40 Grateful Things: The Trail Running Community

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I turn 40 today — unbelievable in so many ways — and it’s left me thinking about a lot of things, but especially the number of things I am grateful for. I want to list 40 of those over the next few weeks, things that either shaped where I am and things that are actively with me today.

There is no particular order.

First up, I’m grateful for the trail running community, both locally and the larger community. I feel like you are my people. When I tell you how many kids I have your eyes don’t double in size, and you encourage the kids independence, even running through the woods on their own!

Trail runners are always supportive. As a rule, competition against self is more important than competition against others. The community is laid back, and out to enjoy running and each other’s company.

It’s a community where if you ask, “why do you run?” a common refrain is often, “it’s cheaper than therapy,” and said not more than half in jest.

If you are cool and social graceful you are in; if you are awkward and decidedly uncool, you are also in.

We’ve met so many great people through trail running — and there are many more of you I hope to get to know better in 2025. Both my life and my family’s life is richer for y’all being in it.

Flywheel + Cloudflare, SSL Settings

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The official flywheel documentation on how to configure SSL when using Cloudflare does not work in results and redirect loops.

Here is how to actually set it up.

1. Force HTTPs to be on for the Flywheel site under the advanced tab:

Force HTTPS setting is enabled, redirecting all site requests over HTTPS.

2. Configure Cloudflare SSL to “Full” mode:

Cloudflare SSL/TLS configuration page showing an overview of encryption settings. Current encryption mode is set to "Full." An option to configure settings is highlighted with a blue "Configure" button. The page includes navigation options for SSL/TLS, security, and other settings.

Cloudflare encryption mode configuration page. The "Full" SSL/TLS option is selected, which enables end-to-end encryption when the origin server supports SSL certification but does not use a valid, publicly trusted certificate. Other options include "Strict," "Flexible," and "Off." The sidebar menu highlights the "Overview" section under SSL/TLS settings.

3. Under “Edge Certificates” enable “Always Use HTTPS”

Cloudflare dashboard showing the "Always Use HTTPS" option enabled, which redirects all HTTP requests to HTTPS. The "HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)" option is available to enforce web security policy. The "Edge Certificates" section is highlighted in the navigation menu.

Kuwohi Through the Fog

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These are three of my favorite images captured recently. They all show Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains (formerly known as Clingmans Dome) at sunrise from about 40 miles away, with the Tennessee River in the foreground.

Taken with my Pentax K-1 Mark II at 48 – 68mm f/5-5.6

Sunset over a mountain range with birds flying in the sky and dark clouds creating a dramatic silhouette.
Kuwohi (Clingman’s Dome) at sunrise through fog, as seen from Concord, TN.

Sunrise over a misty lake with silhouetted hills and dark clouds in the sky.
Great Smoky Mountains at sunrise through fog, as seen from Concord, TN.

Sunrise over a calm lake with mist rising from the water and dark clouds in the sky.
Kuwohi (Clingman’s Dome) at sunrise through fog, as seen from Concord, TN.

Upwork’s Egregious Terms of Service

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Upwork is a fantastic site for finding and working with freelancers. I’ve hired using Upwork for years and have always refused to go outside of Upwork for the relationship.

Today, while chatting with a prospective contractor Upwork Messages misinterpreted my giving of time available as a phone number and menacingly warned me that so much as giving out contact information violates their terms of service.

Chat conversation on Upwork. A user asks for time availability. Jonathan Addington responds with "0900 - 1200 eastern." A red policy alert states the message wasn't sent due to contact information sharing, which violates Upwork's Terms of Service.

Giving out any contact information whatsoever is a material breach of the terms of service:

You acknowledge and agree that a violation of this Section 7.2 is a material breach of the Terms of Service and your Account may be permanently suspended for such violations.

And those violations can incur a “Conversion Fee” that ranges from $1,000 – $50,000 per relationship. Moreover, Upwork says that they are permitted to charge your payment method on file this fee automatically.

You may opt out of the obligations in Section 7.1 [by paying] Upwork a Conversion Fee which is a minimum of $1,000 USD and up to $50,000 USD for each Upwork Relationship…

The Conversion Fee may be calculated differently for Upwork Relationships when the Client is an Enterprise Client if the Enterprise Client contract with Upwork provides for different terms.

To learn more about the Conversion Fee or how to pay it visit our Help Center here.

…if Upwork determines that you have violated Section 7, it may (a) charge your Payment Method the Conversion Fee (including interest) if permitted by law or send you an invoice for the Conversion Fee (including interest), which you agree to pay within 30 days…

You agree that the Conversion Fee is 13.5% of the estimated earnings over a twelve (12) month period, which is calculated by taking the Hourly Rate (defined below) and multiplying it by 2,080…

So a $10/hr contract could be $2,808.

Compliance concerns? Upwork makes it clear in section 8 that’s your problem, not theirs.

You are solely responsible for creation, storage, and backup of your business records. 

If you need to keep copies of certain records by law you will need to copy and paste or screenshot messages with your freelancers, as Upwork doesn’t have an export feature and they’ll fine you if you communicate directly with the freelancer using your systems that already capture these communications.

I understand the reasoning behind this and I’m not opposed to Upwork protecting their business model but this is insane. Arguably I’ve broken the TOS everytime I’ve invited a freelancer to a Git repository, even though that is de facto way of sharing code.

Tears of the BFC DNF

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This post was too good not to share. The Barkley Fall Classic (BFC) is a 30+ mile race held in Frozen Head State Park annually, a slightly gentler version of the Barkley Marathons. But it is still largely off-trail, thru briars without GPS. Not made for comfort, but also incredibly popular.

On a Facebook group dedicated to the BFC Jerry left this comment:

So the story is this. When I was walking up to the fire tower (aka Far Tar) from Tub Springs one of the utility workers was there in his truck. I asked him what was going on and he said they are maintaining the lines so they made those cuts so they can drive vehicles down all the way to the prison. He said they once did that all by hand. I asked if he was familiar with the races that take place in the park and he said “yep…those briars will grow back twice as thick by the time fall comes so no one needs to worry”. I said “thats good, hey how often do you get snow like this here?” He said “that’s not snow. That’s the frozen tears of everyone who’s ever DNF’d the BFC”. True story.

By ChatGPT

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