and no I'm not talking about our much loved and recently fought over trail at the Science Center. I'm just talking about day to day life and everything that goes into it. It seems everything these days is in a whirlwind- work, family, finances, weather, etc, etc. Let's break it down shall we?
Work: Just when you think you're on top, a wave of stuff comes smashing back over you. Take for instance this morning. I had one major thing on my desk to accomplish by days end and any various number of small side items. Along about 8 o'clock I get a call that one of my sub contractors doesn't seem to be fulfilling his obligations to meet deadlines on the jobsite and they want a meeting at 1 this afternoon to make sure I keep his butt in line. OK, so that throws a wrench into the day and now I'm scrambling to make sure all my ducks are in a row too. I decide that we should take over part of his work load and now I've got several large scale items on my desk, plus a phone call to fill up my day and then some.
Family: Actually, family has been pretty decent. Miranda and Corley were out of town a couple days last week and I was able to get the house cleaned. I also had a good steak dinner with Squirrel and his family on Friday night. It was nice to kick back and chill. Saturday was pretty busy as we hit the Science Center in the AM for some Halloween fun and then Night Eyes Saturday afternoon along with going out to eat that night. Sunday was pretty lazy though as Corley and I hung out in the house and watched the wind attempt to remove the shingles from everyone's houses.
Finances: I've been eyeing these pretty close as of late with all the ups and downs in the market plus the general piss poor shape of our economy. Things look pretty decent for us, but you can never make too sure. I even earmarked some money to possibly purchase a new mountain bike. Now, a week later, I've seen my quarterly IRA statement (down over 20% for the year), had our home equity line of credit shut down because they estimate my house is worth MUCH less (over $20K) than they told me 1 year ago, and I'm still wondering how our taxes, year end bonus, and sales for our business are going to shake out for the rest of the year. I hate credit card debt and luckily, we really don't carry any balances unless it benefits us with something like 0% financing and the like. This means we're just fine financially, but I like having the cushion of the line of credit for emergencies and/or to use as a slush fund in case something too good to resist should pop up (read new mountain bike). Funny thing is, I think this very thing happened to a number of other people who are probably a bit less responsible when it comes to spending and now they're up shit creek having no more access to easy cash. This leads to the current housing storm we're all hearing about and in turn drops my property value...
Weather: Wow, I can't believe the wild ass weather for fall. We go from torrential rains, to cold, to warm, to windstorms, to cold again in a week. Pretty wild. At least the winds helped speed the drying process for the center trails and word is they're about perfect for now. I'm looking forward to riding since it's been over a week now. I'm itching to get out and I have to practice up a bit for this weekend's Dirty Du. I've teamed up with Heather from PRC to ride the relay portion while she runs. I can't wait!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Why?
That's the question that struck me last night as I was standing in the office having a bitch fest with a fellow coworker at the stroke of 7 at night. Considering I'd been in the office since 6 that morning and figured I should put in another half or full hour, I considered it a valid question. It stuck with me through the night, haunted my dreams a bit, and even was pondered in the shower this morning. Why do I do what I do? Who am I doing it for? What's my end goal?
I used to think I did it for the money and all that it would buy. That's an easy, shallow, and somewhat fulfilling answer. But, in reality, it's not anywhere near why I really do it. It struck me this morning. I do what I do for my family. I do it so we can live a life that is as fulfilling as we can make it and hopefully give our daughter a great start to life. However, there must be balance. I'm realizing that the balance is quickly tipping into the wrong direction lately. While I'm not just out after money, I've worked myself into a spot where work requires so much of me that I can't give what I want or need to my family. My goal at work right now is to leave early enough that I can see Corley for a few minutes before she has to go to bed. Her bed time is at 8. That just sucks.
So, it's important for me to at least put down why I'm doing what I'm doing. I need to see that in the end it will be worth it. My family is always going to be worth it. It doesn't mean that I can't resent having to do it in the way that I'm currently doing it though. I'll make it, but don't expect me to be happy about it and I hope I won't carry too much bitterness after I get done.
I used to think I did it for the money and all that it would buy. That's an easy, shallow, and somewhat fulfilling answer. But, in reality, it's not anywhere near why I really do it. It struck me this morning. I do what I do for my family. I do it so we can live a life that is as fulfilling as we can make it and hopefully give our daughter a great start to life. However, there must be balance. I'm realizing that the balance is quickly tipping into the wrong direction lately. While I'm not just out after money, I've worked myself into a spot where work requires so much of me that I can't give what I want or need to my family. My goal at work right now is to leave early enough that I can see Corley for a few minutes before she has to go to bed. Her bed time is at 8. That just sucks.
So, it's important for me to at least put down why I'm doing what I'm doing. I need to see that in the end it will be worth it. My family is always going to be worth it. It doesn't mean that I can't resent having to do it in the way that I'm currently doing it though. I'll make it, but don't expect me to be happy about it and I hope I won't carry too much bitterness after I get done.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Leg breaker weekend
Ahh, the weekend. The time for rest, relaxation, and breaking legs? That was the recipe for Saturday morning. Only an endurance pace ride for Pete, Lou, Pig, and a couple other boys in black but that meant I was in for some hurt. I haven't had nearly enough time on the bike lately, but signed on anyway. Damn boys, I know you like to go early, but a 5:45 start time from the west side means a 4:30 wake up call for me. I rolled my bleary eyed ass out of bed and got everything ready to roll. I was greeted by a foggy and humid morning rolling in.
The original call was for 80 miles on the Winterset loop, but I was only planning to hang as long as I could and then limp it back home on empty. We actually rolled out a bit of a different route heading the reverse of how I typically ride it. We rolled through Orilla, down to Norwalk, and then through Martensdale. I hung pretty well into Martensdale and then it was discussed to shorten the ride to St Mary's and back. Somewhere around this point Lou made the comment that at the front of the pace line we should be drilling it since we were able to recover in the draft. I laughed out loud at that one considering my heart rate was averaging 170-175 in the draft and 180+ up front. We hit the first big roller south of Martensdale and I popped half way up running the heart rate to 190. I'd been pushing hard enough long enough that I didn't push on through and fell off the back quickly. I hit one more roller headed south and turned for home figuring they'd catch me somewhere around the edge of town.
As I turned I checked my average speed and made a mental note to try to stay on the gas and keep my pace up. I rolled in through town and headed back to the parking lot. It was a zoo with everyone loading up for the spectacle that is Ragbrai. Luckily I had enough forethought to park at the far end of the lot so I was out of the way enough to get out easily. Micah showed back up about 10 minutes after I got there and let me know the others stopped for coffee downtown. I headed out to go meet them. As we headed out from coffee, Lou offered up the second half of his cup since he was still on 2 wheels and I was headed home. Not one to let a good cup go to waste, I took it home. Damn! I'm not sure what his order was, but I was like a squirrel on crack when I got home!!
The rest of the weekend was pretty nice as well. We got a little family time in along with some house cleaning for the afternoon and then dropped little one off at Grandma's. We hit a nice dinner at Latin King before we headed out in search of some commercial property. We're seriously thinking of opening a storefront for our lingerie business. Things are starting to move for us locally with our product getting put out in a few locations, so it's time to think about doing some of our own sales.
We headed down to the science center after that to catch Dark Night in IMAX. The movie kicked some serious ass, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend seeing it in IMAX. There's just too much sensory input and while it can be processed, it isn't the same as being able to catch it all on a regular screen. Definitely check out the movie either way.
I actually slept in a bit this morning since Corley spent the night with grandma. I hit work for a few hours and tried to get some stuff done. I wasn't alone in my Sunday slave labor. I picked up Corley after her nap and decided we'd go do some playing this afternoon. Squirrel apparently still has his text ring tone shut off and I didn't hear back from them so we headed out on our own. I hooked the trailer up to the Bianchi for the first time. We rolled to the grocery store to pick up a few frosty adult refreshments and some treats for later as well. After dinner, we took another short ride up to the park.
Corley LOVES to swing. She'll tell you that's what she wants to do if you ever give her an option to go do something. We swung and did the slides for a while and headed back to the house. I took a little bit of a detour to get some hills in dragging the trailer. Talk about a leg breaker! Nothing like dragging an extra 40 pounds up a hill with you.
It was a good thing I took that long way home. My first real freegan find while riding. There was a nice shiny Craftsman wrench with a ratchet box end. Sweet! Another block to home and it was time to wind the weekend down. Hopefully this week will bring some sanity back to work. I'm headed to the job site on Tuesday and while things don't seem too over the top right this second, I'll be holding my breath until I head home on Tuesday night. I might try to sneak in a ride up there with one of the owner's reps who happens to be a triathlete.
The original call was for 80 miles on the Winterset loop, but I was only planning to hang as long as I could and then limp it back home on empty. We actually rolled out a bit of a different route heading the reverse of how I typically ride it. We rolled through Orilla, down to Norwalk, and then through Martensdale. I hung pretty well into Martensdale and then it was discussed to shorten the ride to St Mary's and back. Somewhere around this point Lou made the comment that at the front of the pace line we should be drilling it since we were able to recover in the draft. I laughed out loud at that one considering my heart rate was averaging 170-175 in the draft and 180+ up front. We hit the first big roller south of Martensdale and I popped half way up running the heart rate to 190. I'd been pushing hard enough long enough that I didn't push on through and fell off the back quickly. I hit one more roller headed south and turned for home figuring they'd catch me somewhere around the edge of town.
As I turned I checked my average speed and made a mental note to try to stay on the gas and keep my pace up. I rolled in through town and headed back to the parking lot. It was a zoo with everyone loading up for the spectacle that is Ragbrai. Luckily I had enough forethought to park at the far end of the lot so I was out of the way enough to get out easily. Micah showed back up about 10 minutes after I got there and let me know the others stopped for coffee downtown. I headed out to go meet them. As we headed out from coffee, Lou offered up the second half of his cup since he was still on 2 wheels and I was headed home. Not one to let a good cup go to waste, I took it home. Damn! I'm not sure what his order was, but I was like a squirrel on crack when I got home!!
The rest of the weekend was pretty nice as well. We got a little family time in along with some house cleaning for the afternoon and then dropped little one off at Grandma's. We hit a nice dinner at Latin King before we headed out in search of some commercial property. We're seriously thinking of opening a storefront for our lingerie business. Things are starting to move for us locally with our product getting put out in a few locations, so it's time to think about doing some of our own sales.
We headed down to the science center after that to catch Dark Night in IMAX. The movie kicked some serious ass, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend seeing it in IMAX. There's just too much sensory input and while it can be processed, it isn't the same as being able to catch it all on a regular screen. Definitely check out the movie either way.
I actually slept in a bit this morning since Corley spent the night with grandma. I hit work for a few hours and tried to get some stuff done. I wasn't alone in my Sunday slave labor. I picked up Corley after her nap and decided we'd go do some playing this afternoon. Squirrel apparently still has his text ring tone shut off and I didn't hear back from them so we headed out on our own. I hooked the trailer up to the Bianchi for the first time. We rolled to the grocery store to pick up a few frosty adult refreshments and some treats for later as well. After dinner, we took another short ride up to the park.
Corley LOVES to swing. She'll tell you that's what she wants to do if you ever give her an option to go do something. We swung and did the slides for a while and headed back to the house. I took a little bit of a detour to get some hills in dragging the trailer. Talk about a leg breaker! Nothing like dragging an extra 40 pounds up a hill with you.
It was a good thing I took that long way home. My first real freegan find while riding. There was a nice shiny Craftsman wrench with a ratchet box end. Sweet! Another block to home and it was time to wind the weekend down. Hopefully this week will bring some sanity back to work. I'm headed to the job site on Tuesday and while things don't seem too over the top right this second, I'll be holding my breath until I head home on Tuesday night. I might try to sneak in a ride up there with one of the owner's reps who happens to be a triathlete.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Good times
The weekend is a bit hazy, but overall was pretty decent. Saturday morning we were up relatively early and headed off to the zoo to catch one more show with the elephants before they left town. We picked up a friend's daughter and took her as well. The girls had an awesome time watching the elephants put on their show. We had a few sprinkles that threatened to get us wet, but luckily they were just a threat only. We buzzed through a few more exhibits and then it was time to head out for lunches and such.
I headed off to work after swining by the house for quick bite of lunch. I'm still pegging out miles on the new scooter. As of this morning I'm around 200 in just a shade over a week. I spent a 5 hour chunk prepping a single question set for the job I'm working on. Apparently the designer and architect don't ever talk to each other and I'm about the only one checking to see if items all work together which definitely isn't part of my job. So, after that was done, I couldn't really make any headway and it was time to head home.
After Corley's bed time we kicked back and watched part of a horror flick called "The Eye". I only watched part of it as I was due to get up early for a nice long ride with some friends. I rousted myself out of bed and was just a minute or two past our designated 7 AM start time when I reached their house. Hmm, that's odd, usually they're ready and waiting for me. So, I knocked and knocked again. Finally, I tapped on the glass in the door. Finally a bleary eyed buddy opens the door and regrets to inform me that an email was fired off after midnight last night that they weren't rolling with me this morning. Damn! I headed back out on the road and as the sun was warming my back I stopped to ponder.
Yup, I bailed on the ride. I really wanted to go, but something was nagging me to stay back and do other things. I'm not sure if I just thought going out on the ride by myself was being too selfish or if I just didn't want to be out on my own. In any case, I headed home, peeled out of the spandex, and made arrangements to help some friends out with a new swingset they were building. I spent the morning and a couple hours in the afternoon on that project helping with the heavyweight portions of the work. I had to head out early so Miranda could go to work.
Coley got up from her nap and had been begging to go swing all day. How could I resist? We loaded up and hit Ewing park for some good dirty fun. We swung, we slid, we shuffled our feet in the gravel, and had a great time.
We rounded out the night playing in the cool AC before hitting bed. Couldn't have asked for a much better Sunday.
I headed off to work after swining by the house for quick bite of lunch. I'm still pegging out miles on the new scooter. As of this morning I'm around 200 in just a shade over a week. I spent a 5 hour chunk prepping a single question set for the job I'm working on. Apparently the designer and architect don't ever talk to each other and I'm about the only one checking to see if items all work together which definitely isn't part of my job. So, after that was done, I couldn't really make any headway and it was time to head home.
After Corley's bed time we kicked back and watched part of a horror flick called "The Eye". I only watched part of it as I was due to get up early for a nice long ride with some friends. I rousted myself out of bed and was just a minute or two past our designated 7 AM start time when I reached their house. Hmm, that's odd, usually they're ready and waiting for me. So, I knocked and knocked again. Finally, I tapped on the glass in the door. Finally a bleary eyed buddy opens the door and regrets to inform me that an email was fired off after midnight last night that they weren't rolling with me this morning. Damn! I headed back out on the road and as the sun was warming my back I stopped to ponder.
Yup, I bailed on the ride. I really wanted to go, but something was nagging me to stay back and do other things. I'm not sure if I just thought going out on the ride by myself was being too selfish or if I just didn't want to be out on my own. In any case, I headed home, peeled out of the spandex, and made arrangements to help some friends out with a new swingset they were building. I spent the morning and a couple hours in the afternoon on that project helping with the heavyweight portions of the work. I had to head out early so Miranda could go to work.
Coley got up from her nap and had been begging to go swing all day. How could I resist? We loaded up and hit Ewing park for some good dirty fun. We swung, we slid, we shuffled our feet in the gravel, and had a great time.
We rounded out the night playing in the cool AC before hitting bed. Couldn't have asked for a much better Sunday.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Week in review
Uggh, I suppose it's time to post an update since it seems readership drops greatly when there's nothing new on the blog. Hmm, I wonder if there's a direct correlation?! I finally made it back on the bike. Tuesday I finally had more than I could stand, found myself off at a relatively sane hour and decided it was now or never. I phoned up Brian and we decided to hit a small mountain bike loop over by his place. This actually worked out really well for me since his place just happens to be about 3 miles from my place! Bonus. I jumped on the mountain bike and headed his way. A couple hours later I was worked into a sweaty and only slightly tired heap as I wound my way back home. Sorry, no pictures as the trails we were on are top secret! Actually, they're more unknown than secret. Shoot, I've lived on the south side all my life and only knew about a couple of the pieces we hit.
Work still sucked most of the week and made sure I didn't get out to play again. After putting in somewhere north of 40 hours before the 4th, it was time to play again. I was originally planning to hit my first road century with some friends early on the 4th, but got a last minute invite to grab some gravel goodness with Brian at a later start time and more relaxed pace/distance. We rolled from his place through the top secret trails and headed towards Summerset park in Indianola just to see what kind of shape it was in.
Getting ready to leave:
Sweet level B on the way down
Bridge washed out on the singletrack trail
Shallow water crossing in Summerset Park
Rollin some gravel
The park wasn't in too bad of shape. We hit two spots where water was still across the road. I let Brian take the lead on both just to see how deep they were (my momma didn't raise no fool!) The singletrack lower portion was in relatively good shape with some muddy spots and a few trees across the trail. It looked like a single work day would pretty much get it back in ridable shape beyond the large bridge being washed out which is going to take some heavy equipment to probably put back in place. All in all a great morning for a great ride and ended with a couple brews before noon (shh don't tell the beer police). We ended the day visiting some other friends and taking in the Adventureland fireworks show.
Saturday was pretty much a wash in the morning. Corley wasn't working things out very well so we cancelled out our planned tandem and trailer ride. We also spent a solid hour attempting to clean green juice from an area roughly the size of Rhode Island out of the cream color carpet in our living room. Score: Green juice 1 Carpet 0. We got most of the staining out, but the carpet gave up it's last ghost so it's now slated for replacement in the next year or so.
Around noon we finally went out for a stroll and headed to the motorcycle shop down the street. I had been putting off looking at scooters again until I could take Miranda with me for an opinion and have her also set on one with me for the few times we might both go out on it. I ended up picking the Rattler 110 based on how it fit and felt under me. I actually didn't get to ride it until I'd all ready purchased it, but after riding it a few times, including into work this morning, it's definitely a ton of fun. I'll post more about it later, but here's a pic from it's first day in a new home.
After that we finally made it out for an evening ride. With our tandem mileage severely lacking this year, I picked out the flattest and shortest route available. We loaded up and hit the Summerset bike trail and rode to the park. Even though the park is closed, we still had a good time letting Corley run and play.
Our road train
You can't really tell from the pictures, but the tandem with a trailer added on makes for quite the road train. It's a comfort style tandem (Trek T900), but it's still a lot of fun and makes for a nice relaxing cruiser. Trying to get much of any speed out of it is next to impossible especially with the trailer on, but cruising in the low to mid teens is about perfect. I still need to put a different saddle on though as I'm in such an upright position that I put a ton more weight on my ass. I'm planning on trying out a leather saddle as soon as I can order it.
That took us right up to bedtime and we finished off the night with some relaxation in the hot tub. Corley and I have some bonding time this afternoon with mom working. Too bad we can't get back together with our other friends Squirrel and Kent due to Corley still being on the contagious side so we'll have to go play on our own. I'm thinking another trailer ride with her hooked to the cross bike might be in order. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I'm stuck at work for another hour or so.
Work still sucked most of the week and made sure I didn't get out to play again. After putting in somewhere north of 40 hours before the 4th, it was time to play again. I was originally planning to hit my first road century with some friends early on the 4th, but got a last minute invite to grab some gravel goodness with Brian at a later start time and more relaxed pace/distance. We rolled from his place through the top secret trails and headed towards Summerset park in Indianola just to see what kind of shape it was in.
Getting ready to leave:
Sweet level B on the way down
Bridge washed out on the singletrack trail
Shallow water crossing in Summerset Park
Rollin some gravel
The park wasn't in too bad of shape. We hit two spots where water was still across the road. I let Brian take the lead on both just to see how deep they were (my momma didn't raise no fool!) The singletrack lower portion was in relatively good shape with some muddy spots and a few trees across the trail. It looked like a single work day would pretty much get it back in ridable shape beyond the large bridge being washed out which is going to take some heavy equipment to probably put back in place. All in all a great morning for a great ride and ended with a couple brews before noon (shh don't tell the beer police). We ended the day visiting some other friends and taking in the Adventureland fireworks show.
Saturday was pretty much a wash in the morning. Corley wasn't working things out very well so we cancelled out our planned tandem and trailer ride. We also spent a solid hour attempting to clean green juice from an area roughly the size of Rhode Island out of the cream color carpet in our living room. Score: Green juice 1 Carpet 0. We got most of the staining out, but the carpet gave up it's last ghost so it's now slated for replacement in the next year or so.
Around noon we finally went out for a stroll and headed to the motorcycle shop down the street. I had been putting off looking at scooters again until I could take Miranda with me for an opinion and have her also set on one with me for the few times we might both go out on it. I ended up picking the Rattler 110 based on how it fit and felt under me. I actually didn't get to ride it until I'd all ready purchased it, but after riding it a few times, including into work this morning, it's definitely a ton of fun. I'll post more about it later, but here's a pic from it's first day in a new home.
After that we finally made it out for an evening ride. With our tandem mileage severely lacking this year, I picked out the flattest and shortest route available. We loaded up and hit the Summerset bike trail and rode to the park. Even though the park is closed, we still had a good time letting Corley run and play.
Our road train
You can't really tell from the pictures, but the tandem with a trailer added on makes for quite the road train. It's a comfort style tandem (Trek T900), but it's still a lot of fun and makes for a nice relaxing cruiser. Trying to get much of any speed out of it is next to impossible especially with the trailer on, but cruising in the low to mid teens is about perfect. I still need to put a different saddle on though as I'm in such an upright position that I put a ton more weight on my ass. I'm planning on trying out a leather saddle as soon as I can order it.
That took us right up to bedtime and we finished off the night with some relaxation in the hot tub. Corley and I have some bonding time this afternoon with mom working. Too bad we can't get back together with our other friends Squirrel and Kent due to Corley still being on the contagious side so we'll have to go play on our own. I'm thinking another trailer ride with her hooked to the cross bike might be in order. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I'm stuck at work for another hour or so.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Saturday at work
Yup, so I'm in on a Saturday. I can't say as it entirely sucks since it's my own fault I'm here. I at least made the effort to bike in today. I broke out the MTB to give it some love since it hasn't seen any action for a couple of weeks. I also figured since I'm still on the fence about the cross bike this would give me the chance to explore a bit if I felt the need after work. I do feel a bit guilty in the fact that this was supposed to be my afternoon to watch Corley since momma is working. I'm sure we'll get some good time in tomorrow though. Of course, tomorrow, I may be working again depending on how efficient I can be today. I'll just have to play it by ear.
The ride in this morning was something of an exercise in finding out how commuting on a regular basis would be. I chose a cotton tee and baggies with a built in chamois for ride attire this morning. I also won't plan on commuting in my road shoes unless I'm riding the road bike. For commuting I'll either be going with MTB shoes and my crank brothers smarties or going way old school and sticking some platforms on so I don't need to keep another pair of shoes hanging around. It's been a while since I road platforms. I did ride them at Burning Man last year on my cheap ass Toy's R Us death ride, but that was all on flat terrain and never for more than a few miles at a shot. I'm probably also going to switch to a more comfort oriented saddle such as a Brooks or possibly the updated version Selle-anotomica which essentially is a Brooks with a cutout. The upside to that saddle is they make a waterproof version which would be handy for a multi-use bike.
Speaking of Burning Man... I pulled the plug on going again this year. After I got back last year, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to go again until wife and baby girl were able to go with me so we could share the experience. Then our friends at Freddy and Eddy tried to entice me into coming out and helping run the art car they want to build. They bought me a ticket to get in and everything. As much as I appreciated the thought, I couldn't bring myself to spend the extra $ and take the time away from the family again for something purely about me. Instead the time and cash will be put where it should, by doing a family vacation sometime later this year.
I suppose I've droned on enough and procrastinated at least a little more time away with you good folks, so it's time to clip this short. I'll try to get some photos uploaded to my Flickr tonight so you can see some of my pics of the flooding from this morning's ride in. One of these days I need to update my sidebar links too and get some of the great blogs I read daily listed in there as well as some things like Flickr. Enjoy the weekend!
The ride in this morning was something of an exercise in finding out how commuting on a regular basis would be. I chose a cotton tee and baggies with a built in chamois for ride attire this morning. I also won't plan on commuting in my road shoes unless I'm riding the road bike. For commuting I'll either be going with MTB shoes and my crank brothers smarties or going way old school and sticking some platforms on so I don't need to keep another pair of shoes hanging around. It's been a while since I road platforms. I did ride them at Burning Man last year on my cheap ass Toy's R Us death ride, but that was all on flat terrain and never for more than a few miles at a shot. I'm probably also going to switch to a more comfort oriented saddle such as a Brooks or possibly the updated version Selle-anotomica which essentially is a Brooks with a cutout. The upside to that saddle is they make a waterproof version which would be handy for a multi-use bike.
Speaking of Burning Man... I pulled the plug on going again this year. After I got back last year, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to go again until wife and baby girl were able to go with me so we could share the experience. Then our friends at Freddy and Eddy tried to entice me into coming out and helping run the art car they want to build. They bought me a ticket to get in and everything. As much as I appreciated the thought, I couldn't bring myself to spend the extra $ and take the time away from the family again for something purely about me. Instead the time and cash will be put where it should, by doing a family vacation sometime later this year.
I suppose I've droned on enough and procrastinated at least a little more time away with you good folks, so it's time to clip this short. I'll try to get some photos uploaded to my Flickr tonight so you can see some of my pics of the flooding from this morning's ride in. One of these days I need to update my sidebar links too and get some of the great blogs I read daily listed in there as well as some things like Flickr. Enjoy the weekend!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
We've all lost it
Yesterday was a pretty bittersweet day around here. I had the opportunity to see some cousins and other family members that I hadn't visited with for several years. Considering it was in the middle of a Tuesday morning, that meant I was also at a funeral. It was for my great uncle. I hadn't seen him for a couple years either. Funny thing was, I had probably seen him more recently than some of my direct cousins, aunts, and uncles. In any case, I joined my mom and grandma for a drive up to Nevada for the funeral.
Funerals just get to me. I never used to be such a sentimental guy, but a big shake up a few years back seemed to open a direct link with my ability to empathize and find some link to whatever event is going on within my own personal life. Things like funerals hit home pretty hard now. The funeral was pretty much the same as most others I've been to, but I really enjoyed the eulogy that his 4 grand kids took turns giving. It showcased what a truly unique spirit and energy he had and how he lived his life.
That really brings me to the topic of the day. I've heard a lot of talk lately about the "greatest generation" and how their numbers are dwindling further and further. I never really considered what the term meant until yesterday. I think we're losing something special. My grandparents are part of this generation and I've been privileged to know a number of other people in this generation as well. There's just something that sets them apart. I think it's their outlook, resourcefulness, and ability to make the most out of any situation. This in turn makes them what we used to call "good people" down on the farm.
My great uncle was most certainly one of those people. While I only knew him in a very narrow sense, it was interesting to hear how his friendliness and wish to help others extended to pretty much everyone he met. Even talking with Squirrel this weekend and another time on the bike, it was mentioned that people just aren't friendly anymore. We're all too self absorbed and centered. Even our own families come second to what we want. Everyone is chasing the golden ring and those be damned that get in the way or are forgotten along the way. I think we're riding closer and closer as a culture to losing a lot of good things about humanity.
I was discussing this with my wonderful wife on our way home from an impromptu night out for coffee as my mom stopped by to watch the little one. The question we came up with is which is the cause versus the effect. Are we less friendly because we're afraid of all the weirdos and strangers out there or are there more weirdos and strangers because we're less friendly? Either way, it's a circular problem that spirals further down as we go along. That's my food for thought today.
I will say one additional comment though. I've been pretty damn lucky in the past year to meet some awesome new friends. It's refreshing to see there are still some people out there that family and friends are important to. Seriously, there are some kickass people in the cycling community and I can't wait to meet more of you and hopefully make a few more friendships along the way.
Funerals just get to me. I never used to be such a sentimental guy, but a big shake up a few years back seemed to open a direct link with my ability to empathize and find some link to whatever event is going on within my own personal life. Things like funerals hit home pretty hard now. The funeral was pretty much the same as most others I've been to, but I really enjoyed the eulogy that his 4 grand kids took turns giving. It showcased what a truly unique spirit and energy he had and how he lived his life.
That really brings me to the topic of the day. I've heard a lot of talk lately about the "greatest generation" and how their numbers are dwindling further and further. I never really considered what the term meant until yesterday. I think we're losing something special. My grandparents are part of this generation and I've been privileged to know a number of other people in this generation as well. There's just something that sets them apart. I think it's their outlook, resourcefulness, and ability to make the most out of any situation. This in turn makes them what we used to call "good people" down on the farm.
My great uncle was most certainly one of those people. While I only knew him in a very narrow sense, it was interesting to hear how his friendliness and wish to help others extended to pretty much everyone he met. Even talking with Squirrel this weekend and another time on the bike, it was mentioned that people just aren't friendly anymore. We're all too self absorbed and centered. Even our own families come second to what we want. Everyone is chasing the golden ring and those be damned that get in the way or are forgotten along the way. I think we're riding closer and closer as a culture to losing a lot of good things about humanity.
I was discussing this with my wonderful wife on our way home from an impromptu night out for coffee as my mom stopped by to watch the little one. The question we came up with is which is the cause versus the effect. Are we less friendly because we're afraid of all the weirdos and strangers out there or are there more weirdos and strangers because we're less friendly? Either way, it's a circular problem that spirals further down as we go along. That's my food for thought today.
I will say one additional comment though. I've been pretty damn lucky in the past year to meet some awesome new friends. It's refreshing to see there are still some people out there that family and friends are important to. Seriously, there are some kickass people in the cycling community and I can't wait to meet more of you and hopefully make a few more friendships along the way.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Focus
Focus is an important thing. Whether you're talking about something as simple as taking a picture, picking your way through technical singletrack, or just looking at your path through life. If you don't focus, chances are you're going to run into something you didn't see coming. One could argue that I'm lacking focus right now and have been for a while. the picture I've put up is a pretty good representation of my life at this point in time.
At first glance, it's a snapshot. Things look good, I'm happy, I'm motivated, and I'm moving in the right direction. However, when you start looking closely, you'll see the edges are blurred, I'm looking at the camera instead of following the line, and the smile is mostly put on for the benefit of others. It's pretty amazing the similarities I can draw in my life to those items. While I can't complain too loudly as I'm healthy, have a great family, and am gainfully employed at a job that pays well enough for my wife to stay home, there's turmoil under the surface.
The same job that affords us the life we want does so at a cost to my mental well being. I know everyone has a job that's a grind and that's the tradeoff we make to have the enjoyment we want in other areas of life. But when you are on the verge of dreading going to work on a daily basis, go out of your way to not do your work, and can see the apathy towards your work spreading into other areas of your life, I think those are pretty good signs that something needs to change. I have no clue about what else I WANT to do, but I'm pretty sure it's not this. My job really isn't even that hard, but when you're not interested or stimulated, it can seem like the biggest drag in the world.
So what does all this have to do with focus you ask? I'm not exactly sure, but I think my job is the center of things beginning to fall apart. I ride to escape from work and in doing so I also escape things that I shouldn't be running from. I skip out on my duties as husband and dad. I skip out on other commitments that I have made. I skip out on taking on my own demons. I just escape when I ride. I push myself to go further, faster, harder, and in the end I tire myself out to the point that everything else really doesn't matter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the riding immensely, but the reasons I ride now aren't what should be driving me. An enlightened and surprising discussion with my own dad on Memorial Day led to this revelation. He suggested that I should take a look at the reason I'm biking to escape and work on fixing that rather than work so hard on wearing myself out on the bike that the other things don't matter. He was right.
Damn, now I had to actually set down and figure out what I need to do. At least in my case, it was relatively clear for most of the things I needed. The biggest thing is that we need to find ourselves as a family. With our current setup I'm a paycheck and Miranda is a parent and we don't do a whole lot of overlapping. That's pretty sad when you really look closely at it. I've got a wife and 2 year old little girl that I love to death, but I'm spending my time avoiding them. I've let my own personal goals become my focus in lieu of working on the things that are going to be a constant for the rest of my life. Definitely near sighted of me. As much as I'd like to shoulder the blame all alone, I can't. My dear wife has very similar issues to me. We're both living to get done with our day and then escaping into our own little worlds as soon as that day ends- mine with leaving work and hers with putting Corley to bed.
All of these thoughts and ideas finally came out in a multi hour discussion last night. We talked about the things we need to change, the things we want to do, and the things that just aren't working for us. We put together a plan and we both came away happy. We each had to make certain concessions to bring us closer as a family, but I can't see how that is a bad thing. I'm sure I'll reap more in the long term than I could possibly ever gain in a short span.
As such, I'm giving up a few things that really didn't matter that much even though I'd made them into something big. I'm not going to Burning Man this year. I'd love to and even have a free ticket, but I'm not doing it without my family. I'm hanging up my pipe dreams of getting fit enough to try my hand at bike racing for the time being. I'm even talking about getting rid of my car (which for those that know me know that's something huge). Miranda is going to dedicate herself to working on our business and selling product rather than just ordering. We're going to take an evening each week to focus on our relationship as a couple. I'm going to not take on any more commitments until I get all of my current projects cleared up.
While all of this may seem overwhelming, it's a long term plan. I really feel like I'm not swimming alone now and I've got a partner in working through some of these things. I'm excited about seeing our family come together. I'm sure I'll miss out on some activities, but it's going to be worth it.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
TNWF?
Nope, no Tuesday Night World Championships for me last night, it was Tuesday Night With Family time. Being that I had spent pretty much all weekend doing my own selfish things and the girls are going to be gone for a trip starting tomorrow, it was time for some family things. Monday night we sat down and made stepping stones from a kit Miranda had bought as an activity. Corley even decorated hers with a footprint. After that, we let her run around in the yard barefoot which was pretty funny in itself. She'd holler "Ouchy" every time she stepped on a stick or hard spot in the ground. Guess we need to let her run more often and get those feet hardened up.
Last night was a mad rush to get everything in, but it was all worth it. We did the usual chiro deal where I go in first on my way home from work and then the girls meet me after I get done. I take the Escape back home while Miranda has her appointment and get dinner started. Had some damn fine squash ravioli and some peas for dinner before loading up the tandem and trailer. Corley was pretty excited to go for a ride with mom and dad. It was only the second tandem trip of the year and the first hauling the trailer. I was still feeling the effort from this weekend and knew my better half wouldn't be up for too much hard work, I opted for the ultra flat Summerset trail. We road a shade over 5 miles out to the turnoff to Summerset park and had an impromptu picnic and ran around being goofballs. It was awesome! It also reminded me I need to get on picking out a small camera to have with us so we can record these great moments. We rolled back to the truck by 7:40 and headed home with a scant 11.5 miles and a whopping 80' of climb logged!
Definitely some great family time in there. Speaking of such, one of the guy's at work apparently has it in his head that I'm a total fuckoff that doesn't care about spending time with his family. I'll admit, I'm still adjusting to the fact that I should be spending more quality time with my family, but I think in the whole scheme of things, I'm nowhere near being a deadbeat dad. This guy has gone out of his way it would seem to point out that while I'm biking, etc, that I'm losing precious moments with my family that I'll never get back. Maybe I wouldn't be offended if it were a close friend giving me some advice that I'm spending too much time on the bike or doing other things. I've been guilty of it before. But to be one of my co-workers that is seemingly injecting an unsolicited opinion, it raises my hackles a bit for sure. You do what works for you and I'll do what works for us.
Last night was a mad rush to get everything in, but it was all worth it. We did the usual chiro deal where I go in first on my way home from work and then the girls meet me after I get done. I take the Escape back home while Miranda has her appointment and get dinner started. Had some damn fine squash ravioli and some peas for dinner before loading up the tandem and trailer. Corley was pretty excited to go for a ride with mom and dad. It was only the second tandem trip of the year and the first hauling the trailer. I was still feeling the effort from this weekend and knew my better half wouldn't be up for too much hard work, I opted for the ultra flat Summerset trail. We road a shade over 5 miles out to the turnoff to Summerset park and had an impromptu picnic and ran around being goofballs. It was awesome! It also reminded me I need to get on picking out a small camera to have with us so we can record these great moments. We rolled back to the truck by 7:40 and headed home with a scant 11.5 miles and a whopping 80' of climb logged!
Definitely some great family time in there. Speaking of such, one of the guy's at work apparently has it in his head that I'm a total fuckoff that doesn't care about spending time with his family. I'll admit, I'm still adjusting to the fact that I should be spending more quality time with my family, but I think in the whole scheme of things, I'm nowhere near being a deadbeat dad. This guy has gone out of his way it would seem to point out that while I'm biking, etc, that I'm losing precious moments with my family that I'll never get back. Maybe I wouldn't be offended if it were a close friend giving me some advice that I'm spending too much time on the bike or doing other things. I've been guilty of it before. But to be one of my co-workers that is seemingly injecting an unsolicited opinion, it raises my hackles a bit for sure. You do what works for you and I'll do what works for us.
Monday, April 28, 2008
That's more like it
At least the weekend gave me some respite from the ball kicking. Well, there was an unfortunate incident with a level falling from it's perch and bouncing off my head on it's way to the ground, but considering I put it there, I'll take that as my own damn fault.
Friday night was a free night as little one was being swept away for the evening by Grandma L. After dropping the car seat by her place, I was off to the shop to hang out for a bit and just generally watch the goings on. The debate was still open on what we'd do with our free night, but we finally settled on dinner out and renting some movies as we just wanted a night to veg out. We ended up hitting The Market for a good dinner after we made a last minute diversion from our original choice of trying out a new BBQ joint. All was good at dinner with the exception of a stupid ass cashier not bothering to listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I ordered once only to have her gaze uncloud and ask me to repeat what I just said. After ordering the second time and paying, we hit the table to wait for our food. Alas, our food arrived, so who had the soup? Neither of us had the damn soup. But sir, here is what is on your ticket? Hmm, well they didn't bother to give me a ticket that said anything but the total. Oh, and now they wanted to charge me extra for what I actually ordered. I was pretty pissed by this point. Eventually the food delivery gal went up and put in the correct order. They sent a new gal out to deliver the corrected meal and a bill for an additional $7. Fuck it, I gave her the card and just grumbled to myself. At least the food was good. We parted with some leftovers and a selection of dessert to take home with us.
We ended up with a couple movies to watch- Juno and No Country for Old Men. The first was pretty funny and a good choice. The second had some definite cool parts, a decent plot line, but a stupid ending that just ruined the whole damn thing after such a long build up. It's like the writer got tired after cranking out such a long screen play and raised a white flag. Definitely a bummer. Miranda was actually pretty livid about it and ranted on the whole movie sucking for a decent amount of time which is pretty unusual for her. Good times!
Saturday we were greeted by sunny skies and all the appearances of a really nice day. I spent the morning lounging about the house for the most part with Miranda and Corley was still overnight with Grandma. I think we managed to get some chores done, but it was mostly about being lazy yet. The afternoon rolled around and I decided it was time for a ride. I knew the wind was supposed to be pretty wild, but I had no idea. Damn! I routed out a loop that would at least use the wind to propel me through some hilly spots and took off. As soon as I headed west into the wind, it was like I had bricks in my pockets. There was just no bucking it alone. So, I put my head down and started cranking. A turn into crosswind put me leaning into the wind just to stay upright. Finally a turn into the tailwind sent me sailing over hills at 20+ and across the flats at 30+. I was stoked for that scant 7 mile trek. Alas, I had to turn back north and eventually west again. That last 8-10 miles home sucked beyond belief. Rolling on the flats pumping hard to keep the speedo reading double digits just sucked with no other way to put it. Finally I hit home and felt a little worked over. I also managed to figure out a big bowl of pasta roughly 30 minutes before a ride is not good fuel for me. I work best on limited food before the ride for sure. The pasta sucked up a lot of my energy on the beginning of the ride and definitely didn't help me try to work in a few interval type efforts. Ughh!
Sunday was a whole different ballgame. We planned to help out some friends with a few chores that required two guys and then hang out for a cookout. One thing led to another and as we got our chores done, the beer drinking began and we spent the whole day at their place including dinner. As she is an awesome cook, dinner was pretty fabulous even if it wasn't anything fancy. They were happy with the work done, Corley was happy to play with her 3 friends, and we were happy to hang with good friends for a full day.
Friday night was a free night as little one was being swept away for the evening by Grandma L. After dropping the car seat by her place, I was off to the shop to hang out for a bit and just generally watch the goings on. The debate was still open on what we'd do with our free night, but we finally settled on dinner out and renting some movies as we just wanted a night to veg out. We ended up hitting The Market for a good dinner after we made a last minute diversion from our original choice of trying out a new BBQ joint. All was good at dinner with the exception of a stupid ass cashier not bothering to listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I ordered once only to have her gaze uncloud and ask me to repeat what I just said. After ordering the second time and paying, we hit the table to wait for our food. Alas, our food arrived, so who had the soup? Neither of us had the damn soup. But sir, here is what is on your ticket? Hmm, well they didn't bother to give me a ticket that said anything but the total. Oh, and now they wanted to charge me extra for what I actually ordered. I was pretty pissed by this point. Eventually the food delivery gal went up and put in the correct order. They sent a new gal out to deliver the corrected meal and a bill for an additional $7. Fuck it, I gave her the card and just grumbled to myself. At least the food was good. We parted with some leftovers and a selection of dessert to take home with us.
We ended up with a couple movies to watch- Juno and No Country for Old Men. The first was pretty funny and a good choice. The second had some definite cool parts, a decent plot line, but a stupid ending that just ruined the whole damn thing after such a long build up. It's like the writer got tired after cranking out such a long screen play and raised a white flag. Definitely a bummer. Miranda was actually pretty livid about it and ranted on the whole movie sucking for a decent amount of time which is pretty unusual for her. Good times!
Saturday we were greeted by sunny skies and all the appearances of a really nice day. I spent the morning lounging about the house for the most part with Miranda and Corley was still overnight with Grandma. I think we managed to get some chores done, but it was mostly about being lazy yet. The afternoon rolled around and I decided it was time for a ride. I knew the wind was supposed to be pretty wild, but I had no idea. Damn! I routed out a loop that would at least use the wind to propel me through some hilly spots and took off. As soon as I headed west into the wind, it was like I had bricks in my pockets. There was just no bucking it alone. So, I put my head down and started cranking. A turn into crosswind put me leaning into the wind just to stay upright. Finally a turn into the tailwind sent me sailing over hills at 20+ and across the flats at 30+. I was stoked for that scant 7 mile trek. Alas, I had to turn back north and eventually west again. That last 8-10 miles home sucked beyond belief. Rolling on the flats pumping hard to keep the speedo reading double digits just sucked with no other way to put it. Finally I hit home and felt a little worked over. I also managed to figure out a big bowl of pasta roughly 30 minutes before a ride is not good fuel for me. I work best on limited food before the ride for sure. The pasta sucked up a lot of my energy on the beginning of the ride and definitely didn't help me try to work in a few interval type efforts. Ughh!
Sunday was a whole different ballgame. We planned to help out some friends with a few chores that required two guys and then hang out for a cookout. One thing led to another and as we got our chores done, the beer drinking began and we spent the whole day at their place including dinner. As she is an awesome cook, dinner was pretty fabulous even if it wasn't anything fancy. They were happy with the work done, Corley was happy to play with her 3 friends, and we were happy to hang with good friends for a full day.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Ever wanted a cheerleader?
No, you sickos, I'm not talking about some hot, nubile, tanned, toned, oh wait, where the hell was I going with this... Actually, I'm talking about someone who is there to encourage, push, and give you an atta boy for things in your life. Most everyone has a cheerleader of some type in their lives from a parent, friend, spouse, etc. Have you ever wanted a certain person to be your cheerleader that wasn't?
I have no idea if my wife actually reads this blog or not. I know she is aware that I have one, but I'm not sure if she's tried to even look it up as I don't bookmark it on any of our computers and typically don't post from home. My point is, whether she reads this or not, I REALLY would love to have her as my cheerleader in life. I think that's the way it should be when you get married. You've made a life long commitment to a person and you should make it a point to support them in things you see they're passionate about. I'm not talking about passive support. It's easy to say I'm supportive because I don't stop them from doing X activity or I support them because I don't give them a hard time about spending money on such and such. To me, that's a cop out.
I've had passive support from my wife in a number of my hobbies. For those that haven't known me long term, I digress. I have a habit of switching things up in my life every few years from hobbies, to careers, etc. Now I'm sure a certain part of the career issue deals with just now being 30 and finding my place. Plus I've actually been here almost 8 years so that's pretty long term in my book. Hobbies are a bit of a different story. I shot archery competitively when we met. I travelled to tournaments, practiced regularly, the whole bit. I was actually pretty good as an amateur. That lasted a number of years, but was replaced with car fever. I'm sure cars would have played any earlier part of my formative years had finances not been in the way, but now that I could afford to play, it was off to the races so to speak. That particular hobby hasn't completely died out yet, but it's on life support considering my car currently has a show quality custom paint job, but sits in the garage with no engine or transmission... Now it's on to biking. I'm only a year into the sport, but I've held true to form with diving in head first and swimming to the deep end.
Through all of this, Miranda has attended tournaments, car shows, a few races, and joined me in getting a tandem. However, there's always a catch. To get her attendance to these events, there has to be something in it for her. I have to sweeten the pot so to speak. Apparently all of my hobbies have held such little interest for her, that I have to bribe her to get her support. A promise of shopping, dinner out, etc. Is there a reason she won't show me the love just for the sake of seeing me happy in a certain activity? Is it because I haven't come straight out and told her I want and maybe wrongly, but somewhat expect this from my partner?
I'll be the first to admit, I'm probably not the best at cheering for her, but then again, I haven't seen her engrossed in too many activities where I can have equal opportunity to cheer lead. We learned country dancing a number of years ago and I faithfully came through that experience and even enjoyed it. We've played volleyball and softball together as a way to enjoy some sports together. Currently, she sews. Beyond saying something looks really nice and telling her good job, it's hard to do back flips in support of a passive activity.
We've been looking at finding a new activity we can do together. We haven't had any luck. Currently, it looks like I'll be cycling all summer and she's going to look for a competitive volleyball league to join. After 3 years, I'm a bit burnt on volleyball so I'm taking time off from that and letting her find something. Guaranteed if she finds something, I'll at least be at a few games to watch and cheer. What are we to do? Do we go through life as friends, roomies, and people that occasionally have sex while they raise a child together?
Damn, this was more rant than I intended and I'm not even done yet. I haven't even started in on our "business". I think I'll hit that as a separate topic so grab your popcorn and stay tuned... Oh, and one last comment for those who might think, damn, why'd he marry her if he is so unhappy with the arrangement. It's not that I'm unhappy, it's that I think there's more to life than what we're both getting and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get there.
I have no idea if my wife actually reads this blog or not. I know she is aware that I have one, but I'm not sure if she's tried to even look it up as I don't bookmark it on any of our computers and typically don't post from home. My point is, whether she reads this or not, I REALLY would love to have her as my cheerleader in life. I think that's the way it should be when you get married. You've made a life long commitment to a person and you should make it a point to support them in things you see they're passionate about. I'm not talking about passive support. It's easy to say I'm supportive because I don't stop them from doing X activity or I support them because I don't give them a hard time about spending money on such and such. To me, that's a cop out.
I've had passive support from my wife in a number of my hobbies. For those that haven't known me long term, I digress. I have a habit of switching things up in my life every few years from hobbies, to careers, etc. Now I'm sure a certain part of the career issue deals with just now being 30 and finding my place. Plus I've actually been here almost 8 years so that's pretty long term in my book. Hobbies are a bit of a different story. I shot archery competitively when we met. I travelled to tournaments, practiced regularly, the whole bit. I was actually pretty good as an amateur. That lasted a number of years, but was replaced with car fever. I'm sure cars would have played any earlier part of my formative years had finances not been in the way, but now that I could afford to play, it was off to the races so to speak. That particular hobby hasn't completely died out yet, but it's on life support considering my car currently has a show quality custom paint job, but sits in the garage with no engine or transmission... Now it's on to biking. I'm only a year into the sport, but I've held true to form with diving in head first and swimming to the deep end.
Through all of this, Miranda has attended tournaments, car shows, a few races, and joined me in getting a tandem. However, there's always a catch. To get her attendance to these events, there has to be something in it for her. I have to sweeten the pot so to speak. Apparently all of my hobbies have held such little interest for her, that I have to bribe her to get her support. A promise of shopping, dinner out, etc. Is there a reason she won't show me the love just for the sake of seeing me happy in a certain activity? Is it because I haven't come straight out and told her I want and maybe wrongly, but somewhat expect this from my partner?
I'll be the first to admit, I'm probably not the best at cheering for her, but then again, I haven't seen her engrossed in too many activities where I can have equal opportunity to cheer lead. We learned country dancing a number of years ago and I faithfully came through that experience and even enjoyed it. We've played volleyball and softball together as a way to enjoy some sports together. Currently, she sews. Beyond saying something looks really nice and telling her good job, it's hard to do back flips in support of a passive activity.
We've been looking at finding a new activity we can do together. We haven't had any luck. Currently, it looks like I'll be cycling all summer and she's going to look for a competitive volleyball league to join. After 3 years, I'm a bit burnt on volleyball so I'm taking time off from that and letting her find something. Guaranteed if she finds something, I'll at least be at a few games to watch and cheer. What are we to do? Do we go through life as friends, roomies, and people that occasionally have sex while they raise a child together?
Damn, this was more rant than I intended and I'm not even done yet. I haven't even started in on our "business". I think I'll hit that as a separate topic so grab your popcorn and stay tuned... Oh, and one last comment for those who might think, damn, why'd he marry her if he is so unhappy with the arrangement. It's not that I'm unhappy, it's that I think there's more to life than what we're both getting and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get there.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Jackpot!
Well, not really, but that sure would be nice considering we're headed to Vegas next week. 4 full days of fun in the sun mixed with browsing aisles upon aisles of barely there clothing. Yes, it's time for the spring installment of the International Lingerie Show! I skipped out going last spring and sent my lovely wife, daughter, and mother out to scout everything that is new and exciting in the world of scantily clad people. It's my turn this year and we're leaving the kidlet at home so we can throw down however we want.
I've been to this show 3 or 4 times all ready and it's always a good time. There are tons of vendors to peruse, always a few interesting new pieces, and usually a pretty kick ass time in Vegas for a few days. Of course that means nose to the grindstone catching up here at my real job and going helter skelter at home prepping the house for almost a week of baby sitting.
We ran a trial run of having Corley stay all weekend with Grandma a few weeks back and that went pretty smoothly. I'm hoping this time around everything goes just as well. I know Miranda is a bit anxious about being gone this long as it will be her first time away for more than a couple days. I managed my first long term excursion last summer at Burning Man being away for 10 days, so I know I'm good for it.
Our good friends at Freddy and Eddy are supposed to come hang with us for the day on Tuesday as a quick jump over from LA. Monday we'll probably hit the ground running and cover most of the show with follow ups done on Tuesday. By Wednesday we might make a quick perusal through the vendors one last time, but it will be mostly a free day along with Sunday. Thursday morning we're up bright and early and should be home early in the afternoon. Should be just the right amount of time to get out of town and spend with each other. We're definitely feeling the winter doldrums and haven't really been connecting lately. Hopefully a little alone time between us will give things a serious shot in the ass that I think we are close to desperately needing.
Anyone with Vegas experience want to chime in on their favorites? We typically try to walk some of the various shops, catch the skanky pirate show at TI, see the new hotels on the strip, snag a few good meals, and play a little blackjack and roulette at our favorite dive casino O'Sheas. If you've never been in O'Sheas, check it out. The decor and upkeep is pretty worn, but the dealers are nice, tables are uncrowded, and the limits are low. I usually hit at least one marathon session there every trip and almost always break even or better.
I've been to this show 3 or 4 times all ready and it's always a good time. There are tons of vendors to peruse, always a few interesting new pieces, and usually a pretty kick ass time in Vegas for a few days. Of course that means nose to the grindstone catching up here at my real job and going helter skelter at home prepping the house for almost a week of baby sitting.
We ran a trial run of having Corley stay all weekend with Grandma a few weeks back and that went pretty smoothly. I'm hoping this time around everything goes just as well. I know Miranda is a bit anxious about being gone this long as it will be her first time away for more than a couple days. I managed my first long term excursion last summer at Burning Man being away for 10 days, so I know I'm good for it.
Our good friends at Freddy and Eddy are supposed to come hang with us for the day on Tuesday as a quick jump over from LA. Monday we'll probably hit the ground running and cover most of the show with follow ups done on Tuesday. By Wednesday we might make a quick perusal through the vendors one last time, but it will be mostly a free day along with Sunday. Thursday morning we're up bright and early and should be home early in the afternoon. Should be just the right amount of time to get out of town and spend with each other. We're definitely feeling the winter doldrums and haven't really been connecting lately. Hopefully a little alone time between us will give things a serious shot in the ass that I think we are close to desperately needing.
Anyone with Vegas experience want to chime in on their favorites? We typically try to walk some of the various shops, catch the skanky pirate show at TI, see the new hotels on the strip, snag a few good meals, and play a little blackjack and roulette at our favorite dive casino O'Sheas. If you've never been in O'Sheas, check it out. The decor and upkeep is pretty worn, but the dealers are nice, tables are uncrowded, and the limits are low. I usually hit at least one marathon session there every trip and almost always break even or better.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Twice as nice
The actual spring like weather the past couple of days inspired some time on the bike. After last week's time off and the fiasco's of this weekend, it was nice to jump on and go.
Monday was a nice 2 hour hard effort down the Great Western trail and back. I fought some decent headwind most of the way down and took salvation when it would turn slightly cross wind. At some points I was struggling to maintain double digit speeds, but I soldiered on. With about 17 miles on the clock I decided it was time to head back and fairly well flew home. Flew might be a little strong as I cooked my legs by the time I reached city streets and fairly well suffered up the hills back home fighting the headwinds as I turned back south again. Overall a great ride and my knees were in agreement with the effort put forth.
Sorry for the stock photo, but it's about all I have of our elusive tandem. We decided to break it out for the first time this year last night. After a bit of a rocky start considering I had to switch out pedals to my new crank brother smarties, we were off. With the wind being beyond breezy yesterday, I opted out of an out of town route and kept it completely urban. This really was a great choice. We rolled into downtown and swung by the orphanage's new project, the bike kollective. Alas, there were a couple bikes hanging out in the front of the shop, but the lights were off and nobody was home.
From there we rolled down Grand to see if anyone was at Ritual and it too was deserted of bikes. I remembered that the local TNWC was now in full swing so most everyone would probably be out there. I will make my way out there one of these days to see how badly I can get shelled. We jumped up to Ingersoll to make a pit stop at Zanzibars coffee and have a nice little warm-up. Miranda's ears were hurting pretty well at this point due to the wind so she enjoyed the time off. Our route back home was a bit more scenic with a jog through Gray's Lake, up through Mcreay Park, and then back home. There's definitely some work to be done with the secondary motor on the tandem, but considering it was her first ride since Cranksgiving I'll cut her a little slack....
In other news, we stopped by Rassy's on Saturday and picked up our "Little Punk" t-shirt for our own little punk. Here's a few of her modeling the goods.
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Thanks to DQ and all the gals over at Punkrock Cycling for making these up. We'll definitely be out to some of their events to cheer them on this year.
Monday was a nice 2 hour hard effort down the Great Western trail and back. I fought some decent headwind most of the way down and took salvation when it would turn slightly cross wind. At some points I was struggling to maintain double digit speeds, but I soldiered on. With about 17 miles on the clock I decided it was time to head back and fairly well flew home. Flew might be a little strong as I cooked my legs by the time I reached city streets and fairly well suffered up the hills back home fighting the headwinds as I turned back south again. Overall a great ride and my knees were in agreement with the effort put forth.
Sorry for the stock photo, but it's about all I have of our elusive tandem. We decided to break it out for the first time this year last night. After a bit of a rocky start considering I had to switch out pedals to my new crank brother smarties, we were off. With the wind being beyond breezy yesterday, I opted out of an out of town route and kept it completely urban. This really was a great choice. We rolled into downtown and swung by the orphanage's new project, the bike kollective. Alas, there were a couple bikes hanging out in the front of the shop, but the lights were off and nobody was home.
From there we rolled down Grand to see if anyone was at Ritual and it too was deserted of bikes. I remembered that the local TNWC was now in full swing so most everyone would probably be out there. I will make my way out there one of these days to see how badly I can get shelled. We jumped up to Ingersoll to make a pit stop at Zanzibars coffee and have a nice little warm-up. Miranda's ears were hurting pretty well at this point due to the wind so she enjoyed the time off. Our route back home was a bit more scenic with a jog through Gray's Lake, up through Mcreay Park, and then back home. There's definitely some work to be done with the secondary motor on the tandem, but considering it was her first ride since Cranksgiving I'll cut her a little slack....
In other news, we stopped by Rassy's on Saturday and picked up our "Little Punk" t-shirt for our own little punk. Here's a few of her modeling the goods.
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.JPG)
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Thanks to DQ and all the gals over at Punkrock Cycling for making these up. We'll definitely be out to some of their events to cheer them on this year.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
The avalanche
I hope you're ready for some venting.
Some of this is my own doing, some of it is life. Have you ever felt like you're in the middle of an avalanche and known there was nothing you could do but hang on for the ride? I'm there baby!
I'm doing everything, but doing nothing well. I'm not sure what to give up on, what to put more effort into, and where to turn. I think my first step is talking things over with my lovely wife and see what things we can team up on. My biggest hurdle is going to be with work. I have a huge tidal surge or projects piling in front of me and every day something new from one of the projects adds to the height of the wave that's ready to come crashing down any time. I've asked for help, but there's none available. It just means I have to dig deeper, work smarter/harder, and for longer.
That's the very beginning of my crux. If I dig into this work which pays for our lifestyle including my wife being a stay at home mom, it means I have to ditch on being there for them as a good husband and father. If I work harder on being a better husband and father, I have to spend more time with them as I'm severely lacking in giving them any quantity and the quality isn't anything to write home about either. Throw in the fact that I like to have some me time on the bike just to keep my sanity and my time is more than gone. Of course we can't forget about our burgeoning lingerie business, a custom engine that needs to be built, my own project car, friends, side projects, and everything else that goes along with life as well.
It's shaping up to be a spring and summer from hell in regards to the amount of work I have to absorb and process. If I had an option open to jump ship, I'd seriously be looking that direction. I take pride in making money for the company I work for and making the most from each project I run. When I see a challenge like this looming, I just see mistakes and money going down the drain as I hop from issue to issue so fast, I don't get to analyze or make decisions based on costs, but time management. It's not good for me. It stresses me, it hurts my productivity, and makes me like my job less and less. Being the top earner has it's perks, but it also has it's downfalls. As Squirrel has now permanently inked on his body, it's time to "Suck it up!"
If you don't hear from me as often as I'd like, I'm sorry. If I don't be the husband or father I want to be, I'm sorry. If I seem like I'm in a hurry to go somewhere else when I'm talking to you, I'm sorry. This summer is going to be rough. Wish me luck.
Some of this is my own doing, some of it is life. Have you ever felt like you're in the middle of an avalanche and known there was nothing you could do but hang on for the ride? I'm there baby!
I'm doing everything, but doing nothing well. I'm not sure what to give up on, what to put more effort into, and where to turn. I think my first step is talking things over with my lovely wife and see what things we can team up on. My biggest hurdle is going to be with work. I have a huge tidal surge or projects piling in front of me and every day something new from one of the projects adds to the height of the wave that's ready to come crashing down any time. I've asked for help, but there's none available. It just means I have to dig deeper, work smarter/harder, and for longer.
That's the very beginning of my crux. If I dig into this work which pays for our lifestyle including my wife being a stay at home mom, it means I have to ditch on being there for them as a good husband and father. If I work harder on being a better husband and father, I have to spend more time with them as I'm severely lacking in giving them any quantity and the quality isn't anything to write home about either. Throw in the fact that I like to have some me time on the bike just to keep my sanity and my time is more than gone. Of course we can't forget about our burgeoning lingerie business, a custom engine that needs to be built, my own project car, friends, side projects, and everything else that goes along with life as well.
It's shaping up to be a spring and summer from hell in regards to the amount of work I have to absorb and process. If I had an option open to jump ship, I'd seriously be looking that direction. I take pride in making money for the company I work for and making the most from each project I run. When I see a challenge like this looming, I just see mistakes and money going down the drain as I hop from issue to issue so fast, I don't get to analyze or make decisions based on costs, but time management. It's not good for me. It stresses me, it hurts my productivity, and makes me like my job less and less. Being the top earner has it's perks, but it also has it's downfalls. As Squirrel has now permanently inked on his body, it's time to "Suck it up!"
If you don't hear from me as often as I'd like, I'm sorry. If I don't be the husband or father I want to be, I'm sorry. If I seem like I'm in a hurry to go somewhere else when I'm talking to you, I'm sorry. This summer is going to be rough. Wish me luck.
Monday, February 04, 2008
A little riding and a little craziness...
The past couple of weekends have definitely lent themselves to some great riding and little wildness as well. The last weekend of January was Squirrel's hilly hundy ride that I had to miss out on. But, not to fear, I still had my chance to ride and do something crazy.
The trade group for my work that I happen to be chapter president of as well was having our annual winter social event in conjunction with the Okoboji Winter Games. The weekend packs the area with a frenzy of people, activities, and fun times. The locals say it's about as busy as the 4th of July weekend. I can beleive it after being stuck in several traffic jams over the weekend.
Friday night started off with a party hosted by the president of our company at his lake house. Being that we had the baby with us, we left rather early to get her put to bed. On Saturday I joined the "Freeze your fanny" bike ride being put on by the owner of Okoboji Expedition Company. The shop up there is very nice and has a great selection of bikes including some high end lines that you wouldn't expect to find in a small town shop. After a few words from the ride sponsor, roughly 50 of us took off to brave the balmy 20 degree temperatures and ride around the lake. I quickly worked my way to the front much preferring to take on the slush and ice on the roads with only a few people around in lieu of waiting for someone to possibly crash in front of me.
At the first pass through town several of the front riders pealed off to hit the bar. One single local rider and I were now off the front of the pack by virtue of not joining in the beverage and also keeping a nice steady pace. I struck up a conversation with him and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the ride. He was riding a cross style bike without very knobby tires and didn't seem to enjoy the slush and snow spots quite as much as I did on the new mountain bike. All in all, we were the first two back to the bike shop with a scant 16 miles in and just over an hour off the clock. We peeled out of some layers to cool off and waited for other riders to come in as well.
After a nice relaxing ride I headed back to the hotel on the bike. I passed what appeared to be a couch on wheels being pulled across the lake by a 4 wheeler. Upon closer investigation it was the rest of our group getting ready to head out for the day. The couch contraption was put together by our local member and he was hauling everyone around to watch the various events on it. After a breif conversation, we agreed to meet back up at 3 for the main event- The Polar Plunge! Something I failed to mention from the previous night is that the local and I took up an I will if you will dare to do the polar plunge. It's something that has always kind of been on my life's list of things to check off, so what better way than to do it in front of a bunch of people to show off at the same time. I headed back to meet up with my wife and daughter who were coming back from a morning out with the ladies of the group doing wine tasting, pampering, and chocolate gorging.
I finally headed back out around 2 so I could grab a quick bite for lunch and head to the plunge by 3. Lunch would later be my undoing, but I am getting a bit ahead of myself now. As I wasn't quite sure what to expect for the plunge, I just grabbed a towel and had my trunks on under my jeans. I found a spot to park about half a mile from the plunge as there were literally hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people out on the ice all ready. I hiked off in the direction of the plunge as I really hadn't made any actual inquiries on how this whole thing worked or where I needed to go. I managed to find the sign in tent and realized there were plenty of other fools just like me who were willing to jump into a hole cut in the ice just to say they've done it. I looked around for my partner in crime, but alas, he was nowhere to be found. I'd later find out he showed up too late to sign up so I was to be the only one from our group crazy enough to jump in.
After I signed up and found what I thought would be a safe place to set my clothing, I stripped down to my trunks and huddled with the rest of the people waiting for the jumping to commence. Surprisingly enough, when you're huddled with a hundred other people inside of a couple small shelters and standing on plywood in lieu of the ice, it isn't that cold. I'd say the ambient air temp was probably in the mid to low 30's but I sure wasn't shivering. People finally started being let out to the hole for their jumps. Almost immediately, the water started to come up on the ice. The combination of the weight of thousands of spectators and numerous bodies jumping into an open hole cut in the ice started pusing a huge amount of water on top of the ice. By the time it was my turn to jump, the walk to the hole consisted of 50 yards of 6-10" of water on top of the slush and ice. That was actually the worst part of the entire experience. Each step felt like being stabbed in the feet. By the time I reached the hole, my feet had thankfully gone numb. The person working the jumping side of the hole suggested I give them a big cannonball so I did my best. I compare it to bungee jumping where you had better go when they tell you or you brain will try to stop you. So, I jumped.
The water hit me and took my breath away in an instant. The next thing I new, I was all ready back to the surface and clawing my way to the ladder. Amazingly enough, the walk back to the tents felt warm. The nice thing about the tents is they also held two large hot tubs. Of course, by the time I reached them, they were literally overflowing with bodies. I waited a few minutes and finally was able to thaw my frozen feet out. I even sat completely down in for a few minutes before I decided it was time to head back to the hotel. This is where things got a bit ugly. The aforementioned water had risen to the point that everything in the tents was now in 6" of water. Unfortunately, this included my shoes..... I quickly dumped the water out of them, grabbed my towel to dry off and threw on my coat. I worked my way out through the crowd with the stabbing pains returning to my now thawed feet. I finally got past the crowd and hiked back to the car wearing nothing more than my coat, trunks, and a towel wrapped around me. Funny, it still seeemed warm compared to where I'd just been.
The rest of Saturday was spent enjoying the water park with our little girl and having a wonderful catered meal with friends and colleagues. About 9 I headed down to our room hoping to catch my wife in time for a little amorous time. Something suddenly didn't feel right in the world. Normally, I can suck up some stomach issues and keep my mind focused on the goal, but this was different. Near as I can figure, my lunch of McDonalds showed back up with a vengeance. I spent the next 6 hours becoming intimate with the toilet. Not exactly the kind of kinky love I was looking for. I finally quite expending bodily fluids sometime around 4 in the morning and fell into a fitful sleep. By fitful I mean I rolled and tossed and threw sheets off the bed. My poor wife finally went to sleep in the other bed as it wasn't doing her any good either.
I finally got up around 11 and we packed to head home. The rest of the day is basically a blur other than enduring a pretty excruciating 5 hour trip home feeling like crap. I crawled into bed around 7 and put a bullet in the rest of the weekend.
The trade group for my work that I happen to be chapter president of as well was having our annual winter social event in conjunction with the Okoboji Winter Games. The weekend packs the area with a frenzy of people, activities, and fun times. The locals say it's about as busy as the 4th of July weekend. I can beleive it after being stuck in several traffic jams over the weekend.
Friday night started off with a party hosted by the president of our company at his lake house. Being that we had the baby with us, we left rather early to get her put to bed. On Saturday I joined the "Freeze your fanny" bike ride being put on by the owner of Okoboji Expedition Company. The shop up there is very nice and has a great selection of bikes including some high end lines that you wouldn't expect to find in a small town shop. After a few words from the ride sponsor, roughly 50 of us took off to brave the balmy 20 degree temperatures and ride around the lake. I quickly worked my way to the front much preferring to take on the slush and ice on the roads with only a few people around in lieu of waiting for someone to possibly crash in front of me.
At the first pass through town several of the front riders pealed off to hit the bar. One single local rider and I were now off the front of the pack by virtue of not joining in the beverage and also keeping a nice steady pace. I struck up a conversation with him and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the ride. He was riding a cross style bike without very knobby tires and didn't seem to enjoy the slush and snow spots quite as much as I did on the new mountain bike. All in all, we were the first two back to the bike shop with a scant 16 miles in and just over an hour off the clock. We peeled out of some layers to cool off and waited for other riders to come in as well.
After a nice relaxing ride I headed back to the hotel on the bike. I passed what appeared to be a couch on wheels being pulled across the lake by a 4 wheeler. Upon closer investigation it was the rest of our group getting ready to head out for the day. The couch contraption was put together by our local member and he was hauling everyone around to watch the various events on it. After a breif conversation, we agreed to meet back up at 3 for the main event- The Polar Plunge! Something I failed to mention from the previous night is that the local and I took up an I will if you will dare to do the polar plunge. It's something that has always kind of been on my life's list of things to check off, so what better way than to do it in front of a bunch of people to show off at the same time. I headed back to meet up with my wife and daughter who were coming back from a morning out with the ladies of the group doing wine tasting, pampering, and chocolate gorging.
I finally headed back out around 2 so I could grab a quick bite for lunch and head to the plunge by 3. Lunch would later be my undoing, but I am getting a bit ahead of myself now. As I wasn't quite sure what to expect for the plunge, I just grabbed a towel and had my trunks on under my jeans. I found a spot to park about half a mile from the plunge as there were literally hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people out on the ice all ready. I hiked off in the direction of the plunge as I really hadn't made any actual inquiries on how this whole thing worked or where I needed to go. I managed to find the sign in tent and realized there were plenty of other fools just like me who were willing to jump into a hole cut in the ice just to say they've done it. I looked around for my partner in crime, but alas, he was nowhere to be found. I'd later find out he showed up too late to sign up so I was to be the only one from our group crazy enough to jump in.
After I signed up and found what I thought would be a safe place to set my clothing, I stripped down to my trunks and huddled with the rest of the people waiting for the jumping to commence. Surprisingly enough, when you're huddled with a hundred other people inside of a couple small shelters and standing on plywood in lieu of the ice, it isn't that cold. I'd say the ambient air temp was probably in the mid to low 30's but I sure wasn't shivering. People finally started being let out to the hole for their jumps. Almost immediately, the water started to come up on the ice. The combination of the weight of thousands of spectators and numerous bodies jumping into an open hole cut in the ice started pusing a huge amount of water on top of the ice. By the time it was my turn to jump, the walk to the hole consisted of 50 yards of 6-10" of water on top of the slush and ice. That was actually the worst part of the entire experience. Each step felt like being stabbed in the feet. By the time I reached the hole, my feet had thankfully gone numb. The person working the jumping side of the hole suggested I give them a big cannonball so I did my best. I compare it to bungee jumping where you had better go when they tell you or you brain will try to stop you. So, I jumped.
The water hit me and took my breath away in an instant. The next thing I new, I was all ready back to the surface and clawing my way to the ladder. Amazingly enough, the walk back to the tents felt warm. The nice thing about the tents is they also held two large hot tubs. Of course, by the time I reached them, they were literally overflowing with bodies. I waited a few minutes and finally was able to thaw my frozen feet out. I even sat completely down in for a few minutes before I decided it was time to head back to the hotel. This is where things got a bit ugly. The aforementioned water had risen to the point that everything in the tents was now in 6" of water. Unfortunately, this included my shoes..... I quickly dumped the water out of them, grabbed my towel to dry off and threw on my coat. I worked my way out through the crowd with the stabbing pains returning to my now thawed feet. I finally got past the crowd and hiked back to the car wearing nothing more than my coat, trunks, and a towel wrapped around me. Funny, it still seeemed warm compared to where I'd just been.
The rest of Saturday was spent enjoying the water park with our little girl and having a wonderful catered meal with friends and colleagues. About 9 I headed down to our room hoping to catch my wife in time for a little amorous time. Something suddenly didn't feel right in the world. Normally, I can suck up some stomach issues and keep my mind focused on the goal, but this was different. Near as I can figure, my lunch of McDonalds showed back up with a vengeance. I spent the next 6 hours becoming intimate with the toilet. Not exactly the kind of kinky love I was looking for. I finally quite expending bodily fluids sometime around 4 in the morning and fell into a fitful sleep. By fitful I mean I rolled and tossed and threw sheets off the bed. My poor wife finally went to sleep in the other bed as it wasn't doing her any good either.
I finally got up around 11 and we packed to head home. The rest of the day is basically a blur other than enduring a pretty excruciating 5 hour trip home feeling like crap. I crawled into bed around 7 and put a bullet in the rest of the weekend.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
No weekend riding
I had every intention of riding this weekend... No, really, I did. I couldn't really find anyone crazy enough to get out in the negative temperatures with me this weekend. At least I ended up slightly productive by cleaning our office and starting to get ready for tax season.
I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to taxes. We've filed for extensions the last 2 years in a row. It's not that I'm trying to put off paying as I don't think we've ever had to pay, it's just that with running a couple small side businesses, I have a ton of extra paperwork to get filed and for anyone that knows me, I don't tend to keep up on organizing them through the year. I do just fine on keeping all of my receipts together and being able to find pretty much everything once I get to doing it, but there are literally hours of sorting involved that I dread!
Saturday, I finally got out to the garage for the first time this year and the first time in quite a while actually. I have my own car/engine project to finish and one for a customer that has been dragging on for almost 3 years waiting for payments and such. It's finally paid in full and about 90% of the parts are here for that project so it was time to figure out what was left to order for both the projects and see how that impacted my fun budget. As it turns out, I had quite a few of the bolts, seals, and misc parts all ready bought for the customer's project so I just need to finish out my build list of parts and get it going. The nice thing about my garage, even though it's a bit packed with material since my enclosed trailer is doing storage duty for my parents, is that I have it heated with a pretty kick ass 90,000 BTU radiant heater that runs on propane. Even with the outside temps completely negative it was 60ish in the garage! As I shut everything down for the night I noted a few places where frost was actually building up from the cold air outside coming in through gaps and hitting the warm moist air in the garage. It's pretty wild to see steam coming into the garage.
Sunday was a bit more of the same household stuff with the exception that we got a few hours kid free in the afternoon thanks to Grandma! It was a nice change of pace to be kid free since little one has been sick this past week and extra clingy/whiny. I'm sure any of you parents (or spouses) probably know that whine and cry they get when they're sick. Definitely a nerve wracker! So, with her out of the house we got some productivity in the office and the bedroom ;)
I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to taxes. We've filed for extensions the last 2 years in a row. It's not that I'm trying to put off paying as I don't think we've ever had to pay, it's just that with running a couple small side businesses, I have a ton of extra paperwork to get filed and for anyone that knows me, I don't tend to keep up on organizing them through the year. I do just fine on keeping all of my receipts together and being able to find pretty much everything once I get to doing it, but there are literally hours of sorting involved that I dread!
Saturday, I finally got out to the garage for the first time this year and the first time in quite a while actually. I have my own car/engine project to finish and one for a customer that has been dragging on for almost 3 years waiting for payments and such. It's finally paid in full and about 90% of the parts are here for that project so it was time to figure out what was left to order for both the projects and see how that impacted my fun budget. As it turns out, I had quite a few of the bolts, seals, and misc parts all ready bought for the customer's project so I just need to finish out my build list of parts and get it going. The nice thing about my garage, even though it's a bit packed with material since my enclosed trailer is doing storage duty for my parents, is that I have it heated with a pretty kick ass 90,000 BTU radiant heater that runs on propane. Even with the outside temps completely negative it was 60ish in the garage! As I shut everything down for the night I noted a few places where frost was actually building up from the cold air outside coming in through gaps and hitting the warm moist air in the garage. It's pretty wild to see steam coming into the garage.
Sunday was a bit more of the same household stuff with the exception that we got a few hours kid free in the afternoon thanks to Grandma! It was a nice change of pace to be kid free since little one has been sick this past week and extra clingy/whiny. I'm sure any of you parents (or spouses) probably know that whine and cry they get when they're sick. Definitely a nerve wracker! So, with her out of the house we got some productivity in the office and the bedroom ;)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Getting busy part II
Well, since I unavoidably swerved off into sex talk last time, I'll try to keep this a little more on the straight and narrow this time. Really, it was time to get busy. Life was cruising along at a comfortable clip, finances were starting to come into a healthy picture, hobbies were established, we were enjoying our freedoms together and separately. So why not throw a wrench in the works and see how it ends up?
Ahh yes, the talk of children.... The subject was broached, I was found to be in a more receptive mood than in the past, and an exchanging of thoughts occured. I can't say I was fully on board with the entire idea of becoming a parent and even more worried about being a good one at that. After many hours of discussion, some good soul searching, and a good many more hours of discussion, we decided it was indeed time to "get busy" starting a family. See, this is the direction I originally intended this post to go!
We set a rough timeline involving the stopping of birth control and the start of taking our chances. Our timeline was to get pregnant sometime near the center section of 2006 and have a baby by the time 2007 rolled around to join us. Well, we're nothing if not punctual. OK, so that's a flat out lie for anyone that knows my wife. She's nothing, if not 15 minutes late! I swear she'll be late to her own funeral. In any case, it figures she'd be on time for this. As September rolls around, we get the note in the mail saying congratulations you're pregnant. Well, maybe it didn't come by mail, but instead involved attempting to pee on a little strip of paper, following by some sort of archane hyroglyphic reading, and a follow up to the clinic. All in all, we were indeed pregnant. Woohoo, now comes the roller coaster.
A little side note here as I've taken some flack on a forum for talking about pregnancy in the terms of "we" or "us". That's my own personal preference since I believe if you're as involved in the pregnancy as I think a person should be, you actually have as much stake as the woman who is carrying the child.
In any case, we were now pregnant and though we thought we'd prepared by reading and researching, we were in for a world of fun over the next 9 months. We really hadn't gotten to the point of figuring out how we wanted to have this baby. Typical doctrine dictates you pick out an OB clinic, wait 9 months, and head to the hospital. This didn't sound like us. We wanted to take an active role in the pregnancy and use this as a learning opportunity as well. Our search for something different led us into the world of midwives.
For those that haven't a clue about what midwives are, what they do, or have heard from a friend of a friend who had a midwife and delivered in a barn in Coonsfoot, Kentucky, you owe it to yourself to learn a little more about them. We had a truly awesome experience and spent hours with our midwife learning about the pregnancy, learning what we could due to stay healthy, and learning more about our own physiology than we ever thought we'd need to know. Granted, it wasn't an easy process for either of us, though I was definitely less affected than Miranda. There was a new diet to follow, a fair amount of recommended reading, and a number of guidelines to follow. I'm sure there are a number of you reading this and thinking, why would you subject yourselves to so much extra work when you're all ready dealing with being pregnant? Trust me, there were a number of times we asked ourselves and the midwife the same thing. The bottom line was to maintain the health of the mother and baby throughout the pregnancy is the single most important thing you can do.
As we would later piece together, our midwife set us on course for a wonderful pregnancy that resulted in a very healthy baby girl being born on Good Friday of 2007. It was, indeed, a Good Friday! Our close friends know pretty much all the details of the birth, but I'll highlight a few things that astound most people. Labor started around 4 AM Friday morning, we went for a walk completely around Gray's Lake during the course of labor, saw our midwife around noon, and went for an accupuncture appointment after that. Around 3 PM the ball really started rolling and we headed from the accupuncturist back to the birthing center and the care of our midwife. Our beautiful girl was born a couple hours later completely without drugs and with the use of a heated whirlpool. Miranda was awesome during the entire process and kept her focus as I tried to keep up with her needs. It was a great experience and best of all, we were home and in bed by 8:30 that night!
Little did we know how much our lives were about to change. How in less than 2 years this beautiful bundle of joy:
To a fun, demanding, wildly adorable little person:
Ahh how sweet life is!
Ahh yes, the talk of children.... The subject was broached, I was found to be in a more receptive mood than in the past, and an exchanging of thoughts occured. I can't say I was fully on board with the entire idea of becoming a parent and even more worried about being a good one at that. After many hours of discussion, some good soul searching, and a good many more hours of discussion, we decided it was indeed time to "get busy" starting a family. See, this is the direction I originally intended this post to go!
We set a rough timeline involving the stopping of birth control and the start of taking our chances. Our timeline was to get pregnant sometime near the center section of 2006 and have a baby by the time 2007 rolled around to join us. Well, we're nothing if not punctual. OK, so that's a flat out lie for anyone that knows my wife. She's nothing, if not 15 minutes late! I swear she'll be late to her own funeral. In any case, it figures she'd be on time for this. As September rolls around, we get the note in the mail saying congratulations you're pregnant. Well, maybe it didn't come by mail, but instead involved attempting to pee on a little strip of paper, following by some sort of archane hyroglyphic reading, and a follow up to the clinic. All in all, we were indeed pregnant. Woohoo, now comes the roller coaster.
A little side note here as I've taken some flack on a forum for talking about pregnancy in the terms of "we" or "us". That's my own personal preference since I believe if you're as involved in the pregnancy as I think a person should be, you actually have as much stake as the woman who is carrying the child.
In any case, we were now pregnant and though we thought we'd prepared by reading and researching, we were in for a world of fun over the next 9 months. We really hadn't gotten to the point of figuring out how we wanted to have this baby. Typical doctrine dictates you pick out an OB clinic, wait 9 months, and head to the hospital. This didn't sound like us. We wanted to take an active role in the pregnancy and use this as a learning opportunity as well. Our search for something different led us into the world of midwives.
For those that haven't a clue about what midwives are, what they do, or have heard from a friend of a friend who had a midwife and delivered in a barn in Coonsfoot, Kentucky, you owe it to yourself to learn a little more about them. We had a truly awesome experience and spent hours with our midwife learning about the pregnancy, learning what we could due to stay healthy, and learning more about our own physiology than we ever thought we'd need to know. Granted, it wasn't an easy process for either of us, though I was definitely less affected than Miranda. There was a new diet to follow, a fair amount of recommended reading, and a number of guidelines to follow. I'm sure there are a number of you reading this and thinking, why would you subject yourselves to so much extra work when you're all ready dealing with being pregnant? Trust me, there were a number of times we asked ourselves and the midwife the same thing. The bottom line was to maintain the health of the mother and baby throughout the pregnancy is the single most important thing you can do.
As we would later piece together, our midwife set us on course for a wonderful pregnancy that resulted in a very healthy baby girl being born on Good Friday of 2007. It was, indeed, a Good Friday! Our close friends know pretty much all the details of the birth, but I'll highlight a few things that astound most people. Labor started around 4 AM Friday morning, we went for a walk completely around Gray's Lake during the course of labor, saw our midwife around noon, and went for an accupuncture appointment after that. Around 3 PM the ball really started rolling and we headed from the accupuncturist back to the birthing center and the care of our midwife. Our beautiful girl was born a couple hours later completely without drugs and with the use of a heated whirlpool. Miranda was awesome during the entire process and kept her focus as I tried to keep up with her needs. It was a great experience and best of all, we were home and in bed by 8:30 that night!
Little did we know how much our lives were about to change. How in less than 2 years this beautiful bundle of joy:
To a fun, demanding, wildly adorable little person:
Ahh how sweet life is!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Rewind to the beginning
Since it just struck my fancy to start blogging one day I didn't really introduce myself so I'll see if I can't give you some background. I'm a Midwesterner, happily married to a wonderful woman, I'm a car nut, sex nut, amateur creator, and love to build things. More or less I wouldn't consider myself too far out of the normal range of guys. I'm on the back half of my 20's and we have no kids so life is still pretty free flowing on what we do for fun and the occasional whim. I was given the nickname of "Buckshot" from my grandpa many years ago. I never really went by the name, but at the advent of my online adventures some dozen or so years ago, I was affronted with the mystifying task of creating a screen name. Being that all the cool names a late teen could come up with, this one happened into my head and kind of stuck. In reality though my grandpa probably named me after a semi famous Nascar racer, the literal translation of the word also seems to fit my personality.
Alas, my grandpa died a few years ago and I never took the time to thank him for a good nickname. It's funny how people that you don't really think of as influences on your life affect you when they pass away. He was the typical quiet guy that never really opened up emotionally, but that was part of his generation. In any case I miss him and wonder if I'll have the same recognition once I'm gone.
As far as why I'm creating this blog, I don't quite know! How's that for an answer. I tend to be bored at work, but my mind never seems to shut off so this has become the most logical way to put that unspent energy to work. Much better than actually doing something like real work, huh?! If you couldn't have guessed by the previous few posts, I really enjoy cars and occasionally enjoy working on them too. My job is a somewhat typical desk type affair, so cars give me an outlet to do something creative by working on and modifying them. I also gave you a bit of a taste into my sexual side which is something new for me to discuss at random. Even with the anonymity of the internet there are a ton of people on various car forums that I visit who could easily google and find this blog. It will be interesting to see if the connection is ever made. However, since I don't view sex as something that needs to be hidden like some dirty secret, it will just be out there as another part of my life, kind of like eating.
That's about it for now. If there are any things you'd like to know I'll see what I can dredge up.
Alas, my grandpa died a few years ago and I never took the time to thank him for a good nickname. It's funny how people that you don't really think of as influences on your life affect you when they pass away. He was the typical quiet guy that never really opened up emotionally, but that was part of his generation. In any case I miss him and wonder if I'll have the same recognition once I'm gone.
As far as why I'm creating this blog, I don't quite know! How's that for an answer. I tend to be bored at work, but my mind never seems to shut off so this has become the most logical way to put that unspent energy to work. Much better than actually doing something like real work, huh?! If you couldn't have guessed by the previous few posts, I really enjoy cars and occasionally enjoy working on them too. My job is a somewhat typical desk type affair, so cars give me an outlet to do something creative by working on and modifying them. I also gave you a bit of a taste into my sexual side which is something new for me to discuss at random. Even with the anonymity of the internet there are a ton of people on various car forums that I visit who could easily google and find this blog. It will be interesting to see if the connection is ever made. However, since I don't view sex as something that needs to be hidden like some dirty secret, it will just be out there as another part of my life, kind of like eating.
That's about it for now. If there are any things you'd like to know I'll see what I can dredge up.
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