Dave’s Good Stuff

This weekend, rather than ride, I chose to get some serious work done on the living room. With the Kitchen ALL BUT DONE, the living room is now the project of choice. Compared to said kitchen, it’s cake. A couple trouble spots, simply b/c they’re very high, aside, busting this room out should be no problem. I got the walls and crown molding painted this weekend. Now I just need to hang the crown (hence, the number of arms being equal to 3), and paint the trim and windows.

Time consuming, but not difficult. Some music in the background and I shouldn’t have any problems at all. If the Boy is around, I may enlist his help hanging the crown. If the neighbor is home, I’ll definitely see if they have a 20ft ladder I can borrow for a couple hours.

My goal is to have the living room done and ready for spiffying up by the Woman. No guarantee on the basement entryway, which needs SERIOUS wall repair, but the living room and upstairs entryway… no problem. Depending on when her flight arrives in KC next Saturday, I might even have time then to get out and ride…

Saturday the 20th I spin my wheels for 100 miles for the first time. Last weekend was about 60, maybe 70 miles. This time I’ll tack on that last bit to top 100. It’ll be my first, and I’m pretty excited about it. Some spare tubes, a couple new shirts and new sunglasses and I think I’m set for it. Tonight I’m going to head out to Lawrence to ride the Southern Trafficway Trail. We push that one through Clinton State Park and nudge about 30 miles out of that ride, so it’ll be a good warm up for Saturday. Rest on Friday with some light stationary work in the morning, some spaghetti and a good night’s sleep and I’ll be ready to go!

You might remember I wrote about the countertops. All the countertops have *finally* arrived. Things are a little snug around the stove, but at least they fit.

The countertop on the sink side did fit, you may recall, and the sink clips were ordered. 3-5 days. Heh. That was the 3rd. Today is the 16th. Still no sink clips. Apparently, while I do appreciate how nice he was in ordering them in our stead, he ordered them to the wrong address. One number off. A simple ‘3′, instead of a ‘0′ and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not waiting anymore. I’m going to the Fed Ex delivery center and picking them the hell up my damn self.

I. Want. My. Damn. Sink.

Oh, and they’re still not finished with the cabinets, either. Every damn time they come out there’s something else they can’t do, so they have to reschedule. Unfortunately, I haven’t received a call about when that’s going to be finished.

Bit ‘o Background. I’m riding my first Century this coming Saturday, May 20th. It will be, by far, the longest stretch in the saddle at any one time. It starts at 7:30, and I hope to be done by 14:00/15:00ish. The ride is from Olathe, KS to Lone Star Lake, south of Lawrence, KS, and no matter how you cut it, it’ll be a character builder and revealer.

With that said, I had planned on riding a long(ish) ride on Saturday with a friend of mine. Preparation is key, and before I tackle 100 miles on the 20th, I needed to know about where I and my equipment stood. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out with my friend, and he had to bail. I debated for about 10 minutes on whether I should try it solo, and came up with "What the hell… I’ll have my phone in case things go too far south, and I do need the exposure".

So I did it. My longest ride yet. From Olathe, KS to Lawrence, KS. It’s not very impressive, I’m sure, to the more experienced cyclists out there, but for me, it marks a milestone. I started around 15:00 at the Oregon Trail Middle School, and wasn’t on the road for more than 15 minutes before I made my first wrong turn. This, of course, led to about 5 miles of gravel road which is *great* for racing tires and road bearings. Lovely. Once I got back on the highway, things went pretty smoothly. I covered lots of miles over rolling hills and long straight-aways through some really nice country. The only real negatives on the way out were the 20-30mph wind gusts which were, naturally, directly in my face, and the rock that flew under my contact about 5 miles out of Lawrence. The wind goes with the territory, the excruciating eyeball pain I can live without.

I arrived in Lawrence around 17:20 or so, hoping to find a friend of mine at home, but alas, she’d taken extra shifts at work to afford a plane ticket to see her brother. Instead I rested on her porch for a bit and rode up to a Walgreen’s where I refreshed my water, used the restroom, and joyously freed my eyeball of sediment. At 17:50, I’m back on the road.

The ride back was much more pleasant. I had the wind at my back, and the sun behind me. Two things of note… county road 1057 leads to 460 which, after two miles, turns into a long stretch of yet more gravel road. It’s much better to take 1055 to 458. No dirt there. Too bad I chose the former. Lots more gravel and a couple extra miles on the trip for me! The other thing of note is that my ass gave out a long time before my legs and lungs did. I knew it would. About midway through the ride back to Olathe, things really started getting uncomfortable. I’d been in the saddle for about 3 hours at that point, and my butt was telling me, in no uncertain terms, to stop and get the hell off. I took a few more breaks than I would have liked, but saddle sore and windblown, I made it back to the school by about 20:00. 5 hours total, with about 4 hours in the saddle. This was by far my most ambitious ride… and though I was exhausted and in some pain, I did it. Furthermore, I was able to look at my bike on Sunday and want to get back out on it.

I think I’m ready for Saturday.

Last night, a buddy of mine and I went on a group ride. It was his second and my first. As long as I’ve been riding, I’ve never participated in any organized events… at any level, or any type. This was a first for me, and to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed.

What it was:
An informal social ride.
Just shy of about an hour and a half.
A group ride.
A mid to light traffic urban ride.

What it wasn’t:
A high torque training ride.
A great way to meet people.

I was expecting a ride more geared towards training, be it in a group setting or on the road. It was generally understood to be a rather informal ride with no set agenda, other than to get out on some roads for an hour and a half or so. As far as informal social rides, I’m sure it was fine. There were all levels of skill and dedication, so in order to keep the group together, it had to be rather slow and leisurely. That’s fine, it’s just not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a workout.

I was, frankly, expecting more of an open welcome. That’s not to say anyone was outright unfriendly, but there wasn’t a great deal of social interaction before the ride, or after. I’m sure at least part of it was me, as lately I’ve been more of a loner than is typical. What wasn’t me was the somewhat aloof attitude on the part of some of the other riders. There were two fairly clearly delimited groups: the racing team, obvious from their jerseys, and the rest of us, in t-shirts and street shorts. The front and rear ride leaders were members of the team, and were quite social if you happened upon them. I don’t think I heard the others speak a single word the entire time.

I’m guessing that this social separation is a learned one. There’s probably so much turnover in the ride participants that the regulars don’t really bother getting to know the newcomers anymore. Though disappointed, I’m going to give this one another couple of chances. It was a nice and relaxing ride, and I do need the urban and group practice. A few more rides will test my theory about the social aspects of it. Maybe I’ll actually meet someone who can teach me something.

I’m really excited. I’ve been a fan of cRPGs since the Ultima days on my dad’s Apple //e. That interest was renewed with Baldur’s Gate (and it’s expansion Tales of the Sword Coast) (which actually pulled me away from the pool table for months). Icewind Dale (and Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster - which totally rocked!), Baldur’s Gate II (and Throne of Bhaal), Icewind Dale II, Neverwinter Nights (and Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark), Wizards and Warriors, Black and White, Vampire the Masquerade - Redemption… all absolutely great games in my opinion.

Loved them. Lots.

Baldur’s Gate II, in fact, was the main attraction of the first themed LAN party we had. It was at the house Mel and I were renting, and stands out as one of the better LAN parties we took part in. My favorites, of course, being the first few, and the surprise birthday party Mel through for me. That was teh rock.

When I first heard about Neverwinter Nights 2, I was only mildly excited. Interests wax and wane, as they are wont to do. I’d gotten back into pool, and have recently renewed my interest in cycling, and, truth be told, my hardware is out of date. I didn’t feel like spending cash money on something that would really only serve as a gaming platform. However, as pool wanes, cRPGs wax. The movies. It was the movies. That’s what did it. Those movies really convinced me that this is a game I could get in to.

More than that, in a few critical ways, NWN2 seems to combine the best of NWN and the 2nd generation Infinity games. I’ve read some comments that disparage that idea, but for me, it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting. I distinctly remember thinking that combining some of the best features of BGII and IWDII with NWN would make for a killer game. The biggest "flaw", for lack of a better word, was not having more control over the henchmen (called "companions" in NWN2) and their respective inventories. As is typical, the henchmen AI wasn’t stellar, and I’d find myself micromanaging encounters more often than not. In the Infinity games, this was something of an issue, but my experience was that it took a step backwards in NWN. Additionally, BGII added "strongholds" to the mix. A stronghold was a home base of sorts, though management of it was really nothing more than going there every now and again to solve problems when the main story problems got wearisome. I don’t know how strongholds will be implemented in NWN2, but I hope that they’ll involve more pleasurable and relaxing endeavors than simply offering different problems to solve.

All things considered, mating Infinity with Aurora to birth Electron is a Good Thing™, IMHO.

Given the peeks at the game to be released later this year, it looks like I wasn’t alone in those thoughts, and in spite of myself, I’m getting terribly excited. Excited enough to get my budget and monthly expenses in order to see if I can finally afford that desktop replacement laptop I’ve mentioned before. I’m looking at Dell’s XPS M1710

The countertop guy came back out again yesterday to remeasure. He was *extremely* cool. He helped me with the sink side, and explained that the cut was fine, it was the previous installer that screwed up. Go figure. There’s these little clips that we need to secure the sink to the countertop in addition to the silicon to seal it. He said he’d call me later last night and give me the number to order them. He did call, but only to tell me that he’d already ordered them for me, and they’d be at my door in 3-5 days. Woot! They’re free, btw. No cost to either of us.

The other side, being simply cut wrong, will be reordered and here in about the same amount of time, if not a little more.

So, Monday they’re coming out to finish the cabinet door installs with the right hinges. Anywhere from Tuesday through Friday we’ll have the sink installed and locked down and the counters installed. It’s been quite the experience, and though it’s not over yet, there’s a light at the end of this here tunnel!

While we didn’t get much else accomplished, we did get the kitchen floor laid. That wasn’t easy. A square (at least loosely) room is SO MUCH easier than a room wherein every row laid requires custom cuts… around cabinets, stoves, dishwashers, divider walls… oh the agony. I started cutting the tiles by hand, but that proved too time consuming and tiring. No carpenter by trade am I. So the Woman convinced me to accept, as a gift, a circular saw. I chose the Milwaukee 6390-21. It definitely made short work of those tiles… up until the blade got too dull and started over-heating, which then caused it to warp heavily within the casing of the saw, making straight cuts *extremely* difficult.

Those laminate tiles chew through blades like they were made of… something… harder than the blade. I guess I should have used a diamond tipped blade, eh?

I can’t wait to start using that Milwaukee on the deck planks. That’s a project I’m definitely looking forward to. As for the kitchen floor, I’m just glad that crap is done. I didn’t really enjoy putting it down. Nosiree. That sucked. We’ve been dealing with the lack of a decent working kitchen since mid-February, and we’re definitely reaching the end of our patience with it. I’m hoping that it’ll be real quick-like to get the countertops measured and delivered.

Just to have a sink again in the kitchen will be extraordinary!

We. Are. Ready. To. Be. Done.

Two very well written and beautiful posts from a good friend of mine, for your reading pleasure.

I don’t get it
Behold the Jewel in the Lotus