What's That Again?

Sometimes the things we see every day aren't really what we think they are.

It's the rule in Metro cars that if you bring on a bike, you can't use the middle doors of the car--you have to use the ends.  So most cars have a little sticker with a pictogram of a bike, with the international-No symbol (red circle and slash) superimposed, and the words "Center door" underneath.

So on the ride home this morning to care for a "sick" Sarah (don't ask), I happened to look at the sticker on the door of my car, and found this:

I am *so* relieved to know that in the event of invasion by Imperial stormtroopers, I won't have to worry about them rushing the car through the center door.

The Spring Of The Running Girl, Part II

Yesterday, Sarah completed her third 5K race in the New Balance Girls On The Run 5K at George Mason University.  The thunderstorms the previous night had abated, and while everything was soggy, it wasn't raining (for the first time)--and in fact, as the national anthem was sung, the sun even came out from behind the clouds for the start!

Sarah did a terrific job, again.  She had one piece of equipment failure (right shoelace came untied about 1/2 mile into it) and had to stop for that, but otherwise, never so much as slowed to a walk the rest of the time.  This year's course was a little more difficult, I believe: instead of one long slow hill to climb then a slow descent, like last year, we had the long hill, then a series of up-and-down hills for much of the rest of the race.  But she never stopped, no siree!

At the very end, after chugging up that last hill, she turned the corner, saw the finish line ahead--and just bolted.  Flat-out sprinted to the end, leaving her old man puffing and trying to keep up.  (I didn't; I was a good 30 feet behind her at the finish.)  It helped her, though, to her best time of all three races she's run: she completed her 5K in 32:04!  That was good enough to finish #821 overall (out of over 3200 finishers--putting her in the top 25%), and fourth overall among Silverbrook's 19 girls who ran.  For reference, last year she ran it in 35:50 and finished in the top 37%...so she's definitely improving!

We're all very proud of her accomplishment in finishing the Girls On The Run program for her third time, and for improving as she went.  I've asked her if she would be interested in doing any of the other 5Ks that happen around town, and she allowed as how she might be...so who knows, maybe this will become a habit.

I Have Nothing To Say Today

I recently re-happened upon Stanley Bing's blog and enjoyed reading some of his material.  It had been awhile since I had read Bing, and so the return of that joy was tempered by my own realization that I had not bothered to enter a single thing on our own blog for over a month.  It's not as if we haven't had much going on; we've been just as busy as ever.  I just haven't felt much like anything I have to offer is of value.  And so I'm sorely tempted to just have a moment of stream-of-consciousness writing.

Why do they call it "stream" of consciousness?  It's more like a trickle, really, like that little bead of water slowly making its way down a windowpane after it rains.  Heads in one general direction (down) but, oops, just now veered right, then left, obeying its own impulses.  Well, if beads of water had impulses.  Or warp drives, for that matter.  Although could you imagine the carnage if raindrops fell at the speed of light, or greater?  A tiny chunk of ice destroyed a space shuttle; the momentum of a raindrop at c would be just ridiculous.  Tiny mass, immense velocity.  All speed, no vector, at least that's how it feels sometimes around the office.  Not "The Office," mind you, but the one I work in, or try to, weekdays.  And lately a couple of weeknights, and if Dave's right, a weekend day may be in my future this weekend.  I do appreciate what Secretary Baldridge did for America, but this writeup for the Baldridge Award is not going as well as it needs to.  It doesn't yet "sing," and unfortunately it's my job to make it sing.  Which is what I'm pondering doing for Redeemer's Song; they need another male vocalist (desperately; there are five women at the moment) probably moreso than they need a fourth-string drummer.  But if I can't keep the beat, maybe I can keep to the right key.  Unless that key's the one to the Sable, which will be handed over to Debi and Courtney this summer when at least Courtney arrives for summer duty.  Until she gets used to NoVA traffic, I expect there'll be a lot of time spent at the pool--which is fine, and better than just going down to the stream behind the house.  Hey, maybe I should write something in "stream-of-consciousness" sometime.

Like how I came full circle with that?