Friday soapbox filler post

Today’s post is so boring, I couldn’t even come up with a half-decent title for it. You could quit reading right now, except that what I am going to say actually matters, unlike my usual drivel.

I got a new little something from Smartwool that I’m dying to try out and blog about. Problem is that the snowpack is half of what it normally is this time of year, and mustering the motivation to get up and ski in the dark is difficult under those circumstances. The motivation to get up at 4:30 in the morning is even harder to come by when you think your intestines are going to explode the night before and don’t expect to get much sleep. So instead of making something up about the crappy skiing that I didn’t actually do yesterday or today, I’m going to get up on my soapbox.

Soapbox item #1: texting and giving.

We’re all aware that there was a nasty earthquake in Haiti. As if that country didn’t have it bad enough already. In the past there have been causes I wanted to give to, but actually stuffing a check in an envelope or even going online was just enough of a barrier that I didn’t get around to it.

That excuse is valid no more. Yele Haiti and the Red Cross have both set up systems so that you can donate by sending a text. To donate $5 to Yele Haiti, text “Yele” to 501501. To donate $10 to the Red Cross, text “Haiti” to 90999. Super easy. No more excuses—unless you’re driving. Don’t text while driving cuz you might hit a cyclist. Or a runner. Or another car. Or a fire hydrant and a tree.

Soapbox item #2: turn your key, be idle free.

Hands down the worst part of winter in the Salt Lake or Boise metro areas is inversion. We all complain about it. It may be cool to look at from above, but it’s never pleasant to be in it. When I run at lunchtime, I feel like I’ve exercised AND smoked a pack of cigarettes.

So do something about it—turn off your car if you’re not moving. Your car doesn’t need to be running while you’re at the ATM or getting a burrito. It doesn’t need to be running while you’re loading your skis. It doesn’t need to be running while you’re sitting in a parking lot waiting to pick somebody up. So don’t run it in those situations. You’ll use as much gas in ten seconds of idling as you’ll use to restart the motor. If you’ll be sitting for 30 seconds or more, by all means, shut it off.

A few weeks ago I took JunkieGirl to ballet. Her ballet class is an hour long, and I often just sit in the parking lot and read while she’s in class. Other parents do the same. On this occasion, the guy in the car next to me left his vehicle running FOR THE ENTIRE HOUR. I wanted to go tap on his window and say something, but by the time I was agitated enough to confront him, I was too agitated for it to be a civil encounter and knew it would have been the equivalent of throwing the dog crap in his open door rather than presenting it to him in a civil manner such that there was some chance of attitudes being changed.

Next time I may not be so restrained, so please, turn your vehicle off before it comes to that.

Final, non-soapbox item: new link in the sidebar.

I just added frequent commenter and super-fast marathoner RabidRunner to my links. If you haven’t checked out her blog, her PMS Avenger post is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Her other stuff is also refreshing and humorous. If I thought I could keep up and didn’t have a Y chromosome, I’d invite myself on one of her group runs to see if she’s as funny in person as she is in bloglandia.

Happy Friday. Seems like everybody but me has Monday off and is heading to St. George for the weekend. Have fun and travel safe.