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Tardy Thursday Thirteen. 1)It is surprisingly cool here. I had to buy a lightweight sweater. Coolish, low 80s, a bit of a breeze. I imagine it does eventually get windy here, because it is so flat. So very, very flat. You know how when you land in a plane, and you suddenly become aware of hills as you are landing because things are blocked from view? That never happened here. It is FLAt, flat, flat.

2) Traveling gives one the chance to see just the very worst of humanity. Weird, freaky people, people full of self-importance and entitlement, and people who didn't learn manners in school. HEY, NO CUTTING!

3) There is a badly needed and sorely missed missed development and marketing opportunity for safe and effective methods to dose children for traveling.

4) The Kansas city airport is sadly lacking in planning. It's just sad all

around. And kinda bland. Even the pizza was bland. The airport is tiny, and to get a decent bite to eat, you had to leave the secure area, meaning that one had to go back through the metal detectors and scanners again. 5) What Chicagoland lacks in hills and altitude it makes up for in humidity. Still....I PR'd at the "Elvis is Alive" 5K. WOOT! IN a wig and a dress (the wig came off at mile .5) I ran a 9:55 5k. I've never been so sweaty after a run before. *Respect*.

6) We were interviewd in custume for the 5k by a reporter, filmed by another reporter, and photographed. I don't know if those will show up anywhere. This was teh best supported 5k I've ever seen. They had an aid station, and a stand-by group of EMTs, and there were constant warnings about what to do if one was "overcome". There was a party afterwards with all runners getting a free beer. Beforehand, everyone got free clif products (builder bars and Mojo bars--yum!) and free muscle milk and gatorade.

7) The graduation ceremony was very military. Still, and I hope nobody takes offense at this: The Navy recruit uniform? The nautical pajamas? A bit silly, as uniforms go.

8) People who have been in the Military take military heroes and history very serious. Very, very seriously. When Sweet Baboo mentioned a particular hero I'd never heard of named Chesty Puller, and I said that sounded like a stripper's name, he was very offended. Well, how did I know? (But I mean, seriously, doesn't it?)

9) Not everyone looked like people who would have a child in the Navy. Some people looked like someone the child in the Navy was escaping. But most were proud and attempted to dress for the occasion. This guy, for instance, wore his best Thug suit, complete with a matching ball cap, which he did not remove for the entire ceremony -->.

10) They showed us a slide show of boot camp while we were waiting for the recruits to enter the hall. The most emotional moment? They showed several slides of recruits folding their clothes tightly and storing them, and making their beds, eliciting "oooooh" and "aaahhhhhh" from the audience.

11) Young Seamen Mini-Baboo talked nonstop about the Navy, and bootcamp, and it seems like we made an excellent choice in the Navy for young Baboo. It was hard, but at the same time they took very good care of him, including when he came down with brochitis. He learned about fire-fighting, which as Baboo sensibly pointed out, was important: on a boat, if there's a fire, you can't evacuate. You have to put out the fire.

12) We took him to Chipotles for "non-chow" food, and to see the new Harry Potter movie. He also informed us proudly that nobody in his division had ever done a marathon, as he had, and only one other recruit had done an Olympic distance triathlon. He also demonstrated to me his shirt-folding prowess. Apparently, efficiency and compactness of movement and actions is a very big deal, which makes sense when one is confined to small quarter on a boat. He looks unhappy in this picture. He's not. Apparently, when one joins the Military, it's no longer cool to smile for pictures.

13) This is a brief clip of Mini-Baboo's division coming into the hall. You'll hear the announcer say, "Halt" in a very calm voice. Everything was calm. The Navy seems to be less about yelling and screaming and fear and much more about stern reprimands.

Next up for Mini-baboo: Sub training school in Connecticut. Next up for us: The Full Moon Half Marathon in Sheboygan, Wi.

at August 07, 2009