THE ARCHIVE
This is best red with a cup of coffee, black. There is a lot to read.
PRESEASON:
8-23-02
We leave for
preseason at 3:00 in a Cross Country Convoy.
Houghton Van 1, Betsy’s sedan, Houghton Van 2, and capped off with me
and DJ in DJ’s Station wagon. It is a 7
hr trip or so, with many bathroom stops and a McDonalds dinner stop. Everyone orders and eats and somehow we end
up with an extra Big Mac, so I get the privilege of holding it for the entire
trip to Star Lake. We finally get there
and everyone says hi to coach and we go to bed, Pete, Chris, Shamari, and I all
shared a room.
8-24-02
The fun
starts. We get up and are greeted with
a somewhat difficult run as a team even though preseason has not technically
started. I was a bit disturbed with how
fast the run was, but it wasn’t the end of the world. We did some other stuff, ate lunch, and then somehow it was
decided that another run in the afternoon would be a good idea. This was ok, except it was hard as well – I
was hurting for the second time in the same day. Dinner, trip to the Nice N’ Easy, hardcore ultimate Frisbee, then
bed.
8-25-02 to
8-30-02
I am sick of
trying to remember my whole preseason.
To summarize, on average I took about 3 showers a day due to running and
swimming etc. I rowed a row boat,
sailed a sailboat, paddled a paddleboat, and went canoeing. We played a massive game of capture the flag
where we used the boats and water balloons and water balloon launchers like
cannons. I dove off the sailboat (which
was the proud flagship of DJ and myself) to go in a canoe which was promptly
upturned, and when Pete, Buell and myself tried to flip it back up, I went
underneath and nailed my head on the seat, making me the first casualty as
blood pored out of me. This also
created the first medical vessel of the game, an old rowboat that Shamari and
Becca used to lug my butt back to shore.
All in all it was an eventful game.
We also ran a kids vacation Bible School camp while we were there. Pete, Buell and myself were in charge of
games and snacks time. We actually only
did the games part of it, but that’s ok – we had fun and the kids either had a
blast or hated our games. Some of the
kids even hated me. Jordan always
wanted to glare at me no matter what I was doing, and this girl just called me
“evil” for no good reason. Oh
well. The highlanders came up and ran 5
miles, and we watched and cheered them on, even if Brent was trying to talk to
me about Nintendo 64 while he was supposed to be running. The Basketball team came up for a night and
we half talked to them half ignored them while they were there. Then DJ and I left Thursday after lunch to
come to Houghton, and 3 potty breaks for DJ later, we were in Houghton ready to
deal with the freshman again.
9-2-02
On the first
day of practice with the rest of the team, I have learned that I no longer have
my own identity. There are now 4 Chris’s
on the team, and there is another guy with the last name Austin. 4 Chris’s, 2 Austin’s. So if people say either, they are probably
referring to another person besides me.
Lots of hard practice this week, lots of FYI stuff with freshmen, lots
of school work. Books were expensive as usual, and life is tough for the
average Houghton Junior.
7-20-02
through 7-28-02
LIFE IN
NORTH CAROLINA
Somewhere around here is the one year anniversary of my site! ROCK ON!
7-19-02
I found the
hat.
I guess I
left it in my parent’s room Saturday and it somehow got kicked under the
bed. The week of sadness can now come
to an end – it could almost have become anti-joy week in the middle of summer!
I am
semi-packed for vacation now. The rest
must be packed shortly. Not that you
care, but I have little that is of importance to write about other then my
hat. This isn’t a dull paragraph; it’s
just that after reading the news of my long lost hat’s discovery, everything
else just appears dull in comparison.
Now if I can
just survive the torment of a 14-hour car ride in a small van at close
proximity to the siblings, I will be able to enjoy a vacation of me being a
lazy bum reading, swimming, or just sleeping.
With the exception of running, I will do nothing that I don’t feel like
doing. Oh the joy of sloth.
On that note
of happiness, I bid you farewell. I
will write about the vacation while I am there in the hopes of it being
somewhat entertaining. We shall see.
7-18-02
The Rhinos
lost the game on our own turf, 3-2, against Kansas City. They scored the winning goal during injury
time, who ever does that?
On my way to
work I saw a bus in the street with its yellow lights flashing. So I slow down to prepare to stop, and what
does it do but blow right by me. In the
rearview mirror I see it going all the way down route 250 with its flashers
on. Weird.
Day 4
without the hat.
I lost 2
more bagels to Greg, bringing up the grand total to 4 bagels.
Went to
Java’s for some iced tea with Pat and his friend Amy. It was interesting, I definitely felt a bit out of place but the
people were friendly and the tea was good.
A grunge type kid sat down and played Brittney Spears on his guitar, and
sang along with it. A bit on the
strange side for me, but this is the happening place I guess. So be it.
2 days until
North Carolina, there will be no entries after tomorrow due to my absence for
the week, my apologies.
7-17-02
I went to
return a pair of shorts today. I got
the receipt, made sure the shorts were clean and the tags still on it, and
proceeded to Target where I had bought them for $8. I bring them up to the girl and ask if I can make a return, and
when I pull them out of the bag I realize there are cracker crumbs all over
them. This is not at all what I
expected, and I don’t think the girl much expected it either. I sheepishly brush them off while
apologizing to the service girl because they are quite dirty. I look into the bag and realize I had been
storing old crackers in it for some reason.
Lucky for me, she gave me my money back, and then even offered to throw
out the bag of old crackers. It figures
that I couldn’t make the return smoothly, that just wouldn’t happen in the
world of Chris Austin.
At work,
since I know you are interested, I basically helped prepare the Webster High
School stadium for the Rhinos game that night.
7-16-02
Working
today was a bit unusual because we had the Rochester Rhinos come to practice on
our High School stadium field. One guy
asked if he could sit on a bench I just moved next to the field. I said sure, knock yourself out. That was as interesting a conversation with
a Rhino Soccer player as I could get.
But that’s still cool. At the
end of the day, I locked the keys to the truck inside the truck. That was annoying. Actually, I am supposed to cut back on things that annoy me
now. Since I earlier said many things
annoy me, I feel it is time to not be so annoyed. So I shall try and not be.
I tried to
duct tape my sneakers back together at work.
My cheap imitation duct tape did not hold. Why you ask? Because it
is a cheap imitation. There is good
duct tape and bad duct tape, and I have found the difference. Price.
The phone
just rang. $10 says it’s not for
me. Hey, I’m right. I have been betting bagels against Greg
every day that one number in the New York Lotto Jackpot or Win 4 will have at
least one digit as a 7. I have lost 2
bagels so far, out of 2 times…this does not surprise me though. I am not good at betting for some reason.
This was the
day of the Track Meet. I ran for the
heck of it at Rush-Henrietta High School today, a 400m dash. It is the first track meet I have competed
at in over 2 years since my days on the Webster High School Track team. Coincidentally, my hat is named after the Webster
Track and Field team, but I cannot locate it for 2 days straight. I am displeased. But in the meet today I pulled out a whopping 56.7 sec which
isn’t terribly impressive, but its good considering my lack of training,
etc. I got myself a nice little red 2nd
place ribbon which I will proudly hang somewhere.
7-15-02
I went to
work, and got there a bit late. I was
late because I could not find my own hat for the life of me, and this is very
upsetting. I came back during break and
was still unsuccessful in finding it.
This is not a good sign…
This is not
a very long entry because I fell asleep after dinner for a good 4 hours or so,
making my night somewhat unproductive.
7-14-02
Today I went
to church w/ my cross-country bud Rose and sat with our friend Rita. It was an interesting service because 3 guys
sang a song that was too high for them, and Pastor Phil used the phrase “Oh my
Buddha!” I saw Willy and Holly and
talked to them for a while, and then went home. I ignored the evil connection café tent. We then went to the grandparents house in
Syracuse to visit where I played Pokemon on Nintendo against my siblings and
cousins. I am not as good as I wish I
was, but I held my own. I had ice
cream, and then we left. My Dad bought
a car off of my grandparents while he was there, and now it is sitting on our
driveway. This meant I had to drive the
van home. Anyways, the new car has no
spot on the driveway. And it better not
be in my spot ever. If I see it there,
I will crush it with my Neon in a fit of rage.
I ate some chips for dinner, and went over to Mikes to play darts. Then Mike, Dave, Tara, and I all went
bowling where I got a 116, and so did Mike, then I got a 154, and so did Mike,
then I got a 134. Unfortunately, Mike
got another 154, beating me out by 20 the last game. Tara did ok, Dave did not have a good bowling night. I beat him 3 games in a row, and I don’t
think I have ever done that before in my life.
After this we went to get ice cream, where I told the story of my trip
to Canada. We were interrupted,
however, by a skunk who was walking around the picnic tables. Lucky for us, it ran away when the old
people got up after we yelled “skunk!” to them. I suppose I can let the rest of you in onto the Canada story now
as well.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CHRIS AUSTIN CANADIAN ADVENTURE:
1. Canadian cops yell at Chris
2. Canadian cops evict us from hotel
3. Canadian cops threaten to arrest us
4. Craziness at the Casino
5. Canadian Border Guard questions Chris harshly
6. Chris drives 2 hours home at 4:00 am without sleep
If you want to actually hear the story, well, you will have to
talk to Chris in person.
7-13-02
I am back
from Canada. And oh what a trip was had
there. Not much was accomplished
today. I slept until 12. Then I napped from 1 to 4. I ate a Grande meal at the mall for
dinner. Played a game of Nintendo which
ended up in me fighting with my brother.
I was so mad I had to leave the house and so I just sat in State Rd.
Elementary School’s parking lot for a half an hour in my car. I came back, talked on IM until it crashed,
at which point now it refuses to let me try and sign back on. And there you have it. I am now going to bed at 10:40. Goodnight.
Perhaps I
will give the highlights to the Canadian Adventure later.
7-12-02
D-Day.
Too much
work makes an unhappy Chris Austin.
I have no
time to write this entry today because I am going to Niagara Falls
shortly. It is a work party.
My apologies
for the entries getting progressively shorter, but I don’t think it matters.
Cheers.
7-11-02
Another fun
day at the job. I weedwhacked, took
down and rolled up some snow/temporary fence after it had been fixed by us 2
days before, and weedwhacked some more.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I had bought cream cheese in the
morning. This is a noteworthy event
because I am no longer forced to eat the bagel I buy each morning plain. There is a butter strike of sorts going on
at B&G (Buildings and Grounds) because the guy who usually brought in a
huge tub of butter in for everyone to use stopped brining it in, and their was
a dry bagel period. But no longer for
me. So today I enjoyed my bagel and my
nalgene full of country time lemonade happily.
I went and
visited a cross country friend from Houghton.
She told me that I should come to one of the track meets they have at
Rush Henrietta High School on Tuesdays at 6:00. $5 and I get to run as if I were competing. I think I might try it, so if you feel like
running this Tuesday, let me know.
Other than
this there is nothing exciting in the life of Chris Austin. Just a laid back lazy summer that is about
halfway over.
7-10-02
July 10th. There is nothing special about this
day. I worked like I do every
Wednesday. I mowed the grass, pulled
weeds, weedwhacked and hauled tree branches in the Gator, driving it through
the hallways of Thomas High School. I
came home, ate dinner, and ran at Webster Park. I did hills, if you must know, 5 50m hills and a mile warm up and
cool down. I saw Lux, a kid who used to
be on my track and cross country teams.
We ran the 4 x 400 m relay together.
And yet, I don’t think he had any idea who I was when I ran by him. Or maybe he was just being one of those guys
who knows you but doesn’t want to admit it.
Doesn’t matter either way. I
showered and then went out in search of a thrift store to buy a shirt or
2. I drove to Greece and found the
store, bought my shirts, and then hit a traffic jam on the way home because of
road work.
I have a
hunch that the highway department has some kind of conspiracy that they need to
block as many roads as possible until someone catches on and says stop blocking
all the roads at once. Its like a game
to them – we have to fix the shoulder on highway 104, so lets close down 5 of
the 6 lanes, and force traffic onto the other shoulder. That way, we can minimize movement through
this area and back traffic up at least half a mile, and it will give us plenty
of room to set up extra cones and big orange signs that say “Please slow down,
my Mommy works here” written in children’s scrawl. Road Work Ahead. I hate
those signs.
My frog is
dead. I went to check on my underwater
life today and found his leg bones drifting around and a skull with little
vertebrae behind it. It is very small,
and picked clean by my carnivorous zebra-fish and the other guys. I guess TetraFin fish flakes just aren’t
enough to satisfy their bloodthirsty appetite.
Friday I go
to Canada.
7-9-02
Unfortunately,
today was a not so fun day at work. It
rained all day, and instead of driving around and doing deliveries as we
usually do on rainy days, we cleaned / sat around in the warehouse and then
weedwhacked in the dreary weather. Also,
many things annoyed me. Such is life I
suppose.
However, I
did get home from work to receive a hello from my friend Katie who is in Korea
right now, so that was exciting. Also,
it is an important day for Emily Kinney who writes:
“Hello. Today, July 9th, is my birthday. You need to write that on your web page
diary entry. That would make me happy.”
So there you
have it, if you know her, wish her a happy birthday. I went running today as usual and I ended up feeling pain unlike
any other pain I have ever experienced because my legs began to hurt real bad
at about mile 2.5 out of 6. This was
not a good thing. Now after watching
the Mole on TV, I got up to find that my legs basically kill every step that I
take, rendering me a virtual gimp. This
does not bode well for an 8hr day of work for tomorrow…
7-8-02
This is a
lovely picture describing the whereabouts of Houghton College, sent to me by my
pal Kubera who doesn’t even go to the school.
I had seen the picture before but never knew where everyone found it at:
So there you
have it, the town farther then the end of the earth. Another friend of mine, Finn, thinks it is sad that when we go
out, we go to Olean, N.Y. Olean is a
city, in case you have never heard of it, and it is 40 min away from Houghton.
I have finished
my first day back at work since last Wednesday, and it was hot and long, but I
rode the Bobcat and a John Deer all day long.
Why? To spread a topsoil product all over the school lawns that is made
out of poop. Refined Human Excretion
(or Bionsoil), $50 a yard.
I drove my
brother to his 5-hour today, and passed some punk kids on the side of the
road. Just looking at them annoyed
me. In fact they made me realize that
they and about a million other things annoy me everyday. It would maybe be safe to say that I am the
most annoyed person on the planet. It
doesn’t take much to annoy me, just little things seem to do just fine.
I went
running in my new running shoes today.
They were nice at first, until I realized the dull throbbing was
actually the back of my sneaker ripping the skin off of the back of my
foot. The inside of one shoe is now an
ugly red color, courtesy of the blood pouring out of my foot.
I think this
basically sums up the day for myself.
7-7-02
Nearly 3
months later, I have ventured to work on the site. The point of this is to start something of a journal. Chances are I won’t keep updating it, but
who knows, maybe I will this time. As
the first entry I’ve had in a while, I figure I should write a little bit about
my summer. However, it is 11:00 at
night and I have to work at 7 tomorrow, so I won’t write too much for anyone to
handle, including myself. So far, this
summer has not been too bad. My life
can be boiled down to about 4 categories – work, sleep, run, and other. At any given time I am doing one of most
likely the first 3, with the occasional chance of me doing something in the
other category.
I arrived
home after spending, oh, 4 or 5 hours packing all my stuff after I finished my
last exam. I had neglected to pack
earlier then that because I would not allow myself to stop studying just to
pack, when I had all summer to pack.
Then I came home and didn’t unpack until mayterm. At mayterm I had a good old time with Dave
and Andrew, as well as the other people that I knew up there. And then came the real summer.
The real
summer began June 1st at about 2:00 when I finally got home. No one was here to greet me, so I picked up
the book I hadn’t read since last break and read. Everyone comes home, and I am once again readmitted into the
family. I go to church, and then on
Monday I begin the work schedule I have to follow the rest of the summer – wake
up at 6:40, dress, eat and get to work at 7:00 where I stay until 3:30, at
which point I run diligently, shower, eat dinner, and then maybe do something
in the other category before hitting the hay for the night. It gets repetitive. Dave works with me now, although I don’t see
much of him because our boss Bill usually has him working on baseball fields.
A little
background on the job – we work for the Webster Central School District (same
job I had last year) and do buildings and groundskeeping, so it ends up being a
really laid back landscaping job for a solid 40 hours a week. It is a good job because I am outside all
day and I end up driving all sorts of fun vehicles, like old pickup trucks, new
pickup trucks, small dump trucks, large dump trucks, vans, mini-busses, lazer
lawnmowers, cube vans, gators, bobcats, and my personal favorite, the
old-school tractor. What else could you
really want in a summer job?
In case
anyone was curious, the fish are doing pretty well under the
circumstances. I unplugged their air
filter a while ago meaning to move them, but I decided they wouldn’t like the
basement, so now they just sit unplugged in my temporary room upstairs. So far, Elroy, Pecos, Sub-Zero, NightGuy and
Mr. Plecostamus are all alive. I think
the frog is alive too, but I haven’t seen him in a while… The only semi-recent death was that of the
second snail; I just can’t seem to keep snails alive in my tank. Putzs.
This shall
be all for today, you will have hopefully more to look forward to
tomorrow. But don’t bet on it.
4-18-02
WELL, I
haven’t updated this in a while, but since I have decided to write a book on
IM, I decided that since people have possibly missed a chapter or two, they
might like to read some of the other chapters.
So, check out the CHRIS AUSTIN’S LIFE page to catch up on the exciting story
of my life.
C.L.C.
3-7-02
Sorry about the temporary screw-up on my site. I didn’t really fix it, I worked around it cause I don’t know why the whole page won’t load. At any rate, the C.L.C. campaign is about to be in full swing. If you don’t know already, my competition for president Ryan Alo has put up a website solely devoted to his Presidential Campaign. Now, I thought this was going a bit far. However, since I already have a webpage, made for other things then just my campaign, I figured I would start campaigning on it as well (now that I finally got it up and running). So if you haven’t already, click on the C.L.C. link and see what we are all about. And on a side note, my fish are doing quite well for anyone who is interested. Elroy, Pecos, Sub-Zero, and R-Dawg are all doing fine. So is the un-named one that I refer to only as “orange” because someone hasn’t named him yet…hint hint… OK, this is Chris Austin, signing out for the day.
3-5-02
So I didn't update it everyday.
I had midterms and papers and all sorts of stuff to do, so the website had to
stay on hold for a bit. Hopefully, I will start posting some campaign
poster ideas on this site so people can let me know what they think. Team
Ruckus is unfortunately down another game, we didn't play as well as usual last
night. If anyone has a hedgehog they don't want and are willing to give
it to me, I would be happy and mention your name in my heavily viewed
website. There aren't any exciting pictures for me to put up today, but I
did update the Houghton page recently, so feel free to check that out. I
still feel like my site is lacking something, so again give me some ideas.
2-28-02
I wanted to keep updating this site
regularly, but I just don't have much to say about this day. My indoor
soccer team, The Ruckus, had the second game of the season, a crushing loss,
bringing our record to 1 and 1. I tried to put a counter on my site, but
it crashed. FYI, the smallest bowling ball is 4 lbs, not 2 thanks to Kim
for pointing that out. The newest link in my link section is to the South Hall Dorm Page, submitted
by Ryan Alo. Which reminds me, he is running against me for Class
President. Don't vote for him, vote for me. Hopefully my campaign
manager Karen Baxter will get on the ball here and start making me some posters
or tv adds and whatnot, so be on the look out for them. And for fun, here
is a picture of Ryan, blatantly copied right off his site: 
He may look friendly, but don't let
him fool you because I need to win. Any more fun ideas, leave me an IM.
2-26-02
OK THEN. I have finally decided to put this sucker back on the world wide web, so bear with me.
Today, Houghton College has finally
finished refurbishing our showers in Third East. This is an important event because we have been down half of our
showers for the entire semester due to a “prototype shower installation” that
we were lucky enough to host. The thing
is, the showers are awful – see exhibit A.
As you can tell from the picture, there are many unhappy floor mates because of the ugly new showers. Another event that is worthy of sharing is the dorm wide lack of hot water because someone turned it off. I would be showering now, but instead of taking a cold shower and screaming in a high pitched voice like Tom, I decided I would complain to the world instead. That is all for now. Enjoy the rest of the site (well, the working parts anyhow).
9-7-01
The saga continues. It is time for an update of ChrisAustin.com. I have unfortunately been something of a slacker for a little while, due to the crazy amounts of time classes, homework, sga, cross country, and general socializing takes out of one’s schedule. Therefore, this update is not in succession with the rest of the entries – so you will have to bear with me. Updates take a while, and I just had my computer’s memory wiped because that is Houghton College policy – every computer gets updated software (ie. Windows 95 turns into 98, they take instant messenger off the computer, etc.) so I have none of the original files I had been using for the website. Thus, I am saving them off the Internet, and working on them and then sending them back, somewhat annoying. At any rate, things should be gradually returning to normal, so feel free send me comments or whatnot to help keep this an enjoyable website ([email protected]). Thanks for your patience.
Also, if you happen to be the person impersonating a CIA officer, particularly a Deputy Director John Arthur Richardson, who I have determined does not even exist in the CIA, then I would appreciate you stepping forward and identifying yourself so I can issue a suitable punishment. The Russian Revolution will continue as planned, and your threats are petty, juvenile and ultimately do not deter me in the least. If you aren’t the CIA imposter, then give good old CIA Russiawatch a warning on instant messenger if you ever catch him or her online. That’s it from me, have yourself a peachy day.
Day 6 of Preseason, 8-31-01
The end. Freshman have overtaken the
campus.
Day 5 of Preseason, 8-30-01
Almost the end of preseason, finally. Ate breakfast, went to xc practice one where we did something of an easy run, then went to lunch. Slept, ran, ate dinner, and then we went out to Walmart as a team. I drove with Pete, James, Mike, and Joy. They make for an interesting combination. I bought an air freshener and a trashcan for under 5 bucks, and we all went out to Perkins for dessert. I happened to want a whole meal, so that’s what I got instead, two over easy eggs and three pancakes, with hashbrowns. It was good, even though everybody but 3 of us had already been served and finished their desserts by the time we started, we still managed to enjoy it. On the trip home, James forgot to tell us to get off the highway at Cuba, instead he just mumbled something about Cuba being known for its McDonalds arches (because that was what you could see of Cuba from the highway) and I was supposed to interpret that as exit into Cuba. For the rest of the trip, Joy, Mike and James entertained Pete and I by singing countless songs, duets, operas, anything. Crazy stuff. Oh yeah, went camping as well that night with Mike and James. It was very uncomfortable on the wood floor of the lean too without a sleeping bag, so I slept in Mike's hammock instead because he abandoned it for some reason. It was comfortable
Day 4 of Preseason, 8-29-01
Easy day. Luckily, today's practices were technically "easy" and I was looking forward to not dying during the practices. Unfortunately, easy for some is hard for others. All the guys decided they would run together in one group, and of course I was dying by the end of it because they would run so fast - I was running probably my race pace almost. Such is life. We played water polo after lunch for our second practice though, so it was all good. It was a pretty intense game, and near the end we were going crazy. Dinner, and then another party, and then Greg Lewis came back and we went out at 11:00 and had pizza in Fillmore. Fun times.
Day 3 of Preseason, 8-28-01
Another round of cross-country practices. Got up at 7:45, ate breakfast, and came back to the room and chilled. Went to practice in a thunderstorm at 10:00, where we worked in the weights cage and learned how to become buff, athletic runners - I can hardly wait for it to kick in. Ate lunch, and then took the customary sleep before practice number 2 at 3:00. Another brutal run was to take place - we were matched up in groups that the coach wanted us to run in packs with. Problem was, since I am the slowest guy on the team, I was put in a group where obviously everybody would be faster than me. The workout was 2 min jog, 7 min hard pace, 2 min jog, 7 hard, 2 jog, 7 hard, 2 jog, 5 hard, 2 jog, 5 hard, and 2min jog - then a cool down. However, we were all attached with tape so that we wouldn’t be more than an arms length away from the rest of the group at any time. The 4 of us that were in a group ran in a line side by side, and every time we ran by a gate or a post we had to all scrunch up and stuff, but we got the hang of it and I managed to keep up so it was not a bad practice. Overall a quite good one because I had to run to keep the tape from breaking, and that was motivation that I don't usually have while running. Unfortunately, I ripped my shorts while stretching, as if the entire practice couldn’t have gone well, something had to go wrong. Then I hopped into my car to drive back and get new shorts on, and I ended up behind the paint trucks that paint the lines all over the road, and to turn into South Hall's parking lot would mean getting white paint all over my tires. So I had to follow them all the way up the road till I could get clear of the paint. I went to a cross country party that evening where we played sherades and made people look like fools. Then watched Happy Gilmore and called it a night.
Day 2 of Preseason, 8-27-01
Cross Country Begins. I awoke at 7:30 to get ready for breakfast, then I went and ate breakfast, nothing spectacular about it. Then I took the necessary sports physical at 10, and me and 3 other guys who took physicals went to the gym to get our first practice workout. It was supposed to be an easy run, and yet it almost killed me. I was doing just fine until we had to run up this hill aptly named "Devil's Back" at which point I expended almost every ounce of energy in my body, and basically limped my way back trying to keep up with the rest of the group. I went back to my dorm to contemplate how I was ever going to do cross country, and then I had a meeting with Dr. Bakker about becoming a TA for next semester, and then lunch. After lunch I slept on and off to regain as much energy as possible for practice number 2, because in preseason there are two practices every day. At 2:45 I rolled out of bed and walked up to the track where I found out we would be running our 5k time trial. First day of practice, and we are running 5k time trials on the track (something I've never done before, its 12 and a half laps around in a circle) and it was in the sun. On our walk down to the track I felt as though I were going to war - because I was mad nervous and I figured I'd be dead before the day was over. I can now officially say I am the slowest guy on the team, except if you are counting the kid with knee injuries. However, it wasn't as bad as I had expected, and we had a bonfire for the team that evening, which was really cool. What ever can tomorrow bring?
Day 1 of Preseason, 8-26-01
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HOUGHTON COLLEGE |
Arrival at Houghton. The place is basically deserted - I mean not a soul around. Went to eat some dinner at 5. Decided to mingle and get to know some cross country people, but ended up in a group of international students by mistake. Ate dinner, then went to the first official XC meeting, where we played mixer games that were not fun because I didn’t know anyone - such is life. Michael Diercks is on the floor though, so I talked to him after the meeting, and I talked to Jason Dolan, the RA, so there are now 3 people on my floor, including me. Good News - my lava lamp works. Bad News - 2 practices tomorrow, fitness physical, and worst of all I lost my white Webster hat. I will probably be going into withdrawal or depression within the week. |
8-24-01
Automotive
Expenses stink. New tires, CD-DVD-MP3 Players, Gas, and New Water Pumps will
take a chunk out of anyone's wallet. Beware.
8-23-01
After many attempts at making
this webpage a technological marvel, I have unfortunately found that it is
difficult to teach yourself good web page design when you know little about
HTML java code and other important stuff. So this page will continue to be
lacking, as I am still confined to the quirks of Microstupid Word and the less
than powerful Microsoft Paintbrush. Sorry for any inconveniences this may cause
you.
CREATED BY CHRIS AUSTIN WITH WORD AND PAINT. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED. ©