Triskaidekaphobia

After a tough and frustrating swim on Wednesday night Julie and I have decided we need to go back to square one and work on the basics regarding our stroke. We're going to increase the number of times we go each week and really concentrate on getting the basics down before moving on. The video we watched last weekend really helped us to better understand things like finding your neutral position and helped with visualizing the different aspects of the freestyle. Hopefully, we can get a solid foundation to build on.

The treatments for my shin splints are going ok. I'm noticing a difference, but wow is it a tough ten minutes each time I go in. My shins and calves are sensitive to the touch so when he digs in with his metal scraper deal I feel it! Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to start running again. We'll see how it goes.

I find myself increasingly wanting to comment on the news of the day but I'd like to keep this a "fun" blog and focus on our training, fundraising, and the lighter side. Some things I may just have to comment on just because I'm so frustrated or worked up, but I'll try and keep that to a minimum. Or, if it gets too bad, I may just have to start a second blog to get my thoughts out and share things I've learned or found as we move from day to day.

On thing I really need to comment on is the whole Imus thing. While I agree that what he said was completely unacceptable and demeaning and wrong, I don't agree with him being silenced over it, or that one or two people can decide for everyone else what is acceptable and not acceptable. I'm afraid this is only the beginning. Who knows who they'll go after next just because they don't like what they have to say. I'd rather live in a country that has freedom of speech and allows someone like Imus to have a program (I can always change the channel) than live in a country where censorship is allowed and determined by a select few.

Ok, on to something else. Today is Friday the 13th! Any of you fearful of today? I did a little research and found the following in a book I have called "That Book of Perfectly Useless Information":

The fear of the number 13 - or "triskaidekaphobia" as it's technically known - goes back a long way. According to Scandinavian mythology, there was a banquet in Valhalla into which Loki (the god of strife) intruded - thereby making thirteen guests - and where Balder (the god of light) was murdered. In Christian countries this superstition was confirmed by the Last Supper.

Meanwhile, Friday is considered unlucky because it was the day of the crucifixion and because Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit on Friday and also died on Friday. Some Buddhists and Brahmins (high-caste Hindus) also consider Friday to be unlucky. In combining superstitions about both Friday and the number thirteen, Friday the 13th is feared as being twice as frightful.

Bad things that have happened on a Friday the 13th include these: a violent earthquake in Turkey killed more than a thousand people (March 1992), a hurricane in Britain left nine people dead (January 1984), and a plane crash left survivors stranded in the Andes without food and compelled them to turn to cannibalism to stay alive (October 1972).