anniversary . . . well, the other day

my friend Mike called to say a late "happy anniversary". i thought i had missed his and his wife's again. but, he was talking about our anniversary with USAir. we are now in our 23rd year. is that right? we started in October of 1987. of the two of us, he is the only one that has actually worked all those years. i have taken possibly a couple more than a few years off with leave-of-absences including the one i am on now. where is the rest of our class? we know where Steve is. Jimmy is probably doing something for "special forces" somewhere. Gary is still in Pittsburgh, maybe. and what about Jesse? Count Baba? i haven't seen or heard from him in about 10 years. back to today, Mike was in Syracuse about to go for a little walk in the rain. i was on my way to the gym on a beautiful sunny morning. Steve was probably taking care of his kids. and i am not really sure about the rest of our classmates.

just before going to the gym after a new Vinyl Cafe including a new Dave story.

no pigeons.

i couldn't resist a purple hyotan-ish shadow

10am tsuyukusa

while waiting for the bus home, i saw this guy. yes, that is a motor on his bicycle.

Game 6 cancelled. hopefully tomorrow night. why, why play night games in the cold on a weekend in New York in late october? $$$

and speaking of anniversaries, this morning while talking with Mike i looked up my blog entry from last october 24th. on this day a year ago, i walked to Manhattan Beach. i could have done the walk again today but i was a little tired from yesterday and Mike called and my neighbor Dave needed to talk about our new neighbor and then i wanted to go to the gym and be home to watch/listen to Game 6. . . excuses, excuses, excuses. tomorrow for sure i will walk to the beach before the football games. i also referenced the above song which i watched today as a part of my "workout videos" while on the stairmaster, bike and/or treadmill. i first heard this song on the BBC Scotland's Tom Morton Show. i enjoy three Killer videos during my workouts.

the first is Read My Mind (it is somewhere in my blog and was filmed in Japan), and then the above, Human and the third in the trilogy is Spaceman.

summer has returned

The Vinyl Cafe was a repeat but a good one from PEI. and i actually listened to it in the Toronto time slot which means . . . 6am. even though it is saturday (i think), i decided to catch the 735am bus to the gym for a little workout. 4 hours later and i am home. here are a few images from my morning. now it is time to walk to the beach on this gorgeous summer day.

if it looks like rain, it ain't. it does look kinda cool.

more tsuyukusa or blue asian dayflowers. note to self, 725am is a good time to photograph them.

my ride to the gym . . . the orange one on the left.

while waiting for the gym to open (8am) i found these little morning dew drops catching the sunlight from the rising sun.

.5

O-tsukisama お月様 (the moon) this morning at 710am while waiting on the bus. it was heading for the ocean and i, the gym.

after 2 and half hours of cardio, i decided to try and jog a little on the treadmill. i also set a realistic goal . . . half a mile (.5 mile). it took 6 minutes but i made it. hard to believe the last time i jogged was about 5 years ago and my last marathon was in 2001. my heart rate (according to the display on the treadmill) said 160. seems a little high to me : ) after that mile, i slowed it down to more moderate pace and increased the incline (to make up for not actually jogging). so if you are keeping track, 3 hours straight of cardio this morning and now it is time for lunch and a nap.

just in (not Justin today) time for Game One

thanks to Cherie, i was able to make it home from the beach just in time for the first pitch of Game One.  Mistake One (for today) was wearing flip flops for the little over 2 mile walk to the beach.

- another note to self - don't do that again.  now i have a new small problem on the ball of my right foot to go along with the blister on the heel of the same foot.  it would have been a much slower walk home if i wouldn't have met Cherie at the beach and if she would not have offered to give me a ride home.  by chance, Cherie is a flight attendant on a leave of absence but hers was not so voluntary as she is recovering from knee surgery.  she was in the area (visiting her church and possibly knee doctor) and decided to take advantage of the summer-like day at the beach.  thanks again to her kindness i didn't have to limp home.

here are a few photos from today:

colorful bus riders on the way to the gym...i was on my way to the gym, not sure where they were going

temptation while waiting for the bus after the gym . . . i waited for a turkey sandwich at home.

Calle Mayor Pumpkins

perhaps from Jonathan

Father and Son on a 80f day at the beach in mid-to-late October

the old man, the sea and a long board . . . it could be a Hemingway sequel

that green i love

a little more sweat, a tad more knowledge, and a few more miles

after the gym, after the workshop at the Apple Store, after the library, the clouds rolled in and out while i was walking home.

looking south

looking south and west

looking southwest

looking up

looking north (well, i was looking north, she was looking west and her two brothers were looking down).

looking west

looking south

looking up and east