It's one day before the NFL Championship games. Should I run to the beach for a quick dip? Mow the lawn? Wash the car? Um, no. You see, when Mr. Cheer Or Die woke up this morning the outside temperature was minus 11 degrees with a little bit of a breeze bringing the windchill to minus 22. I use to love it....now I hate it.

So, instead I bundled up and went for a run. Yep, I even wear Vikings colors when I exercise.

Actually, it wasn't all that bad and I actually overdressed. You heard that correctly, running in a minus 22 degree windchill was "nice." The worst part is that I've been fighting a nagging right calf pull the last few weeks and my mileage has dropped way off. That's going to hurt me when triathlon/duathlon season opens up in April.

At least I have been able to test out two Xmas gifts: the Nike Amp+ and the Nike Hatphones. The Amp+ is a wireless device you wear on a wrist which provides feedback as you run. I recommend both products highly other than being overpriced.

For those fellow runners who use the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, be sure and sign into my current Nike challenges which can be located on the right navigation area of this blog. Nothing like being miserable together!

We've also been extremely busy with Cub Scouts. There was the recent pinewood derby annual event in which COD Jr. won the Wolves den division, much to the surprise and joy of his father. And then there was a recent visit to our local fire station to learn valuable safety tips and learn more about firefighters. Three YouTube videos are available should you have a lad in scouts and are interested in watching.

Finally this week was car problems, possibly brought on by the cold weather. I own two BMW's and have nothing but praise for my dealership, BMW Motorwerks, quite possibly the best dealership in the upper midwest if not the country. And I don't tout that lightly. Take a virtual tour to see the dealership for yourself.

I had been out in my sedan Friday morning for coffee. On the way back home my "Service Engine Soon" light came on. Since it was a yellow indicator light I knew I could keep driving it and I took it straight to the dealer. With no appointment, I figured it would be sitting there for a while. But Saturday morning I received a call that the car was ready for pick-up. They had replaced my ignition coil and two cylinders that had been misfiring. Since my car was out of warranty I expected as big bill. I ended up paying $0. That's right, a major repair was covered by the dealership under "good will", the second such time that I have been extended such a perk. The other time was replacing a single Xenon headlight that would have otherwise cost me a cool $900. That's something that just doesn't happen every day in corporate America where nickels are thrown around like man-hole covers.

My salesperson at Motorwerks BMW is also great to work with. When I dropped my car off for service Friday, she saw me and came over to greet me by first name even though she had not seen me since I purchased a Z4 from her two years earlier. So, here's to the team at BMW Motorwerks!!

Posted by briankeithmaas@msn.com at January 19, 2008 12:37 PM