Friday, Already!

Once again, no morning weigh-in...

It was raining last night, but I was going stir-crazy so I put on a raincoat and some hiking pants (not my waterproof pants, but somewhat resistant and fast-drying), and went down to Which Brew for dinner. Quiet night there, and Carrie & her roommate Tara were both working. Of course, they were getting paid to hang out, but it was still pretty cool to monopolize the attention of not just one, but two twenty-something hotties... Same old story though: they were talking about the fun they'd have after closing the bar and escaping, while for me, this was the high point of the evening. I grow old, I grow old, yadda yadda trousers rolled.

I also finished reading Wonder Boys last night. Rereading, actually, and I enjoyed it as much as all the other times.

Got a call this morning, 6:45 AM, the guy I've been riding to work with realized he had a doctor's appointment today. He called another friend to arrange a ride in, but I'd have to be ready in a half hour because that guy likes to arrive a little early. Cue the "Mission Impossible" theme, but I was ready in time; unfortunately there was a tractor-trailer flipped on I-78, two lanes closed and traffic was backed up 6 miles. We took backroads (also congested) and got in at the regular time.

No ride tonight: lights not charged, and I hope to pick up my car. Back on track tomorrow morning, I hope. I hear that stuff springs eternal.

Pizza, But Still No Car

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 10% BF

Car's still in the shop, waiting on "one more shim"... Chain Gang meeting last night at Steve's Pizzeria, good meeting. Nothing much to say today.

Car-Free For A Week (and other fallout)

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 11% BF

As of today, I will have been sans car for one week. The Outback has been in the shop with an "internal coolant leak," aka blown headgasket, which necessitated taking the heads off (expensive), also checking the heads at a machine shop for warping. The car's been there since Monday of last week; heads came back OK, but there was a tap in one valve when they put it all back together, which meant it needed some shims, which had to be ordered since no one local had any... I should get the car back tonight. I owe rides, favors to several co-workers.

Tonight is the Chain Gang meeting, which should have been at my place but there's no way I'd have been ready, so we're having it at a pizzeria nearby.

How bizarre, how bizarre: landlord painted my bathroom the other day. It used to be white, now everything (including trim) is painted purple, with a banana-cream yellow sponge effect overlay. Not sure if I like it, but he busted his ass to do it, and he prides himself on his artistic sensibilities...

More Post-Mortem

No morning weigh-in (forgot), which is probably good since I ate 3/4 of a pepperoni pie last night.

AN OBSERVATION: Blogger seems a little really slow and cranky this week.

It's Over: I haven't seen or talked to Theresa in about two weeks, and before that it was probably two weeks since I'd last seen her. She wasn't answering her phone (screening?) and didn't return my calls; emails would sometimes get replies. I guess if I were really committed to our relationship I could have forced the issue sooner, but I've been drifting in the same direction myself, and drifting was easier... I sent a sort of "dear John" email yesterday, committing to writing what seemed pretty obvious, and got a reply towards the end of the day: she's been taking a beating in just about all aspects of her life (ex-husband has been very sick, extra childcare demands, pay cut at work) and sort of retreated into herself to regroup. Nothing to do with me, but she just wasn't up for a relationship anymore.

Really sad, because I do like her and like hanging out with her, and I think she's been thrown some curveballs in her life and I want her to be happy. But I've also sort of realized that we really weren't that compatible -- as friends, yes, but not really at the more intensely close level of a romatic relationship (else why block each other out in times of stress?), to say nothing of shared-life issues (her pets, my bike obsession). Oh well, I hope we can stay friends, or at least not be awkward when we run into each other. I also hope we do run into each other: her haunts are my haunts, her friends and associates are people I know too, and since I haven't seen her around I tried to let her know that she has as much right to hang out (say, at WB) as I do...

Meantime, back to my "bloodless calculus" of compatibility: no smoking, no pets, no drugs, no tats (OK, maybe one or two)...

More Sitrep

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 14% BF

The Weekend:

Friday I was feeling pretty low, the fallout from a rough week. No exercise after work, but I went down to Which Brew with Brian, where we saw a blues guitarist called Charlie Hilbert, very good. Brian was pretty happy since the guy played a boatload of Johnny Cash tunes, then hung out with us between sets. It's official, WB is pretty much a "biker bar": me, Brian, Heath & Hans, Arnie (a confirmed roadie, sad to say), bartendress Carrie (got MTB for birthday), and I even saw Scott S, hardcore biker & co-worker... overheard bits & pieces of another conversation "blah blah Cannondale blah high-end blah." It's soooo 3-months-ago, but I also had a mojito for the first time, and enjoyed it immensely. Those things are deadly.

Saturday was bike trip downtown to the coffee shop, then back home to get my regular glasses before going to the gym, so no time for a run. After that I went home via the bike path, which was in good shape. Housework, computer, walked down to WB (lame) then Porters (only marginally better). An early night.

Sunday was the Central Bucks Bike Club's big Covered Bridges Tour, a hilly 63-mile ride through the backroads of Bucks County. Me, Brian, Joe & Cindy, and also Pete H and his brother. (Also saw Karen F, who rode with me for a while then pulled a Houdini.) Great ride, good day if a bit chilly. Home, naptime, visited Shruty's Pub (open Sunday, Guinness on tap, about 2 blocks from home) for dinner.

Linux Voyager: I was fiddling with the CD player lately, found it didn't work. I spent some time trying to get it running, which I did but still can't burn anything. I think I have to recompile the kernel, or at least make some new module. Soon, soon.

Post-mortem: Things with Theresa are pretty much toast.