Omaha Packet Pickup and Expo

So here we are in Omaha.  Nebraska…..Actually that is not true…we are actually in Carter Lake…a small section of IOWA inside the city limits of Omaha Nebraska.   Do a Google Maps search and check out the weirdness!   I guess years ago, the Missouri River flooded…then receded, leaving an entirely different boundary for the state line.   Iowa Sued for the rites to the lost land….and WON….but then forced the residents to form a new city that was cut off from Iowa and the opposite side of the river….the Nebraska side.   Confused?   That’s Politics!     

Anyway,  a quick boundary jump and we are on the Nebraska side again.   We found the “Expo” and Cheryl picked up her racing packet with all her goodies and Racing Shirt.    The Expo was so small I forgot to even take pictures of it!  I guess this marathon/half marathon/5K/10K is rather small.  Perhaps 2000 participants…..For a city as large as Grand Rapids ( Michigan)  I’m thinking this is rather disappointing.   We overhead some locals that were next to the start line wondering what was going on….I guess they had not even heard that a marathon was going on tomorrow…

   Ah well,   To kill a little time and take in the sites,  Cheryl suggested we cross over a pedestrian bridge that crossed the Missouri River.  While there, we watched some boats,  some Bumble Bees, and some moths.   In addition,  we posed with the state line.   That is Pretty Much all the sites of Omaha we took in.

Other than that, we discovered something cool…..HONEY BROWN!   YES!  They have a stash here in Nebraska.  (Not sure why Iowa had banned my favorite beer.)   In addition,  we found a local brew….and some soft drink that is sure to boost Cheryl Performance tomorrow.      

So that is it!  Kind of a boring post.   Usually there are more pics and cooler things to talk about…but this is Nebraska!   Take Iowa….remove the Pigs, soybeans, and Trees and you have Nebraska.  Ok perhaps that is a little harsh.   Cheryl thinks I’m in a “mean” mood today because I said her hair was poofy.   Perhaps it is the pre-race jitters….or she has become a Diva Runner….But I would like to think my comment was made in jest for the sake of comedy and not out of spite. But what do I know……I’m thinking no matter what the results are tomorrow…..this trip has already been a success by locating a stash of Honey Brown!…..What could be better than that?  ( Ok,  Maybe a new PR for Cheryl’s half marathon time…..we shall see.)   Wish us luck tomorrow!   The weather is supposed to be pleasant and the race is literally a stones throw away.  ( ok, about a mile and a half…..but it’s close!)  The only way for Cheryl to get out of her Diva mood is to do something awesome.   ( Fingers crossed!)

Enjoy the rest of the pics!

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The Tarantula Living in the Hallway

A quick post about our current “spider” problem.  Lately,  these …rather large…spiders have been invading our humble abode.  I have been meaning to blog about them for about a week now…ever since Cheryl discovered one hiding in her bath towel!  She came screaming out of the bathroom…mouth full of toothpaste.   I had no idea what the heck was wrong, figuring that she was choking on her toothbrush or was being electrocuted!   I discovered later that the spider had decided to abandon the towel and instead climb up on Cheryl shoulder.

   That was a Big spider.   We found it on the couch and released it outside.  (It is a good idea not to kill BIG spiders as they are …”gooey”.   And besides,  we love ALL God’s Creatures…even the big, ugly, scary ones.   Another Spider of similar size was found a couple days later……Hiro was chasing him around the floor. Perhaps it is the change in the season…..

However,  TONIGHT…..I discovered a REALLY BIG spider.  ( ALL CAPS BIG!)  I have not seen a spider of this size outside of a pet shop…The picture does not do it any justice.   It was big a hairy!  Larger than a 50 cent piece! Cheryl has had Phantom Bugs crawling on her ever since she took the picture!  I believe that this spider was either a North American Funnel Spider.  OR a Female House Spider.  I’m “Pretty Sure” that it is not one of the poisonous ones…but I was not going to find out.   He is now “safely” outside in the neighbor’s lawn.  ( Cheryl said take him as far from our apartment as possible.) 

So Now my night is going to be filled with Nightmares of oversized spiders.   They seriously give me the Willies! ( Shudder!)  Don’t get me wrong….I like spiders just fine.  They eat bugs and keep pests in check….as long as they do it outside…and a safe distance away…. 

The Good, The Bad, And the Happy!

  I have GREAT news!   I also have some bad news….perhaps I should start with the bad news so I have something to look forward to.

Ok,  First the BAD news then….I failed to pass the final Qualification set for Pearson.   I know, I know.  Bummer!  I feel “kind of” bad.  I mean,   This means I will not have any income from a job for the next three weeks.   Also, I May have jeopardized my future employment prospects for Pearson….specifically,  for THIS particular English Project.  I’m not sure if they give you a second chance to score a project you once failed to qualify for. In my defense, and to make me feel slightly better,  I did much better on the second Qual set, missing only ONE point and having NO discrepants this time. ( Soooo close!)   But a failure to meet the standard is still a failure…so…no scoring for me.

And Now the GOOD news!   I failed to pass the final Qualification set for Pearson!   I know, I know!    WHEW!   That was a close one!   I ALMOST passed….dooming me to a “JOB” for the next three weeks!  Everyone who knows me should know that I Hate working.   ( for a job, that is)  And besides,  We sold four more stockings today!   I had to embroider names AND sew on the buttons.   Who could do those things while having a job anyway?   ( Ok, Granted, it is just scoring.    You can do it at home!)   I guess this proves that I like the “Self Employment” gig better…..except for the sporadic income, greedy government, lack of “benefits”,  and unruly customers.  Ah yes!  ( Breaths Deep)   Nothing smells like the freedom of working for yourself.   ( cough!)

So,  now I have more time to blog.   This is how blogging “helps” when life throws you a curve ball.  ( Swing!  Miss!  Ah well, that was going  foul anyway!)  I have to admit that that was a challenging project.  I may have been able to “get it” with time and persistence.   I only had 32 papers at my disposal to formulate a working formula for the scoring system. I know that the training is meant to qualify the most people in the shortest amount of time, but some of us need more data before coming up with a working theory.   That is just the “Biologist/mathematician”  in me.  (And not because I’m “slow”  at learning new things…..usually.) 

With the Half Marathon in Omaha coming up,  there will be much less time for reflection.  I’ll have to play the supporting role again, and that will require concentration.  Hopefully, Cheryl will clock a decent run time this race to further build her confidence before the big Twin Cities Marathon.  The weather may still be a factor as it has changed, yet again, from a few days ago.  I guess it “may” be cooler…..which is better than “hot”.   We shall see. 

Hopefully everyone else who reads this is experiencing  Good Fortune, or at least “narrowly escaping disasters” in your day to day life.   Sometimes things work out for the best, no matter how bad they may seem at the time.  As for me…I will continue to listen to newly discovered old Beach Boys tunes…..And maybe look up ways to harvest hops and brew beer. Enjoy the latest Tune as we wrap up Summer….

 

Instead, Imagine Pretty Butterflies…..

Well, the Pearson Qual sets are looking pretty grim.  I finished the last training set and did my first of two Qual sets…..let’s say things could have been better.  I’m not sure if it is reassuring or disheartening to think that I missed it by so little.  I don’t think that barely passing will give me as much confidence as you might think.   Instead of sticking to vagaries,  I’ll just say that I missed the first Qual set by one in two of the four domains….and missed it by one non-adjacent in one of the other domains.   So…FAIL!   Please Try again.
I have only one more Qualification set to get it right….so..no pressure!   You think I would be a little more anxious about this, however,  I’m mentally drained after slugging through that last set of papers….Funny how scoring really taxes your mind.  I’m unusually tired for this time of day, and I’m guessing that the reading and evaluation of papers is the blame. On the other hand,   we sold three stockings today, and I had to take time out to do the names on three and the buttons on two of them.   Looks like I will find things to do in my spare time without scoring…should I fail the next Qualification set.  So…No Pressure!
  Other than that,  Cheryl and I went on a 14 mile tapering run this morning.   It was a nice day and Cheryl ran at a level she can be proud of.  ( especially after that 22 mile long run.)   A couple things of note were the butterflies!   Lots and LOTS of butterflies.   Monarchs must be getting ready for their long flight to Mexico.  We would pass by large clusters of field flowers and the Monarchs would swarm over us as we passed by.   It was similar to being in a butterfly garden!  Bummer I did not have the camera to take a few pics or video of the event.  Maybe they will still be out there for our next long run.
In addition to that, I discovered something unusual…..Wild HOPS growing along the trail!   What are Hops,   you ask?     Hops are a Key ingredient for BEER!   I have never seen them except on beer labels and posters.   So, To find Hops growing Wild on the trail makes me want to go out and pick some so I can take a stab at brewing my own beer!    We shall see how motivated I am about it perhaps later this week. 
So, Wish me Luck on the Final Qual set!  If I pass YEAH!  I’m not only smarter than I sometimes think..But will be able to have employment for three weeks.   If I Fail!   Ah Well….What are you gonna do?   I will focus on stockings and  maybe blog more.   Blogging is a way to ease the depression a bit.  And it exercises my fingers! 

Pearson, Asteroids and Beach Boys…..Oh My!

So today marks the third day of Training for Pearson EHS project.  Technically I did not do much on Saturday, due to the Technical problems.  But Yesterday I slugged out the 82 page Training and today I took my first stab at the “Practice sets” 

“Practice” is putting it kindly….It should instead be called :” Exercise in Demoralization!”   Your first practice set…Unless you are AMAZING…..is usually a total nose dive.   You study your anchor papers and match up the ones that “seem similar”, only to have a big red X drop on your head.   AND…..This is a 4 Domain 6 Score Point Rubric!   24 things that can go wrong!  (This probably does not make much sense to people outside the scoring world…..but it is difficult to wrap your head around it.

Anyway, I plan on Qualifying tomorrow…..Or not!   Putting my Intelligence to the test is always something that scares, motivates and frustrates me.  Besides that,  We sold 4 stockings today, and I had to take a time out to embroider names and sew on buttons.   Sooooo….If I DIDN’T pass the Qual set ( I really would be irritated if I did not!)   The silver lining is that I would be freed up for stocking production.  Murphy's Law dictates that when I have free time, the stocking sales will dry up…so add in more incentive to pass the Qual set.

In addition to trying to understand English…I occasionally jump into You Tube for my daily dose of “Bad World Syndrome”   And found out that in addition to being scared of Rouge Cops…..The Earth is supposed to be hit by a giant Asteroid sometime in the later half of THIS MONTH!   And Here I was afraid of Global Warming! 

Well,  you can imagine after the total panic phase of human emotions,  I calmed down realizing that there was yet another reason why qualifying for Pearson was not as vital as I might have thought.   If we are all going to die in a couple of weeks, well…..what is the point?

Other than World Destruction and Mental Failure….I discovered several songs of the Beach Boys I have never heard before.   I actually thought I had heard them ALL…..I was a HUGE fan ( still Am!) Back in High School.  So here they are…Enjoy!

Pearson Training woes!

    Today was the first day of training for my Pearson Project.  I still am not sure what it is…something about English I think.   The Reason…is because for the first three hours I was trying to figure out how to get the Epen System to work!   I guess they changed a few things over the last month or so…and now I had to download ANOTHER browser…..and upgrade it several times to get the Epen system to work…..

Of course this took longer than expected.   And I was tip-toing through a minefield trying to figure out the problem and not mess up my other operating systems on my computer while trying to fix this one.  Thankfully, I was able to chat with online help….but they seemed as lost as I was ( though he DID eventually point me in the right direction….Yeah!)

Wrestling with technical problems is usually an exercise in frustration….turning me green as mentioned in previous posts.   However, I was able to quit before I turned down the dark path.  I still have several days of training..so there is no rush at the moment.  And seriously,  how can you handle online training when you are flirting with insanity?  Best to start back up fresh tomorrow.

You might be thinking:  So what?   You get paid for this, right?    Well that is the thing…all that tech fuss was not on the clock.  I guess I can ( AND WILL) add in the hours later this week.  If ONLY Pearson had not banked on the Java and Shockwave add-ons that Google Chrome and Explorer dumped!  Now I have to open everything in FOXFIRE!   A Browser I have never heard of!  Maybe they are up and coming…maybe they are so old that they are the last ones with Java and Shockwave on their platforms.  We shall see how things pan out….Hopefully I’ll at least train a bit and find out what I’m supposed to be scoring.( Something about English, I think…)  Wish me luck!

Cheryl’s 22 Mile Dog Run

Actually there are lots of titles I could have chosen for today’s post, but I thought I would stick with one of the positives…..and one that avoided profanity.  And besides,  I LOVE dogs!  People may use the label of “dog” as a bad thing.  Master’s Dog, Dog of the Military, Dogs of War, Died like a Dog, Throw him to the Dog’s, face like a Dog!  These are all terms that people use as insults.   WELLLL…..The Dog is a Noble Beast that has a side that some people conveniently forget!    They are Loyal, Social, Team Players,  who can achieve great things as a group ( or Pack) that an individual could not on his own.  They are smart, friendly, and loving.  It probably might help to know that I was born in the year of the Dog….and I think that fits my personality well.  But before I get too distracted….Let’s get back to the run.

It has been cooler the last couple of days.   Great for running!    I’m pretty sure it even rained last night, bringing in even cooler temperatures.   We have been getting up early trying to avoid the heat of the sun, but the temps were cool enough for us to start a bit later.   YEAH, SLEEP!    

However,  a strange phenomenon has occurred recently where EVERY ROAD leading to Keota has been cut off.   This is peculiar because just a few days ago, we had been going there and the roads were fine,   then, suddenly they decided to work on several roads simultaneously? I’m wondering if an Alien Abduction or crash landing happened there recently and the Government is trying to keep the situation contained.   Everyone knows that Alien activity spikes around harvest time in Iowa….When the Corn is at its highest.  (Hello!   Crop Circles, Anyone?)

Other than irritating, this situation causes us problems because we were unable to park our car at the trail head.  So this morning we started in West Chester,  the Half Way point of the trail.    This caused us problems because now we have to map out how we wanted to tackle the trail ( The trail is only 14 miles from start to finish) without backtracking too many times over the same area. 

 Cheryl decided we should go down the trail we used  earlier in the summer;   The path leading towards Washington.  This path has become a challenge lately because of the Moss that has grown over the trail.   It makes the path VERY slippery ( even for my bike!) and a challenge for Cheryl as she tries not to fall or trip.  She thought that the path would have dried up recently, AND since we were only going down it a few miles before turning back, we would avoid the trouble spots.   She was wrong!  Similar to walking on slimy, wet, polished marble,  the trail was slick.   This INSTANTLY put Cheryl in a bad mood….Not a good sign when you still have 20 miles to go and your mental capacity is the main driving force.  We turn around and decide to revised our path plans.   

At least there was no BONK!   She did not quit or walk at any time…instead….She released DARK CHERYL!   In Anime Lingo, we call this “Dark Momoka!”  The flip side of reason and sanity.   It’s a good thing THIS personality does not show up very often, because the neighbors would begin to talk….

It’s even a shock for me sometimes!  I do not see Dark Cheryl very often…so when she makes an appearance,  I have to fall back and assess how best to handle the situation.  I’m lucky in that these instances are rare.  Poor Cheryl has to put up with “Dark Ethan” more often…..But by being exposed to that side of me frequently, she has learned to wave her hand and boss me…even when I turn green!

So, between fits of DARK CHERYL and silence,  we encountered a couple things I believe were sent from the heavens to save me in my Dark Cheryl moments.   A couple of walkers and cyclist were also using the path….Something that is fairly rare.   They showed up just when the situation began to look grim.   Dark Cheryl usually retreats whenever a stranger is present.   It was a “Moment of Calm” that I will cherish.

   And then enter the DOG!   About mile 19,   an American Bull Dog appeared.   I’m prepared for this!   I have a stash of dog twists for larger dogs that we encounter on the trail/road.   It gives me an excuse to run up and pet them.  Cheryl, on the other hand, is not so friendly to dogs.  The Local Golden Retriever has done wonders in curing Cheryl of her Phobias….but she does not share much love for the canine counterparts.  Add in that this is a BULL DOG!   Even I was a “little concerned” because even though they are a lovable bundle of JOY,  sometimes they do not know their own strength….namely jaw strength.   And What dog does NOT love to play a game of “Chase”? 

Dark Cheryl must have still been in control, because she did not slow, stop or waver when the dog ran up to her.  Instead she simply ran as if the dog was not there,  pausing only for a moment as to not trip over him.  As for me,  I was whistling and calling and pulling out treats to give to my new unacquainted friend!   Who could resist that mug with a waggy tail?

    He didn’t take any treats ( surprising, as these are the chewy types that larger dogs love)  but instead let me pet and scratch him all over.   After a few moments,  he ran back after Cheryl and continued to run with us for the remainder of the distance.  It was a strange thing,  an unknown dog following us for three miles and then…simply returning home.   He looked like he was having a great time running with total strangers.

Later, Cheryl confessed she was tempted to cut the run short, until that stupid dog joined in and ran around…making it look so easy and fun. We finally got home and Cheryl crashed on the front lawn.   I told her she looked like a chalk outline for a crime scene.   Even Hiro had to instigate if she was alive or dead.  

So that is it!   Cheryl survived her 22 mile long run…( And I survived Dark Cheryl!)  and now we begin tapering down for the Marathon.    We have a half marathon next week, so hopefully we will have something to chat about then.   Until then, looks like I will be scoring for Pearson tomorrow. ( If I qualify, that is!)  We shall see.  Have a Great Weekend!