35th Street Loop

I walked the Ridge Road Street Loop early this evening in 1:00:25. Here's what a moron I am; I saw trick-or-treaters along that route, whereupon I remembered it was Halloween. Fuck. After I got home, I rode my Schwinn over to Kroger, and bought the hell out of candy. I added it to the Snickers left over from last year, and am now passing it out as I watch the Cincinnati Bengals play the Miami Dolphins.

Levy Trail

I walked and jogged three miles on the Levy Trail tonight in 39:03.

Levy Trail

I walked the Levy Trail this afternoon in 33:22, the last half mile very slowly with a c. 70-year-old man named Charlie Graves. He was nice. He said he'd lived in Levy since 1972, but I didn't recognize him, nor he me; that seemed odd, considering how much I have run and walked in Levy over the last 26 years, and that he's missing his left hand.

Park Hill Loop/DFL

I walked the Park Hill Loop this morning in 1:17:41. Football weather still resides in Levy.

The DFL Packers held on to win 110.66-94.47 over Russellmania III, and to advance to 8-0. The best previous start for the Packers was 5-0. We are now on a 12-game regular-season winning streak, and a 14-game streak including last season's playoffs. Our team record is 15. I'm not sure of this, but I think the DFL record is 18. I know we're second on the all-time list. We are nevertheless vulnerable, no more than two injuries away from being completely cornholed.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
How the fuck long does it take to listen to sixty million phone conversations?

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THIS MEANS
A Little Rock runner named Jack Evans wrote this on Facebook, concerning a lovely photograph of Pikes Peak published by Petra Williams:
The magnetism of Zebulon. Accept the challenge and you will get a view most people are not willing to give of theirselves which you have to take step by step up Barr Trail. To Be or Not To Be Is Unacceptable.*

*I was nearly certain that Jack has not written scripts for the television show The Office, but am no longer. Doesn't that sound exactly like something the original boss would've said, or written?

Maple Street Loop/DFL

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 30:37. It feels exactly like football today—gray, cold, and damp. The leaves are starting to turn.

The Democrat Football League Green Bay Packers lead Russellmania III, 110.66-74.47. Russellmania has the Seattle Seahawks' defense going on Monday Night Football, plus two defensive players, and a crappy receiver whose name I cannot recall. Yahoo® predicts the Packers will win, 110.66-98.16. We'll see. The NFL Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings tonight, 44-31.

Ridge Road Loop

I walked the four-mile Ridge Road Loop at lunchtime in 1:01:36. It's nearly perfect out, 55°F, partly cloudy, with a light breeze. Samantha converted to winter mode yesterday. She's in the house roughly a third of the time. Her new indoor post is the arm rest of my couch, immediately to my right. She sits there, bathes herself, and complains. She's Sam.

Ghetto Cat Loop

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this afternoon in 30:53. At 6:06 p.m., it's 52°F.

Burns Park Loop

The Geezers provide, I think, an example of mob mentality. When there are five or six of us out there, we don't worry about Ann Moore. We just walk off and leave her, and then a couple of us will wait at our cars until she finishes. Today, Bill Brass, Ann, and I were the only ones out there, and Bill and I routinely stopped to let Ann catch up. It took us 1:59:50 to walk 5.8 miles, including the 5.4-mile Burns Park Loop, plus an extra 0.4 miles because our regular parking lot was closed.

35th Street Loop

It's a good thing the Ouachita Trail 50 wasn't today, because it was hard work for me walking the ol' five-mile 35th Street Loop this morning. I finished in 1:17:17. My legs were deader than all those school teachers.

Levy Trail/DFL

I walked and jogged three miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 38:43. I haven't reported on my left hip in a while. Roughly two months after I hurt it, what I feel in it is no more than a minor hint, or reminder that I indeed have a hip joint. As I've written before, it's a feeling I would not give a second thought to if I wasn't looking for it. That's truer now than the last time I wrote it.

The DFL Packers defeated K-Squad, 103.36-74.26. It was our second lowest point total from eight games. My team is a little banged up, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster in particular. He's hurt one of his hamstrings. The coming weekend is a bye for Houston, so at least he'll have an extra week to heal. We're playing second-place Russellmania III next in what should be our sternest challenge thus far. Our thirteen-game winning streak is in significant jeopardy.

Levy Trail/DFL

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 31:06, wearing blue jeans and a new jacket. I'm leaving in a moment, in the same outfit, to pick up Jim and Karen at Dad's in Hot Springs. Today is Mother's 81st birthday, so we're going to Nashville to visit.

The DFL Green Bay Packers have won this weekend to go to 7-0. Monday Night Football will give us the opportunity to pile on a few more points. We currently hold a 99.36-74.26 lead over K-Squad, the team we defeated last winter in Cooper Bowl XVI. Tonight we hope for the Minnesota Vikings to hold the New York Giants to as close to dick as possible so that we can further extend our lead over all these other piece-of-shit teams. The NFL Packers beat the Cleveland Browns by a lot, I can't remember how much, to go to 4-2.

Maple Street Loop

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 30:25.

35th Street Loop

I forgot. Starting at about 5:15 this morning, I walked and jogged the four-mile 35th Street Loop in about 55:20-something, I think. Twenty minutes later I drove to downtown to watch Leah Thorvilson win the Race for the Cure, which is significant since they let men race this year. I timed her and forgot to save my 35th Street time. It was cool today, cold in the morning.

By the way, have you heard of Tom Cotton? He's a U.S. Congressman from Arkansas' 4th District, kind of a Tea Party guy making a race for the U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor. It is already a very high profile race here. You can't watch a football game without seeing three or four ads from each. Point is, Cotton finished second in the men's division this morning, ran about 20:05. Crazy. What's with these Republicans and fast 5Ks?

Levy Trail

I walked three miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 44:43. I jogged a little, but probably not for more than two minutes or so.

Park Hill Loop/Levy Trail

I walked the Park Hill Loop yesterday evening in 1:17:27, and two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 29:10.

Levy Trail/DFL

I walked for 1:12:39 on the Levy Trail this morning with Ron Gimblet, through an ever so slight drizzle. It was nice. I'd say we went about four and a half miles.

The DFL Green Bay Packers defeated the Sherwood Shigellas, 121.23-93.63.

Levy Trail/DFL

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 30:32.

The DFL Green Bay Packers lead the Sherwood Shigellas, 121.23-89.87. The Packers have Indianapolis Colts linebacker Robert Mathis going in Monday Night Football. Sherwood has San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Brown. Yahoo® projects a 124.04-99.35 victory for the Packers. His guy would have to have one of the best games in NFL history for my team to lose. The NFL Packers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 19-17.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...myself, the next time I hear Malala Yousafzai start screaming

Levy Loop/Park Hill Loop

I walked and jogged the Levy Loop late last night in 25:07. This morning I walked the Park Hill Loop in 1:18:41.

Levy Trail

I walked and jogged two miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 27:26.

Park Hill Loop

I walked the Park Hill Loop this afternoon in 1:13:49.

Levy Trail

I walked and jogged two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 24:57. At 7:55 a.m., it's 50°F. I wore a sweatshirt.

Ghetto Cat Loop/DFL

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this afternoon in 30:03. The DFL Green Bay Packers easily held on for a 133.46-120.64 victory over the Cavemen. There's no stopping us.

THE DAY'S EVIDENCE THAT FERVENT PROPONENTS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES ARE EITHER BRAINWASHED OR STUPID
Many trying to resist the current polarization or find some sort of middle ground are punished by both sides. One of the clearest examples of this dynamic came in mid-September when senior Brotherhood official Salah Soltan published a unilateral apology to the nation on behalf of the Brotherhood. Soltan’s US-citizen son Mohamed was shot in the Aug. 14 siege on a Brotherhood sit-in site and later arrested after two weeks on the run. Nevertheless, Salah Soltan wrote a month later that the Brotherhood should “apologize to the nation for our political mistakes…we are not against Egypt. We are part of Egypt.”

Among the mistakes he mentioned was a failure to better include the non-Islamist and revolutionary youth into their decision-making processes—spawning divisions and a national paranoia over the Islamist agenda that eventually turned much of the country against the Brotherhood.

But rather than becoming some sort of rallying point for the start of a push for reconciliation, Salah Soltan immediately became a man without a country. The Brotherhood distanced itself from his comments, saying Soltan did not speak for the organization. And, within days Soltan was arrested at Cairo airport by the very government with whom he was trying to reconcile.

Read more: http://world.time.com/2013/10/08/there-are-two-egypts-and-they-hate-each-other/#ixzz2hBKss649

Park Hill Loop/DFL

I walked the Park Hill Loop early this afternoon in 1:10:59. I jogged a little, for a total of about five minutes.

The DFL Green Bay Packers lead the Cavemen, 133.46-120.64. The only way the Packers will lose is if Tom DeCoud of the Atlanta Falcons intercepts three passes tonight, which would tie an NFL record. The NFL Packers beat the Detroit Lions, 22-9.

OVERHEARD
"The one thing the American people won't tolerate is obstructionism."
—Secretary of the treasury Jack Lew

Maple Street Loop

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 30:44. It's perfect out today. Watching the Traveller inspired me. It's time for me to get started in order to finish the Ouachita Trail 50. My hip is close to normal.

NEW THING AT THE ARKANSAS TRAVELLER 100
Lots of people walking around in circles, and in some cases for a half mile or more, looking for smartphone signals. We're doomed

Ouachita National Forest

WILLIAMS JUNCTION—The latest woman I have met who falls into the category of women I would marry based on nothing but physical appearance and a thirty-seven and a half-second conversation, on the chance the marriage would work for thirty or more minutes, is Sarah Miller, 23, of Starkville, Miss. She was last year's winner of the Arkansas Traveller 100 women's division, and was in second place at approximately 48 miles in this year's Traveller when she and I talked at the Powerline aid station. I jogged and walked a total of about five miles during the afternoon and evening, two at Powerline, and three from the finish line, out and back on Arkansas 324.

WHY HEIFER INTERNATIONAL NEEDS NEW BOOK BAGS
There was one at the Powerline aid station which read, "Working for an end to poverty and hunger and a cleaner planet"

Levy Trail

I walked three miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 45:59.

35th Street Loop

I walked and jogged the four-mile 35th Street Loop tonight in 51:31, and felt much better than last night. My splits were 13:01, 12:50, 12:52, and 12:48.

Levy Trail

I am unfit. My legs were deader than Tom Clancy as I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 32:22.

Fort Roots Loop/First Tee

The Geezers walked the Fort Roots Loop this morning. Bill Brass and I jogged 1.5 miles en route. We completed six miles in 1:45:17, and the jog in 16:29. As a warmup for tonight's Cincinnati-Pittsburgh wildcard game (which we plan to watch at a Buffalo Wild Wings), Jeff Krupsaw and I played nine holes at First Tee this afternoon. I scored a 51, with 1 par, 2 bogies, 5 doubles, and 1 triple. I used 21 putts, the second most since I started keeping count. Last week it was because the greens were so fast. This week someone poured sand all over them.