Scott Adcox

Doing More With Less Since 1972

Tag: stories

Let’s Get Run Drunk!

April 4, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I love getting run-drunk. Also known as run-dumb.

Run-drunk is what happens when you’ve been running for so long and/or are so tired that you can’t do simple math. It’s that point where you run 3 or 4 miles without realizing it because you are trying to figure out simple pace calculations in your head.

Good times.

Here’s an example from just the other night. I left the house carrying a bicycle bottle full of water and dropped it off about a half mile from the house at a spot I’d planned to loop through a couple of times. When I threw it over into the grass I actually took note of how heavy it had been to carry and felt instant relief letting it go.

During the course of my run I decided to go a different route with a bigger loop that has water spots built in. No problem–I’d just pick up the bottle on the way back to the house. I was already pretty tired from my bike ride the night before; so tired that I got a little run-buzzed and missed a couple of turns in my newly planned route. Basically I was wandering around the neighborhood like an idiot. People probably would have been alarmed if it weren’t for the fact that I’m so slow. If I was up to no good, they’d have no trouble running me down.

Nine miles later,  I found my bearings and headed back home. I stopped to pick up my water bottle and thought I’d have one last little pit stop before the final .5 home. I probably drank 1/3 of the water from the bottle and was on my way.

Now, how far do you think I went before I realized I was carrying around a bottle full of water (weight) that I was going to take into the house and empty into the sink? I’m actually proud of myself for figuring it out before I got home, but embarrassed that I didn’t think of pouring it all out immediately.

I recommend getting run-drunk to everyone. Also, know that unlike drunk-drunk, it’s ok to get run-drunk alone.

But know going into it that run-drunk isn’t as fun as drunk-drunk. It just doesn’t hurt as badly the next day.

Hey…I Know That Dude!

March 29, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Local boy does (not so) good…allegedly. And worse, he’s a Robertson County Commissioner.

There are now as many as 40 people who say they are owed millions, and a criminal investigation is under way. Robertson County Commissioner Shannon Polen already faces three civil suits.

I went to high school with Shannon, and it would be fair to say we were friends on some level. I mean, we didn’t hang out at each other’s houses or anything, but we were teammates on a couple of 2-8 football teams and laughed at a lot of the same stuff in classes we had together. Lot’s of laughing in those classes–not much learning.

I would run into him every now and then in college too. I remember bumping into him and another guy we both knew at a basketball game once. We ended up sitting a couple of rows behind Andy Kelly, whom he was heckling just loud enough to not be heard.

I’m sure the Vols lost that night, but I can’t blame that on Shannon with a clear conscious.  While I remember him having a biting sense of humor and being a master heckler, the ability to affect the outcome of sporting events doesn’t stand out in my mind as one of his strengths (see the 2-8 football teams) .

But seriously, how do you heckle Andy Kelly when Wade Houston is in the same room?

Time and malt beverages have ravaged a fair percentage of my memories, but there are a few interesting facts I can tell you about Mr. Polen. Digest them at your leisure and make of them what you will…

  1. He once went as Brian Bosworth for Halloween.
  2. When our Algebra II teacher* had us research a great mathematician, the subject of his research was…our Algebra II teacher.
  3. When busting someone’s chops, he often liked to incorporate a song. He used Steve Miller’s “The Joker” on one friend, but for other people he made up songs. One involved a rat’s nest on a guy’s head, while another was simply a refrain of the words, “Do Wrong”.
  4. He was my weight lifting partner for a year, and I didn’t get much stronger. I’m not saying he was robbing me of my strength, but I can’t say for sure that he wasn’t either.

In all sincerity, this doesn’t smell like a simple misunderstanding, and I hope the people who have lost their savings and faith in elected officials are at least able to get their money back.

UPDATE: Michael Silence has a point.

Sometimes you just have to wonder if stupidity shouldn’t be a felony.

*NOTE: I like to play fast and loose with the word “teacher”

Oh Yeah, This Is Fun Too

November 19, 2010 / / 0 Comments

The other night I was reading the girls a book at bedtime, and I picked up on something I think may be really important to our girls learning to read. Now, we seem to always be on the lookout for “teachable moments” around here. Sometimes that means stopping to ask questions about the book we’re reading or pointing out some aspect of the book that ties in with something else we’ve been working on. We’re lucky that they usually lead us into this , so it’s not as if we’re forcing them into it. In fact, we never push anything on them if they don’t seem interested because we want them to enjoy the learning as much as we enjoy the teaching.

But this time something weird was going on. Chick Pea wasn’t stopping me on every page to ask questions about the story, and Bug wasn’t grabbing at the book or pointing at the pages while yelling out made-up words. They were both sitting quietly, listening to the story. They were engrossed. So I went with it.

I realized later that I wasn’t actually missing out on a teachable moment. I was taking advantage of one.

The lesson I was teaching them is that reading is an enjoyable and fun thing to do! We don’t always have to have a measurable objective every time we pick up a book.  Sometimes (most of time?) the best part of reading is getting so into the story that you lose yourself in it. If we can one day establish a love of reading independently in our kids, just imagine the gains they’ll be able to make in fluency and vocabulary on their own, not to mention all the other things they’ll be able to learn about.

We have to keep our long-term goal in mine: give them the tools that allow them to read to learn.

Loving to read is a pretty powerful tool.

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