Work was pretty much a waste today. I did some stretching this morning which was good and the knee is definitely feeling better. I might be able to run this weekend. Back to how work went today. Came in late and left early (~3:00). The SDN meeting was a waste (no one showed up). I hope the S & F meeting comes together tomorrow, left alot of voicemails w/ folks to let them know. Read through what I needed to do for LF and it looks like alot. It's due this Friday so might cheat and make stuff up but we'll see. Also, emailed SM about providing more details on rationale why we changed test plans. I

We had kinda of an ice storm so there wasn't really anyone at work today anyway. I was watching the polls all day, I really hope Clark pulls an upset. Going to keep an eye on the weather and make an audible about the primary watching event tonight.

Interruption-Just got a voicemail from Espo and he left me a bunch of audio stuff w/ Beavis and Butthead, Airplane, and Simpsons. He was responding back to my earlier haze re: get the fat kid out of the picture. It was hilarious. I also emailed Ken to see what was up w/ his choice re: changing jobs.

Listening to a Peter Gabriel album called "Passion". Sounds cool so far. Anyway, alot of last night but I went into work anyway. I did do some stretching before I went in and the legs felt good. Annoyed overall that my body has decided to show its age. The knee hurts a bit and now the right shoulder is hurting from climbing last night.

No one really around at work. I was able to clean up my office. A little excitement when I found out someone was using my email to re-subscribe me to capitalaction. I got the IP info. from the listowner and emailed the security people to try and track down who is doing this. No response yet but still weird that someone is doing this. No clue why someone would want to do this. I also talked briefly w/ JM about the new SFC task and I'm really nervous now. There's somethign like 10 people working on this and he said he was at it for about a .3 of his time. I can't do this and the rest of my work. I need to give up something 'cause I'm not going back to working insane hours again. It ain't happening!!!

Got a good note from AC that she is going back to school. I'm really happy for her and I hope she is able to get out of the rut. It's so easy to just give up and roll around in the mud. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I've been watching the polls and NH stuff all day. I really hope Clark gets at least third tomorrow. He's not tainted by the politics crap and is very inspiring. He can totally get us back on the right track. Speaking of the right track, a budget report came out today saying we'll have about a 477 billion dollar deficit this year!!!

One other thing- the knee is still hurting and I'm worried about the marathon. It was really cold today and I can feel the knee tightening up on the way to and from Church. Expecting a snow storm tonight so we'll see how it goes w/ work tomorrow. Also, ordered the Commanding Heights DVD and a book about the global economy with a focus on the gap between the rich and poor. People are blaming globalization for alot of the world's ills and I want to understand both sides better. I'm a little biased right now and think that globalization has helped to foster competition and has created alot of new jobs and wealth. Yes, the wealth is not going to the right people alot of times but to me that means the issue is not globalization, it's more about fixing what's wrong with it. I do believe it needs to do a better job of distributing the wealth and jobs it creates but as a whole it's a good thing. That's what I think today, we'll see if tomorrow changes my mind.

Finished climbing class tonight with K. Next class to take is Turning w/ D. Had trouble with a couple of routes especially the one where I needed to lunge for the hold above me. Anyway, my knee started hurting a little bit by the end of the night. Iced it down a bit. That's it- g'night.

Summary of work today- worked on the markings summary for most of today. Found a BIG error in our cost estimate. Somehow in our original report I estimated cost increases on the order of 25% to 33% but when I rechecked the numbers they're actually 30% to 50% higher. It looks like I took the cost difference and divided it into the proposed cost instead of the costs associated with the standard marking. Doooh!!! I'll need to give BD a call tomorrow. Also, discussed goals with the management group. Most of it was in-line with what I was already planning to do anyway. That's it.

I almost forgot- last Friday I met with some people here at work to discuss potentially supporting a redesign of the O'Hare airport. They are looking for a way to analyze the impact of a new runway and tower at the airport. I agreed to put together a plan for review this Friday. The trip to ORD is supposed to happen on 1/27. I'm excited 'cause this may turn into a big effort with alot of "site" visits. Keeping my fingers crossed....

Didn't sleep very well last night. Don't know why either. Knee still hurts a little bit and it feels like that cold or whatever it is still sticking around. My body is having a little rebellion right now. If I were a dictator I would crush this little uprising. Unfortunately, I'm not so I just have to suck it up and deal. It's Sandy's B-day right now. I can hear them outside my office wishing her Happy B-day. Now they're talking about what lunch to get for the goals "offsite" this afternoon. Read a good chapter in the social entrepeneur book about a guy who put together a college prep summit for low-income students. He is so right, the first one that goes to college sends a ripple through the family and the community. It was such a great story. Anyway, CASA called today and I'm going to call them back and set up an appointment. Later.

Saw documentary on "Touching the Void" at REI. A movie about two climbers who went up a mountain in Peru. One of the climbers (Steve?) got injured on the way down so the other climber helped him down. Eventually, they got stuck with the injured one hanging over a cliff. The anchor was slipping so the one on top cut the rope. Tom?? fell into the crevice and then went deeper and somehow survived for another three days and got out. The guy who fell and survived was there at REI. Someone in the audience asked if the experience made him more religious or changed his views on God. He said No- if he believed God would come and pluck him out he would have done nothing or if he believed he would go to heaven he would have stayed there and died. I understand what he's saying. It was interesting....

Anyway, I went climbing afterwards and things didn't seem to go well. I had alot of trouble traversing but it could have been my leg or maybe I didn't get enough to eat today. A little discouraging but I'll keep trying. ..

Just got back from Starbucks and grocery shopping. While I was drinking my coffee, I was reading an article in the New York Times about Brazilian slums. I found out that a third of the world's urban population - ~1 billion people - are living in slums. This is insane! I knew it was alot but seeing the numbers in black and white was really shocking.

Just got done running. I ran the basic run, from my place to 395. The left knee is HURTING and I'm icing it down right now. It felt OK during the run but now that I'm resting it really hurts. I hope the icing and stretching will help. I really hope this thing heals and it doesn't stop me from running the marathon. Wasted a good part of the morning laying around...See ya