Government in action? How about government inaction!

The background noise of our world -- whether it is NPR's Morning Edition or Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, and everything in between -- has to do with the government shutdown, Obamacare, Green Eggs and Ham, filibuster on the Senate Floor, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. But wait! What if this background noise actually has a direct impact on the little corner of the world in which you operate? Yeah. Then what?

The government shutdown -- a childish outcome brought about by the childish behavior by men and women who somehow convinced us to vote for them -- has collateral damage throughout our great country. It even impacts a mid-major D1 distance running program trying to stay afloat and relevant with no facilities. Huh? OK, here's the deal: Tuesday, generally one of our quality workout days for cross country/distance runners, had a planned itinerary of the FDR Library and Historic Site grounds for a men's threshold workout on the Cator Loop (11 a.m.), followed by a trip to the Vanderbilt National Historic Site up the road for an interval workout on the river trail for the women's team (2 p.m.). Cool, shady, dirt paths. Ideal for our men and women.

Except, the government shut down, and that shut us out of our favorite venues. The national parks do not represent vital services; even we can agree on that. And so, it was shuttered, and its employees were furloughed. On a glorious first day of October, a day that felt more like the first day of June or July, we were forced to find alternative workout venues.

And so the background chatter of our lives continues unabated. Personally, I'd rather watch baseball or read a book than listen to this back-and-forth mumbo-jumbo. But now, maybe we have to pay attention to all this nonsense, and hope that the short-sighted buffoons we have elected to office can figure out this ridiculous conundrum.