Visitor

The neighbor's cat stopped by for a visit.

My cat was not amused...

She warmed up eventually, though.

Xmas Adventure Part II

After my ride, Jen, my Dad and myself went over to his friend's Richards house to do some work on my bike. Richard has a shop in his basement where he builds streetrods, so he's got all kinds of tools. The task at hand was taking a Shimano DX cog and drilling some holes in it to bolt on a wheel as a fixed cog. The first task was grinding off the hardened chrome coating, so we could drill the cog.

The second task was making a jig to match up the holes on a disk rotor to the holes we were going to drill in the cog. To do this we took a piece of aluminum stock and milled it down for the rotor and cog to fit next to each other.

Meanwhile Jen ("that girl") went to work on Richard's computer and network. They were having some issues, so while we were milling she was fixing.

We finished the jig, but ran out of time. I decided to leave the parts with my dad and Richard. He could finish it the next time he was over Richards, then mail the parts to me.

Hamilton Creek

Didn't have a very good ride (regardless of the parking lot solicitation). Worried about time and worried about fitness equals sucky ride. It was cold, wet and slick. The sign said a loop should have been a little over eight. Turned out to be a little over ten. Hamilton Creek is a lot of fun. Lots of ups, downs, rocks, drops, twists and roots. All my favorite things, though I should remember to do it counter-clockwise next time. If you're in Nashville, get over to Hamilton Creek. It's just a couple of miles outside of the city.

Eggnog Me

I spent the whole day working on this stuff. Forgive me
if I don't have anything better to say.
Christmas day
My parents house

The Aftermath

Stay tuned for a Christmas morning picture page

and maybe a house page

Lock 4

The summer after my freshmen year at college, I came to Tennessee to live with my parents. That sounds weird I know, but that's a different story. I had a job as a Ranger at a city public golf course. Between that and working for my dad around the house, I rode my bike. One of the key places was Lock 4 in Gallatin.

For those of you familiar with trails in the Philadelphia area, Lock 4 is best described as a combination of Belmont Plateau and Middle Run. It's tight, twisty, littered with roots and a few drops for good measure. I thought it was a loop a little over six miles long and planned to do three laps. It's actually a little over eight. I did three laps anyway.

I had a blast. Some guy in the parking lot warned me the trails were slick as I headed out. The first lap was fast. I hammered. Thinking it was only a six mile loop, i kept it full tilt. Yep the trails were slick. My front and rear wheels tried sliding out independantly from one turn to the next. Still fun. Still ripping fast. After the seven mile mark, I obviously realized the loop was longer than originally expected. I also realized I probably hit it a little harder then I should.

Oh well finish the loop and see what's left. Not much. Second loop hurt. Crashed twice. Couldn't manage the wheel slides so well. I tried slowing down and taking it easy, but somehow kept plowing on. I was ready to quit and go home after the second, but figured a third was necessary. I'd take the camera this time and take some pictues to slow myself down. Lock 4 has very nice signage. There are signs telling you where to go and what to watch out for. This one in particular was a good one to pay attention to.

A couple of years ago I came around this turn and ignored the sign. I ended up with a couple of broken fingers on top of the broken rib I'd gotton in the French Creek race a few weeks earlier. This is why...

Sure it's not much of a drop, but where I'm standing for this picture is a ninety degree turn to my left. Back then I came ripping around the top turn, went to launch and realized I didn't have enough landing. Landed with the brakes locked and went down - crunch!. Today the turns were too slick to haphazardly rip around and launch.

Overall a good ride. If you're ever in the Nasvhille area, I highly recommend checking out Lock 4. Next is Hamilton Creek if the weather cooperates.

Xmas Adventure Part I

With Jen's hand out of commission, we decided to rearrange our travel plans to Tennessee for the holidays. We chose not to drive all the way to TN in one day, but head halfway to West Virginia. Only a six hour drive, it was done mostly in the pouring rain and half of that at night. Oh well. We had The Da Vinci Code as a book on tape and hardly noticed the weather. We rolled into my parents place in WV around nine, watched some TV, dressed Jen's hand and went to bed. Hightlight of our stay was actually getting to use this:

Yeah, WV is really that much fun. Actually I like it. Very beautiful.

Up the next morning and back on the road. Today was a 7 - 8 hour trip to TN. Again with The Da Vinci Code, we were sailing. Besides a dying ball-joint, the trip was mostly uneventful.

Tomorrow I'm taking my washed-out bearing bike (6 hours on top of the car through the rain at 80mph kills grease) down to the Lock 4 trails for a little ride. More on that tomorrow.

Ouch

No, really, that hurt. So this was supposed to be my first blog entry and Bob stole it while I was passed out on drugs. That's no nice, as my grandma would say.

As Bob said, I grabbed the pan handle and I grabbed it hard. I burned myself from the heel of my hand all the way up to each one of my fingertips. I really thought that I could treat it myself. You see, I got second and third degree burns on my hand and leg about eight years ago, so I know the drill. That's what happens when you spill boiling water on yourself. Anyway, I still had some of the burn cream from that time.

What changed my mind was that the cream was 8 years old and so is my last tetnus shot. Bad burns are prone to get infections and infections are bad when you don't have any skin. So we went to the ER with my hand in a pot of water.

I was really glad when they said they were going to give me an injection for the pain because it was still really painful almost three hours later. I don't know what the drug was called, but it made me loopy before it stopped the pain. She also gave me a tetnus shot and a bunch of rebandaging materials and I'm supposed to have it looked at in two days.

Home to sleep with instructions to take an ibuprofen now and a percocet around 3 am and then alternate the two drugs every 3 hours. Sounds like I'll be looped for awile. G'night.

Burn Baby Burn

Jen grabbed the handle of a pan that had been in the oven at 475 degrees for a little while. Needless to say she got burned. She tried to tough it out for a while sitting with her hand in a bowl of water for about an hour. When it didn't appear to be getting any better, we headed to the ER. Wait wasn't too long (never made it to the court side of a "Law & Order" episode). Got triaged, listened to a woman scream at the top of her lungs, bandaged, then some drugs (Darvocet?). Home to pick up some Percocet, then out like a light.

She's doing ok. Can't use her hand much, but the medicine is working and pain is minimal. Guess I get to open all her presents for her on Christmas.

Solar Solution

Jen's cousin and his wife recently had some photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof of their garage. Being the materialistic prick that I am, I want some too, but bigger. (that's a joke). Yes I would like them, but for many, many different reasons.

First her cousin lives in north Jersey. Their panel array is about 12'x14'. In October their panels created 300kWh. Our available roof area is at least 40'x16'. That's almost four times the size. Is it feasible to say in October we could have created nearly 1200kWh of power? We currently average 933kWh/month. In October we'd be putting power back to the grid.

The second and probably coolest thing about her cousin's deal is he lives in Jersey (yeah it's like the only cool thing - kidding). The state of New Jersey paid for 65% of the bill. On top of that, the federal gov't paid $2k. That's not a bad deal. Actually it's such a good deal, Home Depot takes care of it all for you. It's almost as easy as ordering paint.

So what's stopping us? We live in Pennsylvania. The state pays squat for residential renewable energy initiatives. From the little research I've done so far, our best bet is to apply for a grant. If anyone has any other info, please share. Another option of course is to wait. Wait till pv solar technology becomes more widely accepted and used, then the prices will come down. But sixty degree days in December makes me feel like it's too late to wait.

Ina Funk

Not sure how or why.

Saw a racoon in a tree on my ride home. That was cool.

Got my new Lakes.

Still ina funk.

Old Man Down

I think it was two years ago that Craig first tried riding with the Wednesday night group. It was winter and there was snow on the ground. We were having a blast slipping and railing through the snowy night woods when Craig finally caught up barely able to breath. With mucous pouring out of every orifice in his head, it looked like his face was melting. Between short exasperated breaths, he asked how to get back to the cars. He was done. We killed him. He relegated himself down to the B group.

Fast forward a bunch of months and Craig was back. After riding as much as he could and eventually circles around the B guys, he was back to test himself against the premier riders of Wednesday nights in Downingtown. He did well. He did very well on his six inch travel Maverick. A few months later and he caught the bug. He baught a single speed and that was it. Overnight he transformed into a 40+ year old single speed machine. He completely dominated the MASS Master's Sport class on his SS.

Through this fall Craig has continued to impress. Many rides he has taken a position near the front and remained there. Today on such a ride at Middle Run/White Clay, after twenty eight miles, Craig went down. He went down hard. We had decided to roll back down to the skills area and try the stunts again for good measure. After the last teeter-totter and on the last drop, he fell and seperated his collar bone from his shoulder.

R.I.P. You stubborn fuck.

Sorry, had to change the tone. So he crashed. It was ugly. He was in a lot of pain. After picking his bike up off of him, we asked him to get out of the way so we could try the stunts again. When we were satisfied with the skills course, I completely expected to walk back with him. Craig wasn't having it. He got on his bike and started riding. All the way back to the car he rode. It was nuts.
I hope I'm half the stubborn bastard he is when I'm 10+ years older. Take some time off and take it easy when you start riding again. This little mishap shouldn't have much of an effect on your riding.

Check out the lump on his right shoulder. The left one doesn't look like that.

This Sucks

Mt. Hood Climbers

Mustang Sally

"Smokin Joe Frazier" was at the corporate holiday party last night singing "Mustang Sally" with Bill McDermott.

That's not something you get to see everyday.

100% Wind

Setup our electric bill to come from wind only sources.

If you live in SE PA, find out more about Peco Wind.

Cheers!

Tonight begins the first of three holiday parties - all in a row.
Happy Holidays!!!

Bad Start

Wake up this morning and see it's too foggy to ride to work. Can't even see the bamboo half-way down the driveway. That's no good. Oh well can't ride everyday.

Go to take the dog out before I leave for work. I put on his new Invisible Fence collar and we head out the door. He sniffs the grass a little in the front yard, does his thing, then we head over to the garage. No sooner then we get there and he's off! He's tearing down the driveway after something I can't see or smell. As he nears the fence line I yell "Back!", "Back!" - the command you're supposed to give when he gets near the fence. Like all the times before when he bolts, I don't exist. He hears nothing - totally focused on whatever it is he thinks he's going to catch. I cringe as he crosses where he should get zapped. Nothing. He's flying.

I start to freak out a little as I realize he's headed for the road. I start running. He crosses the street and is gone. I make the 200yrd run down the driveway to the other side of the street. I stop and listen for the jingle of his tags. He's at the school running in circles. There's men on the roof watching. He stops and takes a dump in front of the school.

Furious only begins to describe how I feel, though a little rediculous fits too. Suddenly he realizes I'm there and he's in trouble. At first he won't come to me knowing he's dead. He relents and accepts his fate. I grab his collar and take him home.

I walk him back over the fence to make sure it worked. He squirms a little, but not enough to deter him from running over it again.

The collar needs more juice.

The whole reason I got the fence was to stop his sprints. He's done this forever. Usually it's a cat, dog or some other animal he decides he has to be with immediately. When he takes off there's no stopping him. He understands the property boundries. That's never an issue. It's the inspiration to run that's an issue. It's instinct. At eleven years old his instinct is still a pain in my ass.

My biggest fear is the roads. Only the object of his focus exists when he takes off. Cars, SUVs, dumptrucks mean nothing.

It's back on the leash till I get the collar cranked up.

I have to remember to get the poop out of my car (stopped at the school on my way to work).

Cool Shot

More info here.

Nagging

It's stuff like this that drives me nuts

This is a spot on the ceiling of our bathroom.
It would take only a quick fifteen minutes to remedy.
If only I could find that fifteen minutes.

Luckily I can find some relief in art.
Credit for such a find goes here.

R2-D2 Army

I have this army of R2-D2s guarding the house

It's a shame I can't get any of the little buggers to decorate the tree

Maybe I can convince the laundry girl to do it?

OK I'm done.

R-Value

After two weeks of having the downstairs all torn to hell for the insulation rework, I finally got around to putting in the new R-19 fiberglass batts. Batts? R-what? For some handy info on insulation check out the following links at the U.S. DOE

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/insulation.html

Or skip to the good stuff

Map and Chart

Then get a little crazy with it.

If you're anything like me, I don't recommend you try those links. You'll have your walls, floors and attic all torn apart to make sure all the insulation is up to spec and your house is at maximum efficiency. This is why I tell people to rent as long as they can. I'd like to say houses suck, but Jen says it's just me. Maybe she's right?

As a side note looks like I'm getting a set of these. I'd like to think I'm spoiled, but my arms and lungs are too itchy for such nonsense.

Speaking of nonsense I locked myself out of the house tonight. Rode home from work and realized I had the wrong keys. Jen was out with the girls and not coming home. The keys I did have luckily opened the other garage and started my truck. I called Jen to meet her at her dinner location and get her key. Another "One Less Car" day wasted.

Wedding Proofs

For those that wanted to see the wedding proofs...

Splat!

Paintball is an activity that requires a lot of patience. The first two games we played, I was the second person out. The game would start, I'd get bored, start running and get shot. In the third game I learned crawling more suited my disposition toward action. I lasted till I ran out of paintballs, then mistakenly left the game thinking I had nothing left to contribute. Fourth game, after crawling some more, I got pinned behind a tree and shot in the back of the head while reloading. Fifth game I got taken out by a sniper. I was crawling again and got myself wedged down between a rock and a tree. The normal rental guns didn't have the accuracy to hit me. Some dude with his own gun took three shots to finally plant one in my face. Sixth and final game I ran through almost all my paintballs before I decided to start running. Shot in the face again.

I don't think I shot a single person all day.

It was fun. Different, but fun. I would recommend getting your own group. Getting thrown in with 50 other people makes things a little crazy.

Freak Out II

I feel like such a wasted piece of shit. I've got a crap load of stuff I need to do around the house. I realize I can't do it all at once, but when I can't get at least some of it done or see some kind of progress, I get down.

I need some time to cut my way out, check some shit off the list - make some progress.

I have to skip rides this week to make some progress. Otherwise I'll go to holiday parties pissed and Jen doesn't like that. I hate this week.

Last year when we bought our house. I took three months off of riding (and just about everything else). I knew there was too much to get done. It was the only way I could cope. Now I'm tyring to do house projects, ride and dance classes. It's not working.

Shoot Me

Busy as hell. Nothing accomplished. I hate that.

Under Pressure

Silly Mountainbiker

I bought the Ritchy's (directly above) thinking they'd be lighter than the Oury Lock-Ons I've been using for the last two years. They're only 1/8 of an ounce lighter.

Ouch

Out for the Wed. Night Ride. Hadn't ridden the SS in a week and a half. Hills felt steeper/longer. Gear felt bigger. Off camber was more off. Pushed hard to not hold up an old guy. Yesterday morning the scale read five pounds lighter. Must have been muscle, because last night hurt.

Off to the bar. A Hop Wallop and Black Ho to ease the pain. Mmmmmm barley wine.

Aren't You Cold

Fuck your TV! It only makes your ass fat. I can't stand the bitch-ass tech-weenies freaking out when I ride in on a cold day. Beyond high def, plasma - flat screen or the latest gaming system, they have no idea what it's like to actually be out in the cold. Forgotton are the days when mommy bundled them tight with layers of turtlenecks, sweaters, coats and scarves. Nowdays it's a flashy leather coat for the dash to the SUV with heated leather seats. From the games they play, the cars they drive and the shows they watch, it's all about a virtual reality where they never get hurt, cold or sweat. The act of watching someone or something else experience the realities of life is real enough for them.

And you Mr. Air Pollution Cigar Smokn' Man, get off my trail. Stop stinkn' up my crisp morning air. You're disgusting. You look like a toxic waste dragon as the smoke curls around your head. I don't give a shit what hundred million dollar company your're CFO of. You stink and there's nothing cool about making everything else stink.

All this because I dressed too warmly this morning and sweated the whole way in. Thank you. Have a nice day and please remember to keep the isles clear.

Too Much Recursion

Spent way too much time in front of a computer today. Leaving you with a few links:

Way cooler than you: Bat Boy

Way cooler than me: How to Avoid the Bummer Life

Back in the Saddle

It's been a rough couple of days. On Thursday my cold had me knocked out completely. Friday was better, but I worked from home to keep things steady. Jen drug me out to the dance party that night, so we could earn a few more points for the TOC. Saturday was better still, but excessive things like launching myself over the deck rail to chase squirrels left me dizzy and short of breath. We spent most of the day out and about running errands, more dancing and picked up my backcountry skis at REI. Today was the best yet. Still a little stuffy, but felt like my old self - running in circles trying to get everything done. No dizzyness or shortness of breath. Tomorrow should be back on the bike and rolling.

Started this morning with the Squirrel Wars: The Homeowner Strikes Back. A week or so ago I put out squirrel feeders to try and keep them from our bird feeders. They'd hang out and eat the corn, but the seed in the feeders was

just too tempting. It didn't take long and they'd be hanging from the feeders like it was the Ole Country Buffet. And they were arrogant about it. Back in Paoli if there was a squirrel at the feeder, the simple click of the sliding glass door lock sent them flying. Here it takes leaping over the deck rail before they they think you're serious (and sick). On our errands yesterday we hit the Wild Bird Center and picked up some serious anti-squirrel measures. First we got a taller stronger pole to hang the feeders from. Then after much debate (over color mostly), we got a baffle to mount on the pole. The baffle keeps the little buggers from climbing up. As long as nothing is within eight feet of the top and feeders, we should be golden. Early this morning I got it all assembled, then sat back with my coffee to watch the show. It worked! I think. We had three squirrels around, but none of them tried the new setup. So I guess it's not exactly conclusive. They're probably waiting for me to go to work before they get it all figured out. By next weekend the Ole Country Buffet will be back in business. Bastards! Here's a shot of the current setup. I guess it was the false sense of success that led us onto the next project.

With the squirrels not at the feeders, we had all kinds of birds - Blue Jays, Doves, Juncos, Chickadees, Titmice, Wrens, Finches, Cardinals, Nut Hatches, Downies, etc. - so let's create another bird feeder setup at the side of the house out our picture window? More running around and we had enough to start putting things together. Unlike the rickety pole deal, we were going for the death star of bird feeders. I got an eight foot four by four post, a two foot sleeve baffle and a ten and half quart feeder to make the ultimate squirrel proof Ole Country Bird Buffet. The neighbors cats will love us. Anyway, I got most of the parts, but there's still some final touches (color coordination) before it goes up. For now we have a lonely pole sticking up in our yard for our curious neighbors to ponder - as we ponder what the hell he's going to do with his backhoe tomorrow.

So that was most of the day. When I started getting stuff ready for the commute tomorrow I realized my winter riding shoes are on their last leg. The stitching in the heel has started to pull out. I've seen this happen on others shoes. It's usually not long after they completely disintegrate to mt. bike shoe heaven. I shoe gooed em for now, but that might last a week. In the meantime I'm scouring the net for the cheapest price on a pair of 2007 Lake MXZ301 (on left). The ones I have/had were 2005s or 2004s (on right). The design has changed significantly. Maybe they've replaced the single stitched heel cup, with double, but I doubt it.

For those patiently reading for the possum outcome, there was nothing. Not sure if it was time to move on or what, but there was no evidence of anything touching the hot pepper suet. Maybe tomorrow?

And yeah I know - birds, squirrels - blah, blah, blah. There were at least three different rides I could have chosen from today. One was a kick-ass epic Valley Forge to Wiss and back, but I don't want any relapses. I wanna get sick, let it run its course and move on. None of this sick for weeks crap. I can afford to miss a few days. I can't afford weeks of sort of good sort of sick. Sick sucks.

Possum Kingdom

A month or so ago, the dog came across an opossum in our yard at night. The opossum hissed and CJ left it alone. No big deal, but I did some research and found the following sites: PossumRescue.com, opossum.org, and opossumsocietyus.org. Still no big deal, until we started losing entire suet cakes from our bird feeder overnight. I haven't actually caught an opossum in the act, but knowing they're around and that whatever is eating the suet is doing it under the cover of night I'm pretty sure that's what it is. So today I got some of this

Apparently birds can't taste the pepper and it's only irritating enough to mammals to make them not eat it again. I guess we'll see. I can't imagine hot peppers being harder to eat then dead animals and rotten garbage. If it doesn't work, we'll just have to try something different with the suet until the opossum decides to move along.

Mug Shot

Maybe it's just me, but coffee and/or tea seems a whole lot better when consumed from the right mug. Until we got our own dishes, we've been using hand-me-downs and office give-aways as our mugs and cups. Our new ones are perfect. The volumn, weight and size in your hand is just right. It almost makes mornings worth it.