Dave’s Good Stuff

On a whim, after yesterday’s ride, I aired up my Kona Fire Mountain tires, and took it out for a quick 5 minute spin last night. Cobwebs notwithstanding, I’m amazed that the bike still seemed to work like a champ after all these years of inactivity. I’m going to give it a good wash tonight, look into replacing the saddle and possibly the pedals, and see what I can get out of it on some local trails (read: not paths… trails). I bought it for around $600 sometime in the mid-1990’s, and enjoyed that bike nearly as much as my ‘90 Giant Perigee. It would be a great companion to the Woman’s bike, if I can ever get her on it again. ;)

I’m sorry, Paul, but she got a little bit wet today. Not a lot, mind you, just a few splatters and sprinkles. Wet pavement, but no puddles.

Chris and I left for Lawrence at just after 8. On the way, the temperature climbed from 43 to 52, and only got warmer as the day went on. Also, on the way, we encountered a couple spots of rain. Little did we know what that foreshadowed. Arriving in town, we found a Lawrence beat up like I’d never seen it before. Before we even got into town we saw highway signs bent over at the ground, telephone poles ripped out and sticks and branches strewn about some willy and all nilly. A little bit into town and we saw trees completely uprooted and slung atop cars, fences torn asunder and both streetlights and storefronts dark with a certain lack of power. Every intersection was a 4 way stop.

We stopped at Dillon’s for some water and ice, and moved on when informed that it was closed on account of no power. Fortunately, Target across town had power. Marveling at the carnage, we decided to get a bite at IHOP. We then decided not to given the line out into the parking lot. Apparently, a lot of people were out of power, and decided to go out to eat where someone did have power. I called Mel to find out if she could tell me what the forecast looked like, but she was a block away at First Watch doing exactly what everyone else was doing. In talking with her, I realized that a tornado had torn through town no more than half an hour earlier!

Breakfast being just out of reach, we went on to the trail head and set out. It was Chris’ first ride since he was 15, and my first ride on the new Torelli, and it was awesome! Aside from the two stops to move trees out of the way and the sprinkling of twigs and sticks, it was smooth sailing. The only disappointment was that it was too short. It’s a 20 mile out and back, and maybe it’s the new bike, or maybe I’m in better shape, but it just wasn’t long enough. Granted, we were both tired, but we could have kept going had there only been more path to carry us.

We finished up around noon, just in time for the rain and wind to return.

All in all, a very nice ride. I have to admit, I was a little worried about the cleats. I was worried about feeling trapped… chained, if you will, to the bike on account of not being used to the cleats. I needn’t have worried. It felt natural almost immediately. I had problems getting clipped in a couple of times, with a knot on one shin to prove it, but other than that, found that I like them a lot better than the toe clips I used to have.

I hate hanging light fixtures. They look nice once they’re up. But I hate getting them there.

One down… three to go.

Yesterday was my "telecommuting" day. That is to say, with everything going on at work, there’s really nothing much going on at work. We in Information Security are in a holding pattern in many ways. On the other hand, the Woman is in a holding pattern in every way.

With both of us there, we decided to get a little bit done. We already pulled the carpet and laid flooring in the dining room. Yesterday, I wanted to prepare the kitchen for the same flooring, while at the same time getting rid of the utterly disgusting carpet. We got that done in fairly short order, with the only hindrances being the refrigerator and stove, which had to be moved out of the way. No biggie… we just moved cut the carpet around them and then moved them to the linoleum to pull the remaining carpet. A bit of appliance juggling. No big deal. That’s all I wanted to get done yesterday. That would have been a good day for me.

Well… with the stove out of the way, we had easy access to the backsplash tile. Nasty tan tile. The Woman started in on them… you know, just to see how easy it would be. 45 minutes later we were done. 30 minutes of sanding the glue off and those walls are ready for patching and painting. With dust everywhere and a bunch of broken tiles on the floor, it was a mess.

So… with the stove and the refrigerator out of the way, we had easy access to the wall cabinets. The Woman wanted to see how easy we could pull them down. After all, they’re coming down anyway to make room for the new cabinets. An hour and a half of hard pulling, nail yanking and drywall puncturing, and they were off the wall and in the backyard.

Well… with the cabinets off the wall, a lot of carpeting, tack strips and quarter round needing to be picked up and hauled away, we might as well make a good load out of it. We (*I*) might as well take the 16lbs. sledge to the doghouse that Danny left propped up on end next to the fence in an ill-fated attempt to keep his word.* For someone who left a ton of shoddy half-hearted workmanship behind him, I will say that Danny could build a doghouse. While the Woman did some cleaning (remember the sanding? LOTS of dust…), I took sledge to house. About an hour and a half later and I was done. Tired. Sore. But done.

About that time, Mel and her new boyfriend Sean came over and helped us take the piles and piles of splintered, nailed and screwed wood, rolls of carpet, carpet padding and tiles out to the curb.

Now, after all that, we’ve decided that we like the refrigerator where it is now, rather than where it was. It’ll give us more counter space, more cabinet space, and we’ll be able to open the refrigerator door and the dishwasher at the same time. We lose the breakfast nook (which we didn’t use anyway), and we need some sort of small table/standing cabinet to put next to the refrigerator now, but I think the trade-off is worth it.

We started with the carpet, and ended with a HUGE pile of trash with said carpet, doghouse, picnic table (did I forget to mention that?) concrete encased wrought iron railing (oh, yeah… forgot that too), and kitchen cabinetry.

Today I ache.

* Danny, the previous owner, promised to take the doghouse away. He apparently wanted to save it so he tried to figure out a way to pull it over the fence. The doghouse is very big and very heavy… he, on the other hand, wasn’t either, nor was he very smart.

I picked up some cycling shorts yesterday. They’re baggies, b/c I’m too vain about my physique at this point to go for the tighty-blackies… but they’ve got the chamois sewn in. I’m going to try them out at the gym tonight. I’m riding the stationary for an hour at a time, running between 160 and 200 bpm heart rate trying like hell to get my endurance up. Thing is, after about 45 minutes, while everything else is fine, me bum feels the seat just a little too well. My hope is that the shorts will help that w/o the nasty chaffing I’ve read about in various places online. I’m sure I’ll let you know. They’re Bellweathers, in case you care.

The dining room floor has been finished. Actually, it was finished a few days ago, I just haven’t bothered to write about it until now. We used the DuPont Real Touch Elite flooring, in the Tavas Travertine design. Now that I look at it, I wonder if the Amber Random Slate wouldn’t have been a better choice. Oh well… it still looks SO MUCH better than the nasty carpet that was there. And it feels very nice, too. A lot better than I thought it would. It makes me wish we’d have used it in the bathroom and entryway. I guess it’s never too late, but if I go back and redo those, I’m going to wait a while.

The kitchen may actually have to wait, on account of money. I’m running out, and need to replenish a bit before I tear it all out. I’m committed to doing it, it’s just a matter of time. I may, in the meantime, simply rip the carpet out since the (albiet VERY nasty) lenolium is easier to clean and maintain than the hideous carpet in there now (yes, carpet in the kitchen… go figure). It’ll be ugly, but it’ll be easier.

I picked up some cycling shorts yesterday. They’re baggies, b/c I’m too vain about my physique at this point to go for the tighty-blackies… but they’ve got the chamois sewn in. I’m going to try them out at the gym tonight. I’m riding the stationary for an hour at a time, running between 160 and 200 bpm heart rate trying like hell to get my endurance up. Thing is, after about 45 minutes, while everything else is fine, me bum feels the seat just a little too well. My hope is that the shorts will help that w/o the nasty chaffing I’ve read about in various places online. I’m sure I’ll let you know. They’re Bellweathers, in case you care.