Tuesday, March 28, 2006

sick and ugly

Not only am I *still* working to recover from an ugly flu bug that wiped out my weekend I also have an embarrassing gouge on the bridge of my nose... sexy. Double sexy when I'm coughing or shivering under the covers with a big fleece had on simultaneously hot and cold.

On a brighter note, Mrs. Amy rallied on her first mountain bike race since producing two lovely boys. The conditions were sub-optimal to say the least with mud so thick that she had to stop about half a dozen times to expunge the grunge so the wheels would turn. You bikers out there know what I mean, those that don't have ... seriously... no idea. It's ugly, the bike triples its weight and becomes a useless anchor.

All in all she survived the day and has begun the slow emergence back into one of her strongest loves: biking in the forest on singletrack. Well done Amy.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

as requested

Word on the street is that *someone* didn't like the restaurant-menu style of the blog. So here's a different one. Enjoy.

How about those boys in the trailer... seriously... is there anything cooler? While Ben's stepping up trying to pick fights with Mom and Dad, he loves to entertain Max both in and out of the trailer. Now if we can only get him to actually do what he's told, we'd be in fab shape. {sigh}

travelin'


First journey for MAX. Dig it.

Just like my boys

Friday, March 17, 2006

Chocolate

I *just* ate the greatest triple chocolate cake thing and I wasn't even hungry. Holy crap was it good. It's truly a rare event where something is so tasty, so decadent, so delicioso that I'll go beyond the caloric requirements into the pure pleasure eating. This was one of those moments.


WoW!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Nimble shopping

On occasion, shopping carts get left along our street. I often return them the local grocer a mere block away. Recently TWO grocery cartS appear from a Trader Joe's grocer, over twenty blocks away.

This is the last straw.

Armed with an idea, I take them into the workshop. I flip one upside down and grease the bearings. Not only do I grease the wheel bearings but the rotation ones as well. I also clean the tires and sand off any irregularities. I then steal two more of the rotational wheels and replace the back wheels with these. This gives us four wheel steering.

I clean the cage and make a few other modifications. I zip tie the seat so there's no more of that familiar cart rattle. I take my staplegun with some padding and cloth and upholster the seat for ben. I even make a back pad and 3 point harness with some leftover webbing and clips. I take cycling bar tape and wrap the handle. The masterpiece is ready.

Now, when we go shopping, we bring our own high performance cart. We *OWN* the isles and we see the jealousy in people's eyes when they get the crappy cart with the wobbly or stuck wheel. No more... we're all done with that nonsense. It's quite the conversation starter.

Hoo Ray!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Where should I go?

So my news consumption consists of hitting the following sites:
news.google.com
sfgate.com
opb.org
npr.org
thedailyshow.com < the real news

Wondering if anyone has found a better news portal. Share your sources!!!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

mystery wetness

so many ways to go with that title...

So there's this section of road that's nearly always wet. It's not in shade nor is there some errant fire hydrant depositing the dampness. It must be an odd microclimate and I can't work out why it is what it is. So ponder that one.