The family, and specifically myself, went from one seriously wack computer on Monday to 2 computers as of today, both of which are honking fast. Monday afternoon we purchased a new HP at Office Depot. I know. It's lame, gauche, cliche and suburban, but as much as I can turn the thing on and fiddle, I don't know shit about computers, and the family, let's say, less. Henceforth we had to go mainstream. I also giggle(d) at students who preached and preached the merits of Ubuntu. I just say to them, "right, right. we'll all drink the kool-aid soon enough". As much of a contrarian as I am about transportation, you would think I would be the same about computers and drink the Apple drink too, but no. Work stuff is too enmeshed with PCs to take that plunge. I just check and iMacs start at $1199. We bought a 500gig/3meg HP for mid $300s. Granted, we already had the monitor, but that's some difference.
HP further came into my world today at a work PD (Professional Development), what in the old days was "in-service". Through some kind of grant, the school system is providing every teacher in our county his/her own tablet computer, an HP Tablet. It has a swiveling display, tablet-writable surface with writing recognition, lots of ed-friendly capabilities, and plus it's fast to boot. And with it they provided us- those who did not have one- an Epson projector. It's a pretty spectacular setup. I have already used projectors quite a bit in my classes, but I will use it all the time, at least for short spells. I've noticed in education that these bells and whistles can't replace a good teacher/student rapport, but I can certainly open eyes to other parts of the world, and of course use the many web resources out there.
The only difficulty now is getting the personal data from the old, dead computer. The hard drive is viable, provided it's clean, but the monitor/video card is all fubar'ed, so it will be dicey getting it lifted. With the PD today and a late bday party after (for 'L'), I didn't get a chance to ride until the boys and I met wife/mother at Buckheads for a quick bite to eat. That's another 2m commuting, and the boys were very enthusiastic. That's good. I'm planning for long rides for this weekend, but no 250m extravaganzas seem to on the horizon. And NY is around the corner for next week.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pisgah Pink Beds
These are some pics from our Sunday hike in Pisgah Nat'l Forest. This was the private hunting preserve of the Vanderbilts adjoining their massive Biltmore estate. They built a 17-mile long road from the chateaux to a hunting lodge in the mountains, and this land surrounded it. We had never partaken of this country, but a day hike fit in perfectly between our wedding plans and more social plans in Maryville, TN.
Pink Beds in a picnic ground with the 'Pink Beds' Trial leaving the north end.
The terrain on this trail was reminiscent of that on our Pine Mountain trip a couple summers ago- Pine, loamy sand, fern, roots, 2nd and 3rd growth forest. It's all very Appalachian. Both the boys and I felt like we would see Sam and Frodo somewhere along this area.
Tall Pine
Sick Pine.
A beetle is ravaging pines throughout the South. It was even more evident while driving through the Smokies (G.S.M.N.P.), where you could see the green of deciduous contrasted with stands of kindling dotting the hillsides.
Fern Forest. This area was quite enchanting.
The culprit and explanation. There were so many ferns b/c this little valley had been damed up by a beaver. The map we retrieved from the ranger station alluded to this, but the blockage was more substantial. I didn't take a pic of the beaver dam b/c I spent my time trying to find the 'blue' trail that we needed. It was across the beaver pond. We were to take the 'blue' cut-through to give us a 3-mile hike; the 'orange' P.B. route was a 5-mile+ hike. Perhaps it wasn't my first choice, but families are compromises, right? So we turned back and had a very nice return leg.
Dappled trail
Meadow near the end. We would have come back this way. This route is also marked 'hiking/bicycling'. Pisgah is full of logging roads and trails for mt.bikers. That would be fun, no? I sure do love a stand of grass.
Pink Beds in a picnic ground with the 'Pink Beds' Trial leaving the north end.
The terrain on this trail was reminiscent of that on our Pine Mountain trip a couple summers ago- Pine, loamy sand, fern, roots, 2nd and 3rd growth forest. It's all very Appalachian. Both the boys and I felt like we would see Sam and Frodo somewhere along this area.
Tall Pine
Sick Pine.A beetle is ravaging pines throughout the South. It was even more evident while driving through the Smokies (G.S.M.N.P.), where you could see the green of deciduous contrasted with stands of kindling dotting the hillsides.
Fern Forest. This area was quite enchanting.
The culprit and explanation. There were so many ferns b/c this little valley had been damed up by a beaver. The map we retrieved from the ranger station alluded to this, but the blockage was more substantial. I didn't take a pic of the beaver dam b/c I spent my time trying to find the 'blue' trail that we needed. It was across the beaver pond. We were to take the 'blue' cut-through to give us a 3-mile hike; the 'orange' P.B. route was a 5-mile+ hike. Perhaps it wasn't my first choice, but families are compromises, right? So we turned back and had a very nice return leg. 
Dappled trail
Meadow near the end. We would have come back this way. This route is also marked 'hiking/bicycling'. Pisgah is full of logging roads and trails for mt.bikers. That would be fun, no? I sure do love a stand of grass.(One of these pics was taken with a different camera. See if you can guess which one.)
And that was that. A great little hike and enough to wet my whistle to return to this area. Pisgah is full of options and is found within driving distance to G.S.M.N.P., Nantahala Forsest and that whole outdoorsy area. Great stuff.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Blueridge Pkwy
After our 2nd day of hiking, we drove to the Smokies via the Blueridge Pkwy. As the pics show, it was a stunning day. I should've stopped to take a pic of the orange azaleas that were blooming all over. These pics speak for themselves.
Monday we visited a high school friend of the wife's in Maryville, TN. We had planned to hike in Great Smokey Mts N.P., but time and traffic made it such that we came home. To be fair, we missed a turn trying to find the "back way" in. Short cuts make long delays, right? At that point I couldn't deal with going through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, only to have to come back out later in the evening for the 4hr drive home. Instead, we stopped in Pigeon Forge b/c Luke wanted to play putt-putt. So we did. The wife won. The boys tied for 2nd. I was last.
Monday we visited a high school friend of the wife's in Maryville, TN. We had planned to hike in Great Smokey Mts N.P., but time and traffic made it such that we came home. To be fair, we missed a turn trying to find the "back way" in. Short cuts make long delays, right? At that point I couldn't deal with going through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, only to have to come back out later in the evening for the 4hr drive home. Instead, we stopped in Pigeon Forge b/c Luke wanted to play putt-putt. So we did. The wife won. The boys tied for 2nd. I was last.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Congaree N.P.
The Saturday morning of the wedding we had a nice time slot open, so I did a little research and found Congaree Nat'l Park about 14m away. This is old-growth bottom land, the last of its kind around. It's known for champion-sized trees that have otherwise been all forested elsewhere in the South. Being a floodplain, the trail was table-top flat, but it was a nice opportunity to see different terrain that what we have in KY. The first portion was a raised platform; several times a year the park floods, so this allows folks to still view part of the park. We took the extended Weston Lake Loop trail, which leaves the platform and explores a back portion of the park towards the lake, giving us a 4.5 miles in all. Many of the pics aren't very good b/c of the lack of light and my lack of ability in using a camera but for the simplest of tasks.
This is the point at which the elevated platform trail becomes, in effect, a platform trail for a bit longer. It provides a nice opportunity to see the local fauna and flora without getting completely muddy in this low plain area.
This is Cedar Creek, which bisects the park between the entrance and the distant Congaree River. Our trail, at its further point, followed this creek for a while. This area of the country is apparently experiencing significant drought, so this would normally be running much higher. Typically they run canoe trips, but that would be very difficult in current conditions. You ain't in KY with this pic.
Bridge crossing marshy area. Check out that really dead tree to the right. Ugly.
Clear-area at far end of trail. It's striking the difference in terrain, flora, etc. when you clear cut an area like this. The trees, flora, everything changes. Think Brazil, en masse.
Bug. He's green. I also took pics of a millipede, another grasshopper looking thing and a green caterpillar. The boys like them.
Texture
Cane break. The area was full of them, as was part of KY. It looks like bamboo but is a sibling to sugar cane.
Weston Lake.
My turtle pics aren't very good, but there is a nice spot to picnic here, and the turtles are trained to come up and beg for food. The boys counted around 15 at any given time.
This is the point at which the elevated platform trail becomes, in effect, a platform trail for a bit longer. It provides a nice opportunity to see the local fauna and flora without getting completely muddy in this low plain area.
This is Cedar Creek, which bisects the park between the entrance and the distant Congaree River. Our trail, at its further point, followed this creek for a while. This area of the country is apparently experiencing significant drought, so this would normally be running much higher. Typically they run canoe trips, but that would be very difficult in current conditions. You ain't in KY with this pic.
Bridge crossing marshy area. Check out that really dead tree to the right. Ugly.
Clear-area at far end of trail. It's striking the difference in terrain, flora, etc. when you clear cut an area like this. The trees, flora, everything changes. Think Brazil, en masse.
Bug. He's green. I also took pics of a millipede, another grasshopper looking thing and a green caterpillar. The boys like them.
Texture
Cane break. The area was full of them, as was part of KY. It looks like bamboo but is a sibling to sugar cane.
Weston Lake. My turtle pics aren't very good, but there is a nice spot to picnic here, and the turtles are trained to come up and beg for food. The boys counted around 15 at any given time.
SC/NC weekend
No riding of late. We took the quickie family trip to a family wedding in Columbia, SC, leaving Friday and returning Monday night. The drive there was ridiculous. I'm a pretty efficient, fast driver, so when someone tells me a drive is 8 hours, I assume I can make it in 7.5 or faster. I guess karma bit me, because between multiple potty breaks (mine, for some weird reason) and 2 bottle-necks, the trip took us a solid 8.25+. Frustrating! The wedding was pretty typical and uneventful, certainly a glorious experience for those involved, I'm sure. The bonus was that we sneaked in some hiking during several days of the trip, both locations being completely new to us, so that was fun. Once back, I sat through meeting all day yesterday and spent the rest of the day completely brain dead. Today was full of yard work, so I guess tomorrow will be bike time.
Friday, June 06, 2008
good all round
Date: June 6 Friday
Mileage: 3.5 (LHT)
June mileage: 100.5
Year to date: 682.5
I had the good fortune to add 3.5 miles to today's total. With the good wife and 'L' gone to camp, the big one and I had free reign. My mother made the generous offer to cook for us tonight. She, in fact, is an excellent cook and we rarely have a bad meal there. On Monday I took a pic of my sausage and peppers dish. Mom prepared rigatoni with tomatoes and browned sausage. She also made a bow-tie pasta, mozzarella, home grown greens and tomato salad. She also included some homemade bread and a good bottle of wine. Forza mama!! To get over there, I dragged 'Z' out of the house and onto his bike. He has a scaled-down KHS mtbike, on which I mounted those cool tires with a slick middle and side knobbies for traction. Eventfully, on the way there he came out from the curb to miss a parked car. That was fine. Then, instead of going back toward the curb or going straight, he veered left into me. Boom! Crunch! Creak! Amazingly, no one went down. I really thought he was going to. There was no harm done save the fact that the crunch tweaked my (not bad yet) ankle. Who'da thunk you could get an ankle injury in a non-wreck? The rest of the short commute was uneventful, and the return trip in the dark was fine. We had to come up the Lakeside hill to get home- we're talking a .2 hill that can be taken casually. He went right up like a squirrel, while I was huffing hauling my fat ass uphill. Maybe it's time for the young 'un to have the chance of making the old man look bad doing some miles.
Great nice and great company. Is there anything else?
Mileage: 3.5 (LHT)
June mileage: 100.5
Year to date: 682.5
I had the good fortune to add 3.5 miles to today's total. With the good wife and 'L' gone to camp, the big one and I had free reign. My mother made the generous offer to cook for us tonight. She, in fact, is an excellent cook and we rarely have a bad meal there. On Monday I took a pic of my sausage and peppers dish. Mom prepared rigatoni with tomatoes and browned sausage. She also made a bow-tie pasta, mozzarella, home grown greens and tomato salad. She also included some homemade bread and a good bottle of wine. Forza mama!! To get over there, I dragged 'Z' out of the house and onto his bike. He has a scaled-down KHS mtbike, on which I mounted those cool tires with a slick middle and side knobbies for traction. Eventfully, on the way there he came out from the curb to miss a parked car. That was fine. Then, instead of going back toward the curb or going straight, he veered left into me. Boom! Crunch! Creak! Amazingly, no one went down. I really thought he was going to. There was no harm done save the fact that the crunch tweaked my (not bad yet) ankle. Who'da thunk you could get an ankle injury in a non-wreck? The rest of the short commute was uneventful, and the return trip in the dark was fine. We had to come up the Lakeside hill to get home- we're talking a .2 hill that can be taken casually. He went right up like a squirrel, while I was huffing hauling my fat ass uphill. Maybe it's time for the young 'un to have the chance of making the old man look bad doing some miles.
Great nice and great company. Is there anything else?
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Me, Mr. Mundane
Date: June 2 Monday
Mileage: 30 (LHT)
June mileage: 50
Year to date: 632
Date: June 3 Tuesday
Mileage: 14 (LHT)
June mileage: 64
Year to date: 646
My riding the last couple days has been decidedly mundane compared to more ambitious efforts, ones which I will expound later. Both Monday and Tuesday my riding took me no further than the usual urban routes that my commuting has comprised nigh these many years. So far I'm doing pretty nicely with my summer goal- doing as many locals sans auto as possible. This goal included my baseball/ice cream trip from Saturday, and yesterday's roam-around. Monday the boys and I had a day of doing almost nothing to speak of in the morning. Their time with their grandfather ('pawpaw') on Sat/Sun yielded them 2 wastes of time: Mario Galaxy (Wii) and Need for Speed Carbon (PS2). A parental failing I've suffered is the one that has allowed my fine children to play lots of video games. I know, in my heart, that wasting copious amounts of time playing this garbage isn't good for the overall being, but damn they're fun to waste time with. In my past I've played a fair amount of finite list of titles, Zelda-Windwaker, the various gamecube Metroids, Island Adventure from the old super Nintendo platform. Those hours playing could've been spent saving Africa from hunger, right? Alas, on a rainy day, or during a late, late night, it's awfully fun escapism.
I digress.
Monday's ride took place after our evening meal. I felt the instantaneous need to hit the road, so away I went on the LHT. I felt pretty good too, so I went west. Granted, creeping dusk and nighttime wasn't optimal, but I feel comfortable on that route. I made good time westward, but on the return I just ran out of gas. Having left at 9ish, I ended up having the good wife- and my mother whom she had called- worried. I pulled in about 11.30. Oops.
Tuesday brought me another post-supper, post-meal ride. 'L' had baseball practice, so I rode the 2m to there. From there, I rode the rest of the way from the Highlands, up Baxter, and across to Crescent Hill to Clifton's Pizza. After a salad, some cheese sticks and a slice or so I was father full, but the road awaited and I crawled, and I mean at a 7-10mph crawl, crawled home on the LHT to finish up a 14m round-trip errand commute. I have to pull some big mileage coming up here, but errand miles are good miles, especially at $4.00/gallon.
Mileage: 30 (LHT)
June mileage: 50
Year to date: 632
Date: June 3 Tuesday
Mileage: 14 (LHT)
June mileage: 64
Year to date: 646
My riding the last couple days has been decidedly mundane compared to more ambitious efforts, ones which I will expound later. Both Monday and Tuesday my riding took me no further than the usual urban routes that my commuting has comprised nigh these many years. So far I'm doing pretty nicely with my summer goal- doing as many locals sans auto as possible. This goal included my baseball/ice cream trip from Saturday, and yesterday's roam-around. Monday the boys and I had a day of doing almost nothing to speak of in the morning. Their time with their grandfather ('pawpaw') on Sat/Sun yielded them 2 wastes of time: Mario Galaxy (Wii) and Need for Speed Carbon (PS2). A parental failing I've suffered is the one that has allowed my fine children to play lots of video games. I know, in my heart, that wasting copious amounts of time playing this garbage isn't good for the overall being, but damn they're fun to waste time with. In my past I've played a fair amount of finite list of titles, Zelda-Windwaker, the various gamecube Metroids, Island Adventure from the old super Nintendo platform. Those hours playing could've been spent saving Africa from hunger, right? Alas, on a rainy day, or during a late, late night, it's awfully fun escapism.
I digress.
Monday's ride took place after our evening meal. I felt the instantaneous need to hit the road, so away I went on the LHT. I felt pretty good too, so I went west. Granted, creeping dusk and nighttime wasn't optimal, but I feel comfortable on that route. I made good time westward, but on the return I just ran out of gas. Having left at 9ish, I ended up having the good wife- and my mother whom she had called- worried. I pulled in about 11.30. Oops.
Tuesday brought me another post-supper, post-meal ride. 'L' had baseball practice, so I rode the 2m to there. From there, I rode the rest of the way from the Highlands, up Baxter, and across to Crescent Hill to Clifton's Pizza. After a salad, some cheese sticks and a slice or so I was father full, but the road awaited and I crawled, and I mean at a 7-10mph crawl, crawled home on the LHT to finish up a 14m round-trip errand commute. I have to pull some big mileage coming up here, but errand miles are good miles, especially at $4.00/gallon.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Free is good
Date: May 31 Sat
Mileage: 20 (Bleriot)
May mileage: ??
Year to date: 598
Today's miles were beautiful free miles, found miles, without insistence of training or of necessity. I'm hot and sweaty and hacking hairballs or something, but I wouldn't trade today's miles for just about any others. My plan, there is always a plan, was to get out and do a couple hours this morning. 'L' awoke a little earlier than expected and mutually we decided to go to the farmers' market via 2-wheels. 'L' is so much more game to take these jaunts than his lazy older brother. He was downright enthusiastic. I took the 9.2.5. fixie to use its veggie-appropriate basket. I knew it would be a good day when we hit our first hill, a steep little pitch going from Trevilian in front of Lakeside up to near Kroger. 'L' hit is hard and kept plugging away, making the "summit" just a half wheel ahead of me, grinding my best on the fixie. Good for him and a great way to start the morning. We took a look at the farmers market, which was at its social best while not fully stocked with yet-to-ripen veggies. We picked a locally-produced havarti cheese, one of the boys' favorites, some salad greens and a quart of strawberries. The fresas are all very much in season, so that seemed the best option. The family loves them. I'm a little more ambivalent for some unknown reason. On the way home we stopped at Breadworks: scone for 'L', coffee for me, scone for 'Z' and danish for good wife. I also ran in next door to the hardware to grab some gutter drain covers. Now that some of our drainage goes underground I want to keep the pipes clean.
The second ride was also 'L' related, and also quite serendipitous. He was playing baseball about 2m from the house, so I took the LHT again. My dad and my half-brother arrived part ways through the game from Detroit, so we all decided on ice cream after the game, only that meant they were in the car and I on the bike. They gave me a bit of a head start and I time trialed it to Diary Kastle. If watermelons, tomatoes and thunderstorms are summer, then the DK is more so. Cheap, soft serve ice cream, homey atmosphere. Americana at its best. From the helado stop I then wandered north through Germantown and had intended to circle through the parks and home. Instead, I ran into the morning coffee guy from Sunergos. We had a very amiable chat, one that wasn't too different on bikes than what we have at 6.45 in the a.m. We both agreed that the bike is the way to liberate the day. After turning up towards Lexington Road I eyed another chap on the sidewalk . From the back it looked like a church softball friend, and once I approached my observation proved correct! I then rode with him a bit on his way to the bank. He doesn't ride much, but $4.00 is changing his mind. For years he has been almost chastising me to be careful; he's a bit paranoid about cycling on the road. After my 2nd serendipitous one-the-bike conversation I headed home, almost giddy at a superb day of urban errand cycling.
Mileage: 20 (Bleriot)
May mileage: ??
Year to date: 598
Today's miles were beautiful free miles, found miles, without insistence of training or of necessity. I'm hot and sweaty and hacking hairballs or something, but I wouldn't trade today's miles for just about any others. My plan, there is always a plan, was to get out and do a couple hours this morning. 'L' awoke a little earlier than expected and mutually we decided to go to the farmers' market via 2-wheels. 'L' is so much more game to take these jaunts than his lazy older brother. He was downright enthusiastic. I took the 9.2.5. fixie to use its veggie-appropriate basket. I knew it would be a good day when we hit our first hill, a steep little pitch going from Trevilian in front of Lakeside up to near Kroger. 'L' hit is hard and kept plugging away, making the "summit" just a half wheel ahead of me, grinding my best on the fixie. Good for him and a great way to start the morning. We took a look at the farmers market, which was at its social best while not fully stocked with yet-to-ripen veggies. We picked a locally-produced havarti cheese, one of the boys' favorites, some salad greens and a quart of strawberries. The fresas are all very much in season, so that seemed the best option. The family loves them. I'm a little more ambivalent for some unknown reason. On the way home we stopped at Breadworks: scone for 'L', coffee for me, scone for 'Z' and danish for good wife. I also ran in next door to the hardware to grab some gutter drain covers. Now that some of our drainage goes underground I want to keep the pipes clean.
The second ride was also 'L' related, and also quite serendipitous. He was playing baseball about 2m from the house, so I took the LHT again. My dad and my half-brother arrived part ways through the game from Detroit, so we all decided on ice cream after the game, only that meant they were in the car and I on the bike. They gave me a bit of a head start and I time trialed it to Diary Kastle. If watermelons, tomatoes and thunderstorms are summer, then the DK is more so. Cheap, soft serve ice cream, homey atmosphere. Americana at its best. From the helado stop I then wandered north through Germantown and had intended to circle through the parks and home. Instead, I ran into the morning coffee guy from Sunergos. We had a very amiable chat, one that wasn't too different on bikes than what we have at 6.45 in the a.m. We both agreed that the bike is the way to liberate the day. After turning up towards Lexington Road I eyed another chap on the sidewalk . From the back it looked like a church softball friend, and once I approached my observation proved correct! I then rode with him a bit on his way to the bank. He doesn't ride much, but $4.00 is changing his mind. For years he has been almost chastising me to be careful; he's a bit paranoid about cycling on the road. After my 2nd serendipitous one-the-bike conversation I headed home, almost giddy at a superb day of urban errand cycling.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Active Day
Date: May 18 Sun
Mileage: 13 (Bleriot) + 4.5 walking
May mileage: ??
Year to date: 488
What a great 2 days we have had this weekend. You can't do better than 75F, breezy and azure skies greeting you all day long. Today began by walking the boys to Sunday school. Church is a little more than 1 mile away, so I try- sometimes in vain- to use the feet instead of the car. They were game this morning, so that was the first leg of the day. I stayed at Breadworks and graded papers for about 2 hours and then walked home. Shortly thereafter my work friend- we'll call him Marco on account that he's almost completely nuts and Pantani is one cyclist I can think of who fit that bill- came by for a bike ride. He recently bought a Marin hybrid-like bike for errands and possible commuting. Knowing him, he'll never stick with commuting, but I hope he does. He only lives 1 mile away, so maybe next year we'll see him on the route like I had with 'BB'. We took a meandering neighborhood ride, mostly on super-flat streets. We ended up through the park and on the Beargrass Trail. I figured 'Marco' could handle its flatness. During our ride we saw signs for an Israel 60th anniversary ride that wound through the park, police guarding the turns. We returned via the park and up through Seneca Garden, giving us 13m total. 'Marco', relatively thin fellow, proved you could be pitifully out of shape while being think at the same time. I'm glad he gave it a try, though.
A little later in the afternoon, the good wife and I took a walk as we did yesterday, both days totaling 2.5m. My goal, aside from my own mileage ambitions, (sic). Yesterday included an errand ride, a walk and some great grill out food in the evening, and today was just as good. It's not hard to enjoy the near perfect. And even better, only 1 week of school- and tennis- to go.
Mileage: 13 (Bleriot) + 4.5 walking
May mileage: ??
Year to date: 488
What a great 2 days we have had this weekend. You can't do better than 75F, breezy and azure skies greeting you all day long. Today began by walking the boys to Sunday school. Church is a little more than 1 mile away, so I try- sometimes in vain- to use the feet instead of the car. They were game this morning, so that was the first leg of the day. I stayed at Breadworks and graded papers for about 2 hours and then walked home. Shortly thereafter my work friend- we'll call him Marco on account that he's almost completely nuts and Pantani is one cyclist I can think of who fit that bill- came by for a bike ride. He recently bought a Marin hybrid-like bike for errands and possible commuting. Knowing him, he'll never stick with commuting, but I hope he does. He only lives 1 mile away, so maybe next year we'll see him on the route like I had with 'BB'. We took a meandering neighborhood ride, mostly on super-flat streets. We ended up through the park and on the Beargrass Trail. I figured 'Marco' could handle its flatness. During our ride we saw signs for an Israel 60th anniversary ride that wound through the park, police guarding the turns. We returned via the park and up through Seneca Garden, giving us 13m total. 'Marco', relatively thin fellow, proved you could be pitifully out of shape while being think at the same time. I'm glad he gave it a try, though.
A little later in the afternoon, the good wife and I took a walk as we did yesterday, both days totaling 2.5m. My goal, aside from my own mileage ambitions, (sic). Yesterday included an errand ride, a walk and some great grill out food in the evening, and today was just as good. It's not hard to enjoy the near perfect. And even better, only 1 week of school- and tennis- to go.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Best Ride
It didn't set any records for distance, but I had the best kind of ride yesterday, a little 2.5 jaunt out in the perfect weather w/ 'L' (el segundo). I've been away alot of late and I'm catching up on some dad time. L had a soccer game first. When we got home, I stated "I'm going for a ride!" and he jumped in whether he could go. Yes, I was thinking of a 15-20 miler, but I surely couldn't say no. We had a nice time until he had to go to the bathroom, cutting short of expedition. The 75F/blue sky provided a glorious backdrop for what I'll label the best kind of ride of all.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
One of those days
I would give Friday and Saturday low scores, but I'll keep my head up. Friday early- 6.00a.m.- became a stressful day when my Afib, something I dealt with in September, came back. I had a brief spell Thursday night and I knew exactly what it was. Friday, work time, it was there again. Instead of going to work like I did the last time, this time I headed straight to the ER. I was there from 7-1.00, when I was then moved upstairs to a room. There they gave me some meds that regulate heart rhythm. Those took a good while to work; it was assumed for a while that I was staying overnight. Eventually I "converted" and had to good fortune of going home around 7.30. Oh, I should mention that the fam and my mom all came about 5.00 after the school day. The good wife would've come earlier in the day, but I didn't want her sitting around any more bored than I already was. Funnily, ironically, around the time they got there the nurse said I was going home that night. They had prepared a nice overnight bag with lots of magazines and a couple books, plus some socks that didn't have huge holes like the ones I was wearing.
I'm now on a twice-a-day med and have to see an "electrical guy" for a follow up. Afib is pretty common in old people, but not so much in a 38 yr-old. Seems like wiring, and not plumbing, is messed up. We'll see. That's life I guess.
And today, Saturday, was a loser all 'round. It opened with our school's girls basketball team losing in the State semifinals to another Louisville team, Butler. Butler seems to have the best player in the state and she dominated today's game. I know the elation and disappointment of a good-but-not-good-enough showing in state tournaments and it's a bittersweet emotion. Congrats to the girls for a good run. A little later the 'Cats lost in Georgia in overtime. Enough said about that misery. And finally Real lost away at Depor. That's 0-3 for me today. Guess I should do something else besides care about sports.
I don't really know what to do about my riding right now. Funnily, I was half thinking of commuting this past Friday- no tennis prac- but, hey!, I was in the hospital instead. I'll probably visit the "electro" doc before doing anything ambitious...
I'm now on a twice-a-day med and have to see an "electrical guy" for a follow up. Afib is pretty common in old people, but not so much in a 38 yr-old. Seems like wiring, and not plumbing, is messed up. We'll see. That's life I guess.
And today, Saturday, was a loser all 'round. It opened with our school's girls basketball team losing in the State semifinals to another Louisville team, Butler. Butler seems to have the best player in the state and she dominated today's game. I know the elation and disappointment of a good-but-not-good-enough showing in state tournaments and it's a bittersweet emotion. Congrats to the girls for a good run. A little later the 'Cats lost in Georgia in overtime. Enough said about that misery. And finally Real lost away at Depor. That's 0-3 for me today. Guess I should do something else besides care about sports.
I don't really know what to do about my riding right now. Funnily, I was half thinking of commuting this past Friday- no tennis prac- but, hey!, I was in the hospital instead. I'll probably visit the "electro" doc before doing anything ambitious...
Friday, March 07, 2008
Snow Event
I haven't been on the bike in days and days. So much the worse, it seems that I've been spending it in the car. The boys have started their spring soccer practices, so we've become taxi-driving soccer parents. Yesterday, the good wife picked the boys up from school. I went to tennis practice- yes, we finally had 1 nice, dry day in the last 3 weeks. She took Z to school practice from 3.30-5.30. She had L in the car with her, but forgot his soccer stuff, so...she returned home to get his stuff. She dropped him off at the courts and then proceeded to pick Z up at 5. At roughly 5 I took L to his practice 5.45-7.00. The afternoon was warm and sunny, but by the time L's soccer was in full gear it had dropped to 40F or colder and windy. Frankly, I froze my big fat butt off out there at the fields. L was no better. His hands were cold and his feet too. Oh, and the good wife too Z from his 5.30 end time to his last indoor prac from 6.00-7.00. After these 7.00 practices we convened to spend a gift certificate at Outback. Either my tastes have changed or these fast-food/fine-dining restaurants like Outback and Applebees have really, really degraded in quality. None-the-less the meal cost us $17, and that included a generous tip. The only thing I really like was the Smithwick's, the rest was adequate for a long-ass day.Today we have a late-winter storm coming in, 2" today and another 4-6" tonight. It's no snow day, though. School is off for an inservice day, which is why I have time to post an inane entry that doesn't deal with bike riding b/c I haven't ridden my bike.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Left Coast
As someone who has been to Europe 6x, Costa Rica 2x, Mexico and Canada, I always find it strange that I've never been west of Dallas. It's sort of ridiculous really. Of late we, the good wife and I, have been thinking of doing a westward journey, especially now that we have friends in multiple western cities. This morning I- and she a bit- spent a little time googlemapping different sites of interest. An itinerary might look like this:
- Seattle- visit our friends Anne and Chris respectively. There we have Olympic Nat'l, Mt. Ranier and perhaps even a trip to Vancouver, although that's quite north.
- Portland- visit Carlyn. I might just have to rent and ride in that great cycling city.
- We must break up the humongous stretch between Portland and SanFran. I'm thinking...
- NoCal- Smith RiverNRA/Jedidiah SmithSP or Redwoods NP. There seem to be alot of options in that general area. We would surely want to partake of the ocean and coastal options as well. Living in KY, I am quite sure I have no relative concept of the sizes and distances out that way.
- SanFran- to visit Cynthia. Mind you, I would like to stop and do Napa or Point Reyes.
If any of my dear readers has an insight, please feel free to comment. I can walk you through the highlights of Madrid or Monteverde, Costa Rica, but I'm ignorant of the Left Coast, USA.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
I have the Power!!
The blog is back after a very brief hiatus. After Monday's reasonable mileage I hit a wall, mostly in the form of some stormy conditions Tuesday. I could've, and should've, ridden but instead spent too much attention to the dire bullshit forecast. The fun came Tuesday night in the form of a straight-line wind storm which knocked power out throughout the area. The next day 3 official tornadoes- very rare for January- were announced, 1 in St. Matthews and 2 in Southern Indiana. Wild stuff. The storm knocked out power out from Tuesday through Thursday. I could've ridden both Wednesday and Thursday morning b/c I was up both days in time. The stress of the situation and the 45F home ixneyed the ride. Yesterday, Friday, was much of the same. When I lose the mojo I lose it. Today has been full of b'ball games, paint tone shopping and soccer soon to come.
I spent a perfectly good morning waiting for the drywall guy to come, only to call him again at 12.15 to find that he had experienced a lead somewhere, so no drywall fix, no ride, and no kitchen progress. We'll get there, but Ack!! Tomorrow, the bike.
I spent a perfectly good morning waiting for the drywall guy to come, only to call him again at 12.15 to find that he had experienced a lead somewhere, so no drywall fix, no ride, and no kitchen progress. We'll get there, but Ack!! Tomorrow, the bike.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Afuera
It's 1.15p.m. The fam is at various church-related activities and I now have time to ride. Por otro lado, afuera provides me 39F and rain. Damn. The right side of my brain says "no", the left "yes". Which side shall vanquish the other? And Real is on TV right now (almost getting scored on by bottom-of-table Levante) and the Cowboys a bit later. Modern life is a bitter pill taken of options.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Date: Dec 19 Wed
Mileage: 19 (9.2.5.)
December mileage: 122
Year to date: 2647
I took full advantage of the bicycle lifestyle to make 2 extra trips that most folks in society would've done in car, notwithstanding the bike commute to work. Z had a band concert at school today, so I got someone to cover and away I went in khakis, workshirt and dress shoes on the fixie downtown for the show. It's only 2 miles there, so it didn't take long and I was able to put the bike in the back of the auditorium. Mission accomplished.
Today is also year 15 of matrimonio. I always try to do flowers, b/c they're a fresh thing to have in a sometimes wintry time of year. After work I went by the favored florist to pick them up, and made use of the Wald basket on the fixie along with a bungee to take care of storage. I made it the 6 or so miles home with no probls. #2 accomplished as well.
Ratty pic of the fixie. The back yard is full of shit from the construction job. No they're not finished. Honey-brown Brooks is covered up front the previous moist-ish ride. This pic does include the RBW Banana bag, cork grips and basket
Not-very-good pic of the flower storage job. The florist, Schulz's, did an awesome job packing them in heavy-duty Xmas paper. On my end, the bungee up top did the trick. The bag below is the general trash bag I use to haul stuff in to/from work.
2 days left before Break. And after scandal after scandal, I need it!
Mileage: 19 (9.2.5.)
December mileage: 122
Year to date: 2647
I took full advantage of the bicycle lifestyle to make 2 extra trips that most folks in society would've done in car, notwithstanding the bike commute to work. Z had a band concert at school today, so I got someone to cover and away I went in khakis, workshirt and dress shoes on the fixie downtown for the show. It's only 2 miles there, so it didn't take long and I was able to put the bike in the back of the auditorium. Mission accomplished.
Today is also year 15 of matrimonio. I always try to do flowers, b/c they're a fresh thing to have in a sometimes wintry time of year. After work I went by the favored florist to pick them up, and made use of the Wald basket on the fixie along with a bungee to take care of storage. I made it the 6 or so miles home with no probls. #2 accomplished as well.
Ratty pic of the fixie. The back yard is full of shit from the construction job. No they're not finished. Honey-brown Brooks is covered up front the previous moist-ish ride. This pic does include the RBW Banana bag, cork grips and basket
Not-very-good pic of the flower storage job. The florist, Schulz's, did an awesome job packing them in heavy-duty Xmas paper. On my end, the bungee up top did the trick. The bag below is the general trash bag I use to haul stuff in to/from work.2 days left before Break. And after scandal after scandal, I need it!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Scattered Musings
Haven't been riding much, and fortunately not blogging either. I figure I should earn my entries with miles, and since I've been too "lump" to ride, then too "lump" to write. The last 2 weeks have been rain and 45F followed by rain and 40F followed by rain and 45F. After a while I just stopped riding, only to be bitten in the ass by sunny days while I was at meetings and such.
This is finals week, which of course leads to the break, so I'm going refortify the effort. I would be remiss to finish '07 with a whimper instead of a bang. It seems, though, that everything is stagnating at the moment. To wit:
This is finals week, which of course leads to the break, so I'm going refortify the effort. I would be remiss to finish '07 with a whimper instead of a bang. It seems, though, that everything is stagnating at the moment. To wit:
- Billy G's Mildcats are terrible. They're mired at 4-3, with limp losses to biggies UNC and IU. More troubling are 2 losses to near-nobodies Gardner-Webb and UAB. UAB, though, is something like 6-3 vs. UK in the last X years. It all sucks. I can barely watch the games.
- Real Madrid is pretty mediocre too, although their record reflects much more than UK's. Given the first half of La Liga, they will enter '08 at the top of the table, but so many victories, like today's vs. Osasuna reflect lots of ebb and not much flow. I would think that, the way they've been playing of late, they'll lose ground to Barca and certainly in the Champions League.
- In many ways, these 2 teams parallel each other. Both dominated play in the 1950s, but their modern reputations lie primarily on the past. Real is not as good a modern team as Man U. or AC Milan and UK is not as good a program as UNC. Frustrating.
- Dallas lost at home to Philly today, and may have compromised their home-field advantage. They'll have to win out to keep ahead of Green Bay, and I don't like their chances at Lambeau. Frustrating.
- The kitchen project is slightly forward, but it will still be weeks before it is ready for flooring and painting, and we've yet to line up those 2 projects b/c of a lack of knowledge when it's all going to be ready. And there is stuff all around the house. It's a disaster zone. And I'm tired of eating out; I want to cook a meal at home and sit down normally. Frustrating.
- A huge cheating ring was busted at school. It involves website and facebook sites where students trade stolen tests and answers and such. And some teachers had their computers raided. Their "my documents" files were copied and available. As importantly, some of the "best" students were those involved. If my students, many of which are the "best" students statistically on SAT/AP/ACT, represent the modern young person, I would posit that modernity has created an extremely cynical greedy entity void of ethics. And can you blame them? A mixture of sexually unethical lying president and everything else unethical lying president has created a void, an unctious void. My teacher neighbor posited that it all began "in 1963 when prayer was taken out of school". I in turn suggested that the modern unfettered "market approach" meritocracy has created conditions where anything goes and those with less are losers. So either Republicans are to blame in their more recent behavior, or godless Dems are to blame for fomenting the '60s anti-establishment revolution. Whatever the case, I hate looking at 30 different young people and not being able to trust even one. Frustrating.
- After having a great Sept/Oct losing 15lbs, I feel anti-momentum coming on. The ice cream, the snacks, the junk. I want, want, to eat well, feel good, and keep losing, but the "monkey mind" sure does interfere. I sit shaking my head but offering not solutions other than ride the damn bike and stay away from the damn junk.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Pavo! er.... Guajalote!
Date: Nov 22 Thurs
Mileage: 22 (Crosscheck)
November mileage: 330
Year to date: 2378
Yes, we know it as the "turkey". In Spanish it's commonly called el pavo, but there are also other terms. In Mexico, the nahuatl guajolote is commonly used, and that seems sensible to me. If the guajolote is a native North American/Central American species, then why not call it one of the most original terms? In doing some extensive research, I also found that it's known as the chompipe (chohm-pee-peh), a funny name that's sort of fun to say as well. And even moreso, field&stream presented me this nice pic of turkey asses, so I couldn't but help share it with you.
Oh, and I took a Turkey Day ride too on the Crosscheck. I didn't even change wheels, just doing some macho mileage on the relatively slight knobbies on the Ritchey Crossmax tires. It was quite a weather event of a ride. The temp stayed a constant 41F or so with a stiff breeze, but I started in the semi-sunny, semi-cloudy skies. Those quickly turned to very grey, slate skies which then turned to rainy skies. There's no better feeling than a bike ride at 40F with rain. It's fortunate that I had the gore-tex jacket on for the first time in a while. And in my last 3m or so, the sunny began peeking out from behind the clouds giving the wet, leaf-ridden streets a nice healthy sheen.
Oh, and I saw a Kingfisher along Beargrass Trail, similar to last year's early winter siting. and then the fooding commenced.
Peace
Friday, November 09, 2007
TARC
Date: Nov 9 Fri
Mileage: 11 (9.2.5.)
November mileage: 72
Year to date: 2120
While it wasn't a mega-mileage day, I had a great commute none-the-less. This afternoon, Z had a program after school, but L did not. Therefore, it would either take 2 different trips from the good wife, or I would have to come to the rescue, which I did. As I have 1 other time, I rode down to school to meet L at 2.45ish, which is his "escape" time. We then waited for the 21 Chesnut/Bashford bus, which comes by shortly after school. Then, L and I rode the 21 home to be let off quite close to our house. The good wife prefers that not too many details be used about boy issues, but this is enough to get the pic. Picked up quite close to the departure and only 10min of waiting, and let off just a hope/skip/jump. No, I didn't get big miles in, but I wouldn't trade those for a great, peaceful ride home with L, dad and son time. And fortuitously, I first lost my helmet mirror only to have it found on the bus floor by an elderly woman. I have a cold, or at least that nagging sore back-of-throat, so this week has been very low-key. I'd rather sleep than ride, but it was 48F this morning and 60F and sunny this afternoon, so a good day. Oh, and I commuted in on the fixie, using the Wald basket to haul crap. It's a great setup. Once I put the bike on the bus carrier I just lifted (well, actually before) the basket and took it with me on the bus.
Mileage: 11 (9.2.5.)
November mileage: 72
Year to date: 2120
While it wasn't a mega-mileage day, I had a great commute none-the-less. This afternoon, Z had a program after school, but L did not. Therefore, it would either take 2 different trips from the good wife, or I would have to come to the rescue, which I did. As I have 1 other time, I rode down to school to meet L at 2.45ish, which is his "escape" time. We then waited for the 21 Chesnut/Bashford bus, which comes by shortly after school. Then, L and I rode the 21 home to be let off quite close to our house. The good wife prefers that not too many details be used about boy issues, but this is enough to get the pic. Picked up quite close to the departure and only 10min of waiting, and let off just a hope/skip/jump. No, I didn't get big miles in, but I wouldn't trade those for a great, peaceful ride home with L, dad and son time. And fortuitously, I first lost my helmet mirror only to have it found on the bus floor by an elderly woman. I have a cold, or at least that nagging sore back-of-throat, so this week has been very low-key. I'd rather sleep than ride, but it was 48F this morning and 60F and sunny this afternoon, so a good day. Oh, and I commuted in on the fixie, using the Wald basket to haul crap. It's a great setup. Once I put the bike on the bus carrier I just lifted (well, actually before) the basket and took it with me on the bus.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
La Noche Bruja
Date: Oct 31 Wed
Mileage: 24 (LHT)
October mileage: 447
Year to date: 2048
Temps: 43F a.m./70F p.m. sunny
A beautiful day on the this "Witching Night", as they called it on one of the Spanish sports daily websites (title not there anymore). I both rode to and from school with "BB". She's quite a character, 55 and very bitchy, but with a tender side if you can get through it. We took a longish loop home, I wanting to build the last of my October miles. This month was my biggest this year, something I'm glad to say. I'll have to have both a good Nov and Dec to equal my 2006 output, but I'm going to try. Don't know if I can put Doug kind of miles in, but I think I may be able to do 1 good ride per week (meaning long) and keep commuting. This afternoon we were passed by something like 6 or 7 roadies, with none of them acknowledging our existence. No "hi" or "on you left" or anything. 'BB''s comment was that they all "fucking think they're Lance Armstrong". She may be right. Don't know, but all I can do is wave or say hello and move on. One of them passed us on Mellwood, he looking like a commuter with a C'dale aggro hybrid and lights and such. I said "hi" and he waved. Maybe 10sec later, 'BB' said, "That was my ex-husband". I laughed and laughed. It's a small world, isn't it?
This evening the fam headed to Hillcrest Ave. in Crescent Hill for a "Noche Bruja" party. Hillcrest is one of those streets that goes all out for H'ween. We went early to t-n-t and have some chili. The decorations were quite impressive and it's mostly likely that I was on the 6.30 news on WAVE3 with John Belksi, which is our favorite newscast. I wore a demon mask and gloves that the boys didn't want, and I obviously both impressed John and scared numerous toddlers. No pics, though. Duh, no camera. Once we left it was a friggin' madhouse, with literally Thousands of people. We escaped safely, and are glad of it.
Peace and have a great November.
Mileage: 24 (LHT)
October mileage: 447
Year to date: 2048
Temps: 43F a.m./70F p.m. sunny
A beautiful day on the this "Witching Night", as they called it on one of the Spanish sports daily websites (title not there anymore). I both rode to and from school with "BB". She's quite a character, 55 and very bitchy, but with a tender side if you can get through it. We took a longish loop home, I wanting to build the last of my October miles. This month was my biggest this year, something I'm glad to say. I'll have to have both a good Nov and Dec to equal my 2006 output, but I'm going to try. Don't know if I can put Doug kind of miles in, but I think I may be able to do 1 good ride per week (meaning long) and keep commuting. This afternoon we were passed by something like 6 or 7 roadies, with none of them acknowledging our existence. No "hi" or "on you left" or anything. 'BB''s comment was that they all "fucking think they're Lance Armstrong". She may be right. Don't know, but all I can do is wave or say hello and move on. One of them passed us on Mellwood, he looking like a commuter with a C'dale aggro hybrid and lights and such. I said "hi" and he waved. Maybe 10sec later, 'BB' said, "That was my ex-husband". I laughed and laughed. It's a small world, isn't it?
This evening the fam headed to Hillcrest Ave. in Crescent Hill for a "Noche Bruja" party. Hillcrest is one of those streets that goes all out for H'ween. We went early to t-n-t and have some chili. The decorations were quite impressive and it's mostly likely that I was on the 6.30 news on WAVE3 with John Belksi, which is our favorite newscast. I wore a demon mask and gloves that the boys didn't want, and I obviously both impressed John and scared numerous toddlers. No pics, though. Duh, no camera. Once we left it was a friggin' madhouse, with literally Thousands of people. We escaped safely, and are glad of it.
Peace and have a great November.
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