Let's get right to it (before I tire and slide off the chair)...
- I completed my 20-mile run today. This is the longest run I do when training for a marathon. It was actually like 20.59 miles because 1) math, and 2) a couple detours due to flooding. How did it go? Well, they're all "good, bad, AND ugly" at this point. The good is that it's done and I am still upright. The bad and ugly happen along the way and I try not to think about it once it's done. At any rate, I am looking forward to a drastically reduced mileage these next three weeks before the actual running of the marathon. My body can use a break. Although, at some point I do need to decide which marathon I'm going to run yet (Fort Wayne or Toledo). Details.
- And, I actually tried to buy a new pair of running shoes yesterday, and went to an actual running store and everything. But they didn't have any of the options I want in my size. Geez. I realize 8 1/2 is on the smaller side, but it's not like it's that unusual a size. So I got online and found a pair of Brooks Glycerin 20s, which is what I'm wearing now and are two years removed from the current model. I ordered them, and am hoping they arrive next week, and that there's not something crazy wrong with them. I have two pair of that shoe I'm alternating between right now, and both are still functional, but they've got a way lotta miles on them and I can feel it. A new pair would be nice for this next marathon.
- One thing I was thinking about while running today is: AI. My son (the professor) says it's nothing but a plagiarism machine. I tend to agree, and can't believe anyone in education would think it anything but. However, I was surprised to read there are universities moving in the opposite direction: actually demanding that some projects be at least 20% AI augmented! Their thinking is that we are less likely to lose our jobs to AI than to a person using AI. I guess they're assuming people are going to cheat anyway, so why not make better cheaters(?). What in the hell is this world coming to?
- Well, another thing jossling around my brain was a few people I've seen lately complaining about all the politics they see on social media. They just want to see pictures of your kids, food, and stuff you're doing to have funsies. I get it, but... as I thought about it... I think that's a pretty selfish and privileged take. I mean, yeah, I don't really want to hear about political discourse that I believe to be dumb... but I'd probably rather see/hear it because someone actually GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE WORLD, than hearing someone whine that they just don't want to be bothered by other people's problems.
- “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a"person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." - MLK Jr. (who was killed on this date in 1968 at the Lorraine Motel while advocating for sanitation workers in Memphis, TN. - h/t Shane Claiborne)