Black Bird Speaks

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 179.5#, 13% BF

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 180#, 12% BF

 

Feeling a little better, blues are starting to fade...

 

A Public Service Announcement (for anyone struggling with pairing Garmin devices, and resorting to Teh Google): I got a Garmin accessory for Christmas, a pedal-cadence monitor which communicates wirelessly with my GPS. Before they can do that, however, the two units have to establish a communications link. The process is called "pairing," and it's sort of like the units get introduced to each other: you hold the GPS near the monitor, with no other monitors or GPS units nearby, and they do the rest. (Once the devices are paired, they automatically recognize each other, and will work together even in the presence of other accessories/devices, or other riders with similar GPS units.) There is one "undocumented feature" though: the airwaves have to really be quiet when you do this, and more specifically, the units will not pair if there's wi-fi around. Well, we have wi-fi throughout the house, and so do all our neighbors... I spent about a week fiddling with the cadence monitor, replacing batteries and pressing reset buttons etc, no luck until I came across a forum comment that warned about the wi-fi thing. I found a spot down the street where the airwaves were quiet enough, and two seconds later they were paired. Piece of cake! -- and they have been playing together flawlessly ever since. Each new toy brings disquieting news though, and now I think my cadence is too low...

 

Down to the wire: I was getting nervous about our visas so I checked online yesterday -- they'd been approved and were on the way back to us, and when I got home the package had already arrived. Whew! Except for packing (and one more confirmation with the hotel) we are now ready for Russia. Well, except for the language thing... I'll be bringing a camera but no laptop, so posting may be sparse for a bit -- though I might pick up a new smartphone (the Droid has been catching my eye lately), especially if I can get one I can use internationally. We shall see.

 

Last night was the wake for Deb's stepdad. I carpooled with Lori, and met a few friends (Eric & Kris, Greg, Janna & Eric) from the old Masters Swimming days, but otherwise it was mostly Deb's relatives and neighbors. Deb seemed to be holding up OK. Pretty sad, he had pancreatic cancer and it took him out rather suddenly.

 

Tonight is the gym, then over to Porters. This morning was beautiful, with the predawn frost colors, and the crows all fleeing their epicenter along the river.