The Tao Of Poo

Poo! Boo! Heh heh heh... Well that's over with, everything's coming up roses and I can eat red meat again.

Anyway:

Rode Friday night on the towpath, but turned around before I got to Sand Island: I got spooked between Freemansburg and the BOC plant when saw a set of glowing predator eyes, low to the ground but bigger than a cat, watching me from the other side of the canal -- just as I came across a torn-apart & half-eaten squirrel on the trail. Coyote? Bobcat? Whatever, I was out of there. When I got home I went to Which Brew for dinner, but it was an early night, no Porters afterward.

Saturday was the gym, and then I met Greg M, Eric and Doug at Sals for some trailwork. Heavy lifting, and we got to to see Eric blow his shoulder out again, maybe 20 yards away from the place he ripped his rotator cuff last time. Since it was Eric's 40th birthday, or close to it, Doug and Lori took him out to dinner at Porters, and I came along to help. It was "Kilt Night" over there by the way, show up in a kilt and get a free Guinness.

I stopped at WB after that, where I ran into Shannon, a girl I knew from my earliest days in Easton. It was her "night off;" she and her husband Eric (different Eric), after nine years of trying and in vitro fertility stuff, now have one-year-old twins, and she just opened her own restaurant so she has almost no time/energy to spare. It was nice to see her out, but I don't expect to see too much of her in the near future, unless I visit her restaurant.

At one point in the evening I looked up and saw Arnie in a tux (just got back from the big Bicycling Hall of Fame dinner,where he met Greg LeMond -- he was practically walking on air), and Andrew in blue hair and a black leather kilt. Only in America, and usually not even there...

Sunday I blew off the Gap Gallop, and rode the towpath and Sals, tried the new stuff we built. Nice, but way hard. I was toast when I got home, but it might have been nutritional un-wisdom that did me in. I was so tired I went to dinner at Porter's again, got the exact same thing as Saturday (chicken w/ sun-dried tomatoes, olives and artichokes, plus rice) while I caught parts of the Eagles & Steelers games -- it is Pennsylvania, after all.

And now for your sermon:

Those who speak don't know shit,

Those who know don't say shit.

Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 10.% BF

Hit the gym last night, then did laundry and had dinner at Which Brew (then Porters) while it dried -- yes my new dryer is still broken. It probably just needs a new heater element, but old habits, especially bad ones, die hard and revive pretty easy, and I've been in no rush to fix the damn thing.

Tonight will be the towpath, maybe Sals but probably not (wet & easily damaged trails); tomorrow is coffee/chores/errands/gym, then over to Sals for trailwork; and Sunday may be the Gap Gallop, especially if no better offroad offer presents itself. This will probably be my last chance for an organized century ride this year -- my first season without at least one century since maybe 1998 -- but few of my friends seem interested, and next weekend is the All-A-Muchy 50k race & I may opt for more offroad practice, so we'll see.

I had to fast for that blood test earlier in the week, and now I've been avoiding red meat for a few days & also eating a lot more "bulking" foods. Two words: stool sample. I haven't begun, er, "harvesting" yet, but I sure am looking forward to it, and will let y'all know how it comes out...

Republican Apocalypse

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 9.5% BF

Oh my, what a news week! Apocalypse, that means "unveiling," right?

Got home last night, was so tired I went to bed around 8:00, slept through to morning. Nothing else to report, not even a dream...

Well That Explains It

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 13.5% BF

Had a fasting blood test this morning. Rode last night after dinner, then basically went to bed. I didn't realize that "fasting" does not mean "no water either," but I was supposed to drink all I wanted... Three needles and two phlebotomists later, they say I'm dehydrated and my veins have shrunk so they have to use "the butterfly," ie the needle they use on infants. Long and short of it is, mission accomplished, but that explains what happened to me on 9-11.

I left work early that day like everybody else here, and then did a ride on the towpath to calm down. When I got home I felt an overwhelming need to "do something," so I went down to Miller Blood Center to give blood. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea; the place was packed and I waited about five hours (well after midnight) before my turn came. The nurse was understandably frazzled and couldn't find my veins on either arm, and though I got stuck I left without giving blood. The worst I ever felt about 9-11 was on the ride home that night.

For years afterward, whenever I needed to give blood or get an IV, I warned the technicians to be extra careful, since I had "very small veins." They'd chuckle indulgently and say "OK, Mr. Kelly..." and there'd of course be no problem. Until today that is, when the truth finally came out.

The Talk, It Turned To Tater Tots

Morning weigh-in: 182#, 11.5% BF

Hit the gym last night, then went to WB for dinner. Plenty of talk there, as well as at work lately, about food -- a common theme being stuff like mac & cheese, tater tots and hamburger helper.

Tonight is a towpath/Sals ride, not sure what'll happen after that, but I know it'll involve food.

You Down With HDR? Yeah In My Car

Oak Tree Sun
Originally uploaded by worldwidewandering.

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 14.5% BF

I remember Laurie Anderson saying something in a seminar once about the function or purpose of art. Her example was someone who made paintings of diners, for instance. You go to the show and see the paintings, and for a while you see and notice diners everywhere you look. The art helps open your eyes, and helps you become more aware of things in the world around you.

Anyway, I've been getting into photos I find on Flickr lately, which use a relatively new technique called HDR photography. It seems to be the vogue right now, especially among Europeans (I sure don't know how to do it). The gist is, you take several pictures at different exposure levels, and combine them digitally to allow for greater lighting ranges than you can get ordinarily. That's the idea anyway; maybe it's an aftereffect but the photos also seem to have an almost hallucinatory clarity. Either way, many of my current favorites are now HDR photos.

Coming home last night, I happened to be driving into the sunset, and I realized that the lighting was similar to a lot of those HDR shots, and the light-and-dark-drenched view was closer to HDR than to ordinary photo views, which seemed to be how I saw the world until that point. Just sayin'...

You down with ADD? Yeah, you know -- oh look! A baby wolf! SWERVE! CRASH!

UPDATE: Edited for spelling & clarity.

Oh Well, Time To Eat The Donuts

Morning weigh-in: 182#, 13% BF (That's more like it.)

Yoga last night. Didn't feel quite as good as other times, in fact I felt a little -- pissy, not sure what was going on. Maybe I just have to get back into the loop.

Went out afterward, laundry & dinner at Which Brew (duh): bowl of chili and a plate of garlic-chipotle hot wings, washed down with some Troeggs Oatmeal Stout. Came in to work this morning, got my $2.00 donut -- Monday Night Football pool winner buys donuts for all the losers. Keeping my weight up isn't so hard...

Tonight is a towpath ride, maybe on the singlespeed, followed by food shopping.

Great minds think alike: Witness Billmon, Amanda and Roy. What they said.

Drowning In Blood

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 14% BF

Wow, what a drop in weight. Rode last night, pretty quick towpath ride, then went to bed without eating dinner. I like those numbers (and I'm supposed to be training for All-A-Muchy anyway) so I think I'll watch what I eat for the next few -- days? weeks? hours? All I have to do, apparently, is never eat again. Sigh.

I never got around to it, but the title of yesterday's post is from Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain." I was feeling depressed about torture, habeus corpus and the possibility of a US first strike (maybe even a tactical nuclear first strike, nothing's off the table) on Iran, and was going to talk about that. Oh well, the moment is lost, but I still can't get my head around how the monstrous has become normal, and how we became the monsters. (Strangely enough, I've been having many dreams involving monsters lately.)

Anyway, rode last night like I said, and Sunday was a nice social ride at Jacobsburg with Doug & Lori, Joe & Cindy, Brian, some kid Mike and that Dirt Devil dude Marc. Brian and Joe were both on 29" singlespeeds, shout-out to the trend watchers...

Tonight is yoga, then maybe I'll do the Drinking Liberally thing at Which Brew. Or maybe not (see above). I don't mind stealing bread... but I'm going hungry.

At The Water's Edge, In My Dream

I worked a little late Friday, dealing with a small emergency on one of the other jobs, a little overtime special. Home, a quick bite (leftovers) then I sat and digested as my lights charged; I went out riding around 9:00. I only did about 16-17 miles, turning around at the bridge at Freemansburg, but it took me an hour and a half, I was totally sucking wind (literally: lungs were wheezy & full of fluid) and I got a calf cramp. Hey, I got in my ride though. Dinner was a bowl of chili at Which Brew, followed by a trip to see Post Junction at Porters -- it was a late night.

Saturday was the gym, where Dawn told me her dad had a mini-stroke. Just what I need to hear... Very active guy too, he was lucky it wasn't worse, though Dawn said he was crabbing about missing archery season.

Still kind of tired & sick, I went home after the gym and took it easy (ie, did laundry & napped) for a good portion of the rest of the day, until Doug called and mentioned how much he'd like, on a Saturday afternoon like that, to sit in a bar and eat wings. We didn't actually follow through on it right away -- I went back to sleep -- but later, after picking up my drycleaning, the seed came to fruition and I went to Which Brew, probably the earliest I've ever been there. I called Doug back, told him where I was, what was on tap and what was on the menu, and they came on down. After an early dinner, we left and met up with Eric & Janna, Judy, and Kris at Celtic Fest. Never been there, not sure I'll go back, it really was just so-so. Despite all the things going on, it was an early night.

Ice Station Zebra

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 182#, 10% BF
Blood Pressure (Wednesday): 156/78, 59 BPM

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 184.5#, 5% BF
Blood Pressure (Thursday): 140/93, 52 BPM

Well, last day of summer...

So I went to the doctor yesterday after work, and my blood pressure there (where blood pressures are traditionally higher due to doctor-visit stress) was 130/80, pretty close to normal. Talking about it with the nurse, she told me that those home sphygmomanometer thingies are notoriously inaccurate. Oh well, that might explain the slow and steady rise, as my little toy gets progressively further out of calibration... The doctor came in, saw my cold/sinus problem and went to town -- I got two prescriptions before I got his attention back to the physical and my blood pressure. He really didn't need to do much for that, the nurse basically set me up with a prescription for a bunch of diagnostic blood/urine/stool tests. I'll probably go to Quest or something nearly next week.

After that I went to the Chain Gang meeting at Doug & Lori's place. Good meeting, people were there I haven't seen in a while: Judy was back with tales of London, and Brian had some stories as well, except it was Canada in his case. Pizza dinner, good beer but the hops were bothering me (so were the dog allergies) and my cold seemed to intensify. I left early -- or at least, not long after the meeting proper ended; I stayed really just long enough to have Cindy gave me the lowdown on the different tests I'd been prescribed.

Listening: In case the title from yesterday's pirate post didn't clue you in, I've been jamming to Stan Ridgeway lately. Today I was listening to the song "I Wanna Be A Boss," and thinking about how the song goes from "my life sucks, it sure would be better if I were rich," to the wildest fantasies:

And everyone will know me
I'll be more famous than Howard Hughes
I'll grow a long beard and watch
Ice Station Zebra in the nude

And grow my nails like Fu-Manchu
Keep a row of specimen jars
Get other people to work for me -- ?well
Maybe I'll buy the planet Mars, and
Build an amusement park up there
Better than old Walt's place
You'll have to be a millionaire to go
We'll smoke cigars and lounge in lace
Talk the talk of businessmen
And bosses that we are
So here's to me -- the drinks are free
'Cause I just bought this bar

For some reason (maybe just associations on the word "ice"), this reminded me of "The Iceman Cometh," and the pathetic dreams of the losers in the bar. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to Which Brew.

Out On The Water, Where The Sailing Men All Go

Joe Phase Three
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Arrgh matey, I almost forgot it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! So avast me beauties and feast your eyes, for I've uploaded an Imperial arseload o' new photos... Aye, there be shots o' lubbers at Allamuchy and bilge rats at the BASH, and some photos o' my home port as well. Enjoy, me hearties!

Shaggy Dog Stories

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 9.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 145/85, 67 BPM

Yep, colonized -- I have a sinus infection, probably got it because my nose has been traumatized by so much ragweed. The dogs this weekend didn't help: plenty of dogs, all friendly (hey, we had the food, of course they were friendly), and I couldn't resist giving a pat on the head here and there, lotsa allergens in my life, nasal tissues raw & swollen, easy avenue for germ attack...

Speaking of dogs: Saw Joe G at the Bash, and he now has a dog, a husky/shepherd mix, maybe 11 months old, female. It was originally his sister's, but she wasn't active enough for this kind of dog and it started developing behavioral problems so she gave the dog to Joe. He's pretty active of course, ditto with the free time thing, and can (and has) put a lot of effort into un-doing the psychic damage. Her name, by the way, is Riley.

On the Saturday group ride, we met up with a dude who brought his dog along. Don't remember the real name, but I called it "Downhill Dog" for the way it shredded the trail -- the owner said he (the dog) was a little bored since there were no jumps or drop-offs on the trail. Later that evening, the dog was as whooped as I was, and spent most of the evening and next day hanging out, much to the consternation of the energetic and-not-to-be-trusted-off-leash-thus-not trail-ready Riley. (Yet another dog, with a lot of energy, spent a lot of time walking up to people, then dropping a stick at their feet and then staring meaningfully until the stick was thrown. I was victim of this guy for about a half hour while waiting for my shower.) Strangely enough, "Downhill Dog" was also a rescue dog, having been found lost, wandering and hungry by its current owner.

Two more dogs: these were like dachshunds, only they had long silky hair almost like collies (they were still that dachshund-brown color). Totally fearless, they'd charge up barking at the other dogs, spent a lot of time being held and cooed at by the girls, and were the most successful at mooching food (I saw them drinking spilled beer too). The owner said he got one later, but the first had belonged to his ex-wife who, claiming that it had become "vicious" after the divorce, brought it to the vet to be put down. The vet, who knew the score, told her he killed it and then gave it to the husband. I asked him what kind of breed they were, and he said "long-haired dachshund." But of course!

That dog's not so shaggy...

Another Set Of Photos

Thinking About Candy
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I'm still not caught up, but I just uploaded a bunch from the family reunion in July.

The Bash Was A Smash!

Morning weigh-in: 182#, 12.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 139/84, 67 BPM (spike maybe due to salty pizza, or incipient cold)

Shout Out: Happy Birthday, Mom!

A very quick recap: the RCST Bash was an unqualified success, and even the weather cooperated eventually. I dawdled on Friday because the weather was discouraging, arrived at a little before 6:00 and set up my chili for the contest. Back to the campsite to set up my tent, then back up to the registration area for the contest and the microbrew swap. I brought about 10 Weyerbacher IPA's, traded them for various other local brews (most of which I knew), and put a few back while I checked out the competition. Each chili was different from the next, and all were good -- I didn't win, but can say that all my chili got eaten.

After that came the first ride of the Bash. There was supposed to be an organized group night ride, but the only ones who actually rode were Greg H and me. After a ton of chili and a few beers, the initial climb out of camp was brutal, but the ride itself was fantastic. It was also a confidence booster to ride unfamiliar trails in the dark, and finding we could navigate just fine by map. Ten miles, two hours and back to camp for some hard-core socializing.

Saturday morning was rough, but it was also time for the event's main group rides. Me, Greg, Rich, Beth & Kevin -- in other words, all of our party except Joe -- plus another 20 Bash'ers, opted to do the "drive to the top of the mountain," intermediate-level ride. This was awesome, about 22 miles long and it managed to hit just about every good trail. We were exhausted by the end, but it was worth it.

Saturday night was the big party. BBQ chicken dinner, couple kegs of Troeggs, and a band, toss about 120 tired bikers in the mix and shake well...

The only group event planned for Sunday was the "King and Queen of Rock's Ridge" contest, but rather than watch or participate (or hang about the camp), Beth and Kevin and I (plus Dave L) decided to check out what we could of the trails we hadn't seen yet. Not quite as long as the day before, maybe six miles (and the trails were also a bit easier), but very nice, especially since it was the nicest weather of the weekend.

Back to camp, pack up and hang out, then we all took off for home. (I took US209 through Tamaqua then down 309 & 443 to Lehighton and came home via 248, which took me rather far out of my way, and on country roads to boot, but I-78 was a construction disaster: it took me 4 hours to do an hour-and-a-half drive on the way in, so the two-and-a-half-hour scenic route home probably saved me a at least a little bit of time.) Got home, unpacked, and then I just vegged out on the porch for a while before bed.

Colossus Mark Seven

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 6.5% BF (I think scale needs new batteries)
Blood Pressure: 135/80, 57 BPM
(My systolic pressure has dropped 10 points a day over the past two days.)

Meantime: I picked up the bike yesterday, all systems are go, with new pivots & BB cups. Just clean & lube them (Turner & Surly are both going) and I should be good -- must also remember to charge my batteries, since there will be at least one night ride. I still have to do all my packing & prep to do, since the chili has been taking up all my time.

I now have two big batches of my chili -- I have decided to call it "Simple Life Chili" if we need names -- for the contest, and the house reeks of it. There's a whole lot of the stuff, I sure hope people eat it, otherwise I'm committed to the same thing for dinner for at least a month.

Interesting post by Amanda of Pandagon, commenting on this article about hipster/X-Game Xtians. Different focus than my experience (no male-female interaction), but the scene definitely reminds me of Utah, and also of the Mormon missionaries who lived above me on Folk Street.

Oh, and by the way: the title of this post is a bit of a mishmash, between the huge amount of chili I made, some Wolf Mother tune that seems to say "colossal," and also in honor of this.

All Better Now

And thank goodness for yoga...

Went to a yoga class on Monday (beginner class, Ashtanga style), which was good, and on Tuesday I took that Svaroopa style class which was very good as well -- it was also packed, I think this class is going to be pretty popular. (Represent: I was the only guy there.) It's actually funny how much you feel like you're walking on clouds when you leave this class...

So anyway: after yoga on Monday I picked up some pivots from Doug, then went to Which Brew for the Mug Club dinner. That crazy boring dude was there again, but I avoided engaging him in real conversation, just exchanged pleasantries and kept myself to myself.

Tuesday before yoga I dropped the Turner off at Bike King, where Ron will replace the pivots for me; he also has bottom bracket replacement bearings, so I'm getting a new set of those as well.

(Looks like my bike woes are being solved in a most timely manner, except one: my mojo Roswell has a broken arm, so I took him off the bike for some R&R; he'll be sitting the RCSS Bash out though I will take him along for good luck. Looks like it's time for a little Shoe Goo first aid...)

Dinner last night was chili plus open-mic bluegrass jams at the WB; ironically enough, it's because I made a crock of chili at home (it's cooking today) that I didn't feel like cooking my own dinner. My chili is destined for the contest at the Bash anyway (I'm making another crock of it tonight/tomorrow).

No weigh-in: several nights eating out have made for discouraging results, and I also forgot my blood pressure meds two days in a row, so that looks scary as well. Don't want to think about the last few days worth of body data. Meantime though, I have taken the first steps in really dealing with this: checkup/physical/consultation with my GP, which I expect will bring about a referral to some kind of specialist.

Oh When The Weasels, Come Closing In...

"The weasels were starting to close in" is how Hunter Thompson described it in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, when his life seemed spinning out of control. I may not be up for the drastic measures he took, but I think it's time for a change of pace. I'm feeling pretty burned out, and though I think the crisis passed on Friday & I'm now recovering from my low point, I've reached the "just had enough" level in some parts of my life...

Friday night I went for a ride on the towpath. I was going to do that and a loop at Sals, but I was suddenly feeling very tired and unenthusiastic. I went out to the bike, and discovered that the bushing in one of the pivots was shot. Uh-oh, those things are hard to get in a hurry, and I'm going on a biking/camping trip this weekend. (I pumped it full of grease, hoped for the best but I'll need to deal with that this week, one more thing to stress me out.) I finally went riding, and found I had nothing in me. Luckily I ran into Joe and Cindy coming the other way; since they had their dog with them they were riding pretty slow, so I turned around and went back to Easton with them. They turned around at the new boat launch, so I said goodbye there and took the Palmer bike path home. Much shorter ride than usual, but I was dragging.

Anyway, I go out to Which Brew for dinner, and get stuck in a conversaton about bikes with an annoying weirdo -- someone ditched the guy on me in order to make his own escape. There's not much in this world I really know, but do know bikes, and biking, and bikers, and I could tell that this dude (even if I hadn't known his flakey background) was both full of shit and more than a bit looney. Worse yet, he was monopolizing my attention, and there were a lot cooler things going on all around me, just out of reach. It was actually my worst experience at Which Brew, and I paid up and went over to Porters.

There I ran into the friend who palmed Crazy Boring Guy off on me. I was like, "Dude, you owe me big time!" I thought I'd get at least a beer out of it, but he was leaving, and I got snookered into another crazy conversation. This was with a friend who'd had maybe more than her share, and I just pray that she doesn't remember what she told me about herself (a chronicle of the differences in her BO when she's healthy vs when she's sick), the next time I see her could be very awkward, this is very much not her normal conversation.

It sounds funny now, but both of these conversations really depressed me at the time. I got a little gun-shy after that, tired of people dumping their shit into my brain, so I just hunkered down at the bar and watched Dave Cahill play his guitar.

Saturday I woke up tired, but went for breakfast, then to the gym (which was excellent thank goodness, even though I was tired) then over to the Phillipsburg Criterium where I was supposed to help out. There didn't seem to be much for me to do there, so I left, went home and took a nap.

A singular lack of crunch: Last week Coffee Works was closed for repainting, and when I went there Saturday morning the place was completely different. Not just new paint or a new color scheme, it looks like it may have changed owners and it was completely redecorated. Gone was all the homey stuff, and in its place was a bunch of modern, stylish and uncomfortable-looking furniture. This stuff left me really cold; it's not my kind of place anymore at all. Wow.

Saturday night was the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for the 12 O'Muchy race. This was awesome. The promotors (my friends Bob & Karen, and their friends Kris and Karin) took us out to eat someplace in Newton (amazing eclectic place, wish I remembered the name) then back to K&K's place for some homemade dessert. I sort of surprised myself by getting tofu for dinner, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Blueberry pie, some cappuccino and conversation, and my spirits were restored considerably.

I was supposed to go riding this morning at Mahlon with Bob & Karen, as well as Joe & Cindy and a few others, but realized that I'd left my sunglasses (prescription, my riding glasses) in Doug's car, so I had to blow off the ride. Just as well, I was still tired and I would have had to ride the singlespeed. Did some flickr uploading, got some coffee at Cosmic Cup, retrieved my glasses and rode at Jacobsburg.

Now I have to go shopping. The camping event features a chili contest, and I entered so I have to start making several batches this week. (My friend Beth called me the other day, told me she & her husband were going as well even though his wrist might be broken, and then she started trash-talking my chili because she was also a contestant. Bold words, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating...)

Son Of A... More Photos!

Kevin In The Sandbox
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Still cleaning out my backlog of pictures from the summer. These are a few I took of my brother Kevin's kids when they (the kids, but also Kevin and Amy) visited my parents this July. I went down, helped my parents pick them up from the airport, and took these shots the next morning.

That was the July 4th weekend; they stayed the whole week but I went home, then went back again the next weekend for a backyard BBQ before my brother had to fly back. In between was a bunch of riding, but I only took two pictures...

Slip Face

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 182#, (damn I forget) % BF
Blood Pressure: 136/84, 65 BPM

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 182#, (forgot again) % BF
Blood pressure: 140/84, (wow forgot heartrate too... )

Morning weigh-in (Friday): 181.5%, 10% BF
Blood Pressure: 126/75, 67 BPM

Wow, looks like this week flew by...

Labor Day was my Sals 101 ride. Eleven people showed up including Tom D and Beth McG (the only ones who met me at Genesis), Rob L & Eric as well as John E, and a whole bunch of Dirt Devils out to learn the trail system. Broke my cleat, and there were a few of the usual minor spills and mechanicals you'd expect with a big group, but overall it was a great ride -- Tom D was a hurting puppy (fatigue) by the end though...

Yoga on Tuesday night, more of that new style which is, or at least seems, fairly nondemanding physically; I'd guess it's very conducive to restorative work. There was an older woman in class, maybe in her seventies, who came in on crutches, & took off a removable cast (like an inflatable boot or walking cast, I'd guess) before class. Turns out, she'd had her ankle replaced. Didn't talk to her about it last night, but if she's there next week we'll be getting into some serious ankle talk...

After that was some crap at home, then I didn't feel like cooking so down to Which Brew I went. Pretty nice night, quiet but decent crowd.

Wednesday I hit the gym after work, then fixed my cleat (none of the usual problems with stripping screws, thank goodness), fooled with the computer for a while and then decided (about 11:00, I couldn't sleep) to take the Surley out and just cruise the mean streets of Easton. Downtown, Wilson, over by the cemetery -- the only place I didn't hit was Southside. No lights or helmet: just me, the cops and the criminals -- but I did wear my newly-repaired shoes...

Last night I did a towpath ride when I got home, then went down once again to WB. Good night, as per usual, and this time I resisted temptation and went straight home afterward -- no Taco Hell, no open-mic nite at Porters.

Tonight will be towpath/Sals, lights are charging as we speak, then out to, um...

Bathroom Reader: I've been browsing & skimming that book about medieval civilization again. It's pretty annoying (written in the early sixties by some Catholic college professor, plenty of cringe-worthy stuff, it's like being being trapped in a room with Robert McNamara), but you can follow the general outline through the editorial chaff. The part that caught my interest this time was where the civilization after slowly growing, integrating, blossoming and peaking in the 12th century, collapses pretty quickly not long after the Summa Theologica -- which my author treats like the Medieval Civilization operator's manual -- comes out.

For some reason that slow-growth-sudden-collapse shape got me thinking about my other bathroom companion, the Edward Abbey reader. There was a section in there about dunes in the desert; their characteristic shapes (gradual convex rise on the windward slope, steeper concave drop on the lee, or slip face, side) and how they come to be that way. There's a hill outside of work here, old worn-down Appalachian mountain rather than a dune, but it's the exact same shape and I wonder if forces with similar structure were involved. Now that I think about it, those predator-prey relations follow the same shape...

Apres Le Deluge, Singlespeed Sunday

Easton: 3rd Street Submerged
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

More photos, this time from the flooding in late spring. I was pretty much just back on the bike (PICC line came out days before); I rode downtown on the Turner and joined the thousands gawking at the water, ran into my neighbor and riding buddy Mike B doing the same thing.

Meantime, today turned out nice after all the rain we've had, so I did the same thing again, only different: I took the Surly out for the day this time. I wanted to do a "triple play" -- that is, hit all three coffee shops in town, but my first stop, Coffee Works, was closed for repainting. Doh! OK, "double play." I hit The Quadrant, then went over to Genesis Bikes, then into P'burg to pay a visit to Cycle Funattic, back across the river (high, but luckily no flooding) and down the bike path to the ruins of the old bridge. (Interesting new historical markers about the bridge there.) Went back downtown and finally up College Hill, got an espresso at the Cosmic Cup and headed home. Maybe 10-15 miles total, just toodling along really, but I was out for about five hours. I brought the camera and took some photos, but not many. You'll see them soon enough.

More Pictures!

Dad Opens Birthday Presents
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I dumped another 28 shots into Flickr, check them out by clicking on the one to the right...

This bunch is from the weekend of my Dad's birthday, when I went down to Englishtown for his b'day celebration, then did what was probably my final "tourist walk" in Easton before the PICC line came out. River scenes, Blues Festival, yadda yadda.

The next bunch will be from the recent flooding downtown, and then some shots of Kevin & family's visit and party.

Rainy day, was out late last night and went to the gym this morning, did some errands, played with the computer, think I'll take a nap. I can hear the train whistle blowing, think it's the recreational/tourist train ride one in P'burg: sounds lonely, making me sleepy...

New Photos!

The Pez That Refreshes, Baby!
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I've been pretty remiss lately in getting my photos onto Flickr, but I just uploaded 38 shots from late May and early June, including the 12 O'Muchy race, some PPRAC fundraising, and yes a trip downtown to visit the Museum of Pez. (I still have about 80 shots from June/July/August, including more touristy Easton hikes, and shots from my brother's visit, so stay tuned, because maybe sometime in the next few days...)

Heading out after this, going down to WB for the evening.

Hausfrau Agonistes

Morning weigh-in: 183#, 10% BF
Blood Pressure: 129/84, 54 BPM

Listening: Gang of Four's Return the Gift, which is a re-recorded set (done maybe last year) of their hits from the eighties. Been mostly digging "Natural's Not In It" and "What We Want's Not What We Get."

Also Listening: I went out last night after a satisfying "benchmark ride" (no digital input or recording equipment, but my time was about 1:28), had dinner at Which Brew, then I went over to Porters for some of the Open Mic Night. Saw a great, but unfortunately anonymous duo: not the best singing going on, but the guitarist was unbelievable. Sure which I caught their name.

Baseball, You Bet!

Morning weigh-in: 182.5, 11.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 126/81, 56 BPM

Reading: Don DeLillo's Underworld. I'm re-reading it, or rather, making a second attempt at finishing it. I can't believe I put it down the first time, it's totally awesome -- but I'm at the begining, maybe it'll bog down and I'll get bored somewhere in the middle this time too.

It Ain't Allamuchy If It Don't Rain

Morning weigh-in: 183#, 10.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 133/75, 51 BPM

Well, I'm back, and only a lttle bit the worse for wear... Good weekend though, and a good race. I did rather well (considering what I wanted to get out of it) with four laps: I felt that I could have easily done more if the plan was to be competitive, but I only rode when it seemed like it would be fun. Thus, no laps in the rain, and I also avoided night laps because there were rumors of rain coming -- and it did come, but very late & then all day Sunday. I did all my riding before dark on Saturday. But the experiment was a success, I felt like I could ride and compete again, and was actually jonesing for more at the end, almost regretting my vows of caution and non-competitiveness. The funny thing was, I felt very strong on the Friday pre-ride and the first few laps; riding (fast) seemed almost effortless until that final lap. A lot like the other day on my benchmark ride, sure hope this a breakthrough and not just peaking...

One good fall at the start of my third lap, where I apparently hit an invisible rock and went sprawling. Knocked my knees up & wrenched the left one a bit, got a nice handlebar-shaped bruise on my upper inner thigh, and was walking like an old man for the rest of the weekend -- the ankle got swollen after a while too, and the other ankle was also bothering me, but I think that was from walking on uneven terranin in sandals all weekend -- but I managed another 20 post-crash miles just the same.

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.

Strekefuss

So where have I been... uh, nowhere! Or rather, right here, but with nothing to say.

I've been riding a lot offroad: did a few towpath/Sals day-into-night extravaganzas, also hit Musikfest once or twice (including once by bike, a "beer lap" on one of my big rides). Yoga, gym, no Which Brew because they're on vacation, still managed to gain weight though my friends say it's probably muscle...

My ankle is doing really well; last visit to the surgeon was Wednesday and he basically said "You're done here, have a nice life." OK, I will! Most of my flexibility is back too, except for my toes of all things, which I notice at yoga. Must stetch my feet.

Yesterday was a kick-ass ride at Jim Thorpe, dinner was potatoes & chickpeas in a lemon-tahini curry sauce over barley. Tonight is Mug Club night at Which Brew.

Heavy Tortellini

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 13.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 134/75, 45 BPM

Wow that's a low resting heartrate, I can almost hear my blood hammering through my veins, Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Little disappointed about that weight though. I had a bag o'salad, and meat tortellinis for dinner, guess the tortellinis were heavier than I realized.

Anyway, hit yoga last night, a really good (ie easy) class, I felt much better than last Tuesday when I thought I was going to die. No problems with the ear/vertigo, but I'd been taking Astelin for a few days to see if I could clear things up -- maybe that's what's causing the higher BP?

Tonight will be the gym, followed by more salad (gotta get rid of it before it rots) & maybe those pork tenderloins.

Meantime: today is the final showdown, Joementum vs Nedrenaline.

Where Ya Been, People Been Askin About Ya

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 12% BF
Blood Pressure: 144/83, 59 BPM

Whoa, that's a a major spike...

The weekend:

Friday was the "Wiener Derby," Janna & Eric's ride/picnic from the Velodrome. The ride, basically following the "Derby Ride" course, started at 6:00 sharp, and I just made it. I rode with one of the slower groups, then hooked up with Eric R and we cruised at a bit quicker pace for the last 10 miles or so. Hot dogs & summer salads in the Velodrome lot afterwards, almost like we were tailgating since there were races going on. My friends Heath & Hans were inside watching the Madison Cup race, so I went in and said hi, then they came outside & hung out afterward.

Heath told me that he and Margarita, married this time last year, are now separated. Things got a little awkward after that...

Saturday had a lot of running around: started by picking up drycleaning, then got a carwash -- Wilson Band fundraiser, swore I'd never let them touch my car again, but hey it's for a good cause, and this time they did a great job -- then the gym, Sears for some hardware, organic food shopping, and a visit to Doug & Lori. At home: got the new dryer going, washed & dried (woo hoo!) a few loads of laundry while I worked on the bike, and then went out to Which Brew for dinner. They were trying to get ready for vacation -- they're closed this week -- and giving away desserts etc. I got a huge chunk of chocolate cake -- schweet! Very rich though, and I was stuffed full of the dinner I ate and the beer they were pushing (cask of Autumn Fest had to be finished that night), and the cannoli that had already been foisted upon me... I got some help from the bartenders and my friend Kirk, who I think saved the last of it for his girlfriend.

A good night, saw Mike and Carol & their friend (whose name escapes me), and had good conversations with Kirk and and Arnie (it was his birthday) and also with Lee, who don't know well but he had some very interesting things to say. Even so, I left kind of early, I felt like a beach ball with arms & legs sticking out.

Sunday started with a ride at Sals. Me, Brian, Pete H, Eric R, Scott S, and a guy named Ron, who we saw wandering around in the baseball field; he couldn't find the good trails so we hooked him up. The only person missing was my friend Tom H, who was the reason for the ride, I was going to show him around. He actually called around 11:30 (ride started at 10:00), to see what was up. Oh well, not riding today... The ride itself was very good, and though I wasn't the fastest there I felt pretty strong. Lots of other people in the woods, saw three other groups of riders, including some Wildlands Conservancy guys planning an adventure race.

Home, nap, shower and back to Bethlehem for a little bit of Musikfest. I met Joe & Cindy there, had some pork tacos and a pulled-pork sandwich (one animal species, two vendors) for dinner, had a few Brew Works beers and caught a zydeco band, as well as a set of the Red Elvises. Saw Andrew (from Porters) there with a few friends, but I was out of there pretty early: stopped for more food shopping on the way home, and was still home before dark. Ice cream and a little more Edward Abbey on the porch, and I was in bed by 10:00. Woke up exhausted.

Reading: Besides the Edward Abbey reader, I've been checking out The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman, which Doug loaned me. So far it's sort of like a Carlos Castenada Lite.

Listening: Doug also loaned me a CD he'd been pushing for a while, a band called Wolfmother. I've been listening to it in the car ever since. Kind of super-derivative metalloid rock, but there are a few songs that I really like.

Wow, What A Dinner

Morning weigh-in: 183#, 10.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 134/75, 61 BPM

Looks like it was dinner that spanked me last night, gained four pounds in a day... nachos and a slice of cake, accompanied by two beers and two drinks. Hung out with Kirk, talked with a few others, but it was pretty loud there, at least until the place started filling up. Anyway, a good night, maybe not worth the price I paid but good nonetheless.

Appalachia

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 12.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 120/71, 75 BPM

Rocking fast towpath ride last night, not quite as fast as I'd like but I figure at least some of the lost time was due to the more difficult trail conditions. I rode it in 1:42, with an average heartrate of 159 BPM and a 179 BPM max HR; total calories burned were 2023. I spent most of my time (1:07) in Zone 4, and another 21 minutes in Zone 5, so I think my heart is back in the groove, no longer having overtraining/fatigue issues. Morning heartrate was pretty high today though, which may be a sign that I need a rest day...

Reading: The Serpents Of Paradise, an Edward Abbey reader. Again, just browsing, but there are some good stories in there. I liked his description of a visit to the Smokies, and his talk about the blue haze found all throughout the Appalachians -- that haze can be seen in the hills across from our office right now. Deep blue overtones in the shadows, like some of the sky got tangled in the trees... cue "Starship Trooper"...

Tonight I'm giving Lori P a ride home, think I'll use that to wangle a visit to see how Doug's doing. I may take a rest day today, or possibly go to the gym, not sure yet. Dinner tonight will be at Which Brew: Dave Cahill's record release party is tonight, and since they'll be closed all next week for Musikfest, I better go get my fix now.

The Bugs Of August

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 12% BF
Blood Pressure: 123/75, 68 BPM

Wow! Yoga spanked me last night. No doubt it was partly due to the heat (I was pouring sweat), and I think part of it was that the standards were higher than usual last night -- there were only two others in the class, and they weren't really beginners -- but I also had positional vertigo problems partway through, and that really makes yoga impossible. I may have to put it aside for a while if the ear/balance problem is really about to manifest. (I wonder what gives? My nose & sinuses have been pretty good for months, but then again I've been on antibiotics for months...) Be that as it may, I notice that the classes have not been getting easier. Looks like the same old dynamic: I'll have to do my homework, put in a whole lot more effort than I have been, to reap the rewards.

Got home, actually felt kind of sick so dinner was a bowl of cereal and I went to bed by 8:30.

(Just thought I'd mention that I have been getting some rewards from the yoga already: I seem to have a better feel for my body, especially breathing and posture, and I've had to adjust my rear-view mirror in the car since I'm sitting taller & straighter. After Sunday's ride though, I had to move the mirror back lower, since I was pretty beat down & slumping again.)

Slept with all the windows open and two fans on me, awoke to the sound of cicadas in the trees. We're into the second half of summer, summer in earnest...

Tonight is a towpath ride, and I may include a dip in the river, followed by more dirty rice or maybe that tuna.

Reading: Been browsing through Bacon's Essays, just read "Of Seditions" this morning. It made me late for work, it was so good.

Crush Groove

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 12.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 123/73, 57 BPM

Dang! I guess it was just "suppression weight" that I'd lost, but I'm still not too happy to see that bounce back up... Anyway, went to the gym last night; dinner afterward was dirty rice, with a salad and some feta- & garlic-stuffed olives. Tonight is yoga, then maybe tuna w/ wilted greens. That is all.

The Weekend In Review

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 14% BF (UPDATE: Fixed weight.)
Forgot blood pressure, oops.

I took Friday as a rest day, worked a little late & then went to Which Brew for dinner. Saw a bunch of friends, sampled some Magic Hat brews but got no schwag -- WTF?? -- and snickered insecurely with the rest of the guys, while the gals all had their sex-toy party (like a tupperware party, I think) behind closed doors in the other room. I was out of there by midnight, Saturday would be busy.

Saturday morning was yoga, followed by a haircut, then I went over my friend Joe's house to pick up his old dryer which I bought (actually, it wasn't me "picking it up" so much as him delivering it, since we used his pickup to get it to my place). Still have a few installation/wiring issues to deal with, but I now have a full set of laundry equipment again. Later I met Joe & his wife for dinner at the WB.

Sunday was a Jim Thorpe ride, the singletrack on Broad Mountain, again with Joe & Cindy. I felt much better on this ride than I have been feeling recently, which was a really nice change, but it was brutally hot out in the sun, and there were several long sunny climbs...

Today I'm working late, then hitting the gym. Dinner will probably be Louisiana dirty rice, or maybe "potatoes & chickpeas in a lemon-tahini curry," if I have all the ingredients.

Hazy Days of Thermidor

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 12% BF
Blood pressure: 122/70, 61 BPM

Gym last night, followed by dinner at Which Brew. I kept myself under control, had a cheeseburger & two beers, turned down the dessert & left hungry, but I'm down by another pound today... Pleasant evening, several friends were there, it was actually crowded when I got there (say, 9:30), but things cleared out pretty quickly.

Tonight is another road ride -- if the weather cooperates, otherwise it's a rest day -- followed by a trip back to WB: it's "meet the brewer night," and the brewer is Magic Hat!

Tomorrow is probably either the gym again, or yoga, I haven't decided. Also, it's time for a haircut, and I'm getting a new (new to me, anyway) dryer.

Winding Up, Winding Down

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 12.5% BF
Blood pressure: 133/75, 57 BPM

I notice that when my pulse is low, the systolic pressure is higher -- as if my heart is just squirting all the blood around in one big push...

Uh-oh: Looks like Floyd's in a bit of trouble, one of his preliminary doping tests came back positive. It was from Stage 17 too, the amazing "comeback stage." I'm hoping it was a false positive -- I hear he's allowed to be on cortisone for his hip, and he tested positive for steroids -- but if he's busted, oh well.

My ride last night wasn't nearly as dramatic (or drug-enhanced), but I did cut six minutes off my previous benchmark time. I did my "northern benchmark, short version" ride: up 611, over on Mud Run, back along Rt 191 & Bushkill Drive. Time was 1:30, and I was kind of holding back a little... Hills didn't feel so bad, either. I spent most of my time (after the warmup) in HR zones 3 & 4, with the bulk of the remainder in zone 2. My HR maxxed out at 173 BPM, and my average was 150; total calories burned was about 1600.

Dinner was broccoli-and-cheese couscous, plus black beans & garlic. Another excellent post-ride meal (totally nailed the glycogen window too), even though it was driven mainly by my recurring failure to go food shopping.

Tonight is the gym, followed by, um, food shopping.

A Quick Fly-By

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 12% BF (taco hell)
Blood pressure: um, I forget... nothing bad though

Gave that dude John a ride home last night, no traffic craziness this time (thank goodness), then went to yoga, then did laundry. An easy night...

Things Come Together

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 12% BF
Blood pressure: 124/75

Got a call from Doug last night: he was home from the hospital and he sounded a lot better already, though his dog sounded like it was having a meltdown in the background. We got onto the subject of hospital food, and the observation that a lot of people don't seem to be connected to their lives (lack of empathy with others, lack of appreciation of nature, indifference to the quality of the food they eat). I told him I associate all that with libertarianism and the fifties.

Meantime, or rather, before that call, I did a towpath ride. It was so nice out -- and nice evenings seem to be so rare right now -- that I decided to take today's yoga class (chance of showers) instead of yesterday's, and do today's gym workout on Wednesday rather than ride (possible thunderstorms), to make the most of the good weather. I noticed, early in the ride, that my heart rate wouldn't go very high no matter how hard I seemed to be pushing; this is a sure sign of overtraining so I backed off the pace & just took it mellow. Ride time was 1:47, not all that bad for active rest. I can't figure out the "overtraining" thing though, I'd swear that I'm not getting out riding all that much; my only guess it that I need to get in more base work before trying the harder offroad rides -- that, and I'm carrying more weight than I should up those MTB hills...

Dinner was New Orleans style rice & beans, with tuna. In other words, I have to go food shopping, but it was actually a very good meal, tasty & super-nutritious bike-wise. Just what the doctor ordered. I ate on the porch, and had a nice conversation with my neighbor.

Reading: Steven Runciman's Byzantine Civilization. By the way and speaking of the Byzantines, today is the anniversary of Constantine the Great being proclaimed emperor by his troops in 306, and of Michael VIII Palaeologus recapturing Constantinople and re-establishing the empire (in 1261). Wikipedia rawks.

Things Fall Apart

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 11.5% BF
Blood pressure: 138/84 (forgot to take meds Sunday)

My friend Doug's in the hospital: he had an abscess "in a very uncomfortable area," sudden high fever and emergency surgery on Friday, I.V. antibiotics, dressings and packing and an unpleasant weekend at Easton Hospital (I am so glad I was at Muhlenberg for my surgery). I talked to his wife on Friday night -- he was still in recovery, but things went well -- then visited Saturday evening. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper, but I hope & expect he'll be getting back to his old self soon, probably as soon as he's out of that place.

So anyway, Friday night I went out to WB (surprise), made it an early night, then Saturday was trailwork at Allamuchy, followed by a disconcerting ride (I was very tired and riding like shit), followed by the visit, then another night at WB and also Porters, and not very early this time, then another disappointing ride at Sals, followed by a disappointing hike on the AT at Wind Gap. Hmmmm....

Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 183#, 12% BF
No blood pressure measurement.

Well, in terms of antibiotics at least, I am now officially drug-free: last Ceflex dose was yesterday. Now I just have to wait and see: if the infection comes back over the next few months (or years, or ever) the hardware in my ankle will have to be removed, otherwise not.

Did a towpath ride when I got home yesterday -- since yesterday's weather forecast for today called for thunderstorms (and with Dawn in Aspen I have no trainer appointment), I switched my gym and ride days. 'Twas a very pleasant ride, warm & sunny and great trail conditions. The towpath was in somewhat better shape than the last time I saw it, but it was still pretty beat up from the flooding, so it was pretty interesting riding. I pulled what I thought was a pretty hot lap, but my time was 1:42 -- not bad, but certainly not "hot lap" territory for the towpath when it's back to "straight, smooth and flat" conditions.

Got home, showered, and blew off the Bavarian Pork in favor of a trip to Which Brew. I was so hungry I ate an entire white pizza. Tonight is the gym, then tomorrow is trail maintenance at Allamuchy; if Sunday's nice I may do a towpath/Sals extravaganza.

Oh, Those Alps!

Morning weigh-in: 181.5, 9.5% BF
Blood pressure: 134/78

Well, looks like Floyd un-cracked himself overnight, and everyone else cracked today... He's not quite back on top but at least he's within striking distance.

Meantime, Chain Gang meeting last night at the Workman's. Cool vibe, tacos & salad for dinner, got to hear Karen's new recordings -- she's a damn good singer, does her own arrangements on her Mac, and it's virtually professional quality. Meeting was quick, then we got down to watching the Tour...

Tonight is the gym, maybe a bike ride beforehand if things work out. Dinner will be the last of the Bavarian Pork.

Ka-BOOM!

Morning weigh-in: 180.5, 11.5% BF
Blood pressure: 124/78, 59 BPM

Looks like it was a tumultuous day in the Alps today, Floyd cracked big-time...

Gave a friend a ride home last night, same guy who was with me for the "wrong way granny" incident... On the way home this time, we drove through the absolute worst storm I've ever experienced -- ever -- while driving. Blinding rain, high winds, hail, it pretty much shut the highway down for a few minutes...

It passed through pretty quickly, but left a lot of evidence of its violence: leaves & tree branches were all over the roads. When I got home, I saw a bunch of neighbors standing in the street, near one of the big old trees on the block. I walked over and they said that the tree had been hit by lightning, which traveled down from the top to the bottom, cracked the trunk and blew the bark off, and shattered some of the concrete sidewalk. (That tree will probably be removed by the town, it's now pretty dangerous.) Meanwhile, so much hail was on the ground -- some pieces big as ice cubes -- that it looked like snow. Power was on in the house, but you could tell it had been knocked out: the computer was off, and all the clocks were blinking.

Dinner was more Bavarian Pork Chops, then I went to the gym, but it was closed because the power was out. The rest of the night was spent on the porch, reading High Fidelity.

Hot Hot Hot

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 14% BF
Blood pressure: 120/76, 65 BPM

That Bavarian Pork was OK last night, but not great, mainly because the meat, while soft enough, actually came out a little dry & stringy. Maybe I should fry the meat for a few seconds, to seal in the juices, before putting it in the crock pot; that's what I do for the chili and it seems to work. Meantime, the apples really didn't change anything one way or the other, maybe next time I'll add more. The house smelled pretty good when I got home, but I couldn't eat right away...

Before dinner I took that yoga class. Different instructor, different routines and agenda, I think I like the Saturday class better but it was still pretty good -- mostly it was just a little tougher, and run at a more advanced level. (I also had a surprisingly positive experience with the mental aspects of the exercises in the Saturday class, and there was less of that kind of thing last night.) I think I'm starting to get the hang of some of the routines though, their names, nuances of position and movement, etc. I was pouring sweat in the middle of the tough parts.

Back home, dinner on the porch while finishing William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, and watching the rabbits run around the lawn. Monday night was watching some sparrow/finch-like birds eat grass seed at my feet, last night was rabbits playing, tonight's visitor will be -- what?

I Think I'm Back To Normal

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 12% BF
Blood Pressure: 125/74

Friday night was Which Brew after a road ride. The ride was my old "northern benchmark," the standard or shorter version: up Rt 611 to Mud Run, then back along Rt 191 & Sullivan Trail to Bushkill. I didn't feel particularly strong or fast, but my final time was 1:36, which is actually not bad. WB wasn't so good though; I had some kind of heartburn or irritation going on, had only one beer, doggy-bagged my dinner and went home. Too bad, because there were a lot of cool people I would have liked to hang with...

Saturday morning was an Allamuchy ride. I carpooled down with Doug, stopping for breakfast at key City Diner which was better than I would have expected. In the woods: I felt strong for the first hour or so of riding, but then faded fast. At about the seven mile mark, I took a shortcut back to the trailhead for a total of 10 miles -- actually, that's the furthest I've ridden so far on "real trails."

Doug & Rich stopped by my place later in the day (after they finished the rest of the ride, and got some lunch) and we went to Which Brew for an after-ride beer and some of K-Jo's signature abuse...

Saturday night, back to WB, I think mainly to prove a point.

Sunday was a ride at Jacobsburg, followed by chores (laundry, shopping). For dinner I made tuna scampi w/ wilted greens, followed it with a dessert of strawberries, blueberries & grapes -- I'm all about the modular fruit -- and prepared Bavarian Pork Chops in the crock pot for tonight. I added some sliced apples and a little beer to the recipe this time, we'll see how it comes out. Between work and dinner though, will be "active rest" with a yoga class.

Detox Mansion

Morning weigh-in: 184#, 12% BF
Blood pressures have been good...

Went to the gym last night, good workout but I skipped the run: my ankle looks/feels worst the evening after a run, I still get some swelling so I figure I'm still not ready fro that kind of stress. Dinner was salad (ie a bowl of "spring mix" w/ dressing), plus a bunch of summer-salad stuff (corn salad, stuffed grape leaves etc) that I picked up at the supermarket.

Listening: I heard Warren Zevon's "Detox Mansion" yesterday on the radio. Haven't heard it in years, and didn't even like it back then, but for some reason it really reached me yesterday.

Reading: Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose. It's a good story and the book is very informative, but the format is starting to wear on me.

Tonight is a road ride, followed by a trip to Which Brew. Tomorrow morning is an offroad group ride at Allamuchy.

Infrastructure attack! Fierce thunderstorm Wednesday night fried my modem, I'll probably get a replacement this weekend.

OMG It's Thursday!

No stats. Overslept, forgot, whatever.

Went to a wake last night in Fogelsville, fellow mountain biker Larry Reimert. Met D&L for dinner afterward; they were at another wake in Easton.

Meanwhile: Floyd Landis has the Yellow Jersey, and Valerie Plame is suing Cheney/libby/Rove.

Wow, Monday Already!

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 12% BF
Morning blood pressure: 120/78

Not much posting here, very busy lately -- also, the weigh-ins were a little discouraging...

So what's up? Well, on the Linux front I've been playing with C, learning how to deal with libraries; my specific goal was to figure out the GNU "readline" library function, which I think I've accomplished. On the family front, I was at a picnic at my parents' house on Saturday, my brothers and their families, plus many family members, like cousins and their kids etc, as well as some old friends from the neighborhood. On the bike, there's been a few rides, including a road ride (15 miles but it killed me), a towpath ride (lotsa damage from the floods, but it was rideable), and a ride yesterday at Sals (with Joe G and a few others, this time starting from that new lot). On the friends front I went with Brian to Mary M's Heritage Day party last night, though Easton canceled the fireworks.

Yogi vs Boo-Boo: One other thing I've been up to is, I decided to take up yoga. I went down to Easton Yoga on Saturday morning, signed up for some classes and took one that day. I was a little worried about my foot, and was ready to skip the beginner class and take "restorative yoga" (for injured/disabled people) later in the week, but I did just fine in the regular class. I figure this'll help with both flexibility and blood pressure, as well as getting my friend Bill ("you gotta take a yoga class!") off my back...

Meantime, I have about 25 photos that are ready to be posted, and I have another 100 still in the camera. I may post the 25 tonight, but I'll also be taking a yoga class (or hitting the gym) and then going to Which Brew for the Mug Club dinner, so we'll see.

Wow, Hump Day Already!

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 11% BF

Let's see, in chronological order...

Friday I did a partial road ride with Doug, but my new tire was defective and we had to abort the ride when I discovered the problem after only about 2-3 miles. It was just as well, since huge rainclouds came out of nowhere, and it poured just after we got back to my place.

After that came a trip to Newark Airport: my brother and his family were visiting from Florida, and my parents needed a second car to help with transportation. Late night, the flight didn't get in until after 11:00 and we got back to my parents' house around 2:00 AM.

Saturday my plan was to ride at Huber/Hartshorne in the early morning, but I didn't get moving until around 10:00 and hit the trails around noon. Got back, visited with bro and his wife & kids, took a nap and hit the road around 4:00 or so. Tired.

Dinner that night was at Porters, with Doug & Lori and Brian.

Sunday was the annual ride/picnic. I did the shorter (40 mile) "girl ride" option, thought there were quite a few guys on this particular ride -- the longer ride looked like it would be a death march, 80-90 miles, lotsa hills, and not everyone wanted to be a part of that torture-fest. I was tired enough after 40; those guys looked like they were destroyed when the finally got to the picnic. Some swimming to cool down, plenty of summer salads, hot dogs and burgers and brews, then fireworks when it got dark enough.

Monday I got up, rode at Sals but I was exhausted, the trails were sketchy from the moisture (slippery rocks & roots everywhere), and I bagged it after only half the ride. Went home, napped & did laundry for the rest of the day. Back to Porters for an evening out while the laundry dried, but it was still an early night.

Yesterday was a sort of reprise of Monday: I rode at Sals with Mary from Genesis (did much better this time), also Kris K who met us in the woods, then went home and napped for a good chunk of the hot part of the day. I threw my sleep cycle out of whack though, was wide awake from midnight to about 2:00 AM, didn't drift off until close to morning...

Just thought I'd get the bare bones down before I forget. Meantime, I put a few more photos on Flickr, shots from another walk along the Lehigh back in May. Slowly digging out from my backlog...

Digital Dump #1

Lots of things to talk about, but first I want to record some blood pressures:

Blood Pressure (Saturday 7/01): 120/78, 60 BPM @ 8:58 AM
Blood Pressure (Monday 7/03): 124/76, 65 BPM @ 7:27 AM
Blood Pressure (Tuesday 7/04): 134/80, 63 BPM @ 7:06 AM

More later...

Road Trip, Cow Eyes

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 10.5% BF
Blood pressure: oops, forgot, will post in an update
UPDATE: 118/76, 63 BPM @ 6:00 AM

Gym yesterday, almost expected it to be closed since it's near the river but they were OK -- and despite the busy-all-day phone and the road block with state troopers on the only road to the place, they had a reasonable crowd. I ran two miles outside in 23:36, then did about 15 minutes easy spin on a stationary bike before lifting. Tonight will be a road ride; hard to believe but it'll be the first time on the road bike this year.

Meantime... The BP medication I'm on (toprol, of I got the spelling correct this time) is a "beta blocker," which apparently means it sort of blocks part of the "fight or flight" response mechanisms. Once I read that, I started thinking "whoa, I do feel more placid lately," and imagine that I can feel it in the set of my face, a feeling I've been calling "cow eyes." I look in the mirror, same old Don. I wonder if the doc has anything to help reduce suggestibility...

Kitchen Disaster, Part Deux

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 12.5% BF
Blood Pressure: 115/78, 69 BPM @ 6:04 AM

Decided to get a snack last night, opened the fridge and saw what looked like a stalactite hanging down, passing through al the shelves from top to bottom. What the...??

Well, it was milk. The fridge decided to get really cold again, or maybe the blower was working overtime, but a full half-gallon bottle of milk -- a glass bottle -- had frozen solid. I guess the expanding ice forced liquid milk out the top, where it froze as it dripped down. I broke off all the stalactite pieces, put the milk bottle in the sink to defrost, noticed that the glass was broken, cracked by the expanding ice... Cleaned the fridge, more food thrown out, and in the morning cleaned the sink as well. I guess I lost the deposit on that bottle...

At Home I Feel Like A (Disaster) Tourist

Quick update:
Blood Pressure (Tuesday): 135/81, 41 BPM @ 6:04 AM
Blood Pressure (Wednesday): 127/78, 59 BPM @ 8:57 AM

Traffic was heavy on 22, but the bridge was open, the only slowdown there was from rubbernecking, they weren't even collecting tolls & you could roll right through.

I figured that the towpath was under water tonight, so I blew off a "training ride" and went downtown to look at the Delaware. I ran into my neighbor & riding friend Mike, also saw about half of Easton oogling the flood -- we joked that it would be a good place for a hot-dog cart, and in fact the "sidewalk cafe" restaurants, some of which were actually within 50 yards of being flooded out or cut off, were doing land-office business... Welcome to Easton, the Disaster Tourism Capital of the Lehigh Valley! You feeling lucky?

Nice Day For A Disaster

"The yellow sun is shining in the afternoon..." -- The Raconteurs

Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 180.5#, 13.5%
Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 179.5, 10.5%
(I'll post blood pressures in an update, since I can't remember them right now.)

Well, let's see, the sun's finally out but the water is still rising; Delaware will not crest until noon tomorrow, not sure about the Lehigh. Northampton County is under a state of emergency, along with 45 other PA counties. The "free bridge" across the Delaware has been closed since yesterday, and I think it's probably underwater by now; I suspect that the US-22 toll bridge may be closed at some point as well. Lots of small-stream flooding (besides the big rivers waaaay over their banks), roads closed, schools open for refugees as there are now non-mandatory evacuations along the river -- some guys went home early, since their areas (downstream of a dam) had mandatory evacuations and they had to be packed & gone by 8:00 PM.

In other news, I went to the surgeon today, and he basically gave me a clean bill of health: he said that, though there was still a depression, the incision was essentially closed, and I can get the foot wet (ie bathe normally) and resume other normal activities. I wonder if that includes riding down the towpath to look at the flooding and accidentally falling in?

Wrong-Way Redux

So I'm going home tonight, and I just got on US22 from I-78, I'm maybe a half mile down the road when -- HOLY SHIT!! -- a car is coming the wrong way down the highway, in the left lane -- in other words, my lane. Crazy things happening in front of me, cars swerving out of the way and all of a sudden I'm alone in the lane, staring at a pair of oncoming headlights. Lotsa swerving, beeping from the lane next to me, sorry buddy but I'd rather hit you than be in a head-on at highway speed... Luckily, there was a lot of congestion and things were moving relatively slowly, everyone visible to me managed to avoid a collision, though I have no idea what happened behind me. All I saw were those headlights coming at me, but I'd given a friend a ride home -- co-worker, religious guy, I don't normally use today's vocabulary in front of him -- and he said it looked like one very confused old lady at the wheel.

That couldn't have been good for the ol' blood pressure...

(By the way, that's the third time in two weeks that I saw someone driving the wrong way. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of one-way streets; mistakes happen occasionally and it's no big deal but this time was a little more serious.)

Reading: Never Mind the Pollacks, again. And once again, literally laugh-out-loud funny.

Apple vs Apoplexy

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 11.5% BF
Morning blood pressure: 124/86, 63 BPM @ 6:05 AM (ie before meds)

The thing about the apple is that, whenever I do eat one, it satisfies my hunger, but when I'm hungry for a snack, apples are never what I want. This is like riding sometimes: the times when you need a ride the most (for the sake of your sanity) are you are the least motivated to get out there.

Wineberry and Wild Grape

Blood pressure: 124/73 (6/24, 9:05 PM)
Blood pressure: 138/84 (Today 8:32 AM)
Blood pressure: 129/71 (Today 3:38 PM)

Yes, I got a new toy...

Ran Thursday at the gym, 2 miles in 24:43, forgot the HRM so there's no other data. My trainer saw me running, said I ran with a limp and should hold off for a few more days -- I think I agree, the foot's not really ready for those stresses yet, at least not too frequently. After the workout I went out to Which Brew for dinner, sigh.

Friday night I managed to get in a towpath ride after work, also managed to avoid all the raindrops. My ride time was 1:37:25, average heart rate was 156 BPM while max was 176, and I supposedly burned 1910 calories. Went to Which Brew (sigh again), still had beer but dinner was lighter fare.

Saturday I did trail maintenance at Allamuchy, with Bob & Karen, Dr. Jim, Kris W and a few others. Got some work done on one of the newer trails, a bypass for an old, steep (and eroded) road. Saturday night was Which Brew again; I'd sigh again but I'm glad I went: it was a good night, hanging with Stu & Kathy plus some others.

Today I got up to lead a group ride at Sals, only no one showed a the meeting point, and when I got to Sals there was only John E (on foot, with an umbrella) and Kris K who decided not to ride. We talked trails for a while, then Kris left, and I was about to bail as well, when a bunch of younger (twentysomething) dudes came along, down the trail to the lower lot... They didn't really know where the were going, so I rode with them for a bit. Good guys, but not too experienced, they had a bit of trouble on the hills and with the slick, rooty/rocky surface. Fun though, and if they hadn't come along I would have gone home semi-clean... The rest of the day was errands, laundry, and naptime -- I seem to be running a sleep deficit, what with all those late party-nights.

Two conversations: on Thursday I ran into my friend Art at WB. He's a bit on the stocky side, always has been, but apparently he decided to do something about it and was trying a certain diet. He was near the end of the first nine day regimen, which was essentially like a purification: lotsa fruit/veggies & not much else. He said he'd had some trouble cheating -- we were in a bar, after all -- but had positive results so far even so. (He also took up cycling, which I of course consider a good move.) I got a little agitated though, when he started talking about his blood pressure problem, which until that point I hadn't known about. He told me how he monitors it regularly at home with one of those automatic sphygmomanometers. That's the first conversation, which planted a seed... On Saturday at the post-Allamuchy lunch stop, someone grabbed some junk food, someone else said "why not? You ride a lot, you can afford it," and Kris W responded with "yeah, that's how riding masks problems -- until you're 50 and go for a checkup, and they tell you your blood has become #3 crude." On the way home I bought my own sphygmomanometer.

A third conversation: I was shopping in Nature's way today, chatting with my friend Vi who works there, and I was "hungry but not hungry;" she recommended a bunch of good snacks (most of which I shot down because of nuts), then said "why don't you grab one of these apples?" So I did -- that & some hummos & chips, and some dried apricots. Light dinner tonight, mainly that stuff & some leftovers, after a fourth conversation made me decide not to go to dinner at Porters.

Back to the ride: there are all these plants near the roads at Sals, called wineberries, which in a few weeks they will be covered with delicious raspberry-like fruit, but they're not there yet. Instead of the wineberries, I snacked on twigs from the wild grapes which are also everywhere down there. You sometimes see little old ladies collecting these things for salads up on the towpath; the little v-shaped tendrils (or whatever they might be called, the things that grab onto other plants etc to support the vine) are very tender, with a pleasant, astringent "grapey" taste. Now that's healthy eating.

You're Going The Wrong Way!

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 179#, 12% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 181#, 12% BF

Uh oh...

Actually, hit Which Brew for dinner (famished, ate an entire pizza) on Tuesday night (which completely negated the gym workout I did just before that), and last night was burgers & birthday cake at the Chain Gang meeting. Reasons, not excuses, yadda yadda -- oh well, I must get on it.

UPDATE: Tuesday's run stats...
Dist: 2 mi
Time: 23:22
Avg/Max HR: 146/156 BPM
Work: 428 calories

Word Crash

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 12% BF

Ran out of things to say...

Worked late yesterday, got home, cereal for dinner, worked on bike between the raindrops, spent a few minutes with the 'puter and it was time for bed. Tonight is another semi-late night, then I'm hitting the gym; tomorrow is the Chain Gang meeting.

Mountain Bike Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 12% BF

Rode yesterday at Jim Thorpe, with John C and Brian. We did a pretty mellow ride on some easy doubletrack (the Broad Mountain Loop), almost exactly two hours riding. The stats: time was 1:59:49.9, average HR was 158 BPM while max was 182, and 2362 total calories were burned. I'll check the distance tonight. This was the traditional date for Mountain Bike weekend; since last year was the 20th and final MBW, and the event has usually had terrible luck with the weather, it was kind of ironic that the weekend was beautiful. Hot though. Today is a rest day.

Shout-out to my dad: Happy Father's day!

UPDATE: The ride was 13 miles long. And in related news... I called Bike King to order a special shock pump so I could make adjustments on my new fork, and was told that I got an adapter for my old pump when I bought the fork -- just look in the box. The fork is now officially mine, because it's been fiddled with.

And Time Is All We've Lost

No morning weigh-in -- it's the weekend!

Got home last night, hit the towpath for a fairly hot lap. Sand Island and back, about 22 miles in 1:45. I've done it faster (a lot faster), but that pace is really not bad. I got to try my new heart rate monitor: once on the towpath I kept my heart rate at about 160-165 BPM, just about what I assumed my anaerobic threshold would be. My average for the whole ride was 159 BPM, and my max was 180 -- all standard stuff, as I remember. The HRM says I burned about 2100 calories, but that seems a little high.

I was going pretty fast on the way out, but on the way back I was fatigued; I had to keep dropping the pace to maintain the heart rate I wanted. As I remember, this is also typical for me.

Got home, washed up and went out to Which Brew. Saw Stu & Kathy, also ran into Heath & Hans and a few of their friends (singer in last night's band is a buddy of theirs). Dinner was a Cuban sandwich, washed down with two Weyerbacher Hefeweizens. A good night, but I was home by 12:30.

Breakfast this morning was at Coffee Works, then I went to the gym.

And I ran: A two mile jog before my workout -- took me 26 minutes, but I did it. Quick stats: 146 average heart rate, 156 maximum, 481 calories burned (again, that seems about double what I'd expect). The workout itself was also good; I'm not far from where I left off and I didn't feel overwhelmed. I'm feeling a lot happier right now than I did, say, a week ago.

Tonight I'll probably be meeting Doug & Lori for some burritos at Tulum, then catching some of that film festival. They went yesterday, saw some animations, but Doug had mixed reviews. Eastern European "art film" cartoons -- who knows what you might see?

Ding, Dong, The PICC Is Gone!

And I got no strings in me! Oh, hi-ho, the dairy-o...

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178.5, 12.5%
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 179#, 4% (wha...?)

The Ancef I.V. ended yesterday, but there were some more coordination SNAFU's and the PICC line didn't get pulled until this morning. The visiting nurse made what was hopefully the last visit, did some paperwork, checked my vitals, and then pulled what looked like an extremely long, bloody piece of linguine out of my arm. Slightly weird feeling as it came out, but no pain; it was a pretty smooth simple procedure. I am now pretty much cleared for all activities.

Since the Rifampin also ended yesterday, one other activity I am now cleared for is drinking. Woo Hoo! You'll never guess where I went last night for dinner... actually, Brian called me up and we met down there; turns out it was his birthday so I bought him dinner (turnabout is fair play), and K-Jo gave him a piece of cake with a candle in it, and yes we sang "Happy Birthday."

Gadget Watch: My blood pressure was normal last Tuesday, and I expected that it was because of the dropping stress levels but I'd also had a little of the Topherol (is that the right name?) in me at the time. Today I delayed my dose, and the Topherol-free BP was 137/80. Not bad, but not the greatest -- I still took the pill. As part of my quest for returning health & fitness, I got a new heart rate monitor watch; now I think I'll also get a cheapo blood pressure thingie. Digital self-obsession, you thought the "morning weigh-in" was bad...

I also picked up my bike yesterday, got the new front fork. I'll be trying it out tonight on the towpath, and doing a mellow ride at Jim Thorpe on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm back at the gym as part of my "Selfish Day," and tomorrow night I'll probably check out some of the Film Festival in Bethlehem. Tonight is Which Brew again: my friend Hans is in town, and will probably be there with his brother.

Soylent Green

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 12.5% BF

Quote of the Day: "I have so many things you haven't got."

-- The Raconteurs, "Intimate Secretary"

SNAFU at the doctor yesterday: I was there at the correct time per my appointment, but my appointment was incorrect; the doctor was not in. Apparently, some receptionist working there had made enough of these mistakes that they fired her -- or that's what they told me as they apologized. (We do the same thing here at work: whatever goes wrong, it was the fault of the last guy to leave.) Anyway, my appointment was rescheduled for this morning. I go in, doc likes what he sees but he cleans out the incision and applies some silver nitrate, to cauterize the hole and aid "granulation," which I think means scar formation, wound closure or something like that. He declined to remove the PICC line, but it should come out tomorrow afternoon.

Meanwhile, today's quote: I remember seeing something once about the 50's-era slang term "to signify." The context was someone explaining the term to another guy (I think they were on a bus), using the following example: a guy in jail tells a fellow inmate "I get out in three days;" what he really signified was "ha ha you're still stuck here."

I did the same thing recently with an uninsured friend, talking about my operations and saying my co-pay was around $16 for each (actually it was way more) -- all of a sudden I realized that she could easily take my statement as semi-bragging about the insurance I had that she didn't. Sometimes I worry too much, but I made a point of not mentioning my own situation when talking to that other girl in the quadrant Saturday.

Anyway, dinner last night was spinach & lentil burritos, closer to the book version of "soylent green," but still...

Score One For The Good Guys

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 11% BF

Quote of the Day: "In this land, right now, some are insane, and they're in charge."

-- Gang of Four, "To Hell With Poverty"

The visiting nurse came this morning, and took my temperature and blood pressure, things they do sometimes but not every time. My temp was 97.5, and my blood pressure was ... wait for it ... 124/80. No idea if that was because of the topherol I took a few hours earlier, but I haven't had a reading like that in a long time. Maybe I was a little less stressed, because this may be the last nurse visit, and I may get the PICC line out as early as today.

Reading: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It's sort of like the old saying about Voltaire: the battles he fought (against organized religion) seem quaint to us, mainly because he won those battles so thoroughly. Reading along, I just keep getting the urge to say "well, duh, no kidding;" it's hard to realize the kind of world she lived in, where her assertions were considered crazy rather than truisms. It's a little scary to think that there are currently forces in this country, allied with and used as props by those in power, who are trying to roll back both of those victories.

Last Non-Riding Weekend Update

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 10.5% BF

Lotta things happened this weekend... Well, except Friday night, when I stayed in.

Saturday I got up early, got my oil changed at Revelation Motors -- the mechanics also straightened out my dented car door -- then had breakfast at Coffee Works and did a few errands (Nature's Way, etc). Hit Barnes & Noble, got a book for my Dad's birthday, also got one for myself (Silent Spring) as well as the new Raconteurs CD, and a Gang of Four CD -- I thought it was a sort of "greatest hits" compilation, but was really the band getting back together in 2005 to do what were essentially covers of their early stuff. Some was good, a few were even better than the originals, but most were inferior to the early stuff.

I had no shoes and cursed my luck: I needed to get coffee beans, so I stopped in at the Quadrant and got some lunch while I was there. A woman came in for lunch, a pretty, youngish-thirty-something alterna-girl, probably a local because she chatted with the owner while eating. She was bummed because she's currently unemployed (and uninsured) and had some recent medical problems. I told her about Taylor, who was in a similar big-medical-bill fix, and who was advised by a doctor friend to negotiate the bills down to something he could pay -- basically I gave her that same advice in the form of a story. We got to talking, and it turns out that she'd been in a nasty motorcycle accident when she was 20, and now the plates/pins/rods in her back are interfering with her spine. We commiserated about antibiotics, painkillers, not being able to drink (alcohol, but she can't have coffee either), and when we got around to my PICC line she said "nothing phases me anymore, they keep giving me catheters."

I walked out of there thinking "this foot stuff isn't so bad -- and thank God I have insurance."

Saturday Night was my dad's birthday. Me, parents, my brother Chris, and his wife & son. It was pretty nice, BBQ burgers & steak plus birthday cake; we ate inside because it was kind of chilly out. My nephew went swimming -- water looked freezing -- played with his scooter & showed me some trick moves, but I think he was bored; there was no one his age to hang with.

At Home I Feel Like A Tourist: I stayed overnight at my parents' house, and went home Sunday morning. Hit Cosmic Cup for coffee & a muffin, then went downtown to catch the Blues Festival. It was pretty neat and the day was beautiful, but things were low key (atmosphere was more like "family fun, face painting at Manalapan Day" than anything really bluesey) so I took a walk down by the river and took some photos.

After that I went to Jacobsburg and walked around there for a bit, found a nice clearing and "took some sun" (ie napped) for a while before heading home. The rest of the day/evening was spent playing with the computer.