Yes Indeed It's Fun Time

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 6% BF

Went to the gym last night, then dinner at WB. (Get while the getting's good: they have this unbelievable "chorizo & spam" specialty chili; that's my new home until they run out.) Interesting conversations with bartender Carrie, then with some guy Joe (who's a sort of real estate mogul I guess, building his empire on 6th & Northampton), and finally with Doug via cellphone . Tonight "The Foolz" are playing there; after a road ride (weather permitting) I'll be heading back down.

Last night's workout felt kind of weird: I cut the weights in half & doubled the reps, starting focus on endurance, and it was disconcerting to lift such light weights -- though by the last reps of the last set I was definitely feeling the burn, in fact it was a far more intense workout than the recent strength ones. Definitely feel it now, too.

When The Well Runs Dry

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 13% BF

Ran out of things to say. Maybe I'll add something tonight, after chores/gym. In the meantime, today's Dilbert is pretty good...

Even More Bloggy Photo Fun

Happy Easter!
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Even more photo fun. Using Flickr's posting technique to display a photo from my own photo galleries, if this works the way I want it to I'll save the template for reuse. This picture was from last year's trip to Moab: a wind-up Easter egg that Bob bought, and Doug & Eric brought on the trail to supplement the finger puppet photography they were doing instead of riding. This particular photo was taken on Gooseberry Mesa. I can't believe that was almost a year ago -- actually, Easter is almost but not quite here, and it comes early this year, so what with this & that, Moab wasn't quite as "almost a year ago" as it seems...

Just Having A Little Fun

Paintballs
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I took this photo on the ride we did before the Superbowl of Chili, at the southern end of the abandoned RR bridge across the Bushkill. I like the way it came out, but I think smaller versions look better. Just playing around with photo blogging.

What A Difference A Day Makes!

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 13% BF

Incredible, freak snowstorm yesterday, a real squall... It was supposed to be just "a dusting" of snow after early morning rain, but the temperature plummeted and the wind blew, roads iced up and maybe 3"-4" of snow fell. Bad visibility, lots of crashes on the highways -- and it all cleared up by the time I had to go home, luckily. It's still cold & windy right now, but last night was just plain bitter.

That was the arctic blast, then I got another blast from the past: ran into Pieter C again, seems he's an amateur rapper/musician of some sort, hangs out with the Dave Cahill crowd. Saw him at Which Brew.

Proud Crew And Their Handiwork

Proud Crew And Their Handiwork
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

After the trailwork at Jacobsburg. Left to right: Eric, Doug, Joey V, "Shaft", Joe C and Brian. In the foreground is the day's project. Until the park gets funds, plans, and bureaucratic approval (ie "never") for a new bridge, the land manager asked us to put in some stepping-stones as an interim solution. We built a solid pathway without blocking the stream, and were pretty satisfied with the result. I suspect that in the summer, bikers will just ride across, but hikers should be grateful.

Conformal Mapping: Italy in the Clouds

Conformal Mapping: Italy in the Clouds
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

A blast from the past, grad school daze to be specific: as soon as I saw this cloud it reminded me of a map of Italy; only sheared and distorted, like some sort of conformal mapping. I guess you had to be there...

On Golden Swan

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13.5% BF

Walked at Merrill Creek Reservoir yesterday. Stopped there on the way home after work, got there just before 5:00, walked out to the dam & took pictures, continued walking and turned around at 5:25 -- sunset aproximately 5:50, this got me back to the car at dusk. Last (actually, only) one there, park guy was waiting so he could lock the gates behind me.

There were a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of birds in the water, mainly Canada geese and snow geese. So loud it was unreal, and the sky was busier than any ten airports. Very peaceful feeling, watching the birds, and the water & sky. It's funny, Merrill Creek seems to evoke in me more of a feeling of fellowship with wild creatures than pretty much anywhere else; even with those cicadas last year it was like "hello, my little friends."

From there it was back to the city lights: home for a few chores, then Mug Club Night at Which Brew (one more time!). Met Brian, got our delicious discount dinners, but the specialty Spam dish was split pea soup so I couldn't partake. Had an interesting conversation with that guy Perry, turns out he's a music teacher, and one of his good friends is Dave Danielson, aka "Mr Danielson" my high school music teacher. Apparently Dave got out of teaching in the mid-80's, divorced & remarried, and relocated to Nashua NH, but Perry keeps in touch & promised to pass on my greetings. Purely a coincidence, but Easton HS is playing "Pippin," which is what Manalapan did my senior year -- I played bass in the orchestra. Small world.

Betty-Lou's Got A New Tattoo...

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

...and Don's got a new pair of shoes.

Friday: home, Which Brew, bed. Good conversation about music, with a guy who carries the unfortunate moniker of "Crazy Carl," unfortunate (& scary) mainly because the things he said made a lot of sense... also saw that DJ dude Pete. Not the brightest guy, at least not in the way he comes across, but I have to say that every conversation I have with with him expands my horizons -- lately he's had a gig at Lafayette College, modeling nude for the art classes. All the ladies were very interested in what he had to say, and asked a lot of what I would have thought were rather embarrassing questions... Pete took it all in stride though, in fact he was in his glory, and demonstrated a few poses for us -- thank God he kept his clothes on.

Saturday: back to the gym for the first time in quite a while. Saw Dawn, played catch-up on what's been going on since last time. I decided to start focusing on endurance again, so she reduced the weights and upped the reps. Good workout, but it took all my motivation to see it through.

After that I did some shopping (food, and new boots: Asolos again), errands & chores, went back to WB with Doug who stopped by to show me his new car, actually his wife's new car, replacement for the damaged one, and pretty sweet though I forget the make/model. Some chili & some hummos, a beer or two and coffee... saw Hans, and Heath & Margarita, been a while.

Sunday: Jacobsburg trail maintenance, building some rockpiles as stepping stones acroos one of the creeks. The bridge there was washed away by Hurricane Ivan, and this is an interim solution until FEMA money kicks in to replace it. Lots of fun, splashing around tossing rocks in the stream, stay tuned for photos (soon).

After that was a road ride, short & sweet and straight into the wind, then the Banff Film Festival road show at Zoellner. Very good this time, not a weak movie in the bunch, everything really engaged me.

Now it's Monday!