I'm retired from racing. Really.

Lunch frisbee, 11 people so other team had a sub. Pretty even teams. I had a couple bad throws and a number of drops (3 or 4)? Julian and I had issues connecting, too, and he had a few bad throws and drops. Nevertheless, we kept the pressure on and won 5-3. Felt good to get a win. Did a game to 3 and my team won 3-1 with 8 people. Nice to get a pair of wins today.

AM- only 64 deg this morning, very nice. 8 miles on GE trail, longest run since August. Feeling a bit better. First mile was 9 min pace, last was 8 min. 6 deer, one group of 10 turkey (3 times). Took a single spider web thread right in the mouth hard enough to push back on me- that was a bit nasty.

Nice day for frisbee, low 80's and a slight breeze. 12 people, though one of the better players on the other team left early, leaving my team with a sub and slightly better- we had 3 good throwers. My team won 5-2. The other team had a few bad turnovers and misses, though it was a bit more even than the score shows. I scored 2 or 3 of the points, and I don't think I had any drops and only a couple of bad throws while making at least 4 or 5 good knockdowns on D. In fact, I'm not sure I had any turnovers today during the game to 5. If so, that would be a first.

AM- 8 miles on GE trails. 7 deer, 2 people, no turkeys. They mowed the path this week so it's nice to no longer have to run through knee-high weeds at parts. I felt great this morning- bit of a slow warmup but soon was running 8 min pace and even 7:45 pace. Finished in a good mood.

Things have been a bit rough at work. GE unexpectedly fired our CEO this week after only a year in the job, and the GE Power business (mine) continues to drastically underperform. They also announced a $23 Billion write off from GE Power (that's Billion, not million). Really no good news coming from anywhere. We've had 1 pay increase of any sort in 4 years, I'm sure we won't have any in 2019, and our benefits keep costing more- I recently calculated that health care premiums have gone up 775% in 7 years. Ouch. Super ouch. I enjoy my job and love playing frisbee at work, but the high-level business stuff is a real drag.

On a humerous note, the manager of the GE gym showed me an old comment card I submitted years ago. I wrote, "The treadmills unexpectedly stop at 99 minutes. This can be dangerous when running 10 miles per hour." On the back, I penned my own expected response from the health club: "Get off your lazy butt and go run outside. Also, stop running so much."

It was good for a laugh this morning. And, I do every run outside now and also don't run near as much.

It's a nice job if you can get it

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/new-ge-ceo-larry-culp-inks-stock-heavy-contract-worth-up-to-300-million-if-shares-soar.html

Lunch- one of my more frustrating games of frisbee in a long time. My team had more skill. 5v5 first game. My team was up 4-3 but lost 5-4. My catching was fine but had an extreme overabundance of terrible throws. When it was 4-4, I threw away an easy pad then my guy scored. 

2 people left and we played again. My team should have won (Adrian on the other team called us the dream team). The other team was incredibly lucky- their first 3 points were all TERRIBLE hammer throws that somehow were caught. But I was attrocious all around. I had many easy throws that I just terribly mis-fired on. It was comically, frustratingly bad. Multiple throws into the endzone that just stunk. I caught 2 scores and threw another, but that was all. On the last point, I threw a bad pass to an guy cutting into the endzone, we got it back, I had another bad pass into the endzone, we got it back, I was blocked on a throw, then my guy caught the winning pass. We lost 3-5. It was terrible and I'm so frustrated. For the past month, I've been going out early just to practice throwing for 15 minutes and have been taking tutorials. I can throw just fine during warmup, but when the game starts, the only thing I can do is toss up stinky, fly-infested, ugly, twice-eaten, vomit-filled dog poop throws. 

I'm in a bad mood now. I don't mind losing a good game. But when I play this poorly, I'm just pissed at myself. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but it's a bad start to a weekend.

AM 6 miles around house. Felt pretty good- started at 8:35 pace, last mile was 7:40.

Lunch frisbee. 13 people, so my team had a sub. Pretty even teams, well-fought game today. Lots of back and forth. I'd say I had 1 terrible throw and a few others that were ok, but most of the rest were fine. I played more within myself. A bit windy. My team won 5-4 in the end.

AM 8 miles. 7 or 9 deer, 10 or 11 turkey. No people. Another hurricane may be passing through the next few days.

It's a bit rainy with a hurricane coming so only 7 people showed up. We did the normal setup of a rotating guy who switched teams each time the team with 4 people scored. Even teams, fun game today. It went back and forth till a 4-4 score, then Scott stepped off so we played 3v3 for the last point. My team received the kickoff and scored for the win. Lots of running today, fun game. I don't think I had too many bad throws today.

Hurricane with winds/rain tomorrow. We'll see how much this one impacts us.

AM Tropical storm Michael is passing through. It's rained 4 inches this morning with blustery winds (gusts up to 40 mph). In other words, great day for a run on the GE trail. To be fair, I've run in thunderstorms with far more rain and wind, and I've done 50 and 100 mile races with more rain and mud. I had a great time, splashing through the water and singing to myself (song of choice: Shallow), including air drums. I'd say I was running in standing water at least half the run, and at least a mile of it would better be described as wading. Saw 3 deer and 2 turkeys, no spiderwebs. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn't wear a watch but did just under an hour, so call it 7 miles. Fun, memorable.

10 people for frisbee today. Temps have finally dropped - 65 deg today at game time with a blustery, intermittent wind that added a bit of adventure. Both teams had a number of drops and some bad throws with lots of back and forth, turnovers in the endzone, etc. My team was up 3-1, then down 4-3, then we finally won 5-4. I had a few knockdowns on defense on long throws to Adrian, Tom, and even tall Alex in the endzone (the last one was on game point). 1 drop, and a number of bad throws. But overall very fun game today.

AM 3 with my dad. I don't often run with people, especially my dad. Coldest run in a while, mid-50's. Felt great.

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. I can no longer claim to be young. Started it off in fashion with a 6v6 frisbee game. There was a brisk wind from endzone to endzone, and the first 4 points were simply the team with the tailwind scoring. My team finally broke the other team and scored into the wind, then again with the wind at our back to make it 4-2. We won 5-3. Good game today, lots of back and forth and not as many drops. I made a few pretty good throws, few bad ones, one very lucky one. No drops, a few scores, and one epic diving/sliding long catch. Rob on my team had a particularly good defensive game. Fun time today. 

AM 8 miles on GE trail, 9:00-8:20 pace. First run as a 40 year old. Saw 5 deer, 0 turkeys, and 2 people.

11 people on a nice day for frisbee. At first we only had 6 people but then more trickled in. Other team had sub. My team was up 4-1 but the other team was playing a good zone defense and scored 2 straight before we won 5-3. I generally played well- 1 drop, pretty good throws. My role was more the deep threat today. 

AM- 53 deg. Brr. Super brr. Still just wore a t-shirt. Achilles is acting up more so my planned 8 miles ended at 5. Felt good otherwise, moving well. Saw 9 or 10 deer, 0 people, 0 turkeys.

Gorgeous day for frisbee- mid-60's, sunny, and a intermittent but fairly light breeze. 15 people, other team had sub. They had better throwers and more speed but we had more experience. Pretty even. Very fun games today- I had a few risky throws that sometimes worked out, sometimes didn't. Adrian was catching well today- he and Tom scored most the points. Back and forth in the game- my team was down 3-2, then scored (all 6 points with the wind), then finally broke the other team to score into the wind, and then another point for a 5-3 win. I think I scored the winning point and threw 2 or 3 more.

Did a 3v3 game to 3, I was the only one on my team with energy so ran a lot. Got a few knockdowns on Alex, which was nice. My team was up 2-0, then they tied it 2-2, then my team won. I'm on a 7 game win streak, I think.

Very fun today. Days like today are why I enjoy ultimate.

6v6 frisbee. Pretty good game- my team played well with relatively few turnovers. I played well, with some good catches, no dumb throws, and good d. My team won 5-2.

No run yesterday- at Great Wolf Lodge with the family, so tired from walking up all the stairs (especially my achilles).

Frisbee today- perfect weather, 65 deg, sunny, a little breeze. 16 people eventually showed up, so a crowded field with 7v7. Not the crispest games with lots of knockdowns and missed throws, but the other team made more mistakes and my team won 5-2. I played ok, scored a few, threw a few, but a couple of mistakes. Also ran into a few guys.

Then did 5v5, which my team won 3-0. I'm a bit sore after.

AM cool morning, mid-40's. Ran 8 miles on GE trail. Back and calf have been hurting but warmed up and were ok. Pretty slow/easy- 9:30 to 8:30 pace (the bulk around 8:45). Saw lots of deer spread throughout the trail, 10+. 20 turkey. And 1 fox. No spiders, no people. I've run out of podcasts to listen to on my iPod other than Hardcore History (which is awesome, but I've already listened to all of them). Need to download new ones.

Lunch- rainy, chilly, winter-ish day (45 deg temps, drizzling, breezy). Only 4 people came for frisbee so I went running on GE trail instead. Felt good- didn't wear much warm gear but was still comfortable. No people or deer, but did see 9 turkeys around the turnaround point.

AM 5 around home, 8-9 min pace

10 people at frisbee. Some days you play well and lose, other days you don't play well and lose. Today was the latter. I generally played well, but my team had issues overall- we kept moving the disc well until the throw into the endzone, at which time we repeatedly threw difficult throws that weren't caught. We did this 4 times and were down 0-3. We fought back to 4-3 before losing. Too many unforced bad throws.

Having some existential thoughts today. Pretty frustrated with work- been promised a promotion for 3 or 4 years that has not emerged. My manager and his boss have repeatedly said they want to get me presenting to the boss 3 levels up, partly to help with the promotion. I was scheduled to do so again today and had worked on the presentation for a month. But, for the third time in a row, people before me took too long and they ended the meeting just as we reached my presentation. I'm very frustrated.

In addition, work is ridiculously busy right now, with way too much work and way too little time to finish it. I get to work at 7 am every day, and usually don't leave till well after 6 pm. Others work far fewer hours- some leave at 3 pm every day. And what does it get me? Nothing. The company doesn't care a whit about me. There's no recogniztion, no thanks, no extra benefits, nothing. They'll chew us up, use us up, and spit us out. What's the point, seriously. I'm just sick of all of it. They keep overloading me with projects that normally need a month, and telling me it is needed in less than a week. And I have multiple of these at the same time. It's the new normal in the past few months. I meet or exceed literally every expected deadline and metric (every measureable result of mine is well above expectation and department average despite huge volumes and the most complex projects), and it don't mean squat. I'm legitimetly close to throwing in the towel and walking away. Just tired of it. I want to feel like I'm contributing to something that is making a difference and growing, not something that is slowly dying and sucking the life out of me. Pay is decreasing, and the whole company is struggling- just take a look at the news today (GE earnings fell short of estimates, dividend cut 88%, $22 billion write down in my division, new SEC and DOJ investigations). It's a mess. The old CEO kept saying that GE has a long history and legacy for us to build on... but so did Sears, and it just went bankrupt.

AM blowing off steam to Barry so he suggested we run. 40 deg, very nice. We did about 4 miles on GE trail, both of us talking up a storm. Then he stopped and I did 5 more. Felt good all run, probably started around 8 min. Was moving 7:30's for the last while. Felt good enough to add a mile so I hit 9. Longest run since Mar 2. Wow, that's kind of sad.

65 deg and a little breezy for ultimate. 6v6. My team was misfiring on some throws- not as bad as Monday, but definitely some mistakes. In the game to 5, we scored first but someone on the other team called a foul, nullifying our goal. Then the other team scored, we turned it over on our goal line, and they scored again. After that we traded points till they won 5-3. We had our chances but couldn't pull it out. Still fun.

Left work a bit early for the holiday, spent 2 hours walking with the kids as they trick or treated. So much candy.