  The
Big Cross Country MonthJeannie Beth and Nathanael continued their running and Nancy and I followed them all over in October. Jeannie Beth ran 7th or 8th on her team most of the season but at the Emerald City League Championships on October 22nd she finished 8th and thus will train as the 1st "alternate" into the November races. The good news for her team is that they won the league championships, placing their top 5 among the top 15 runners. They are ranked 4th in the State! The Westside Classic (Tri-District Championships) will be run on November 1st at American Lake Golf Course south of Tacoma. Her team should easily advance to State in Pasco on November 8th and Jean (and her mom and dad) will be there. The team is paying for our meals and hotel in Pasco. The BCS boys also captured their ECL Championship title -- making this the first season that both Viking teams were league champs. This was the third consecutive year that the boys had won. Jeannie Beth's best race (pictured left) was at the Lakewood Hole-in-the-Wall Invitational where she had her only 6th place team finish. Nathanael managed to have his best race and highest team finish (also 6th) on the Seattle Pacific University varsity in his most important race, the GNAC Championships run near Yakima on October 25th. He stayed up with Andrew Hamilton early and passed Andrew's cousin Daniel Hamilton in the final loop. His coach, Erika Daligcon, remarked afterwards that he'd run a great race. (5:42.2 average mile time); 28:20.7 (8K time). He continues to train for an invitational race in mid-November, but his team took 5th of nine schools and did not qualify for the NCAA Division II Regionals in San Diego. The SPU ladies however were once again the GNAC champs and will advance.
UPDATE: Both the BCS boys and girls teams will advance to State this year! See: BCS XC at the Westside Classic. |
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Bits and Pieces 
Rev. Earl Palmer became Pastor Emeritus at University Presbyterian and
promptly left for a stint at National Presbyterian in Washington, DC.
Rev. George Hinman began his term of service at UPC. I was able to
be at UPC during both his candidating sermon and his first sermon as the
new UPC senior pastor. His sermon on November 1st brought tears to
my eyes when he covered Phillipians 2:1-11 and referenced the final
chapter of A Tale of Two Cities -- the
final section which concludes the book with, "It is a far, far better
thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest
that I go to than I have ever known." Randy
had free tickets to see The Dark Knight (the
sequel to Batman Begins.) I have to
agree it was a well made movie. And the late
Heath Ledger did indeed have an Oscar quality performance.I am also happy I did not pay to see it. The best thing was seeing it at the Boeing IMAX Theatre at the Pacific Science Center. Dad and Mitsuko joined us. He said they should have paid him to see it!
The story of October 2008 would be incomplete without reference to the
stock market collapse and federal banking bailout. Things are
worse than we perceive. With interest rates (between banks) incredibly
low, and gas prices falling like a rock, one would expect a stock surge
(under normal circumstances.) But the interest rates are like the
sailors in the books I read manning the pumps watch after watch while
the water continues to rise. The bilge is full and the orlop is
well awash! The falling gas prices, while welcome, reflect change
on the demand curve not the supply curve. Secondary effects
(hoarding, layoffs, and an extended reduction in consumer spending) can
snowball the economy downward. I remember Professor
Michael Hadjimichalakis, in his National Income Analysis
class about 1976. I was lost in that class until one day the great "Ah
Ha!" occurred during one of his lectures on spending and hoarding,
recession and depression. I'm watching that theory play out
in real time and I'm not happy. |
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My Quote from September
Admiral Horatio Nelson
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