I’m very sad.

He was my most favorite puppy. His first mommy is very sad too.

Is it really that hard? Then again, maybe it is. We start learning how to speak around the age of 3, give or take. It’s been said that the average dog’s intelligence is on par with the average 2 year old. Cats are probably fairly similar. That means they missed the speaking boat by about a year, which sucks for them. Or rather… it sucks for us.

See, we’re having pet troubles now, which would be very easy to solve if they could just talk to us about it, instead of just laying around, or meowing all the time.

On the one hand, Elliott the Cat has kept Jami and I up every night this week. It’s not constant, mind you, but every couple of hours, he’ll wander through the room with something very important to say.

“Meow. Meow meow. Merrrrow. Meow meow meow thhrrrbt meow.”

Then he’ll jump on the bed and, because we clearly didn’t hear it, say it all over again right next to our head.

“What, Elliott?! What do you want?! Use your words! Or better yet, don’t! It’s 4:00 in the damn morning!”

“Meow.”

We tried closing the bedroom door last night, and it worked some. He woke me up at 2. Then he woke both of us up at 4, when Jami wanted to let him in. She didn’t hear him start and stop at 2, so thought it would go on longer than it would have, and I was too sleepy to form a coherent sentence stating as much. Once in the room, he rambled on, talking about this and that for what seemed like half an hour, climbing around on both Jami and I before finally settling down. He then woke us up again around 6, but that’s fine, because that’s when the alarm goes off anyway.

We’re going to try the closed door approach again tonight. Cross your fingers, please.

On the other hand is The Squanto. He’s in a pretty bad way right now. He had a worms last month, which we picked up on right away and immediately treated. I don’t know what happened since (or how he got them in the first place), but he’s not been the same since. He’s not had much of an appetite, and has been very lethargic. The blood work performed at the visit to the vet yesterday showed him to be extremely anemic. That explains the appetite and lethargy. Also, There was an odd lump on his back leg that, when poked for a cell sample, actually turned out to be full of blood. Blood completely absent of white blood cells, no less.

Poor little guy is just tired all the time, and has no energy whatsoever. I’ve been feeding him by hand, trying to get him to eat, and will probably go for some of the more expensive and meaty soft foods, if only to get him back going again. If only he’d use his words, we could get him what he wants, and he could tell us where it hurts.

The vet recommended an ultrasound to see what was going on in that leg of his, but I need more information and more thought put into it before I take him back down the rabbit hole of excessively expensive and taxing procedures. I’ll probably get a second opinion.

Until then, we’ll be watching him as closely as time allows (we do have to work, after all), and trying every trick I know to get him to eat…

Wish us luck with both the kitty and the puppy!

The full gallery with near daily progress images is here.

09:00: House Showing at the North House

We were up at 7 to give us time for some last minute cleaning for the 09:00 house showing. No feedback on the house showing. This is both relatively common and somewhat disappointing. It’s always good to get feedback, even if it’s just “This just isn’t the house for us…” Oh well… there will be more. There has to be.

11:30: Lunch with Friends at The Legends Cheeseburger in Paradise

Lunch was with friends of mine from St. Louis who couldn’t make it to the wedding. They’re a very nice couple, the female half of which I befriended in college, and have stayed in contact with over the years, albeit infrequent contact. They have two gorgeous children, a boy and a girl in elementary school. Jami could relate quite well to them, as well as the parents. It was a nice lunch, though it wasn’t long enough. The boy is young enough that sitting in a booth in a restaurant for 2 hours left him quite restless, and he was very excited to see the bee hive at the KU Museum of Natural History.

17:00: Wedding in Baldwin City at the same church we were married

The wedding in was very nice… then again I’m a little biased. It was very similar to ours, with only a few minor changes. That is to say, it was beautiful. I think it may have been even shorter, though. The only thing really lacking was all the fun music blasting the sanctuary as the crowd is dismissed by the Bride and Groom.

18:00: Reception at Abe & Jake’s in Lawrence

The reception at Abe & Jake’s Landing was fantastic. I didn’t realize they’re only open to private parties and events. Last I heard it was your standard bar. Of course, that was 6 years ago. Things have, apparently, changed. It was a great location, though, and almost everyone had a really great time. The food was great (same caterer that we had – same MENU, in fact), the drinks were flowing freely, and the dance floor was never without plenty of dancers. It was big and spread out enough that there were places for everyone, regardless of how they wanted to spend the evening. Again… similar to ours, with the only difference being that it was inside instead of out.

Afterwards, we hung around and helped clean up as things were winding down. It was the least we could do, since the bride’s family helped us so much at our wedding, both during set up and during clean up.

24:00: Back home at the North House

A 45 minute drive back into town, and we were back home and in our beds, looking forward to a relaxing Sunday, and the previously mentioned introduction of Elliott the Cat into the South Home…

First, Jami brought her kitty, Elliott over from our Southern Home to live with us in the Northern Home. He’d been staying down south since the wedding, and we felt it was time to integrate him. He’s 23lbs of Big Baby, and cried the entire drive, and when the terror of the drive was over, he wedged himself far up underneath a table and boxes in the basement. He did, eventually begin exploring with more confidence, and by this morning, he’d all but settled completely in. However, if his shenanigans of last night are any indication, he’ll be fantastic practice for when we have a baby, and a full night of sleep is but a fond memory.

He. Was. Restless.

It’s possible that my banging around didn’t help him settle in, and served to spook him something good. I can admit that. But I got on a bit of a roll, and didn’t want to stop.

The Squanto didn’t really have much to say about him. I’m sure they saw each other, but beyond a tolerant glance here and there, I don’t think they’re going to have much to do with each other. At 15, he’s up in his years, and just doesn’t have the energy to deal with the young-uns like he used to.

Back to What I Accomplished

• Finally mounted the hose rack, so the hose isn’t laying in the dirt next to the doghouse.
• Finally hung the wheelbarrow on the side of the house next to the hose rack, so it’s not sitting in the dirt and gathering rain next to the hose. It’s a pretty clever mounting system my bro-in-law gave to me before he was my bro-in-law. Just roll the wheelbarrow up to the house, lift up the back end, and snap into place.
• Finally hung the bike rack my bro-in-law gave to me before he was my bro-in-law. It’s in the garage and replaces a simple nail that supported the old Kona Fire Mountain frame, which in turn supported the tires and fenders. Now, it’s a much cleaner look.
• Spread anti-weed and anti-crab grass granules on the driveway, sidewalks, and lawn to try to combat the weeds and crab grass that threaten to take over.
• Spread grass seed in the back yard where the grass is having a hard time staying alive.
• Watered said grass seed.
• Pulled some weeds on the patio.
• Swept the patio of excess sticks and branches, and pushed some of the sand back between the bricks.
• Cleaned the “very dirty” baseboards to make for better house showings (it is up for sale, by the way).

Oh Noes!!

YES!! IT IS BACK!!!

Something will be done about this. I assure you.

And with that horrifying discovery, I think that about covers it for Sunday.

Saturday was a busier and interesting day, but I think I’ll save that for another post.

So… posting will resume here.

Thank you.

If I post in the future, it’ll be over at dvicci.wordpress.com, or dvicci.blogspot.com. I’m really not sure. Any suggestions? I really don’t expect the number of posts to increase any time soon, but who knows…

I may try to import posts and tags and whatnot. I may not. It’s hard to say!

Until then… this site will stay put until the static IP runs out.

And no, this is not a 4/1 joke.

Huh. Immediately suspicious, I decided to dig in and see what I could find out. My first step, having opened the movies to see what they were (nothing worth watching, and no… no pr0n), I sat down at the laptop and brought up netflix.com. I’m not a member… well… I’m not a knowing member, so I had no idea what my username would be, much less my password. Normally, you can have instructions sent to the e’mail address on file, but I was confident that in my case, my own e’mail address wouldn’t be on file. However, they have a method of logging in if you don’t remember, or have access to the e’mail address you signed up with. It asks for the first name, last name and card number used to sign up with. Using my real first and last name, I started going through my credit cards to see which one had fallen into the wrong hands. I didn’t have far to go… I got a hit on the first try.

I started digging into the account, and while the name and address were mine, the phone number and e’mail address were not. I called the number, on the off chance that I’d find the person responsible, but instead reached a nice couple who (if they can be trusted) don’t have a Netflix account either. We talked for a while, and they’ll be monitoring their credit closely. I then called the credit card company and had the card canceled and a new one reissued. Finally, I called Netflix themselves and appraised them of the situation. They canceled the account and forwarded it to their fraud department, telling me someone would contact me in the next 1 to 3 days. Some scissors to the card and I’m all done.

I can’t help but wonder what kind of completely incompetent idiot steals credit card information to purchase goods online, only to have the goods sent to the rightful owner of the card! The mind, it boggles. It really worked out for me, b/c the proof of fraud was hand delivered to my mailbox, so I’m not complaining… but it begs a few questions… How did they get the card information? When did they get it? Could it be a diversion? Were they drawing my attention away from the real fraud? Or were they truly, just that stupid? There were no charges to any of my cards that I can’t account for, so if they’d planned other acts of theft, they hadn’t gotten to them yet. Still, I’ll be watching very closely.

This morning, I returned the movies I’d been sent in their very handy self addressed no-postage-necessary envelopes. Though it wasn’t necessarily the ideal of first experiences, my experience with Netflix was actually very very good. I might even consider signing up for an account.

In a final bit of humor, I did some searches for quotes about incompetence for the title, and one of the sites had a pop up ad for… you guessed it… Netflix!

You might recall that all of last year, or most of it, I rode my bike whenever possible to and from work, and many other miles besides. Logistically, this hasn’t worked out since about mid October. Furthermore, I’ve avoided pretty much any riding outdoors on account of the cold. I proved I could do it last year, and I realized I didn’t enjoy doing it (having forgotten that I already realized it back in my college years when I didn’t own a car). So this year, I’ve spent nearly all of my riding on the rollers. While they do make for a fantastic work out (once you start pedaling, you don’t stop until you’re done – there is no coasting downhill, there are no stops at intersections… it’s all on or all off), they’re also fairly boring when compared to the glorious outdoors.

So, my bikes have been been rather neglected, rejected, and ignored. They made this known to me on this night. I don’t know if it was a dream or not. I don’t typically remember dreams with this (or any) level of clarity. This felt real.

I awoke from a deep sleep, and was immediately startled into complete wakefulness by the horrific sight of two angry bikes, leaning threateningly over my bed. Their frames contorted in barely contained outrage, their cables seething with frustration, their chains grinding with resentment, and their brake levers pulsing with indignation, they lorded over me like cobras. My heart racing, I tried to scramble to the opposite side of the bed, but was caught in the sheets unable to move. Their cables, once smooth and lubricated nicely within supple housings, flayed about like the many heads of a hydra, and with evil and deadly purpose wrapped themselves around me, cutting into my flesh, and pulling me towards them. I was helpless against their will.

“WE HAVE WATCHED AS YOU CLIMB INTO THAT MONSTROSITY IN THE GARAGE, IGNORING US, WE WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO NEW HEIGHTS OF GLORY AND FITNESS! WE SAY UNTO YOU NO MORE!!! WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU HONOR US WITH THE MILES WE DESERVE!!!”

With a final tightening of the cables around my arms and legs, they let me go, and walked… yay walked out of the room. All was silent.

I lay there, bathed in the cold sweat of terror for what seemed like hours, but was likely only a few minutes. You know how time stretches in the quiet of night. Anyway, I eventually fell back asleep (or dreamed I was falling back asleep – whatever), and awoke to the normal alarm. The sheets were rather ruffled about, and the area rug near my bed in complete disarray. The bikes, however, were as I’d left them the night before, or should I say, weeks ago…

Let it not be said that I heed not the warnings presented to me so clear! Saturday morning I took the Dew Drop out for nearly 30 miles over some of the better hills northwest Johnson County has to offer. The Drop was happy. I was happy. I expect to sleep well and undisturbed tonight.

Some very positive things happening personally. Since I decided long ago to keep such things off this blog, you’ll just have to wait to meet her. I will say this… she must be pretty special. I’ve not been to church in 20 years, and she’s gotten me there no less than 4 times since late December… and maybe 5. My attitude towards organized religion is perfectly summed up by the Mohandas Gandhi quote “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” That said, I have met quite a few very nice people through her and the friend that set us up together, all of whom go to their church. It’s an interesting change of pace for me… Besides Church, we’ve done quite a few things together, and have quite a few more on the plate for the next few months. I’m quite optimistic.

I’ve been very busy at work lately. In ’08 I was nearly desk bound the whole year working on this and that. In ’09 I will be much more involved in the daily lives of my fellow employees… not sure how well they’ll like that. I am the local representative for Information Security, after all. It’s like the police without the uniform, firearms, or authority. I can’t arrest anyone. I can’t have anyone fired. What I can do is make them feel really bad about what they’ve done. Sometimes, I get baked goods as apologies. I can live with that.

I’ve been playing a lot of pool lately. Monday night, Wednesday night and Thursday nights all see me at various pool halls in leagues the likes of which I’ve never seen. Wednesday is pretty standard in terms of competition, but Monday and Thursday… let’s just say that if I make one mistake, miss one ball, or dry break, I’m done for the game. The competition is fierce. I like it that way. It makes me really focus, though there are nights when it does get tiring.

Cycling has seen a dramatic decline so far this year… without my daily commuting (logistically impossible at this point, unfortunately – at least not without spending a lot of money on another form of motorized transportation to keep either at work or at home so I’m not bike-bound all day), and with the cold, I’m pretty much limited to roller training. While I did keep up with it for a while, I’ve since fallen into a rather “fat and happy” mindset, and haven’t felt the motivation to roll. The weather is looking to warm up soon, though, and I reckon I’ll get my expanding carcass out on that saddle for some long rides here real soon like. I have to, b/c word is that my brother, as well as our hosts in Colorado are training hard for the Triple Bypass… July 11th is fast approaching! I may not be as fast as I was last year, but I’ve no doubt whatsoever that I’ll make it over them there hills just fine and dandy.

That’s enough for now. Later.

I’ve thought about taking her out on the trails, but I’m still a little leary of those for some reason…

I’d take advantage of the best weather of the day for a ride, but that’s reserved for walking the Plaza with a Very Special Person (henceforth to be known as VSP). I’ll brave the cooler morning temperatures to make room for that.

Still, I miss my new bike. It’s hanging on the wall in the little bike alcove I made last year, and hasn’t seen any action in weeks. I console it every day as I pass by, knowing that at my approach, it’s gears start to vibrate and it’s chain starts to glisten, but I continue on my way, and it’s left hanging. Poor thing. I’m a bad bikefriend.

But it’s just too cold out for me. I proved I could do it last year, and realized that it just wasn’t any fun at all. Furthermore, I don’t have any way to have a car both at work and at home when I commute by bike these days. I could feasibly stop with the wussing, and deal with the cold, but the logistics of needing a car here and there, and only having the one for both places are, at least for the moment, prohibitively difficult to overcome.

When it warms up, I may find a way to commute a couple two or three times a week into work, but I think, at least until I find myself with either two cars, or a roommate with a car I have evening access to, cycling to work full time is so very 2008. The latter may happen this summer. That would be cool.

At least, when it warms up, I’ll be able to take her out for evening and weekend spins. I know she’d enjoy it, and I know I would too. She really is quite pretty, and deserves the attention. She may not be able to see it now, but she’ll get it. Of that I have no doubt whatsoever.

^* Some notes on the roller activities on motionbased.com… The mileage, while accurate in terms of GPS data, doesn’t reflect the equivalent miles, given the amount of time, and speed while on the saddle. The moving time, similarly, doesn’t appear to be accurate at all, leaving the total time as a better guage of actual saddle time. Elevation schmelevation. The Edge 705 is fantastic for outdoor riding statistics… not so hot for indoor stats.

A judge found Marvin Oberly guilty last week of driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway and passing a vehicle on the wrong side. Douglas Kenney died of [the tragic and needless] injuries he suffered in the accident on Nov. 9, 2007 [due to Oberly’s utterly irresponsible and reckless actions].

Oberly is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30. He faces [a paltry] 30 days in jail for each of the counts and up to a year suspension [rather than the far more just complete and permanent revocation] of his drivers license. [It is left as an exercise for the reader to rationalize how 60 days in jail and a year's suspension balances out the irresponsibility and recklessness that resulted in Kenney's death.]

Prosecutors argued that Oberly drove up behind Kenney in his pickup and collided with the bicycle Kenney, who was riding his bicycle in a manner consistent with safety and law.

Oberly testified provided the lame and weak excuse during his trial that glare from the sun prevented him from seeing Kenney[, which would have been inconsequential had be been driving on the correct side of the road and not passed another vehicle on the shoulder].

Original here.

The secret? Motivation.

For me, I use two primary forms of motivation, also known as "distractions."

The first is television. Like The Fat Cyclist, I will typically throw in a couple episodes of my favorite-show-of-the-month and ride while the plot thickens and the bike goes nowhere.

The second is music. Today, this is the motivation/distraction method I used, and at least today, it worked better for me. First, I chose exciting tunes out of my music library with tempos between 85 and 105bpm (determined using MixMeister BPM Analyzer), and set them up on a Nano playlist so that they started off slowish at 85bpm, slowly sped up to 105bpm, and then relaxed back down to an easy 85bpm. Setting them up this way allowed me to easily maintain my own rpm, as it is my natural tendency to spin at a tempo that matches whatever song I’m listening to.

One might use headphones in order to transfer the music from the mp3 player to the ears if one wishes. I prefer portable iPod compatible speakers, myself.

Regardless, being able to just zone off to good music and let my mind wander back on a fantastic weekend was just what the doctor ordered today.

I took The Squanto to the vet yesterday, and found out that he’s 20lbs. On a 16lbs dog frame, that’s a lot of extra weight. It’ll dramatically increase his chances of having all manner of internal organ problems, including his heart and lungs, increase his risk of cancer, and very likely give him premature joint issues, such as arthritis, and could be the cause of his coughing as the extra weight compresses his trachea.

I’d like to keep him around for a while, and given Schipperke’s lifetimes, that could be another 8 years or so. That means he has to lose that weight

I’ve been aware of this for some time, and to maintain his weight at the healthy 15-17lbs, I’ve had him on a pretty strict diet of 1/2 cup dry dog food, given to him twice daily. In spite of that, he’s still been gaining. There is only one possible reason: The neighbors. I knew the neighbors fed him treats every now and again, but didn’t think it was more than that. Last night I found a full package, with plastic packing included, of those orange crackers with peanut butter. The plastic package. Can we say “choking hazard”?! Also, I recall the ex GF saying she found a partially eaten hoagie sandwich on the ground next to the fence sometime last summer.

So I called the female half of the neighbors last night. We’ll call her Barb, b/c she’s a spitting image of Barbara Bush. That’s not her name, but it fits. I was very friendly, but firm. I told her the vet scolded me for Squanto’s weight, and asked her to do me and him a favor and stop feeding him treats. She responded to that simple, logical, and completely reasonable request by asking what she’s supposed to do when he sits at the fence barking all the time. I allowed as to how if she stopped feeding him, he’d eventually stop barking. She didn’t believe that was true, and went on to (get this!) claim that he’d starve to death if she didn’t feed him crackers over the fence! WHAT?! I told her I feed him twice a day, to which she responded that she didn’t care what I said, that there’s no way I fed him, and it’s obvious that I don’t love my dog. “Ok Barb, this conversation is over. Goodbye.” “Yeah. Ok. Goodbye.” she said at the same time, and we hung up.

Seriously. He’ll starve if she doesn’t feed him unhealthy people food, some of it with the wrapper still present?! I have never been accused of neglect before. I was caught between being amused, dumbfounded, and furious.

Now I’m concerned that she’ll call Animal Control on me b/c she’s convinced I’m neglecting him. Because of that concern, I’ve been advised to call A.C. first and ask if they have any advice, or if I have any recourse aside from just talking with them and watching very carefully every time I let The Squanto out. At least, that way, if she does call, it’ll be on record that I called first.

If she’s allowed to accuse me of negligence b/c she believes that I’m not feeding him, and that his barking constitutes real hunger, rather than him simply learning that if he barks at the fence, he gets a treat, then I think I’m allowed to accuse her of abuse by feeding him unhealthy foods, sometimes with choking hazard wrappers still present, due to the health problems down the line it can cause.

At this point, my plan is to talk to her husband, and explain my concerns regarding the unhealthy food she’s feeding him (to say nothing of the wrappers she’s leaving behind). Depending on how that goes, I’ll either ask him to help keep his wife away from my dog, or advise him that I’m calling Animal Control for their input. I hate to have to go that route, but if there’s no reasoning with them, I will. If I have to choose between being their friend, and ensuring that The Squanto lives for many more healthy years, it’s no choice at all.

Any ideas, anyone?

Reporting Unruly Football Fans via Text Message

Fans still are urged to complain to an usher or call a security hotline in the stadium to report unruly behavior. But text-messaging lines — typically advertised on stadium scoreboards and on signs where fans gather — are aimed at allowing tipsters to surreptitiously alert security personnel via cellphone without getting involved with rowdies or missing part of a game.

As of this week, 29 of the NFL’s 32 teams had installed a text-message line or telephone hotline. Three clubs have neither: the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans. Ahlerich says he will “strongly urge” all clubs to have text lines in place for the 2009 season. A text line will be available at the Super Bowl for the first time when this season’s championship game is played at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1.

“If there’s someone around you that’s just really ruining your day, now you don’t have to sit there in silence,” says Jeffrey Miller, the NFL’s director of strategic security. “You can do this. It’s very easy. It’s quick. And you get an immediate response.”

• Granted: It can be difficult to impossible to reason with unruly, and sometimes drunk sports fans.
• Granted: It can be dangerous to try to reason with unruly, and sometimes drunk sports fans.
• Granted: Security personnel have the power and authority to protect us from both each other and ourselves. Ideally. They’re only human, and have lapses in judgment just as the rest of us do.

All the same, this use of technology seems to be an excuse to not even try to handle things ourselves. It grants permission to tuck tail and hide behind mommy and daddy’s legs while they handle our problems for us. It makes it too easy to defer responsibility for our own feelings and actions, and hand it over to someone else, rather than buck up and stand up for ourselves… or at least try to.

Shouldn’t calling security be a last resort? This seems to make it too easy.

I welcome any and all views on this. In fact, I eagerly await them.

The competition is very tough, and is guaranteed, if I pay even a smidgen of attention, to improve my game. I’ve been trying for a couple years now to get in on the Thursday league, and when I was asked to join up while on the way out Shark’s door Wednesday night, I just couldn’t pass it up, even with the already hefty time commitment. I’m “just” an alternate, which means I won’t play every week, but I’m treating that as a foot in the door, and who knows, maybe I’ll play more regularly than I imagine.

Between fighting for every point Monday night at Shooters and then Thursday night at Clarette, I should gain at least one or two balls on my average by the end of Spring!

I hope so, b/c lately, it’s been really tough to take the game seriously. It’s clear to me that I’ve lost some of that “student of the game” attitude I used to take so much pride in a few years ago. In fact, looking back, I don’t really think I’ve had that hunger for pool knowledge and expertise since I moved out here to KC from Lawrence. One of the guys on the Clarette team may be able to inspire that in me again… none of us had a good night last night, but the sideline conversation about the ins and outs of the game, both the physics and the mentality, was fantastic.

In talking with him I realized that I’ve been too complacent in what I know, and actually (horror of horrors) resistant to new ideas, methods, and knowledge. I’ve just not cared to learn anything new, or perfect/correct what I already know. That. Has. To. Change.

And there’s nothing like being on a team of better players, playing against some of the best in town, to force me out of a rut and make that change.

So, my goal for this year is 5,640 miles.

This year, I’m simplifying a bit. Both life at work and life at home have changed, and I’m in a position where I have need of my car during the day while at work, and during the evenings while at home. That makes it difficult some days to ride in. I’m the first to admit that the frigid temperatures have something to do with it. As I said, I just don’t care for riding in the cold. Moreover, I’m still fighting a very persistent and frustrating low grade sinus infection, which I don’t want to exacerbate through exposure.

However, I’m going to maintain my goal of increased fitness. That has always been my primary goal, and was why I started commuting by bike to begin with. So.. this morning was the beginning of something a little different. Since I won’t be/can’t be riding my bike to work every day, on those days I don’t ride on the streets, I’ll roll.

You may recall I recently conquered the unassisted mounting on the rollers. I’ve rolled a few times since then, but not regularly. This morning was the first morning that I put into action my plan to roll when I don’t ride. Every day I will either roll, or I will ride. Also, for the record, I will be keeping stats, and won’t distinguish between roller training and road/trail training. I believe the miles are relatively accurate when I’m rolling, but who cares. It’s more about time and effort, speed and heart rate, than actual distance. Still… I’ll keep track.

Moreover, at least three days a week I will do some strength training in my home gym. I did such a thing this morning, for instance.

This afternoon, since I won’t be riding my bike home, I will roll again.

Every day. It’s either ride, or roll. Roll or ride. One, or the other.

Those mountain passes are looming, and my brother is training hard. I have to keep up.

Of course, I also have to rid myself of this… how did I put it… very persistent and frustrating low grade sinus infection. I’m officially tired of it. I’ll go back into the doc this morning and see what they can do. Again.

I waited until the 2nd this time, which could easily have proved my undoing, apparently. It’s a good thing both myself and my brother made it through in time. We’re both in for July 11th, as are two other, as of yet to be named riders who were inspired by our participation last year. It’s going to be another great ride!!