall cost basis. In the event of a static or dropping market, this strategy tends to work fairly well, as the stock doesn't reach the "in the money" point before expiration and the calls expire worthless to the purchaser. Cash for me. 
The problem with that strategy is if something momentous occurs, that skyrockets the underlying security. Like what happened over the last two days to BTX. A rather startling approximately 25% rise. 
I like the stock. I like the company. I like what they do. I wish I hadn't sold the calls. I can buy them back at a loss, and not get "called away." Though with the troubles endemic in the world markets, I can't be sure that doing so wouldn't be throwing good money after bad. 
Couple that one instance of my buying the RIM puts for a month too early, and my other options that are amazingly, and consistently red at this point; both calls and puts.
What's happened to my crystal ball? Need new batteries? Need a new crystal ball? Might as well just throw my money in the fireplace. If I had one.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So said Newton in his third law of motion. I believe it, though not exactly in the same way good ol' Isaac probably meant it in the strictest physics sense. 
Action:
I had the chance to sneak away from the Lawrence office before darkness descended yesterday, and with the weather unseasonably warm (it had dropped into the upper 50s by then) and the winds generally calm, I hit the river levee for a run. Things felt good, so I pushed it for a five miler as an out-and-back on the flat course.
I don't have the records to prove it, but I think it was the fastest 5-mile run in at least five years, if not ever. O_O  The only comparable run in terms of pace that I can access hard data from, is a 3-mile run on the same course in August where my pace was only :17 faster.
Reaction:
The reaction started about three hours later when the aliens wriggled under the skin of my baby cows and started to crawl. I had muscle spasms leading to cramps until the mid single digits of the morning. Not a lot of fun. As I lay in bed, about to drift off, the spasms would detect my complacency and explode into a full-on cramp. The only thing to do was to leap out of bed and slam my heel to the floor and stretch that bad boy. That sucked. I think the aliens finally gave up between one and two in the morning.
The reaction makes me wonder if the action of a fast time run was worth it. 
Below is a camera-phone video capture of the spasms. As I said, they later did get worse and morph into cramps, but I didn't feel like whipping out the camera whilst writhing in pain in the dark of night.

This week, I am in the (not) lovely midwest - eastern Kansas to be exact. The weather is milder than typical for this time of year, but the color is spot on: gray. Gray clouds, gray trees, gray people... OK, so the people aren't all gray, they are mostly wearing bright blue and red. Must be something to do with the local university (Rock Chalk!).
Last night I met a guy in a local tavern, and we got to talking as two might over a malted beverage or two. He, like me, wasn't from here, and as the saying goes, it's sometimes easier to talk to a bartender than your doctor. I wasn't the bartender, but I was there.
In ruminating over the convo while tossing and turning (& not sleeping, but that's a different story) in the hotel room later in the night, I compared him to another person I know. The comparison is interesting. We'll call the first person Doug, and the second person Gail. Their names are irrelevant (I'd go with Obediah and Ophelia, but those are more difficult to type), and I don't think gender plays a roll in the comparison, they just happen to be on opposite side of the chromosomal fence. Please note that all the comparators are my observations and opinions, and may bear no resemblance to reality other than superficial.
Both are close enough in age to make no difference. 
One was raised in a reasonably strict household with both parents, dinner on the table at 6, everyone there. The other came from a family where the person was almost the primary care giver in the house from an early age. 
One worked early in life and didn't have extended education opportunities. The other went to college.
One has a "respectable" job/career. The other, less so. Both appear to feel trapped by work/life  in some way (like who doesn't).
Both have kids - roughly the same age.
Both enjoy athletic activities.
One is more adept at "arty" stuff, the other, less so.
Here's where it gets interesting. While talking with Doug, I got the impression he wants to "expand his horizons" but has a fear of failure and embarrassment. He only wants to appear to be good at whatever it is he does. Doing something badly - especially in public - was petrifying to him. So much so, that he admitted he has stopped trying. So he is frozen: stuck where he doesn't want to be, and unable (unwilling?) to do what might break the inertia.
I compared his state (as I saw and understood it) to Gail's. Gail also wants to break free, but appears to me to be accepting  the occasional failure, and doesn't appear to suffer from acute embarrassment. She tries something, it doesn't work out, she tries it again, and again. Nobody thinks anything less of her for trying. At least I don't. As for laughter, she's often the first to laugh, especially at herself.
Gail has tried and become successful later in life at several things that typically one wouldn't think a person would pick up after youth. Whereas, it appears Doug has moved pretty much laterally for many years, coasting on the successes of his own youth, and unwilling (or unable) to expand and move forward. This combination made me think that the fear of failure - the fear of embarrassment - is possibly self realizing. If you fear it, it will happen.  The person who fears embarrassment will most definitely feel it. The one who fears failure, will fail. If you try something new, you are not going to enter at the top. You not going to hit a home run on the first and every swing. If that's failure, then you will fail - repeatedly. Maybe Doug needs to step back and remember what it was like to be a kid trying something new, fumbling, failing and ultimately gaining ability and confidence. And laughing at himself along the way. 
Oh, any guesses as to who was who in the comparisons? I wonder if it's obvious or even has any bearing. Perhaps we are pre-programmed moist robots simply carrying out our instruction sets, following the course, regardless of where it goes.

So the good folks over at XKCD put out a infographic showing the breakdown of most played holiday music for 2000-2009 by decade of popular release. It's interesting to me. I don't necessarily agree with the premise that it's all an effort to ensure Baby Boomer preeminence in American culture though I think that definitely plays a part. I think the dearth of Christmas songs with popular release dates can be attributable to a number of other reasons. In no particular order:
1. Music today typically has more involved themes than "Let It Snow" and being Holly Jolly. It tends to be more complicated and, let's face it, agressive. I just can't see "Have a Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap Christmas" album coming out any time soon.
2. Overall, the younger generations are moving away from religion in general and Christianity (Christmas = Christ's Mass) in particular. I think the critical thinking skills and the ability to access many, many alternate points of view via the Internet has a lot to do with that. Couple that with the first point, and why would an atheist care enough about Christmas to create a song to celebrate something he or she doesn't believe in?
3. Money: Who owns the majority of radio stations in this country? Baby Boomers. Who dictates what gets played? The owners of the stations. 
4. Fear: Our leaders are successfully working to maintain elevated fear levels in the population so they can point to that as a reason to keep them in power. When was the fear level at an equal level? The communist threat of the 50s and 60s. The music at the time soothed the fearfulness with simplistic themes and hopes of a magical being taking all the trouble away. Makes sense to me that with the return of amorphous fears (war on terrorism, islamism, war on drugs, war on [fill in noun here]), the music would be once again pointed to simplistic and hopey themes.

Just my thoughts. For what they're worth.

Apparently, the big carriers and handset makers are being sued over the CarrierIQ flap. Those named in the lawsuit besides Apple and Carrier IQ, are AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, HTC, Samsung and Motorola. Computerworld article here.

In December, everyone always looks back to see what the year held. For me it was a mixed bag running-wise. Had some good days, bad days, and going half-mad days. Took the first quarter off completely, due to injuries, almost quit entirely in September. Through it all, I carried my camera. Enjoy (or not) the video of the snaps of the why I do, what I do, where I do it: running.

Ok, so it doesn't have the cachet of "we're #1" or even "we're a top 10 [insert POSITIVE metric here]," but at least Nevada can say it isn't at the bottom. I was going to suggest we use "At least we're not in the bottom 10%," but that doesn't actually work either. What is it we are so dang marginal at, you ask? According to 247WallSt.com, Nevada is the 46th worst (fiscally) run state in the country. 
What brings the state down so low are the high unemployment—at 13.4%, easily the highest in the country, the alarming drop in home values, the equally alarming number of foreclosures (both the highest in the country), and the second lowest percentage of persons covered by health insurance. Yay, us?
On the other hand, we can finally claim to beat California at something. The left coast state came firmly in dead last in the rankings.
Top 5:
 1. Wyoming
2. Nebraska
3. North Dakota
4. Minnesota
5. Iowa
 
Bottom 5:
46. Nevada
47. Arizona
48. Michigan
48. Illinois
50. California

The full list and discussion can be found (starting) here. Lame-O that they split it across 6 web-pages, but I guess they know how to generate that ad revenue, right?