Tag Archives: Friends

New Homes are Heavy

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The wife and I have been very busy lately. It’s not yet over, but this past weekend was perhaps the busiest, not to mention heaviest, part of the process. That process is moving.

The whole thing started last spring, when we put our two houses on the market. This past spring, a year later almost to the day, her house finally sold and we had the wherewithal to purchase a new house. We packed her house into two POD units and moved them into storage until we had a place to put them. At the same time, we took mine off the market because it hadn’t sold yet, and we didn’t want to take the chance of it selling and us having no place to go. Turns out it wasn’t a concern, because we found the house we wanted to buy within days.

We made an offer, they countered, we met in the middle, and two long months later, we took possession. When that day finally arrived, we couldn’t move in immediately because we had too many other family obligations (Jami’s sister graduated with her doctorate! We couldn’t miss that graduation day…). So, exactly one week after we took possession, I had the two full-to-the-roof POD units filled with more boxes and heavy furniture than any one person has any business owning, delivered for unloading at the new house. With the help of some very friendly neighbors, we started unloading them that night. We continued unloading the next night, and did so until we dropped. We spent our first night in our new home that night. Fortunately, the bed was easily accessible in the POD unit, so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor. By the time we were done, though, it wouldn’t have mattered where we slept… we were too tired to care. Finally, on Saturday, some friends came over to help unload the rest.

By Saturday night, we were absolutely beat. Unfortunately, our work was not yet done. We spent Sunday at the old house, packing up, mowing the yard, and cleaning. Then we devoted that evening at the new home unpacking, straightening up and getting all the computers back online.

Being Memorial Day weekend, we had an extra day which was spent back at the old house for more packing (about 500lbs worth of books – plus lots of this and that) and lots of cleaning. Monday night was given to more unpacking, more cleaning, and more organizing. We did give ourselves a bit of a break for a glass of wine on the front porch before getting back to it.

At the end of the weekend, between the two of us and some very helpful friends and neighbors, we have a pretty good start on a new home.

But our work is not yet done. The POD units were still in the driveway as of Wednesday, to be picked up on Thursday and Friday. Saturday we’ll get a truck to move the rest of the heavy stuff out of my house. Until then, we’ll spend a lot of time at the old house getting as much packed and moved as possible so that the friends who are helping on Saturday only have to help us with the heavy items we can’t move by ourselves. From there, it’s a matter of final cleaning and finishing up a few little details here and thereto get it in tip-top shape to put back on the market. We’re hoping to sell it within the next 2 and a half months. We’ll see…

Pool Table and Rec Room Furniture Moved

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We’re not completely beat, but we’re certainly tired.  Moving our rec room furniture out of one friend’s basement, and into two others will do that I suppose.

I hired out the pool table itself, preferring to have someone experienced in dismantling pool tables do that job.  It was taken to one friend’s basement, along with two barstools and the light this morning.

This afternoon, I, my wife, and the couple from whom we bought the whole set, moved the rest of it into the garage in our Southern Home.  That includes the captain’s chair, the player chair, four rolling chairs, a high top table, and a flip-top poker/game table, and a 60″ standing bar.  Thankfully, we had a family truck to use, which meant we had to make a couple trips, and put stuff in cars as well, and make two trips to boot, but we didn’t have to pay anything for it.

One step closer to having a usable pool table!

Christmas 2010 Recap

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2010XMasOurFirstOrnamentButtermilk Pancakes!Christmas break this year was a lot of fun. The week before Christmas was spent mostly in Wichita with my brother back in town from the Northwest. Both Mom and Dad were overjoyed to have the whole family together again for the holidays, even if it wasn’t on Christmas Day Proper. It’s not the date that matters, but the time spent, no matter the date. There was lots of eating, lots of relaxing down time, some pool, some shopping, and generally enjoying family time.

Christmas Day Proper was spent, just my wife and I. We carried on what is becoming a wonderful tradition of opening one present per hour. We did that first on Valentine’s Day, and she had the fantastic idea of applying it to Christmas too. So, with homemade IHOP style pancakes and mimosas, we opened our gifts to each other, watched Milo & Otis, and I introduced her to Firefly. She’s not totally hooked yet, but I can see the roots sprouting. ;)

Buttermilk Snowman Pancake!The day after Christmas was spent at her parent’s house. Her younger sister and bro-in-law were there with her parents, and her older sister joined us via Skype for the opening of yet more presents. I wasn’t sure how that would go, having only been a Skype user since the night before, the the extent of my usage being with my wife in the other room, but it was really quite cool. We just turned the laptop (and thus the built in webcam) around to face whoever was opening presents at the time, and it was almost like she was right there in the room with us. I have some pictures of her on Skype, but they’re not terribly flattering.

At the end of it all, my wife and I got quite a few presents, some fantastic, some more funny than anything, and others merely… curious. But, instead of going through the Christmas swag we snuck away with, I think I’d rather talk about what my wife and I gave to others (and what I gave to my wife). This is pretty much a complete list (as far as I can remember), but there are a few things that I couldn’t find, so I’m keeping them in the queue for next year.

  • $30 Gift certificate to Sears
  • DVD’s of Milo & Otis, The Aristocats, Cinderella, Lady & the Tramp
  • DVD’s of Firefly Season, Serentiy
  • Bathtub waterproof foam pillow (non-inflatable)
  • Bathtub adjustable shelf with bamboo book rest & wine glass stand
  • Silver mini Christmas Tree
  • Flannel Shirts
  • Presso Hand-Pressed Espresso Maker
  • $100 Gift certificate to Par Exsalonce
  • Candy bars and lemon drops
  • Schlemmertopf German clay glazed roaster
  • Gingersnaps
  • Jellies
  • Postit Notes
  • Bath salts
  • Topsies Carmel Corn
  • Dominoes Mexican Train Set
  • Grizzly G1286 3 x 3 Large Sanding Drum
  • Jacobs Chuck 30602 1/2-Inch Keyed Chuck
  • Lodge Striped Hot Handle Holders/Mitts, Set of 2
  • Peltor NEXT Skull Screws Foam Earplugs Corded – Single Pair
  • Samsung SH-S222A/BEBE Internal Half Height Supermulti PATA 22X DVD-Writable Drive
  • Tiny little cast iron scent skillet & scent cubes

Elliot Misses Squanto, doesn't care about ornaments.Elliot the Cat doesn’t care about presents. He misses The Squanto, and wants his nap. We have to disagree about the presents, but we miss The Squanto, and like our naps too. At the end of it all, I have to say I like married Christmas. :)

At the end of the Fourth Decade

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I had a great birthday yesterday. It was my second-to-last birthday of my fourth decade, and it was a perfect, quiet, laid back and relaxed birthday. My wife set me up with blacksmithing classes (something I’ve always wanted to do, but just never did for some reason), and a Halloween based Jenga set called “Stack the Bones“. Love them both, but not nearly as much as I love her.

I had more “Happy Birthday’s” messages, cards and calls than I expected, and it was both pleasantly surprising and humbling. Thank you all!

Today is Veteran’s Day, which means I have the day off. One nice thing about working in the financial sector is that I always have the day off after my birthday, no matter what. I’m honoring the sacrifices and efforts of our veterans by exercising my freedom to sit on the couch and catch up on DVR’d stories.

Also, I’m doing laundry.

Octoginta 2010

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I finished the Octoginta 2010 this past Sunday. I hadn’t ridden more than ~40 miles at one time, and only four rides over 30 miles since the ’09 Triple Bypass – over a year ago. Look for yourself. What I’m trying to say is I’ve been a right slacker when it comes to cycling. So it was with some trepidation that I attempted the 80+ mile Octoginta.

I needn’t have worried. My flat-inducing friend (who didn’t induce a flat) and I did just fine.

Here are my thoughts on the ride, in order of least favorite to most. I find it’s always a good idea to start with the bad news and end on a good note, so here ’tis.

The Ugly

Some of the worst group ride cyclist behavior in traffic I can remember witnessing. I hate to foster stereotypes, but the vast majority of cycling miscreancy was committed by our friends in full racing kit. Last week, Eric over at KCBike.info, himself via Ride Lawrence, let us in on the fact that a new Lawrence Bike Rideability Map [PDF] was released. I wish the scofflaws on the ride Sunday would have taken to heart the advice on the 2nd page of that flyer… primarily the “ride predictably” and “don’t pass cars on the right” bits. I don’t blame the folk what put together the Octoginta for this, though. It’s not their fault. However, I would have liked to hear something about playing nice with each other and cars at the starting line. Not that it would have mattered, but still…

The Bad

Gravel/chip roads. Can’t say I love them. There was only one, and it only stretched a couple of miles, but with a perfectly serviceable paved road with very wide shoulders as an alternate route, I’m having a hard time fathoming the choice. Maybe it was the 21% grade hill on that little jaunt that brought out the gleeful sadist in the route planners. Or maybe it was the steep downhill right afterwards that couldn’t be enjoyed because it culminated in a sharp gravel turn, forcing us to ride our brakes the whole time. Either way, I’m pretty sure The Devil had something to do with it.

No end of ride dinner. The last time I rode an Octoginta in 2007 (wow… was it really that long ago?!), there was a fantastic minestrone soup at the end. They seem to have ditched that in favor of soup at lunch. I’m not complaining, mind you. The sammiches and soup really hit the spot at 52 miles in, but the utter lack of a finish line was rather anti-climatic.

The Good

Group Riding. It wouldn’t be fair to mention the horrible behavior of some cyclists without mentioning the very friendly and communal behavior of others. For the first 30 miles or so of the ride, and before it spread out too thin, my friend and I found ourselves (mostly through his efforts) part of one decent sized two column peleton or another. It’s amazing how much difference that makes in terms of effort and energy expenditure. It’s significantly reduced. Riding 30 solo miles takes a lot more energy than riding 30 group miles, when that group knows what it’s doing. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy being part of something like that.

Energy level. Though I wouldn’t rate my fitness, and resultant post-ride energy at the same level as the ’07 Octoginta, I was better than I expected. Especially having run a 5K Saturday morning. My legs were really feeling that run, but once I hit the pedals on Sunday, I forgot about the pain, and enjoyed the ride. Around mile 30, I was starting to feel the effort, but the well-placed SAG stops and our judicious use of them allowed for a strong second wind at mile 52 after lunch, and continuing through the rest of the ride. The group riding definitely helped with that.

Well placed SAG stops. As with the ’07 ride, the SAGs were well placed. More space between them along stretches requiring less effort, and less space along stretches with leg busting hills or nasty surfaces. No evidence of sadism here.

Breakfast. The breakfast of eggs, french toast, and plenty of fluids may not have been quite as noteworthy as ’07 (if there was coffee and OJ, I missed it), but it was still pretty fantastic. I wasn’t hungry, having stuffed my face with pasta that morning, which may have colored my perception, but it was still pretty nice.

Lunch. The lunch stop with ham or turkey sammiches, bananas, their signature soup, and water was spot on target at 52 miles in, at the Vinland Airport.

Route choice included some familiar roads, as well as some new ones. This year, they took us northwest initially, then back around south of Lawrence to Clinton Lake Dam, and then up north before pulling us back into downtown. I know many of the roads we were on, but there were a few that I hadn’t tried yet. When next I pull my Shawnee to Lawrence and Back rides, I’ll have more choices, and I’ll use them.

Surprise visit by my wife! Though there was no dinner after the ride, and though there was no official finish line with screaming friends and family welcoming you in after a long day of riding (the Triple Bypass certainly spoiled me there), my gorgeous wife surprised me by being there in the parking lot waiting for me. I wasn’t expecting her at all, and she was a beautiful site to behold after pushing myself hard those last 10 miles.

All the photos and more, with captions, are available here.

Another go at the Octoginta

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I’m giving the Octoginta another go on Sunday. It’ll be an 80 mile challenge.

Here’s why:

I’ve not ridden more than 40 miles in a single ride since the Triple Bypass last July. Pssst. Here’s a little secret about that ride… Even though that ride is 120 miles, it’s really only 60, because for the other 60, all you do is hold on for dear life while you, screaming like a school girl, pass cars at 45-50mph going downhill.

I’m about 15lbs fatter than I was then. Not merely heavier. No. It’s all fat. No muscle here. I have, for better or worse, reclaimed a liking for chicken patties and frozen pizza. Also, I’m married now, which apparently necessarily means I’m fat and happy. It’s amazing how suddenly the former arrived after the latter.

As I wasn’t very strong then, I can’t be very strong now. That means I’m pretty weak. Please see my previous post, 100 Whatnots, for details. As of this writing, I’m halfway through Week One.

I’ll take my camera with me on Sunday to document my suffering. Did I mention early registration starts at 7, and that it’s 45 minutes away?

Feel free to laugh at me in the comments. You will be judged on your originality, cleverness and sophistication.

Fun Saturday Ride

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I meant to publish this earlier, but got pretty busy, and didn’t get around to it. Better late than never, I sometimes say.

On Saturday, my flat-inducing buddy and I rode out from his driveway on a 40 miler from Liberty, to Excelsior Springs, back through Kearney, and then on back to Liberty. It was a fantastic, scenic, mildly hilly, and altogether peaceful ride.

Some highlights include the fact that no one yelled at us (nope, not once), neither of us had any mechanical difficulties (perhaps Jon’s Flat Tire Curse has abated?), and the scenery was gorgeous.

In Excelsior Springs, we stopped at a Subway for a refueling at the 20 mile mark. Neither of us were really tired, but we were both getting a bit peckish. The real, if all to brief highlight was there. While we were eating, we noted a rather stout teenager sporting a purple close cropped pointed mohawk come in with his Mom. As we were gathering our gear to leave, he asked us how far we’d gone. A short conversation ensued through which he was very clearly and boldly impressed by what we’d done so far.

Encouraged by his lack of derision and open admiration, we chatted with him for a while, and assured him that 20 miles isn’t that hard if you build up to it. Start with a mile. Then 2. Then 5. Then 10. Slowly, but quicker than you realize, you’re pulling 20 miles, then 40, then metric centuries, and finally centuries. With any luck at all, his admiration will turn into inspiration and he’ll find his way onto a saddle with a water bottle in hand and a granola bar, rather than on the lounge chair with a XBox controller in hand and a bag of Doritos.

Not that those are bad things, mind you; I do love me some gaming and salty preservative chiplets, but there’s gotta be a balance.

We left him, and wished him luck and good fortune, and were back out on the road for another 20 miles.

All in all, a fantastic ride.

Bikes at the Garage Door. The weather was a fantastic 72°F and we were ready to go. Well… I was, you can see all his gear next to the garage door anxiously awaiting him.

My Bike Computer. HR is a little high for just standing around. Though the driveway was a little steep, so I had to work to keep my balance.

Jon’s Bike Computer. The two bike computer pictures were taken seconds apart. There must be some sort of End World-esque time distortion going on to have them show such disperate times. I’m sure that’s it… it’s the simplest explanation.

Jon in front of a Great View. This photo really doesn’t do it justice. It really was beautiful.

Just around the corner from the aforementioned Great View. This one is a better representation, but still doesn’t do it justice. Though you can’t see it, waaaaay off in the distance is Kearney.

Off the Route. We took a detour past Excelsior Springs to enjoy a fantastic twisty turny windey downhill run through a tunnel of trees. It really was awesome. It resulted in having to recalculate our route, and then immediately making a several hundred foot climb over the course of several hundred yards. It was definitely worth it, though.

Jon in the Distance. You can’t see him, but he’s back there.

A Little History.

A Nice Home Nestled in the Trees.

End of the ride stats.

Hills Not So Bad. Also, I Have to Get on the Sidewalk Now

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Before going to see Resident Evil, my flat-inducing buddy and I went out for a quick ride last night. I excised a substantial chunk from our previous route in the hopes of saving some time, but underestimated the mileage. I figured it would be ~17 miles, but ended up being over 27. Well. There you have it. Don’t hire me to guess the mileage of meandering routes. I’m apparently not very good at it.

What I’m getting better at (again) is hills. While my average pace last night wasn’t much to speak of in terms of improvement, my energy level throughout the ride, and afterwards, was. I’d ridden all the same hills, at a comparable rate, and had more than enough energy for a quarter mile all-out sprint at the end of the ride to my house. If we didn’t have to rush to make the movie (due to my aforementioned apparent inability to gauge distances), I would have stayed out, though the darkness threatened to envelope us in it’s sweet, but not terribly sticky, embrace. Alas, time was short, and it was time to call it a ride.

Oh, and no flats!

I’m still very obviously lacking the leg strength to maintain a decent pace up the 12-15% grades on this route, but if energy levels are any judge, then improvement is already showing.

I was inspired to push harder by two incidents last night. I will tell you about them now. Here they are, then.

The first, more inspiring and less humorous, occurred on the 2nd of the two sisters on Johnson drive (I’ve mentioned them before, they’re between Mid America Sports Complex and Renner Drive). As I was nearing the middle of the 2nd sister heading east, I saw the lengthened shadow of someone behind me, as cast by the setting sun, and soon thereafter heard a remarkably polite and casual “On your left.” The rider passed me easily, and we exchanged pleasantries.

As he sped off, up the steep incline, in the same manner that I would speed off down and equally steep decline, I noted that his speed was obviously aided by the thick bands of rippling muscle in his calves. “Eee Gads, I thought. Look at those ripping muscles in his calves!” Now, lest you think that sounds rather… uh… gay, allow me to remind you that I am an artist at heart, if not in practice, and appreciate beauty in many forms, male and female. It was pretty hot, though. Not as hot as my wife, mind you, but hot in it’s own way, nonetheless. So… *ahem* how ’bout them Bears? Wanna beer?

Suffice to say, his clear lack of struggle and the ease with which he made that climb was inspiring.

The second incident was inspiring not for it’s athleticism, but because it was hysterical. I was somewhere on Midland Drive between I-435 and Shawnee Mission Pkwy when I was passed by a small, rusting, late-model white sedan of some sort. I have no idea who was driving it, but the passenger, an upstanding young man of about 16-17 years of age leaned out the window and yelled “Get on the f*cking sidwalk, a**hole!” I immediately started laughing. Loudly. I couldn’t help it! Perhaps not the smartest thing do to if one wants to avoid confrontation, but I couldn’t help it! It just struck me as incredibly funny. And laugh is what one does when struck by Teh Funny.

Then, to throw fuel to my little fire, he flipped me off! A true sign of intelligence and even wisdom, it was. That, my friends, really set me off. I nearly had to pull over to the side of the road. To add yet another bit of funny to the incident: there is no sidewalk anywhere near that stretch of road. Nowhere. Now, I’m sure the kind young sir meant a sidewalk on another road, somewhere very far away from where the car, which he wasn’t even driving, was located, but still, at the time, the irony struck me, and out popped loud laughter.

I started to worry that maybe my laughing at him, for truth be told, I was laughing AT HIM, would inspire some sort of retribution, and that I would come to find him waiting for me up ahead somewhere. That sobered me a little, but not much, and he clearly had more important things to do than hassle some defenseless cyclist, as I saw him none the more.

To be young and enlightened.

All in all, a fantastic and inspiring, if shorter, ride.

As for the movie. Meh.

Wedding Photos are Online!

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Our wedding photos are available online! Our photographer, Jessica of JDC Photography, has put them up for us at Collages.net. Just log in with your e’mail address (or an e’mail address) and your first name (or a first name) to view them.

The photos are available in 6 galleries, listed off to the left once you log in, and there are plenty of photos to choose from, so take your time, and enjoy!

Don’t take too much time if you want any, because the galleries all expire on October 10th, 2010. After that, they’ll be viewable in lower resolution on my own gallery. If you want print quality versions after October 10th, you’ll have to actually contact myself or Jami directly, and we know how much of a chore that is. It’s positively chorish, even. We get that. It’s ok. We understand.

So, have at!

What A Difference Skinny Tires Make

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I ran – rode rather, the same gauntlet last night that I road last week. This time, however, I did not bonk. I’m still noticing some distinct lack of power, both “brute” and “staying”, but as a friendly commenter on the last post pointed out (I’m looking at you, Apertome), that’ll change as I keep pushing and pulling the cranks.

What did not happen was a flat. I credit the fact that I was riding solo without my buddy. He is a chaos magnet. That’s his superpower. His superpower is to attract chaos. An unassuming, by all accounts normal, rather shy everyday guy with a penchant for computers, he nonetheless gathers chaos around him like a hot knife through a flame… or something like that. How the servers he’s charged with maintaining haven’t erupted in volcanoes of sparks and lava and Udûn spawn is beyond me. The point is he’s a danger to himself and all those around him, and should be given a wide berth whenever possible.

Or perhaps the point is that I didn’t have a flat, which happens very rarely anyway, so it’s really not that notable.

Still, it’s rather ironic (I think I’m using it correctly here… it’s tough to tell sometimes) that when I ride my heavy bike with thick wide 37c tires I get a flat, and when I ride my crit bike with thinning skinny 23c tires, that have literally been to the mountain top and back, I get through without incident. Oh well… I’m not complaining. Truth be told, I was happy to not have a flat.

And what a difference those skinny tires made. If you compare the previous ride on those thick tires to last night’s ride you’ll note that I shaved 22 minutes off my time on the EXACT SAME ROUTE! Now, that’s something! Of course, I increased my average heart rate by 11bpm (though I was significantly less tired afterwards), but that’s not the point. The point is 22 minutes! I can’t explain the difference in elevation gain, except to say that maybe elevation detection isn’t the Edge 705′s strong suit. But 22 minutes! I wonder how I’d do if I dropped down to 12c tires?

I had a friend waaay back in the day (I don’t consider him an un-friend now, mind you) that played pool with a snooker cue. He used a much thinner 9mm shaft compared to our 12mm shafts. It’s amazing how much difference just a few millimeters make (“That’s what she said!” – thank you, Michael Scott). He was an amazing player as well… so much more amazing than we were (and we were damned amazing). I think that shaft had a lot to do with it. Certainly more than the countless practice and seasoning hours he spent with it.* Too bad he kept breaking with the cue until it shattered. Oh well…

So now I’m left wondering… if he was so much better with a skinny shaft (shut up, Michael-in-my-head), then how much better would I be with 12c tires? I’m assuming, of course, that the tire wouldn’t just flat out flat out immediately due to lack of support.

But you know, in the end, the speed isn’t the point. It’s the exercise and all the benefits of that, and the joy of being out on the road on the bike amidst all the drivers who hate me (and the precious few who don’t).

I think I’ll stick with my 37c’s and 23c’s, thank you.

I just need to find a way to fend off the chaos swarming around my friend…

Oh,and last night was the maiden voyage of my new Lazer Helium helmet. It gave me a headache. I loosened the Rollsys® Retention System though, and I was fine.

* Statement is false