leebyrne.com

Yeah, a lax update in July but it’s not for Jack. I played my second game tonight in a full contact over 40 league. With only 11 guys and 4 middies (yeah, that’s me) it’s a challenge to just run back and forth on that field, never mind trying to learn a sport from scratch at 41. If only I would have bailed on baseball back in high school.

It’s a great time but with football starting next week it’s over until next year. I think I’ll make a serious attempt at being in better shape for next year and play a full season. Maybe even score a few goals?

We lost our beloved chocolate lab Martha yesterday to a mysterious condition she’s been dealing with over the last few weeks.  I haven’t been very public about this because, quite frankly, I didn’t want to talk about it.  So, for those of you who had the pleasure of meeting Martha and are interested in knowing what led to us putting her to rest yesterday, here are the details.

In the morning, about four weeks ago, Martha tried to join me on the couch with one her running jumps.  Her front legs didn’t quite clear the top and she ended up half way on, staring at me for some help.  I did what I’ve been doing for the last couple of years and hoisted the rest of her up next to me.  A little later, while getting Jack out the door to the bus, I heard a thump and noticed she was lying on the floor and looking a little confused.  I went to help her up but she had little to no strength in her legs.  I figured (hoped) she just tweaked a knee or hip and left to run some errands.  When I returned, she was still in the same place, fast asleep as usual.  I carted her around a bit and managed to get her outside to go the bathroom.  She ate and drink normally so we gave her the night to return to her old-self.

Needless to say, that didn’t happen so we made a visit to the Vet.  After an x-ray told us nothing, we started treating her with steroids and, once again, hoped for the best.  She had good and bad days and she seemed ok except for her legs.  There didn’t appear to be any pain and it looked like she would just rest until she could get up again.  I had to go out of town for a few days so we rigged up a sled so that Kelly and Jack could get her around the house.  Unless you’ve done it, you can’t imagine how hard, frustrating, and sad and it can be to try to help another living being go to the bathroom.  It was a tough stretch for Kell & Jack.  When I returned, it was obvious that “getting better” wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t have the glimmer in her eyes anymore and although she was still eating, it wasn’t with the same desire and vigor that we were used to.

We decided to keep at it over the weekend but she did not improve.  It was clear to us that she had had enough.  I called the vet yesterday (Monday the 21st) and they took us right in.  We stayed with her, said our goodbyes, and held her until she passed.

Martha was truly a dear friend to us and we already miss her dearly.  It’s been so long since a day went by without her following us around.  I don’t think a dinner ever passed without her sitting up staring at one of us with those big brown eyes hoping for a big score.  Meal time will never be the same.  We hope you are feeling better and running around looking for snacks wherever you are and I hope our paths cross again someday.  The song we named you after never rang more true – please don’t forget us as we will never forget you.

Martha my dear, though I spend my days in conversation
Please
Remember me, Martha my love
Don’t forget me, Martha my dear

Hold your head up you silly girl, look what you’ve done
When you find yourself in the thick of it
Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you
Silly girl

Take a good look around you
Take a good look you’re bound to see
That you and me were meant to be for each other
Silly girl

Hold your hand out you silly girl, see what you’ve done
When you find yourself in the thick of it
Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you
Silly girl

Martha my dear, you have always been my inspiration
Please
Be good to me, Martha my love
Don’t forget me, Martha my dear

Lennon/McCartney

Watching Hurt Locker on flight back from San Francisco and some guy almost sits in my lap walking back from the bathroom. I figure he’s just the most recent guy to slam into me but he ends up collapsing in the aisle. Seemed like he was dead but he’s ok. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Hurt Locker but the last thing you need to make it even more stressful is a dude dropping dead on your lap.

Check out the results of the top finishers by age…

MALE AGE GROUP: 10 – 11

1 210 RYAN OLSON 10 BROOKLINE NH 23:37
2 225 JONATHON JAC BYRNE 11 BROOKLINE NH 24:04
3 252 JORDAN BLANCHARD 10 CONCORD NH 24:40
4 254 CHRISTIAN MOURA 11 HOLLIS NH 24:44
5 255 JOSHUA FARMER 11 HOLLIS NH 24:45

FEMALE AGE GROUP: 12 – 13

1 129 VICTORIA LIZOTTE 13 NASHAU NH 21:35
2 142 HELEN NTENGERI 12 NASHUA NH 21:50
3 167 MEGAN OLSON 12 BROOKLINE NH 22:38
4 198 HEIDI NTENGERI 12 NASHUA NH 23:20
5 203 ABIGAIL PIKE 12 NASHUA NH 23:29

Just a quick update on Jack’s LAX season – we finished 6-1 and made it into the U13 championship bracket for Class B.  The top 4 teams in the state (out of 30 or so) will face off this weekend to determine the champion.  Last week, we beat up on Plymouth and Grandma Sandy, Papa, and Brenda made the trip up for the game.  The weather was lousy but they played great, almost scoring at will.  This will be Jack’s first run at a real league championship in any sport.  Wish him luck!

The gang ran the Hollis 5K yesterday and despite the crappy weather, they did a great job.  For Jack and Ryan it was their first race while Megan, Kelly, and Olivia each ran last year.  Jack is ready to head back out on Saturday at another 5K and was very disappointed it ended so quickly.  I was quite surprised as his practice run earlier in the week did not go so well.  Here are their times:

Megan – 22:35
Ryan – 23:34
Jack – 24:04
Olivia – 28:57
Kelly – 29:11

Nice work guys, congratulations!

We got outplayed today by a very good team.  The kids just didn’t seem to have it, ground balls weren’t getting picked up, the pipes kept getting in the way of our shots, the refs (yeah, I know, but it’s worth mentioning) we’re inconsistent, etc.  Just one of those days.  Jack played one of his better games collecting a handful of groundballs and getting a couple nice clears.  He’s seeing the field better every week and his brain and feet are working together instead of pulling him in two different directions.  The other team was undefeated as well so the loss knocks us into second place in a 22 team division.  We only have one more regular season game, 6/6 up in Plymouth NH.  I think there’s playoffs or a tournament of some kind, I’ll keep you in posted.

Have a great week.

Nice article in the SF Business Times on Bizo.  There’s a shot of Russ (left) in some alley.  Maybe it is symbolic of how Bizo is alone in the B2B data space?  I dunno.  Here’s the free version of the article, you have to be a subscriber to get the full version.

Bizo targets business-to-business niche for ads

San Francisco Business Times – by Janet Kornblum

Bizo is one of the hottest Internet startups that most consumers have never heard of. That’s because Bizo, an advertising company, focuses on the business-to-business — not consumer — market.  The San Francisco company said it reaches more than 50 million business people across thousands of websites with its business-to-business targeted ad network.  Bizo uses digital tags — cookies — that are planted in the web browsers of individuals to target business ads to business users. Unlike some advertising companies that surreptitiously plant the tags, Bizo does it openly.  It doesn’t store any personal information, such as name or emails, but it does collect information about the person’s profession and interests so that it’s “highly targeted, but anonymous,” said CEO Russell Glass.

Just like the Las Vegas comments except directed at us vidiots.  C’mon dude, stop insulting those of us who don’t know (or care) that much about you.

Wait — did Obama just diss the iPad? – The Gadget Hound, Yahoo New Blog

It was freezing up in Guilford NH and the wind was blowing hard from the north.  It couldn’t have been much more than 25 degrees with the windchill but the kids showed up to play and we won 12-3 (or something like that).  It was great to see them so focused despite the weather.  You can see in the pics here when they weren’t in the game they were snuggled up on the sidelines.

Jack continues to improve each week and he’s actually asking me to spend time with him at home working on stick handling and defensive footwork.  I love it but I’m just about out of knowledge.  If only I would have stuck it out in high school instead of taking the easy way out for baseball.  Oh well, I’ll start doing some reading in all my free time.

Happy Mother’s day to all as well.  Jack and I got Kelly a new washing machine.  The old one still works but it takes at least an hour and a half to dry a load because of how poorly it spins out the clothes.  I did a little research and found a good front loader that wasn’t too expensive.  It will be delivered in a week or so.  She is really looking forward to it.

Have a great week.