that this weather we have been having, warm, almost hot, days and nice and cool nights, has been really great....   more »

I finally have my running site for local information, routes, races, training programs and general updates.

www.runninginthesanjuans.com

This whole week the weather has been cloudy, cool, some rain and a tad depressing.  Usually September are warm days ...   more »

A couple times a year the wonderful people I work with at Rock Island Technology Solutions (your local ISP) and I celebrate some off the wall day.   more »

The recent change of weather over the last few days is an indicator that Fall is very close.  The dark and gloomy skies yesterday brought much needed rain last night, but the warm temperatures we have been enjoying have dipped some.  I don't think we past the 60 degree mark on the thermometer.  Burr.

I find the saddest part is losing over 3 minutes of daylight each day, meaning the dark days of winter will soon be upon us.  I am not one that suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), where the lack of light plays on the emotional aspects.  Though I have friends that do dread the coming of the "Dark Days".  For me, running has been one way that I combat SAD because it forces me out the door and into the brisk air and limited sunlight.  Running works for me in that way.

For more information on SAD, follow:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder.

Some of my best Fall seasons occurred when I lived in Indiana and the colorful leaves that graces the countrysides.  Pretty impressive.  When in college, the Fall season meant football and all the excitement of Saturday afternoon football games with my buddies.  Good fun.  And of course Cross Country Season is this time of year with all of it's excitement.  I wish Friday Harbor High School had a cross country program, there are some greats areas on the Island that would make some challenging courses.  If you haven't attended a Cross Country meet with it's mass start, you are missing out.  Watching 50 to 100 runners all starting at the same time and positioning themselves for fast times is impressive.

Looks like another Fall Day, best go enjoy it!

Over the past few weeks of preparing to move, moving and unpacking I have developed Post Moving Stress Syndrome or PMSS, not to be confused with PMS, which does happen around this house - but not with me.  My symptom is simple.  My lower back hurts really bad, I mean really bad.  It hurts so freaking bad if I was a capture spy I would tell any and all secrets I might know. 

I started feeling these twinges a couple of weeks ago as I was packing and moving boxes, some very heavy.  My lower back was not used to such things, I mean it has been a year since I last moved any where.  My biggest awareness that I might have tweaked my back was two weeks ago when we were making the big move to Friday Harbor.  I bent over to pick-up a box of books, bricks or rocks and felt this Buddha awful pain in my lower back.  Not a good sign, or feel for that matter.

I thought maybe I had gotten over the worse of it, but on Friday morning I did something, which I am not entirely sure of - much like saying something to a woman which results in total silence.  One knows they said something wrong, but for the life of them they weren't sure what was said.  My back pain was much like that.

On Saturday I spent the day in the house trying all sorts of positions to take the stress off my back.  And watched TV.  Did you know that forty (40) years ago Star Trek made it's TV appearance and all the episodes are somewhere on the TV dial.  Pretty cool.  I also learned how to quit smoking, even though I don't smoke.  The piece of information that really made my day was the "eat all the foods you want and still lose weight".  I don't understand how that works.  I AM eating all the foods I want and I have gained and still gaining weight.  Maybe I need to want to eat different foods.

When I would lay on the floor, Skye the Wonder Dog thought that meant it was time for me to give her a doggy massage and would come over for the attention.  Though I gave her a couple of massages, she in turn, didn't reciprocate.  She wouldn't even bring me my slippers - though I don't own any.  She could have looked for Pete sakes.

I tried to go for a run, some times that can help, but I couldn't go more than two blocks, so I went to King's Foods and bought some chow for supper.  I should have purchase some ice cream and placed the frozen container on my back.  That might have felt pretty good.  I wonder if ice cream is part of the "eat all the foods you want and still lose weight" diet.  Though I am sure it would need to be Celery Ice Cream instead of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup.  Actually I could drop a ton of weight on the Celery Ice Cream diet because I wouldn't eat it!

I didn't sleep well last night as every time I moved I felt as though someone was poking my back with an ice pick, like who really does own an ice pick any more.  I am not sure I would recognize one if I saw one - sticking out of my back that is.  Maybe Samantha was giving me accupoking while I slept.  She is in to the alternative thing.  I am sure, if she was, it was done in a very loving way.

The clock says the time is almost 8:00 am, so I best go about my day of misery.  Maybe if I feel better we can head over to the bowling alley, which just opened back up, for a couple of lanes. 

On Tuesday, the 5th, I drove Sarah and most of her belongings, which we loaded in the now famous Rock Island moving van, up to Bellingham.  Her plan is to move in with three high school buddies, get a job and find her fame and fortune.  Unloading the van was very easy and quick as her friends were there to help out.  I was happy about that.  Her new apartment is located on the third floor of a complex which is just south of Western.

Moving her has brought up that particular time in my life.  I was so wanting to be out on my own, make my own choices - though being accountable for those choices was not high on my priority list.  In May of 1973 I graduated from Worland Senior High School.  On a Sunday.  The following morning I moved myself down to Salt Lake City to find my fame and fortune.  I am still looking. 

My first apartment was a basement studio apartment and was furnished.  My bed folded up and was stored in my clothes closet.  It was a great place and I lived there for two months or so and then moved into a shared apartment with two other guys.  John and George.  I couldn't afford the rent, $100.00 a month, on my studio so this was a way to save some money and actually eat real food.

John and George was really nice and I had fun living there.  Buying food was a simple process as any food in the house was fair game because we put all food receipts in a large jar with our names and at the end of the month we figured out how much we all spent and then evened out the bill by paying the difference.

After the first month John and I had a discussion that went something like this.

Me:  "Hey John, we should get George's rent money and pay our rent."

John looked at me and then said, "Don't you know?  George doesn't work."

Now that explained why George was often asleep when I left for work around 7:00 am.  I just thought he had a job close to where we lived and could afford the luxury of sleeping in.

Me:  "He doesn't work!!  Who pays his rent?"

John:  "We do."

And buy his food.

Thus began the downward spiral of George's and mine relationship.  George was really a nice and good guy.  He just had a hard time in keeping a job.  Nothing was good enough for George, this job wouldn't suit his abilities, this job was to far away, this job . . .  The list went on.  He did land a job for $5.00 an hour - which was really good back in those days of $1.60 an hour for minimum wage.  But he quit that job after a few weeks because it depressed him.

That is the day that I lost all my patience with George and we had it out.  I moved out a month or so later and moved on to the next stage of my life.  John and I kept in touch, but I never really kept any connection with George.  I did run into him a couple of years later and he was living in the same apartment and doing the same thing - which wasn't much.

I wish Sarah well and hopes that independence and living on her own is a positive thing.

What beautiful weather we are having.  I mean this Labor Day Weekend, thus far, has been really nice with hot days and cool nights.

Yesterday was a relaxing for us.  We unpacked some of our boxes, went to the store for a week long list of food items - also purchased Sarah some chow to move over to Bellingham next Tuesday.  Bought the dog some food as well.  We did those errands that most people due on Saturdays.  I also finished the book, "Term Limits" by Vince Flynn.  I haven't made up my mind if I liked it or not. 

I also went for an hour long run around the Turn Point Loop.  From the house I run down the hill over to Argyle and follow that out to Pear Point Road and run around the loop.  Pear Point Road turns in to Turn Point Road and I follow that back to town and to home.  The lenght of the loop is about 6 miles.  Give or take a tenth.  It is also the organized run during Fair Week called The Loop.

I love this course.  I have run it hundreds of times and I never get tired of it.  The scenery is beautiful and traffic normally is slow and light.  Great for running.  One can see deer, foxes and eagles while running - all so close to town.

My running is doing better.  This past week I have met all my running goals.  Besides running the Turn Point Loop I also ran out from home, down Argyle to Cattle Point Road and followed that to the end of the secured Air Port property and took the small road up the hill towards the Animal Shelter on Shelter Road.  Then I turned right on the access road that follows the security fence around the air port, which is also known as the Clark McAlpine Cross Country Trail.  I follow this down past the college and continue along the security fence to where the trail begins a short distance from Spring Street.  The Clark McAlpine Cross Country Trail was named after me when I went by that name a few years ago.  One of these days they will replace the sign so it reads the Clark Gilbert Cross Country Trail, but there is no hurry.  From the house I am guessing this loop is close to 4 miles.  When I ran there on Tuesday the Blackberries were just right making for a tasty treat.

Today I am scheduled for a easy 35 minute run.  Might need to go get some blackberries.

I am working on my running goals and will post them later.

I tell you, you gotta love the weekends.  Here it is 8:53 in the morning.  I slept in a tad due to being up with our sick dog, Skye, who needed to visit the outsides numerous times during the night to take care of business.  She is feeling better this morning, ate some dogie chow and played with her Red Rubber Ball.  She seems rested, but I seem a tad tired, nothing like getting up at 5:30 to make the 7:35 boat over to Friday Harbor from Orcas day in and day out.  Now, that is tired.

Anyway, this Saturday is sunny and warm with clear skys, if I still owned a boat today would have been a great day to get up early, get the boat out and venture over to Canada or up around Stuart Island or just hang out in Parks Bay.  So many options, not enough boat.

I sold SloPoke, my boat for close to six years, last February.  A former military lifeboat, SloPoke was a great boat to be out on the water on and she lived up to her name - slow.  If I was lucky I did 6 knots.  My rational for slowness was that the water was no place to go fast on, except if I was on another, much faster, boat and then it was just plan fun.

  This is SloPoke.  Twenty-four feet of great boat.

One October, a few years ago, I left Friday Harbor at 6:00 am, still in the dark, and took SloPoke over to Victoria for the weekend.  The distance over there was about 24 nautical miles and I arrived around 10:30, about four and half hours.  My good buddy, Mike, was able to sleep in and leave about 10:00 am in his SeaSport and arrived about 11:00.  See how beneficial a fast boat can be.

That weekend where Mike and I was in Victoria was more like an eating festival.  Our goal was to eat Indian, then Sushi, then, Chinese and end at an Irish pub.  We started at the Indian Restaurant, then moved to a Sushi Bar, eating our self to fullness then off to that Irish pub.  We just couldn't do Chinese.  After we enjoyed the non-Irish music we headed over to Soprano's, a karaoke bar.  Now, at the time of night going to a karaoke bar seemed like a good idea.  All I am going to say, is this:  that the experience was one I had never had, nor have had since.  In fact it was so bizarre that readers of this blog would accuse me of making it all up.

Back to this Saturday.  Our move is complete.  Now our chore is to un-pack all the boxes and find places for our stuff.  Jen's room looks as though a herd of elephants had been dancing in there for a week.  Sarah's room is looking pretty good, but she is moving out for Bellingham on Tuesday the 5th.  Skye's room is ok as well.  Samantha and mine, well we need some work in there as well.

In a few minutes or after another cup of Joe, I will be heading out for an hour long run.  Not sure if I will run the Turn Point Loop or head over and run my trail by the airport.  So many routes, so little time.

PABS

A nice thing about our new place is the studio apartment on the ground level, that we manage.  I have posted an add on www.sanjuanislander.com which is:

Studio Apartment for Rent This large studio apartment is located within a five minute walk to the center of town. Well, if you walk really fast, if not more like ten minutes. Apartment is airly with lots of light. Wireless Internet Access is part of the rent, which is $500.00 per month. No smoking, no pets and no wild parties. Prefer a runner, but not a real fast runner. $500.00/month Call: 378-4600 and clarkgilbert@rockisland.com
09/01/2006

For a studio apartment it is very large.  Last year Iived in a cute, but very small, studio over at Westera Court.  I liked it.  But this studio is about three times as large.  Very nice.  We are throwing in both Wireless Internet Connections and Cable.  All the comforts of a large apartment.  If you know anyone who is interested, have them call Samantha at 378-4600 or email me at clarkgilbert@rockisland.com.