official square dancing enthusiast 1:00.09, 19.94

Words 475; 1 picture; 1 2-minute video

            A great run today…cloudy with a forecast of rain, but no rain in while I was running.  The mid-run sprint is an interesting event.  Once I, and I will posit that this goes for nearly anyone, become accustomed to running at a certain speed, expending a certain effort, I fall into a routine and continue this behaviour.  How else could I explain finishing in such remarkably similar times.
In the last month, I have achieved times of 1:00.09, 1:00.03, 1:00.08, 1:00.12, and 1:00.14.  This, not to mention the result of 1:00.46, which is less than half a second out of range from 1;00.14.  Can you imagine how long half a second is?  Of course not.  How wondrous, and pleasantly coincidental it is that I chose 1 minute and 1 second as my cut-off time for 6 flights of stairs rather than 16 flights.

            After Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me today (a good episode, but not great—the best joke was from a guest who said, “Now that the UK has their first astronaut, the next thing they will get is a dentist.”  The person was probably saying that just because it was an obscure professional, but I have some experience with the British people and bad teeth.  I was describing one of my colleagues as “You know, the guy with really bad teeth.”  The Russian guy I was talking to said, “Yeah, all those Brits have bad teeth, don’t they?”  I was about to say that I hadn’t noticed and then I remembered another British friend here who also has teeth so bad that I can’t stop staring at them.  I have all my dental work done in Albania because it is cheaper.  I know someone in Britain who has all her dental work done in Russia because it is better. Hmmmm.), I listened to Car Talk.  They began the show by telling us about a small bit of research from the Archives of Internal Medicine.  This study showed that napping can decrease the likelihood that someone will die of heart disease.  As an English teacher in Moscow, my classes are generally in the morning or in the evening.  Therefore, I have been able to take naps in the middle of the day, and it has been delightful.  This habit is a continuation of my father’s custom of napping after the mid-day meal even if only for 10 minutes.  It’s a great way to live.

            Yesterday, I became an official member of the square dancing world.  I am an original member of Red Squares, the fledgling square dance club in Moscow.  We had graduation yesterday during which students like me showed that they had the minimum level of skills required to square dance.  The male newly minted students of square dance wore foam yellow neck ties; the females wore pink bunny ears.  Some pictures below: