At a time when $3.99 gas is a bargain, job prospects are softer than Midwest Airlines cookies and the people paying the mortgages have to bail out the lenders, pessimism is always knocking at the door.

It had better run. The triathletes are here.

The ultra-fit types who finish this weekend's Spirit of Racine Triathlon will have covered more than 70 miles in a handful of hours. On that kind of swimmer's, biker's and runner's high, anything must look possible.

So for a few minutes let's shed the pessimism like a wet suit on the bike course. Life has its own triathlon, and it's time to attack it through reinvigorated eyes.

The first leg is education. Put the right people in place and we'll have an educational system that teaches coming generations how to steer around the quicksand that nabbed us.

The search committee that settled on Robert Felner as top dog for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside knows the drill. What hints the searchers had that Felner was trouble, they kept to themselves. Only later did a criminal investigation of a few measly millions in shadily handled grants at Felner's old school ruin that happy ending.

The Parkside headhunters followed one of the cardinal rules in triathlons: make sure all feedback during the race is positive. There's plenty of time to analyze mistakes after the prizes are handed out. Or, in this case, the indictments.

Then we can turn our eyes to a second stage: government. Our leaders are plugging away, trying to lure more jobs here so we can at least afford all of those high prices.

Just this past spring, the state's commerce secretary reportedly endured $550 hotel rooms to pitch Wisconsin to businesses in Europe and Canada. For his sacrifice, Jack Fischer got gently nudged out the door.

I suppose the next poor schlub will be limited to four-star fleabag joints and a strict allowance of one room-service bottle of Brut per night. I mean, how's a guy supposed to practice his toasts in all of those foreign languages?

The anchor stage, of course, is parenting. Raise them right and little dudes and dudettes can cross the finish line in spite of almost any of life's obstacles.

Different parents use different methods to get the job done. One 2-year-old Racine boy was granted the independence to wander the streets this week and get a head start finding his own way in a difficult world. Police deemed it a little too much independence and arrested the 21-year-old mom for neglect.

Another approach is to spend as much time as possible with the kids. Like the 41-year-old mom who stands accused of burglarizing homes with her son in northern Racine County. Reports suggest they only did it to pay for their own unique family-bonding activity: shooting heroin.

Not us virtual triathletes; we're plenty high on life, thanks. Of course, without regular training that buzz will fade before long.

That'll be a big comedown. One surefire way to prevent that nasty pessimism from seeping back in is to elude it.

You know, find some true escapism. Something pure in which we can bury ourselves, where posturing and personality conflicts never get in the way of the common goal.

Bring on Packer season.

Mike Moore's local news column runs each Friday. He can be reached at (262) 631-1724 or

mike.moore@lee.net