Futility

Last night the Caps lost to the Panthers in a game marked by stunning flatness in the first period, then some signs of life by the third period, ending with a disappointingly anticlimactic shootout. I was with my brother in law Bill, who has season tickets that he gladly shares. The futility of the Caps' season must be frustrating for those who shell out lots of hard earned clams to watch their team sleepwalk through the season.

The most notable moment of the game, however was before the national anthem, in which the arena got dark and film of Sean Taylor's exploits were shown, from high school through college through his too short career as a pro, with a moment of silence in his memory. In an arena the size of the Verizon Center, I only heard 1 voice, that of little kid, while this moment was honored. Chills happen when thousands are unifyingly silent.

Stopped by the office on my way home to pick up my gear for morning meetings and decided to spend a bit of time finishing some of the mind numbing paperword to cover my ass in the one particular project that is moving at exact opposite of the speed of sound. By contract we should have been wrapping up this month and instead the project is only 30% complete. Again, an exercise in futility as this paperwork consists of "Request(s) for Information" (RFI's) that the contractor puts forth in order to justify change orders, a process rendered moot by the tedium of the decelerated schedule. The phony sense of urgency is only heightened by all of the overuse of Blackberry's/Treos as we all must be so busy that we can't just do one thing at a time.

Didn't ride last night, but Tuesday night intervals indoors were intense. 5 sets of :30 on /:30 off descending intervals (5-4-3-2) and then 5 sets of 2:00 on/2:00 off were enough to elicit a distinct response. Thursday night intervals again; Friday rollers; Saturday slow and steady ride; Sunday the penultimate 'cross race of the season at Reston, where it will be cold and rainy. Perfect 'cross weather--the effort will most certainly not be a futile one.