Endurance
I recently finished reading the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that took place almost 100 years ago. I'd heard of Ernest Shackleton before, but I had no idea how incredible his and his crew's survival was on this epic journey. They left England in 1914 with the goal of crossing the continent of Antarctica on foot and 
emerging on the other side. They entered the Weddell Sea, but their ship became stuck in the ice, forcing the men to spend the long polar winter there. After months of drifting with the ice, the pressure became too much and crushed the ship. The men were on their own on the treacherous ice floes, carrying food, supplies, and lifeboats with them. They finally made it to open water and were able to navigate to desolate Elephant Island, where they used glacial ice for drinking water and killed seals for food. Shackleton realized that nobody would ever find them there and decided to go for help. He and a few other men sailed 850 miles in a 22-foot open boat across the stormiest seas on earth to the island of South Georgia. He then had to hike almost 30 miles across mountains and glaciers to the whaling station on the opposite side of the island. A rescue ship eventually made it back to Elephant Island, where amazingly all of the crew had survived. The book is both harrowing and fascinating, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good adventure story.
Saints win Super Bowl
I did not watch all of the big game yesterday, but I did watch quite a bit of it and enjoyed what I saw. I expected Peyton Manning to just drive down the field on every Colts possession, which didn't exactly happen. The first quarter followed expectations, 
as Indy jumped out to a 10-0 lead. But the Saints defense got their act together after that and kept them scoreless in the second frame. They also added a couple of field goals of their own to cut the deficit to 10-6. Then, to start the second half, New Orleans tried an on-sides kick and recovered it successfully. It was an unexpected play and achieved its goal of keeping Manning off the field as long as possible. As a bonus, they scored a touchdown and took a 13-10 lead. The Colts struck back to make it 17-13, the Saints got a field goal to make it 17-16, and then I went to bed. This morning I discovered what I'd missed - a New Orleans TD and a Peyton Manning interception. The Saints win their first ever Super Bowl.
Blizzard
I cancelled my weekend travel plans due to the major snow storm that hit us yesterday. It did not last as long as the one back in December (it stopped snowing early in the afternoon), but it came down harder. I looked out the window when I woke up and decided, unfortunately, to skip my run. There simply was no place to go. The only clear area was the road that runs around my apartment complex, and every 10 minutes or so a plow would go by, so I didn't really want to be running there. I did go out in the afternoon and dig out my car. This morning I went out for a run and had to stick to the middle of the road. None of the sidewalks were clear. One advantage of running early in the morning is that there aren't very many cars out, although I did have to get out of the way of a few. Today is sunny, so I suspect a lot of this stuff will melt and be gone pretty soon.
emerging on the other side. They entered the Weddell Sea, but their ship became stuck in the ice, forcing the men to spend the long polar winter there. After months of drifting with the ice, the pressure became too much and crushed the ship. The men were on their own on the treacherous ice floes, carrying food, supplies, and lifeboats with them. They finally made it to open water and were able to navigate to desolate Elephant Island, where they used glacial ice for drinking water and killed seals for food. Shackleton realized that nobody would ever find them there and decided to go for help. He and a few other men sailed 850 miles in a 22-foot open boat across the stormiest seas on earth to the island of South Georgia. He then had to hike almost 30 miles across mountains and glaciers to the whaling station on the opposite side of the island. A rescue ship eventually made it back to Elephant Island, where amazingly all of the crew had survived. The book is both harrowing and fascinating, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good adventure story.
