Camp Pendleton Tri 2013

Last Year's Competitors

As you have probably noticed, one of the things that I like to post on my blog are race recaps from the races that I've done.  It's fun for me to do the races with family and then to put up some fun pictures, etc.

The first real triathlon I ever did was the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon in 2010.  It's become a fun tradition because the race is practically in my backyard.  Not only do I do it every year, but every year we've had more and more people (both friends and family) doing it.  (See pic above.).  Last year's race was the biggest yet with 7 members of Team Skil!

Maybe because of our family reunion this year or maybe for other reasons, the silence this year was deafening.  I pleaded with my brother to do it and I think he would have, but ultimately Team Skil was unrepresented this year.  So I can't give a race recap.

Instead, I felt like I needed to go out to Arizona to visit my kids and family out there.  So even though I didn't do the Camp Pendleton Tri this year, I felt like I got a "triathlon-ish" experience during my whirlwind trip to Arizona.

Swim

Rather than fight through the breakers for a 500 yard ocean swim, I settled for some time in the pool with the kids.  We worked on some very technical dive techniques:

It looked pretty much like this..."Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention...."

Bike

Are you crazy?  I don't think that anyone bikes in the summer in Arizona.  The temp is 110+ and the heat index is off the charts.  Instead, I satisfied my need to heed the call of the open road by driving over 800 miles roundtrip in a 36 hour period.

It's a lot easier to handle the heat when you have the AC cranked up to full and a cooler full of ice cold water and soft drinks.

Still, an 800 mile roadtrip is about 7x as long as an Ironman bike course and requires a certain amount of endurance and stamina in its own right.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's the type of training that's going to help me in Florida!  :-/

T2

I managed to find a great job to transition from driving to the "run."  Getting a shaded spot is just half the battle.  You need to try and make sure that you have shade when you leave church as well--not just when you get there.  These spots are worth the extra walk!

Run

I got to chase after Baby M. all through church.  It was actually a lot of fun and I'm realizing that he's not such a baby anymore.  He's getting big and I feel like I can't really hug him enough.  Here's some more gratuitous pics (even if I'm the only one that wants to look at them!--well, okay and the grandmas too)  :-)

Summary
Even though this year's Camp Pendleton Race didn't happen, I still feel like the weekend was a success.  And don't count Team Skil out quite yet.  I have a feeling we'll back back in even bigger numbers next year!

Happy 101st!

It was my grandma's birthday yesterday. She would have been 101. The picture above is of her and my grandpa. 

My mom was her youngest child and we grew up only a few miles from grandma's house. It was always fun to go visit her and on special occasions my mom would  let us spend the night at grandma's. 

Grandma had her share of adversity in life, but she successfully overcame it. She never had a lot in terms of material possessions, but she was generous with us anyway.  

She had to work hard her entire life. For a while she worked as a cool at a restaurant. I'm sure the patrons loved her dishes because I know I always did. My two favorites were her homemade chicken noodle soup (with hand rolled noodles) and her chili which she always served at her New Year's Day parties. 

She had a small garden that she loved and would send us home with oranges, tomatoes, figs, and pineapple guavas. I never did care for the figs  (#idontgiveafig), but the pineapple guavas  have become the stuff of legends in our home. 

Grandma loved to tell the story of how one year an apple tree in her yard bore a prize apple. I think she planned to enter this apple in the County Fair. That is until a certain 3 or 4 year old boy took a bite out of it as it was sitting on her kitchen table!  I like to think she forgave me for that so quickly because I was such a cute little kid. ;-)

There are so many things I love about my grandma and so many happy memories, like the Avon soaps she would give us as kids since she was the Avon lady in her neighborhood or sitting next to her on the pew at church. 

But I think most importantly, I saw her kindness and compassion for others. She was constantly worrying about us--in a good way. I learned how to be kind and compassionate and tender, in part, by watching her. 

Grandma, we love you and miss you!  Happy 101st birthday!

Surprised and Delighted!

In college, I took a marketing class from Professor Geurts.  The very first day he showed up with homemade cookies for the entire class.  It was a very pleasant surprise and a nice start!  He brought the cookies as a sort of object lesson that great marketing efforts are focused on "surprising and delighting" the consumer.  I will forever think about making customers "surprised and delighted" when I think about how companies ought to market their products and services.

So often, companies spend gazillions of dollars to make ads designed to get the customer in the door, but then spend little effort or attention on making sure that the customer is happy once they arrive.  I have grown to appreciate great customer service (and posted about it on this blog).  This week, I've had three examples of interactions with companies that left me surprised and delighted!

The Ink Spot - Orem, Utah

This is a great Utah company

A few years ago, my sister got me a Christmas present that I loved.  It was a BYU basketball practice jersey similar (but better) to the one above.  I think it looks really cool and I've been using it for this weekly basketball league that I've been playing in.

Unfortunately, some of the numbers and lettering have started peeling off.  I mailed it to The Ink Spot earlier this week to see if they could salvage it.  When I called today, they told me that they had fixed it and that they weren't going to charge me anything!  They said it should be better than new.  (Apparently, the numbers hadn't been heat pressed properly in the first place).  They are mailing it back to me today!  I can't wait to wear it!

I have literally bought dozens of jerseys from the Ink Spot through the years for church basketball teams, city league basketball teams, and office basketball teams.  You can be sure that with this type of customer service they will continue to get my business.  And I'll refer them any chance I get!

Southwest Airlines

About a month ago, I had to buy airline tix for a little race in Florida.  I had planned to fly out and back with my brother.  By the time I went to buy my tix though, the flight back (after the race) that my brother was taking was $500 one way!  Yikes!

I settled by buying a ticket the very next day for only $200.  I would have to miss an extra day of work and wouldn't be able to hang with my brother, but I figured it the best I could do.

Earlier this week, my brother called to let me know that Southwest had dropped prices.  I was able to go online and change my reservation to take advantage of price cuts on both the outgoing and homebound flights!  It only took about 5 minutes on the internet and Southwest didn't charge me a dime to do it!  Yay for convenience!  Panama City, here we come!

Apple

Last month, on our trip to the family reunion, my kids informed me that our Ipad was broken.  I took it to the Genius Bar only to find out that because it had been "mishandled" (i.e., thrown to the ground by Baby M.), our extended warranty didn't fully apply and we would need to pay a $49 deductible.

I didn't have the iPad replaced right then and there only because the iPad had been a gift from Santa to the kids and I wanted to keep the inscription on the back.

I mailed my iPad back and waited and waited and waited.  After two weeks (and my kids asking every day when it would be fixed), the iPad showed up!  Yay!

I eagerly opened it up to discover that...it hadn't been fixed!  What the heck???  I got on the horn to Apple's Customer Care.  When the CSR asked how I was doing, I pounced!  I let her know how unhappy I was that I had wasted two weeks and been sent back my non-working unit.  I asked her what Apple would be doing to rectify the situation.  She initially told me that I hadn't bought the "right" warranty and so my "accidental" damage was not covered.  The cost to replace my iPad was not going to be $49--it was going to be $249!

Our Family iPad

I told her that that was not going to work for me and asked to speak to her supervisor.  After about an hour of hold time and a good discussion with the supervisor, I got my answer.  Apple would be sending me a replacement unit free of charge.  No $249 replacement fee.  No $49 deductible.  Free.  Yay!

I was so impressed that I'm giving some serious thought into getting an iPad mini.  I'll justify that decision by telling myself I'll use it to Facetime with my kids when we're apart.  (Now if somebody could just tell me what exactly Facetime is and teach me how to use it!)

Taylor Swift - Superman

I Declare Bankruptcy!

It's interesting the thoughts that run through your head at 3:00 a.m. in the morning.  Tonight, I have been thinking about this clip from "The Office:"

Michael Scott officially "declares" bankruptcy.  Little does he know that he can't just say the word "bankruptcy" and expect things to happen.

Michael responds that he didn't just "say" it--he "declared" it.  Legally speaking, however, his declaration is meaningless and has no effect.  But that doesn't mean it's not funny.  Hope you enjoyed the clip whether you've seen it before or it's brand new to you....

The Batch: Reality Bites Edition

Desiree didn't take the news well...

Is anyone out there still watching the Batch?  I didn't think so.  So last night, Des' fairy tale got interrupted when one of her suitors--Brooks from Salt Lake City--dropped the bomb on her.  So, as it turns out, Brooks just isn't that into her.

Des was devastated and it was probably one of the most real moments that I've ever seen on any "reality" tv show--The Batch or otherwise.  She cried.  Brooks cried.  I took no pleasure in it.  In fact, my heart went out to Des because I thought that her reaction was so genuine and so sincere.

I also really liked the way that Des handled it with class--a quality that is growing increasingly rare in our society.  She told him that she didn't care what he said, that she still loved him, and that she wasn't afraid to say it, even as Brooks was casting her aside.

And then Des told Brooks something that I think every guy (and certainly every contestant on The Batch) dreams of hearing someday:

• Des: "You want to know why I was conflicted throughout this whole thing?  Cause I didn't want to share my heart, I wanted to give it to you.  That's why I was conflicted.  And when I was going on dates, I wanted to go on dates with you.  And that was why, this entire thing, I have been conflicted."

• Brooks' incredibly articulate response (I guess to himself???): "Sorry, I'll shut up.  It's not helping."

I know that it's hard to believe that a young (presumably) Mormon dude might have commitment issues (even with a beautiful, articulate, classy girl).  I mean Brooks, has been around the world to exotic locations and one-of-a-kind dates with an incredibly beautiful, vibrant, famous,  and possibly wealthy(?) young woman who is totally into him...what more could he possibly want?  Of course, for all Brooks knows, there might be someone incredibly better around the corner for him, so the smart move was definitely to let Des go.  :-/

Brooks attempts to comfort Des

Yes, Brooks is a dufus.  But I guess I respect him for at least telling Des now rather than going through the farce of having her pick him only to break up 3 months down the road.  Of course, no Batch contestant would ever fake a relationship just for the show...

...well you know, other than Jef (with one F) and Emily; Jason Mesnick and whats-her-face; Jake Pavelka and Vienna (Snausages); Kasey ("Guard and Protect Your Heart") Kahl....  Oh nevermind!

My guess is that Des shuts it down.  There will be no hometown for the guys to meet Des' family (thank heavens for small favors that we don't have to see her brother again) and there will be no proposal.  It could well be the most dramatic Bachelor finale ever.  And this time they might actually be right.

Insta-what?

So I finally caved yesterday and signed up for Instagram. I had been staging a silent boycott of the application for personal reasons for a while now.  

I think there are a lot of good reasons for me not to be on Instagram, including the fact that the last thing I really need in my life right now is another "time suck" to waste my time. 

But I had a lot of down time yesterday as I drove through the desert to Arizona for a quick visit and the whole "time suck" argument didn't seem so persuasive at that moment. 

I also worried that I would probably end up signing up for Instagram one day anyway and I worried that all the good names that I would want to use would be taken. (As it was, my top two choices had already been taken. My Insta-name is a compromise.  I may yet decide to change it--assuming that's even possible.)

I also figured that signing up for Insta would make it easier to see pics that J. takes of the kids--especially because they've been in Arizona. 

In a moment of weakness, I capitulated and joined the Insta-phenomenon. I may yet regret it...

Still, belonging to Instagram may not be all that bad. I can practice composing clever (and annoying) hashtag phrases that may or may not actually mean something (and may or may not be legible). #brevityisthesoulofwit #yesiknowthatfacebookhasnowmadehashtagssearchable

Also, I can't wait to take and post my first  selfie on Instagram. Then I can add hashtags like #nofilter and #nomakeup. Of course, pretty much all of my pics could be labeled #nomakeup so I'm not sure that I'd really be imparting any useful information. :-/

Also, now that I'm on Insta, I can apparently stop blogging. I keep hearing that Instagram has killed off blogging, so it must be true. #blogicide #ripblogosphere

Anyway, I'll probably see you on Instagram or maybe not. Just because I have an account, doesn't mean I have to use it.  (Sorry @royalandnicole...) 

But as you can see from my very first Insta-post above, I've made my first foray into the Insta-craze, err #fad... #heavenhelpusall!