August 29, 2009 |

WTF

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Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said “CIGARETTES CONTAIN FAT.” ~ Dave Barry


Anyone who has spent more than 30 seconds with me knows my disdain for littering in any form. I have a particularly venomous attitude toward those who toss cigarettes out the window because a) it appears these idiots feel that it isn’t littering, b) it is actually WORSE than littering in that it causes fires which endanger lives (human and critter) and property and c) is completely preventable since every goddamned car on the market comes with this crazy thing called an ash tray (or has “ashtray” as an option that one can add for a small sum of money).


Regardless, when some dipshit feels the need to throw their smokes out the window, I get infuriated. So much so that I almost got into a fistfight over it once. True story.


I was coming home from somewhere and forgot about the weekly jackass parade from Denver to the casinos in Black Hawk. So I was stuck in traffic… for a long time. So I am not a happy Stu to begin with then Señor Asshat in the car in front of me decides the dry grass to the right of his car is where cigarettes go. I laid on my horn and shouted at him to pick up his cigarette at which point f-bombs were hurled and fortunately for I don’t know who, the parking lot began to move and I was unable to do the horrible things that were coursing through my very imaginative mind. And to top it off, that car from which the butt was tossed was sporting a volunteer firefighter bumper sticker. I shit you not.


I have promised Rach I will no longer confront jackassery done in my direct line of sight but my blood still boils when I see people using our roadsides as their personal ashtrays.



So tonight, Rach found some litter in our driveway… tossed there, I’m sure, by one of the many douchenozzles who speed up and down our road on a regular basis (don’t get me started). Lo and behold the litter wasn’t a cigarette, but a nicotine gum package. I am not sure if this is a step in the right direction or not.


Thoughtful strategy. Practical execution.

Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
May 8, 2026
We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
May 8, 2026
Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
Hands holding a tablet displaying a video player interface. The video is paused.
February 20, 2026
In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top