Monday's run route and time

Monday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Monday's run time
50 minutes 11 seconds

Sunday's run route and time

Sunday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Sunday's run time
52 minutes 46 seconds

The runs

Thursday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Thursday's run time
47 minutes 31 seconds

Please, encourage me to run more frequently

If you'd like to see what I've been up to lately - other than watching and playing tennis (and the Little League World Series, minus the playing) - make like a bunny and hop on over to Detected Errors where you'll find plenty of goofs and gaffes to shake your head at. As a bonus, I make some very clever remarks such as, "My wife may write the writer a letter regarding the latter"; and I am not biased in the slightest. I know I pointed that blog's way in a recent post, but that's because I'm not sure how often I'll be posting on this blog from here on out. I won't stop fully completely, but once a month or so sounds about right, while Detected Errors is updated almost daily. Also, my book blog deserves more attention.

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Today's run time
51 minutes 27 seconds

A mystery at the Nat

I consider myself to be a fairly knowledgeable baseball guy, but during a recent Vancouver Canadians game there was a play that has me stumped. My stepdad - no doubt a more knowledgeable baseball guy than I am - was also there and he is also stumped.

The C's were fielding, the bases were loaded, and while I can't recall exactly what the count on the batter was, I know there were fewer than three balls. After a pitch on which the batter attempted to check his swing, the catcher wanted the lone base ump, standing near second base, to give his verdict on whether the batter swung or not. A few seconds passed as the catcher went from squatting to standing and I don't know if the home plate umpire ever appealed to the base ump. The home plate ump eventually called the base ump over and they had a brief chat before heading over to the C's dugout.

After another brief chat, the umpires walked back towards the field and motioned all the runners to advance a base. It's a balk then, right? Not so fast - in addition to the runners all advancing a base, the batter was awarded first base. So what was the ruling?

I’m Sorry to Hear That You’re Having Difficulty

I read an article today that I thoroughly enjoyed and am now recommending to you. In "I’m Sorry to Hear That You’re Having Difficulty" the writer shares his experiences from his career in ISP tech support. An excerpt:

Callers from New England spoke with a certain sense of entitlement. They were usually intelligent and sometimes downright mean, but I enjoyed our conversations. A guy from Massachusetts called in one time because he had lost his Internet connection. I determined that his router was the problem, and that a reset would probably work. Unfortunately, he had just renovated the room, and figuring that he didn't ever need to touch or look at that ugly plastic box again, he completely obscured it with drywall, power cord and all. His Jersey-accented reaction, upon realizing his mistake:

"Are you telling me that I need to unplug that router and plug it back in, and I fuckin' walled it over? Fuck me. Fuck me! I'm an asshole. Fuck! You're loving this, aren't you, you cocksucker? Laugh at me. I deserve it. I'm a stupid son of a bitch. God damn it. Fuck! Jesus Christ!"

So, with his permission, I started laughing, and couldn't stop. We continued like that for a couple of minutes before he ended the conversation. "Wow. Fuck me, I'm a fuckin' retard. Laugh it up, dickhead." Then he proceeded to laugh, and hung up on me. It made my day.

Kate Miller-Heidke "R U Fucking Kidding Me?"

Blogging and running, again

Alrighty. It's coming up to two months since I last posted on The Luck Key. There are three main reasons. Firstly, our son, who is just over five months old now. Secondly, we recently moved out of Vancouver, which, with a five month old son and two cats and two large dogs, was no small feat. In fact, we are still in a state of chaos with unpacked boxes everywhere and a completely empty living room and dining room as we have stripped off the carpet and are painting the walls before laying down laminate. Actually, the rooms aren't entirely empty - the bigass china cabinet is on a dolly and that is gonan be a bit*h to get off the dolly once the flooring is done. Thirdly, all my blogging time is used up by Detected Errors (with the remaining computer time dominated by ESPN's Streak for the Cash).

It's for the above reasons also that before yesterday it had been two and a half months since my last run. I can not express how much of a pleasure it is to be able to run on wooded trails with the dogs without having to drive at least twenty minutes each way to do so. Yesterday was suitably painful (it'd been two and a half months after all) and I still loved it. And to think, it's just gonna get better and better!

Yesterday's run route
Starting near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail along the Coquitlam River, turn left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, turn left to go north along the Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave/Elizabeth Dr, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Yesterday's run time
49 minutes 14 seconds

Barenaked Ladies "Drawing"

one hundred and sixty-four seconds

The Vancouver Canucks played their last game of the season last night, losing game six in the Western Conference semifinals. They lost that last game in spectacular fashion, allowing seven goals against, while scoring five. Anytime the Canucks score five goals in a game, in front of one of the best goaltenders in the game, they should freakin' win. What's more, the seven goals scored by the Chicago Blackhawks were all scored while Roberto Luongo was still in net. No empty-netters. I'm not placing all the blame on him - there's plenty to go around - but seven goals against in the biggest game of the year, including four in the third period? Yikes. The Canucks twice had a one-goal lead in that third period. A goal by Daniel Sedin to make it 5-4 with 7:45 remaining had me daydreaming of Thursday's game seven. That daydream lasted a mere forty-five seconds (of playing time).

This morning Biscotti told me that the Canucks franchise is being moved to Las Vegas. I said, "Good, they won't break my heart anymore".

After the Canucks went up 2-1 in the best-of-seven, the Blackhawks won three straight games and advance to play either the Detroit Red Wings or the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference final. After the game last night, I heard a local sportscaster (can't remember who, probably on Global's 11pm news) say that in the four Chicago wins, the Canucks had third-period leads in three of them. I was close to posting that without checking on my own, and am glad I did do my own research. The Canucks had third-period leads in two of the four Chicago wins - which is still pretty bad. Shutdown defense? Killer instinct? Gone after the first round sweep.

It's disappointing. If they hadn't been in this series at all, then it'd be easier. A sweep? Oh well, they were overmatched. But no, they just couldn't put games away. Up 2-1 in the series, Vancouver had a 1-0 lead deep into game four's third period. They were 164 seconds from a commanding 3-1 series lead when Chicago scored to tie the game.

That's enough about that. I must now turn my attention to other matters, such as voting today and moving soon.