I'll take questions from the floor

I believe the question of the day is "are you delusional?"

Um, no. That's why I called you the other night. When I downgraded to a 3 on the road I guess they didn't include off-road. I'd like to think if I ask really nice an appropriate downgrade to Sport will be forthcoming. I saw the "Expert" listed on Monday but I dunno, I thought since 12 years had passed since my last renewal they'd drop me a level. I guess I have to ask.

Or should I...

...right.

"pull pin and throw"

Ever read the instructions on how to throw a hand grenade? Let's face it, they had to keep it simple. Bottom line it's a lot like throwing a snowball at the enemy. You throw and then duck otherwise you'll get pelted too. 

Monday I opened the grenade container. I registered online for my USA Cycling license. So there I am sitting there in the coffee shop transferring money from my checking account... and actually buying the grenade. Then I pulled the pin when I clicked for the funds transfer.

Today I looked at my USAC account and saw this...

Look closely...



I think I just threw the pin instead of the grenade.

just as predicted

School was as productive as I predicted. I won't go into details but in an 8 hour day we managed 0 minutes of learning in the 2 hours of productivity we scraped together. The rest of the day was spent BSing, on breaks, lunch and watching a "Modern Marvels" show on corn. On one of my breaks I found this on YouTube and I laughed my ass off. I love my Cowboys but I'm not quite off the deep end like some fans.



7400

"earache my eye"

I don't want to go to school today and do absolutely nothing worth while for 8 hours. These last few weeks at work may have dragged on while doing demo at the Covance remodel, but the last couple of days have been significantly better. Pulling 345' parallel feeders of 3/0 allowed me to feel like I was being useful since I was given 2 pre-apprentices to help me. Yesterday we finished up the last pull and I was given a conduit bender and a print. Sweet. I like bending pipe. The rest of the day whizzed by. I looked at my watch after lunch and thought it might be 2-ish, Nope, 3:10, time to start wrapping things up.

I took Sephie to her theater class downtown and waited in Cafe Royale next door. While sipping a 3 shot breve I poked around on the Mac. While reading MadisonGrrl's blog I remembered I needed to renew my USA Cycling license. I hadn't renewed that little slip of paper with a real intent to race since 1995, I'm amazed I am still in their database. So $90 later I'm ready to accumulate points for whatever. I saved the $50 and didn't renew my mechanic's license. I'm not doing to do any more Jesus Weeks for a group of old men more interested in politics than the racers. 

Better go now, school starts in 20 minutes.

Family

The CPSS household should be nearing normal today. Karen came back from Seattle last night and her luggage should be following sometime today. NorthWest Airlines did it again. The bathroom remodel project will be up and running again too. If we need to order a tub it'd be nice to get moving on that before the end of the week. Flooring and paint selections can also be made now that "the foreman" is back in town. It's getting harder to use my useful phrase at work now that more is expected of me, and it doesn't work at home either... "I'm only an apprentice, I just do what I'm told." It may work with the Tinners, Plumbers and Carpenters, but it won't fly with Karen.

I've had an interesting conversation with my brother in Dallas. I'd been helping him with his own single speed project and he'd completed it recently.

Hopefully it'll see some trail time once he figures out what gearing will work with the 39t on that road crank. I think he's using a hydration pack of some kind too, I don't think that single water bottle cage is going to be useful in the Texas heat.

In a recent Road Bike Action magazine there was a feature about Eddy Merckx bikes and the 7-11 team riders on them. When I relocated to Wisco I ran across Tommy Matush. He'd been at plenty of races when I was pack fill in the Pro/1/2 races and there were a few occasions were I'd been elbow to elbow with him in various Crits, until he'd smoke me and everyone else in a sprint. He'd been dropped by 7-11/Motorola after some "issues" he'd had so he was back in Madison living temporarily by Rusk and Rimrock. He had his 7-11 Merckx he wanted to sell so I bought it knowing it'd fit brother Dan. I owed Dan for a few things, not just money but for other things so I thought he'd appreciate it. He loved it and still does. Its been repainted and outfitted with a mix of early 90's Campy. The RBA features an interview with Tommy and an image of what might be the frame Dan has. After reading the article Dan contacted Merckx customer service folks with the serial number. With that they confirmed it was made for Tommy and even provided Dan with the frame's birthday. Very cool.

I worked on my ghetto tubeless conversion yesterday. I'd wrapped a set of the Bontager rims in packing tape and stretched a 20" x 1 3/8" presta tube on the rim and cut it on the outer circumference. After wiping the talc off and applying a film of dish soap I put a tire on and drove over to the gas station to use their compressor. It inflated without a problem. I then trimmed the excess tube at the bead and "ta da" I have a tubeless wheel. The down side is it was flat about 4 hours later. I think if I add the Stan's I bought from TBS it should hold air. I don't want to add the Stan's until the weather gets warmer because I've heard it'll get like cottage cheese in the cold.

I do have a pair of the Bontrager tubeless valve stems, but I'll be putting those on the wheels I got from Russell.

Oh yeah, after picking up Karen we went to dinner at Takumi. We were going to do the Sushi Boat but it didn't have enough rolls on it for the three of us. So we ordered what we wanted and Sephie made the couple at the table behind us marvel at her. They were eating a more "midwestern" selection of items: lots of tuna and avocado. When Sephie ordered the squid and unagi sashimi without any prompting they asked if she knew what she was ordering. She gave them the low-down on what all the different items we'd ordered like an old pro. She may be the only blonde 7 year old in Wisco that will eat eel.

When the bill came I had to laugh. I'd ordered a Sam Adams to wash my diner down but I failed to rearize how Mr Adams acturally sperred his name...

too funny.

Demo in the hizzouse

Not to be outdone by Ronsta I resumed my own little remodeling project. Last week I installed a new toilet in the upstairs bathroom. While draining the old toilet in the bathtub it slipped and cracked the bottom of the tub the entire length. So we've been using the shower in the basement bathroom. So today I used a framing hammer and a crowbar and broke the tub into manageable pieces. In the next couple of weeks I'll take the walls and floor down to the studs and start fresh. The short list of upgrades is

• new tub
• radiant heat floor with tile
• new sink
• new toiletry closet

I just need time to get it done.

Punks

Punks really get me cranked. When I say "punks" I don't mean the multiple piercing, leather clad, purple Mohawk wearing pseudo-anarchists. I mean the generally functional members of society who won't let you do your job or go on with your life without trying to have you submit to their will. Case in point: my in-laws. Each one of them has their own idea of how their mother's estate should be handled. Not one of them has the same vision and not one of them is based in legal reality. I don't care if Karen is their sister, they don't get to treat my wife that way. If they're pissed off because I charged them .0018% of the value of the house for the 18 hours of electrical work I did then they should talk to me. If they think I'd rather have been working for a lousy $720 than riding singletrack for that weekend then they're greedy beyond my understanding. While I'm sucking the estate for money, let's see, I paid nearly $400 to fly round trip, $75 in gas while we were there, another $150 in dining out as well as $300 I spent at REI. So that means I'm damn near $200 in the red. Oh yeah, I'm after their money. Fucking punks.

If I ever go back to Seattle I guarantee I won't darken their doors. Fuck them all. Karen is done putting up with their shit as of today, which is a week later than I was. She was going to stay out there until Saturday, but after their bullshit today she's going to come home early. First offer takes the house, profit be damned. They can take their money and shove it up their asses. I'll even pay them to never call us again.

I'm not even done ranting, but for the moment this will do.

damn, it's cold

I've never liked single digit temps and when they have a - in front of the number I like it even less. It's roughly 0 degrees at the moment. Mid-day temps when the sun is shining shouldn't be that freakin' cold, even in Wisco. I know I'm whining but I'd rather be warmer. Karen is warmer, I think, since she flew back to Seattle to hopefully button up the preparation and sale of her deceased mother's house. It has to be warmer there. I don't see how it could be as cold there, without some sign of the Apocalypse first.

Work is going okay. It's a fairly big job with 20 other electricians so there's plenty to keep me busy. I'm not just ripping stuff apart either so it's not bad.

I've been wearing my iPod with my custom earplug/speakers to drown out the sound of the jackhammer. I'm beginning to think I bought a "High-Pod" though. Even with 230 songs loaded it seems to "randomly select" four songs fairly frequently.

• "Marijuana" by the Reverend Horton Heat
• "Bails of Cocaine" by the Reverend Horton Heat
• "Whiskey Love Song" by the Asylum Street Spankers
• "Funny Cigarette" by the Asylum Street Spankers

Don't get me wrong, I like the songs, but I wonder what the iPod is thinking.

With Karen out of town I've had to hold off on the early morning running. Sephie might be safe if I left her alone but my butt would be in a sling if I did. Pop Pop and Grandma come over in time for me to go to work but earlier would be asking too much, I think. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are shot in the evenings as theater, swimming and piano now fill Sephie's schedule. If only she could drive. Right, that day will come too soon.

dialin'

I wasted a solid 8 hours in school today. Fortunately I redeemed my day by working on the Fe2+ when I came home. I swapped the Michelin slicks for Bontrager prototypes #178 & #179. These should be an improvement because they're round, black, rubber and knobby. The previous two seasons had worn the tires I had been running so it was time for new skins. Then I bled the rear LX brake. It had grown soft during the few rides I put on at the end of the year so it just needed to be bled. Then I installed a very important part, the WiseCracker which Ernesto had given me. As in the photo above, I installed mine behind the seat and promptly christened it with a bottle of Ale Asylum Nutbrown. Sephie and I then taste tested the Ernesto's Lube before I put some on the chain of the Fe2+. Mmmm, smooth & oily. Karen wanted to know what the big deal was... "why don't you just go to the Co-op and buy some soy bean oil?" She just doesn't get it. 

My junk is yours for cash

Saturday brought everyone out from under their rocks, myself included. Piles of bicycle related items were made throughout the hall. People mingled and made purchases until 9:30... and then the doors opened and a flood of cash entered the room. I had a modest amount of parts on half of the table shared with Russell's pile of desirable parts. As the day went by money was exchanged for parts and at the end of the day I had a sizable amount of funds. So I've got my entry fees covered for '08.

I wasn't immune to the piles of bike parts. I took a walk around the hall before the doors opened and made a purchase. A pair of prototype Bontrager tires from Jesse for $20. Instead of taking $25 for Russell's half of the table, he offered a pair of DT240's on my favorite Bonti Mustangs. 

Later, I went over to meet Ernesto and check out his soy bean chain lube. I bought a bottle and was thrilled when he gave me a Wise Cracker for my Fe2+. It was the best gift I've received in ages. 

It was an interesting day. Socializing with folks with similar interests has a calming effect on me. I didn't see anyone being rude, which wasn't a surprise. There were some loonies, but then loonies are everywhere. 

So after a good day at the swap my list of parts to get before the season has shortened. I need to get a few things...

• 4 brake rotors
• a set of Hayes Stroker brakes
• ceramic bearings for the Truvativ cranks
  

Being so close to work, at least for the moment, will allow me to change my routine. I'll be getting up a hour earlier and going for a run before going to work. It'll be cold and dark, but I'll be burning fat and I'll be less likely to skip an afternoon workout.

The clock is ticking and the races are quickly approaching.

6678

No, really!

Ever been to a zoo? Did it have a Monkey House? Remember the smell? The electrical contractor I started with yesterday is remodeling part of the Covance facility which is literally a mile up the street from my house. So aside from the lengthy commute, what could possibly be bad about this job? Years ago I worked for a local HMO in the Urgent Care lab. One night a worker from Covance came in needing to be treated for a monkey bite. There was a protocol for various blood tests and follow-up tests to screen him based on the transmittable virus' the monkey might have. Karma's a bitch. Anyhow, my first task with the new job was to help demolish the floor which was formerly the monkey floor. As soon as I exited the elevator the smell hit me. It was worse standing on a ladder removing the light fixtures from the ceiling. All the dust from monkey butts had collected on the top of the grid. Lovely. It would have only been better if there was a monkey actually flinging poo at me while I worked.

On the up side I'm getting a great workout. I don't need to go to the gym after work. 

As my brother would say... "everything is better with a monkey."

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Everyone, well, people of my generation have seen the Steve Martin & John Candy buddy movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." Yesterday I lived it. The first flight, Seattle to Minneapolis went well. When I deplaned I checked the departure board for the Madison flight but it wasn't listed. It should have been boarding in a hour but there was no listing. I asked at the check in for the nearest flight and was told "the Madison flight has been rescheduled to 7am tomorrow." whuha? She told me I needed to go to a certain gate for further information. So I go down to the other gate where I'm told Madison has been fogged in for a few days and nothing is flying in, so my options were...

1. wait until 7am. This has a moment's appeal as I could hang out at a bar near the airport and watch the Ohio State vs LSU game. But I really need to be on time for my job.
2. rent a car. There were 3 other guys in the same situation and by the time we'd made it near the front of the line it seemed like a good idea.
3. fly to Milwaukee and get bussed to Madison. I remembered the ad "sit back and leave the driving to us" and it made sense. The flight would leave in an hour and I'd be in Milwaukee by 10pm. 90 minutes later I'd be home. 

So I went over to the bar and ordered a pint to help me sleep. I ordered another and poured into my coffee cup for the wait before the wheels were up. 

We'd managed to completely fill a 757 with both the Madison and regular Milwaukee fliers. As the 757 started to roll towards the tarmac it came to a sudden halt. The pilot then tells us the angle of attack tube isn't registering and we need to have a breaker reset. I was ready to find the panel myself at this point. We turned around and got back to the gate when he came back on and said it was back in order.  So we were off.  The beers helped but it was a short flight.  The bus NorthWorst chartered had seats for 55 passengers. There were 78 of us. I noticed Midwest had a similar charter on the other side of the departures so I took it upon myself to see if they had room for me. The were great. I didn't have any baggage since it was still sitting in Minneapolis so I took a seat. 15 minutes later the remaining Northwest passengers I'd ditched joined me. My dad met me at the Madison airport at midnight and by 12:30 I was nestled in bed for a wonderful sleep.

Work was, well, work. 

6354

Balance

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The bad news first. I have to report tomorrow for a job. Things have begun to pick up in the construction world in Madison enough that someone needs me. It's a fairly large company that I have worked with as a subcontractor at my last company so they know me and I know them. So my days of being a "man of leisure" are at an end.

So that leaves the good news. I found out Russell got in to SSWC. While I'm happy for him I'm also happy I don't have to shell out the clams to make the trip west to Napa. I am slightly pissed off now that I didn't get in. I suspect that the organizers of SSWC gave Russell his entry based on his industry ties rather than his submission 90 minutes after mine. I'm fine with them giving out entries to people in the industry. Without the industry it would be quite difficult to fund an event. If there's a different reason, or if their "first come, first served" claims were lip service, then I'll be pissed for a while.

Today is the last day for me in Seattle. I'll be getting on a flight at noon and should be home in Wisco by 9pm CST. I thinks that's good news.

Mmmm, coffee

So I'm sitting here in a Tully's pirating their wifi. I like Tully's when I'm here in Seattle. Why? They don't burn their beans like Starbuck's. They may not give me a choice of drip coffee's as they only brew one bean a day, but it is a decent coffee. There's an urban legend that when Tully's got started their marketing strategy was to find every Starbuck's and put a Tully's across the street. It's a strategy that seems to have paid off. They're not as good as Ground Zero or Ancora back in Madison, but it's a better option to drinking 7-11 or McDonald's coffee.

The last few days have been semi-productive. Karen had me upgrade the electrical features of her mom's house to make it more appealing to a buyer. I won't go into the horrors of what I dealt with but at least the cords won't fall out of the sockets anymore.

I've managed to run every day so far too. My father-in-law's house is down a fairly steep hill so getting up it sucks, but hey, who said running should be easy?

Just a couple more days here and I'll be back in Wisco enjoying the cold and snow. Rain sucks.

I received an email yesterday from the SSWC crew. Apparently 4 seconds after 12 was 3 seconds too long. I didn't get into the 350 field limit. Oh well, as much fun as it would have been going to Napa I can have as much fun going to the WORS race. Really I can. In fact, we can have a defacto SSWC of our own. With Jesse and Marco gone, assuming they made the cut, it could be totally up for grabs. My money would be on Ronsta.

6204

Happy New Year

What else would I say? After an evening of playing XBox, Pictionary and eating a bit too much at my brother-in-law Tracy's we slept late enough to miss the first quarter of the Outback Bowl. It's midway through the game and the Badgers are grinding it out with Tennessee in their usual style.

That might be a good plan for me too. Just grind it out. I don't mean when it comes to pushing the pedals. I mean when it comes to the training. Not trying to jump into a high level of intensity to achieve my goals on the bike should work. I might not have early season satisfaction, or even the mid-summer satisfaction I had last year. I'd rather peak at SSWC even if, as I've said before, I'll be happy to finish in the first half of the field.


Speaking of SSWC, I took a moment to register for that at the stroke of 12 last night. I prepared the form at about 10 and just clicked the mouse at midnight. A bit more about my plans for SSWC. I know I won't win, hell, Jesse and Marco better be worrying about that because I won't. Even back in the 80's when I was really fit I wouldn't have worried about winning. I want to do well. What do I mean by that? The folks at SSWC have limited the field to 350. If I was quick enough with my mouse last night to make the in I'll be one of those 350. So do what I do, close your eyes and visualize standing about 5 rows back, okay, ten rows back from Jesse, Marco, Adam Craig, Travis Brown and all the really fast guys. Visualize putting in a crash free ride. Visualize having nothing left in my legs at the end, and not before. If I can finish in the top 25% I'll be thrilled. If I can be in the top 10 of guys in their 40's, if they had that category, I'll be thrilled. If I could put together a race like that at that event, I'll have prepared properly and be happy with the result.

Oh, and here's this morning's view of the Olympics...