34th Street Loop

I walked the 34th Street Loop this morning in 44:35.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says, "Back in the day,..."

OVERHEARD
"Every day I look at the pond, but I don't know how to swim, and I'm very scared of water because I had a very bad experience when I was young. Actually, I told my caddie last year before the tournament started, I told him if I win this tournament, I can't jump in the water. You have to jump in the water. I can't. I'm very scared. But he said, you don't have to think about that. After you win, you have to figure it out. So even this year I talked to my caddie. But, you know, if I win this tournament, I think I can do it."
—Na Yeon Choi—who nearly drowned as a preschooler—speaking of the traditional and nearly obligatory leap the Kraft Nabisco winner takes into Poppy's Pond beside the eighteenth green. Choi is tied for fifth after two rounds, three strokes behind the leader, Yani Tseng

"Yeah, she quit her job. And do you know why she quit? She said it's 'cause she didn't like her boss. I said, 'Shit, you didn't like your boss? That ain't no excuse. I mean, shit, they ain't nobody likes they boss.' "
—customer to the clerk at the Phillips 66 on Camp Robinson

Gimblett Street Loop

I walked the Gimblett Street Loop this afternoon in 1:18:29.

Levy Loop Classic/Oaklawn Park

I walked Levy Loop Classic this morning in 29:45. I wouldn't mind spending the day here on my new couch watching the Kraft Nabisco, but I guess I'll go piss away thirty bucks at Oaklawn Park. I'll watch the Golf Channel replay tonight.

Sometimes I subscribe to Jeff Krupsaw's Power of Negative Thinking. It worked today. I won $10.03 at Oaklawn, mainly because I hit the final-race, ten-cent Superfecta, good for $15.23, and the winner, which paid $7.20. What's cool is, I didn't have to buy the drive-home beer, since Corky* joined Tom and me. She's one of those people who think it's not a good idea to drive drunk.

I'm now down a total of $127.52 after sixteen trips. I believe I have four trips left. My goal, as always, is to finish at least one cent ahead. We'll see.

*if they had Rolex® World Rankings for backseat driving, Corky might be No. 1. Maybe of all time. I was impressed

Orange Street Loop

I walked and jogged the Orange Street Loop in 40:04 this evening.

OVERHEARD
"If you're not nervous, I think you're not human or something."
—Stacy Lewis on her final-round performance at the Kraft Nabisco last season. She will begin defense of her only major title tomorrow when then 2012 Kraft Nabisco starts

River Trail

I walked for two hours this afternoon, across the Big Dam Bridge and on the River Trail to Two Rivers Park, then back, to cover about eight miles. Maybe a little less. No, definitely a little less. I took it easy. Shit, it's 85°F.

35th Street Loop

I walked and jogged the 35th Street Loop tonight in 50:57, and then watched a show on PBS that made me want to go to Fenway Park. I need a girlfriend. You know, to go with me to Fenway, or to keep me from watching shows on PBS about the Red Sox.

Maple Street Loop/Hash

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 29:08, and ran Hash this afternoon from a new park on the Arkansas River in Maumelle. I was out for forty-seven minutes and covered a little over three miles.

There were two quarterfinal games yesterday in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Pam would've moved into a strong position with two victories. She needed one to keep her chance of winning alive. She lost them both in the final minute, and can now finish no better than second. Fuck.

River Trail

I walked six miles on the River Trail this morning from the I-30 bridge in 1:28:03. At 10:43 a.m., it's 64°F, perfectly clear, and windless. This should be a nice day to stay inside and watch basketball. I don't know what the standings are, but Pam has three Final Four teams left, including the two she picked to make the championship game. She was perfect last night, and has a good chance to finish in the money, or win.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says, "Let's do this," or, "Let's do this thing."

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this evening in 30:35. Yesterday I walked the 38th Street Loop in 30:37.

Sweetheart Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked the Sweetheart Loop this afternoon in 44:43, and two hours later Tom Zaloudek and I drove to Oaklawn Park, where I lost $33.20, to fall behind $137.55 after fifteen trips. I got home to learn from Walt Webb that Pam Perkins had taken the lead in the NCAA Tournament office pool. We talked for forty-seven minutes, By the time we hung up, Pam had fallen out of the lead after Louisville beat Michigan State. There's a long way to go. Still, Pam is confident.

Park Hill Loop

I walked the Park Hill Loop this afternoon in 1:17:49.

Orange Street Loop

I walked the Orange Street Loop this morning in 44:27, and later learned that Pam is in a two-way tie for third with 44 points in the NCAA office pool. She is two behind the leader, and one behind Jeff Krupsaw in second. There are forty-eight people and animals in this year's pool.

Maple Street Loop/Hash

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 29:01. Late this afternoon I covered about two miles in Murray Park on a Hash Run set by a lawyer whose nickname is Enema of the State.

Pam, I believe, was 22-10 in first-round games played Thursday and Friday, and 11-5 in second-round games played Saturday and today in the NCAA office pool. I think that gives her 44 points, which should put her in the top ten. All of her Final Four teams remain active, so she's in good shape.

Chandler Street Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked the Chandler Street Loop this morning in 43:55. Then I drove to Hot Springs and took Jim Perkins to Oaklawn Park for his first day at the races. I think he lost $10. I'm sure we both had fun. I lost $19, to fall behind $104.35 after fourteen trips. Thanks to Jim, I realized today how convenient horse racing is for cigarette smokers.

The motherfucker (Walt) running the office pool hasn't posted anything since late Thursday night about how anyone's doing in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Pool, but I believe Pam is hanging in. On consecutive nights, she's gone 14-2, 8-8, and 8-0. Her best possible finish tomorrow is 5-3. We'll see.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says "actually."*
*that person was bleeding before I typed the period. This weed of an adverb has begun to take over the English language, and is the best example of how we have allowed teenage girls to actually dictate the way we speak, and write (notice the way it fell into place in this sentence. It sounds fine, but adds nothing)

River Trail

I walked six miles on the River Trail this morning, beginning and ending at the I-30 bridge, in 1:30:40.

Pam entered the only bracket from this household in the NCAA Men's Tournament, and completed yesterday at 14-2.

Orange Street Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked the Orange Street Loop this morning in 43:39. At 11 a.m., it's 75°F. I lost $41 at Oaklawn Park, and am now down $85.35 after thirteen trips.

Levy Loop

I would not have walked the Levy Loop tonight if it weren't for my streak. It took me 33:14. I was packed full of food from the Flying Fish. Speaking of food, Jim and I ate in the snack bar at the Nashville County Club for lunch. A kid at York Gary Chevrolet told me a year or so ago that he thought they made best burger in town. I had my first today. It was as good as any burger I have eaten, sort of like the burgers at the the Redfield truck stop (halfway between here and Pine Bluff), except the patties were a little bigger, and they had a layer of thinly sliced purple onions. We had two cheeseburgers, two big orders of right-out-of-the-grease French fries. and an order of onion rings. The whole pile, with two Cokes, cost $13.

I'm reading the Daily Racing Form. There's a horse in the third race tomorrow named Jo the Cat. I feel obliged to bet on her. I pointed it out to Jim, who looked at Jo and said, "Please tell me you're not racing at Oaklawn tomorrow."

York Gary Loop/York Gary Loop/Old Center Point Road/York Gary Loop/ Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop late this afternoon in 30:35. Man, I didn't write down the times, but I kind of remember most of them. They were close to the norm. I walked the York Gary Loop in Nashville on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Jim Perkins and I were there cleaning out our mother's house. Sunday night I walked and jogged four miles on Old Center Point Road in something like fifty-three minutes. It was a little over that, but nowhere close to fifty-four. I walked the York Gary Loop Monday morning, before I learned what a mistake the Vratils made back in 2007 when they enlisted a forty-eight-year-old man to help them move. Jim and I had the assistance of four twenty-five-year-old volunteers from the First Baptist Church of Nashville. They arrived with a large pickup and a giant flat-bottom trailer. They almost said, "Would you dudes please get the fuck out of our way?", and did more in six hours than we could've done in a week and a half. They kept thanking us for donating so much stuff, as if we were heroes for not breaking our backs driving ninety-five percent of it to the dump.

I PLAN TO STAB*...
...the next person who says, "...the other side of the pond," unless they're talking about something or someone on the other side of a pond
*I apologize for forgetting to publish this Saturday

Park Hill Loop/Ghetto Cat Loop

I walked the Park Hill Loop last evening in 1:06:50. This morning I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop in 30:39.

Orange Street Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked and jogged the Orange Street Loop this morning in 35:28. It's rained since late last night, and it's still raining at 8:23 this evening. It never stopped while Tom Zaloudek and I were at Oaklawn Park. Maybe I should wish for sloppy tracks, because today I finally, at last, won some money. I left ahead $112.15, to cut my deficit after twelve trips to $44.35. My big hit came on the last race, the ninth, when I converted a $7.20 bet on a superfecta into $73.75.

Sweetheart Loop

I walked the Sweetheart Loop tonight in 45:10.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this morning in 31:01.

Orange Street Loop

I walked and jogged the Orange Street Loop tonight in 35:36.

Does anyone remember the blonde, nineteen-year-old, Central Arkansas sophomore-to-be named Sarah who ran exactly three Hash runs in July of 2006? Before yesterday, we last saw her at Burns Park the Sunday before the Vratils flew off to get married. Five and a half years later, Sarah reappeared at our post-Little Rock Marathon run. I didn't recognize her until she reminded me of her brief run, way back when Scout was cute. I remembered that for some crazy reason Rick Rainey brought two boxes of cereal and a carton of milk to Sarah's first run, and that she had a box of raisin bran in her car that she contributed to the table. She now teaches Spanish at two North Little Rock elementary schools, and remains a bit pretty.

Hash

I walked for about forty-five minutes from Alsopp Park this afternoon with Elaine, Tiny Tim, and Frost Bite on a Hash run set by Basil Julian.

35th Street Loop

I walked and jogged the 35th Street Loop this evening in 49:26.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who calls a putter "the flat stick."

River Trail

I walked six miles on the River Trail, out and back from the Big Dam Bridge, in 1:33:04 this afternoon.

Levy Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked the Levy Loop this morning in 29:49, and this afternoon again had my ass handed to me at Oaklawn Park. Z and I went, and I lost $27.40. What's good is that I found out Tom likes the back roads, maybe as much as I, so he bought a twelve-pack of Milwaukee's Best red and we came home on Highways 5, 9, and 10. The day was easily worth twenty-seven dollars.