Zuben's running in his first marathon and requests your help!

[ZubenElGenubi]

Dear Fellow GenVibers:I will be running in the HP Houston Marathon on January 16, 2005. While I'm excited to be participating in my first marathon, I hope to make it more special by collecting donations on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association. My wife's family has been severely stricken with this horrible disease. My goal is $500 and I'm asking for your help. I have a personal donations webpage (see link below) where you can get more information and even make a donation online. It means a lot that I'll be able to "Run for a Reason" and your donations will be a special kind of moral support for me while running those 26.2 miles! On race day, you can also visit the official website and track my progress live, such as it may be. I'm just hoping to finish, but knowing that we can help a worthy cause is most important. Thanks and Take Care, Glenn, aka ZubenElGenubiMy Donations Page: http://www.doitsports.com/dona...12462 HP Houston Marathon Official Website: http://www.hphoustonmarathon.com/ (I'll be wearing Bib No 5611)

[ragingfish]

You've got my support! Good luck fellow Viber!

[Stang2Vibe]

You can expect a donation from me shortly as well. Best wishes to you in your marathon venture!I also have family members who are/have been afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease as well as Parkinson's. I've seen first hand the havoc that these diseases cause people's lives and truly hope that these illnesses can be treated, or even better, eradicated in a relatively short period of time. My most deeply admired U.S. President also suffered from this disease and was a partner with the Alzheimer's Association even years before he was diagnosed with it. In honor of these people as well as your family members, and to help you reach your goal, I will gladly donate. Good luck, Glenn!

[ZubenElGenubi]

Just a quick update:So far we've raised a total of $275 ($220 online and $55 in checks to the Alzheimer's Association). Some of that has come from GenVibe members and I wanted to say how much I appreciate your support.I update the donations page (see first post for link) regularly, including training progress. Please check it for further news.Thanks again GenVibers!-Glenn

[nismo]

Can I send it by cash in the mail?Inder

[ZubenElGenubi]

Please do not send cash in the mail...for anything; not just me!If you'd rather not use the online donation tool available on the donations page, you can mail a check to me, payable to "Alzheimer's Association". IM me for my address.I'd considered PayPal, but don't know how you could ensure that (if you wished) your donations would be recorded for tax purposes.

[ZubenElGenubi]

Happy New Year, GenVibers! A quick update: We've passed our goal of $500 in donations to the Alzheimer's Association and are currently at $800. Thanks to those of you who've contributed.The marathon is less than 12 days away as I type this. If anyone knows a safe way for me to lose five pounds by then, my feet will thank you!For more information, click the link in my first post to My Donations Page.Thanks!-Glenn, aka Zubenelgenubi

[ZubenElGenubi]

Well, I completed my first marathon! We raised $1,200 towards the Alzheimer's Association (so far...I can still receive donations until Feb. 5), which made it really special. I'm ready to do it again (am hoping to run the LA Marathon in March).I've got more post-race info on my Donations Page:http://www.doitsports.com/dona...12462...plus, there's a surprise picture there that even Stang2Vibe will love!Thanks again for your support!-Glenn

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »...plus, there's a surprise picture there that even Stang2Vibe will love!HEY!!! Not fair, not fair! I'm gonna send him copies of all the mean things you said about his son and their party! j/kMy goodness, just when you think you know someone. You vehemently fight me with your liberal stances and then go schmoozing with "Big Daddy"? I think someone's a closet conservative!!! lolIt's ok Glenn, you can step into the light. Just take my hand. I'll rescue you from the "dark side".

[ZubenElGenubi]

Life's not fair; didn't your parents ever teach you that? I tried to search the Political Aslylum threads to see where I actually said mean things about George W., but see that content before December has been absconded. (What's up with that?) Actually, Stang, some of my views would be considered "Ultra Conservative", but because I know they're ridiculous, I try to keep them to myself. Wouldn't want to be committed.. I've always liked George Sr. and I think you can see why. He came out and cheered on us slowpokes for nearly an hour! Pretty darn nice man.PS What are you doing up at 3:30 in the morning?

[Stang2Vibe]

I think that some of the mods/admins were afraid that people would go back there and see some of the ugliness that took place. I'll bet that they wielded their administrative machetes and hacked out a big part of that jungle back there. Oh well, probably for the better.You never fail to make me laugh. I always tend to argue most with the people I like the best. Don't know why that happens, but I just know that it does.Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »Actually, Stang, some of my views would be considered "Ultra Conservative", but because I know they're ridiculous, I try to keep them to myself. Wouldn't want to be committed.. ROFLMAO!!! In all honesty, I would absolutely love to hear these. I am the same way. I have some ultra conservative views that I rarely discuss with others and have yet to come up in conversations on this site. So I guess "I feel your pain". lol Don't feel bad, those things are just the Texan in you that is sometimes trying to come out. I know that often times you were only playing devil's advocate with me when I'd get off kilter and take a dive off the deep end. I tend to do that sometimes. Oh well. That's just part of what makes me--me. I guess it's a side effect of having a warrior's heart.As for Big Daddy, I've always thought of him to be a hell of a great person also. I see him as a rather weak politician, but as a very good person. I thought it very big of him to volunteer his time and efforts to work with Bill Clinton in a joint effort to help the tsunami victims. That was actually really big of both of them.Me up at 3:30am? Actually it was 4:30am my time. I'm a mystical creature of the night I guess would be the best explanation. It's hard to sleep when you're constantly trying to find solutions to world problems in your head. I catch my sleep here and there. I hate mornings and always have. Eating breakfast makes me sick to my stomach. I have way too much anxiety for that so one of the ways I control it is to sleep through the mornings and I usually only eat once or twice per day. I schedule my classes in the evenings whenever possible not only because of those things, but also because the students tend to be more mature and often other working adults. I could never stand school kids and the completely stupid things that they compete over and at the college level it gets even worse. The constant catty gossip, the obsession with who's wearing what, what bar or club that is just soooo fab that anyone who's anyone just has to be there, why mommy won't let me have all my friends over for a party at the vacation house in Martha's Vinyard, how it's disgusting and embarassing that dad made me drive the BMW to school today because the Porsche is in the shop and he had to take the Mercedes to work, and on and on and on. Now you see why I get so bitter sometimes? Believe me, my life is much better if I just can sleep through all that crap and go to school with real people. The Martha's Vinyard and BMW things were actually parts of true conversations that I have overheard in school. I call those people the coccoon girls (it's usually the girls that make me want to go on a killing spree, if a guy starts crap I can usually just get up in his face and yell a bit, foam at the mouth, and they back down, but generally the guys seem quiter and are more concerned with the local sports scene). The girls just live in a different world where they think that everyone owes them something and that the sole purpose of every other human being on the planet is just to serve them. Note for others who may be reading this--I know very well that this does not apply to all girls, it is just based on the majority of those that I've had the misfortune to encounter at my university. I think their minds were reprogrammed at birth by aliens or something. Their brains are just vast, desolate wastelands and they have not a clue.So yeah, I'm not really missing out on anything by taking the night classes whenever possible. In the summer my job requires me to be up early, I often have to be at work at 5:30 or 6:00am and I have to work until the job is done for the day. 10, 12, 14 hour days aren't uncommon. I'm usually a mental zombie until about noon. Then when I'm finally done for the day I'm so tired that I can't even think. I've found myself driving home and going completely the wrong way several times. I can't wait until I'm done with school and can work a normal job and live a more normal life. I like being quasi-nocturnal in many ways, though. I have absolutely no patience whatsoever for sitting in traffic or waiting in lines. There's no waiting or shoving through packed aisles at WalMart when you're grocery shopping at 2:30am. It's so much more peaceful. The best shows are on TV late at night/early in the morning I've found. There's no hockey to watch right now, so I'm pretty much confined to FoxNews, the History Channel, Discovery Channel, old classic movies, and other things I enjoy. Plus I can watch whatever I want without having to share the TV. So that's pretty much why I prefer to be up at night. I used to have fun conversations with Hope in the chat room here because Alaska is 5 or 6 hours behind my time and she was one of the few people online that late at night.I'm just an all-around anti-social wierdo or something I guess.

[ZubenElGenubi]

A little too much caffeine there?

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[Stang2Vibe]

Nope, I wouldn't say so. I'll occasionally have a cup of coffee early in the morning in the summer when I'm up early for work, but during the rest of the year, I only drink decaf tea. I only started drinking coffee within the past year or so and I've had these problems for at least the past 13 years. The caffiene from sodas doesn't even phase me. I could drink 2 cans of Coke and fall right asleep. My body's just all screwed up. Has been for years. No wonder I'm generally miserable. Knee and back pain keep me up often--I feel like I'm at least 70 years old most of the time.