The Misses would have you would have you believe that my main character flaw is that I feel that I am unstoppable. And that the reason that I think that is because I have yet to pay for any bad decisions I've made due to the insurmountable cache of luck I seem to have stored in my life. That every bad situation that happens to me will always punish me less than any other in my position.
I love her for it, because she chooses that over my not-quite-surreptitious ego, my incredibly selfish behavior, and my general apathy for anything that occurs outside of my existence-bubble.
But in a manner of speaking, she is right. I don't seem to be penalized in quite the same way others are. Her favorite example is when I had my wisdom teeth removed more than a year ago, maybe even two, I'm not sure. It's a haze. But she absolutely cannot stand how quickly I recovered.
I started on a Friday, we both took the day off. Friday morning I had my teeth knocked out. About an hour later, I recall being dragged to the car and taken to her apartment. 2 hours later, she was negotiating to buy a Jetta, and I was talking to her thru my teeth on the phone. 4 hours later, we were in Hopkins, negotiating a different deal. I was talking, though in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have made the deal, but she needed a car.
Saturday, I was eating solid food.
Of course, anytime I get the idea to do something crazy, and some how come out unscathed, this is always the example she cites.
Now, I have terrible knees. Mostly my left knee, but sometimes my right becomes unhinged, too. It's hard to explain, but to the few of us this happens to, you know that it is extremely uncomfortable as soon as you want to use the knee, you have no knowledge beforehand.
When I was 18, I could run a 7 minute mile. That's not olympic time, but for a guy who had never run under a 12 before in his life, it was something to hold on to.
I hope to get back there. My mile time now clocks in around the 9 minute mark, which is no small feat, I think. I'll also continue to work my times down. An interesting side affect to the way we work out, however, is added stamina. It's something I've never had before, at least, not at the running side of things. I get concerned because my heart rate runs a little hotter than your average 24 year old, I'm extremely comfortable at around 180, which the people at the gym tell me is heart attack worthy.
Of course, results may vary, and the reason I train at such a high heart rate is because I'm extremely out of shape.
Just the same, another reason my wife could cite as a "normal rules don't apply to Ron" example.
I'd love to run a 5k, or at least think about running a 5k, until I completely lose interest in the idea, now that I know that I can run for a half an hour without really reaching the limits of my stamina. Now that I know that I can breathe without choking.
But as I got up from watching a CSI: Miami marathon this morning, and took a step, I recall that my luck may well run out someday, while my knee buckles underneath me.
At least my wife can have the satisfaction of knowing she was right.
