Response to Regulation

I recently saw a video on youtube, in which an author blamed the regulations for businesses and especially food service businesses for the failure of many small business ventures.  Although I see his point I do not see any way around this issue.  To have a safe, functioning society, regulations must stay in place.

The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gIGpzoZxuA

In this video, “Max Borders on Our Compulsive Urge to Regulate” Max Borders explains his attempt at a failed business venture to sell homemade barbeque sauce at a local farmers’ market.  He attributes his failure to the regulatory standards put in place by local and federal governments.  He states that he needed his kitchen certified by health inspectors and he needed a business license and business insurance.  These startup costs made it impossible for the business to get off the ground.

            His position is that these regulatory practices hurt entrepreneurs and small business.  This argument is pretty substantial, but imagine a country without regulations.  What would happen if meatpacking plants did not have health inspections?  Would every company have the integrity to maintain its facilities without supervision?  Perhaps the country would be revert to the ways of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle where the meatpacking industry had no inspections and severed fingers were, often, ground with beef to make hamburger meat.  This is an extreme, but it clearly illustrates the need for certain regulations, especially in the food industry.

            As far as the author’s mentioning business licenses and business insurance, this is mainly to protect the business.  If the business comes under some kind of lawsuit, a small business would, likely, not have the capital to pay a settlement.  Therefore, it is imperative for the owner, to avoid complete business and personal ruin, to have business insurance.  This insurance would benefit the consumers of the product, as well, making a more stable society in general.

            Max Borders’s response to the “regulatory state” is to take the government out of business except for the courts.  This is not an acceptable solution.  America must be proactive.  It cannot wait until 5,000 people are affected by a salmonella outbreak.  Regulations set standards to prevent the irreversible from happening in the first place.  This is why the regulatory system must continue.

            Perhaps one solution to help small business would be to graduate the regulatory fees and subsidize the cost of business licenses insurance. This would allow small businesses a chance in a competitive market where it seems that only the most affluent have a fighting chance.  In conclusion, though the regulatory system makes it tough for entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive, it is necessary to protect the community of consumers and the country in general.

Jersey Travels

This weekend I made my triumphant return to Ramapo College. I hadn't been back since the day I graduated. It was one of my good friend's 21st birthday so I decided to make the trip. My car has still been giving me a lot of problems so I took the train. The train ride from Camden to Mahwah is about 3.5 hours. It is only a two hour car ride but the extra time on the train gave me an opportunity to do some reading and work on my application essay for law school which is due at the beginning of March.

View of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge

It also gave me an opportunity to see some cool things and take some pictures that I am pretty pumped about. I got to see Philly, Trenton, and New York all in one day. Trenton is the only city that I actually passed through. The others I merely gazed at from a distance.

Empire State Building from Secaucus Junction

Being back at Ramapo was an experience in itself. Everything was exactly the same except I wish I could knock on a familiar door and see a familiar face. But times change and you have to move on. I did get to see most of my friends that are still in school along with some fellow alumni that came up for the night. We attended a party and towards the end I went into the bathroom and when I came out everyone was gone and there was a security guard standing in the kitchen. So I promptly grabbed my jacket out of the kitchen cabinet said 'have a nice night' to the security guard and made my exit.

Train Bridge at Trenton Transit Center

The more things change the more they stay the same. I had a blast reliving college for one night, but to be honest one night is all an old man can take.

No New Orleans

Sadly, I will not be venturing to New Orleans in February.  I was really looking forward to making the trip and running the half marathon, but circumstances have made this trip highly impractical. 

I believe I started running to soon after the Philadelphia Marathon.  This led to knee troubles. They are starting to feel better but I don't think I want to put 13.1 miles on them in a little less than a month.  Also, I have been having some car trouble and shouldn't really spend the money on taking a trip to New Orleans.

As far as travelling, there is a blip on the radar in the future.  I am heading up to the Poconos for the weekend with a couple of friends from college.  We are going snowboarding/skiing on Saturday.  I haven't been snowboarding since I was in 6th grade, so I am pretty excited.  The weather forecast is calling for snow showers, so the weather might not be ideal.  I am sure we'll have fun anyway.

Hopefully I can get some good photos in the mountains with the snow.

Lull in the Action...

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything.  It's beginning to get brutally cold here in Southern New Jersey.  That is a real mood killer to the runner.  Plus I didn't rest adequately after the marathon.  I ran the marathon on a Sunday and by Thursday of the same week I was running again.

Any runner knows that beginning to run again too soon after a marathon is recipe for disaster.  For myself,  I have been having real problems with my knees since the marathon.  So I decided to take the experts' advice and try and take some time off.  My first attempt only lasted two days.  After two days I felt like I hadn't run in weeks so I picked it up again.  To my dismay, the knees were no better.

So I decided to try resting again.  Currently it has been three days and I'm still going strong.  I miss it like crazy it is a way for me to center myself and my energy and escape from the trials and tribulations of day to day life.  I am going to try to make it a whole week, but we'll see what happens.  The highest temperature predicted for this coming week is 39 with the rest of the days topping out in the high 20s and low 30s.

But as a little preview for what's to come.  I am signed up for a half marathon in New Orleans on Sunday, February 23, 2011.  I have yet to book my flight and hotel but I am looking to take off Friday and Monday and a long weekend of it.  I am currently planning on going down on a solo mission, but I have a couple of friends who have expressed interest in going with me, but you know how that goes...

I'm not worried about it.  I have read many things written by people who have traveled alone and it sounds like an exciting time to meet new people and make new discoveries about yourself.  Plus, I will have a race to focus on and I have already started making a list of places to see and places to eat.

Get busy living or get busy dying...

Marathon Sunday

It happened...  The 2010 Philadelphia Marathon.  The day I've awaited since last November.

The weekend started with the Runners' Expo Saturday at the Convention Center.  It was pretty standard.  Pick-up the race packet... Peruse the exhibits finding nothing of real interest... and finally heading out, knowing all the wonder the next morning will bestow.

The night before the marathon was a bit of a headache.  There was a bit of confusion with the friend with whom I was staying, so I wandered around the city for about three hours waiting for him to get back to his apartment.  While I was waiting, I went to a pasta dinner and made plans to meet up with an old friend later in the evening.  Anyway, after all was said and done I got to my friend's apartment around 11 o'clock, said a quick 'hello,' and went straight to bed.

Believe the hype.

I didn't sleep too well (I rarely do before races), but I awoke at 5:45 Sunday morning.  I showered, ate two pieces of bread and some peanut butter, and was out the door into the still dark, chilly November morning.  Despite the early hour the city was abuzz.  There were runners everywhere and quickly my grogginess turned into excitement and anticipation.  While I waited for the starting gun to sound the PA system played the theme song from Rocky and other inspirational music.  I have to admit I was getting a little emotional and tearing up a bit.  For the last four month I've risen at 6am everyday to run and devoted most of my Saturdays to long runs.  This day was to be the culmination of all my hard work.

The masses lined up before the race.

When the gun went off, I knew this was what I was meant to do at this point in time.  There was nothing more important, nothing that I would rather be doing.  The first stages of the race wound around center city then down to the river.  Then we headed up to the zoo and through University city past Drexel and UPenn.  Then we headed back to the Art Museum where the half-marathoner split off and finished their race.  For the marathoners it was only the beginning.  The most mentally trying part of the race was yet to come.  We swung around the Art Museum and ran straight up to Manyunk and back.  It only takes one sentence to type but running 6.5 miles straight out and 6.5 miles straight back is mentally tough.  Everything you pass on the way out, you know you will pass again on the way back.  Any downhill will turn into an uphill and vice-versa.

Around mile 20 I began to have a strange thought.  I actually began to question why I was submitting myself to such pain.  I really questioned my sanity.  Then around mile 22 my right hamstring started to cramp.  This is around the same point it cramped last year.  This year, however I realized the signs early and stopped to stretch it out before it was too late.  Miles 23, 24, 25 passed with nothing but pain.  But within the last mile, I tried (feebly) to step the pace up a little bit and finish strong.  In shorter races I've been able to sprint across the finish line, but there was no chance this time around.  As soon as the finish line came into view my calf and my hamstring of my right leg began to cramp.  I wasn't going to stop this close to the finish so I just kept running, but with a definite limp.

Limping towards the finish line.

The support staff.

I crossed the finish line with my hands in the air 3:40:34 after beginning my journey.  I couldn't have asked for better results.  My original training goal had been to break the four hour mark.  Then my amended time to beat was 3:45.  I ran it in 3 hours and 40 minutes.  Every cold rainy morning that I drug myself out of my nice warm bed had paid off.  It was the greatest feeling.  It is a feeling that no one can give you.  To go out and work for something so hard and then to achieve your goal is the greatest reward of all.

The City of Brotherly Love...

Yesterday, I took a trip over to South Philadelphia to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Indianapolis Colts.  It wasn’t the greatest of games, but it was close and the Eagles prevailed so I can’t complain.

After the game I was waiting for the rest of my party to get ready to leave, so I decided to make a call to a friend of mine to catch up.  I was leaning against a telephone pole for about a half-hour when these two guys walked up to me and offered me a hamburger. They thought I was waiting for a ride and needed something to eat…..  This is why I love Philadelphia.  These guys were looking out for one of their own.  I kindly declined and told them I was merely waiting for the rest of my troop to get ready to leave.  I thanked them over and over and told them that it was a nice gesture.

I know that Philadelphia sports fans have a bad reputation around the country, but when it comes to taking care of our own there is no greater loyalty.  This instance made me think that there are still decent people in this world that will go out of their way to help a stranger.  There is still hope for this world after all, I suppose.

Turning Amish...

This weekend I headed to the Amish country to take part in the Inaugural "Amish Country Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon."  It was an interesting experience from the beginning.  After picking up my race packet, I headed back to the hotel.  Once there I started laying out my race gear for the following morning.  I took my race bib out of the packet and went into my pocket to get the safety pins I picked up at the runners' expo.  They must have fallen out when I took my keys out of my pocket because the were no where to be found.  Then I had all of my clothes laid out on the bed and..... No shorts.  I had forgotten my shorts!  Luckily, I had a pair of sleeping shorts that would have to put in a little overtime.  

Yep, I forgot them....

Saturday morning, I awoke to 32 degree temperatures.... Not quite the 90 degrees it was in Florida last week.  But they say cold weather makes fast times.  Sadly, I forgot my gloves and my hands never really thawed from start to finish.

Pre-race.... Freezing...

It was a beautiful course.  Hills, horses, farms, more hills. Horse manure all over the road.  Some Amish men ran the race.  They wore their regular farm gear (black pants, suspenders, and a shirt).  At least they gave themselves the comfort of wearing sneakers.  All of the water stations were run completely by little Amish boys and girls.

The finish line in the middle of a field.  Complete with electric cattle fence.

I finished in 1:36:13.  Another 5 minutes better than my previous best.  I finished 58th place overall. 6th in the Male 20-24 Division.  The finish line was in the middle of a field and it was full of ditches.  I felt like I was going to break my ankle trying to finish.  But no harm, no foul.  All in all it was a great run, beautiful scenery, and a finishing time with which I was more than pleased.

Post-race... I guess running a personal best turns you into a tool.