Training Log Archive: PG

On the way back from Hanover, the plan was to stop at some trails in Brattleboro, but a little math showed that if I didn't want to run in the dark, I'd best do sooner. So got off 91 at Rt. 103, found a parking place and headed up Rt. 5.

Turned out better than you might think. Very little traffic, nice scenery following the river north. And for the first time in a few weeks I had some energy. :-)

A couple miles north, turn around, a couple miles back, getting quite dark by the time I got back to the car, and it was only 4:50 pm. And getting a little chilly too. But very glad I'd done it.

--------------

And Hanover? Met up with Peter and Ed for some scouting of logistics (arenas, parking, etc.) for the middle and long, then a meeting with Brian from the college and Carl also there. Then more scouting of logistics for sprint and sprint relay. Felt like lots of progress.

Favorite phrase from Brian -- No problem closing roads, we do that all the time.

C • Springfield rail trail 2

It's not tax season, but this is not really about taxes anyway….

I got a call from the office yesterday, a guy had gotten a letter saying he owed $400 or so, had left the letter at the office, had no idea what it was about. This happens often enough. Computer generated, something doesn't match up between the tax return that was filed and various data the tax folks receive from other sources.

And you never know, sometimes the tax folks are right, and sometimes they are wrong. The one thing you are pretty sure of is that it will be a pain in the butt to take care of.

This one is from Massachusetts, and they are sometimes better to deal with than the IRS, sometimes worse. But there is at least the possibility of resolving it on the phone. It does happen.

The letter is mostly cryptic, full of paragraphs about the process if you want to appeal and the shit you are in if you don't pay, and maybe it's best if you just pay first and then think about appealing later. And it's only in the fine print that I find out the problem, namely, that MA wants to be paid the tax on 7K of unemployment that was received in 2011. Yup, we're still dealing with 2011.

So I pull out the client's file, wondering why we didn't report the 7K on the MA return, and it doesn't take long before the bell starts ringing, oh yeah, this guy got unemployment from the railroad, and there are special rules for that, like it's not taxable at the state level. Excellent.

But before I call, I'd like to be able to cite chapter and verse of the law that says this, but I can't find anything on the state website. But I do find other statements on the web that this is the case, just no references to the actual law.

And I do have a note in the file from 2011 that I had talked to a guy at MA tax place about this.

So time to call. I already have a bad feeling because the phone number the letter gives seems to be the general phone number for the tax folks, not one dealing with audits. Which it is.

Thirty minutes later a guy finally answers. We go through all the identification process before he'll talk to me, then I explain the issue and why we are right, and it's about then that he says, "Oh, you've got the wrong department. I'll transfer you to the audit division."

At the audit department things are looking up. A guy answers almost immediately. Do the ID stuff, he pulls up the file, I explain the issue, oops, sorry, you've got the wrong department.

Transferred again.

Again, a guy answers almost immediately, we do the ID stuff, he pulls up the file, I explain the issue, he asks if he can put me on hold. No, he sure can't, not before I give him my phone number in case we get cut off. But then I'm on hold, and listen to music for a few minutes.

And then he's back.

"You're right, I voided it."

Boom, just like that, no letter to be written, no documents to be faxed.

And he says, the return was actually filed correctly, just the way you're supposed to, report the unemployment on the first page, take it back off on another form, just right. Except the computer can't deal with it. So you got the notice.

I look in my file, the 2012 and 2013 returns will have the same issue. The guy says maybe the software will be fixed by then, maybe not. He'll put a note in the file. And he couldn't have been nicer or more on the ball.

So I spent an hour. I was pissed that it took an hour, and also pleased that I could make an easy call to my client. And the case was closed.

A mix of competency and incompetency. I think that just reflects the nature of humanity and institutions. The challenge is to find the competency, figure out how to make it so that systems work. But that can be very hard.

It is similar in organizing O' events. It is very hard. It is a matter of finding the competencies and matching them up with the jobs, and then pushing the learning curve as much as you can. And still keeping your fingers crossed.

But when that is done, when things work right, as they did this past weekend for all of Ed's technical stuff, then it is quite amazing and a pleasure to behold. Because these things are not easy.

Exploring trails in the Saw Mill hills with Phil.

Boy were we a sad lot today. Phil was having a big dose of A-fib, at least for the first 20 minutes or so. And I had another of those zero energy days, sweating a ton, feeling weak, though not actually running far enough or fast enough to merit any of that. Really just wanted to sit down.

But we wandered here and there, found a few bike trails, other still to be checked. And then came out on the roads at the end via a trailhead that we never ever would have found otherwise.

So more to do. And hopefully we will bring our A (or B or even C) games, and not the F games we had today.

C • F game 3

One trip up and down South Sugarloaf. Time was slow. Might have helped if I was warmed up, might not, but confirms how my legs were feeling this past weekend.

Fine view of a red fox on the way down, crossed in front of me and then posed just up the slope as I went by. It clearly wasn't scared.

Day 2, Green course, M60, 5.3 km.

Another day where the energy levels were not good. Seems to have been the case all week, don't know why. So although I did some decent orienteering, when push came to shove, I didn't have it.

Chase start, had Glen and Tim starting 10 seconds or so after me. I started dragging on the sidehill and slightly uphill slog to #3 and fell a little behind, maybe 30-40 meters. Made that up at #4 when they both went too high and didn't see me cutting down to it. But the margin was not enough of a gap to put me out of sight, and so things slowly closed back up and by about #7 or 8 we were all together again.

Slightly different routes to 9, but no difference, ditto to 11. I arrived there to find we had caught up to Ernst, several minutes. That was the classic good news and bad news. Good news that we had caught up. Bad news in that one more person made the odds of error even lower, and at the end, there was no doubt in my mind that I would clearly be last.

So I took a different route to 12, to the right, they all went left. It might have been OK, but my energy just wasn't there, moving way too slow. Got to the point and no sign of them, splits showed they had been a minute faster on an 8 minute leg. So that was that.

Polished things off with a miss at 13, and really dragging through the junk to 14, and by the time I came in they had already showered and changed. At least it seemed like that.

But still an acceptable run as far as the navigation goes. Helps that the eyesight is better, probably helps a lot. But somehow that just reinforces the feeling I've always had about orienteering -- I know where I am, I know where I'm going, I just can't get there.

But not really complaining. At this point after a run I often find myself thinking -- survived to run at least one more day. Someday that will not be true. But not yet.

--------------

And afterwards, a bunch of good conversations -- plans for the 2016 North Americans, junior development issues, team matters. There are good things going on, and good people doing them.

And the same could be said for the weekend -- very well organized by a bunch of good people. Ian seemed under control, Ed was getting a full night's sleep. What is the world coming too? :-)

Green - Splits

Event: NEOC: 2014 Troll Cup
 

Very nice day after the orienteering was done with…

-- Talked some with PG(oodwin) and Carl about things up in Hanover re the North Americans. We're planning a visit on Wednesday, meet up with Brian Kunz, Dartmouth person we're dealing with, who in fact has been orienteering a long time, was a member of NEOC many years ago.

I still haven't figured out what role, if any, I'm game for, but for now thinking maybe I can help a little getting things going. So why not.

-- And also talked some with Mac Bishop, a video and multimedia journalist for the NY Times. I don't know how the connection was made, but he spent some time out in Harriman with Thierry Gueorgiou in the week after the Sam/Ross wedding, and decided he was something special. So something is in the works. Mac was here doing more research, talking to a bunch of people.

-- And later, a very fine dinner at Bangkok Hill in Lunenburg, excellent place, not far from where Mr. JJ lives. Would go there more if it was closer to home.

C • restaurant 3

Running a little late, so jogged much of the way to the start.

Troll Cup at Townsend, day 1, Green, M60, 5.5 km.

Somehow rather unsatisfying, and perhaps for not the best of reasons. Meaning, judging your run by how others did and not by how you felt you did. And then feeling, damn, should have been a little better.

The orienteering was not easy, and the woods were certainly scruffy. Offsetting those two factors, the map (and the printing) seemed excellent, though perhaps for budget reasons using a little less green ink than the area warranted, and the controls were very visible.

I think my major difficulty was the scruffy woods. Had seemingly low energy for the first 10 minutes, but then that improved, but there was always the sense that movement through the woods was slow. Never once had the sense I was moving fast (as opposed to, say, 2 weeks ago at Mountain Lakes, where at least on the downhills I was really hustling).

Not sure what the reason was -- too cautious in the navigation, no fighting spirit, or just not strong enough for this kind of forest? I think some mixture of the three.

Which means for tomorrow that at least there is chance for improvement in two of them. :-)

C • Green ink 2

Green - Splits

Got a jury summons in the mail. I've been called a few times over the years, ended up serving on two juries, both civil cases, both interesting from the point of view of learning something about humanity, both also rather unsatisfying. The other times either the service has been cancelled the day before, or I got to show up at the courthouse and hang around for a few hours before being sent home.

Nothing at all like Gail's experience, she got on jury duty for a whole month…

But in reading the rules I discover that there are various reasons that you can be disqualified -- things you might expect, such as you don't speak English, you're not a citizen, you don't live here anymore, you were convicted of a felony sometime in the last seven years -- and then one I was surprised to see….

You are age 70 or older and choose not to serve.

So, how seriously do I take my civic responsibilities?

(And a separate question -- apparently felons get a lifetime pass from voting but only a seven-year pass on jury duty?)

C • felony convictions and voting 5

C • jury duty 8

Executive summary -- three strikes and you're out.

Went off the the Sawmill hills just west of Northampton to check out some rumored single-track mountain bike trails. Couldn't find any access point on the east side (close to Florence). There was a possibility off Avis Circle but it looked questionable. So I headed over to the west side, Sylvester Road, used to run along there at times on the old N'ton half-marathon course, also a familiar spot where we used to come out of the woods after doing the Jeepeater. But I was less happy parking there, all private, so went a little farther north.

Saw a small parking area and the start of a double-track trail. Headed off. Cold and light rain. Trail degenerated rapidly, first a bit of marsh, then down to one lane and then less, pretty sure no bikes had ever been there, then up a hill, then dead end in a laurel patch.

So much for that, back to the car to look for someplace else.

C • Sawmill Hills 6

Drove up the road just a bit and there was a good bit larger parking area. This must be it. Headed off. Trail looked like something that macho guys would use to bust their ATVs. Steep up, down a little through some mud, then steep up again, big slabs of rock all over the place.

Made it to the top of the hill, though only with the help of a couple of stops. Again, no sign of bike trails. And this thing I was on wasn't real appealing.

Back to the car and onward…

Time to explore the other side of the road. Definitely a trailhead there, for the Mineral Hills Conservation Area, and even a trail map posted.

Headed off, and once again up. Still cold, still raining. The trail, once again, no way you would have wanted a bike on it, lots of rocks, some mud. I climbed a bunch, saw a sign that offered the possibility of a quick return via Turkey Hill Road, and took it.

Enough is enough.

Dried off, changed clothes, headed off in the rain and fog for my weekly trip to Litchfield. And that was OK. Went right by the airport but no flat tires this week, and very glad I wasn't on a plane. Mom was cranky, but Lina was doing fine. We chatted for a while about mom, also about wacko sister and brother-in-law, laughed a bunch. I paid the bills. A good visit.

And then on the way home, still rain and fog and now also dark, with my new eyes the driving is certainly easier. That's not to say it's fun, but you take what you can get.