for Saturday, 8 August

Today I got up early and ran two and a half little miles. I cannot believe how hot it is in Georgia. yikes. I ended up with a sinus migraine for the rest of the day because of that. ugh.... I left my Aunt and Uncle's house and drove up to my dad's. Oh shoot! I forgot to take a picture of his driveway. Oh well...

Soon after I arrived, Dad was eager to take Scarlet out for a drive. He drove! He never batted an eye at my first MINI, but this one he got in and drove. We went to a hunting/fishing store to get felt for his fly-fishing boots. He had to put it in reverse there. Rebecca Garrett showed me "the proper way" to put that puppy in reverse. You have to distort your body in a funky way to make it happen. The BMW/MINI engineers sure don't want you to slip into R by accident. Anyway, Dad drove her to Helen where we visited his friends at the Cigar shop where we had THE most amazing iced coffee I have EVER had. It had a hint of black cherry flavor added to it. Oh my gosh it was delicious! Fue muy sabroso! For you folks who like to drive to Helen, please stop by this place. It's on South Main Street. Anyway, once we were finished visiting, Dad drove back home, too. It was great. I'm always seeking his approval, and I think by driving it twice he gave it to me. Oh, and he so graciously offered to allow me to take his truck back to Tech with me and he would take care of the MINI. ha! Ladies and Gentlemen...I think we have a future MINI owner on our hands. Now...how do we get my step mom into the MINI, too? Not sure if she would like it or not. Dad did mention that it "hugs the curves." Yes, Dad, it certainly does. He made my day. I'm just sorry I had that annoying headache.

for Wednesday, Aug 5

I used my iPhone to record what I wanted to blog about while I was driving home to Atlanta from Blacksburg. Lots on my mind. I need to practice my transcribing skills. LOL
Here is the transcription:

2:28pm
[indiscernible music in the background]
Hello...oh..hi..ummm...listing to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Just listened to R.E.M., about to listen to The Who. I'm crusin through Charlotte, and I've got no one to tell me how much he /hates/ my music. woohoo. I stopped at Chick-fil-A, and I went in and ate by myself at the restaurant. [significant because speaker /never/ does that] I never do that, but I didn't want food in my car. And I didn't want Scarlet to smell like fast food grease, but now I feel like I need to run 8 miles. I had forgotten how hot, how horribly humid, bloody hot it is here. It is hot.
[GPS gives directions]
I think it's ninety-two degrees. Anyway, I'm listening to good music. I am in no hurry to get to Georgia. I'm enjoying my ride. It's weird. It's so weird. I'm not hell-bent on getting there. And it's a smooth ride. So far, so good. Awee... I did stall out on a hill coming out of the freaking Chick-fil-A, but oh well. Thankfully no one was behind me. Okay, that's all for now.

2:34pm
[indiscernible music in the background]
Driving. Driving through Charlotte and I just saw a plane and then also the sign [cough] for the airport. The international airport. Of course I can't help of thinking...but think of a certain person whom I flew up to see...who is completely unappreciative of my visit. But you know what? I got to go to a part of America I had never been to, /and/ I got a free ticket out of it. How sweet is that? I'm renaming the blog: MINIs, Macs, Marathons, and Men because ... life is like a marathon, driving... and learning to drive is...and running is like learning to drive, so, lots of stalls. I guess life is the same way. Okay, bye again.

2:46pm
[indiscernible music in the background]
The /bass/ in this thing is amazing. Of course... now that I'm talking...there it goes ...it's not clicking anymore...here we go. Check it out. [booming bass sounds coming from radio] This is the Harmon car..kar..Kardin [speaker is uncertain] Some upgraded sound system. I don't think this was in my last MINI. It's nice. This is just Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Can you imagine if I was just throwing down to some hip-hop and rap. Boom. Boom. Yea. Put some hydraulics on my car. uh huh. The Mexicans would love it. woooo...[speaker laughs]

3:27pm
[GPS giving directions; indiscernible music in the background]
238.6 miles on a half tank of gas. woooo...

3:32pm
We went through about a 30 - 45 second rain shower that was /torrential/, a torrential down pour. Typical 30 some odd second rain shower. But...I had ta... I ended up going 35 mph so I had to down shift and when the rain started I down shifted from 6th to 5th and then from 5th to 4th. But because the rain was so, so loud I couldn't tell if I was in 4th. Actually, I, I think I was but it just didn't sound right, so I don't know. And eventually went into 3rd then up a hill needing to go back into 4th. But, we did it. We made it through the rain shower and now the dead bugs are off of the uh...[GPS gives directions]. That's how hard the rain was. [laughter] It washed the dead bug bodies off of the windshield. The windscreen. So..we just had our first torrential down pour. And...We made it. We did okay. No body died. God's watching over us. Okay...bye.

No Stall Tuesday, except for the running part

I've got 4 minutes to get this in on the right date. No Scarlet stalls! woohoo! But ohhh...honey...on the road run. yikes! I only "ran" a miles and a half when I had to stop. I had to go to the bathroom so insanely bad that it hurt to keep running. Thankfully I was on UCB when I gave up and trotted into a Starbucks, dripping with sweat. Oh sweet relief could not have come faster. haha....Well, 5 bottles of water will do that to you.

Tomorrow - I drive home to the ATL for a rushed visit and then back to Blacksburg. Scarlet is packed FULL and ready to go.

Peace out homies! :-)

Stalls as a Metaphor in Running

My legs and I ran 3 miles this evening. It was quite pleasant outside, but it was still pretty warm. 82* with almost no humidity! I stalled out four times for a total of 6 walking minutes. I was well- hydrated (8 glasses in me from throughout the day), and I had eaten well throughout the day, having a power bar and an orange an hour before my run. I felt great, but I've been in this funk since last Thursday. Anyway, I don't know how, but I ran my 3 miles in 39 minutes. I know, I know. It's SLOW. I get it. At least I'm not home sitting on the couch eating bon-bons! :-) Anyway, that's one whole minute less than when I ran it last Thursday without stalling out at all. How is that possible? I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I guess it explains why I needed those walk breaks, OR Jeff Galloway is right, and we should take them regardless. I was getting depressed during the run, but when I saw my time at the end I was so excited and pleased with the run. I think that's what I needed to kick myself in the bum! :-)

Scarlet and I drove to get a Blacksburg City Parking Permit today only to find out that they are only issued to people up to 300, and our new house number is...well...not 300. (Sorry, but that crazy Carisa girl is stalking me.) Anyway, we now have to park on the street, and right outside my new place is a ...dun...duun....dduuuunnnnn.... A HILL! and not just any hill, a very steep hill, though not as bad as dad's. (I'll take a picture of that this weekend.) We encountered many hills today, and we stalled out on about half of them. I'm proud that I'm not still sitting at one; moreover, I'm amazed that I don't get freaked out about stalling out at all. I just take in a breath, find the sweetspot, and engage. Sometimes I squeak tires, which makes me laugh. hehe... I feel like the Dukes of Hazard or something. hehe...

After the people of pleasant ville turned us down for a parking permit, Scarlet and I motored over to set up the account for our electricity in the new place. We have Va Tech Electric at our new place.

The problems today: I started out in 2nd gear again and stalled out on a few hills. I just can't get it right with the e-brake, and I just can't remember to down shift to first when I come to a stop. ugh...

No Stall Sunday

Today marks my third Sunday with Scarlet. It's the beginning of our third week together. I made a trip out and about Blacksburg to look for a new running path. I need to find longer distances to run. Backing up was fine, but my gosh, as I pulled out of my parking lot, the car was jerking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth so badly. I still had it in 1st gear, but I was only just pulling out of the drive way. I ended up almost stopping, but then didn't have to. I don't know what was going on. That's never happened before. I want to say it was operator error, but honestly, I'm not sure on this one. Unfortunately, it set the tone for the entire trip, which was only going to be a 5 mile trip, maybe.

I drove up University City Blvd and took a right on Prices Fork towards 460. I found a four-mile path that I can run now, and consequently, a new three-mile path that I might try to run tonight.

Anyway, it was a terrible drive, but.... I did not stall out. I guess that's the good news. Scarlet is dirty from yesterday's drive. I will probably was her before I come home Wednesday.

Cory, if you're reading, my shifting was a little smoother toward the end of my little drive tonight, but in the beginning, yikes!

Pandapas Pond & Mountain Lake

Today my friend Cory and I drove to Pandapas Pond. I must say, I was disappointed in it. It looks nothing like what's on the website. It's located in Jefferson National Forest. The "pond" itself was stagnant, green, and down right icky. People were actually fishing in it. Gross! At least I had good company, as there's never a dull moment with my friend Dr. Cory Papenfuss. He showed me a few trails good for cross country running. I'll try them once the weather cools down. I'd rather not run across a snake.

After our walk around the pond, Cory took the reins to my MINI and drove up to Mountain Lake, where Dirty Dancing was filmed. It was a great elementary introduction to twisties. Before I die, I will drive the Dragon! Cory taught me how, when, and why to down shift going up hills and around hair-pin curves. We pulled over about half-way up the mountain so I could try out what he was teaching me. We did the same thing coming back down the mountain. I learned to use the engine to brake rather than the clutch and brake. Pretty cool stuff.

Once we were back in Blacksburg, Cory showed me where the entrance to the Huckleberry Trail is. FINALLY! I begged and begged stupid Ryan to show me, but he never did. Looser. Of course, now we know why. Anyway, we also practiced using the e-brake on hills. Cory says I've got the e-brake part down, but not the hill start itself. More gas. ugh...

I did not run today. I wanted to pound out five miles, but I fell asleep. It's all the better, I think, because I did not drink enough water today. I think I only had 2 bottles, and I'm quite sure I sweated that out walking around Pandapas Pond, even my knees were sweating there! Attractive, huh.

All in all, it was a fun motoring adventure. You definitely have to have someone who is patient and who has a sense of adventure. I could not have experienced today with certain other people who have to have one way in and one way out. Straight lines only. No curves. Well, I guess that's why they don't drive MINIs. ;-)

No-Stall Sunday (had stalls)

I've deemed Sundays "No-Stall Sundays." Unfortunately, today had stalls. I stalled out going to church, and then I stalled out several other times throughout the day....

I went to Mill Mountain Cafe and worked on Acrobat stuff for a while. I *finally* got in touch with my good friend Paul England. We talked shifting strategies. I'm to hold my hand like I'm holding a Coke for first and second, then palm the shifter for third and fourth, and finally dump the Coke out (upside down) for fifth and sixth. When I left Mill Mountain coffee, I took Scarlet for a drive in and around the back neighborhoods to practice my new shifting technique Paul told me about. I stalled out - a few times. Once I made it back home, I turned right and hopped on 460. We didn't go far, but I wanted to try the new way of shifting with fourth through sixth. I messed up - again - from fourth and slammed it into third - again. Scarlet screeeeeamed! I'll get it eventually. I hope.

I also looked for driving shoes today, too, but I didn't find any I'd like to spend hard earned and saved money on. I'm still driving without shoes. I realized today that I really do look good in a MINI, which sounds bad to say, and is not something I'd ever say, but hey. That car and I were made for each other. It's so very British. I also realized that I'm finally getting over a past love that was anti-British. That should have been the first red flag - or should I say yellow flag? Plus, it was Paul who once told me, "What you drive says a lot about you." I've always believed that, which is why I hated the VW. The guy I'm trying to get over drove like a little old lady. Gosh, it was awful, and he *always* drove the speed limit or slower. ugh....

This morning - I ran 2.25 miles in the rain at 8 a.m.