Burnin' down the house - db

Asked to describe Bush's mood, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "The president is continuing to focus on the work we've got to get done."

hoo haa

bad luck

"I wonder if she really meant five minutes when she said five minutes" I think to myself as I stare at the blue plastic door. If she's right then I probably have under three left at this point. I need to stand up and get out. I finish up and exit. While holding the door for the next person I give him an apologitic look. There's nothing to say that doesn't just make matters worse. I really need to move now. I jump on my bike and blaze to the start line. I roll up to one of the race officials and give them my info. "Hi yeah, I registered just a minute ago. I'll be racing single speed, here's my..."

The announcer interrupts through the sound system, "And the race has begun."

I continue, " ... my race number. Thanks." I roll to the horde about to start. The announcer cuts in again, "Fifteen seconds to go." For this race they group the B-level riders and the single speed riders into one heat separated by one minute. So from the moment I woke up until this moment, I spared only fifteen seconds. Wouldn't have been as tight except for I remembered to bring my race tag with my race number emblazoned upon it about fifteen minutes into my drive to the venue. At least there are no pre-race jitters. Instead it's a "here we go" inevitability and ambivalence to it all. I roll out with the group and the race indeed has begun.

Without training at all this season, the races are simply punishment. I pick my way through the some riders and get into a rhythm. In my previous race I was wishing the race to end by the halfway point. This time I feel pretty good ... this is my kind of course. The collective voice of the racers call this a "mountain-bike style course." which suits me perfectly. This translates into a few small hills, narrow twisty tight singletrack and a few obstacles that I can jump where others have to dismount and carry. Many of these riders are roadies getting muddy so the have little skill and instead rely upon strength. I have to rely on skill and caffeine because strength comes with training and...

With two and a half laps to go I really lay it on. The traffic is lighter and my speed is dictated by my bike handling versus some slow rider blocking my way. So I'm ripping and just loving it until...

I get stuck behind this random guy who simply cannot get it together. He flops over and I can't get around him. He does it again for no apparent reason and I nearly crash into him again. The bike flips up and somehow I fall back instead of on top of the guy. Then we come to a stair section and why I'm still behind this guy is a mystery of slow motion suffering. He dismounts and starts walking like it's an elderly group heading home from Sunday brunch. The guy bonks me in the head with his bike in the process. At this point I can finally get around him. During this process of me making every possible error to stay behind this tool, I get passed by a dozen or so guys. If I had cleanly passed this person, I would have made a good go of this race finishing somewhere in the top half. Instead the momentum is gone and I try to get the fire started again.

Why does my bike sound like an eighteen wheeler braking through the Sierras? I've got this metal on metal horrible sound. I peel off to inspect the wheels. I unclip the rear brake rendering it inoperable. This is the most likely culprit for such a sound. Brakes are overrated...go fast I think to myself. I go another twenty yards and the sound is still there. The rear wheel isn't turning easily. The bearing seem to have seized.

I carry the dead equipment off the course and I hang my head. I'm out. It's done. I pick up the bike and carry it to the booth where they're giving out really good free coffee and drown my sorrows as I skulk home.

At home, with the bike on the bike stand, I remove the wheel and adjust the bearings. It's now as smooth as butter. Why this seizing happened I'll never know. The mechanical failure was coincident with the crash with the frustrating Sunday brunch rider. While it's my fault for whatever bike maintenance failure took place and all the poor decisions that put me behind himt, I still find it in my heart to blame *him* ... at least partially and irrationally for the outcome. Come next race I'll pass him and never look back.

slow

but not *that* slow. Cross race #2 results are in. You need to click on the 5th page as I cannot link directly. Single speeding is good fun. These results involve a training strategy of sitting in an office chair and maybe a little gardening. While the season is less than half way done, I'm thinking about next season when, if I actually try, I could have a real chance at getting results with swag associated.

One thing that I know could shave LOTS of time would be to learn how to run beyond the speed of a grandmother with a cane. I often feel the wooosh of wind as others pass me during the carry sections. I'm realllly bad. What I need (for next season) is the equivalent of torque. I need to be able to accelerate the legs while slopping through thick gooey mud with a bike on my shoulder. Ugh

HAIRBENDER

ok... i LIED about not posting. This is partly my ranting board so here's one for today:

Hairbender espresso blend is far-and-away the best. Everything else is either a not-close second or a sad "please bury me with lots of milk" grade product.

What is it with the collective other roasters? I visited a promising place Tuesday with its Probat roaster sitting in all of it's steam train styled glory. If Hairbender is a full delicious cabernet, then this was one of those off spanish reds that was left in the sun too long and sold for $3.99 at Trader Joe's as a result.

I like to try new beans from promising roasters but time and time again I relegate them to the "backup bean" canister inside of a dozen shots and refresh the hopper with more Hairbender.

I know... who cares?

busy

Any Community Cafe devotees are certainly bored with the absence of posts. Just an update to say that such minimal posting will continue for another week. Check back after that for some great pumpkin patch photos and other random goodies. Until then maybe YOU can post something interesting going on in YOUR life in response.

WHY?

Why?

Why?
Why?

Why?





(If you're a parent, this needs no further explanation)

First day of school 

First day of school

Ben had his first day of school this Monday. Seriously... SCHOOL. It was only moments ago that his only words were "bucca bucca bucca". The next thing that will happen is that the boy's going to ask me for the car keys to go on a date. Ben's super cool. I typically read a few books and negotiate fewer while he negotiates more books. Tonight I read a few more just because I like hanging out with him.

btw you can click on the image for a larger view.

HappyHens

The eggs are back...both the blues and browns.

The EuroVan is really fast *and* has some serious performance handling features like anti-slip (during acceleration) and course correction when the steering wheel position doesn't match what the van is actually doing. Fancy stuff typically found on high zoot sedans. Haven't tried either of these but nice to know that they're there. Oh, and the thing is HUGE. It transported a bale of hay today.

The boys are getting bigger and more interesting. Benjamin's inventing new words. His latest thing that he repeated *all* *day* is "Fire Tu F-oh-ka" ... The best part is that he asks US what it means. "No idea Ben, you invented it."

Forlorn hens

Hen's are on strike. The duck isn't talking either. We're all getting a little nervous around here. It has been 7 days since we've had eggs. Would somebody tell us what's going on?

Click Clack Bok, Clickity Clack Bok.

livin' large

Don't you wish that YOU could be having this for dinner.

bdog approved

Benjamin digs the pimpy fresh ride.

No sleep till Portland...Portland!!!

Some of you will get the B-Boys reference. The sled is in the houuuse. Given the time they picked it up from Texas... they literally did not sleep. They barely had enough time to refuel and eat. Well done.

The shiny Eurovan that started with a simple "Buy it now" click has arrived. Looks to be in near new condition. I've driven it around the block and it has LOTS of power. And it's huge. Road trips will be super fun. Suh Wheat.

Rollin'

The EuroVan is on the way. Arrival date still TBD but it's on a big truck rolling through... probably New Mexico at the moment.

"Buy it Now!"

blog battle

it seems that the spammers have crept into the blog world. I've deleted two off this extremely low visibility site. So apologies for the word verification (if you post then you'll see).

On another note... MAX is huge. I can barely lift the guy. His ped visit today will confirm just how much he's growing from a percentile perspective. I measured 14lbs/24".

And finally... xing our fingers for our good friends Eithne & Taylor who's freshly remodeled home is in New Orleans. Hope it's not in the bottom of the bowl.

Oh... one more thing, speaking of remodeling, I now have a wall bisecting my office from the other side of the garage. Slowly it's all coming together. Next phase: Cobb construction walls inside for insulation and thermal mass.

[submit]

People press the [submit] button to purchase things online all the time. Sometimes people are scared others are not. I've long since grown used to the friendly [submit] button and probably shop online as much as anyone when things cannot be found locally. Today, however, the nerves are slightly rattled as I pressed the magic submit option for a $17,000 "Buy it now" purchase on eBay. It's kind of insane that, with just a few clicks, a major transaction has been committed. The Volvo goes away and the VW Eurovan is on its way. Bought sight unseen from Texas, it should arrive... well I have no idea when it'll get here but at some point a shiny big machine will appear.


Crazy

heaven

Define heaven for yourself...

So there I was having a reasonably nice dinner with collegues on business travel. That was good and I was driving back to the hotel when I saw the flash of shiny cloth taking up a full city block. I swerved off the city street into a parking spot, got out, and walked towards the shimmering material.

The biggest convention in SLC is underway. "Outdoor Retailer" is a twenty thousand person strong event where manufacturers and buyers get together to make deals. All the outdoor brands you've heard of (and many you haven't) are here. Surely the REI buyer gets plennnnty of attention. So it's a place where you'll find not-yet-available outdoor gear.

mmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmmMMMMMMMMmmm gear

So I was creeping around a tent city where each one represented the best innovation the builders could produce. North Face, MSR, Kelty, Mtn Hardware ... they were all there and the stuff looked amazing. The materials look thinner and lighter with a shimmering translucent look, the designs abandon tradition and symmetry. Some of it may be flash for flash's sake but much of it is really great stuff. My tent was absent from the line-up but it's not new after all. It was really cool to see. Kelty has what looks like a 1 person single pole pyramid that will be insanely light and comfortable. I need to get back into that stuff.

PDX coffee people sucks

While I don't plan on getting a lawyer... I've been burned (literally) by every drink that coffee people have served me. And it tastes like crap. I have smugly walked past the starbucks in order to go to the small(ish) local chain. Too bad they suck.

Stuck in Salt Lake City for the duration of this week. I really don't like being away from the family, especially that Amy person.

Speaking of the torture of travel... after having a nasty high-fat workday where lunch was a pile of fried fish -n- chips and dinner (while not fried) wasn't much better... I then channel surf only to watch "Super Size Me." I tuned in right as he's puking out of his truck. If you haven't seen the movie, you need to. It's the true story of a guy who eats nothing but McDonalds food for an entire month. There are a few other bits to it, like he doesn't allow himself to walk more than the national average which is shockingly low btw. Oh, and if the cashier asks if he wants to SuperSize his meal, he has to say YES.


If that doesn't make you sick then I don't know what will.

Hi Ben, "What are you doing in the bathtub?"

So Benjamin's little brain is accelerating. @2years5months he's all of the sudden developed some impressive logical deduction skills along with speech to match... oh and an imagination. The title of this post was what Ben said in the voice of a plastic fish. Ben spoke on behalf of the plastic fish (which does not actually make any noise). So this means many things. First, he's personified the fish. Second, the fish is speaking to Ben with a bit of social skill, first with a greeting followed by a question. The quote is simple enough but if you look at the constructs to get there, it's quite amazing.

Then he freaked out when in bed. I was refilling his water bottle when he screamed, "Need to take a shower" followed by, "Dirty again" (which he wasn't). He never saw the shower but we talked about taking one earlier instead of a bath. He must have done a visual association with me filling the water bottle and the view of the shower which triggered that memory and then the request. He's never watched me fill water into his bottle in the bathroom but I leave and he hears water and deduces that it's coming from the sink. That's probably not as interesting a development but the overall framework that's being wired in his head is hard to even conceptualize even at this age.

equilibrium

Throw the moldy crap out of the frig and into the coop. Place eggs from coop back into the frig.


bitchin