"We Exist And Thrive At The Mercy Of Others"

Morning weigh-in: 168.5#, 8% BF

Well I'm back, got home last night. Interesting (and fruitful) trip, work part of it went very well. Some other highlights:

1. Flying there, reading Ghostwritten (again!), and occasionally looking out the window to see amazing sights, like the afternoon shadows of Chicago's lakefront skyline spreading across the lake.

2. Climbing around inside the boiler, like a giant set of monkey bars, in pitch darkness.

3. Getting a glass of wine spilled on me at dinner. (Got a free dinner out of it, but big deal -- I was eating on the corporation's dime anyway.)

4. Not one, but two fire alarms that night at the hotel.

5. My luggage taking a different route to Allentown, arriving before me, and being put in storage where they took forever to find it again -- and I still made Last Call at Which Brew.

Date With A Vampire Girl: Went down to the garlic festival today, after breakfast at the coffee shop and a trip to the gym. There was actually a girl dressed as a vampire there, but there was also a bloodmobile -- donor registration was inside the coffee shop. Purely on impulse, I decided to give blood. A few minutes of pleasant conversation with the nice ladies while my blood drained away... Pretty easy, quick & painless, and now I know that my blood pressure (I have long since stopped taking those pills) is 110/70. After that I went out to eat garlic -- protection you know, I'm already a pint low.

The fest was nice, but as always, it seemed a little on the small side.

(By the way, the title of this post is a quote from a VASS brochure I saw at last week's race, basically about how they help people, and we help them.)

Parting shot: A strange and interesting blog.

And Speaking Of Photos...

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 10.5% BF

 

Some "official" photos of me from Sunday's race can be found here, and here, and here.

 

Hit the gym last night, first strength workout of the post-season. It actually felt easier than some of the endurance ones. That'll change... I'm leaving for Litchfield IL in a few hours, getting back Friday night; I'll probably do some hotel-room yoga/calisthenics while I'm there, but that's the extent of it until I get back in the game.

 

Catch y'all on the flip side.

My Other Most Popular Photo

Exxon Demolition
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

As rated by "interestingness" -- a patent-pending algorithm that counts numbers of comments, notes, and times people chose the photo as a favorite, as well as number of views -- this is my most popular photo.

Friggin Finally!

My Shiny New Toy
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

This is my most popular photo on Flickr, based on number of times viewed. I've been waiting for it to be my first photo to reach 500 views, but it's been parked at 499 for about a week -- and then three more people looked at it today. Woo hoo!

I'll probably be getting the x-rays and posting them soon as well.

And Back Again

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 5% BF

 

Got back yesterday afternoon, laundry, nap, uploaded trip photos (check 'em out now), Which Brew Mug Club dinner, now back at work. For some reason I'm pretty down in the dumps, like a bringdown from the weekend's fun.

 

And it was fun, a great weekend. Course and weather were both the best I'd ever seen there, and I did well in the race (actual rolling time was 6:27, official time counting rests was 6:51). Some of my friends did really well, like atomically fast, beating me by more than an hour. (A season-long rivalry finally came down to this weekend. Joe and Greg were training all summer for this, and when the time came they went all out.) Our place was awesome, by the way, and the non-race part of the weekend was also really pleasant.

 

Now here I am, listening to Snot Boy sniff, snort and cough, over and over, basically picking his nose from the inside. I think I'm going to snap...

 

Biz trip later in the week, southern Illinois.

Outta Here (Remix)

Early morning, just waiting for my ride -- Eric called from Bethlehem buying some Mocha Mike's, so he's maybe 15 minutes away. Living room is mostly clean, new vacuum was bought & used, and I may sucker E-Rock into helping me move that dresser before we leave. Got up early, bought Easton Bakery donuts, use them as a bribe...

In a few minutes it's travel time, then a weekend of Fall foliage racing.

By the way, that woman trapped in her crashed car for a week? She was driving an Element.

Gotta go.

Symbiotic Patriotic Pancreatic Lectrostatic

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 11% BF

 

I love it when a plan comes together: I wanted to be 170 pounds for the VT50, and here I am! My real target was 165 lbs for All-A-Muchy, but that's been canceled so I won't worry about it -- all the baggage I was carrying for All-A-Muchy has been transferred to Vermont anyway, but it's really a different kind of race, apples and oranges. Weight loss may help more in VT though, hillier and less technical. Tough slog, I've been grouchy it seems for weeks. I may carb up tonight and tomorrow for the race, weight gain or no.

 

The Project: Anyway, the bedroom is done, all except the dresser (still in the car) and the computer table, which I will not be straightening. That's a fully functional work area, and it'll be hard enough to keep that room clean, while living in it, as it is. All other surfaces are now cleaned and polished though, and floor is vacuumed but I might have to do that part again -- I think I broke my vacuum. I'm getting a new one on the way home tonight, then the living room is on the agenda, but first I have to prep the bike -- I'm carpooling up to VT with E-Rock, and we're leaving at 8:00 AM tomorrow. There'll be an early stop at Easton Bakery to help the morning drive go more pleasantly.

 

Car Talk: One reason I wanted to carpool up with Eric is because he has a new Honda Element, which I think is one of the ugliest cars around but it's very practical, especially if you like to do stuff -- I'm talking about riding, skiing, car-camping etc. Among my friends this has been the buzz car recently, and there was a whole flock of them at the BASH. Good mileage, 4-wheel drive, lotsa space... a-and since two of the most stylish dudes I know now have one (E-Rock, and Jorge aka "Style Man"), I may be wrong about Teh Ugly. I'll be getting up close and personal with one this weekend, so we'll see.

 

What's Next: My medium-range fitness goals, after the race, are to continue the weight loss down to 165#; transition to "base mode" for a few months -- this may include running, as well as bike commuting; and finally, transition back into strength (as opposed to endurance) workouts at the gym. We'll see. All I'm sayin' is...

Sitrep

Morning weigh-in: 171#, 11% BF

Reading: David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, again. I though I lost it, or lent it to someone, or something; basically it was in the "never to be seen again" category, until I found it while cleaning the kitchen table the other day.

Listening: Gregorian Chants, at least in the car. Don't ask.

Computing: Not much, unless you count idle surfing. I'm thinking of a finger exercise for the winter though, more of that predator-prey modeling.

Went to yoga last night, then hit Which Brew while the laundry dried. Good talk w/ Kirk, also a couple of others. Talking about dogs we have known, made me wish I could have a dog. Tonight is back to cleaning.

Able Archer

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 12% BF

 

Happy Anniversary! On this date in 1983, the world almost ended.

 

Getting There: Bathroom, hallway are now clean, and I started with the bedroom last night. I cleaned up a bunch of junk, threw out a lot of unwearable clothes, and also moved the dresser & bed. It's amazing how much better the space is utilized now, better flow & feng shui; I now also have room to put that other dresser in there, and maybe install that mirror. Tonight is laundry, yoga and garbage, and Friday will be race prep day, but any spare time for the rest of this week will go towards straightening/cleaning the bedroom and living room. I tackle the storage room and laundry room next week.

 

Listening: Total impulse buy -- only nearby ATM was in a record store -- but when I was in the city I picked up Graham Parson's Grievous Angel, as well as Clear Impetuous Morning by Jason & The Scorchers. I guess I got an alt-country bug up my ass from a Wilco CD a friend burned for me, which I didn't really care for, and wanted to see how it was once done for alt-real. CIM rocks, GA not so much -- it's funny how William Gibson uses titles from distinctly non-badass songs for badass futuristic slang in his novels. I guess I can't complain, it cuts both ways: Straylight Run is now the name of some kind of emo band...

A Productive Evening

The Start Of The Party
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Morning weigh-in: 170.5#, 10.5% BF

Got home, finished the Carmine's leftovers, then did laundry and dishes while I cleaned the kitchen. I mean cleaned it, like tore it down to bare metal and scrubbed it, it actually looks weird in there. Threw out a ton of clutter, found a bunch of thing I thought were lost..

I also put my McSorley's trip photos on flickr, check them out here.

A Day In The City

Morning weigh-in: 173#, 12% BF

 

Had a most awesome time yesterday: 30 good friends on a bus ride to NYC, bagels & mimosas & Irish coffee on the way in, an afternoon at McSorley's Old Ale House (plus a trip to the Blind Tiger with a splinter group), then dinner at Carmine's. It was all good, but dinner was especially amazing since I'd never been there, and it was as impressive as people said: incredible food in gigantic family-size portions. there were eight of us at my table, and we ordered two entrees and couldn't finish them. Changing taste: I normally do not like seafood such as, say, calamari, but I was scarfing that stuff down last night like there was no tomorrow. And don't even get me started on the lox cream cheese...

 

Tough Call: I went with a few friends (Fred & Lara, Don G, and Jim & Allison) to the Blind Tiger, and just as we exited McSorley's my phone rang. It was my friend Joe S, calling with some very bad news. His girlfriend Dawn has a nephew Eddie (her godson, and they're very close), three years old and in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant, and he had just passed away. He'd been very ill recently -- even a cold is life-threatening for someone like that -- so they put him in an induced coma about a week ago, and now he's just gone. Joe had no other info, and since I wasn't in any condition to deal with something that serious, I told him I'd call today.

 

I gave him a lunchtime call just a minute ago, on his cell -- I didn't want to talk to Dawn about this, get her any more upset than she probably already was -- and it was Dawn that answered. And needless to say, she is pretty upset. I ended up walking around the building here, talking on the phone and crying. Man that was rough.

Red Red Wine

Morning weigh-in (Friday): 169#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Saturday): 168#, 9% BF
Morning weigh-in (Sunday): 170.5#, 11% BF

Yeah, she has a boyfriend... saw her Thursday night at Porter's, sorta-semi went there to see if I'd run into her, you know, by chance: "Fancy meeting you here! Blah blah can you be my girlfriend, Mollie?*" Jesus. Anyway she was there, but before I could bust my move I saw she was there with some guy. Oh well. There's a saying, "looks, brains, personality, availability -- pick any two!" She's off the charts with the first three, my mistake to think she was single.

Today is the bus trip to McSorleys, with dinner at Carmines afterward. I was going to ride this morning, but yesterday was a tough yoga class and a tough workout in the gym, and Friday night was a night ride on the towpath and at Sals, and my body is whooped. I'm walking downtown in a few minutes, catching the bus at 11:00.

In other news, I'm cleaning my apartment. Good Lord.

*Not her real name!

Ice Nine

Crush Girl is a dead issue. That is all.

Ficht Nicht Mit Der Raketemensch

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 10% BF

Positively fiery hot lap last night on the towpath: 23 miles in 1:25, for a little better than 16.2 mph average. My personal best, when I lived on Southside and the distance was 25.4 miles (but I was 10 years younger & twenty pounds lighter), was 1:28, which pro-rates to 1:20 for the current route. So, not bad! Best part was, I got the whole ride in before dark. My legs are killing me today though, especially my calves. (Tonight is the gym, and I think I'll be skipping any leg workout.)

One bummer right near the end though: when I tried to make a left into my neighborhood, signalled, and was about to get into the left part of the lane, but a car behind me (black Toyota pickup actually, with a couple of Junior Yahoos in it) refused to let me over -- in fact sped up to cut me off. Almost hit me, I actually flinched. They turned the same way I did, and I chased them but they ran a stop sign at the end of the street and were gone. I don't know what I would have done if I caught them, except maybe get beat up, but I was livid.

Home, shower, then Which Brew for dinner and the Chain Gang meeting. It didn't quite work out that well: long wait for food, orders jumbled... The meeting itself wasn't all that great either, oh well. I wore shorts which are apparently a little too unfashionably short, got comment about it & an eventual grope from Gropey Girl -- I'm less OK with that than you might think, and will wear long pants next time I'm there. Also ran into Crush Girl at the end of the evening, but (sigh) there wasn't much rapport.

All Is Wellness

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 11% BF

 

"Happy the people whose annals are tiresome." - Montesquieu

 

We had the CIGNA Wellness Bike Tour stop in to work today. Stood around the parking lot for like an hour -- the cyclists apparently had gotten lost somewhere -- then listened to the HR director, deputy mayor & a CIGNA VP talk about "wellness." All this while Snotboy stood right next to me, totally invading my space (it wasn't crowded either, and I can say now that he smells), and doing his nervous-habit Snotboy thing: snorting, then coughing as he chokes on what he just snorted, playing with it in his mouth or whatever, shuttlecocking the snot back and forth between his nose and throat, over and over and over again -- gaaaaah! Good thing they didn't check my blood pressure... That's one hour I'd like to have back.

 

My own sinus issues seem to be waning. I took off last night: no ride, went to bed early and it seemed to help. I was thinking of working late again, but I now think I'll slip in a quick ride before the meeting.

 

Happy International Talk Like Pirate Day!

Q: How much for the corn?

A: Arrgh! Buccaneer, matey!

 

Speaking of pirates, I wonder what the Flying Spaghetti Monster is up to?

Jumble a Song Title And Put It Here

Morning weigh-in: 171# , 8.5% BF (my guesstimate is more like 14%, the scale's batteries must be dying)

 

Shout Out: Happy Birthday, Mom! I will call tonight.

 

Win Some, Lose Some Kept up a whirlwind pace last night: drycleaning, haircut, chores, gym, yadda yadda. All got done without a hitch until I went to the laundromat -- put laundry in the dryers, went to to get coins, the @#&$!!&! coin machine's busted and I have maybe three quarters in my pocket. Oh well, pack up wet laundry, go to Porters. I caught the 2nd half of the game, so I got to see myself win the office pool, $100. Sweet! Now I have to buy donuts for tomorrow.

 

Really not much to say. Working late again tonight, followed by a night road ride (or maybe I'll do the towpath), then I'll give the laundry another try. Tomorrow is a rest day, so I want to hit it pretty hard.

 

By the way, Doug and Lori are both sick, sinus infection. I've got a bit of that going on as well; we probably all caught it from Spanky who was sick as a dog at the BASH. Stupid shared bottle of cheap tequila... They (D&L) were going to host the Chain Gang meeting tomorrow night, but that doesn't look like it's happening now -- I'm going to call Which Brew, see if I can get a reservation on short notice. Hopefully people will still show up, I'm supposed to pick up my winter jerseys and some E-Load from my various contacts.

Culture Jamming From Beyond The Grave

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 12% BF

 

So anyway... Came in to work today and I had a new phone, with new phone number. Never had a phone at work, not sure I want one. (I will get the number out to those who need it -- but cell phone is still and always the best choice.)

 

I'll probably be working a little late tonight, skipping yoga -- I always get something out of the beginner class, but right now there are a bunch of true beginners in it and they might need more help than me -- in favor of drycleaning & a haircut, then I'll probably hit the gym. Laundry night, also Monday Night Football so I'll hit Porter's to catch a quarter or so, reload my sports camouflage for office conversations: "How 'bout them Denvers? Yeah that guy sure is a great homestar runner..."

 

They Are Immune To Your Recuperation: I know I was saying how disappointed I was to check out the old punk songs again, only to find some of the luster worn off -- but this is just Situationist comedy gold.

 

Back From The BASH

Doug In The Rain
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

And I had a blast! My photos are posted and can be found here.

By the way, a little perspective from getting away: I realized that the reason I've been so agitated recently is because I have a major crush on someone that I won't mention by name. I've known her, not well but for a long time, and always did think that she was hot and really nice, but all of a sudden, hmmmm... I have a feeling that nothing good will come of this, so stay tuned.

Almost Forgot

An Anniversary: Today is the day we all learned a valuable lesson -- if you find glowing blue metal in an abandoned hospital, don't eat it! Also, Ad Decimum but that's old news.

That Reminds Me: What radiation story would be complete without the Kidd, Of, Speeeeed!

Listening: The Cramps, "Can your Pussy Do The Dog?" (Sorry Mom, but you did once buy me the album.) Now it's Johnny Cash, "Big River." Told you I was moving on.

Outta Here: Hit the gym after work, short (10 mi) fast (20+ mph avg) warmup ride beforehand. That felt good. Now I'm heading downtown (after Neko Case stops singing) for some dinner, and tomorrow I'm off to the BASH, three days of a mini Mountain Bike Weekend. My blues seem to have evaporated...

Ou Sont Les Fafblogs D'antan?

Morning weigh-in: 172#, 10% BF

Saw something at the Washington Monthly asking "What are the funniest blogs you read?" My own top five:

1. Sadly, No!

2. Alicublog

3. Bats Left Throws Right

4. Tbogg

5. The Poor Man Institute

(Funniest political blogs, anyway. YMMV, as always.) These were all well represented in comments over there, along with most of my honorable mentions, but someone mentioned the one I forgot about, good old Fafblog, once the best there was and a blogroll to die for, now gone the way of the Whiskey Bar. Wonder what ever happened to those guys...

Listening: Basically just finished my Sex Pistols retrospective, found that only a few of the songs seemed to hold up to my memories/expectations -- the songs actually seem slower now than they did back then, and way more hokey. Time to move on.

UPDATE: Fafblog? Yes, Fafblog! Oops, forgot to put the link in, but I fixed the shit out of that.