Triathlon Training

A Best Man's Speech - For Ryan & Autumn

Good evening, everybody. My name is Joe Blake, and it is my honor to be here tonight at Ryan and Autumn's beautiful wedding, as Ryan's Best Man.

I have know Ryan for...24 years. 24 years! That certainly make me feel old, and I know it makes our parents feel even older. I first met Ryan when my family moved two houses down from the Rouses on Madison Street in Richmond, Michigan. Ever since we moved in, our families have always been close. Donna, back then she was Mrs. Rouse, helped watch me and Ryan when we had the chicken pox. Dena would play hide-and-go-seek tag with us, but only after we played pretend store. And Ron, Mr. Rouse, was the enforcer, making sure these two boys didn't get too far out of line. And two young boys we were - always looking for fun. Sure we got into our fair share of trouble along the way, but that is what boys do.

When we were younger, one of the greatest places to be was King's Hill. Looking back, King's Hill wasn't too kingly - just a pile of dirt 10-15 feet high. But back then it was so cool! One winter, Ryan and I finally were old enough to go to King's Hill by ourselves. One day, we went sledding. After a couple times down the hill, I was climbing back up, and one of the older kids that was there threw their metal sled down at me. It hit me in the head, and I tumbled all the way down. At the bottom of the hill, Ryan put unconscious Joe into his sled, pulled me the 200 yards back to my house, knocked on the door and said 'Mrs. Ruth! Mrs. Ruth! Joe's hurt.'

Just a few months later, it was summer, and Ryan and I were searching for pieces of wood near King's Hill to build a fort. I'll spare you the details, but I found a piece of wood AND a rusty nail with my foot. I fainted. Ryan picked me up, carried me 200 yards to my house, knocked on the door and said 'Mrs. Ruth! Mrs. Ruth! Joe's hurt.'

As the years progressed, we had a lot of good times. But as high school ended, college took me over to Pennsylvania and Ryan ended up on in western side of Michigan. But thanks to cell phones, emails, and IM - we always kept in touch and didn't let our friendship fail.

And it was when Ryan was on that side of Michigan when I knew something happened. Ryan started telling me about this cute blonde girl that lived on his floor. Now, Ryan isn't one to talk and gossip about who he likes, who he thinks his hot and such. So when Ryan started talking about Autumn, I knew she must have been something special. One year I went to go visit Ryan. It was a Saturday morning, and we were just sitting up talking, watching tv, when there was a knock on the door. Autumn came over to ask a question or borrow something. They talked for a few minutes. After she left, Ryan came back over and I didn't even have to say a word. I just looked at him, and he said 'Yeah, that's her.'

Sure enough, some time after that they started dating and going on the wonderful path that has lead them to where we are today. And it was during that time when I learned something very important about my friendship with Ryan. All along I had thought we were partners in crazy - always egging the other one on. But after Ryan met Autumn, it turned my world upside down. You see, Ryan and I used to visit the exotic foreign country of Canada. Autumn and Ryan went to the Caribbean. When Ryan and I were younger, it was cool to snap each other with rubber bands and give each other temporary welts. Autumn and Ryan got permanent tattoos. And when we were really young, despite our parents warnings, we would jump off our beds. Autumn and Ryan actually have jumped out a plane! Here I was thinking we were partners in crazy, and now I realize I was just along for the ride and Ryan was the leader!

One of the craziest things I ever let Ryan do was talk me into running cross country. For those of you who aren't aware, cross country is a "sport" where you run 3.1 miles. [Dena laughs] You like that, Dena? There's no ball. There's no bases. There's no touchdowns or homeruns. You just run...a lot. Now this was Ryan's sport. He just excelled at it. I was horrible. I couldn't even run from here to that door without being out of breath! But you know what, I did it anyways. There wasn't one race where Ryan didn't beat me. He was so good. This is one of the greatest things about Ryan. No matter what race, after he ran as hard as he can, after he was completely exhausted, he would suck some wind, put on his neon green warm-up pants, grab a water, and he would start walking the course backwards. And he'd continue walking backwards until he saw me come around the corner towards the finish line. As I approached he scream 'Let's go, Joe! Let's go! This is your time. This is your race. This is what you've been training for. This is what you've been waiting for! Don't quit! Don't quit! Don't quit!' I don't think I've ever thanked Ryan for all that encouragement. It meant so much to me. Thank you.

Autumn, this is type of guy you have married. Even when he's exhausted - even when he's completely spent - he is there for his friends - he is there for his family. That is something so valuable, so important...That is something that almost everybody could pray for.

I never had the same chance to encourage Ryan in cross country like he encouraged me - he beat me every time. Now I know high school was many years ago, and this certainly isn't a cross country race, but now it is my time I can encourage you. I ask you all to raise your glasses with me. To Ryan and Autumn: This is your time. This is what you've been waiting for. Don't quit. Don't quit. Don't quit.

Phi-lan-thro-pies Trailer

My Tax Dollars At Work

I have subscribed to the email updates for my state and federal senators and representatives.  It's a great way to keep a grasp on what Congress thinks is important.  Today I received a long email from Senator Kohl, describing to me the great concerns he has about rising text message prices.  Really?  REALLY?  Of all the things that Congress should be focused on, they are debating the costs of TEXT MESSAGES (two dimes a message).  They have already spent too much of my tax dollars writing the email summary let alone debate this topic.  The email I received is below:

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With more than 270 million subscribers, cell phones are a vital means of communications for the vast majority of Americans. The enormous growth in the use of cell phones means that maintaining competition in this industry is more important than ever.

 

Cell phones enable instantaneous communications for millions wherever they are located, whether at work, at home, away from home, in their car, or anywhere in between. Many Americans – over 20% -- have now discarded traditional land line phones and depend entirely on cell phones. The ease, convenience, and universal nature of today's cell phone service would have been unimaginable just two decades ago.

 

            For many years as this industry developed, it was a competition success story – with many rivals and vigorous price competition. In recent years, however, the picture has changed.  Consolidation has left this industry highly concentrated. Four national carriers now control over 90% of the cell phone market. AT&T and Verizon combine to have a market share of  60%. Consumers' choices have become quite limited, and price wars seem to be a thing of the past. American consumers pay more for wireless phone service than most other developed nations – an average of $506 per year in 2007.

 

            Nowhere is the changed market for cell phones more noticeable than in text message service. These short, instant messages delivered via cell phones have become enormously popular.   In 2008, more than one trillion text messages were sent, more than triple the number just two years before. As their popularity has grown, so has the price charged on a per message basis.

 

From 2006 to 2008, the price of sending and receiving a text message among the four largest cell phone carriers increased by 100% -- from 10 to 20 cents per message. The four companies increased their text messaging prices in two steps -- first from 10 to 15 cents, and then from 15 to 20 cents -- within months or weeks of each other. These lockstep price increases occurred despite the fact that the cost to the phone companies to carry text messages is minimal –   estimated to be less than a penny per message – and has not increased.  

 

Last week, I convened a hearing on this issue at the Antitrust Subcommittee, which included two top company executives, to try and get to the bottom of this. At the hearing, the phone companies defended these price increases by asserting that they have not been coordinated in any respect. They also pointed out that the majority of cell phone customers do not pay for text messages on a per message basis, but instead buy plans for "buckets" of text messages, typically starting at $5 for 200 messages. But is this simply a method to force consumers into expensive plans they would not have needed if the per message rate hadn't gone up? 

 

Nonetheless, these sharp price increases raise concerns. Are these price increases the result of a lack of competition in a highly concentrated market? Will consumers continue to see similar price increases for this and many other wireless services that they have come to increasingly depend on, such as internet connections and basic voice service? Do text message price increases represent a canary in the coal minefor the state of competition in the cell phone industry as a whole?

 

            The concentrated nature of today's cell phone market should make us wary of other challenges to competition in this industry.  It is imperative that we work to remove undue barriers to competition to ensure consumers the best rates and services.    
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Cow Farm

Sheboygan News

A 30-year-old Sheboygan man has been charged with drunken driving after striking the window of a McDonald's restaurant drive-thru, according to a criminal complaint.

Luther W. Dillard, of 1423-A Columbus Ave., who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.153 percent, also is charged for fighting with officers, which he did after twice warning them he would do so and apologizing in advance. He faces a maximum of 16 months in jail on misdemeanor counts of second-offense operating while intoxicated, resisting an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20090619/SHE0101/90619034/1062/SHE01/Man-charged-with-OWI-after-hitting-McDonald-s-drive-thru