Go Gu Dog, Go!

I met up this morning with people from my running group and we started our run about the same time as an elite group of runners beside us. One guy in the elite group runs with a Jack Russell Terrier and I found out today that dog is capable of running 20 miles at a stretch, and takes GU (energy paste) just like humans. It's in amazing shape. The owner hooks a retractable leash to the waist of his pants and the dog runs out ahead of him.

Even more amazing is a woman I barely passed who was hauling ass uphill while pushing a monstrous baby carriage, loaded down with diaper bag, toys, and baby. She must have been pushing 50 pounds. Someone told me there are some races that have special awards for runners who push strollers. I remember at the first 5k I ever ran, there was a dad beside me pushing one-year old twins in a stroller. The start gun went off and I never saw him again. He took off. Those stroller runners are FAST.

I'm excited to start training, although the gas money to get me to and from GSO 4 days a week might kill me. I've got several goals in mind which I'll share once training starts. For now, I think my goal should be twofold:

1. Try to keep up with the dog.

1. Don't get passed by the lady pushing the stroller.

Mac Attack

Do the words on the page look different today? They should. They're being typed on a Mac. Yesterday afternoon Blair and I drove to Raleigh, mortgaged the cats college futures and came home with 2 apple laptops, a printer (only $25 after rebate), Time Capsule (wireless internet network), and a bunch of cables and crap I have no interest in learning about so long as Blair gets them to function properly.

I'm cautiously optimistic at this point. Things are different, although not terrible different, on the Mac and I'm trying to find my way around. My biggest heart clencher at the moment involves straightening my e-mail. My files transferred over, but I lost the folders they were in. So let's say I previously had a folder called "Dogs," and in it I had 5 different folders for 5 dog magazines, and then I had separate article folders under each of those. Now, all those messages are just listed in one big list that I have to go back and start categorizing. Ugh.

Blair and I are sitting upstairs in the green chairs, legs out on ottoman, laptop on each of our laps. Our conversation consists of me saying, "How do I..." and Blair grunting, "I'm working on it."

Love over a laptop is grand.

The Little Treats In Life

The perfect morning:

• Up early for a 7-mile trail run with a friend
• Spotting a deer bounding up a hill on the trail
• Treating myself to a Starbucks mocha and glazed doughnut for the car ride home after the run
• A clear sky with bright sunshine and cool temps
• Early 80's Madonna blaring on the car radio
• Knowing the whole day is mine to explore and to get work done.

Do I miss the corporate life? You know, not so much...

The Computer - Not Dead Yet

So here's where we stand with the computer. We took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and they gave us no hope. $200 gone on that. Then several people recommended Intrex, so I toted the computer there yesterday. $100. They couldn't read the drive either. However, they said they had seen this before and they knew exactly who to send it to and are confident the data can be retrieved. (I liked Intrex very much and will be using them for future repairs, if needed.)

Intrex can remove the hard drive, which we would then mail to this third party vendor. Intrex said it would probably be a week or two before we got the data back. I don't have a price quote at this point.

After all this, I think I'm just going to let the data be lost. We're already $300 in on this little venture and I'm sure it will be at least another couple hundred to retrieve the data.  I'm not sure that what I've lost is worth $500. I've rewritten my article already, so that's done. We've lost our I-tunes, but it's hardly worth paying a few hundred dollars to replace those. I've lost updates to my Access database where I track job submissions and log payments, but I should be able to go through checking and piece together most of that. As for e-mails... I know I'll lose a bunch, but nothing is screaming at me that I must have it. I might be forgetting something, but I'm willing to risk it.

I'll check and see what the cost is to retrieve the data but I think whichever way it goes, we'll weather the storm okay.

And I'd like to think we've learned a little lesson about backing up the computers on a regular basis.

Thanks to everyone who posted on the blog or e-mailed suggestions on where to take the computer!