A Quick Word of Thanks

  I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who made Thanksgiving special over the last two days. Thursday, of course, was the big day but we also have our annual Friday party.

  Cathy and I really enjoy having all of our family over to the house on Thanksgiving. It just makes it a little easier I think for everyone, especially Benjamin. This turkey day was much different than last year. As you may remember, last year we gave thanks just for getting some sleep. 

  Cathy does a great job of delegating culinary responsibilities to our guests. We take care of the bird and stuffing along with some other fixin's but our guests help fill the table with the other traditional side items of Thanksgiving.

  We had my mom, dad & stepmother, Cathy's mom and our neighbors Lisa and Bruno show up around 1:30 in the afternoon with the intention of sitting down to eat about an hour later. This would give everyone some buffer time if they were running late. It was also to give Benjamin enough time to wear out his grandparents.

  Overall it was a nice dinner. It gave us all a chance to catch up with one another. More importantly it was a relaxing afternoon of food and conversation.

  Now Friday night is completely different. The night after Thanksgiving has turned in to the annual Livingston Leftover Party (no family allowed). We started this a few years ago and liked the idea of having friends over to help finish up the leftovers the night after Thanksgiving.

  So last night Lisa and Bruno came back over. Our friends Adam and Amy brought another friend James with their leftovers. The Leftover Party is a little more relaxed than Thanksgiving which is saying a lot. It's like having a small, intimate dinner party for friends where you don't have to cook that afternoon. Just throw it in the microwave. Voilá!

  So there you have our Thanksgiving wrap up. Thank you to all that came through our front door. You helped make our home warm (not to mention the refrigerator but we won't go there) this holiday weekend.

Expanding my Digital Library

EDITOR'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A TECH ENTRY.

  As I  blogged about a couple of months ago our Samsung DVD recorder broke and the company did not want to offer any assistance. And so we went without a DVD player. That is until this week. 

  I liked the ability to burn shows from our DVR to DVD and then rip the shows to my iTunes library for posterity. It was great that I could archive some of my favorite 90210 episodes and watch on my computer, iPod or iPhone whenever.

  So this week I went to Best Buy and purchased a new Toshiba upgradable DVD player. (As a side note: I read many reviews about the pros and cons of going Blu-Ray vs Upgrade DVD players. The conclusion with some tech writers was the DVD had more bang for the buck but Blu-Ray was better just not by much. My thought is that in two years it won't matter Hi-Def video will be all on servers and hard drives.)

  (Back to the story) So after hooking up the new DVD player to the home system I pondered whether I made the right choice by not going the DVD recorder route again. And so I started researching how I could record the shows off our DVR to iTunes. What I found out was there was a way to hook up my laptop to the Bright House cable box and pull off the saved shows.

  The only thing I had to actually purchase was the MPEG-2 component for Quicktime for $20. The other two pieces of software I needed to accomplish my goal were free off the internet.

  I used a Firewire cable to transfer the video from the cable box to my Macintosh laptop. Once the video is saved to the laptop I then use another software to convert the file to another format that iTunes can recognize and won't take up a lot of space on my iPhone. Then I can pull it into iMovie and edit out the commercials before archiving it to iTunes.

  I know that many readers are looking at this and thinking, "Man Chris has a lot of free time." Probably true but I'm just looking to the future. And in my future is apparently 90210.

  

Taking Care of the Customer

  So I have to write a quick blog about a company that actually took care of this consumer. You see in this day and age it's rare that a company goes out of it's way to make sure it's customers are happy and satisfied.

  During the MLB postseason I was wearing my iPhone on my hip utilizing the Contour Showcase's holster. The case itself is one of the best I could find when I purchased my iPhone. Contour uses acrylic for the majority of the the Showcase with the edges wrapped in rubber to help protect the cell if you drop it (which isn't out of the ordinary for me.). 

  Anyways, during the ALCS I was walking around when the case caught on something which caused the clip portion of the holster to snap. I was no longer able to put my iPhone on my hip. Not that I wore it there frequently but I liked having it as an option especially when shooting games where the ambient noise would prevent me from hearing the ringer. In those situations I would just put it on vibrate and feel it ring on my belt.

  OK so it's been a month since the incident and I had gone to the Apple store as well as other retailers to see if they sold a replacement holster but to no avail. The only option I had was to purchase a whole new Showcase and holster. I really didn't need a new case just a holster in which to put my iPhone.

  So this weekend I went to the Contour website and emailed their customer service department to explain my situation. Then this morning I received an email from Julie of Contour asking for some additional details about which model and my address. She informed me that Contour was sending me a new holster for my Showcase.

  It was so refreshing that a company was going to go out of it's way to make sure that one of it's customers was satisfied with it's product. Just for the record I asked Contour to help me find a retailer who just sold the holster and they offered to replace my broken one free of charge. I really feel that my money was well spent when I purchased the Contour Showcase. Not only is it the best case designed for the iPhone, in my opinion, but the company stands behind their product. Thank you Contour. 

What Was I Thinking?

  Well I haven't gone running since Saturday's 5K and I was feeling a bit out of shape. That was probably due to the pizza and inordinate amount of bread I had Wednesday with my tomato soup.

  So I decided to go for a longer than normal run after dropping off Benjamin at school today. I got back to the house and scarfed down a banana and four Ego waffles to build up some carbs for my long run. 

  After some stretching I plugged in my Schure earbuds in to my iPhone and headed out. I figured I should be reachable if I'm running for over an hour. The last time I went out running I lost an assignment for USA Today.

  I hit play on a couple of podcasts and headed out to the West Orange Trail. I usually would go running between 3-6.5 miles previously. On the last couple of runs I felt I was ready to extend my distance. And why not? The weather was gorgeous out there today. The temperature was around 65 degrees and hardly any humidity. 

  I quickly worked in to my pace and tried to keep it a little lower in anticipation of a longer run. I thought I would go to downtown Winter Garden before turning around which would give me a 9-mile run for the day. Not bad I thought. That was until I got to Winter Garden.

  As I approached my potential turn around point, I assessed my status. My breathing was good. My legs felt great and not showing signs of fatigue. I felt like I could maybe stretch it even further and if I over did it I'd simply pull up and walk a little bit. No biggie.

  I ran all the way to Oakland before turning around. This new point would give me a run of 13 miles or roughly half a marathon. The thought of me completing that run was inspiring. Now all I needed to do was keep a good pace.

  Honestly I was doing great with everything until mile 10. It was then that I felt some twinges in my going muscles. This then worked in to some aches in my lower back and my right calf. All the while I never felt winded which was pretty good I thought.

  I am proud to say that I completed my impromptu half marathon run in 2 hours and 10 minutes. It's odd for me to say that I ran 13 miles today. 

  Upon my return I soaked in an ice bath and took two Aleve to stave off any aches. Let's just say I don't want to know what it would've felt like if I hadn't taken those actions. My legs hurt so much right now. 

  Today was a test for me. I'm considering racing in next month's Florida Half Marathon in Clermont. I just wanted to see if I could do it. Apparently I can. Now all I need to do is to do it again. In the meantime I will maybe keep my runs to 9-11 miles for the next few weeks.

  I'm still impressed that I was able to run 13 miles. I guess it's the whole setting my mind to accomplishing that goal that's pretty cool to me. By the way, no one called me while I was running. Figures!

Seeing the World

  Well with the OK from Benjamin's pediatrician we decided to make the big purchase of a forward-facing car seat. To this point Benjamin was getting to be a handful putting him in to his car seat. He fought us like an Olympic wrestler. He would twist and turn in his infant carrier.

  So Cathy and I drove down to Babies R Us and picked up the new seat as I hoped it would in some way distract him while I buckled him in to the seat. Hey at this point if flaming baton torches could distract him enough to get him in to the seat I'd had done it.

  OK I have to give some advice to the uninitiated. NEVER TRY TO INSTALL A NEW CAR SEAT WITHOUT THAT FIRST CUP OF COFFEE! Believe me I speak from a frustrating experience. I mean whoever wrote that stupid instruction manual must not have a kid. Really!!! And the whole "let's bungee strap the booklet on the seat" is warped. Who really needs to be able to read that at arms' length anyways?"

  The end result is that Benjamin loves his new seat. In fact, he really likes to look out the front windscreen to see the action. Seeing the world as his parents see it is interesting to him. I think he just wants to be treated just like the other big people. 

  Some other observations I've made are he thinks his main source of entertainment is Daddy looking back at him in a peek-a-boo way. Also trying to find his travel buddies is probably not the safest way to operate a vehicle. And lastly I find it difficult to hand feed Benjamin in this new position. Just give him the whole container of Cheerios already.

  It's such a different world for both my son and I. I think it's such a different perspective and one that I have to get used to.

Continuing a Tradition

  Today I took Benjamin to Tampa for lunch with my Dad and stepmother. The bigger news was we were taking him to have his first hot dog at Mel's. For those who don't know Mel's is an institution in Tampa. They serve some of the best Chicago-style hot dogs around.

  My dad and I used to go there when I was a kid. Usually it was Friday nights when I was spending the weekend at his house. I look back on those dinners as some of the best times with my dad. We would have those father-son talks over a couple of Mel's Special Dog baskets.

  Mel's was also a favorite place to go with my grandmother. Granny loved to go up to Busch Blvd. and have a dog with me any time we had the opportunity. She loved to go for lunch and suffer the wisecracks from no other Mel himself. He always would put a smile on Granny's face.

  Back to the lunch at hand. We got to the dog stand right before the lunch rush. My dad and Sylvia had already gotten the order at the table when Benjamin and I walked through the door.

  Dad had the high chair setup for his grandson along with a kid's basket as well as a Special Basket ATW (All The Way) for me. I got Benjamin set up with his high chair cover and Sylvia started cutting up the hot dog and French fries for him.

  Let me tell you this kid can eat some Mel's. He gobbled up some of the dog, chewed on the fries and scarfed down the bun. Then top all that off with some juice and I had a great diaper change this afternoon.

  Overall it was a great lunch. I think I got more of a kick out of taking my son to Mel's than my dad treating his son and grandson to lunch. I look forward to taking Benjamin when he's older to have the some of the same dinner conversations that my dad and I had.

Middle of the Pack

  For the first time since the 1978 USF Bull Run, I ran a road race. While it was only 5km it was a start. I've gotten back in to running recently and decided to enter the Winter Garden 5K race with our friends Ryan Kelly.

  I felt a little intimidated as the Santurris have run marathons previously and I ended up chickening out of my second race, the 1979 Gasparilla 5K (Hey I was 5 and it was cold, loud and scary. Sorry Dad for making you take me back to find Mom.).

  So I made Cathy and Benjamin my personal cheering section and gave them a map of where to get pictures of me to document my deterioration along the route. I joke about that as I felt I kept a solid pace throughout the race. Heck my usual runs at home are around 10km.

  The horn sounded and everybody around me just stood there mildly walking. "Get out of my way people," I thought to myself. I wanted to run this race in under 30 minutes and they weren't helping me.

  The first mile of the race (for the metrically challenged that would be about 2km) I had a great pace going. It also didn't hurt that we were running downhill but hey I'll take my breaks where I can.

  Then my left shoelace started giving way. "Dang it! I thought I double-knotted." So a quick 5-second break to tie it and I was back in the race.

  This is the point where the hill went from down to up. I gradually rolled back my pace and tried to get my breathing in check. Meanwhile kids were passing me. Stupid kids.

  I got to the second "shooting" spot and Benjamin was looking at the trees and didn't have a clue that Daddy was running past him. Cathy got some shots of me as I dramatically (for the pictures of course) grabbed a cup of water and threw it over my head. (Hey I needed blog material people it was a slow week.)

  Now the road was leveling out and it gave me a chance to keep my pace low to start a second wind for the end of the race. The route meandered through the surrounding neighborhoods of Winter Garden. There were some residents cheering from lawn chairs and then there was this one guy. 

  There he stood. Wearing a bath robe, t-shirt and ratty shorts. Drinking his coffee and picking up the morning paper. As if we were an impromptu parade to gawk at for a little while. Dang it I wanted that coffee.

  As we turned back towards the direction of downtown and the finish line I felt good. That was until I saw one of the top runners from the front of the pack now cheering me and the rest of the hacks on and running in the opposite direction. 

  "OK either we were getting close or he's taunting me," is what I thought as I hit fast forward on the iPod shuffle. (BTW, for some reason my iTunes that it would be humorous and shuffle in some Harry Connick Jr., Bob Marley and other mellow tunes for my run. Not funny!)

  The course took a right turn and in the distance I could see the finish line. I started ramping up my pace. Big Audio Dynamite was playing in my ears and gave me some added energy to finish strong. I felt like I had some stuff left in the tank to pass a large group of runners ahead (Stupid kids. I'll get you back.).

  "Uh oh Maybe I didn't have THAT much left in the tank," I thought to myself with around 2/10th of a mile left.

  I quickly hit the volume up button on the iPod and gave it my all. I ended up having something in the tank for a good kick and crossed the line with the clock reading 28:49. Not bad. I did better than my goal and didn't embarrass myself.

  The final result was that I was 81st out of 300 and 11th in my age division. Ryan was first in his age division and was awarded a first place medal. Kind of cool. Then I heard my name called for the award of "Middle of the Pack" for the 35-39 division. I received a $10 gift certificate to Tri & Run. Ryan was jealous. VERY COOL!

  So it's been 30 years since my last race. A lot has changed since then but it's still putting one foot in front of another. But I gotta say I don't remember it being that stressful when I was 5.