Thursday, September 29, 2011

Substance abuse in Major League Baseball

I am going to discuss an issue I saw last night with modern baseball. 
Went to the final Giants game of the season I am was glad I was in the shade. (the Giants, who won the world series was not the issue)

My issue was with the Wild Card St Louis Cardinals. I have no issue with the wild card (or the designated hitter or inter league play). If you are going to build billion dollar stadiums you need to have as many teams in it as possible.

My issue is the post game champagne spraying celebration after winning the wild card. Saw the St Louis Cardinals carrying on like they won the world series. They qualified for an eight team playoffs on the last night. In no way does that qualify for an over the top celebration. Setting the bar too low for celebrations sets a bad example for kids that got the participation trophy. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 8:47 AM 0 comments

Monday, September 26, 2011

Some other random running goals

To keep it interesting I have been thinking about additional running goals through the rest of the month, the rest of 2011 and into next year.
For the rest of September running more than the most in a month, that is another 6 miles. Also running a full 24 hours, that means another three hours over the next four days.
For the rest of 2011, hitting 1375 which is my combined for 2010 and 2009.
For 2012 run a few marathons including the San Francisco, Marine Corp (I am guessing it will be fairly flat)
Had limiting beliefs about running marathons being beyond my ability but I remember running eight miles was a big deal.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 8:21 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Fire and Rain

Yesterday was easily one of the sadder days of my life and that is OK. 
Was going to San Jose for the memorial service of a friend that had passed away in July. Over the years I have experienced loss but in a far more natural progression which also saw the end of suffering which made it on some levels different. 
Saw Melinda for the first time in a while at my friends wedding. She had spent the last few months in Thailand teaching Monks how to read English. She spoke of the food being well, not remarkable and how on one of her last nights one of the Monks passed away. She remarked how the Monks reaction was far different than the Westerners. 
Melinda was a great listener and had tremendous empathy. She would brighten up and improve the room (or train or bus)

Drove down 280 to San Jose for the memorial service. Did not know what to say or do but that was fine. 

They read an application she wrote a few months before her accident that so perfectly summed up her sense of adventure and exploration. If she had a bucket list she blazed through it. 

During the service they played the song Fire and Rain
reflected on happiness & sadness. 

Was in a daze after leaving the service. I am glad I did not plan on doing anything afterwards. Did not have my party hat on..

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 7:57 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hitting 1000 miles

For the past nine months I have been boring most of my Facebook friends with about 213 updates of how far I ran and how much for the year. 
Done with that until December 31st when I will post my mileage as I hit my long time (since 2008) goal of running 1000 miles in a year. 
Did it with 100 days left. 
I failed at this in 2008 (Injury), 2009 (tough year) & 2010 (Laziness)
Few things that I did differently
1) More aggressive monthly goals to start the year (prior to this year the most I ran in a month was 93)
2) Ice baths when the pool was not heated
3) Foam Rolling
4) Glucosamine and Chondroitin (My Dad started giving my Sister's dog Cosmo Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which he responded well so I figured that a placebo would not work on a dog) 
5) Signing up for training programs (not as many races). Being part of a community helps you stay focused. 
6) Better nutrition (for example v8, Unsweetened Iced Tea, Bananas, Almonds, higher quality meat, breakfast of free range eggs and spinach)
7) Flexibility class
Tomorrow I will rest. Through the rest of the year I will see if I can get past the totals of 2009 & 2010
It took a while but undid quite a few years of bad habits/choices. (open bars/all you can eat Sushi/late night vegetarian burritos/over rewarding myself for working out) 





posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 9:48 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Not all change is good: What I learned from Lunch

As I was in the city, I had lunch at a place in the Mission. 
My favorite menu item had been removed and my state was I am sad. 
Figured I should be open to new things I followed the waiters recommendation which was underwhelming to say the least. 

This taught me that Change does not mean an improvement and it might not be meant to be an improvement. 

Case in point the Ladders making themselves incompatible with certain software.

The best examples this week is Netflix and Facebook. 

Hated the new UI for Netflix streaming, made it much harder to find anything
Here is the guy from Netflix explaining it, enjoy reading the comments which are 99% negative

But it makes sense from a business perspective. If movies are harder to find, your less likely to play it thus costing them less money. Netflix is a business. 
Maybe they did that silly thing with the Qwister spin off to throttle growth to avoid higher bandwidth costs? 
So use the Instant Watcher interface with Netflix http://instantwatcher.com/

Facebook changed its layout and it is horrible. Will be using Google + more. 
(now if I could get Facebook events in Google + I am sure some of my smarter readers will be doing that...)

On another note, ran 7 miles to put me at just under 11 miles to 1000 miles. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 12:06 AM 0 comments

Friday, September 16, 2011

What I would do if I was President

People are always stopping me on the street asking why I am not the President of the United States.
It would be good because I would be able to live at the White House which is close to my family (I have never lived in the District but if I had to live there I would be President) 

Lost my taste for being a Politician early but in a hypothetical alternate Universe here is what I would do...

Saw a great idea of forgiving student loans as a way to stimulate the economy. Good idea, will build on it. 

Forgive student loans for a period of five years IF the money is spent buying a home and buying a couple of paintings from Sears and a big Waterbed with the bread that they have been saving for a couple of years. 
Pay for this by raising the age to collect social security to 67.5

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 9:32 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 15, 2011

You literally need to stop using literally

We all need to stop using literally so much. 
Seriously, please stop, it is the verbal equivalent of putting fresh pineapple on an innocent pizza (that is my nails across a chalk board)

The oatmeal (as always) puts it better


Lets say after a big night out you find yourself at IHOP that had all you can eat Pancakes. 
The next day you say to your friend, "I literally ate a lot of pancakes"
what does literally add? Nothing. 

Here is an example when Literally is used properly
It involves a cute baby eating oatmeal. 



--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 10:42 PM 0 comments

This Week

Have not written a blog entry as I am converting from a Standard Gmail account to a Google Apps account. I am sure you are losing sleep about that but I think it is best when communicating to have your own domain.
I just saved you from having to take Ambien. 

Monday made juice and mostly hung around Daly City. Ran 5 miles. It was a fairly nice day. September and October are my favorite months. Turns out I won the fantasy football thing by one point because the Raiders kicker broke the nfl record. This sorts everything out.

Donated blood on Tuesday. It is something I actually enjoy. My blood pressure was really good (116/68). In a weird way, running (or being active) can replace the need for a lot of pills. Remember back in 2000 when I ran into my neighbor that ran a half marathon and I was hung over. The ROI of drinking is low (like buying into NFLX who have been tanking their stock like the Houston Rockets in 1982 and 1983) 

Listening to a cover of Sundown on Spotify. Always liked that song (Sundown) and also songs about Maritime situations (Down Easter Alexi & Wreck of Edmond Fitzgerald). 

Wednesday I had a coupon for Jamba Juice so I walked to the mall. Started a conversation with one of the patrons who turned out to be an Englishman who decided to come to America because he got a bunch of eggs during the Korean War. What is your first thought when you think of the Korean War? 
(M*A*S*H) I have never seen the movie...
Told me the tale of surviving going over a cliff in a truck coming back from leave in Japan. Also the Australians rarely got shot at. 

If you do 20 greatest hits of most artist, you will have a cover of "If not for you". My next Karaoke song... 

Drove a couple of friends to Vegas, they did not budget as much time as Marcus does because well, I budget WAY too much time at airports. I think most stress in life is caused by not properly allocating time. It was more complicated getting the laptop than Mr Brady's plans)

We tied our kickball game. Most times that would annoy but it was against a solid team experienced side compared to losing to an expansion team on Sunday. Went 2 for 2. We tied 3 to 3. Felt like Evander Holyfield against either John Ruiz or Lennox Lewis or Gus Frerotte. (Gus Frerotte never fought Holyfield but had a tie against the Giants when he head butted the goal post)

At this point I think this is the first time in the history of the Internet that brought up Evander Holyfield, kickball, Gus Frerotte and the Korean War)

Ran five miles today. Will be hitting my goal of 1000 miles within the next couple of weeks. Did my flexibility class followed by running up and down hills. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 10:30 PM 0 comments

Sunday, September 11, 2011

9/11

Despite my best efforts felt bummed on the 10 years since 9/11.
One of those days that I could remember where I was, what I was doing, who I was with...

Was in Maryland staying with my parents as I had an event in Northern Virginia scheduled for that night. 
None of it made any sense when it was explained to me. Took me a while to process. 
Was on the phone with the Washington Post and they were asking me to decide if the event should be cancelled. 
They were quite a few rumors of other places that had been hit. 

Before I knew what happened, I knew that it had to be cancelled (it would not have mattered what I decided to do as many roads were closed)

With Cosmo and dogs know what to do in dark times. 
(thinking back in times of sadness, dogs that I did not even know sensed it and were able to comfort me) 

Drove my Mom to Upper Marlboro as she had to get a delivery. Amazingly Upper Marlboro was a ghost town and I walked around the school house pond. 
Later she had me measured for a Tuxedo. Still have it. Found a note from my Mom in the tuxedo years later, after she passed. 

Went to Waldorf to see my Sister. Got a phone call from an idiot who was wondering why I cancelled the event. 
We took Sophie to Southern Maryland Amish country and to a park. Obviously it was empty. Saw a flag pole and raised the flag. 

Looking for a place to eat in Waldorf and most places were closed except for Chik Filet. Many places had hand written signs. 

The attack on the Pentagon was far more real to me than the WTC simply because I was far closer and grew up knowing people who worked in and around it. 

This is one of those days I am glad I do not have CNN/Foxnews or MSNBC. I cannot forget.


posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 7:37 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 08, 2011

One of the better runs...

Since I restarted running back in 2007 I have run over 1000 times. Some are transcendent experience and others are lessons in humility and effects of stupidity but todays run, which was far further than planned was one of the good ones. 
Getting ready to split when I got a message from one of my teammates from my Cross Country team at Oxon Hill. 
We arranged to meet up in the Marina to run along the Marina Green to Hoppers Hand (thinking a nice 5 mile run) but as she does not spend much time in the city figured we could run to the bridge. 
Then as we were close to 2.6 miles I figured we could run to 3 miles on the bridge and then turn around for an even six. 

Once we were on the bridge figured we might as well run to the next tower and if you run that far, you might as well run over the bridge. Made 4.5 miles in about 40 miles. 
The return was not as fast but it was a great run. 

Was the first time we ran since '88 and oddly this was probably one of the first times I could have kept up. 
Finished with just over 9 miles in 84 minutes. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 9:08 PM 0 comments

The Best saag paneer ever

This past weekend I went to Maryland to visit my family. So everyone stopped with the insane heat, Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and it was actually quite nice.
We ate outside and it takes quite a bit for Maryland Blue crabs to be second. 
One of the guest brought some homemade Saag Paneer and I have had Indian food all over the world (but mostly in cheap places in San Francisco) and this was far and away the tastiest Saag Paneer I have ever had. 
My Dad, who has put Indian food and Spinach food in the same category as Green Eggs and Ham but he was digging it.

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 7:08 PM 0 comments

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Signs at a second rate Mexican restaurant

For the most part, when I blog or post an update I try to make myself look like I am a happening member of society. Sometimes this is boring for all but maybe two people in the world and most of those people live in a cave. 
Anyway had an incident that if I need to make a montage of my life and I want to be appear cool then I would not include this incident that happened yesterday at the Celia's in Daly City.
During one of my runs around Daly City (for the record, I am at 902 miles for the year) I saw that Celia's had a happy hour with $2 appetizers. 
It was Friday afternoon and I figured I would check it out. 
Sat at the end of the bar and I order the $2 appetizers sampler and a glass of ice water (did not feel like drinking). It was OK, worth about $2 and would give the frozen section of Target a run for its money. The bill came to $2.17 and I left a $5 bill and was on my way. (Over 100% tip)
So far this is a boring story.......

Then I walk out of Celia's. The manager comes running out after me and stops me to tell me that in the future I should also order a drink and not just the Happy Hour food special. He clearly explained that I did not have to order an alcoholic drink (as I may be a teetotaler) but I could order a soda. He then explained the goal of Celia's which is to make some money. 
Seemed the bartender alerted the manager who thought it was worth chasing me out of the place.
We were standing in front of the sign and I pointed this out to him and it did not say anywhere on the sign anything that suggested that you had to order a drink. I then explained to him the benefits of clearly written signs. 

posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 11:57 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Thoughts on the Star Wars Blu Ray thing

So quite a few people have been stopping me on the street and asking me my thoughts on Darth Vader saying, NOOOOOOO! as he tosses the Emporer over the ledge in the 1983 movie, Return of the Jedi.

My answer may surprise you......

I am not outraged at all. For all I could care he could put Jar Jar Binks in every scene in all six movies and have them discuss at length midichlorians and more political scenes. 
Right now I do not own a TV or a Blu Ray Player and I will not be upgrading my copies of Episodes III, IV, V and VI

I have a box set of the Godfather on DVD and I cannot imagine a situation where I will think, I need to Watch Godfather III but I own it. 

--
Marcus Zack Ronaldi
http://www.marcusronaldi.com

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posted by Marcus Ronaldi at 9:05 PM 0 comments