Strange Gardening Tale... and set your DVR
Track Town, USA: I am living out
of a suitcase. I wake up in the morning and it takes me a few seconds to
realize where I am. RV? House? Hotel? Los Angeles?
This issue will resolve itself around mid-October.
My CD-moving chore is complete. I counted 346 CDs. Most were
moved to my iPod. Many were not. Next week they will all go to our local
used-music store where I am sure my years of investment will no doubt be
reward with a $35 in-store credit. I told The Lovely Lisa where I was
taking the old discs and she remembered taking her CDs there in high
school.
Nirvana, most probably.
Who knew Jimmy Buffett has over 30 albums? Will I be sad to part with
the hard copies of My Beloved Buffett?
I will not.

We saw Jimmy in San Diego on
March 10th
While pillaging through our house, cleaning out drawers,
closets and cupboards, I also noticed something quite odd in my
bookkeeping. It seemed to me that we had not paid our gardener since
February of 2011.
Huh?
Dudes come every week. We have no lawn, but they weed the beds,
winterize the irrigation system, fertilize, prune, blow the leaves, rake
the bark dust and blow-off the patios and decks. Like clock-work. Every
month they send a bill for the exact same amount. Bill arrives. I shred
bill because I think it is being paid automatically. Our gardener has
never raised his rate in all the years his company have been taking care
of our property. And, for about eight years, the bill has been
automatically paid out of our checking account.
Except - for some unknown reason - suddenly, it wasn't.
Yes, I should have been paying better attention, but wouldn't you think
after even one month (not to mention 15!) they would have noticed and
sent a past-due notice?
Last week, I phoned our gardener and vaguely (no dates, etc.,
were mentioned) asked if we owed him any money. He said he didn't think
so, but would check and get back to me. A few days later he returned my
call and confirmed my suspicion: we had not paid him since February of
2011. Seriously? Wish I could get away with this at VISA or the electric
company.
The
next thing out of my mouth was: YOU NEED TO FIRE YOUR BOOKKEEPER! This
was the wrong thing to say because our gardener IS the
bookkeeper. He honestly said that if I had not phoned, he would have
never known I was 15 months behind and he seemed a little too
over-excited to be receiving a 15-month-fat check. Ouch. Hope I make a
lot of money from the CD sale.
Of course, I sent him a check directly, but this dude needs to get his
act together! Have you ever encountered a situation like this? Things
tend to get a bit confusing while living half-time on the road, but
usually if I slip-up, SOMEONE lets me know right away.
Thank you for letting me vent.
DT and I left Taylor Manor at 7p this evening and are now at our "summer
residence" (doesn't that sound so fancy - except it is a RV park on the
interstate) in Eugene. Huge track meet this weekend. As previously
mentioned, the Great Nation of Kenya is holding their 10000m (6 mile)
men's Olympic Trials race in Eugene Friday evening! Can you even imagine such a thing?
It's going to be a blood bath of the world's best long-distance men
trying to finish 1, 2 or 3 in a race that will be better than the Olympic
10000m final in London. What a treat. I am nearly delirious with
excitement as only someone who enjoys watching men run around a track 24-plus times could be.
The event is free and open to the public and there are many other
exciting races on the agenda Friday night.

Photo by Pat W
Here is a photo of twelve of the fastest 10000m runners
in the world. They had a tour of the NIKE campus today. Don't they look
all friendly and chummy?
Nine of these guys are not going to London.
Today is, unbelievably, the 37th anniversary of the death of American
distance great, Steve Prefontaine. On Saturday, his memory will be
honored at the
Prefontaine Classic IAAF Track Meet, featuring many of the best
athletes in the world. And you are so lucky! There is no need to be in
Eugene, Oregon for the event as it will be shown LIVE on NBC at 12:30
pacific. 90 minutes of the fastest, highest and longest! Watch the meet
or set your DVRs, because this meet never disappoints! Walter Dix is
scheduled to run the 100m and the 200m! In a loaded 400m (once around
the track) field, South African double-amputee
Oscar
Pistorius is in the race! Our own Duck-alum Cyrus Hostetler is going
up against the world leader in the Pre Classic's first-ever javelin
competition! American Jenn Suhr looks good in the pole vault! And hold
on to your popcorn peeps - the Future World's Greatest Athlete, Ashton
Eaton, will face China's Lui Xiang (Olympic Gold Medalist) in the 110m
hurdles! Allyson Felix should light it up in the 200m, but it's a
free-for-all in the women's 400m. The men's 800 will be epic, NBC will
probably not show the women's 3000m steeplechase and it's the same old
guys are in the shot put.
The best event of the
Prefontaine Classic is the Bowerman Mile. The mile is not raced often
anymore. Nowadays, everyone runs 1500m (a "metric mile"). This mile race is
always the last event of the meet and is the most anticipated race of the day.
This year, the field is again outstanding. Actually, a better field than you
will see on the starting line at the Olympic 1500m final in London as nine
Kenyans are entered in the Bowerman Mile. A very international group - with Duck
alum Andrew Wheating - in a crazy
18 man race. It is going to be a
wild and crazy sub-four minutes!
I hope I have convinced you to spend a bit of time on Saturday in front
of your television. I promise, you will not be disappointed!
Until my next update, I remain, your in-debt correspondent.
Comments
Sign Up is NOT required! Anyone may comment. Sign
up only if you would like to add an avatar, or if you wish to be emailed when someone responds to your comment.