Long Day's Journey Into The Long Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 12.5#
Blood Pressure: 129/79, 65 BPM

I guess it was a bit of a triumph for my willpower, since I didn't order dinner while I was there -- and I was hungry -- but I went to Which Brew last night to get my weekly fix. (Tonight I have to pack and get ready for the weekend, and by tomorrow I'll be camping.) Timing is everything: there's a great band playing this weekend, and also a "Voodoo Luau Party." Doh!

Anyway, had a good conversation with Darrin, drifting from topic to topic (pork tenderloin recipes, Chinese buffets, Johnny Depp and Baron Samedi), also found out why it was so quiet in there: they'd had a bit of a blowout the night before for Alison the waitress, who will no longer be working Tuesdays. Once again, timing is everything.

Also had a good, if somewhat disturbing, conversation with another friend: it seems a friend-turned-flame-turned-abusive-relationship is trying to get back into her life, and through rumor and innuendo has successfully poisoned her current relationship. (Meanwhile, she feels like the focus of all her town's vicious gossip.) There's not much I could do except be sympathetic, but I at least said my peace about staying clear of that dude -- the classic "red flags" are there for eventual violence. My problems (right now) seem trivial compared; I'd like to be able to help, or at least give good advice, but I felt totally out of my depth. Nod sympathetically, hope for the best...

Tonight I don't know what I'll have for dinner, but I will be prepping the bikes and then the camping gear, then going food shopping (which was supposed to happen last night but didn't), then packing -- it'll be a long night.

UPDATE 8/28: I removed identifying info about the "troubling conversation" friend.

Benchmark, Va-Va-Voom

Did my "short northern benchmark" ride after work, (611 to Mud Run to 191 to Bushkill) -- and did it in 1:27, or nine minutes faster than the last time, which also was my personal best this year. Not bad! Guess I'm ready for Allamuchy.

SS BSD: Also, today I figured out how to use the programs I compile & link over at the Super Dimensional Fortress -- actually, I discovered my mistake and fixed it, which made for a short and sweet (but very dorky) voyage of discovery...

And yes, the pork tenderloin is all gone.

What Mythical Man-Month?

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 11.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 129/77, 51 BPM

I'll try not to rant, but as a result of some people trying to rush things and putting the cart before the horse, I was stuck here until 9:00 last night trying to get something done. What makes it worse is that yesterday was beautiful, and I was planning to leave "early" -- ie on time -- to take advantage of it. My friend Joe, who does similar work as me only freelance, emailed me to say "don't miss this opportunity," which is probably what jinxed me...

Meantime, it was pork tenderloin day three of four. That and another salad, sauerkraut, and the last of the corn on the cob. After dinner I totally crashed: played with the 'puter, checked email etc & went to bed. It felt like I just got home but it was already midnight. (Tonight will be the last night of pork.)

Tonight I'm going out riding, screw anyone who tries to say different. I told myself when I was down that I'd never again miss a riding opportunity, and I'd be an asshole about it if I had to -- I guess the time has come to stop welching on that.

By the way and speaking of Joe, I ran into the other Joe G (vegan Joe), while riding at Sals last Friday. He was riding Rob R's 1x1 (Rob was on his 29"er) because his own bike was in Canada. Apparently he's been spending a lot of time up there, Montreal area or whatever, after helping a friend relocate. Hmmmm... I wonder who's watching the strawberries?

Everything Dies, Baby

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 12.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 138/80, 50 BPM

Yoga last night (once again, felt amazingly good afterward), then I got home and had more pork tenderloin (w/ salad & more corn on the cob). I felt kind of agitated around bedtime, up instead of sleepy, so I took the singlespeed out & cruised around Easton for an hour or two. No lights, no helmet, no gears or suspension -- just tee shirt & gym shorts, sandals and a "simple" bicycle. First time I took that bike out since February. I was a little nervous about climbing back uphill from downtown, but I felt surprisingly strong, and my climbing cadence felt vigorous, dancelike, I was almost aggressive dancing up those hills.

Reading: Still dipping into the Edward Abbey reader occasionally, but I picked up a book on yoga last night before class, and spent some time looking it over after I got home. I've been having trouble coming up to speed on a few things (mainly nomenclature, but also multiple-posture sequences), thought I'd supplement class with a little home study. The book itself, several hundred rather forbidding pages of small-type print and lotsa black & white photos, covers everything I've ever seen or heard of within the first 50 pages, which also include the forward, preface, introduction...

Linux Voyager, New Boat: I got a friend (Mary M's husband Paul, who runs a computer repair/consulting company, and who occasionally helps me with my own computer needs) to burn me a copy of the latest Ubuntu distribution, as well as the latest Fedora Core distro. I'll be checking these out, then picking & installing one of them -- after Allamuchy!

Sals 101: Speaking of Mary, check out this flyer that Doug made me -- I'll be leading a Genesis group ride at Salisbury on Labor Day.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention the reason for today's post's title -- I broke my wooden spoon last night, my longest-lived and most useful kitchen implement. Dang! Now I'll have to go carve a new one out of a bigger spoon.

Zombie Dancer

Monday morning fly-by: weight about 182, bp still slightly high... Sals/towpath on Friday, followed by too much Which Brew & Porters, Saturday gym/errands, then more Which Brew but not as much as last night, Sunday rode the Allamuchy race course, helped with pre-race prep.

Yep, racing Allamuchy next weekend, solo; my team name is "Gimpy's Revenge." Time to get back to the weird world of the crazy-tired solo racers, walking and standing around in the woods like zombies...

Still busy at work. No OT tonight though, hitting the yoga class instead, then starting my camping gear & clothes preparations for the weekend.

Last night's dinner was awesome, by the way: I had to cook some pork tenderloins before they went bad, so I had that with some corn on the cob a friend grew & gave me, plus some sauerkraut. Will probably be having the same tonight, ditto tomorrow etc until it's all gone.