Month: October 2006

Podcast promo take 2

Well, if you did not listen to my 25 second promo for my podcast yet, you missed take 1. It is gone. I got some disparaging remarks from the ones who should love me enough to go easy on me. But did they? No.

My wife fell asleep about 15 seconds into the first version. When I asked Mom about it, her comments were something like: Don’t worry, you will get better in time.

So, it has been re-recorded. My wife heard it this morning and she has still not stopped laughing. But, at least she did not fall asleep.

On the other hand, I was pleased with the first version. But the second one is definitely more lively and I am glad the family pushed me to do better.

Sore. Ouch!

Wednesday I returned to exercise class (Tae-Bo). I have not been since the end of June when I ramped up my running to 4 days a week to prepare for the Phedippidations Half Marathon. Though I normally don’t like Wednesdays at class because we work on just the legs, I thought it would be fun to go in with all the extra strength I now have. Class went well. I worked hard and strong.

Yesterday (Thursday) my calves were a bit sore, but I did a 4 mile run anyway. Did it in good time considering that I was just going out for a casual run. Just under an 11 min. per mile pace. Then I stretched a bit and jumped into the pool. Normal procedure for me. It is great having a pool where I can cool off and rinse my clothes, which I then just toss onto the clothes line. The rest of the day was spent working on my master’s class (video) and doing computer work. I knew I was getting stiff, so I stretched every chance I got.

Today I skipped going back to class. I was so sore this morning. It took a while to get down the stairs. I have been massaging my legs and putting on muscle cream, but they still hurt. Needing to get out and give them a good stretch, we went to a park to take a nice long walk. We had a good time and my daughter wanted to do some running. So I ran at a nice slow 2 year old pace. Probably close to 45 min. per mile. Then my son (8 years old) challenged me to a couple of sprint races. Of course I had to beat him. After that I gave the legs some good slow stretches.

All seemed to be going well until the twitching started. Youch!! Throughout the morning and early afternoon so far I have had just an occasional twitch in the right calf that gets my attention each time it wants to let itself be known.

We will see in the morning, but I think my 6 mile plan for tomorrow will probably end up being just a nice brisk walk.

Technology gave my wife the pink slip

With the release of Firefox 2.0 my wife has lost a job. Since I am a horrible speller, she checks over my blog postings to laugh at, and correct my spelling. But, with Firefox 2 and its built in spell checker, I have a running spell check with everything I write on the web. Yes, I know you can get spell checkers for WordPress. I have used one in the past that for some reason just stopped working. The one I currently have works sometimes, but mostly does not. Therefore the spell check in Firefox is perfect for me.

Other features with Firefox 2 include some extra tab browsing features. Also supposed to help against phishing scams. I am not really sure what all the new features are. It does not look a great deal different and I can’t really tell if it is much faster. Though I have “broadband,” it is just barely that. So any speed issues I have, I am sure is a matter of connection, not browser.

Now I am not sure how I am going to get my wife to even read my blog. Of course, this frees me up to say things about her that she probably will never read. Like that time…

Missionary Talks

I am proud to introduce my own podcast. Mr. Critical is now opening himself up to the criticism.

Check it out at: www.missionarytalks.com

Right now there is just a promo piece up there. Within then next few days I will have the first episode up and ready to consume. I will be releasing my shows about once a week. So far I have 4 interviews (but not all edited) that should give me enough of a buffer to stay on track for a weekly release for a while. My first 2 shows will have information about the shows purpose and direction. After that, it will just be an interview without much commentary. Show notes will be provided with each show to give more information and how to contact the missionary.

Audio quality will hopefully get better as things progress. If you are interested in interview style podcasts or with missions work, I think you will really enjoy the show.

Now I will put it out here in writing so that when I stray people can beat me back to my roots. I will attempt to stay around 15 minutes for each show. Can you forgive me 1 minute here or there? Thanks. You are such a good friend.

I look forward to seeing how this goes over.

Quittin’ the day job

I have found a source of income that just might have me turning in my ordination papers.

As you may know, my son and I played in a chess tournament over the last two weekends. We did not do very well. But, we did place. We each took 5th place in our divisions. And there were even more than 5 people in each!

For his 5th place spot, he won $150 (MXP). My 5th place garnered me $250 (MXP). That is about $36 US Dollars. That will keep us eating for a few days.

I think I will hold off on contacting my source of income for a little while until I know we can do this well on a regular basis.