Saturday, July 30, 2005

four

it's all about numbers these days.

I think about how I have a family here... A family of four. That's pretty cool. Tonight we had a perfect dinner in both content and company. The company being the four of us. While MAX isn't a great conversationalist yet, he will be soon. I anxiously await a dynamic of four personalities. Benjamin will make Max laugh, we might laugh at the both of them laughing. We'll all be telling stories knowing our audience is simultaneously someone young and someone old with a young/old floater depending upon who is talking. It'll be so much fun to have this kind of thing going on in my house.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

8 & 1/2 hours

so everything was cool (aka jiggy) as we headed to the airport. I arrived at the rental car dropoff where the guy noticed a smallish upwardly protruding dent in the trunk. Such a dent could only be caused by slamming the trunk upon large pointy luggage. My luggage being neither large nor pointy could not have done this. So I fill out a stupid [expletive] form that takes me ~5 minutes. I check into my 8:30 pm flight and all is swell except I have to suffer through three and a half hours in the airport. I look for an earlier flight and miss the 5:15 flight by, oh... about ~5 minutes.

The 8:30pm flight has been delayed. We'll now call it the 1:30am flight. That's eight & a half hours in this airport. You'd think I'd write a wittier or longer or somehow more brill post to the blog 'cause i got nothin' but time. Alas I'm surly and worked so all you get is the rant. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Amy's the best person in the whole wide world

All of the riding that I did would not have been possible without the endless generosity of my wonderful Amy.

7 and 3


Two great numbers in cycling

7

If that needs explanation then you're living under a rock.

The 3, however, might need clarification. Three is the number of rides I managed to do in three days. This is nearly a miracle when Max is a little over three weeks old. Day one was a two hour sprint where I made it from 15th/Fremont NE across town and over the bridge to the Forest park trailhead in ... 17 minutes. pain. Day two was an epic in the mountains on the singlespeed. Seven mountains were in view (Jefferson, Hood, Adams, St Helens, Sisters (1,2,3) along with wildflowers and other insane beauty. Riding a single speed on such a big hill is positively idiotic for someone who doesn't have any significant mileage this season.

Continuing with the insanity was day three: a short track after work bike race. Thirty minutes of pain. Again racing with little training. My tongue was dragging along the ground. I did beat both my friends who are riding far more than I am. They had their excuses and I chose well from the quiver by riding the cross bike. So they certainly ARE stronger but sometimes it's strategery [sic] and luck that wins the day.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Bye Rock

Sadly one of our hens started crowing like a rooster out of the blue. This sound poses a problem and thus Rock has been sold to a farm for $4. The customer facing conference call this morning was saved through use of the mute button. Otherwise I'd have to explain the loud cock-a-doodle-doo crackling through the phone.

Rock we will miss you and your eggs. Hope you enjoy your new digs.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

los dos

Number two otherwise known as MAX is a delight. While he's more similar than not in comparison to a young two week old Benjamin, he's a ton more fun. Why? The parent's perspective has changed. With B-Dog, it was, "Now what? What does that sound mean? Should we call a doctor? How do I hold him? Is he eating enough? Is that how poop is supposed to look? Why is he crying?"

Now we're old pros at this and, while exhausting, it's easier to focus on him versus his condition. We know what to filter. We know what's urgent and what really isn't. So it's a great time and we're all very happy.

Ben's on a roller coaster where he gets surly and needy but then bounces back and just wants to play with blocks. He's shown nothing but affection for his baby brother. Mister Benjamin is truly TWO as he's testing every boundary there is. The interesting thing is that he responds to and even *likes* having the boundaries. Sure we've read that but to see it in action is cool.

Amy's mom Betsy has been helping us tremendously with all tasks and will be here another week. We're pretty much screwed when she's gone.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

nothing says love like being surrounded by trains

Amy says:
so I was doing something in the kitchen
and Benjamin was playing on his own

Charlie Wicker-Community Cafe says:
and then...

Amy says:
and I went to get Max, who was on the couch

Amy says:
and he was surrounded by Ben's trains.

China's "Progress"

excerpt from article on China's economic and environmental situation
---
Bicycles, once the main mode of transportation, now are forbidden on many principal avenues in big cities. Bicycle lanes and sidewalks have been sacrificed in many places to allow more road space for autos.
---
Couldn't be worse.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

go LANCE

The tour [de france] is upon us and LANCE has shown his cards on the opening day time trial. He put a minute of hurt on his nearest threats in a 12k time trial. What could be more perfect than hanging out with MAX watching the tour. Hell, we'll be awake anyway at 5am Pacific.