Product Review: Hot Wheels Mega Garage

The elevator really works!

The folks at Mattel have done it again. Depleting the cardboard honeycomb mines of Southeast Tunesia to package this toy which will be used for about three days. Then Norman, The Destroyer lab, will chew and crap it to pieces, and it will finally sit in a landfill for the next 500 years as historians scratch their heads with holographic head scratchers and marvel at the acres of plastic. And yes, in this scenario, a Native American stands at the edge of the dump, and a single tear runs down his cheek. But for now.... Awesome! Happy birthday Harrison.

About as Native American as I am Eskimo

Just some catch up. Last weekend I headed out to the desert to meet up with a complete stranger named Janette and hike with her through the night for about 15 miles. Oh, and this was one of six days in the year when it was supposed to rain. I got out there Saturday later in the afternoon and hung out with Stephanie, who claims to be friends with Lauren. But I can recognize a squatter simply by meeting one and squatting with them for a few hours. We squatted around in Lauren and Janette's camp and talked about lots of things, then Janette showed up for a transition. We did some math and determined that I would begin my pace loop sometime between 2 and 3am. So off to sleep I went and woke up to get back to the start at 1:30am. It was raining. At 1:30am. Night. This is the Javelina Jundred.

While waiting, I met up with some friends I had not seen in a long time and even saw some names on the race roster that I knew and will be catching up with them soon. Lauren had a tough time of it and had to stop, but my runner was still out there somewhere. Finally at around 4am, a race official told me she had dropped at Jackass Junction (sic) along with ten or so other racers and were waiting for a shuttle to get back to base. That was my cue to skeedaddle, narrowly avoiding a Navy Seal-like training experience. Watching those people cross the line after 101 miles made me want to do this Javelina Jundred thing next year  get home to a warm dry bed. And I got home just in time for the family to wake up. Cock a doodle doo.

I am starting to work on my New Year resolution list, which will likely include guidance towards running goals. 2011 has been a banner year for lots of reasons, but my running has definitely taken a back seat in these last few months. I want to increase my dedication to this past time in 2012 and reach some milestones that have been unattainable so far. I may even go to a coach, at least to give Nitmos something to rant about. Sure, I realize that coaches are for pros, but how can I ever hope to compete at the professional or olympic level if I don't have a coach? The only runner I know of at that level who is coachless is Ryan Hall, but he has that whole "Jesus Christ" thing going for him. Did you know that if your purchase a 2012 Ram Truck it will manufacture and assemble a log cabin for you in only one day? True. I've been running on Saturday mornings with a running group comprised of people who work in my school district, though everyone is welcome. We go for about 45  minutes starting near the Biltmore area in Phoenix and drink coffee afterwards. (Blog author wipes mouth and rises a bit shakey from vomiting these random thoughts out to you reader monkeys) ( I was told by a highly reliable source that calling you names would increase my roster of reader monkeys and I've always wanted 60-70 monkeys).

I went out today this morning for the Thanksgiving 5K/10 miler put on by the Arizona Road Racers. They always put on terrific events. There were lots of people there. I had originally planned to run ten miles, but my wife and kids wanted to come along so I deferred to the 5K, and ran it at an average 28 minutes. There were lots of walkers and I haven't been running much lately, so I took it easy. I have to stop this post now because I think I just burned off another calorie and I feel lightheaded. And now, a three day crescendo of gluttony!