I Brought My Pencil!

“Give me somethin’ towrite on, man!” 

Apropos that a frozen puddle at Blick Art Materials should be art.

Actually, I found that, too, but passed it by. A black spiral notebook lay frosted on the lawn outside Blick Art Materials, or maybe it was Galesburg Sign Co. I figured it would be too defiled by moisture to be of any use, though curiosity had me wondering if it might contain some titillating secrets, the personal confessions of some heartbroken diarist.

But I already had a pencil sticking out of my right glove and a package of wrapping paper in the same hand; I really didn’t need anything else encumbering me. After all, I didn’t take a bag along Wednesday because I had no intention of stopping to pick up stuff – too much of a drain on my pace (thank you, Nike+ watch).

The pencil came early, when I turned west off Seminary to Fifth Street. I’ve scavenged other pencils, just because they are useful. But, hell, I don’t even use pencils much. I’m a pen man. The recipients of my letters can tell you I should use a pencil and eraser instead, but I like the feel of a pen, the ease of its stroke. Yet, it’s hard to pass up a useful object, even if it’s not exactly useful to me.

As soon as I picked it up, noted the traditional No. 2 on its shaft, and stuck it into my glove, I began to ponder the point of the No. 2. First, I pondered the possibility that said point might puncture my flesh should I stumble and throw my hands out to catch my fall. Surely that would have happened. I thought to reverse the position of the pencil, but, frankly, the point slid in easier than the eraser would have – or so I assumed. So I left it.

After carrying the wrapping paper a few
blocks, I decided to stuff it under my jacket.

So my pondering progressed to the specificity of the No. 2. Why are students advised, nay, required, to use No. 2 pencils when filling in the bubbles on standardized tests? Let us explore that.

“What makes #2pencils so special?” The question was posed by Mentalfloss.com, the source of the daily trivia question on WKAY-FM radio locally.

The site responds to its own question: “Most of us pick up pencils and lose them without giving it a second thought. Pencils are a bit more interesting than you might, think, though.”

We then learn that the American No. 2 – HB elsewhere – is not too light, not too dark, not too hard, not too soft. Fucking Goldilocks of the writing implement world.

Here’s the full story: What Makes #2 Pencils So Special?

My favorite bit from that is this:

Ack! I used a #3 pencil on the SAT! Is my life over?

No, but you're probably destined for a life of hard labor rather than college. Just kidding. It's hard to get a straight answer on this question, but there are quite a few reports from people online who messed up by using the wrong grade of pencil and still did just fine on their SAT. The general consensus seems to be that the SAT's scanners will read a #3 pencil's mark just the same as it would read one from a #2 pencil.

Read the full text here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/24832/what-makes-2-pencils-so-special#ixzz2lulTs53A
--brought to you by mental_floss!

Consider yourselves forewarned…

Today’s Stats (Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013)

Temp: 15 degrees F

Distance: 4.68 miles

Weekly Total: 8.18 miles

Treasure: 1 No. 2 pencil (Target); 1 pack Hallmark All Occasion Wrapping Paper (2 sheets, 20x30”)

iPod Playlist (Shuffle)

The Better Life – Trampled Under Foot

Save A Prayer – Duran Duran

Come Go With Me – Expose

I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack

American Honey – Lady Antebellum

Notorious – Duran Duran

Outro – Ryan Adams live in the XM Studios

Two Steps Behind(Acoustic Version) – Def Leppard

Perfect Blue Buildings – Counting Crows

The Grand Illusion – Styx

Comfortable (live) – John Mayer

Because I cans, cans, cans

Today was a mix of cans, some pop, some beer and some trash.

Today's Stats (Monday, Nov. 25, 2013)

Temp: 31 degrees F

Distance: 3.5 miles

Weekly Total: 3.5 miles

Treasure: 7 cans; removed three trash cans from the street.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

She’s Got A Way (live) – Billy Joel

All Night Long – Billy Squier

Stranger Here … Than Over There – Robert Plant

Father Figure – George Michael

Armageddon It – Def Leppard

My Favorite Mistake – Sheryl Crow

Every Day Is A Winding Road – Sheryl Crow

A Last Request (I Want Your Sex Part III) – George Michael

Forced Out of Bounds

It had been more than a week. Tuesday’s attempt was preempted by my social conscience and today’s run was dictated by BNSF. Again.

October photo, but I needed an illustration. I ran by it today, so it's legit.

At the top of my beloved W.C. Jackson Bridge I saw the still snake of rail cars wending west out of the yard. That meant the Academy Street crossing would be blocked. On previous occasions I have simply headed south by southwest and taken the County 10 bridge route. But I wasn’t feelin’ that today. It wasn’t the distance, just the route. So I decided to delay – but not postpone.

I wound my way through the neighborhood southwest of the bridge. Cedar and West streets running north and south; Fourth, Prospect and Fifth east and west. It worked. The train was clearing when I emerged, so I headed out Louisville Road to add some distance and hit Henderson Street. It occurred to me I could build distance in a confined space by again basket-weaving the streets. So I did: Fourth Street to Avenue B, to First, to Avenue A, back to Fourth, then Third, Second and First between Avenue B and Henderson streets.

One observer said of the map I posted that it looked as if I were running in circles. I suppose in a sense I was. But I rather liked the strategy: condensed running. Hit all the streets in a small area and still chalk up some mileage. I think I’ll do it again soon.

Today's Stats

Temp: 47 degrees F

Distance: 5.77 miles

Weekly Total: 5.77 miles

Treasure: Inner peace

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

Get It Straight – Trampled Under Foot

Migra – Santana

Alright – Darius Rucker

Clarity – John Mayer

Truly Madly Deeply – Savage Garden

Come Go With Me – Expose

Goodbye – Trampled Under Foot

Born and Raised (Reprise) – John Mayer

Moondance – Van Morrison

Shame – Avett Brothers

With Or Without You – U2

Too Long In The Wasteland – James McMurtry

S.O.S. – ABBA

She’s So Mean – Matchbox Twenty

The Son I Never Had

Heading up the bridge I saw a bicyclist riding toward me. Ugh, I thought, this is going to be a tight fit. But the young rider stopped as we met, and asked me a question.

Markus's bike in the foyer of Lombard
Middle School. The big arrow points to
the entry buzzer.

"Do you know how to get to Lombard?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I replied plucking the Bose buds from my ears. He had to repeat it twice more because of wind and traffic noise.

"Yeah, you go on up to Seminary and cross carefully," I directed. "Turn left and go to Knox Street. Turn right and just keep going  and you'll get there."

"I won't remember that," he said, bewildered.

I paused, thinking of my next move. I was running for the first time in six days. I was short on time, having a lunch date in Macomb with a dear friend I haven't seen in months. I was ... making excused.

"Come on, I'll show you. I'll take you there."

"Were you going someplace important?" he asked.

Nope, just out for a run.

He sped off down the hill as I jogged after him. I halted him at my house to get my bike. We'd ride together. Since he was on his bike I didn't really consider driving, and in hindsight I figure it was best not to ask a child who doesn't know me into my car. Maybe in more extreme circumstances, but this situation seemed doable by bike.

He complimented me on my house, and as I headed for the back door to get my bike, asked if I had anything that I could use to tighten the sagging chain on his bike.

"It keeps coming off," he said glumly.

I went inside and grabbed a couple of wrenches, flipped his bike upside down and we tightened the chain. Laying the wrenches on the cabinet inside the back porch door I went straight back to the driveway without shutting the inside back door. D'oh. No worries, though; foot traffic is light in my 'hood and the folks trustworthy.

We headed out and I immediately realized my directions, while workable, weren't the safest route for a kid on a bike, so we stayed on Fourth Street to Day, then headed north to Knox and on east from there to Lombard Middle School.

I'll throw in here that I tried to instill in him some safe riding tips, mostly keeping to the right out of the middle of the road. And to slow down when approaching an intersection in case of cross-traffic - especially important for a boy on a bike with no brakes! His little freestyle bike with a freewheel in back should have been equipped with at least a front hand brake. But the bike was bare. He skidded his left foot on the pavement to slow his forward momentum, Fred Flintstone-style.

I began asking questions as we rode. Young Markus, 9, of Holton Street was looking for a friend. He'd missed the bus to Steele School and his mom and older brother were nowhere to be found when he awoke. The friend at Lombard would know how to reach his mom.

What the hell? Who leaves a 9-year-old home alone without notice? I've heard stories from my ex-wife when she was kindergarten aide. It's a messed up world when this is how we treat our children.

We arrived at Lombard and stopped at the bike rack, where I locked our bikes together.

"Wow, nobody could get through that," he said in awe of my Kryptonite U-lock.

Ah, my boy, you don't know the skills of a big city bike thief. We're lucky in that way here in little ol' Galesburg.

I took him inside, buzzed the security button for admission to the office and explained the situation to the secretaries. They called his home number but nobody answered. They called Steele and explained the situation. Somebody would be over to get him.

"My mom has a ride for me," he protested.

But the secretaries assured him it would be OK.

They thanked me several times for bringing him in. Wouldn't anybody do the same, though? I feel some shame in my hesitation, but I rose to the occasion. I don't think that's special. And I don't tell this story for it to be about me. It's about the world we live in. And the fact that sometimes it really does take a village.

I unlocked our bikes and took his into the foyer of the school. There I left the son I never had. My friend Jane coined the phrase when I told her the story after my lunch with Kristyne. She said I was Markus's surrogate dad. I guess for a few minutes today I was.

Today's Stats (Monday, Nov. 19, 2013)

Temp: 31 degrees F

Distance: 2.65 miles (by bike)

Weekly Total: 2.65 miles

Treasure: 1 lost boy.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle)
 

Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon

It Pays to Run

See a dollar pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck. Indeed. 

I thought my morning was cursed at first. (Nice rhyme, eh?) Actually, it wasn’t the whole morning I was doubting, just the run part. I woke reasonably early enough to fit in a decent run before heading off to a meeting at work, which isn’t always the case. I get overly used to sleeping in until whenever, which is a bad habit.

For starters, the radio guy said it was 20 degrees out. Brrr. Well, my iPod Touch, thermometer for all runs, said it was 19 degrees. Now, I’ve run when it’s 2 degrees out. I’ve run when it was 20 and icy and windy. But I had my heart set on 20 and 19 just seemed that much colder. I know, crazy, right?

I reached the far side of the bridge, Rogers Park, and found my intended route blocked by an idle train. I veered south, thinking to take the bridge run I did Monday. Hey, it’d at least provide a solid comparison under the accuracy of GPS conditions. Then, as I headed out  Louisville Road, the train started rolling back into the yards, clearing the crossing at Henderson Street for me to do something different. That turned out to be a good move; found a roll of electrical tape.

From Henderson Street I looped Avenues A and B from Fourth to First Street and returned to Henderson, heading north. Across from Cooke School, in the gutter, I found a dollar bill. I’ve picked up pennies and dimes before, even a quarter or three, but never a dollar. I know, I know, it might have been lunch money dropped by some unlucky student. Then again, it might not have been. Should I run it over to the school? Leave it lie? Judge me as you will, I kept it. The rest of the day, highlighted by lunch, was great. Until now, about three seconds ago, when writing that allowed my conscience to get the better of me. Shit.

Today's Stats (Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013)

Temp: 19 degrees F

Distance: 4.09 miles

Weekly Total: 8.69 miles

Treasure: 1 roll electrical tape; 1 dollar bill.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle)
 

Busted - Matchbox Twenty

Intro - Ryan Adams XM Studio

Lobo Town - James McMurtry

Someday - Rob Thomas

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

Paradise - Bruce Springsteen

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg

Push - Avril Lavigne

The Stranger - Billy Joel

I Want Your Sex (Parts 1 & 2) - George Michael

It’s About Time, or ‘I’m Pacing Myself, Sergeant.’

For me, running has never really been about time. Oh, sure, I have on occasion set a personal goal – finish the Bix faster than the previous year, complete my first half marathon in under 2 hours 40 minutes – but I don’t track my pace and I don’t push myself for speed, only distance. And me pushing distance means surpassing 4 or 5 miles. I do try to finish a race at a dash – at least my version of a dash. 

Well, last week I was given a Nike+ Sportwatch GPS by my co-worker Nick. He’d received two as gifts and didn’t like them, so he offered me one. Nice guy. My new favorite reporter. Just kidding. Well, my first attempt to use the watch last week was a fail. I didn’t stand still long enough for TomTom to pick up the satellite signal. After Nick explained that trick to me I stood like a stone this morning until signal acquisition, then I took off.

Let me tell you the thing is pretty cool and pretty distracting. And I can see where it can be either and inspiration, as it was for me today, or a real downer if you’re just not feeling it and a glance at the readout confirms your slowness and short distance.

As I said, though, my main interest in the watch was to have a quicker method of mapping my route and checking my distance. So I set out this morning on a known route to confirm the accuracy of the GPS. I knew immediately it was spot on. OK, it registered 4.6 miles even and MapMyRun puts it at 4.64, but that’s with me tracing the route on the map with my computer cursor, so it’s not exact.

The basic readout shows distance in big numbers and mile pace in smaller numbers above. I was satisfied with my pokey 10:30 pace until I hit the County 10 bridge and dropped to 9:46 at 2.7 miles. Then it was like, hey, can I get a little faster? That’s when I started glancing at the watch more and more. And my pace fluctuated back to the 10-minute mark and then down to 9:39 and back up and then down to 9:26 and eventually 9:03 and a flat 9:00. I was psyched!

But those numbers weren’t cumulative. I guess that should have been obvious, but I was a little high, ya know? My stride felt longer, steadier, more driven, so I thought maybe I’d really rocked it. Well, true to form, my 9:00-minute pace came at the 4.56 mile mark as I poured on the “speed” for the final yards. So I was a little disappointed to discover my overall pace was 10:16, which really isn’t bad, though I’ve done much better on several of my 5K races. But I’m getting older and slower.

That watch, though, is awesome. Post-run I plugged it into a USB port and uploaded the information to the Nike+ website, where, after a frustrating fight with the login screen, I was treated to a wealth of statistics: distance, elevation variance, total time, average pace, fastest mile, fastest kilometer, calories burned, longest run (time), farthest run and Nike Fuel (which I haven’t investigated yet). Another chart shows split times and change mile to mile.

And the kick-ass part is I got to watch it create the map, which is color-coded to show where you burned the most calories. Pretty sweet. And I just now discovered you can get a satellite view that overlays the map on, you guessed it, the actual satellite image of the territory. How flippin’ cool is that? Then, when all is said and done, I was able to share my accomplishment with the world via Facebook (or Twitter, if I was a tweeter, which I’m not).

I hope I don’t become addicted to pacing, but this thing is fun right now.

Today’s Stats (Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013)

Temp: 48 degrees F

Distance: 4.6 miles

Weekly Total: 4.6

Treasure: 1 ballpoint pen (Well Care)

iPod Playlist (Shuffle)

MariaMaria – Santana

Here, There and Everywhere – The Beatles

Any Time At All – The Beatles

With or Without You – U2

Mr. Bad Example (live) – Warren Zevon

I’llBelieve You When – Matchbox Twenty

Poor Poor Pitiful Me – Warren Zevon

Long May You Run – Neil Young

Lawyers, Guns and Money (live) – Warren Zevon

Anna Begins – Counting Crows

BornTo Run – Bruce Springsteen

Africa – Toto

GirlLike That – Matchbox Twenty