Running lessons

In the wake of my companies announcement that we are merging with a rival, and the painstaking effort that was put into explaining why this is so good for everyone, even as the stock price fell considerably, I am reminded of a lesson that I learned the hard way on some cold and miserable runs: Always finish with the wind.

I left my hotel in Butte MT and headed east for an early morning 10 miler. The way out was cold but manageable; I ran hard and sweat considerably. The way back was entirely unacceptable and there was not a damn thing I could do about it. My wet t-shirt clung to me and My forehead hurt in the 30 deg wind; it was mid-June so the light snow was unexpected, so much so that I had no gloves or hat. Had I been fortunate enough to turn into the wind right away, I would have known what was ahead of me and that it would end well.

For the last 20 years I have run into the wind, mostly on midnight shift and in the rain. This was supposed to be the point where I headed home with the wind at my back. Instead, the damn wind keeps changing directions and I'm wet and tired with no gloves or hat again.

As enjoyable as this has been to read up to this point, here's where we head in a new direction.
I heard on the news that there is a 99% chance that in the next 30 years L.A. will experience a major earthquake. Where did I go wrong? That should have been my job, I could have gone nationwide with those sorts of predictions; following the rather large safety net of, "In the next thirty years there is a 99 % chance that," I could have predicted most things that are likely to happen, things like:

-Florida will suffer several devastating hurricanes.
-Sierra Nevada passes will be snowed in.
-Phoenix and Tucson will get very hot.
-Vancouver Wa will be cold and wet a lot.
-In Boston the Red Sox will win the world series as the curse of The Babe fades.
-Tiger Woods will win two golf tournaments on the same day in different cities. (while we will question this, there seems to be no limit to what he can achieve and we will ultimately accept it.)
-The presidency will become somewhat of a joke, and decisions will be made in weekly state of the union addresses with a magic 8-ball.
-Tom Cruise will star in a movie that focuses on quips and "money-shots" of his winning smile.

All right, all right...enough already. You attack Tom and you've gone too far. I'm a little weak on my L. Ron Hubbard and Dianetics, but I think he can put a hex on me or something.

You have been most patient, and I appreciate it.

Peace be with you.