I have been running since September and have been logging all of my runs since October, and syncing my runs with Nike+ since December 18, 2011.

as of today I have logged runs for about 180 miles.

my new year plans include

Run for 800 miles

Bike for 2012 kilometers about 5.5K a day.

Elliptical for 30 minutes a week. this one is low due to all the other stuff

Run for 20 day streak in January (including December)

Run for 30 day streak in February including January and March.

Streak run must be at least 1 mile in length at current pace.

I am no longer tracking my steps like I did previously.

www.dailymile.com so far the best overall site for what I have and need.

www.smashrun.com Great site for comparing like runs but limited to only runs

www.runningahead.com Great site, no Nike sync at this time, but it is in the works.

www.nikerunning.com disastrous start to the Nike + Apple failed sync, failed logins I nearly gave up.

www.active.com Sight is slow in December 2011

Western Wisconsin volunteers collecting signatures for the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker have allegedly again been met by aggressive opponents.

On Monday, a group of volunteers in Hudson said they were approached by a man who knocked over and tore signs before urging a member of the group to “take a swing” at him, according to a police report.

Hudson police cited Donald Rindo, 51, of Hudson for disorderly conduct and destruction of property.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Rindo declined to elaborate on the accusations against him.

“I’m terribly upset that they would smear my name like that,” he said. “I’m not going to smear their name and say anything about what they did or did not do.”

The incident comes on the heels of similar episodes elsewhere.

On Dec. 18, a 32-year-old woman was arrested in River Falls for allegedly spitting on a woman who was collecting signatures for the Walker recall.

On Dec. 17, Pierce County authorities were called after a man began shouting at recall signature collectors in Elmwood, but the man left before officers arrived.

Also on Dec. 17, two men, ages 55 and 28, were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct for allegedly spitting on people gathering recall signatures in the village of Arena, about 30 miles west of Madison.

The effort to recall Walker will need about 540,000 signatures – or 25 percent of the 2010 general election turnout – by mid-January to trigger a recall election. Organizers announced two

weeks ago that they had collected more than 507,000 signatures.
The recall effort follows Walker’s controversial changes in public employees’ collective bargaining powers.

Andy Rathbun contributed to this report.

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[b]), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”^[c]

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[e] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Does He need us to declare His glory? No, He is the Lord.

The parable about the three persons and the talents that there were given, 10,5,1 and the Lord returns to ask, what have you done with what I have given you? Not familure? Read it here.

Now jump back to Exodus 33 and 34.   Moses just brought down the commandments and broke them when all the meyhem that the Isrealites were doing, including the golden calf. Moses heads back up the mountain and as the story goes eventually Moses asks the Lord to let him see His Glory!?!?

when I was typing that in at first I was thinking that was very BOLD of Moses to want that and to actually ask it. But as I recall the story and how difficult times it was for Moses…It had been a very difficult recent past for him. Then I took the time to relate that to my difficult times. It was then that I could see the point that Moses was making to himself and to me. Frustration may have hit and he wanted proof of who he is following to lift his spirits? Perhaps some strong encouragement.

God obliged him and showed Moses His Glory, well kind of. No one could (can) see the Lord and live, so the Lord covered Moses with his hand. Moses Fell down and prayed and worshiped the Lord, declaring his Glory.

So now I am left to compare how my times are difficult to what Moses had to deal with. He was surrounded by people that all say they believe and follow the Lord, they worship the Lord, but yet the actions they take are so different then what he sees they should be.

My troubles are small compared to his, the amount of people that I am responsilbe for are small compared to his. My talent is small campared to his. His being Moses, but the Lord fits in a whole new way as well.

I love you Lord and Thank you for all you do.

Shop Vac used to suck up all the water, glad that I had just purchased a new one just the day earlier. God works in mysterious ways.

We still needed to pull up the carpet, the wet area was about a ten foot squared area around the fireplace. We filled the ShopVac three times, that was a lot of water.My thoughts are that we do not have a chiminey cap and I am guessing most of that rain came down that.

We put fans on and blowing the carpet which we have folded up on the exercise equipment. Bout time that exercise equipment was used for something.

We then left for Vacation. Yes that is right, this was discovered as we were on the way out the door for vacation. Again God’s Glory shows through, we had no reason for discovering this moisture on the day we are only going to be in the house just a few hours after we wake. But he made sure that my wife was concerned that the family room was clean BEFORE we left and send the young one done there to pick up any pop cans and other trash. Thank you Lord.

After a week, we returned to dry floor. Thank you Lord.

I now needed to re-lay the carpted and tacked it, having never done that I got some information from here and here.

I was unable, in the short time I needed to get this done, find anything other then the knee kicker. Since I do value my knees, I also bought a rubber mallet and used that instead of my knee to pull the carpet.

I think I did an alright job. perhaps not perfect, but asking visitors if there are able to find the wrinkle, only my wife as found it. (Figures)

Waiting for “Superman”

2010 PG 111 minutes

Dynamic documentarian Davis Guggenheim An Inconvenient Truth weaves together the stories of students, families, educators and reformers to shed light on the failing public school system and its consequences on the future of the United States. In this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary, Guggenheim deftly examines the options to improve public education and provide Americas teachers and students with the help they need.Cast:Geoffrey Canada, Michelle Rhee, Bill Strickland, Randi Weingarten, Daisy Esparza, Bianca Hill, Anthony Black Director:Davis Guggenheim Genres:Documentaries, Political Documentaries, Social & Cultural Documentaries

via Netflix: Waiting for “Superman”.

What do you say when your kids are the ones on the top tracks? My two oldest kids did really well at school and the first one is off to University of Saint Thomas, planning on an engineering major. He however has no idea what that means. To me, that is where the school and I have failed him. I have noticed that these two kids have had to work only so-so to achieve this high grades. I myself have a diploma from Highschool and an Associate degree in electronics, from a now defunct two year tech school. I am proud of him for going to an University and my  hope is that he will finish and know who he is going to be or at least try to be in the future.

The movie is a must see, and a must correct situation.

No Excuses, we expect you to perform at TOP LEVEL!! Kipp Academy

As I watch the movie, not yet knowing the end, I cannot help but cheer on Anthony, a young man who is waiting some type of lottery to get into school. He says in the movie I just want to go to school. His odds are so slim, just to get an education, he must wait for his number to be drawn.

at teh school in Los Angeles there are only 10 spaces, as I watch the final spots given out, my heart cries out for these kids, there are so many that just want a chance

Anthony waits for 24 spaces at seed in DC in Washington, it looks like several hundred poeple are waiting to get in.

The movie covers several schools and follows several kids closely, I won’t spoil who gets in or not.

The movie ends with our system is broken and text to support number and the website offers more ways to support class rooms that are making a difference.

No fix is perfect, but the schools that fail time and time again, need to go, and especially those teachers that lead, or should I say trail the classes to drop from 100% to 40% attendance alone.

Hope you enjoy, support, and share!

After trading in his professional past as a black-ops CIA operative for a new identity, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is basking in normality. But he’s forced to return to old habits when an assassin puts a target on his back and goes after the woman (Mary-Louise Parker) he loves. Helen Mirren and John Malkovich co-star as former members of Frank’s team who reluctantly reassemble to save his life in this Golden Globe-nominated action-comedy.

via Netflix: Red.

 

Rather ok exciting, shoot everyone with crazy old people shooting assassins and a little tiny love story.

And a rather predicable ending.

via Frequently Asked Questions — calibre User Manual.

I have a bad habit of figuring out what is going to happen or how they are going to end movies, and so I have to keep my mouth shut. So at some point I will say “I think I got it” and 7-8 times out of ten, I am right, or close enough that I really did not need to see the end. I am sure some of you are much better at it then me and you will find the movie a bit predictable.

See the Movie Here

Seven Stars of Ten