Day 119 -- Jogger's Progress

	YTD	May
Distance	648.4	138.8
Time	93:57	20:47
Days	119	23
States	4	1

Unbelievably, I ran as many days in June as I had in May, and I surpassed May in both time and distance. We'll just see how July goes. I'm not setting any particular goals. I think I'll start with an off day. Saturday is always a good day to sleep in. (You didn't believe me when I said I was never taking a day off again, did you?)

Day 118 -- More Marysville

Besides being home to a large Honda plant, Marysville is the world headquarters for Scott's Seed and Turf.

I ran a good solid six miles today, and feel good about it. I took yesterday off, not by plan, but just because I couldn't drag myself out of bed. (My inner debate seems to be back to normal.) Then last night I didn't sleep well. I'm assuming that's because I hadn't worn myself out enough. So no more days off for me. Ever.

Cue sound of Jogger's jaw hitting the floor

I pretty much stay out of the political stuff, because other people do it so much better than I do. However, this one simply floored me.

From Echidna of the Snakes (via Shakespeare's Sister, who is one of my regular reads.)

Apparently, there are people out there who seriously argue that women shouldn't have the vote. Here's the money quote for me:

I think that voting should be a family affair with the wife putting in her input, but the man ultimately deciding on which candidate he votes for. I think women are too emotional and often vote for the "bleeding heart liberal" cause because it feels right to them. When I tell folks my view on this they always ask if I vote. Yes, I do because my husband wants me to.

My flabber is completely gasted.

Day 117 -- Marysville

Today I ran into Marysville, Ohio. It seems like a nice little town. (Well, not so little. At 15,000, it's half again as big as my town.) They have a very thorough web site, although I'm not sure exactly who decide which pictures to post. Look at this one. It's apparently the Old Schoolhouse, but whoever decided that that particular view of it was one that visitors to the web site wanted to see was seriously decieved.

Happy Adoption Day!

Today is our "gotcha" day, the anniversary of the day that our adoption of the oldest and newest Little Jogger became official. We don't do much to celebrate it, because her birthday is in just a few days, on July 1, but it's nice to remember it.

She was born in Ukraine, and lived with her biological mother until she was six. Then her biological mother just disappeared. We have no idea what happened to her. The Little Jogger and her biological sisters were obviously well-cared for, so it wasn't simply a matter of a neglectful mother finally giving up. The other two girls were adopted domestically, but our Little Jogger waited two and half years for us to come along and get her.

She has made great strides in adjusting to life in the U.S. She spoke basically no English, but she has picked it up pretty quickly. In the middle of this past academic year, they raised her from the remedial English class to the main class, meaning that it took her basically a year and a half to learn to read English at grade level.

She has also made great strides in adjusting to our family. She tends to be a bit impulsive, and to do or say whatever she thinks of, not really thinking about the consequences. This drives her mother crazy! But she's learning to think a little ahead some times, and Mrs. Jogger is learning that mostly she is being thoughtless, rather than outright defiant or mean.

Basically, she's a happy, friendly kid, and we're glad that she has become part of our family.

Day 116 -- New Dover

I couldn't find any good pictures from New Dover, Ohio, but I just passed into Union County, so I visited the Union County courthouse. This is actually in Marysville, where I should be tomorrow.

It was raining here in the real world this morning, so I went to the gym. I ran five miles in only 40 minutes, which is a very good pace. It's nice to have a little change.

Blogger research

Check out the comment to this post. Someone is doing research on bloggers and their habits, and they have invited me to be a subject. My very first reaction was that this was just another form of spam, and I should ignore it, if not delete it. But they I realized that they had taken the trouble to get through the bot-stopping wavy letters, so they must have done this by hand. And, I always like to help out legitimate research when I can. And, I have to admit, I was curious.

Looking at their questions, I suspect that their thesis is something like "Bloggers are pathetic losers in real life." (They will probably couch that in more academic terms.) There are lots of statements for you to agree or disagree with (on a nice 7 point Likert scale) like "I often have trouble getting people to like me," or "I am comfortable in large groups." I think they expect you to "Strongly agree" with the first and "Strongly disagree" with the second. But maybe I'm just reading my own prejudices into it.

In any case, I participated in the survey, and some day, these people will no doubt publish their results. I hope that they appreciate my cooperation.

Day 115 -- Ostrander

Banffy Haus German Shepards has just put in a new kennel in Ostrander. (Warning: do not follow this link! Someone decided red letters on a blue background was a good idea. It's barely legible. On the other hand, there are some cute puppy pics.)

I ran 4.5 miles this morning. My left knee is bothering me a bit. I need to figure out how to treat it so that it will be OK. Does it need ice? Heat? Rest? Work? Stretching? I may need to go see a professional.

Coach Jogger

Two of the Little Joggers are playing recreational soccer this summer. It's a fairly casual thing. They practice once a week, and have games twice a week, which is just the right ratio for the eight-year-old, anyway.

Today, the medium Little Jogger's coach had another committment, so old Dad stepped in to take up the slack. This is much tougher than I thought.

For one thing, I can't remember all their little names. Other than my own son, I didn't know one of them before last week, when I went to their second game. For another, the other team showed up with just six players (we play seven to a side), so we had to loan them one. I kept forgetting who we had loaned them. And then one of their players got tired and had to come out, so we loaned them another one. And, of course, at half time, we switched the loaners.

Of course, everyone wanted to play forward all game. So the one player I had on the sidelines (whoever it was) was always pestering me to go in at forward. And every break, everyone wanted to switch to forward. I had thought I would set up a rotation, but with people switching sides and everything, it got too complicated.

In any case, we scored four goals, and they only scored one, so we won. I don't know what we would have done if they had won with two of our players. I don't think that the standings really count for anything.

I'll be happy to welcome back the real coach.

Day 114 -- Delaware (Ohio, that is)

According to Preserve America:

The City of Delaware is the seat of Ohio's Delaware County and has a population of approximately 26,500. Originally home to the Mound Builders, and later to Delaware and other Indian tribes, Delaware's earliest American settlement dates from 1808.

During the War of 1812, Delaware served as the headquarters of General William Henry Harrison. Settlers poured into the area after 1814; they included the parents of future President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was born in Delaware and met his future wife Lucy Webb at local Ohio Wesleyan University.

And if that weren't enough, according to Kent State University's track and field site, Delaware was the host to the All Ohio cross country meet this year. Here Kent runner Kyle Paul crosses the finish line. I couldn't resist the urge to look on while some real runners did their stuff.

A Tragedy of Epic Porpoises*

With the girls out of town with their grandmother, we decided to invite some of the boys' friends over for play dates. So we made some calls yesterday and set some up. The first was scheduled for today, with the medium Little Jogger's friend, whom I shall call Oscar. Oscar was to come at 1:00, and the medium Little Jogger started to get antsy by about mid morning. By 12:30, he was looking out the window every 30 seconds.

One o'clock came and went. No Oscar. 1:15. No Oscar. At 1:35, I called Oscar's mom to see if we had gotten our signals crossed. Well, no, we hadn't, but Oscar had decided he'd rather stay home. The mom had called and left a message on our machine in the morning. Only she didn't. She may have left a message on someone's machine, but it wasn't ours.

The medium Little Jogger was devastated. He just lay down on his bed and sobbed. And there wasn't anything that we could do. We couldn't blame Oscar's mom (although heaven knows I tried.) It was just one of those things. Try telling that to an eight-year-old.

Eventually, of course, the storm passed. The medium Little Jogger has come out of his room, and is now bossing the smallest Little Jogger around upstairs. Oscar will come another day, and all will be OK.

*The title of this post is a malapropism coined by the smallest Little Jogger, which has now become part of the family vocabulary.

Day 113 -- Kilbourne

Not a whole lot of hits for Kilbourne, Ohio, but I did find this red-bellied woodpecker as photographed by Gregg Pasterick.

I ran a relatively short time today, since I'm breaking in a new pair of shoes. I didn't want to get blisters.

Teaching Carnival X

At last...

Teaching Carnival X is a little smaller than previous ones. Apparently I'm not the only one who hasn't done much academic blogging. But there is some good stuff there. Read on....

Day 112 -- East Liberty

I'm nearing East Liberty, Ohio, where they have a big Honda manufacturing plant. At first, I thought that it might be where they made the Joggermobile, a '94 Civic, but they seem to only make motorcycles here.

It's humid in Wisconsin, and I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished my run today. I ran the 5K course twice, so it was a good run.

Day 111 -- Farm School

I'm a little north and west of Gambier, where Kenyon College is. At their web site, I found this terrific Farm School, with lots of information about family farming. It's not clear to me exactly who it's aimed at, but it's still fun to poke around.

Day 110 -- Catching Up

Actually, Day 110 was yesterday, but I never got a chance to record it.

Acting on the advice of one of my table leaders at the reading, I found a nice bike path that starts not far from the dorm. I ran out it about 2.5 miles and ran back. It's a great bike path, and now that I know where it is, I'll probably never go running in Lincoln again. The AP reading for stats is switching to Louisville, Kentucky, next year.

I was running a little late yesterday morning, so I just had time to eat breakfast and get out to the reading sight. Reading was a bit sporadic that morning, because we were almost finished, and they had to get the books that weren't finished around to the people reading the questions. So we'd read a packet or two, then sit there and wait while they tried to find more for us to read. Then another packet or two, then more waiting. But we finished up by 11:00, and they told us to go.

Well, I didn't see any reason to sit around Lincoln all day, so I rushed back to the dorm, threw my stuff into the car, grabbed a box lunch from the dining hall, and hit the road. I listened all the way home to a book on tape, The First Eagle, by Tony Hillerman. It was read by someone named George Guidall, who was simply excellent. I finished it just as I rolled into town.

I got home about 7:30, hugged the boys (the girls are on tour with their grandmother) and went to bed early. This morning, I slept in for the first time in well over a week.

So it was a busy day, but now I'm home, and ready to get back to...hmmm, what am I going to do with myself?

Day 109 -- Fredericktown

I love seeing the country this way. Because I'm not actually there, I don't have to regret that I'm not there at the right time for Fredericktown's Tomato Show, featuring (why not?) bathtub races. In fact, I could start planning to go. The show is in September.

I ran almost seven miles this morning. One more day of reading, and on Monday, I go home.

Day 108 -- Butler

Butler, Ohio, is home to the Prairie Peddler Festival. (Sorry, no picture. My computer is acting up, and it's too late for me to mess with it. I'm going to bed in about five minutes.)

I did take yesterday off, and I felt pretty good running six miles this morning. I probably would have quit after five, if I'd been close to the dorm, but I wasn't.

Two more days of grading, and then I get to go home. It's been fun, but I'm really getting worn out.

Day 107 -- Malabar Farm State Park

Malabar Farm State Park, just west of Perrysville, is one of 74 state parks in Ohio. It seems perfectly lovely. I would love to actually go there some day.

Obviously, I did run today, after some internal debate. The funny thing is how the internal debate was different from the usual internal debate. The usual internal debate goes like this:

Me: Come on, get up and get moving. You need the exercise.

Me: But I'm so tired! I'm going to sleep in today. I'll run extra tomorrow. I promise!

Today's internal debate went like this:

Me: Stay in bed. You need the break.

Me: But I'm already awake, and I'll just end up sitting around waiting for the dining hall to open. I'l take tomorrow off. I promise!

So I did go, but I'm taking tomorrow off, and no excuses. I need to do laundry in the morning, anyway.

Day 106 -- Back to Wooster?

No, I'm not turning around. I just finally got the chance to post these pictures of me with Grandma Jogger in Wooster. (Taken by her housemate, Barb Ashton.) Above, we are standing in front of some building on campus. Below, I am in front of the first house that my mother and father lived in after they were married. (This was before my time.)

I made another 5.1 miles this morning. It was harder than I expected. I may have to take a day off, just to get my legs back.

Day 105 -- Perrysville

This is a 1964 Ford Galaxie, owned by Ed Arnholt of Perrysville. I found it at GalaxieClub.com. Standing behind it, you will find a 1964 Jogger, a rare model. The Jogger has a lot of miles on it, and isn't exactly in mint condition, but it's only had one owner, and we expect that it's got a few more miles left before it has to be scrapped.

I did run this morning. I was reasonably tired, having run just 12 hours earlier, but I'm glad that I did, because after that, I just sat on my butt all day. The first day of grading went pretty well, but it's Thursday or Friday when you start to go stark raving bonkers. I can't wait.

Day 104 -- Lincoln. No, really. Lincoln.

On my virtual run, I'm still just west of Wooster, Ohio, heading down Ohio 95 on my way to Oxford. But in what passes for the real world, I've up and driven to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the AP Reading.

I did something today that I rarely do. I ran in the afternoon. I didn't run in the morning, because I wanted to get an early start. But I got such an early start, and made such good time (restroom breaks go amazingly fast without kids) that I got here about 2:30. So I checked in, unpacked some stuff, got the computer up and running, then went for a short run. It was good to stretch my legs and clear my head. I'll be back to running early in the morning tomorrow.

Cars

In an ongoing effort to make sure that the kids miss me when I leave, I took them to see the new Pixar movie, Cars, this afternoon. It was pretty good. It wasn't a spectacularly new plot, but it was interesting and funny and well done. I was trying to explain this to Mrs. Jogger (who stayed home to enjoy two hours of blessed peace), and I said something like, "It's just the same as anyone else would do. Pixar just does it better." She translated this into, "If you have to watch a kids movie, watch a Pixar film," and I think that's about right. It's not Shakespeare* but it's the best of its genre.

*Of course, come to think of it, Shakepeare wasn't all that big on original plots, either.

First Day of Summer

Today was the first day of summer for the Little Joggers. For the record, the medium Little Jogger started complaining that there was nothing to do at 7:30 this morning.

But we found something to do. We all piled in the minivan and drove up to Madison to visit the zoo. The Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison is small, but it's a fantastic zoo, particularly considering that there is free admission. So not only was it fun, but it was a cheap day, too! They must get money from somewhere, because they just keep updating and upgrading their exhibits. We had a great time, and we'll probably try to get back there again this summer.

And, in honor of Bob Harris, some Friday Pudublogging. OK, this isn't a pudu. It's a Reeve's Muntjac. But it's a cute little thing. Half the stuff that Harris posts in Friday Pudublogging isn't pudus, either. This week, it was an alpaca. And I took this picture myself, today, and I think that it came out purty good.

Day 103 -- Mohicanville Dam

Today I stopped at the Mohicanville Dam, which was built and is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

I ran a little long this morning, about 7.5 miles, since it was cool, and since I'm planning to take a couple of days off. Tomorrow is my last chance to sleep in for a while. On Sunday, I'll get up early and drive to Lincoln, Nebraska, where I will help grade the Advanced Placement exams in Statistics. This will be my fourth year doing it. It's a lot of work, but it's also fun, and I consider it important service to the mathematical community. Oh, and yes, I do get paid.

Day 102 -- Wooster

For those of you who don't know, Wooster does not rhyme with "rooster", but rather is pronounced like "Worcester, Mass." (Which comparison, if you think about it, tells you a lot about the English language.) Grandma and Grandpa Jogger graduated from here in 1956, and my sister graduated from here some time in the 70's. But my brother and I broke with tradition and went to Central College in Pella, Iowa.


Somebody at Wooster has serious aspirations as an art photographer. Not only do they have very cool images on their main page, like the first one above, but they also have a Photo of the Week page, which is where I found this bike race. Check it out!

So, where to next? I thought about popping up to Ann Arbor, to visit some of my old haunts there, but it's a little out of the way. And when you are on foot, a little out of the way is a lot. Anyway, I've been invited by Addy N. to come down and visit her in Oxford, and I've decided to take her up on it. So get set, Addy! It's about 190 miles, so I should be there some time in early August, just in time to visit you before school starts.

Day 101 -- Smithville

I went a little tiny bit out of my way to go to Smithville, home of the 2005 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year, Mr. Neal Johnson. I'm not endorsing Wal-Mart or its labor practices here, but I do like to recognize good teaching, and I appreciate Wal-Mart for doing that.

Grandma Jogger is scheduled to arrive in Wooster tomorrow, and so am I. Perhaps we can have lunch. Of course, she'll be real busy with all her old college chums. I'm surprised how many she's kept in touch with. I'm only out of college for 20 years, and I doubt if I'd recognize many of my classmates. In another 30, I fully expect to have forgotten them all.

Day 100

Day 99 -- Dalton, Ohio

This is the town hall in the Village of Dalton. It's an interesting web site. It has almost nothing but tax information. No local events, no links to local businesses. Just tax info. Oh, well, I guess that's what whoever put the page together thought was important.

I had another good long run this morning, about 7.5 miles. I'm tired, but I feel good.

Day 98 -- Massillon

Lawrence Block fans are familiar with Massillon, Ohio. It figures in a couple of the Scudder mysteries. The police chief in Massillon turns out to be a pretty sharp dude (for a small town cop) and helps Scudder a couple of times.


I didn't get to meet the police chief, but I did visit the Massillon page of historicbyway.com, which had a couple of good photos, and some interesting information. Paul Brown, the founder of the Cleveland Browns, is a Massillon native. (I always thought that was really cool: name the team after yourself. If I ever start a pro team, I'm definitely going to call it the Wisconsin Joggers. That will strike fear into the hearts of the enemy.)

I ran seven miles today. It was a beautiful clear morning, and actually a gorgeous day all around.

Kayaking

I didn't run yesterday, but I went kayaking with a friend of mine from the Software Engineering department. This is me. No, it's not. It's a photo by Phil G that I stole from photo.net.. My friend and I went on a backwater of the Mississippi, where the water was just about as flat as a bathtub, but the scenery was much, much better. We had a great time, although my arms are a bit tired today. They aren't used to being exercised!

I also didn't run today, since Mrs. J is camping with the Girl Scouts, and she left behind three of the little Joggers, so I couldn't go out and leave them alone. So it's going to be a photo finish to see whether I beat Grandma Jogger to Wooster.

Growing Up

The first Little Jogger did not ask me to tuck her in today. This is a first. We had a big fight late in the evening. Basically, she was trying to hog a game all for herself, so I took it away and let the other three play with it. So she got very upset, and I sent her to her room. Eventually she came out and had a snack and brushed her teeth and...went to bed on her own. I'm very sad, but I was too proud to go in and tuck her in anyway. I suspect that this won't be a sharp line. It's not that I'll never tuck her in again. But she's growing out of that nightly ritual. SIGH.

Day 97 -- Hall of Fame

It was inevitable that while I was in Canton, I would visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I have never been there in person, but I'd like to go. And I certainly love their web site. It's got a lot of really good stuff. Mostly I checked out the Packers, of course. What other teams are there?

Here's a picture of me with Coach Lombardi. Mostly you see shots of him as an older man. It's interesting to see that he was a pretty good looking guy when he was younger. There was no date on this photo, so I don't know when it was taken, but he was 45 when he joined the Packers in 1959.

Oh, yeah, I had a good long (7.5 mile) run this morning to start June off right. It was cool and dry, so it was a great day for running.