Another Year ... Let's Get Going

I started my running for 2006 earlier than I have in any year I can remember: 1PM January 2nd.

I don't believe that I've ever gone out on the road before the second week in January. Plus, I stay out of the gym for the first 6 weeks of the year, just because. I call them "Resolutionaries" and they''l be gone right after Valentine's Day. "I don't care how fat you are, I still love you ... for me??? Oh, it's gorgeous!!!"

I was able to park in the B Lot; the locker room wasn't too crowded; the weights, machines and track were sparsely populated. Had I remembered where my goggles were, I might have even gotten a lane to myself. I couldn't tell if the folks I didn't recognize were new, or just usually go at mid-day. There were a lot of pages for "any available trainer" to come to the front desk ... these may have been newbies receiving their mandatory walk-through and up-sell.

From the track, I looked down into the weight room and saw this guy with a black T-shirt with a Mexican flag on the back. A short time later I walked past him on my way to the locker room.

Upon closer inspection, it was an ITALIAN flag with some medallion in the middle of it (apparently Tony Soprano's Pizza had given themselves some sort of an award - they couldn't have WON it because their pizza actually sucks).

I said to the paisan "You know from a distance that looks like a Mexican flag on your back."
Luigi pumped himself up to twice his usual size. "Well, if someone would read it they would know it's Italian."

I wanted to say "You know, if you didn't so much look like Eddie Guererro, I wouldn't have gotten confused." but I didn't want to get my ass kicked so I just said, "Not many people around here can read, plus your t-shirt guy f'ed up a perfectly good flag."

Little does Guido know, that eventually there will be more Mexicans in South Jersey than Italians ... thank goodness.

Last year's "Beer" thread has been safely and securely locked away in a remote depository beneath the Appalachian Mountains ... okay, it's really on a Flash drive in my backback, but as long as no one tells, I'm in good shape.

I have a lofty goal of compiling the three previous "Beer" threads into one volume by the end of this year, along with whatever we come up with in the next twelve months. It's hard going ... each page of CR translates to about 5 pages of MS Word (Arial, 10 pt, 6 pts. before and after each paragraph). I'm getting 2 or 3 done a day. With 2003 coming in at 114 pages, 2004 a mere 9, and 2005 a nice 52 ... I should be done by Spring.

Just in time for Broad Street.