Chris Tulino

Philadelphia Triathlon Training Log week of March 19, 2006

This week was the first official week of training for the Philadelphia Triathlon on June 25, 2006. I'm competing as a member of Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My fundraising is going very well! I've almost met my target of $2500.

My goal here is to keep a log of each week's training in order to keep my friends, supporters, cheerleaders, honored heros, and everyone else up-to-date on my progress. Before I begin, I must extend a word of gratitude to Mid-Atlantic Multisport for providing the triathlon coaching for my chapter of Team in Training. Thanks Bill! I'm not going to give away the training program they have provided for us, but I will provide enough information to let you know how I'm doing.

Sunday March 19
TNT Group training run at Cooper River Park (30 min)
Monday March 20
Was supposed to be a day off, but I was off all last week! 30 minutes of treadmill running at Philadelphia Sports Club
Tuesday March 21
30 minute run around the indoor track at Riverwinds, followed by 1000 yards in the pool
Wednesday March 22
First outdoor bike ride of the year! It took be forever to get all my stuff together. And it was cold! 45 minutes on the bike.

Stay tuned for the rest...

Please help me fight Leukemia & Lymphoma!

Hello friends, colleagues, acquaintances and chance encounters!

I am contacting you today for help, hoping you can open your hearts to make a difference.

I am currently training to compete in the Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park on June 25, 2006, as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's TEAM in Training. The Philly Tri is a 0.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 6 mile run, non-stop. Over 2,000 athletes have registered for the second year of this Olympic distance race.

I have committed to raise $2,500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. While I train and raise funds, I am inspired by our Honored Patient Hero Alexis C. Rees (above) and by my cousin Shannah, who lost her battle with Leukemia at age eleven.

Please take a moment to make a donation to support my participation in Team in Training and help advance the Society's missions. You can easily and quickly donate online by visiting the following link:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntsonj/Tulino

Donations are 100% Tax Deductible and are usually eligible for corporate matching gifts.

Everyone feels better when they help others, so take a moment and give. Even if it's a small gift, it does help.

Thank you for your time and for your support.

Sincerely,

Chris Tulino

chris@christulino.com

(856) 261-1995

Nearly 100,000 new cases of leukemia and lymphoma will be diagnosed in the United States in 2005, impacting hundreds of thousands, even millions of friends and loved ones. Over 40,000 lives will be lost. These blood cancers are difficult to cope with, complicated to treat, and painful to try to conquer. You can visit the life mosaic to be touched by stories about those who struggle with these diseases and need help, hope and encouragement.

To learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or Team in Training, visit the following websites:

http://www.lls.org

http://www.teamintraining.org

If you or someone you love has been a survivor or victim of cancer and you would like to have them honored during the race, please let me know. I would be honored to attach a photo to my race jersey during the event and to use their experience as motivation during my training. Please send me an email and tell me about your hero that I could honor during the Philadelphia Triathlon.

PS. Please forward this email to your friends and family. Everyone feels better when they help others. Give them the chance to decide for themselves if this is a good opportunity for them to help.

Post Your Results (IRS vs. NADN Victims)

POST YOUR FINAL OUTCOME!

Many of us are amending taxes, paying interest and penalties, and tax attorneys to resolve the nightmare we got involved in when we called an 800 number to start a business and to save on taxes. This entry is a place to allow people to anonymously post comments summarizing the financial result of their NADN experience, including as much as possible any negotiations with the IRS.

In order to make this entry very valuable, please only post your results (comment in the other post), please remain anonymous (use something like anonymous, anonymous@anonymous.com in the comment posting form), and please include as much specific financial detail as possible. Personally, I think it would be very interesting to be able to compile the following information as many NADN/IRS customers:
- Number of years purchasing NADN programs
- Amount spent on NADN programs
- Amount of ADA tax credits
- Amount of non-ADA deductions
- "Income" from advertising from NADN (against promissory note)
- IRS reported underpayment/overpayment
- IRS reported interest
- IRS reported penalties
- Actual settlement with the IRS (Did they make a deal with you and why?)
- Cost of accounting and attorneys to come to resolution

Post Your Results (IRS vs. NADN Victims)

POST YOUR FINAL OUTCOME!

2005 Triathlon Events

I've determined which events I'll be competing in this year and I've registered for all of them. I believe I have room for one or two more, should the opportunity arise. However, I don't want to book too many weekends with competitions as my family has other interests apart from me dragging them to some lake to stand around for a few hours waiting, cheering and waiting. Don't get me wrong, they really support me, especially my wife. But it can get a little old.
So here is the lineup:

Date	Event	Distance	Cost
Sun 4/24/2005	CUSHION PEAK ADVENTURE CHALLENGE	Running: Legs totally 7 miles. Biking: Legs totally 12 miles. Special challenges: One to two dozen, including some never seen before in a sprint race.	$95 per team
Sun 6/12/2005	Eagleman Half Ironman at Blackwater	1.2 mile swim 56 mile bike 13.1 mile run	$184
Sun 7/31/2005	Philadelphia Triathlon	Half-mile swim, 17-mile bike, 4-mile run	$85
Sat 9/3/2005	Danzeisen & Quigley Triathlon at Marlton Lakes	1/4 mile swim , Bike 11 miles and Run 3 miles	$55

Looking at the list, I realize I'm starting the season pretty rough and tapering off as time goes on. Clearly the half-ironman is my most challenging event, but the adventure race will be punishing as it's all off road. Like I said, I might look for another event (not necessarily a triathlon), but I didn't want to do anything too far away and I didn't want to do two events two weekends in a row. If you are going to be at one of these events, I wish you the best of luck and the greatest performance of your life. If you are doing a different event in the Philadelphia or South Jersey area that you just love, leave a comment about it. I may add it to my calendar.

Little Mike's

Not for nothing, but my Uncle Mike (Mike Tulino) has a little sandwich shop in Williamstown, NJ. Now, my Uncle was boasting South Jersey's Best Cheese Steak on his web site LittleMikes.net. Now he's my Uncle, and there are lots of places that claim to be the best around here, but I was blown away when I went to his shop and tried one of his steaks. I have to say, I'm really proud of my Uncle. He's got a slammin' shop down there and his cheesesteaks rock!

So if you live near Williamstown, make sure you check it out sometime. You won't be sorry you did.

AND, if you DON'T live in the area, I've got a suggestion for you! You can order his chessesteaks online and get them shipped! You have to go to this website to do it. When I used to travel around the country and around the world consulting, I would miss cheesesteaks something fierce. It's just part of being from the Philadelphia area. I remember being away once and the special where I went for lunch was Philly Cheesesteaks! I said "Hell, yeah, hook me up!" It had been a long since I'd had one. I watched this woman fold a steak-um in half and put it on a hamburger bun! I could not believe it. So if you live in Portland, or Houson, Chicago or LA and you want a good Phily Cheesesteak, not like that crap at Gino's, go to my Uncle's web site and he'll ship a few to you. How can you beat a Philly Cheesesteak shipped to your door?

CUSHION PEAK ADVENTURE CHALLENGE

A friend of mine, Jackson Kuhl, has convinced me to join him in the Cushion Peak Adventure Challenge this year. The race itself seems very cool with lots of challenges. Apparently, we will be off-road the whole day running about 7 miles, mountain biking about 12. There will be about 12 challenges which, last year, included archery and rifle marksmanship and a low ropes course (very cool!). I don't really know how to train for something like this, other than to make sure I get in some trail runs, some moutain biking, and some meditation. Surely a healthy mind will be as important as a healthy body with such a varied events schedule. I don't think we will even find out the challenges until the day of the race. One thing I know for sure, we will have fun.

On a current events note, Jackson Kuhl just published an an article about Hunter S. Thompson. Check it out!

I may need to upgrade my bike to avoid killing my arms during the mountain biking. I'm considering trying to add a suspension fork like the Manitou Six Comp Suspension Fork to my Specialized Hard Rock.

IRS vs. NADN Victims

I'm creating a new post to house the ever increasing flow of comments and information about our struggle to survive the beating from both the NADN and the IRS. Many of us have been victimized, lied to and abused by NADN, only to be sent packets from the IRS about enormous amounts of money they feel we owe as a result. As we individuals struggle against unscropulous corporations stealing from us and gigantic government entities reaching into our pockets, we can band together to share information, support and services to help each other through this difficult time.

Cheap Stingy Christmas

I discovered that I work next to a very shrewd deal finder. A co-worker of mine happens to be the one and only Cheap Stingy Bastard. While I was impressed with his site and the way he runs it, I was really impressed that he actually does have a ton of really good deals on his site. If you are an avid consumer (as I am) you would be wise to check it out at least once a week to see what kinds of deals he comes up with!

Eagles Predictions from the Office

2005 Eagles Schedule
Date	Opponent	Time / Result	Ryan	Chris	Ed	Winner
12-Sep	N.Y. Giants	Won 31-17
20-Sep	Minnesota	Won 27-16	31-21	35-24	35-31	Ryan
26-Sep	@Detroit	Won 30-13	28-17	24-13	27-24	Ryan
3-Oct	@Chicago	Won 19-9	31-13	27-3	31-6	Chris
10-Oct	Week 5 BYE
17-Oct	Carolina	Won 30-8	30-14	27-17	24-13	Ryan
24-Oct	@Cleveland	Won 34-31	31-13	33-7	24-17	Ryan
31-Oct	Baltimore	Won 15-10	28-13	28-17	20-10	Ed
7-Nov	@Pittsburgh	Lost 3-27	24-17	17-14	27-24	None
15-Nov	@Dallas	Won 49-21	31-14	24-17	21-13	Ryan
21-Nov	Washington	Won 28-6	30-13	31-17	24-13	Ed
28-Nov	@N.Y. Giants	Won 27-6	27-10	24-13	24-17	Ryan
5-Dec	Green Bay	Won 47-17	30-21	24-30	31-27	Ed
12-Dec	@Washington	Won 17-14	30-17	31-9	24-16	Ed
19-Dec	Dallas	Won 12-7	27-17	34-21	24-17	Ed
27-Dec	@St. Louis	Lost 20-7	23-14	24-20	20-17	None
2-Jan	Cincinnati	Lost 38-10				None

For odds: http://covers.usatoday.com/data/odds.aspx#nfl

Predictions for Nov 15th Eagles @ Cowboys

You can see the current standings (from last week) here. I haven't won one in quite a while. So here's my prediction, although somewhat early:

Eagles: 24
Cowboys: 17

I'm somewhat dejected after the last game and, while I'm sure Philly will turn it on, Dallas is going to be loud and tough. Their record isn't great, but they aren't just going to lie down and die. The Birds are going to have to go after them. The Cowboys have done reasonably well against better teams (on paper), so I expect them to have some success with the run, but more with the pass. The game could very well be decided by special teams play and turnovers, where I think the Eagles have a clear advantage.

Ed? Ryan?
Post a comment with your prediction.

Mambo Portal Server

I've started playing around with Mambo Server on a section of my site. I like it. I may use it to create a new corporate web site, since I've had a placeholder site for over a year now. Mambo is really full featured. I am having a few problems (like getting the WYSIWYG editors to function in my browser), but I'm getting through it. I think once I learn how to use the portal effectively, I can make good use of it. If you have any tips or experience, please share!

XM Radio Online

If you are an XM Radio Listner, you can now listen to XM Online! This is great news for me, as I can now travel more lightly, leaving my iPod at home most of the time. I can now listen to 60-some channels of great music at work for only $4 per month.
It's not a bandwidth hog and I've had very few problems. They do recommend increasing the size of the cache in Windows media player for better performance, and that certainly helped reduce the cut-outs I had at first.
The interface is nice and simple, although sometimes the currently playing pane gets in the way of browsing the other channels.

My iPod (an older style) is now relegated to workouts and vacations.

Predictions for Nov 7th @Pittsburgh

Ed: 27-24
Ryan: 24-17
Chris: 17-14

Ed suprised us with an early prediction, Ryan needed to wait to hear if Westbrook would play. In a suprise on Sunday, he did play, but it didn't help.

Result: Eagles Loss: 3-27
Winner of this week's prediction: Nobody
We all picked the Eagles to win. I was the closest to the total score and the closest to the Eagles score, but that's inconsequential.

Right now, I think Ryan has two coming to him, Ed has one.

]]> 2005 Eagles Schedule Date Opponent Time / Result Ryan Chris Ed Winner Loser 12-Sep N.Y. Giants Won 31-17 20-Sep Minnesota Won 27-16 31-21 35-24 35-31 Ryan Ed 26-Sep @Detroit Won 30-13 28-17 24-13 27-24 Ryan Ed 3-Oct @Chicago Won 19-9 31-13 27-3 31-6 Chris Ryan 10-Oct Week 5 BYE 17-Oct Carolina Won 30-8 30-14 27-17 24-13 Ryan Chris 24-Oct @Cleveland Won 34-31 31-13 33-7 24-17 Ryan Chris 31-Oct Baltimore Won 15-10 28-13 28-17 20-10 Ed Chris 7-Nov @Pittsburgh Lost 3-27 24-17 17-14 27-24 None All 15-Nov @Dallas 9:00pm Ryan Chris Ed 21-Nov Washington 4:15pm Ryan Chris Ed 28-Nov @N.Y. Giants 1:00pm Ryan Chris Ed 5-Dec Green Bay 4:15pm Ryan Chris Ed 12-Dec @Washington 8:30pm Ryan Chris Ed 19-Dec Dallas 1:00pm Ryan Chris Ed 27-Dec @St. Louis 9:00pm Ryan Chris Ed 2-Jan Cincinnati 1:00pm Ryan Chris Ed

For odds: http://covers.usatoday.com/data/odds.aspx#nfl

Hosting Matters

I was having trouble with MT on my web host, so I created a ticket. Well after about four or five days, I still couldn't manage my blog (out of memory errors in the log). It had been working fine a week before, and I didn't change anything. So I decided to look around for another host.

I settled on Hosting Matters. They had some good testimonials from Movabletype users, and the prices were very reasonable. I needed a host that supported mutliple domains (I was hosting 7 domains). Hosting Matters is really great so far, and I love their "Fantastico" installer that allows me to install a portal or a blog in no time! I'm still getting everything setup and moved over. I was on that other host for about two years and I have a ton of crap to get out of there. The really good news though is that I have a chance to start the site clean and get rid of some crap too.
But if I miss some email or some comments, please forgive me. I'll do my best to make the coversion complete. I still have the other site up so I can migrate email and comments and data over to here.