The first CD pressed in the U.S. was Springsteen's "Born in the USA"

The above pics are from the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
The USA won Wheelchair Rugby (among other sports)

I had an interesting day. A brief summary:

I started out with a morning run. I decided a few days ago that I'll make each Wednesday a fartlek workout, and workout is the operative word. Wednesday is my off day for cycling.
Then I worked on church stuff. Got the bulletin done and did some reading for my sermon.

I did go for a bike ride, but on the go-fast one. Rode the motorcycle in for lunch with Aubri and Caedon at Burger King. Aubri took pics of Caedon on the bike and wearing my helmet, so hopefully we'll have those for tomorrow's post. He thought it was pretty cool.
You know how you wonder what you'd do if you got in a situation where your instincts were going to determine your actions? I had one of those on the way in. I was riding across Indian School Road where the speed limit is 45 mph, and in half an instant I saw a tree branch, about 3" in diameter, laying across my lane. I didn't have even a split second to think what to do. But I did what we were taught in the motorcycle training class I took several years ago. I stood up slightly on the pegs to get my weight off the seat and let the bike "step" over the branch. In class they had us ride over a 2"x4" at 30 mph, and then a 4"x4" at the same speed to demonstrate how big an object a bike can cross without problems. In most cases you're better off getting up like that and riding over the object vs. a quick steering reaction that can lead to all kinds of trouble.
BTW, that's one of the problems with Harley's and their ilk. Their riding position has your feet well out in front of your bum, a "feet forward" position. Picture Mr. Cool with his feet stretched out in front of him. When he comes to that branch he can't get his weight off the seat, which means the bike is going to buck him like a wild horse. He can easily get bucked off!

After some miscellani here at the house I went to the gym, and from there out to the pool. I waited for a lane, and just about the time one opened up the monitor from the front desk came up to me and asked if I'd participate in an interview. Long story short, a 30-something guy named Fredrick from Paris is here in the States working on a series of articles for his weekly paper back home and needed another interview. It's a Catholic publication and he said most of the readers are seniors, so he thought they'd be interested in an article about Sun City. We talked for about 30 minutes, and among other things he asked me what's it's like to be at the bottom of the chronological ladder here. We talked about the rules, about the lack of ethnic diversity, and political views among the population here. He seemed surprised that a significant number of them seem to be Democrats - figured old people would all be conservatives. I told him it's a pretty working class community with a lot of retired union members.

Then I got in the pool.
I'm stubborn. My determination, especially in the face of adversity or difficulty has, at times been a source of concern for my family. I lack any athletic ability whatsoever, but I've run marathons and done centuries just because I'm willing to push myself harder and go further. Don't tell me I can't....
So what am I going to do about my persistent inability to master the breathing part of swimming?
My endurance is increasing. I can do the 400 meters without too much difficulty, so long as I use the snorkel. But without it? And I can't even identify the problem. I just know that I'm missing a key ingredient.
I've got until Nov. 27th to get this down. But given my total lack of progress to date I've no reason to think tomorrow will be any different.
GRRRRRR!!!

The blush seems to be coming off of Gov. Palin's rose. They said she'd been to Iraq, but it turns out she was only on the Kuwait side of a border crossing. They said she'd been to Ireland, but it turns out she was only at the airport for a layover. They said she opposed the bridge to nowhere but it turns out she only did so after the feds said they wouldn't fund it and the money was going to come out of the state budget.
Why in the world would she and/or her people say things that they knew weren't true? They have to know the press will dig to the bottom and uncover their errors (the most charitable description). There was no reason to say she'd been to Iraq or Ireland; she's the governor of Alaska, for Pete's sake. I'm guessing that very, very few state's governors have been to Iraq. And if they did it ranks as a publicity stunt.
Sometimes it seems like running for office has the effect of turning off the most basic parts of the human brain. The question is not, "What were they thinking?" They weren't.