Roxy training diary month 33
February 2006

Feb 22.  I gained back some of the weight I lost, so Tuesday I re-dedicated myself to the Weight Watchers regimen.  That means getting back to a regular exercise program.  Besides, I can call it preparation for a half-marathon or — dare I dream — a full marathon.

As most of you know, my iPod is an integral part of my exercise routine. 

If there is a workout song better than Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice", I haven't heard it yet.  Besides, it's one of the coolest videos ever made, as well.

Feb 19.  Dylan got his second Excellent Jumpers leg today.  That puts him in position to finish his AKC Agility Excellent Jumpers (AXJ) title at next month's trial in Idaho. 

Roxy did not do as well.  Rosemary and I swapped dogs today, and she got to "run" Roxy, but Roxy became upset at the beginning of her Novice Jumpers run when I left the building and came back just before she started.  That ruined Rosemary's run, and demonstrated a clear defect in the Optional Brain Module (OBM) that Denise Frick sent us.  We are thinking about asking for a new one.  Alternatively, I will run her for a while longer and Rosemary will stay running Dylan.

Feb 18.  Lots of stuff going on today.

Jim ran his first 10K and actually finished, with a new PR time of 1:02:30.  He was hoping to break 1 hour, but did not.  This is just about double his previous 5K time, probably showing that his pace is pretty steady.  Race results are here. Overall, his finish was 21/22 in his age group (good thing he got his kick in at the end, because he finished ahead of #22 by only a half-minute) and 292/370 overall.

It was cold, about 15°F (-9°C) at race time.  There were several colleagues from work there.  Thom Kuehls of Political Science finished 11th overall and 2nd in his age group.  Sylvia Newman, director of the Writing Center, ran with her two dogs and still finished well ahead of Jim. 

Meanwhile, Rosemary had taken the dogs down to South Jordan (about an hour south of Ogden) for an agility trial.  Dylan qualified on his Excellent A run, so that gave him the AX title.  He is now in the top class of AKC agility (Excellent B). 

Dylan celebrated with our family tradition: a can of sardines.

Jim did not get from the 10K down to the trial site until almost noon, so Rosemary ran Roxy in Novice B as well, obtaining Roxy's fourth qualifying score.  Even though Roxy got her title last month, we wanted to leave her in Novice B for a while longer.  This way she got to just run for fun.

Jim's run with Roxy was not so great.  Things just never came together, and of course he was a good bit stiffer than normal, so there wasn't a Q to be had there.  No matter, as Roxy still has her title. 

Roxy will get to run in AKC Open (the second level of AKC agility) at a trial in southern Idaho a month from today.

Feb 16.  Over a foot of snow here this morning.  I got up early and shoveled the walk and driveway while Rosemary slept.  Ain't I a prince? 

As I was out shoveling, the paper boy came by on his rounds.  One of the fantastic things about this neighborhood is we have a paper boy, and he actually walks the neighborhood between 6 and 6:30 every morning, rain, snow or shine, and deposits my Ogden Standard-Examiner right on my front porch. 

Ironically, the papers he was carrying contained an editorial I wrote on e-textbooks.  Tip o' the hat to my brother-in-law Doug Sacarto for helping hook me up with the resources I needed to write it.

Later, I was finishing up my morning oatmeal and getting ready to shower, change into work clothes, and get to my 9 am meeting, running late as usual.  Roxy came up and gently took my wrist in her mouth, with a little moan that says "Play with me!"  Her face was so sweet and compelling that I just had to run outside and romp with the dogs in the new snow.  That made me late for my meeting.  It was worth it.

One of the games we play in the house is I pick up Roxy and toss her onto the bed.  So, I adapted that to throwing her in a snowbank.  She didn't like that any better.

Dylan hides under the bed sometimes.  Rosemary caught him with her camera.

Dylan Hides under the Bed

Flying Snow, Flying Dogs

Dylan Gets Snow Tossed in His Face

Roxy About to Take Flight

Feb 15.  Sort of an anti-Valentine's day theme, since I found this site one day too late for Valentine's.

Yes, you can make filthy sayings on virtual candy hearts, as long as you can compress them into two 4-letter lines.

If you love this sort of thing, you might also like Acme's License Plate Generator (featured at left) and Ryland Sanders' Church Sign Generator.  The Church Sign Generator has been used in past RoxyLogs.

Feb 12.  A group of some 64-odd persons over on 43 Things formed a "team":

Get everyone to celebrate the 43rd day of the year (Feb 12th) by doing something TOTALLY fun and out of character

So, I spent about 43 minutes thinking about what I wanted to do for Feb 12 that would be fun and out of character. 

I've always been a jesse, but I decided to hang up my hater helmet and try out becoming a shred Barney.  (I can't be a shred betty, but I don't know if there's any term that's the male equivalent, so I'll make one up.)  Trying hard not to be a McGookin, and wanting to be hella good on the board, instead of being hausey I ended up doing some heinous shredding instead, and turned out to be a R.A.P., as I biffed because I hooked an edge, doing the Khumbu Ice Fall over and over again.

(The above links to snowboarder lingo only seem to work using Internet Explorer.  My Firefox chokes on them.)

Can I translate that into Yiddish for you?  I fell on my tuchas.  Over and over. 

I graduated from the Collège de Sore Buns.  I can barely sit right now.  However, this is far preferable to two broken wrists, which was my real concern. 

I don't know if it was fun.  It was totally out of character. 

He's Got a Ticket to Slide

A Delicate Balance

You're Going Down, Ya Big Tree

Grin of Pleasure or Grimace of Pain?

Feb 5.  I spent some time this morning playing with a new website that calls itself a "face recognition program". 

It's in its alpha testing stage.  The idea is to capture a bunch of pictures of us normal people, then compare to each other to discern family linkages. 

Does it work?  I'll let you be the judge.

I apparently look more like Camilla Parker Bowles (60%) than Hugh Grant (55%).

I might bear a passing resemblance to the President of Georgia, or to the President of the United States, or perhaps even the junior senator from the great state of Illinois.

I'm sort of a mixture of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jack Ruby, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

In a blonde wig, I could cash a check at the bank and take some of JK Rowling's riches.

Yes, I tried mightily to get it to match Roxy's face to something, anything.  No dice.  It won't match Roxy's face to anyone, no matter what I do.  I thought at least she'd match Rin Tin Tin in the celebrity database, but I guess not. 

I do think Roxy looks more like Camilla Parker Bowles than I do, but I guess I'm biased.  No, I take that back.  I think Roxy is much better looking than Camilla Parker Bowles.

This picture's top ten matches:

Hugh Grant 55%
Barack Obama 49%
JK Rowling 47%
Sam Raimi 45%
Jacques Rogge 45%
Kirk Douglas 45%
Alain Prost 42%
Sarah Michelle Gellar 41%

Jack Ruby 41%
Mikhail Gorbachev 41%

Feb 3.  Roxy's Novice Agility title certificate came today.

There was some actual obedience training going on in the den Thursday morning.  I worked Roxy on some heeling, and the "place" command; fronts and finishes; and her stays.

Roxy RN NA NAJ

We Recycle

Feb 1.  Nothing to report, training-wise.  I need to change that.

Dylan and I invented a new game tonight.  After dinner, I was tossing a cardboard box into the recycling bin, and I thought, "Dylan would sure enjoy destroying this." 

So he did.

I shoved it into his face, and predictably, he grabbed it and yanked, snarling like a wild thing. 

Rosemary went to get the camera, and we kept on shoving and shredding.  The distance between my hand and the end of the box was a good thing, as it protected my hand from the shredding process.

In the final picture, the "We Recycle" logo was a nice touch, compositionally, so I left it in.  Careful observers will note Annie's ear in the extreme lower right.  She was supervising and making sure the Rulebook was carefully followed.

Perhaps he is sensitive about his height and does not like being taunted with a "Squirt" box.