Dave’s Good Stuff

Eldon and Susan just got some very bad news. Drop a comment over there and share some much needed positive energy and love please…

All was not simply “flat” last night at pool. The Clarette Club has a really good shrimp basket, and I partook of it with joy and zest. Sharks, when it used to be Aces & 8’s, had the best shrimp basket I’ve been able to find. They removed it from the menu when they became Sharks. Fah. *spit* Clarette’s Shrimp Basket is a good, if not perfect, replacement.

Others might attempt to rate Fish & Chips around town. I’m much more a fan of the Shrimp Basket. I like all kinds of shrimp, but fried is my favorite, and the Clarette Club isn’t too bad. My only complaint would be that they skimped on the fries. They were good, there just weren’t enough of them.

Maybe I’ll work up a ratings system like he has. I do love my shrimp, and it’d be worth it.

For the first time in over 2 years, I’ve replaced my contacts. The difference in the prescription is very slight, but the difference in clarity is night and day! What was cloudy is now clear. What was fuzzy is now defined. It’s like going from cheap bar room cloth to Simonis. It’s like going from standard network feed to HighDef. It’s like going from a tiny little 15″ CRT to a 21″ LCD with <1ms response times.

I can’t wait to actually see the far end of the pool table tonight, rather than simply taking best guesses at the edges of the balls.

I’m definitely going to keep up on the Clear Care cleanings. Once I finally found this cleaning solution, it worked really well on my old contacts, but even as good as the old ones felt, they felt nothing like these new ones. I’m going to keep up on the H²O² cleaning as a matter of course, rather than a belated fix.

I drove to work yesterday. I have no guilt. Recovery days are a critical part of training, and I am officially In Training now. As of today, I have 3 months and one week remaining before the Triple Bypass, and it is time to kick it up a notch.

On Wednesday, I rode the new route I spoke of. It was pretty brutal. spoke of. It was pretty brutal. Noah suggested I take it up a notch and head to 67th before turning off Lackman. Tonight, I’m going to give it a shot. It will add a bit more distance, and a few more feet of climb. I’ll let you know how that works out for me. ;)

Yesterday, taking a recovery day was as much due to running errands as it was about recovery. I *finally* went to the optometrist to get my contacts replaced. Washing the contacts twice a day due to discomfort and haziness was just too much, and I caved. What really sent me over the edge to spend the cash (to be recovered via pre-tax Flex money) was that it was affecting my pool game. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on short shots, much less long shots. I hope to have the new ones by League next Tuesday.

Tonight, it’s going to be a quiet night at home with the GF, some wine, and Buffy.

Though I hate driving to work these days, I have to face the fact that riding to work yesterday wasn’t a good idea. I’m still too deep into being sick to stress the immune system the way I did. Had the weather been fine, I would have been also, but between the cold and the stiff headwinds I faced going both ways, I felt as bad last night as I did during the worst of last week. The morning headwind that turns around to give me an evening headwind was funny at one point. Now it’s just tiresome.

So today I drove, though I hate it. I’m hopelessly behind on my mileage goals for the month… being out of town for a week was one thing, but being sick for another entire week, with the aftermath this week is just too much. There is no way I’ll make any decent headway this last week of February. I may just rest up again this week and hit it hard this weekend (weather permitting, of course). I’m confident that once the weather improves, so will my riding frequency. Unfortunately, good health dictates I stay out of the cold and wind for now.

I know I’m not the only one who tires of winter around here. We’re all ready for some persistently decent weather.

By way of keeping track, I’m running a 101 fever today, just in time for heading out to Illinois by plane to help a colleague. I plan on sleeping the afternoon away until I get on the plane. It’s too late to cancel, or I would. I’m hoping that by the time the flight time comes, my fever will be under control, and that this is just a 24 hour or less deal.

Tonight I kick off the training. I’m going to really try to keep this schedule this time, and I think I have the cooperation and support to do so. Read the rest of this entry »

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I’m sick. It hit Thursday night, and really kicked into gear Friday. Now it’s Sunday and there’s been no improvement whatsoever. I’ve not looked down the gullet, but I suspect I’ll see the same thing I saw the last time I had strep. It feels the same, with the only strange thing being I don’t think I’ve run a fever. The throat hurts, the ears feel full and dim, and the energy level is low.

That pretty much means that the lake is out this weekend. Blah.

I never did hear back about the job on Friday. I’m going to call on Monday, but I don’t have a great feeling about it.

I ordered it, and then it arrived on Friday. I spent about two, maybe three hours assembling it that evening, and then had my first, albeit mild, workout yesterday with it.

Oh yeah. It’ll work. It’ll work well. I’ve put together a spreadsheet of all the exercises available, with their corresponding seat, pulley and handle positions so that I can work through my own workout with minimal adjustments. Next up, the Kreitler rollers trainer. If I arrange it all just right, they’ll both fit in the same room, though it will be rather tight. I still need to finish the room with a coat of paint, crown molding, some mirrors (b/c what gym doesn’t have mirrors?!), and some shelving for the extra equipment.

Assuming that tax season doesn’t hurt as bad as I fear it will, I’m thinking about turning the spare bedroom into a small home gym of sorts.

Populating said gym could be the following:

The Weider Max
The Kreitler Challenger Rollers with Forkstand, Flywheel and Killer Headwind attachments.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on those? I’ve been reading reviews all over the place online and haven’t seen anything to rule out these two. It terms of price for value, they seem like a pretty good deal, with all of the above coming in for less than $1,200.

I’d rather go with something like the Max vs. free weights for a variety of reasons including price, safety and space available.

I’d rather go with the Kreitler rollers vs. a fluid or mag trainer b/c it trains not only the endurance, but the balance as well, and from all accounts the headwind and flywheel attachments make for a very realistic road-like experience. I can expect some adjustment time as I get used to it, but once I’m there, I should be golden for a long time.

I’m leaning towards a home gym setup vs. continued gym membership for convenience, long term cost savings and the ability to train on my own bike vs. a stationary. I do like the gym I’m a member of. It’s no meat market, and the people are nice. However, it does have it’s crowded moments, and simply getting there in the morning has proven to be more than half the battle.