Death By Garlic

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 12.5% BF

Well, this weekend is the Easton Garlic Festival, but at Which Brew the weekend starts on Friday night so I grabbed a plate of roasted elephant garlic: each clove must have been about as big as a full bulb of regular garlic, and the plate held about half a dozen cloves. Unbelievably tasty, but it wreaked havoc on my digestion. I guess now I'm honorary Welsh...

Anyway: rode last night, 3 hours on the (slightly damaged) Lehigh towpath -- most damage wasn't from the river, but from water coming down off the hills and cliffs, heading for the river -- then to WB as noted. The band there, The Insidious Rays, were awesome, by the way. Hung out with Stu & Kathy before they left, and Heath & Hans Kneller (their bikes were on their car, who else could it have been?) and Margarita, plus about a thousand cute college girls it seemed like.

This morning I fooled with computer before hitting the coffee shop, then a run along the Jersey side of the river & a standard gym workout; after that I checked out the festival downtown. Got home, played more with the 'puter, and my mouse crapped out. Cheap plastic part inside snapped, so I bought a new Logitech wireless optical mouse (3-button w/ mouse wheel, thirty bucks -- sweet!), which I'm using right now. Feels kind of weird, like using a template on the old AutoCAD systems at work, but I'm sure I'll get used to it pretty quick.

Channeling My Inner Dork

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 12.5% BF

Didn't ride/run/lift or do chores/errands last night, instead played with the computer. I don't know why, but I really like playing with bash.

A Little Mercy

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 11.5% BF

Heard a cool song yesterday, had to stay in the car to let it finish when I got home from work. I didn't catch the artist/title, but liooked it up and found this:

Whoever watches over all these truckers
Show a little mercy for a weary sinner
And deliver me, Lord deliver me
Deliver me to the next Best Western

Rode last night at Jacobsburg (w/ Doug & Lori on the tandem, Greg M, Greg P, Eric, and Joe & Cindy, as well as seeing Rich B, Lee S on his BMW motorcycle in the parking lot, and Dave J as he was leaving). Lots of damage from the storms & flooding: many bridges out, including small trail bridges (Doug et al fixed a lot of these) and even a few of the big ones. Some trail damage made the trails more technical though, which was fun, a guilty pleasure.

I'm still sick though, and felt like hammered shit after the ride so I went straight home & to bed -- no dinner. Felt a lot better overnight and this morning, thanks to my good friends Actifed, Ibuprofin, Echinacea and Vitamin C. I'm still passing the "neck test"* though, so tonight I'll be heading to the gym, see how I feel there.

*Neck Test: if you're sick and it's below your throat, don't exercise, but if it's above your neck do a warmup, and if you feel up for it you can continue the workout.

Not the Return I Was Expecting

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 10% BF

I seem to be getting a cold, which was once a monthly occurrence but has been almost unheard-of for more than a year. Sore throat started last night, sinuses seem clogged, I hope it blows over pretty quick.

Ran yesterday, two miles down past Baker Chemical before working out, then went home, did some stuff, and went to WB for dinner. Interesting conversation with a dude I see there on Tuesdays: kickboxer, worked as an "armed security escort" in the Caribbean, coupla stories...

Tonight is a night ride at Jacobsburg, check out the flood damage & see the ol' Gang.

Finding My Way Back To The Same Old Same Old

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 11% BF

I was going to run this morning -- but I got a haircut yesterday, which means I visited the bookstore in the mall, and that's where I bought some books on MySQL and PHP, thus causing me to stay up a little late reading and playing with the computer... I'll hit the gym tonight (if it's still there after the flooding), do a quick warmup run beforehand.

I have PHP on my computer, but no web server installed; I haven't checked to see if MySQL is around anywhere yet. I'll probably either download the latest Apache or use the handy CD that came with the book, get it all running & start to play sometime in the next week or so. Meantime, I can always use PHP to generate static HTML in various shell scripts, right? (Yes, still messing with my photo galleries script, which I think I'll be finalizing this weekend. I'll probably post version 1.0 in my gopherspace real soon.) Sad to say, freeshell.org doesn't give access to MySQL without special, paid-for privileges & I won't be setting up anything but a private web server at home, so this is all pretty much just wanking. Actually, 2nd order or meta-wanking, since the web page project is already a bit of a wankfest...

There is a bit of an agenda here, however: I think I may have to switch careers sometime in the next year or so, and am looking to get into computers. Web stuff is probably already saturated; my theory is that home-PC tech support will be pretty stable -- you can't outsource the doctor that makes house calls, right? -- but I'll need a bit lot of retraining before that (hardware, software, MSCE, yadda yadda), & I first want to get a feel for the back office of a computerized small business. We'll see.

By the way, here are some photos of the flood damage, emailed to me from a friend (not sure who took or owns the pictures).

Back From Florida

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 13% BF

Well, I'm back; flew in last night & was home by about 10:30. Some highlights: flew down Thursday, met my uncle at the airport and, on the advice of my other uncle, drove directly to the rehearsal dinner, where we were two hours early... went to Universal Studios on Friday, the wedding on Saturday, and a brunch at my cousin's new house (sister of cousin who got married) on Sunday before flying back. Plenty of hanging out w/ family in the meantime & betweentime.

The weather was good (but very hot), and there was only a little hurricane damage in the Orlando/Cocoa Beach areas I frequented, so when I got home I was surprised to see as much storm and flodding damage as I did around here: bridges and roads out; the downtowns of Easton and several other river towns spent most of yesterday under water.

More later, including many photos (probably in the yahoo galleries), so stay tuned...

A little bit of catch-up

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 10.5% BF

Rode the towpath last night, OK but a somewhat sluggish pace, I finished with a 1:35 ride time. I didn't feel tired or winded or anything, but my pace never rose -- 15 mph felt normal, the 18 mph pace from a few weeks back felt impossible to sustain. Allergies?

I also updated my website last night. My "photos of Mike" page was really sort of a letter to his fiancee (the online version was there for comments/input from friends & family, and the final version of the original went on a disk for her), so I went in and changed it to a more public document. It was kind of neat, I was logged in to the epix (Solaris?) system, as well as freeshell (*BSD), plus my own computer, also FTP'ing stuff around like some kind of juggler, what a tangled web I was weaving... Later on (after dinner) I started to add comments to some of the newer galleries, but didn't update the site -- bedtime, you know.

Dinner was Which Brew, quiet night there. Figure I'm on vacation this weekend, no food at home and I don't want to buy anything just to let it go bad... Several WDIY types there, talking about Channel 39's attempt to take over the station. I signed the petition (the print version), and the conversation devolved into "cool bands/venues/radio I have experienced" one-upmanship. Interesting!

Went home, messed with 'puter, bed by 12:30.

By the way, stay tuned for more crap, because I now have a gopher site -- does anybody here remember gopher? It's still around, just gone underground. That's what gophers do...

Sudden Change in Plans

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 11.5% BF

So, I'm still going to Florida, but I'm going stag and I won't be visiting the Keys: Theresa can't make it, so there's no point in an extended vacation, and no reason to drive down instead of flying. I have my flight & a rental car booked, must make sure hotel can accommodate me for Thursday night. Oh well.

Lost Weekend

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 10.5% BF

The weekend:

Friday night was a slow lap (sluggish, no snap) on the towpath, made slower by a flat, then a late night at WB & also Porters...

Saturday was a quick run followed by the gym, then I checked out the P'burg Crit before stopping by T's and dropping off her "certified non-deathtrap" bike. Dinner w/ "the guys" (Doug, Brian & Eric) at JP McGrady's Pub in Bethlehem, kind of a quiet night even so.

Sunday was a group ride at fell Mountain: Doug, Bob, Joe & Cindy, Eric, Rich and Pete and myself. I was hurting (tired and headachey), but some "it's allergies, take an allergy pill" advice from nurse Cindy pulled me through. Rough ride all around, everyone was tired by the end (only 15 miles, but it took 5 hours to do -- 2:20 ride time actually, still tiwas some tough, technical riding), but we were all glad we did it. We met up with a local near the end, and he showed us a few new trails.

Post ride pig-out at that place in Clark's Summit, then the drive home (slept most of the way), then I tried to FTP some new galleries into my site, ran into problems and gave up, passing out by 10:00. Stay tuned: Moab 2002 shots up "soon"...

Strangely enough, I'm not tired today.

Friday Blogging

Morning weigh-in: 176.5#, 11.5% BF

Scared myself last night & this morning, thought there was a major (and really stupid) error on a drawing I checked -- designer/drafter draws it, but the checker makes sure it's correct, and is ultimately the one responsible for mistakes, and this job is already in fabrication. I came in this morning & checked, and everything is A-OK. Phew!

Didn't ride last night, kind of rainy out so I played w/ 'puter, & brought T's old bike to Cycle Funattic for a a safety once-over and new tires. Saw Brian there (he's volunteering for the Phillipsburg Criterium tomorrow) and made arrangements to meet for dinner at Which Brew -- he was a no-show, but there was a gen-u-wine hillbilly dude there, espousing his views on moonshine and cigarettes...

It's Up

Morning weigh-in: 174.5#, 14% BF

So, my website is up and running, check it out here. Next up is figuring out a little more CSS, then maybe some CGI and PHP (one big plus from using the Super Dimension Fortress)... first order of business though, is to revamp the blog, take advantage of new features -- HaloScan choked this morning, so I may switch to using Blogger's comments, and will also enable the "archive individual posts" option, probably this weekend sometime. Tonight if it's nice I'll probably ride with Theresa and her son on the Palmer Bike Path.

My Web Page

I think I have it pretty close to ready, so I'm posting my webpage as we speak, FTP'ing the stuff into freeshell.org; it should take another hour, hour and a half to finish.

My plan is eventually to have a series of pages, with 3 columns of stuff on each page: left side for regular navigation on my site, right side for cool links relevant to that particular page, and the middle for content (text, photos etc). The main breakdowns will be: home, Easton, bikes, photos, this blog, and a contact link. I may disable the contact link if I start getting too much spam. I have the skeleton up, and will be fleshing it out as time goes by. I also plan to add comments to my photos, eventually. Except for this blog though, and the start of some galleries, I am really hurting for content.

Once everythng is in place, I'll link my blog to my homepage as well, but right now I'm not sure of my site name, maybe donxfive.freeshell.org? We'll see -- I just tried SSH'ing into my acount, and the file transfers choked, I may not be allowed to do both at once but I'll try it again, find out how to finish the job.

UPDATE: I'm in my shell account, and the file transfers seem no worse for wear, it must have been a fluke or coincidence before...

Super-Size Me

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10.5% BF

I think I see a disturbing trend here, lots of eating out (damn you, Taco Hell!) --> weight gain this past week. Bit of a post-Allamuchy binge, which is OK but I should put it behind me ASAP.

Rock Rock, It's The End Of The Summer

Morning weigh-in: 176#, 13% BF

Just a quick post, a little info. I've been dabbling in Cascading Style Sheets, a few other things and am now pretty close to putting my web pages up. The key will be the galleries, since I have very little other content right now except for this blog...

Rode today on the Delaware towpath, with Doug and Lori on their new tandem, and with Brian. Lori's still on injured reserve from running-induced shin splints: doc sez no hills, hence the towpath. Pearly Baker's afterward for late lunch or early dinner. I've been playing wth the computer ever since, but must now do some laundry etc. Back to work tomorrow.

A Somewhat Lazy Sunday

Morning weigh-in (Saturday): 175.5 #, 12% BF
Morning weigh-in (Sunday): 177#, 11% BF

Just got up maybe a half hour ago, I'll be doing some housework here today, after breakfast at a coffee shop -- not sure which one yet, there's still two in Easton; once upon a time there was a third, actually my first choice for breakfast, but the oners got divorced and the place closed. (I called it a "triple play" when a Saturday involved visits to all three...) Well anyway, Coffee & Tea Time is gone, and I typically eat a breakfast bialy or something at Coffee Works on Saturday -- I did it yesterday -- so Sunday looks like a trip to the Quadrant except I was there yesterday too, got a cup to go and some ground beans during the afternoon errand-fest. Hmmm... I like Coffee Works better, maybe follow instincts & go there -- if they're open today! Decisions, decisions...

Back to "reality:" rode Friday on the towpath, a pretty hot lap since I realized (at Sand Island, the furthest point) that I forgot my clear lenses. All I had was prescription sunglasses so I had to get home before full darkness hit -- made it. Yesterday I felt it in my legs, but went to the gym and ran four hilly miles before working out; today I really feel it...

Stopped by Weyerbacher yesterday, and hung out with T as she closed up, then we went to Porter's for lunch. We both had chores, and she wanted to grab a quick nap so off we went in opposite directions (that's where my afternoon coffee run came in).

My one planned activity was to look at her old 10-speed bike, see if it could be salvaged: it could, and I cleaned up the drivetrain, tightened a few loose screws, shot a spritz of lube here & there, and put some air in the tires. I was able to ride it around the block a few times, though the rear wheel makes a funny noise and the tires are no longer roadworthy (easy replace). If anything else was wrong, there would have been serious problems, since the components and frame are so old that new stuff wouldn't be compatible; one bad item would mean replacing the bike, and she seems pretty attached to it.

I called her later, but she got a chill in Porter's maybe, or whatever but she had a headache and a sore thoat all of a sudden, and stayed in. I went to dinner, Carmine's in Allentown, with the Pinkertons (who have their tandem put together and rode it yesterday) and the Riglers.

Many household chores await me today, but first: coffee!

Illigitimi Non Carborundorum

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 10% BF

...or I guess I should say Nihil illigitimates carborundum...

So, they removed the MAC machine from the other building here at work, without telling anyone, and today I needed money to get lunch (scramble scramble)... 400 emails waiting Wednesday night, another 177 last night, and I even got a "we think you're sending a virus" email from some dumbass "ISP administrator," no doubt the result of the Allamuchy mailing list fiasco...

Rode the towpath last night w/ Brian and Joe & Cindy, then ate dinner at Which Brew.; met Theresa there. Tonight? Not sure of the agenda, but the Mighty Manatees are playing at the Funhouse, and Three Monks are at WB.

By the way, I really like my new modem, a US Robotics one with lots more blinky lights than the last one, and a louder speaker. Dorky, but cool.

Thursday Fly-by

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 177#, 9.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 8.5% BF

Had a good post yesterday, but Blogger ate it and I didn't feel like retyping, oh well...

Got the modem, got a new serial cable, works like a charm. Tried it last nite after a short ride plus dinner at WB w/ T (once again, 'puter made me stay up late). Tonite is a towpath ride, tomorrow another one -- since I also rode Turesday, I think recovery is coming along nicely.

We're Number Three!!

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 172.5#, 11.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 177#, 9% BF

Trouble at home, I think my modem's fried. It can detect incoming rings, but outbound signals don't seem to be getting into the phone line. Thunderstorm yesterday, maybe a transient in the phone line? Anyway, no internet access at home until the situation is resolved, so only light, lunchtime blogging for a while.

Allamuchy was last weekend. I went up straight from work Friday and camped (though dinner was at a restaurant, and breakfast was also bought at the Boy Scouts cafeteria -- I was really roughing it), and we raced Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday, heat, rain, night and fog, and -- we took third place in the 4-man Masters group! Photos haven't appeared yet, but results can be found here.

Our other team (Pedal ya Pansies) took seventh in the Vet 4-man, a Chain Gang teammate won the Jr 2-man, and of course it was fun to see all the old friends (Beth & Kevin McG, Dave & Selene, Doug V and Scott H, etc etc, but no Gary, Gina, Gerry or Joe G). Of course, we also had the disco ball up and running, and we decorated our campsite (and bikes) with jungle-oriented stuff and little plush monkeys... Totally exhausted on Sunday, crashed by 8:00 or so (except for a mealtime wakeup).

Last night I hit Porters for dinner. That is all.

Working Through The Checklist

Morning weigh-in: 175#, 12.5% BF

Getting ready to go to my boss's retirement luncheon, just passing through...

Worked on the bike last night, things look good. I cleaned/lubed the drivetrain, cleaned the cables & housings as needed, and put new pads in the front brakes. (I also got my drycleaning done & did laundry.) Tonight is the rest of the laundry, garbage, and packing the camping and non-food stuff for the weekend; tomorrow is food shopping. I want to have the car packed Thursday night, so I can just go straight to Allamuchy from work Friday. (I was thinking of riding tonight, a short ride to double-check the bike and seat the new pads, but now it looks like rain.)

Time Passes

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 11.5% BF

It's kind of funny, the past few days I've been getting a feeling almost of surprise, when I'm just hanging out and time passes, like I want and expect time to just stop for a while... of course, this usually happens about 6:00 AM... Tomorrow is my boss Walt's retirement party; he'll be gone to his new home out near Palm Springs probably this weekend. Allamuchy is also this weekend, and the summer is winding down.

Rode last night at Jacobsburg, felt like I was working but my average speed was pretty low -- uh oh. Nothing I can do about it now though, just do the final race prep on the bike, buy food for the weekend and pack. I'll probably be going up Friday right after work.