Shirt or no shirt?

Summer is not my favorite time of year for running. Sure, it's nice not to have to bundle up, but the heat is not friendly to my body. Compared to the average runner, I sweat a lot. Aside from the obvious dehydration problem, this also causes blisters and chafing. I have been on many runs where my shoes are soaked after only 3 or 4 miles into it. Not just wet, completely soaked. I could hear a constant squish-squish-squish as I ran along.

None of my clothing stays dry, so for the past few months I've been running shirtless. In late July I was out in Davenport, Iowa to run the Quad City Times Bix 7 road race. I opted to wear a shirt so I wouldn't have to pin my number to my shorts. I ended up with chafed nipples, a problem I've experienced before that is not uncommon to runners. That was the last time I ran while wearing a shirt, until yesterday. It was relatively cool (if 75 F can be considered cool) and I only planned to run 4.5 miles, so I figured I'd try wearing a shirt. It was not bad. There were even spots on my shirt that remained dry. However, I am keeping in mind that the run was only 4.5 miles. A longer run could be less pleasant.

So my dilemma continues -- do I wear a shirt or not? I figure I only have a couple of weeks left with this problem since the temperature will be dropping soon. I can't wait.

Overlooked gem: Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall

When thinking of the most popular songs by Simon & Garfunkel, a few titles come to mind -- "The Sounds of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "Bridge Over Troubled Water". One of their songs that is vastly underappreciated is "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall". It is one of my favorite tunes by the duo.

The song opens with a jumpy guitar riff followed by Simon's vocals. Garfunkel joins him for the chorus at the end of each verse. The music was written by Paul Simon, as were the lyrics, which are poetry in and of themselves:

Through the corridors of sleep
Past shadows dark and deep
My mind dances and leaps in confusion

Where it can be heard: "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall" is on the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, which I own and frequently listen to in my car. As previously mentioned, the song is not very well known. I've never heard it played on the radio.

The fascinating hobby of amateur radio

Amateur radio was a hobby of mine in high school and in college, and it had a big influence on me. I got my license in February 1997 after passing a theory exam and a 5 WPM Morse code test. My callsign was KB0ZPQ. Right away I took to the airwaves and enjoyed contacting other "hams" using Morse code. It was also fun to exchange postcards confirming the contact (known as QSL cards), and I accumulated quite a collection of these. Some of them can be seen here. My setup was relatively simple. I had the radio in my bedroom with a long wire antenna stretched out in the attic.

When I entered college at the University of Iowa, I decided to major in electrical engineering. My experience with ham radio helped me a lot with topics such as amplitude modulation and radio wave propagation. I joined the school's amateur radio club, W0IO, which at the time was very small. At one of the meetings I met someone from the Iowa City club who offered me a part-time job as a student technician with the Physics and Astronomy Department. This job gave me hands on experience with all kinds of electrical components, including resistors, capacitors, inductors, and diodes.

Amateur radio operators have a long history of assisting during emergencies. During many crises, such as natural disasters, amateur radio is the only surviving form of communication. Hams provided crucial aid during the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the blackout in August 2003, and Hurricane Katrina just recently. Every year in late June, radio amateurs across the US participate in Field Day, a 24-hour contest to make as many contacts as possible. It is an excellent way for hams to prepare for emergency communications. I helped out the ICARC at Field Day in 2000 in Iowa City, making hundreds of CW contacts all night long.

Hams also assist in a wide variety of public events. Last year I ran the JFK 50-mile ultramarathon, and hams were at many of the aid stations along the way.

When I moved away from Iowa a couple of years ago, I left the hobby behind. I'd like to get back into it when I have more time to devote to it.

Great novel: Rich Man, Poor Man

I first read Irwin Shaw's Rich Man, Poor Man in May 2001, shortly after finishing my junior year of college. It is the story of the Jordache family over the span of 20+ years, beginning at the end of WWII and continuing through the 1960s. The father is Axel Jordache, who married Mary Pease and had three children: Gretchen, Rudolph, and Thomas. The three of them are the novel's main characters.

Thomas is the youngest but is the first to leave home, which is in upstate New York. He and a friend ignite a cross on private property on V-E day, and when Axel finds out, he sends him away to live with his brother in Ohio. This works out fine for a while, until a couple of twin girls accuse Thomas of impregnating them. After he's bailed out of jail, his uncle kicks him out of town. After a brief stint as a boxer, he gets into some trouble with the mob and has to flee the country.

Gretchen is the oldest, and she leaves home the same night as Thomas. She finds occasional work as an actress in New York City and gets married to a man she meets there. They divorce after a short period of time, and Gretchen remarries a director. They relocate to Los Angeles.

Rudolph stays home and looks after his mother until her death. He goes to college nearby and takes a job in the same town. He becomes a workaholic and accrues enough money to retire in his 30s. He and his wife meet up with Gretchen and Thomas over in Europe for a cruise on Thomas's ship. The book ends with a tragic event that occurs on the trip.

I've read Rich Man, Poor Man three times and have yet to be bored by it. Each character has his (or her) own fascinating story. I would definitely recommend this novel.

Baseball is losing its appeal

As the final week of the baseball season begins, I can't help but notice how most of the playoff-bound teams are the ones that make the playoffs every year. For example, look at the Braves and the Yankees, my two least favorite teams in baseball.

The Braves have a monopoly on the NL East. They have won their division every year since 1994, and the only reason they didn't win it then was because a strike cut the season short. You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time Atlanta was not atop their division. Yet somehow during that time period they've only won one World Series, in 1995. That, in my opinion, is their saving grace. I always look forward to seeing the Braves lose in the playoffs, and I enjoy it immensely every year.

The Yankees are a similar story. They have also made the playoffs every year since the strike. One year, 1997, they incredibly did not win their division, finishing in second place behind the Orioles. Every other year they've been in the playoffs, and they've played in the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003.

I haven't even mentioned the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Astros, three other perennial postseason teams. The casual baseball fan will easily lose interest in the sport if the same teams win year after year after year. I'm already getting disgusted with the whole situation. I hope the Red Sox win the AL East and the Indians win the Wild Card. I hope the Braves get swept in the first round of playoffs. And I hope the White Sox play the Phillies in the World Series. Not likely.

Degaussing a TV

When a TV picture is discolored, chances are good that it is caused by an unwanted magnetic field and can be fixed by degaussing the set. My grandma recently got a new TV and had this problem. Every channel was in purple and green. The TV was located under a metal cabinet. The cabinet apparently produced a magnetic field strong enough to affect the picture, because moving the TV away from the metal solved the problem. Unfortunately, relocating the TV was not an option, so a permanent solution was needed.

Color TV works by firing electrons at the back of the screen. Each electron gun represents a specific color, and an electromagnetic field is applied in order to spread the electrons across the entire screen. When an outside magnetic field interferes with this, it changes the electrons' path. In the case of my grandma's TV, it appeared that the "red" electrons weren't making it to the screen. Most modern TVs have a built-in degausser which eliminates a magnetic field. A quick look in the manual told me that the TV does have a degausser which runs at plug-in. I unplugged the set, waited for it to cool off, then plugged it back in. Voila! The color was back to normal. At least most of it was. One corner was still distorted.

If the degausser doesn't work, or if the TV set doesn't have a degausser, a soldering gun can be used. Simply point the gun away from screen so that the rear of the gun is near the discolored part of the screen, then pull the trigger. Move the gun slowly away from the screen until the picture returns to normal. I have heard that this works really well, but I haven't had any luck with it. I tried it very briefly on the corner of my grandma's TV with no success. I am very hesitant to do much more because I don't want to permanently screw up the picture. I suspect that if I used the soldering gun for a longer period of time, the color would return to normal.

Of course, if there is a strong magnetic field around the TV, no amount of degaussing will work. Magnets should be kept away from TV sets and computer monitors.

Running with a blister

Although blisters are a seemingly harmless byproduct of running, they cause plenty of irritation. I developed a particularly nasty one earlier this week which burst on a subsequent run. The exposed raw skin was very sensitive, and I briefly debated whether or not to go on my 10 mile run this morning. It takes a pretty serious ailment to keep me from running, and I don't consider blisters to be that serious, so I hopped in the car and headed for the park. The beginning section of the loop included some trails, complete with rocks and tree roots, so I had to be careful not to step on something the wrong way. However, the rest of the loop was on paved roads, and the foot held up fine. I definitely felt the blister, but it didn't negatively impact my stride. I walked with a limp after finishing, but overall I'd survived to run another day.