Sunday, November 16, 2008

Today at the farmers market...

One plus of not running the marathon this morning is that I was able to go to the local farmers market. While there, I saw William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) shopping for produce. They looked scraggly like they just got up out of bed and did not change their clothes before deciding to go to the market. They were definitely not 'shiny' like you see in the movies or on t.v. In fact, most of the other people at the farmers market looked a lot more put together and awake than they did (at 10a.m.). They also looked very annoyed which gave me the impression that they were not enjoying themselves.

So I didn't run the marathon today because of the wildfires. But I did get to see some celebrities. I guess it's an L.A. trade-off.

Mother Nature wins again

It is 5 a.m. and I can't sleep.

At 3:42 a.m. someone's car alarm went off on the street. I checked my e-mail and there was still no updates. Since I couldn't sleep, I went downstairs and got ready for the marathon as if there were a chance that it would still proceed as planned. I made my oatmeal and drank my tea. Then at 4:05 a.m. I got the e-mail saying that the Pasadena Marathon had been cancelled due to poor air quality from the wildfires surrounding Orange County and Los Angeles. Phone calls were exchanged over the next half hour as I contacted people and people contacted me regarding the cancellation. I tried to go back to sleep again, but I'm an insomniac and now up for the day.

I think the organizers made the right decision. After years of planning, it has to have been a hard decision to pull the plug today. From the beginning, the race organizers have taken the runner into account and this decision reinforces that. I look forward to whatever solution they may have for the cancellation because that have my full confidence and respect. If they want to increase interest and make a lot of people happy they will reschedule the marathon for mid-February when the L.A. Marathon was supposed to take place.

As for me, I have been specifically training for the Pasadena Marathon for half a year now and was looking forward to the marathon today. It was going to be my 'big payoff' before going into a much needed rest and recovery mode. It was also supposed to be a day of spiritual rebirth-- where each step symbolically represented the past that I am leaving behind and the future that I am moving towards. It was something that I did during the L.A. Marathon, and was planning on doing today. Oh well, I guess there will be no endorphin and sugar-depletion induced feel-good high involved in my rebirth today. Bummer.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Card carrying member of the UAW

A few months ago, I described that the UAW petitioned to represent the University of California system post-docs. Well, last week I got an e-mail informing me that it is now in effect. Here is an excerpt from that e-mail:

For your information, the Office of the President Labor Relations had notified us that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has confirmed majority support for Pro-UAW in the bargaining unit determination to represent Postdoctoral Scholars and Postgraduate Researchers at all UC campuses. Approximately 1,000 individuals at UCLA are included in this new systemwide bargaining unit, with a total estimated at approximately 6,400 members.

We understand that the University will send a letter of recognition to PERB today, November 3rd. At that point, Pro-UAW will have exclusive representation rights, and there may be no changes in working conditions, including wages, unless authorized through the systemwide negotiation process.


The American auto industry is practically on death's door and the UAW decided that unionizing PhD's was the logical next step for survival? I grew up in American Motors Corporation country. I saw the UAW burden that company with strikes and demands to the point where the company pretty much died. And I saw the aftermath as friends' parents lost jobs, the economy in my hometown crashed (and never fully recovered), and the people and town were forgotten once the UAW no longer needed them. Needless to say, I am now a card carrying member of the UAW, and I'm not proud of it.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Sometimes you're right, sometimes not so right...

It turns out the guy that I saw last weekend could not have been Lance Armstrong since he did a bike race in Texas last weekend (and of course won). BUT, while I working a water station for the Leggers this morning, I saw Aaron Eckhart running in front of one of our pace groups. He eyed some of the water and goodies on the table, and one of the people working the water station offered him water. He turned it all down and as he was running away, the woman who offered him water and I were like, "Hey, that's Harvey Dent from Batman!" Then we all started talking about the movies that he was in and how good he looks in real life.

It was fun and I have additional spotters to confirm my sighting this time!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Is that... running past me?

In an earlier entry I noted that I saw Lisa Ling while running by the ocean earlier this year.

Over the summer, I also saw the actress who plays Dr. Cuddy on House (Lisa Edelstein) running by the beach. I wasn't 100% sure it was her the first time because it was early in the morning, she didn't have make-up on, and her hair was a bit messy-- but I saw her again a few weeks later running along the same path by the beach and am fairly certain it was her.

I *think* my biggest sighting happened this morning. As I was running along the same ocean path where I saw Lisa Ling, a man who looked a lot like Lance Armstrong ran past us. I only saw him for a few seconds because, like a high school algebra problem, he was approaching us at X mph and we were approaching him at Y mph (so we were actually approaching each other at X+Y mph). He was wearing sunglasses so I didn't see his eyes, but he was wearing one of the popular yellow Livestrong wristbands. I nodded to him as we ran past each other, and he looked over at us.

My friend Shannon (who lives in the movie star haven of Brentwood and is sort of blase about this stuff) thought it probably actually was Lance Armstrong. So until I hear otherwise, I am going to assume that yup, my Saturday morning running comrade was indeed Lance Armstrong ;)