Good Day at the Pool

What a day for West Ottawa's age group swim program. We've been in the program now for over 3 years and we had yet to seriously challenge any top flight swim programs in the area. We always manage to have a few really strong swimmers scattered about, but this year, we are strong in all age groups.

The 8 and unders are the toughest I've seen awhile. These kids are fearless and don't need to breath during their 25 yard lengths!! Fearless and FAST!!

We managed to take it to Zeeland's swim program today 388 to 340 something. It was a great day all around. My oldest managed to swim a state qualifying time in the 50 yard breaststroke today. She smoked a 36:48...Unbelievable.

I also managed to win a cup of coffee from JP's later this week...I bet one of my buddies who has a child on the other team on the outcome of today's meet.

Athlete of the Century!

Recently, I had the great pleasure of visiting a local high school to watch a wrestling meet. I was taken aback when I spotted this picture on the wall of fame. This guy has been one of my heroes for years. Lucky for me, I had my camera and was able to take this piece of my dreams and aspirations home with me...I still get a little misty when I look at this picture!
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Good Read

There is an article in today's Holland Sentinel - via some wire service, of course - regarding the current party line on the war. This gentleman articulates my thoughts much better than I could ever hope to.

Frostbite Marathon

To follow up on my post from yesterday, I ran the Frostbite Marathon today through South Holland with 4 of my running pals. Jeff, Cory, Bill and Kevin. The race lived up to its name, let me tell ya!!

Jeff ran the first leg and the temperature at 8am was -10 degrees...OUCH. Needless to say, the chase vehicle was quite toasty. Everyone on the first leg had their faces covered in ice. Eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, head hair...it didn't matter. It was freakin' cold!! Jeff definitely drew the short straw. We knew this to be the case when we rolled down the window in the car for encouragement and Jeff responded with something resembling words. It seems his jaw was a little rusty due to the weather conditions and not functioning properly.

Cory ran a quick second leg and didn't complain once about the cold. What an animal. He managed to pass a couple folks and close the gap on the third place team.

By the time I was up for the third leg, the sun was up, but the temp was not. My whole face was frozen and my glasses frosted over. Being the veteran of a slip and fall on ice - separating my left shoulder - I was more cautious than most today. Any surface that looked shiny was avoided by me. The guy in 3rd place stopped running at one point, and I passed him like he was standing still...because he was...standing still, that is. But then I got passed by some guy like I was standing still...and I wasn't.

I did manage to warm up after about a mile. By the time I was done with my leg, I was so numb, I had no idea I was done. I was quite thankful.

Bill did a great job of maintaining our position, but the guy who passed me was on fire. By the time Kevin took over for the final leg, the 3rd place team was out of reach. We wound up 4th in a race where there are no official times, no awards and no results posted. Why do we do this? A question for the ages...

Once again, Alan and his crew did a great job of organizing this event. His store, Running Circles in Grand Haven, now has the title sponsorship rights to ALL the races held in Holland throughout the year. What does that tell you about the ownership of Gazelle's commitment to the Holland community?

One long shower, and one long nap later, I'm ready to run again tomorrow.

I was going through some pix this afternoon and came across this one...Pretty hard to NOT figure out why we live in West Michigan!
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Sean Hannity is a Blowhard

I really want ot like this guy. He's conservative and shares some common political views with me. However, he's not willing to allow ANYONE on his show to voice their opinions.

I know it's his show, but why the heck does he invite guests on if he won't let them speak?? Plus, he keeps going back and reciting the same tired argument against anyone who disagrees with anything Dubya has done..."If you had your way, Saddam would still be in power, the rape rooms would still be in use, blah, blah, blah."

It's interesting that now the justification for war was that Saddam was a bad guy and had to be removed from power in order to liberate the Iraqi people.

Hmmmm...I never heard Colin Powell make that argument in the run-up to war. It's was all about the weapons and the imminent threat Saddam's weapons programs represented.

FreeiPods.com...Riiiiiiiight!!

So I have to tell you about my free iPods dot com experience. You know the old adage - if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Well, I was a skeptic (still am to a certain degree) until recently.

I have seen the banner ads and pop ups touting FreeiPods.com for it seems like forever. I never paid any attention to them, until this intern at my office shows up with two iPods over the Christmas holiday. When I asked why anyone would ever need two iPods, he said his newest one was free.

Always looking to get something for nothing, I inquired further. He surfed over to the freeiPods.com website, pulled up his account, and gave me the rundown. It seems as though this marketing scheme has some merit.

Once you sign up for an account on the website, you simply complete an offer from one of their sponsors. I chose the Blockbuster online deal. Two week free trial, no obligation, $15.99 per month thereafter. After the two week trial was over, I canceled my Blockbuster account.

Once you've signed on to one of the offers, you are asked to get "referrals" to the website. What this means is you find at least 5 other people to sign up for an account and accept one of the offers as well. Once they've received their credit for completing an offer, you get your free iPod. It really is that simple.

The idea behind this is that the site sells advertising space (ie offers from companies) and the proceeds are used to purchase you your iPod. With the traffic generated by the referrals, it's got to be a gold mine for both the website and the companies advertising. I mean, if I get 5 to sign up, and they get 5 to sign up, and they get 5 to sign up...That's 126 hits just from my one account. Well worth the investment for most companies who choose to advertise on the net.

I just received my order confirmation, which means my iPod has been ordered. The tough part is waiting the 4-6 weeks to actually get the hardware. It'll be worth the wait, I figure. All told, it took about 6 weeks to get my order confirmation. It helps to know a few folks interested in pursuing the same thing (ie. A free iPod).

Good luck...It seems to work...I'm cautiously optimistic. When I have it in hand, then I'll be a true believer.

Takin' the Plunge

I went down to the Ottawa County Clerk's office today to pick up my petition for nomination in the upcoming West Ottawa School Board election. Over the next 3 weeks, I need to collect 40 signatures to be on the ballot in May.

Someone asked me why I wanted to be on the school board the other day. It was a tough question, but only because I've never been asked to verbalize my reasons. I guess I should work on that in the next couple of days prior to asking folks for their support.

Stay tuned...

Sunday Swim Results

My oldest had a great day on Sunday...Unfortunately, so did all the other girls in her age group.

She swam great times in all her events; 50 Free - 29:70, 100IM - 1:16:45, 50 Back - 37:42. All very good times for her, but not good enough to make the cut for the finals. She was in the top 25 for all the events, but only the top 16 went on to the finals.

However, because of how she was seeded, she ended up coming home with two first place ribbons anyway. One for the B division in the IM, and one for the C division in the backstroke. A silver lining after all.

It's a Big Swim Weekend!!

So my oldest daughter is a pretty good swimmer. Okay, she's REALLY good and I love watching her compete!

We had a great day at an age group meet, where she won all her events. She even beat her best time in the 50 Yard Breast by a second...37:68 today. WOW!

Sunday is the big day. We'll be at a USA swim meet in the morning at Forest Hills. If she finishes in the top 16 of any of her events, we'll be off to Rockford for another meet that starts at 4:30pm. Whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest?

Who else is on the take?

So, Armstrong Williams took some cash from Dubya to publicly tout his No Child Left Behind initiative. Hmmmmmmm...

I was listening to The Savage Nation this evening and Michael makes an interesting point...Who else is on the take? And if it ain't cash, what are all the lapdogs of Dubya's administration getting in return for their sycophantic support? Access? Perhaps.

It has always been a suspicion, but until Armstrong came clean (like Rather has yet to do) it has never been confirmed. Who can you trust these days?

Spending More Money is Always the Answer...

It didn't take long for the home state of our Commander in Chief to take advantage of yet another program designed to expand government and encourage corruption...http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20050108/ap_on_re_us/terrorism_spending_2&printer=1

I can't say I'm too surprised. After all, lawnmower races are vital to our country's security.

Charter vs. Public

The Grand Rapids Press had an editorial the other day challenging Genny G. to sign legislation that would allow for more Charter Schools. When you consider what's at stake for the Public School System, and who's opposed to Charter Schools (teacher's unions), you get a good understanding of why West Ottawa's new high school has taken the form of a division 3 college campus.

I haven't run the numbers, but I'll bet the ratio of square footage allocated to athletics vs. education is about 3:1 - and that's being conservative. It's not just WO, it's a trend throughout the state of Michigan. Schools are being built to be marketable. There's increased competition out there...with Charter Schools and all. If you build it, they will come. At least that's what everyone is counting on.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of faith in the current administration at West Ottawa. However, it's clear measures have been taken to be sure our school district stands out among its peer group. Is this wrong? After all, the voters approved the millage to build the school - after countless informational meetings which included detailed plans for the construction.

My question is: Have we lost sight of why the public school system was created in the first place? Are our priorities a little skewed these days?

Public School Finances

Great articles today in the Lakeshore Press. (www.mlive.com) One article compares what local school districts have in cash reserves. (ie. in the bank)

http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1104664546200290.xml?grpress?NEG

Hamilton Public Schools have 44% of their operating expenses held in cash reserves. Compared with Holland Public Schools' 3.6% and West Ottawa Public Schools' 18%.

This has become a very heated point of debate in local school districts as they conduct contract negotiations with teachers and their unions. How much is too much? Why should the teachers give contract concessions when the districts like Hamilton appear to be rich in cash? Why should Hamilton have the benefit of such a large cash reserve when districts like Holland are having to cut custodial staff in an effort to stay open?

I think there is a balance that needs to be struck between these two extremes. Forty four percent is WAY too much of taxpayer's cash being set aside. Conversely, 3.6% is a little tight in providing for the fluctuation in yearly costs.

This money, after all, should be returned to the taxpayers of our state if it is truly not needed. The school financing provided every year should not be viewed as free investment cash for school districts to hold on to for the proverbial rainy day.

New Year's Day

2005 is here. Which only means it will be about a week or two before I start writing the correct date on any paperwork at work.

I have to work tomorrow for the first time in over a week. Sleeping past 6am has become quite nice. One of the benefits of working for a company with Automotive ties.