New search tool and theme update

I just spent some time getting a new search box running on the site here. Now I am using Google to handle the searches. With this you are also able to search the web, not just my site. I don’t have it working completely the way I want, but I am getting closer.

As a result of this, I have had a wonderful side benefit. The theme that I have used and modified for the site was a nice theme, but poorly coded. What made it poorly coded was that the whole theme was in 1 (one) file! If you know anything about theming or style sheets, you know that is a horrible mess to manage. I did not notice that until I had been using the theme for a while. Then I did not want to change.

As I have been thinking about updating the theme in the future, I really needed to break this theme down into several documents and make it a proper theme. That has been done. Hopefully there is nothing that you will be able to notice in this change (yet). Everything should look and act exactly the same with the exception of the search box now serving results from Google.

I got my information about creating a custom search results page from another blogger who has a tutorial on generating a custom Google AdSense search page.

Speed day

Today was a “speed work” day in my training. I had planned to trot down to the track that is about 3/4 mile from my house and then run 2 X 800 meter repeats. I needed to run a mile for my speed session. Last week I did 4 X 400 meters. My training plan does not specify how I need to do the speed work, it just specifies the distance.

I got to the track to find the gate was locked. That is the first time that has ever happened. I am not sure why it was closed unless it will be closed for the 2 week summer vacation that the university has. I hope not.

As a result I did a bit longer of a loop and made it back home for my warm up run. I then stretched for a bit and got ready to just run around my house for 1 mile. No, not in my house, but in the streets around the house. I have a 1 mile course laid out for such occasions.

I did not give myself much of a break before I started off on my speed run. I was supposed to cover the mile between 8:36 and 8:55. I ended up with an 8:57 mile. So I was on the slow side, but not horrible. However, I was quite wiped out after the run and just did a 10 minute cool down walk instead of a cool down run.

Tomorrow is a rest day from running. I will put the dumbbells to work. I will get both my sisters to clean the house and wash the car.

What would you do with a pressure washer?

The question about what I would do with a pressure washer was posed to me today. Besides just using it to wash my car, I would definitely spend time trying to clean the engine compartment. I usually take my truck to a car wash and run it through a machine. After that it gets hand dried and vacuumed. The vacuuming is why I take it to them. I would rather pay someone the price of a car wash to do a good job vacuuming than have to do it myself.

But if I had a pressure washer from Car Guy Garage, I would give my engine a good cleaning. The car wash guys don’t do that. When I wash my little car (takes 10 minutes if I don’t have help, 30 if I do), I certainly don’t clean the engine by hand. That is where a good pressure washer would come in handy.

Also prepping a house for paint would be another use of a pressure washer that I would use.

What would you use one for?

[This is a sponsored post.]

Lack of blogging energy

After my flurry of blog posts 2 weeks ago, I have struggled to get a post a day out. I attribute it to the diet my wife has me on.

In an attempt to get me down the final 15 lbs. to where I want to be, we have entered a pact to help one another. She is wanting to drop a few pounds and is in control of the food. I have had to do all my weight loss without the support of good food choices. Since she is really committed to this, I no longer have any bad food choices available (they are still here, but she carries a big stick to keep me away from them).

We have been on this diet 6 days and we have each lost 6 lbs. According to my somewhat abnormal tendency to weigh myself about 10 times a day, I think I will be down at least another pound tomorrow.

While that is all good, I think that has contributed to my lack of posting. There is a certain need for high energy foods to be able to keep the brain working. Apparently I am not getting enough to even write blog posts.

That must explain why my desk has gotten junked up and I can no longer see the surface. Oh, wait, there is nothing strange about that. Drats.

I almost killed a dog

Yesterday morning on my run I almost sent a little dog to the grave.

I was coming up to an intersection which had a dog sniffing through some trash. Apparently I run quiet enough that the dog could not hear me until I was right on it. When he saw me it scared him (no comments please). He took off running away from me, right under a VW Jetta. The Jetta tried to stop when the dog realized his plight and turned to run back towards me. Because of this, when the Jetta hit the dog with his tire, it just squeezed the dog out and to the side of the road. He jumped up and scurried off behind me. He looked to be fine.

While I am no great lover of dogs, I don’t want to see them killed or maimed in this way. Especially 3 feet away from me.

Of the dozens of dogs I see each run who are under no human care, this one was actually a nice looking Cocker Spaniel. Seemed to be well groomed and fed. It was by no means a pure bred dog, but it did appear to be someone’s pet.