kfstark's blog

Why did I drive to Napa Valley to punish a body that has treated me very well over the years? Maybe my upcoming 40th birthday, maybe to force myself to get in shape. Honestly, it was probably the bragging rights that sealed the deal.

To understand it a bit better, check out the back story: Prelude to the 2009 Vineman 70.3

I tried to keep the story short, but it really is a long race. I decided to answer the most asked questions at the beginning so you don't have to wade through the entire story to find it

Was it worth it

Yes, I finished. Yes, it was worth it. Yes, I'm glad it is over. Yes. I'll probably do another half ironman. No. I don't plan on doing a full ironman.

It's Roger's fault that I got sucked into this adventure. His involvement isn't surprising, of course, but it does need to be explicitly stated.

In 2007, Roger called to say he was running a couple of short triathlons. Being the competitive guy I am, I thought it would be fun to race him. I didn't think the swim or bike would be a problem, but I decided to test run my ankles before committing to a race. I ended my test run 12 minutes after starting, less than a mile from a house, trying not to vomit on the side of the road. However, my ankles felt fine, so I committed to running the sprint. Actually, I ran two that year so I could justify the training. One race hardly seemed worth the effort.

You can read my play by play of the 2007 Mission Bay Triathlon in an earlier post.

Mud Run Website: Camp Pendleton Races
Team Name: Getting Dirty

Description: "The Mud Run is a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit." The race overall is a great time and not really that serious for the majority of people there.

Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom delivers a powerful message to our next president about the most important problem facing America today.

Excerpt:

Solving big problems demands big sacrifices. Solving big problems demands resources of collective will and communal resolve of political courage and leadership. And in these resources, America is dangerously deficient.

Rosh Hashanah 2008 Sermon

Like many political observers, I immediately thought that the appointment of an unknown governor from Alaska to the national spotlight was the result of a mild stroke rather than a stroke of genius.

Now that I have had a few days to reflect, it may be a stroke of genius that plays well with the experience debate.

While flying China Airlines last November from Los Angeles to Taipei, I managed to crash the interactive in-flight entertainment system at my seat about 10 minutes into the flight. It was a nice system with a handheld controller where you could play games, select a movie, listen to music and watch TV. The stewardess hit the reset button for my seat and a second later I caught a flash of a penguin.

NPR : Study: Emergency Rooms at 'Breaking Point':

This story really resonated with me after my experience at the Children's Hospital in Las Vegas. You can read my letter to the Assemblyman of the 10th district after our 2003 emergency room visit.

What can we do about our emergency rooms? We need to reduce their load by doing the following:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush calls for gay marriage ban:

I took a quick read through the Twenty-seven Constitutional Amendments and came to an interesting conclusion. The existing amendments can easily be grouped into 3 types:

1. Enumerate rights to the people (1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 21st, 26th)
2. Regulate government actions. (3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th,10th)
3. Clarification of judicial and representative processes (11th, 12th, 17th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th)

There are two constitutional amendments that do not fit in these three categories. One of them was championed by religious conservatives and is the only amendment to have been repealed.

I posted this response to a slashdot article asking where all of the old programmers go:

I'm not quite 40 yet, but I am approaching it in the next couple of years. I don't really enjoy coding as much as I used to.

I want to go home to my family and friends. I want interpersonal relationships that enhance my life. I don't want to dedicate my life to learning the increasing amount of new technologies. I can accomplish more by making sure the people working for me are coding well and producing good work.

From digg.com: Time to sink or graduate - The Boston Globe

MIT and other college students are required to pass a swim test before graduating...