My old friend has returned. Mr Plantar Fasciitis, who I haven't seen in many years, dropped in last month. I hoped he'd leave on his own, as he sometimes does. But no. He's made himself comfortable (which makes me uncomfortable) in my right foot and shows no signs of wanting to move on.

Last time it took almost six months to get rid of him. And that puts a big cramp in my running schedule. Three weeks so far, this time.

On the plus side, I'm gaining weight (which I always have a hard time doing). I gained more than a pound last week!

HUDSON FALLS [from where I graduated high school] -- You can stroll or skip or stand on the grass in J. Walter Juckett Park, but the Village Board recently passed a rule banning people from sitting on the grass or lying on it.

In a decision made last month, following publication of the law and a public hearing at which there was no comment, the board voted to strengthen rules at all five village parks.

In a rule specific to Juckett Park, a heavily used area where Route 4 and Route 254 come together, sitting and lying down are banned.

The new law includes the following two sentences in a four-item addendum about Juckett Park:

“Sitting or lying down on the landscaped and grass areas of the park is prohibited. Lying down or standing on park benches is prohibited.”

It does not ban walking on the grass.

...

The law prohibits dogs, cats or other pets from any village parks.

It bans smoking and alcohol in all village parks and also prohibits potentially dangerous activities and profanity.

Never goin back again.

I had to get rid of my beloved A4 convertible a few weeks ago. The top was starting to fall apart, as convertible tops do: fraying cloth, the rear window had lost its adhesive (the dealer refused to touch it and the body shop they sent me to refused to guarantee their proposed fix). So, new car it was...

The new car (sadly, not a convertible : $$) came with XM/Sirius, which I thought would be nice, I've never had a car with it. And it was great up until I turned it on and got to hear the atrocious sound quality. They're over-compressing the music so that all high end sounds have this ridiculous swishing/phasing effect. It makes many songs completely unlistenable. So, I researched, and from what I can gather, they're compressing down to something like 32-64kbps for each stream. That's horrid.

But, XM/Sirius sounds just fine in my wife's car. And it always has. This, I do not understand.

Here is the current state of legislation aimed at bringing the NSA under better control.

Just, ya know, in case you wanted to know.

I'm impressed by the lack of 9/11 stories this year. Is there a chance we're finally done picking that scab ?

Stop Kicking Yourself!