Yeah! It's Taco Tuesday!

OK, so I’m not writing anything in here about tacos or taco Tuesday, but I couldn’t think of a headline so I just went with that.

All-Star Tuesday
I’m pulling for the National League tonight. In the name of political correctness, I won’t get into my favorite or least-favorite teams here. But my favorite team is certainly in the running. Oh, and since I’m in Southern California, I’ll clarify that it’s NOT the Dodgers!

Running Update
I went out for 10 miles this morning. Nothing special, nothing particularly quick or slow. Just 10 miles. After two days off due to too much work and a flare-up in my right knee, it felt good to get out there and get a workout. The knee was a little iffy last night, but it was OK for the run and it’s pretty decent now. If time is on my side tomorrow morning, I’ll try to head out for a few more miles than I went today.

This week, I’m just trying to log some miles and keep the wheels turning while I wait for my appointment next Monday with a sports medicine specialist. The doctor I’m going to see specializes in knees and shoulders and has worked for professional sports teams, so I’m sure I’ll get the low-down and get on the right track.

Talkin’ Jack
In case this is your first time here, or if you’ve never been to the rest of the site, I’m planning on running 60 marathons next year to raise awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. My son, Jack, is severely autistic and I want to do something to make a difference in his honor. He had a fairly uneventful day yesterday, which is a good thing. Is it bad that my pet name for him is “homeboy”?

Dance Your –$ Off
Entertaining show, but I just can’t believe they can name it that way. It’s pretty fun to watch, though. I can honestly say that before last night, I’d never seen a 300-pound man in a pinstriped-suit pole dance. That dude needs to sign up for Operation Jack and train for a marathon!

Ice Cream Update
Last night, I had a cake batter-flavored frozen yogurt with crushed Snickers and Butterfingers as a topping. That ran my streak to 20 consecutive days with an ice cream or frozen yogurt. I have mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the freezer, so I’m pretty sure I’ll extend that tonight. But until I eat the ice cream, it’s not a done deal, so I won’t call it 21 quite yet.

Cha Cha ChaCha
So yesterday, I found out about something called “Cha Cha” — a service that answers questions via text mail. You send a text to 242242 with a question and you get an answer. It’s like that KGB service I’ve seen commercials for, except it’s free. So, I gave it a shot.

My first question was to get an answer to something I haven’t been able to figure out with a Linux server I’ve been running out of necessity.

So I asked my first Cha Cha, “What needs to be done to enable outgoing html emails on a linux server using postfix? Something to enable mime types?”

I got my first answer: “Configure postfix by changing the following in /etc/postfix/main.cf myhostname = myorigin = $mydomain inet_ineterfaces = Maildir.” Interesting. I’m not going to blindly configure a server based on Cha Cha, but it gave me something to explore.

My next question was “Is there a limit to how many questions I can ask for free?” Once I sent that, I instantly started thinking, “What if it’s only three? Will that question bring me up to two? And if I ask if that counted, would that be my third?” The answer was pleasing. “There is no limit to how many free questions you can ask ChaCha, so ask away! ChaCha again!”

YES!

So I asked another. “What is he bench press equivalent of a 120-pound dumbell incline press?” I’m a runner, not a muscle guy, but I do reps of incline presses with a pair of 60-pound dumbbells and I’ve wondered how that converts into the bench press. “1/2 As incline decreases you will be able to lift more. There is no exact formula to determine how much extra Experiment and see” & “2/2 what works. Be careful! Cha Cha!”

OK, they’ve almost got me hooked.

And then, I moved in for the finale, the moment of truth. Let’s see if ChaCha can seal the deal.

“What is Operation Jack?”

“Hey! Sorry, but ur temporarily out of Qs. U can ask LuLu if she knows. Txt LuLu to have her try to Ans your last Q. Or txt like this: LuLu How old is Miley?”

NO NO NO!!! So close, but yet so far. But my wife has a phone, so I texted with hers, asking, again, “What is Operation Jack?”

“Operation Jack will be an attempt by Sam Felsenfeld to race at least one marathon a week in 2010 (60 total for the year) to MORE?”

Oh yeah, we have a winner. Cha Cha!

Why I Prefer To Run Outside

OK, Time To Get To Work
That’s all I have today. As always, thanks for stopping by. Remember, this site isn’t just a blog — it’s a factory for a great cause, Operation Jack. It’s my hope that with my legs and Jack’s struggles, we can make a difference. So, keep coming back. Leave a comment. Register with the site (free, no obligation, and your information will not be sold or given away). I’m just trying to drive participation, because I figure the more people that know about Operation Jack, the more people will know about Train 4 Autism. So again, thanks for reading down this far. If you liked this blog (or even if you only hated it a little), PLEASE do me a favor and register for the site and/or tell one new person about the site! It’s for a GREAT cause!