Waking up at 7:01 on a weekday with no responsibilities other than feeding cats is a non-event.
Having today be the first official day as an electrician and not an apprentice is kind of a non-event, but should it be? Somehow I expected today to be different. Today I'll do things I've done for years before I ever thought about trying my hand at electrical construction. I'll go for a ride on my bike. I'll pack the car for a weekend race. I'll mow the lawn. I'll wonder if there's something I should be doing, but can't think of it. I won't be buying a round at a tavern for the guys after work. I feel awkward, like I'm missing something. No, there's no kettle of water left on the stove.
Enough of that.
Yesterday I made a house call to trouble shoot an acquaintance's light switch. He claimed the switch by the door turned the lights over the vanity on and the switch by the vanity turned them off. That's a 3-way switch. Okay, but the door switch wasn't doing anything but the vanity side switch still functioned. The only other things in the room are a switch for the bathroom fan and a switch for a fan-driven heater, both contained in a ceiling unit with a light cover. Both fans worked but the light wouldn't come on as the bulb was burned out. I looked at the wiring and the switches and everything looked correct, but they didn't seem to be wired for a 3-way. I said "I'm not calling you crazy, but are you sure this switch turned on the vanity light?" He insisted it did. My tester told me otherwise, but I trusted him. To ease my mind I asked him for a new bulb for the overhead fixture. I installed it and turned both fans on, but the bulb didn't go on. So I reached over to the switch by the door and it did exactly as I thought it would. It turned on the overhead light. Definitely a non-event. That'll be a 6-pack of Satisfaction Jacksin please.
This weekend I'm going out on a limb. The Fastest Bike I Own, the Davis Phinney, is nearly ready to be raced in anger. I spend the other day gluing tubulars and checking every bolt and bearing. I've spent the week paying attention to how I trained. Trying to get the most from my time on the road so I can hopefully be strong enough to survive a real race. At 12:40 CST I'll be starting my first "Superweek" race since 1995. Crap, that's a long time. I could do the Cat 3's but I think the Master's 35+ 1,2,3's will be slightly more sane even if it is faster. I'm betting on it being faster. The course description says there's a hill on the back side. I hope it isn't any steeper or longer than the State Street hill. I'll find out tomorrow.
It should be a non-event. Unless I don't get lapped and I finish with the field. Lord help me if I do any better than that.
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